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Sunday Prayers - The Feast of All Saints
The parish of St. Paul’s is called to prayer Sunday morning to mark the Feast of All Saints. In the English services, the preacher is Fr. Arthur Boers. Information about the services at the church and online is available here: www.stpl.ca/services.html NOTE: Daylight savings ends tonight and we fall back an hour. Fr. Gordon Byce - Rest in Peace When I first arrived at St. Paul’s it took a bit of time to figure out the boundaries of this new responsibility, both seen and unseen. One day, Fr. Gordon called me and invited me to lunch. I was certain that I had crossed one of the unseen lines and was about to get it. In fact, his purpose was to encourage me, and to offer his support. With a shared experience in western Canada there was a special bond. The kindness he showed me that day stands out in my first year at St. Paul’s and was repeated many times afterwards. (The last contact I had with him was a few weeks ago when he called me to ask how I was.) I mention this because yesterday I called Canon Don Bone, the incumbent at St. Paul’s through the 1970’s, who told me a variation of the same story - from over forty years ago! Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that in marriage a family forms a link in the generations, from one generation to the next. With the loss of Fr. Gordon and of Lois Byce in 2017 - we celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary twelve years ago! - we surrender to God one of St. Paul’s golden links, whose personal touch and kindness has touched so many, with us since 1964, a link in our life together for over the last half century. Fr. Gordon died this past Wednesday, October 28, in his 99th year. Funeral arrangements will be announced once they are available. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. All Saints Greetings The Primate of All Canada, Linda Nicholls - and a former curate at St. Paul’s - has offered a word of hope to the church on the occasion of the Feast of All Saints. Bishop Asbil has brought this to the attention of us all and you are welcome to view it here: www.anglican.ca A New AV Team at St. Paul’s In September St. Paul’s received a grant to purchase equipment for audio and video recording. The grants were made available from the Diocese of Toronto for churches now having to record and stream online services and programs due to Covid-19. However, in making our application, we were also eager to encourage our musicians and our community music program. Musicians are one of the hardest hit groups in this pandemic. To that end we proposed recording our musicians in an empty church and according to safety standards sometime during the week, and then playing the video in church on Sunday morning on our large screen TV, and adding it to our weekly recorded service. We have done this on the last four recordings and in church. In our application, we also proposed adding a new group to our community youth music program. While the program presently includes a children’s choir, a youth choir, a string ensemble and a steel band, we would like to add an Audio-Video Team who are trained in audio/video recording, mixing and production. Nowadays, almost every musical group has need of these skills. Each skill has unique and specialized requirements. And because of the power of ordinary home computers, there is a great deal that can be done that was once possible only in expensive studios. This idea was inspired by the generosity and encouragement of Ron Royer, the current director of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra and a great friend of our youth music program. He and his wife Kaye came to Toronto from Hollywood where he was a film score composer and producer. Kaye is a talented cellist. You can read about him here: www.ronaldroyer.com This coming Thursday on Zoom, Ron will lead an introduction to AV production for our new team. Additionally, he has contact with doctoral students at the University of Toronto in AV engineering. All things being equal, one will be invited to supervise and teach our new AV team. We have a great group already interested. Say a prayer for them and if you, or someone you know, has an interest, don’t hesitate to call me (416-497-6352) or write (deanmercer@hotmail.com). We’d love to have your help as pioneers in this new project at St. Paul, L’Amoreaux. Job Opening for a young person (15 -30 years) at ACSA Food Bank The Food Bank is looking for young people to fill three contract positions at the food bank. If you are interested, a full description is available (contact Fr. Dean or the office) or contact Kirsten at ACSA (wkirsten@agincourtcommunityservices.com - no phone calls). The deadline is this Wednesday, November 4. S.P.Y. - St. Paul’s Youth - Friday Nights, 7 p.m. News from S.P.Y. - two weeks ago, Sarah invited Terry Grooms to speak to our young people. Terry is a former player in the NFL and AFL and a friend of Sarah. What a great night, and more to come. Thank you, Sarah. Thanksgiving Food Bank Drive Please consider a gift to the Agincourt Community Services Food bank during our annual Thanksgiving food drive. And this note - you can make your financial donation directly by contacting ACSA, or you can make it through St. Paul’s by using your envelopes and indicating that it is a "special" offering for "The ACSA foodbank". Doing it through St. Paul’s eliminates the commission fee for making a donation by credit card as well as contributing to the total gift from St. Paul's to ACSA. Faithworks Reminder - A note from Peter Mentis, Director . . . As we enter the final quarter of this year’s FaithWorks campaign, I’d like to give you a brief update. To date we have raised $710,000, almost half of this year’s goal of $1,500,000. On a monthly basis we are ahead of last year by almost 30%. Individual donations to date are $299,000, up by 42% over all of last year. This increase so far is due to a generous response to our appeals and the pandemic. Also, the Easter Appeal was conducted online for the first time as well as by direct mail. Thank God, people want to help! But we are still short of our 2020 goal of $1.5 million. This final quarter is the season of parish campaigns. To give us added inspiration to reach our goal a generous donor has offered a $100,000 matching challenge grant for increases in parish contributions over last year. Will you be able to help FaithWorks take advantage of the opportunity this matching challenge grant offers us? At St. Paul’s, last year’s total was $5850. So far, about $4000 has been raised. Outreach Walk-a-thon This year’s annual Outreach Walk-a-thon has been adapted. Walkers were asked: 1) To signup - (call the office or send an email) 2) To collect sponsorships as usual, 3) to complete a 6 kilometer walk on their own (which is the distance of our usual walk), 4) and then to hand in forms, donations and pledges on All Saints Day - Sunday, November 1. 5) And . . . take a picture and send it in (stpl@stpl.ca). We’ll create a collection of all the trails our walkers walked. Forms and donations are now being accepted. Most have completed their walks but the pandemic has caused a few interruptions. Late submissions are still welcome and gratefully received. If needed, the sponsorship form is available from the office or online: www.stpl.ca/outreach.html Secondly, start looking ahead for a "Virtual Maytime Melodies Concert" of St. Paul’s musicians, with proceeds to Outreach. For more information, contact the office or Kathy. The Doors of St. Paul’s Have Re-opened In a series of careful steps, the doors are re-opening and services and programs are being resumed - starting with Sunday Services. We are working toward the resumption of other services and programs. However, because the virus remains active, safety guidelines are in effect and all online services will continue for the foreseeable future. Four services are offered in the church. Ninety (90) people, which is 30% of capacity, are allowed in the church proper - main floor and balcony - at any one time. The hall, kitchen and rooms downstairs remain closed. Sunday Schedule: 8.00 a.m. (at the church) 10.00 a.m. (at the church) 10.00 a.m. - Sunday School (online - see the church calendar) 10.30 a.m. - English service (online - see the church calendar) 1.00 p.m. (Chinese) 3.45 p.m. (Tamil) - also being streamed. 6.00 p.m. - Evening Prayer (online - see the church calendar) Morning Prayer will continue to be offered on Zoom, Monday through Saturday, as of September 13th. Sunday School and the Sunday recording will continue to be offered. Safety Guidelines St. Paul’s is following the safety guidelines issued by the Diocese of Toronto which can be read on the Diocesan website Other Services, Programs and Meetings - Gradually, we plan to resume other services, programs and meetings, but safely and carefully. Watch for updates and announcements. Summary - Due to broad cooperation across the country, the safety guidelines ensure that it is relatively safe to come back to church in the same way that it is now relatively safe to go to the grocery store, drug store, or hardware store. We are grateful to the Bishops and Diocese for their guidance. Small steps, but all in the right direction. And, as has been true all along, the situation remains dynamic. We’ll do our best to keep everyone updated. Looking for Work - If you’re looking, or know someone who is, here’s the national job site: www.jobbank.ca Friday Night Bible Study - on Zoom - Next Friday, November 6. Revelation 16, Lesson 16. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/830877703 Telephone: 647-374 4685, or 647-558 0588; Meeting ID: 830 877 703 Have you moved? - If you have moved recently, kindly notify the office of your new address, phone number and e-mail address. We appreciate your help. Gifts and Offerings - The emergency measures and suspension of all church services and programs presents a large challenge to churches and charities dependent on regular gatherings and fundraising events. Your faithful support is as important now as it has ever been. Church Envelopes can be sent by mail. Members may wish to sign up for the Pre-Authorized Giving Program (contact the office). Or, gifts can be made online at our website through CanadaHelps here: www.stpl.ca/give.html. Members who use online banking may now also make E-transfers (contact the office). Contact The clergy of St. Paul’s are all in the vicinity and can visit again, while observing the safety guidelines of the Diocese of Toronto. If any one of us can be of service, don’t hesitate to call or write. Website: www.stpl.ca Church phone: 416-499-1545; Email: stpl@stpl.ca Fr. Dean Mercer: deanmercer@hotmail.com Rectory phone: 416-497-6352. Comments are closed.
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December 2023
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