Dear Friends,
As we continue on this time in a ‘wilderness’ of being, I turned this week to the story of the people of Israel in the wilderness and was reminded again and again of their impatience, but also that, at the end of their time, they had become a new people. We still have difficult days ahead, but I encourage you to keep notes of things for which you are thankful as well as reflecting on the new things we are learning. How we choose to respond to the challenge of this time can shape the church of the future and how we communicate God’s good news to others. In this time there are many ways in which we are united despite our physical distancing; in thanksgiving and grief, in hope and in prayer. I invite you to pray your way through our weekly email blast as a way of uniting with one another on our journey….
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Gillian and Don Hendry who became Grandparents last week! We pray their grandson may be safe and well in his first months of life and grow in faith, and hope and love in all the years to come. Congratulations.
R.I.P. Don Pfeffer
Our friend Don Pfeffer died last Friday. We give thanks for his life and pray for Kate, mourning in this difficult time. May Don rest in peace and rise in glory and may Kate know the comfort of God’s loving presence and her church family around her.
FROM THE DIOCESE: DIOCESAN PANDEMIC RESPONSE FUND
Many of you have been asking how you can support people in crisis during the pandemic. It is natural, in a time like this, to seek out ways to engage in generosity. Thank you for asking.
To financially support individuals and families who need it most Bishop Susan Bell has set up the Diocese of Niagara Pandemic Response Fund. Your tax receipted donation to this Fund will ease hunger and support the most vulnerable, those isolated and immunocompromised, and those struggling financially due to layoffs and cutbacks. Your contribution will go to an outreach ministry of one of the many parishes and affiliated ministries the Diocese of Niagara that are providing free pre-made lunches or dinners or bags of groceries. The meals and groceries are offered for both pick-up and free delivery. Some parishes are doing this work on their own, while others have partnered with local community organizations, other churches, individual volunteers, and restaurants in their area.
Thank you for your generosity. It is because of your generosity we can see lives transformed in Christ. It is your gift that eases hunger and provides comfort to individuals and families through the outreach projects and ministries that several of our parishes are engaged in. Thank you in advance for your support.
To donate go to: https://niagaraanglican.ca/donate-pandemic
CHILDREN
We hope all children in our congregation received the packaged mailed last week- if you’ve done a piece of colouring you’re really proud of, please take a photo and email it to Mike so we can put it on our Facebook page and share it with the Diocese.
For parents with Children in our congregation you can access the Diocesan Resource Hub with lots of ideas for children and a weekly online Sunday School here:
PODCAST
Don’t forget to check out this week’s podcast- you can listen to this time of Bible reading, reflection and prayer, which takes about 10minutes, by going to the front page of our website www.stjamesdundas.ca
ONLINE COFFEE HOUR
This Wednesday 6th May, 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 or 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.
HERE ARE THE DETAILS YOU NEED:
Topic: Saint James Online Coffee Hour
Time: May 6, 2020 10:00 AM America/Toronto
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 896 6456 0960
Password: 069914
DAILY PRAYERS
As well as joining Mike at 8pm Monday to Friday on our Facebook page for Compline, you can download a short form of daily prayer for other times of the day, here: https://niagaraanglican.ca/uploads/documents/2020/03/Home%20Prayers%20for%20time%20of%20Pandemic.pdf
FACEMASKS
Jackie Donnelly and others in our congregation are sewing facemasks. If you would like one or more, please email the parish office who will pass your request to our sewing request on. (Mike has a Care Bears one!!!)
Stay safe and well and God bless you this week.
Pax et Bonum,
Mike
