St. Johns - Current Announcements

Women's Renewal Weekend
September 17 and 18, 2010

Naomi and the Renewal Committee have put together an interesting two days that should appeal to all women at St John's including a number of workshops on Saturday.

Registration forms are available at the church or you can register online by going to:

Registration for St John's Women's Renewal Weekend is ongoing. If you are planning to attend this year's program, Please register using the registration form in front of your pew before August 31, 2010. Watch this page for exciting workshop description and information updates.

Befriending Death
Workshop
Saturday, 30 October 2010

On Saturday, Oct 30, from 8:30 - 3:00 pm, the Pastoral Care Committee is sponsoring a seminar/workshop entitled "Befriending Death: Henri Nouwen and a Spirituality of Death" based on a book of the same name by Michelle O'Rourke, Ecclesial Associate in the Roman Catholic Diocese of London. Michelle is a registered nurse and works in the palliative care and pastoral care domains.

Bread bakers are needed for the Communion Bread Ministry. The group bakes the bread on a rotation basis which means you would commit for a month at a time (2 Sunday services and special events where Eucharist is celebrated). Baking bread for the Eucharist is very spiritual. Please contact Frank Kajfes after service on Sunday, or contact him by e-mail.

The Integrity Eucharist scheduled for Sunday evening, August 1 has been cancelled, due to the unavailability of clergy.

There are two different opportunities for getting involved in Child and Youth ministry at St John's for the year. We need Sunday school teachers for both grades 1-3 and grades 4-6 as well as youth group leaders for our junior and senior youth groups. Sunday School takes place during the 10:15am service, junior youth group once a month after the service and senior youth group, once a month on Sunday evening. If you are interested in helping with this ministry please either speak with Caitlin, our new Christian Education Coordinator, or email her.

Would you or someone you know enjoy volunteering during our Sunday services? Have you or someone you know thought of becoming more involved at St John's? Volunteers are always welcome and appreciated. We currently need more volunteers for the following duties during the Sunday services:

If you are able to help, and would like to be included within our roster, please speak with the rector, or the curate, or email us at the church office phone 613-232-4500 or Krister Partel for more information.

We are in need of volunteers for the office. If you can spare a morning or an afternoon to answer the phone and do small office tasks, please speak with Jean Ash (613) 232-4500 or John Charlton (613) 232-4500 ext 25.

We are pleased to announce that Caitlin Beck has been hired to be the Christian Education Co-Ordinator at St john's. Caitlin comes to us with many gifts and talents and skills and a great energy and enthusiasm for this ministry. We welcoime her to the staff.

Christian Education Support Committee
Call for Volunteers

We are looking for St. Johnians who are interested in volunteering their time, talents and passion to a renewal of Christian education for children, youth and adults. Given Wanda’s imminent departure from St. John’s, it has become clear that if we want to build the high-quality programs we’ve enjoyed for many years, we need to involve more parishioners in the planning and implementation of Christian education activities.

If you’re interested in helping discern the needs and directions for faith development and acting on an overall vision for Christian education in the parish, then join a group of other committed volunteers who will meet regularly to support the new Christian Education Coordinator by providing feedback from the parish, supporting program planning and undertaking delegated tasks.

The purpose of the volunteer group is to assist the Christian Education Coordinator in visioning and programming adult, children and youth education at St. John's. A secondary purpose is to ensure that the congregation at St. John's has ownership over its own Christian education direction. As this is a new committee, exact time commitment and a final list of responsibilities will be decided by the group. The term commitment is two years.

Please contact Ann Chaplin to volunteer. If you have any questions, feel free to speak to Naomi, Mary Frances Marshall, Margaret Capelazo, Michael Dowie and Michael Scrim, all of whom have been involved in the early thinking about Christian education renewal at St. Johns. Many hands will make light work!

The Terrific Tuesday schedule is in the hall. We appreciate the generousity and quality of soup on Tuesdays. Please sign up.

The Community Shop will not be accepting any donations from now until September 6, 2010. Thank you very much.

We are currently updating our Parish List to keep it as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Survey forms are available at the back of the church. Please help by filling one out. You will also be hearing from us soon. BUT, if you do not hear from us, please call the church office at 613-232-4500. Thank you for your help.

The members of ARC appreciate your cooperation as we continue to experience and refine our new worship space arrangement. We especially thank everyone who has provided feedback.

In addition to many expressions of support for the new arrangement, comments and suggestions received to date relate to the choir seating and congregational chair seating, including ideas for the type of chairs required, visibility of clergy and choir, traffic flow, and height and placement of the altar. Some parishioners have expressed their preference to remain with the traditional arrangement. ARC has also received a completely different proposal from Harvie Cocks. In brief, his proposal is to move the existing high-altar sanctuary (at the very front of the church) forward into the chancel and leave the choir seated in the nave. Harvie feels that a trial period of his proposal would help parishioners in making a decision on the position of the altar.

Gordon Johnston, our organist and choirmaster, has just returned from a 3-month leave and is excited by the new space and the opportunities it presents for music. We would like him to have some time to experience and experiment with the space. The upcoming choir concert on May 15-16 will test the space in the concert environment. Furthermore, we would like to see how the space works for the Chamber Music Festival this summer.

In February, ARC suggested that we continue with the trial until May, when we would decide the future of the worship space renovations at a Special Vestry. Since the new configuration has inspired a wealth of comments and new ideas, which have yet to be explored, ARC feels that it would be appropriate to take some additional time before making a final decision. And so ARC is proposing that a decision be delayed until the fall. Harvie's proposal could be discussed at that time as well.

Therefore, at the upcoming Special Vestry on Sunday, June 6th, to discuss the capital requirements of the Long Term Facilities Plan, ARC will ask your permission to continue the trial period until the fall. We would appreciate it if you would give this proposal due consideration before the Special Vestry.

Should you have any questions or comments, feel free to speak to any member of ARC: Pat Bowen, Bill Broughton, Jim Cummings, Wanda Dillabough, Joan Dolphin, Sue Evans, Dana Fisher, Gordon Johnston, Catherine Malone, Wendy McCutcheon, Gay Richardson, Connie Snelgrove, Hans Stenman. Written comments may be dropped in the collection plate, left in the office or e-mailed to Gay.

This coming week, a new organ console will be installed in the church. It will sit near the organ pipes, but located on the nave floor against the north wall, such that the organist's back will be under MDG #1, and the organist will be facing the nave altar. This console will use the most modern digital technology to allow the organist greater ease of playing, and to be able to see the clergy and the choir during the service (at present, everything takes place behind the organist's head). Please pray for a successful, glitch-free installation

A Vision
for St Johns

On Sunday, 25 may 2008, Gerald Robinson presented
a vision for St Johns titled "Shaping Space for Worship" to the parish.
Mr Robinson's vision in now on our website.

Our members are involved in over 50 ministry "activities" here at St Johns. Reports of these activities are contained in our Reports to Vestry each year.

If you are a visitor to the parish, a perusal of these reports will give you a very good idea about St Johns and how we serve the Lord in this place.

If you are member of the parish, you might find a ministry in these reports that would suit your skills and interests.

Please phone the office with all prayer requests. Do not send these requests to the "office at St. John's" email address. Thank you.

Multi faith Housing Initiative: Employment Opportunities Immediate Openings:

Office Administrator, including book-keeping: 24 hours/week
Housing Program Manager: 20 hours/week

An exciting and rewarding opportunity to work for a community-based charitable organization which provides affordable housing to low income households in Ottawa. Please share this with anyone who is qualified and who you think would appreciate working in MHI's multicultural, Multi faith environment.

Applications should be sent to Sue Evans at executive.director@multifaithhousing.ca. For the job descriptions and more information you can call Sue at 613-686-1825. Thank you.

Kerry Kaiser, the manager, tells us that demand at our local food centre at 507 Bank Street is now the highest in 10 years. Year over year the January demand has increased from 650 people in 2009 to 811 in Jan 2010. The centre needs canned: pasta, fruit, vegetables and tuna. The centre also needs able-bodied volunteers to bag goods and meet those in need. Please call Kerry at 613-232-3059.

In order to improve communications between parish members and Parish Council we have added a number of files showing the various committees and the Council members responsible for those committees as well as the roles of Patish Council and the the aganda and minutes of the recent meetings of Council.

Our Pastoral Care Committee has prepared a new brochure on the many ministry opportunities for our members in pastoral care.

An Idea:
For several years, St John's has given between $3,000 and $6,000 annually to the Emergency Food Centre. The EFC, as you know, provides emergency food for families and singles living in centretown. This year, St John's (in common with a number of the other centretown churches) has not been able to make a contribution. To try and compensate for the shortfall, we are suggesting that people buy a Loblaw's food card (which helps Affordable Housing) and then donate the card to the Emergency Food Centre. If everyone bought a $10 card, it would make a good contribution to the EFC and Affordable Housing. Of course, larger tax-deductible contributions are welcome too. Please bring "gift" Gift Cards to Margot Cameron; for further information, she can be contacted at margot.cameron@magma.ca.

In times of crisis, when praying is difficult, when connections to God seem impossible, it is comforting to know that others are praying for us. When a family member or friend is ill, it is helpful to know that a team of people is praying.

For many years, a group of 15 to 20 people have supported prayer requests. The group is organized so that the prayer requests can be passed confidentially and quickly from one person to the next until an entire chain of people is praying.

At this time we want to remind everyone that the prayer is available. If you have a request, simply call the church at 613-232-4500 and ask for the Prayer Chain line. Then leave a message. Your request will be treated confidentially and transmitted to the prayer chain. If you wish to talk to the leader, please leave contact information and someone will get back to you.

Affordable Housing Committee
Loblaws Gift Card Program

Ever wondered what is happening at that table in the Corner of the Hall? Well, it is the Affordable Housing Committee of St. Johns selling Loblaws Gift Cards. This program, run by Peggy Lister, raises between $150 and $400 per month which the Affordable Housing Committee uses to carry on their work of making housing affordable in the city of Ottawa.

Loblaws provides a discount to non-profit organizations who purchase gift cards in bulk. When we order more the $5,000 we receive a 3% discount. If we can purchase over $10,000 we receive a 4% discount. The cards are available for purchase at face value and can be used at any Loblaws, Superstore, Val-mart, No Frills or Independent grocery store. They work like a debit card and can be used repeatedly until their value is zero.

We would love to talk to you more about the program. Drop by the table or contact Peggy Lister, Kathleen Arsenault or Gloria Fox.

Please, folks, we would like to contribute more earnestly to ending poverty right here. Please bring in different foodstuffs for The Well (soups, pastas, cereals, peanut butter etc - also diapers are needed). We will continue to bring up a basket of food at the time of the offertory, but there will be more baskets provided at the Elgin Street entrance.

At the end of the service on Sunday, 18 October 2009, St John's stood in solidarity with over 1.5 billion people who work every day to get themselves out of extreme poverty by showing your support for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This is coordinated by the Make Poverty History campaign and coincides with World Food Day (October 16) and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17). At the end of the service, we will provide an opportunity for all those interested in eradicating poverty to stand up while the pledge to achieve the MDGs is read (you can read it with us, too!). Last year, 116 million people stood in support of the MDGs. This year, we'd like to count as many St John's parishioners in as we can! In preparation for this activity, please prayerfully read the pledge and, if you feel called, stand when invited to do so.

Many thanks to Margaret Capelazo for her leadership on 18 October about the Millenium Development Goals. St John's parishioners took part in a world-wide demonstration of support for ending poverty. A Guinness World Record was shattered last weekend when 173,045,325 citizens gathered at over 3,000 events in more than 120 countries, demanding that their governments eradicate extreme poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). "Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!", now in its fourth year, has been certified by Guinness World Records as the largest mobilization of human beings in recorded history, an increase of about 57 million people over last year.

The servers group is looking for some new volunteers to help with the service each week. We're looking for members of all ages and experience so that different duties may be shared evenly, all that we ask is that you're at least eight years of age.

Each year we try to add a few new members so that the brunt of the work does not fall on the same people, our goal is to get enough people to help so that we only have to be on duty once a month. It's a great way to get involved in the Church and meet new people, and you have the benefit of helping out and not missing a second of the service-you even get some of the best seats in the house!

If you are interested please contact Kristilyn McCutcheon. The training will take place on October 18th directly following the 10:15 service, and should last no more than one hour.

Circles of Support and Accountability [CoSA] is a community-based reintegration program designed to support people newly released from prison who have been convicted of sex offenses, admit to committing these offences, and request CoSA's help to prevent further offending. See our CoSA page for more details of this interesting program hosted by St John's.

Those interested in registering for the Basic Training Program, or would like more information, contact
Susan Love, program coordinator,
at love@magma.ca or (613) 232-4500 (leave a message).

Compline is a beautiful, peaceful, prayerful evening liturgy sung by members of St. John's choir. It happens twice a month at 9 PM in the Chapel of Remembrance. Would you be interested in being a keeper of the incense for the duration of the service? Please contact Gordon if you are interested.

Sherrie Dagg a.k.a. The Candle Lady would like to recycle your candle ends. She will collect them (or if she is not there, please leave them with one of the other servers) and recycle them into new candles to be sold for the benefit of the parish. For information, contact Sherrie.

The St John's Foot Clinic offers affordable footcare on the second Thursday of each month. The footcare is provided by a Registered Practical Nurse through Carefor Health and Community Services; appointments are coordinated by volunteers from St John's. Current rates are $30 for the first visit and $15 for each subsequent visit (these rates will rise to $34 and $17 in January 2008).

For information please contact Jo Cassie (613-783-3332), Peggy Lister (613-746-2633) or Marietta Stenman (613-733-9493)

Intinction is the practice of dipping the communion bread into the chalice instead of drinking from the common cup, and it's something we discourage. If you do not wish to drink from the chalice, rest assured that in the Anglican tradition, communion in one kind (receiving the bread only) is considered a complete communion.

Please do NOT dip communion bread into the wine.

Would you like to join with other parishioners to study the weekly Bible readings before the Sunday morning service? Each Sunday at 9:00 a.m. a group meets to discuss the day's readings and to share their thoughts and reflections on the readings. This Bible study takes place in Classroom #2 (across from Wanda's office) and all are welcome.

Frequently people come by the church to speak with the rector about their needs for financial assistance. In cases of genuine need, she is able to help people by using money from the Rector's Discretionary Fund. This is a fund which receives donations from parishioners who wish to help the poor and support the rector in extending help to individuals in need. Presently the fund has very little money in it.

If you would like to make a donation, please place it in the offertory, clearly marked "Rector's Discretionary Fund", or bring your donation to the church office during the week.

We offer a variety of programmes at St John's that can help you to develop a contemplative practice.

Please contact Wanda if you would like more information about any of these programmes.

Our nursery is available for use during the service on Sunday mornings. It is located up the stairs beside the ramp entrance, next to the women's restroom. Sometimes the door is locked by mistake; if you find the door locked, please ask the duty warden to open the nursery for you.

Are you on duty next Sunday?

Who helped me last week at the Welcome Table?

What are the readings for next Sunday?

Each Sunday at least 25 members perform 17 different functions during our Sunday services - from crucifers, to readers and Communion Administrators. Krister Partel is now keeping us on "schedule" with a quarterly roster mailed to all 136 volunteer "Rosterians". We are pleased to now offer the quarterly roster in PDF format that you can consult online here or download to read at your convenience offline. The current roster is linked above.

To read the Sunday Ministries file online, simply click on the highlighted name. To download and save the file to your computer, right click on the file name and then click on "Save Target as ...". If you do not already have the PDF Reader you can download it free from the Adobe website:

"This Week at St John's" is the title of an informal weekly e-mail message sent by the rector to everyone on the parish list with an e-mail address. Print copies of "This Week" are posted on the bulletin board near the parish office.

If you wish to have your e-mail address added to the parish list, please send it to office@stjohnsottawa.ca.

For those not on parish e-mail list we will be posting a [delayed] copy of Garth's "This Week at St Johns" on our website

At St John's we recognize the power of prayer and have countless examples of healing and wholeness that have resulted from prayer. Some of these examples are miraculous. In times of crisis, when praying is difficult, it is comforting to know that others are praying.

For many years, a group of 15 to 20 people have supported prayer requests. The group is organized so that the prayer requests can be passed quickly from one person to the next until an entire chain of people is praying. The members of the Prayer Chain have a special community. Their prayers join strongly, even though they all pray separately. It is a special connection to light and love.

At this time we want to remind everyone that the Prayer Chain is there. If you have a request, simply call the church at 613-232-4500 and ask for the Prayer Chain line. Then leave a message for the prayer leader who will contact you. Also, please consider joining in this special ministry. Please contact Kathryn Otley if you would like to participate.

Join Integrity Ottawa for Monthly Worship. Starting November 5th, Integrity Ottawa gathers at 7:00 p.m. for a celebration of the Eucharist on the first Sunday of each month at the Church of the Ascension, 253 Echo Drive. Tone Cluster, a local gay vocal ensemble will be participating in this first celebration. Everyone is welcome.

Integrity Ottawa is part of Integrity Canada, a national network of organizations and friends working toward the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in the life of the Anglican Church of Canada. The Chaplain to Integrity Ottawa is The Rev. Dr. Linda Privitera. Her ministry to Integrity is supported financially by contributions to the Integrity Chaplain Fund which is managed by St John's. If you wish to contribute, please make your cheque payable to The Church of St John the Evangelist and indicate Integrity Chaplain Fund in the memo line.

Sermons at St John's

[As of 15 August 2005 we had 102 sermons on this website!]

We are fortunate to have many of the sermons preached at St Johns over the years on our website. Because of the rapidly growing number of sermons we have moved the list of online sermon to its own page called "Sermons at St Johns"

We are pleased to offer the following recently added sermons as "food for thought" to enrich your life:

It would be nice to think that we could be totally without a care in church and not have to worry about security, but that may have to wait until the fullness of the Kingdom arrives. Until that perfect day, please keep an eye on your purse and other belongings during the service. Do not leave belongings unattended; bring your purse with you as you come forward to receive communion.

Current Announcements

Women's Renewal WeekendSeptember 17 and 18, 2010

Befriending DeathWorkshopSaturday, 30 October 2010

COMMUNION BREAD BAKERS NEEDED!

Integrity's Monthly Eucharist

Sunday School Teachers and Youth Group Leaders.

Sunday Ministries

Office Volunteers

Christian Education Co-Ordinator

Christian Education Support CommitteeCall for Volunteers

Soup Makers

Community Shop

Parish List

Our Garth

Worship Space RenovationsA Message from ARC

Weekly at St Johns

Prayer Requests

Multi faith Housing Initiative: Employment Opportunities Immediate Openings:

Office Administrator, including book-keeping: 24 hours/week Housing Program Manager: 20 hours/week

Food Bank is in need!

Centretown Emergency Food Centre (CEFC)

The St John's Prayer Chain

Affordable Housing Committee Loblaws Gift Card Program

Our Food Baskets

The Pledge to Achieve the Millennium Development GoalsSunday, 18 October 2009

The Servers Guild

ComplineSecond and Fourth Sundays

Recycle Your Candles

Care for your feet!

A liturgical note: IntinctionDon't!

Bible StudyEach Sunday at 9.00 a.m

Rector's Discretionary Fund

Be Still and Know that I am God

Children's Nursery

Sunday Ministries May, June, July, August 2010

The St John's Prayer Chain

Integrity's Monthly Eucharist

[As of 15 August 2005 we had 102 sermons on this website!]

Purse snatchers are active in churches!

Women's Renewal Weekend
September 17 and 18, 2010

Befriending Death
Workshop
Saturday, 30 October 2010

Christian Education Support Committee
Call for Volunteers

Worship Space Renovations
A Message from ARC

Office Administrator, including book-keeping: 24 hours/week
Housing Program Manager: 20 hours/week

Affordable Housing Committee
Loblaws Gift Card Program

The Pledge to Achieve the
Millennium Development Goals
Sunday, 18 October 2009

Compline
Second and Fourth Sundays

A liturgical note: Intinction
Don't!

Bible Study
Each Sunday at 9.00 a.m

Sunday Ministries

May, June, July, August 2010