Dear Friends,
As you may have seen this week, the Ontario House of Bishops released a plan for the gradual and controlled reopening of our churches in three phases: Red, Amber and Green. Until this plan is enacted we follow the guidelines of the Diocese of Niagara and our church buildings remain closed expect for the recording of worship (with no more than 5 people) or the provision of social relief, such as our community dinners which are provided under strict safety conditions.
Once we move into the red phase our staff will have some return to the building and clergy will be able to return to pastoral visiting where safe to do so. There will be a lot of work to do as this process begins including planning the use of the building and space, new shapes of worship and cleaning protocols to be enacted. For the time being, like most denominations, our spaces remain closed.
I’m eager to get on with this process, but also want us to get it right and work through it with patience and grace. This time has certainly been a test of patience and our desire for control, when so much of the world seems out of our control it is more clear how faith gives us a place of rest in our uncertainty and fear.
I pray for us as a church, that as we move one step at a time into our ‘new reality’ we would be able to echo the words of Saint Augustine:
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”
Pax et Bonum,
Mike
RECTOR ON VACATION
Mike is on vacation this week and will return on 30th June. Please direct general concerns to a warden. In a pastoral emergency you can call Rev. Sue Nicolls, Rector of Christ Church, on 905-929-7136.
There will be no live stream of compline this week.
PODCAST
This week’s podcast is a reflection on John 1.1-18 and you can listen to it from the front page of our website or at Soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/saint-james-455444660/podcast-21st-june-2020-john-1
ONLINE COFFEE HOUR
This Wednesday 24th June, 10am-11am we’ll host an online ‘Coffee Hour’. To take part in this you’ll need to sign into ZOOM which is a conferencing software. Go to http://zoom.com/ . You can click ‘Join a Meeting’ in the top right hand corner and enter the meeting number and password, or simply click on the link below.
For those unused to using this software, a few notes;
Only one person can speak at a time, so the host (Mike) will invite you to speak.
It is considered polite to ‘mute’ your microphone when you are not speaking otherwise background noise from your home can confuse those listening.
There are different ways to ‘view’ the meeting – by clicking ‘gallery view’ when you join the meeting you can see everyone present.
It is very different to meeting in person so be prepared to be patient the first time you use this and we get used to this way of meeting.
If you have technical questions about using Zoom please contact Bob Morrow.
PLEASE USE YOUR REAL NAME so we know who is joining each meeting.
Here are the details you need:
Topic: SAINT JAMES ONLINE COFFEE HOUR
Time: Jun 24, 2020 10:00 AM America/Toronto
Join Zoom Meeting
READING THE BIBLE:
Each week our email blast lists daily readings for the week for those who want to take some time each day to reflect on the scriptures. The suggested readings are the Gospel reading appointed in the daily lectionary for the celebration of the Eucharist. This week:
Monday 22nd Matthew 7.1-5
Tuesday Matthew 7.6, 12-14
Wednesday Luke 1.57-80 (Birth of Saint John the Baptist)
Thursday Matthew 7.21-29
Friday Matthew 8.1-4
Saturday Matthew 8.5-17
Sunday- Matthew 10.40-42
Monday 29th John 21.5-19 (Saint Peter and Saint Paul)