Seventh Sunday of Easter
Regular Services are as listed below
10:00 AM
https://vimeo.com/event/5181831.
We gather in worship on Sundays at 10AM, with coffee time shared after the service.
Our worship service is Holy Communion also known as The Lord's Supper, Eucharist or The Mass.
The fourth Sunday of every month is celebrated with a soup and sandwich lunch held after the 10AM service.
We offer a Livestream for the 10 AM Sunday service if you cannot physically make it to church. Our worship includes Bible readings, prayers, sermon and songs.
You do not have to be baptized, or familiar with church procedures, to be welcome among us.
If we can help you by praying for you, whether you come to church or not, please contact our priest the Rev. Canon Dr. John Alfred Steele.
We are an Anglican parish in the Diocese of British Columbia - The Diocese of Islands and Inlets - and a member of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Intercessions
We are thankful for:
- the rich biodiversity of plants and animals and of mineral resources in this region
- the faithful witness of churches throughout the world during apartheid and how people of different races and lifestyles have come together since then
- the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and others to bring healing from the atrocities committed
- how South Africa has made antiretroviral drugs accessible to all with HIV and AIDS.
We pray for:
- protection of resources for the good of all rather than their exploitation for economic gain
- more democratic and transparent governance in these countries, at all levels
- effectively countering rape, sexual violence, and other crime
- adequate resources and changed attitudes for welcoming refugees in these countries.
Prayers
Responsive prayer on poverty
Loving God,
we believe you are the God of the poor
and that poverty includes being hungry, unemployed and orphaned,
living on a pension or grant,
meagre earnings for arduous and hazardous work,
ill health, anxiety and stress and the absence of power,
worsened for women by unequal gender relations.
Loving God,
we hold up to you all those living in poverty.
We believe that God wants all people to live a dignified life
and engage in meaningful work,
that workers should receive fair wages,
and that those who possess more resources and skills
must share them in neighbourly love with those who have less.
Loving God,
open our eyes to the deep needs of those who are poor.
We believe that the challenge of fighting poverty
does not lie solely with governments,
but that faith-based organisations are ideally positioned to address it,
with their human and financial resources.
Loving God,
challenge us to see ways in which we can work against poverty.
We renew our commitment to be in solidarity with the poor
and to work against any form of injustice.
We commit ourselves to put our faith into action
and to demonstrate our faith in practical ways,
so that together we can overcome the scourge of poverty.
Loving God,
in your mercy, hear our prayer and strengthen us in our commitment
(Based on extracts from statements on poverty by Diakonia’s member churches.
In: Pilgrimage of Hope © Diakonia Council of Churches 2009, Durban, South Africa.)
Prayer from South Africa
God,
How wonderful it is, how pleasant,
to be healed of the corrosive disease of racism and separation;
and to live as your people together in harmony.
Your Spirit will then fill the hearts and the minds of all people.
Nobody will be judged any more on the basis of race or colour;
but all will be ruled with justice and integrity.
The war will end and the people together will rebuild the country.
There will be no reference to the colour of the skin,
for all will be regarded as the people of God,
the people created in your image.
And this will be the beginning of what you have promised –
the life that never ends.
Prayer from Botswana
Dear God, our builder,
you have all the building materials needed to construct our societies.
You have all the strength to put wisdom on all that has fallen apart in our lives.
You have the wisdom to reshape our world.
Inspire us with all your wisdom, strength and love,
to rebuild the broken walls in our community.
By Rev. Cheryl Dibeela, Gaborone, Botswana. Africa Praying: A Handbook on HIV/AIDS Sensitive Sermon Guidelines and Liturgy, ed. Musa W. Dube, WCC, 2003, pp.57, 175, 187-88.
Prayer from Zimbabwe
Lord God,
we give you thanks for sending your only Son to give us life.
In the midst of wealth we are crushed by poverty,
and while we are offered Christ-life in all its fullness,
we are surrounded by disease, death and destruction.
We are tempted to despair, and yet keep hoping,
knowing that you care.
At times we weep silent tears, and cry out with deep emotion.
We come to you, our only hope and refuge.
Thank you for the gift of laughter,
even when the going is tough.
With you, O Lord, we may be troubled but not destroyed.
By Rev. Farai Chirisa, Zimbabwe. www.ctal.org.uk/zimbabwe.htm
Did you know we celebrate the birth of St John the Baptist - just after the spring solstice as the days are getting shorter and John proclaimed in John 3.30 "He must increase but I must decrease."?
We celebrate the birth of Jesus after the winter solstice because the days are getting longer and "the true light has come into the world and the darkness will not overcome it".
The commemoration of the saints is an important part of our Anglican tradition. We commemorate the saints and acknowledge their contribution to the life of the Church through the inspiration they exemplify through Christ's living example found in their lives. We acknowledge their lives on the date of their death - which we also do for St John the Baptist on Aug 29th.
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