Worship at St. John's

Music Programme

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Our parish

Faith and Worship

Altar Guild
Christian Education
Coffee Hour
Communion Administrators
Handbell Ensemble
Liturgical Dance
Music
Prayer Chain
Readers
Recorder Ensemble
Servers
Sunday Ministries
Sunday Bible Studies
Tower Bell
Wheelchair Aide
Worship Committee

St. John's Altar Guild " family" is growing. We are a group of people who work together , quietly behind the scenes to prepare and care for all the linens, flowers and sacred vessels needed for all the church services throughout the year. We work closely with the servers to be sure that everything needed by the priests is ready. This has been quite a challenge lately with all the changes such as the new Nave altar which requires new sizes of linens. The use of bread rather than wafers is also a challenge but thanks to Frank Kajfes and his wonderful volunteers we have had the bread we need every Sunday . Thanks to the new Stitchers Group we have been able to refurbish our purple Lenten frontal after about 70 years. Vicky Milnes has very successfully put our idea of arranging our own flowers every week into practice. It has saved everyone who donates flowers a considerable amount of money and the results have been outstanding. We have a group of volunteers who take turns buying and arranging the flowers using the $50.00 you donate. Our flower volunteers are Pat Bowen, Barbara Brown, Bev Bewley, Melodie Conlon, Barbara Dorrell, Vicki Milnes, Suzanne Nussey , Vicki Robinson and Gail Jennings . There is a new Flower Calendar in the hall outside the Church hall. Please write your name beside the date you choose to celebrate with flowers. Some dates are kept on a regular basis for people who have donated flowers on those dates for many years. There can be more than one lot of flowers on the same date. Contact Vicki at (613)741 - 4624 if you have any questions. Please make all cheques out to St John's Altar Guild and give them to Vicki Milnes or Melodie Conlon (our treasurer). We again want to give a vote of thanks to Graham Smith for making St. John's look so beautiful for the Christmas season. Graham and his helpers transformed our bare church into a beautiful wonderland. Graham's artistic ability showed through at every turn. We would welcome new members for the Altar Guild. We lost Linda Lord this past year and miss her. Linda went to Toronto to continue her education. We wish her all the best. If you are interested in joining our guild call Bev Bewley.

Adult Education
The purpose of adult education is to provide learning space, faith formation growth and development by integrating the many facets of education for the purpose of identity, consciousness-raising, problem and issue solving into a holistic system that will enable and empower every person for mission. Providing learning space involves creating room for those who have a passion for specific ministry. Adult education has benefited from the participation of St. John members who organise and share their mission experiences. At St. John's the ministry of adult education includes Christian meditation, centring prayer, mindfulness-based stress reduction, book studies and discussion groups, retreats, and. inviting speakers.

Over the last year, studies on the Book of Amos and the Acts of the Apostles, and a book study on the Emerging Church were offered. The study of the Book of Acts was already on the adult education schedule when I arrived. It was very helpful for as all to read the book and come out with some very interesting finding on prophet Amos. I guess one of the best gains was to get to understand the background information behind some of the wordings in the book. The study on the Book of Acts received good attention and the group stay to finishing line after six weeks of intensive study. It was helpful for all of us to read about the complexities involved in the Church's formation as we compared it with the Church of our times. The study of Phyllis Tickle's The Emerging Church took learning from social history perspective. We discussed and reflected upon a number of things regarding authority, tradition, and scripture.

Speakers over the last year included Kevin Flynn, from St. Paul's University, and Kathy Galloway, a former leader of the Iona Community in Scotland. This year, our special guest Lecture will be Dr. Jenny Plane Te Paa, from New Zealand. She is the first lay person to take a professional role of Dean of an Anglican theological college. We are looking forward for a very special guest indeed!

The St. John's women retreat has a new name. After a long deliberation and consultation the committee affirmed the new name: The St. John's Women Renewal Weekend.

The St. John's Women Renewal was organised by volunteers. A big thanks to Sally Andrews and the Renewal Committee who organised the theme, topics, and speakers, and for making sure everyone got there. The Rev. Nevitte Maybe was our guest celebrant.

Naomi Kabugi

Youth

The definition of what is "youth" changes from Diocese to Diocese and from parish to parish. At St John's "youth" are those between 12 - 18.

We have two youth groups, one for Grades 5 - 8 and one for Grades 9 - 12. Each group meets at least once per month between September and June. Special events - retreats, sleepovers, etc. are also planned throughout the year. The Junior Youth Group is led by Tracy Baxter and Gennaro Busa. The Senior Youth Group is led by Wanda Dillabough, Michael Dowie and Beth Lorimer.

One very special event for the youth in 2009 was our pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland. Thirteen of us traveled to Iona to live in Community in the Abbey for one week. It was a perfect time and deeply meaningful, both for the group and for each individual who went. Check out our stories on the St John's website. Many thanks, again, to all in the parish who supported us by coming out to our plays, buying our cookies and truffles, donating items to our silent auctions, making donations, and all of the other things that helped us afford to go.

Sunday School

Our Sunday School is currently comprised of three different classes, based on age. The youngest class is for children who are 2 years old, up to Senior Kindergarten or Grade One. Our middle class is for children in Grades 1 - 4. Our oldest class is for children in Grades 5 - 8. The youngest class has a program that is liturgical and based on the seasons of the Church year, called "Worship With Young Children". It also has a tactile, "Montessori-type" approach that appeals to the very young. The two older classes follow the curriculum, "Seasons of the Spirit", which follows the lectionary and includes some form of re-telling the bible story, followed by crafts, discussion and/or drama. Our teachers (as well as our children) are the best! We are blessed with a great team of leaders, including: April Dickson, Eva Dransch, Leslie Giddings, Binta Goodridge, Karoi Horikawa, Grace Howland, Margaret Kasurak, Mariam Mwai, Martha Mwai, Peter Oliver, Auramarina Sawyer, Mike Scrim, Lori Sullivan, Mary Ann Varley, Sarah Whitehead, and Philippa Wolff. On special occasions, we are joined by our Artist-in-Residence, Graham Smith, who leads us in magical art workshops.

Wanda Dillabough

Our purpose is to serve coffee or juice to parishioners after the 10:15 service. This allows churchgoers to meet old and new friends. It is also a opportunity to discuss the sermon and/or church business. It is an area where Bridgehead products and church calendars are sold, grocery gift cards distributed and tickets for various events are marketed.

This year, coffee making has provided some challenges. We started the year making coffee in the Well using the Well's coffee pots. This led to the belief that we needed to make less coffee. Once we moved to our gorgeous new Parish Hall, we tried making coffee using several drip machines. We have now decided it is simpler to use a smaller electric coffee maker, with a drip machine if needed.

Coffee for 40 - 50 people is made each Sunday by a group of volunteers, who do it on a rotational basis. Juice is provided for non coffee drinkers. During the summer months, lemonade is served instead of coffee. Voluntary donations each week makes the coffee hour self supporting.,

The coffee hour is dependent on volunteers and we are very grateful to those who generously give of their time, energy and talents.

Our talented coffee makers include Karen Berg, the Calders, the Chaplins, the Clippingdales, the Hannahs, Virginia Hill, Alain Lanoix, Tony Lovink, Monica Patten, the Ribchinskys, Gay Richardson and the Robinsons.

New volunteers are needed and we would happily offer training.

When the church offers the principal celebrations of the Holy Eucharist at weekly services, special services, weddings and funerals, the clergy relies on the help of lay communion assistants with the distribution of the wine. Lay assistants are invited by the Rector, approved by Parish Council and licensed by the Bishop.

This past year the number of people serving in this ministry varied from fifteen to twenty members, a good number for reasonable rotation within the schedule. Each week at the 10:15am service, four communion administrators are required to present the chalice to people kneeling at the rail in the chancel or standing in the chapel.

At the end of June we held a very successful meeting where information on changes, training, variations in format was presented and to introduce and discuss ideas and concerns.

We extend a Thank You to Rev. Hanns Skoutajan who is stepping down but may help out on occasion if needed, and a Thank You and Farewell to Ross Hammond and Albert Klein who left our church in early fall as Ross started his priestly duties in another church.

We welcome new administrators; Luc Chartrand, Alain Lanoix, Don McGibbon, Ken Ross and John Zeggers who joined us in the fall. The team of administrators for 2009 was; Rosemary Anderson, Karen Berg, Patricia Bowe, Margaret Capelazo, Steve Chaplin, Luc Chartrand, Kitty Cocks, Melodie Conlon, Joan Dolphin, Detlef Dransch, Ross Hammond, Albert Klein, Alain Lanoix, Peggy Lister, Wendy McCutcheon, Don McGibbon, Monica Patten, Glen Robinson, Ken Ross, Rev. Hanns Skoutajan, Marietta Stenman, Bryan Wannop and John Zeggeers.

The St. John's Bell Ringers continue to practice weekly and to assist in worship services on a regular basis. On occasion we participate in activities outside the parish such as playing for the choral evensong service at St. Paul University. The bell ringers this past year were Mike Hart, Peggy Lister, Maura Beecher, Pat Love, Joan Dolphin, Marietta Stenman, Daphne Strange, and Jo Cassie. We are led by Gordon Johnston.

Dancing for spiritual expression deepens spirituality and promotes understanding beyond words. It is an honour to provide liturgical dance to our Parish community.

In 2009, we danced on Christmas Eve. Anna Cameron, Miriam Kabugi, and I danced the Christ light in the minutes of darkness with quiet harp music just before the church bells rang, the trumpets, percussions, choir, congregation and organ proclaimed the birth of Christ in hymn. People have come to expect this dance as a time to acknowledge the Christ light within themselves.

With changes to the nave we can hope to have more liturgical dance and that many of our parishioners can learn the benefits of moving while praying. It is a sacred experience to dance our prayers. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about this spiritual art form.

The year 2009 has seen a great deal of beautiful music-making at St John's. Vocal and choral music as well as handbells and other instruments create an atmosphere of creativity and learning, where we tune our spiritual senses through the harmonies of music.

Special emphasis is put on the involvement of young people in music at St John's. Several members of the choir are university students; two of them are choral scholars who are students at the University of Ottawa, pursuing professional careers in music. Our choral scholars this year are April Babey (mezzo-soprano) and Gennaro Busa (tenor). Our much-loved vocal coach is Cara Gilbertson.

Frequently the choir is joined by student instrumental players (strings, trumpets, oboe, kettledrums, etc.) who come for special occasions. These high school or university students enjoy the performance experience; they put many hours of practice into preparing the music they play at St John's. When larger instrumental forces are needed, we often invite a teacher and a student together. Teachers appreciate the opportunity to work with their students in a real performing situation. St John's is unique in Ottawa in this respect, and many young people's lives are influenced by their participation in our music here at St John's.

St John's is home to several community choirs and music groups who rehearse and perform here. Every night of the week there is a choir rehearsing in the choir room; these include the St. Cecilia Singers, the Ottawa Bach Choir, Tone Cluster (a mixed-voice chamber choir), In Harmony women's chorus, the Canadian Forces Choir, the Ottawa Celtic Choir and the Ottawa Gay Men's Chorus. In the summer, we are one of the main locations for concerts presented during the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by beautiful music!

In times of crisis or when praying is difficult, it is comforting to know that others are praying on our behalf. The prayer chain members pray for you or for your loved ones. If you have a special prayer request, simply call the church at 613-232-4500 and ask for the Prayer Chain line (extension 21). Then leave a message. Your request will then be transmitted in full confidentiality to the Prayer Chain members who will offer prayers as requested.

The Prayer Chain 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. This year we expanded our membership and have 20 people who are available to combine prayer power. We met for supper in October and intend to meet every quarter to provide group support.

The Proclamation of the Word is a principal moment during the liturgy. It is the moment when the congregation listens attentively to "what the Spirit is saying to the Church." It's important that Readers are prepared for this task each Sunday in having practiced reading aloud the text that they will proclaim, and having reflected prayerfully upon its meaning. St John's is very fortunate to have close to 40 men and women who are dedicated to this ministry of "public proclamation." We thank God for the time and energy they devote to enhancing our liturgy.

For the sixth year, we gathered in the Chapel every Wednesday evening at 7.00 p.m. for an hour and a half to play and practise, under the umbrella of St. John's Music ministry. John Gallienne is our endlessly patient leader; with eight others: Joan Dolphin, Lynne Green, Peggy Lister, Heather Mallett and Lannie Mitchell from St. John's; and, affiliated with CAMMAC, Carole Dufour, Dave Allen and new this year, Bill Danard.

Unfortunate accidents cut short our playing in the Spring - John had an "adventure" with a bike in BC, and Carole was felled in a serious accident in Montreal. We came back together in September, with most of the damage to arms and wrists healing or healed.

Our purpose, apart from making music together, is to enhance morning worship services at St. John's, either as an ensemble, or, as happened last year, with individuals playing with the choir or other instruments, such as the harp.

We look forward to another year of playing together, enriching our lives and those for whom we play; recorders should sound lovely in our newly configured worship space.

This past year was a good year with ten servers rotating nicely through the schedule and one (John Veenstra) maintaining the duties at the 8:00am service.

Kristilyn(head server) initiated in the fall, a new rotation for crucifers which is working very well. This new format allows for the elimination of the head server position and spreads the responsibility of being "in charge" for their respective Sundays to each of them. One person then acts as coordinator to oversee the total guilds operation and keep the crucifers informed of any weekly and/or special changes.

A training session in the late fall successfully brought forth five new servers who will begin their rotation in the new year. The new servers are; Amit Darjee, Susmita Darjee, Pabitra Gurung, Charlotte and Declan Williamson-Scrim.

We extend a Thank You in farewell to Freya Van Every who left in late summer and to Kristilyn McCutcheon who has been a server for eleven years, left after Christmas.

The servers for this past year are; Anne Cure, Sherrie Dagg, Joan Fulthorp Jubb, Kristilyn McCutcheon, Wendy McCutcheon, Sophia Ross, Francis Samson, Erinn Stenman-Fahey, Freya Van Every and John Veenstra.

Participation in Sunday Ministries enables members of the congregation to actively volunteer their time and gifts during Sunday services. The Roster is the coordination tool developed quarterly to organize these volunteers (Rosterians) in performing the diverse number of duties.

The Roster is prepared three times a year and is sent out electronically to all who will be on duty during that quarter. Those who have requested to receive a hard copy of the Roster continue to do so via the post. Rosterians are asked to advise the individual who develops the quarterly Roster (the "Rostermeister") well in advance if they know of upcoming Sundays on which they are not available. If the day assigned is not convenient, an exchange with another Rosterian is always possible. The church office continues to notify Rosterians a week in advance if they are scheduled for a duty.

The functions encompassed by Sunday Ministries are divers, and each one is crucial to the smooth running of the Sunday services at St John's:

• Altar Guild members take care of the altar, its furnishings, the communion vessels and the flowers;
• Servers Guild members assist the clergy during the Eucharist;
• Wardens and Sidespeople greet all who come to worship (see above);
• Readers read text from the Old and New Testaments to proclaim the Word (see above);
• Intercessors lead the congregation in prayer during the Prayers of the People;
• Communion Assistants assist clergy during the distribution of the sacramental bread and wine during the Eucharist;
• Wheelchair Brigadiers help as required so that all may meet at the altar;
• • Welcome Table attendants answer any questions regarding parish life at St John's following the Sunday service - it is suggested that a sidesperson be assigned Welcome Table duties ensuring the Table is stocked with current and pertinent Parish information and able to answer questions following the Sunday service;
• Coffee Makers enable the social time after the Sunday service in the Parish Hall; and
• Tower Bell Ringers ring the tower bell prior to and concluding worship services sending out the message to the broader community that St John's is open and welcoming to all.
• There will soon be a new initiative for the use of name tags at St. John's.

Weekly, at least 23 Rosterians volunteer their time to perform these duties during the Sunday service. Currently, there are over 100 plus Rosterians. Please consider this an invitation to participate in Sunday Ministries at St John's. As well, if you are interested, please join the St John's Rosterians Facebook group as either a Rosterian or simply an interested soul.

At 9 a.m. most Sunday mornings, a small group gathers to share through the reading of Holy Scripture. Most Sundays, the group reads together the lections appointed for that day, and discuss the readings informally. In the fall, the Rector joined us on the last Sunday of each month to lead "spiritual conversation", a particular method of meditating on one passage from Scripture, as a group.

The Bible Study Group is an opportunity for open sharing - our experiences of life, our own personal stories while discussing that which resonates with us in our common sacred story found in Scripture. It is a time for sharing. We would be delighted if more would come join us for fellowship before Sunday morning worship.

We have had another busy and enthusiastic year of ringing the Tower Bell for regular Sunday services, special community events, and weddings. We also tolled the bell following funeral and memorial services.

Although we have a faithful and supportive group of parishioners of all ages on the roster, we always welcome new recruits. If you are interested in learning more about ringing the Tower Bell, please contact Glen Robinson.

The wheelchair brigade assists those who need help to move around the church before, during and after the 10:15 Sunday worship. Currently there are nine wheelchair "brigaders": Bill Broughton, Michael Dowie, Detlef Dransch, Gloria Fox, Ron Hannah, John Mallett, John Nesbitt, Graham Smith and Hans Stenman. Hence, duty is about once every two months.

Those on duty arrive 15 minutes before the service and stand ready by the church ramp entrance. People may arrive up the outside church ramp independently, or with the assistance of another person or by Para Transpo. The latter are helped up the ramp to the door by the driver and are then assisted by whoever is on duty. The person is taken down the nave ramp and parked in the adjacent space. In addition, they are provided with the bulletin, the service book, the hymnbook and anything else that they may need. It normally is not necessary to sit with the person during the service.

At the time of the Eucharist, the volunteer takes the person up the ramp to the communion rail on the "standing" side of the Warrior's Chapel. After communion the person is returned to his/her position by the ramp, or, if the person is to be picked up by Para Transpo, taken to the door to the outside church ramp to be ready for pick-up. Otherwise, at the conclusion of the service the person is taken up the ramp either to the parish hall if staying for coffee or to the door to the outside church ramp. At that point the duties are over.

Clearly, this ministry is essential and not onerous. New volunteers would be most welcome!

The latest incarnation of the Worship Committee has been in existence for just over a year. We gather to reflect on what we do in the liturgy and why. As a group we struggle with a variety of opinions about what we cannot live without and what we may want to explore as something new and different to us. There is never a dull moment.

+Last year the committee worked very hard on the liturgies of Lent and Holy Week. Holy Week is the most important of our holidays. It is a unit from Palm Sunday through the last days of Jesus to the Holy Saturday explosion of light in the darkness and the dawn of Easter Day.

Changes were made to previous years' celebrations and we will not be making changes per se this year. We are obligated, however, to making the liturgies work in the new space.

Please feel free to give your reflections and suggestions to any of the members of the committee: Dana, Gordon, Heather Mallet, Gillian Wallace, Pat Love, Melodie Conlon, Bev Bewley, Sally Andrews, Pat Bowen, Wendy McCutcheon and Joan Dolphin.

There has been a suggestion that we re-write the St. John's liturgy. This would be a major project, and if you are interested please let us know.

We are Easter people and "Alleluia" is our cry!