newslinks: fall 2014

Fall 2014

Connect with Us! 21557 Richmond St P.O. Box #129 Arva ON NOM 1CO

P: 519-660-8177 F: 519-660-0946 E: [email protected] Rector: Rev. Wendy Mencel Honourary Assistant: Rev. Kate Hathaway Lay Reader: Jean Davies

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stjohnsarva.ca /stjohnsarva @saintjohnsarva

one of my favourite times of the year! I guess the combination of the hope of new beginnings (a new

school year to be sure) and more order and structure to the day plays a large role in this. (Okay and if I

am being honest, my birthday falls in September too!!!)

Summer around the parish was rather peaceful and longer days were

accompanied by beautiful sunsets. We find ourselves heading into

September with the memories of fresh watermelon and delicious corn-on-

the-cob.

This fall, for me, is going to unfold in a rather different manner. As many

of you know my stepson James needs a kidney. He and his brother have a

genetic disorder called Alports Syndrome, and James has been on dialysis

for approximately a year. His body is not responding well to the dialysis

and it has compromised his life a great deal.

On a whim last winter I had my blood type tested and to my great surprise,

was a match. After a series of tests (over 75 vials of blood taken to date!) I

am scheduled to donate my left kidney to James on September 3rd.

It is amazing how God works in our lives. I remember John telling me

shortly after we were married that he knew I would be a great support as

he walked through this disease with his two boys. Little did either of us

know that that walk would be towards donation.

It is a great privilege but also rather scary to donate. But, I know that our

Lord travels with both James and myself and will

comfort us throughout this process. At every turn I

have been fortunate to experience Gods grace and I

am so incredibly thankful for it.

Rev. Kate has graciously accepted to fill in while I am

away and I know that she will provide our parish family

with great support and awesome sermons!

Fall is...

Welcome Back Service

& Potluck Luncheon

Sun Sept 14th at 10:30 am

Parish Council Meeting

Wed Sept 17th at 7:00 pm

Community Breakfast

Sun Sept 21st at 9:30 am

Anglican Fellowship of Prayer

Conference

Sat Oct 4th at 9:00 am

Stop Stressing! Count Your

Blessings Workshop

Tues Oct 7th at TBA Facilitated by Dr. Ian Nicholson

Visioning Day

Sat Oct 18th at 8:00 am Facilitated by Paul Townshend

Fall 2014



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Gaelic Prayer May God give us light to guide us,

Courage to support us,

And love to unite us,

Now and evermore.

In Our Community

Rev. Kate and I were talking about the state of the church, organized religion, and the

decline of faith communities as individuals search for meaning in other ways. Kate,

who is a voracious reader, brought to my attention a little book entitled Buddhist

Bootcamp. Wow, it knocked my socks off!

Buddhism is not a religion in that it excludes other religious traditions,

but rather is a way of life. Some scholars believe Jesus studied Buddhism in

his early years and many of his sayings have Buddhist roots.

All I know is that this book calls us to live in the now, simplify our lives and invest in our relationships. I

believe Jesus called us to do the same things!! We are toying with how to incorporate some of these

teachings with our Christian teachings, specifically the meditative aspect of this book: rooted in our

Christian teachings and yet open to Eastern influence.

Thank you for all you do to make St. Johns such a loving community.

In Christ,

Rev. Wendy Mencel

Rector

Sunday, August 10th ~ Decoration Day with Cemetery Director, Margaret McCullough & Mark

Spring/Summer Weddings Saturday, May 31st

Our Parish Administrator Rose with Rev. Wendy

& Canon Dr. Kevin George

Saturday, July 12th

Emma Squires-Smith, Jo Kains & Rev. Wendy

Remember Our Christmas Bazaar...

when canning your veggies this Fall!

Fall 2014



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KIDS SUMMER CAMP MURIEL VINCENT

What a great week we had at Kingdom Rock summer camp this year, which

was held from July 7th - 11th! Through Bible stories, science, fun, music and

outdoor games, our 20 campers learned about 'standing strong for God'

and how to apply this to their daily lives. Our summer camp at St. John's

also incorporates 'reaching out' to the world beyond our own doorstep: this

year we raised $172.00 for PWRDF's School Lunches for Haiti program.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make our 2014

summer camp a great success! Thank you to Cindy Nicholson for her leadership and planning, Sanya Prentice and Nancy

Davis for all their help and support, and to our youth volunteers, Olivia and Abby Murray, Katie Olson-Lamari and Lexi

McConnell who were great leaders and rolemodels for our young children.

Thank you also to those who donated money, snack items, fruit and juices, and to all who served to make this a great

week for everyone. Truly, God's Kingdom Rocks!

EMBRACING A LIFE OF MEANING: FIVE WEEK VIDEO

DISCUSSION STUDY SUNDAYS AT 9 AM ~ SEPTEMBER 21ST, SEPTEMBER 28TH, OCTOBER 5TH, OCTOBER 12TH & OCTOBER 19TH

Kathleen Norris leads us through a series of 10-15 minute video presentations followed by group

discussion. We will explore:

Why does belief matter?

To what do we give our hearts?

Can Biblical teachings be of benefit in our daily lives?

What does it mean to remain in God's image?

As with all our studies, conversation is encouraged and divergent paths of conversation always welcome. Facilitated by

Rev. Wendy Mencel & Paul Townshend. Sign up on the sheet in the hallway.

Announcements

Fall 2014



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VISIONING MORNING

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18TH ~ 8:00 AM We encourage you to join us for our Visioning Morning! Be a part of the future of St. Johns. We will be revitalizing our

Mission Statement and focusing on updating our Strategic Plan for the coming year.

Goal setting will address areas such as:

Care and upkeep of the church

Engaging children, youth and young adults

Supporting clergy and lay leaders

Fundraising

Creating our future

The morning is an opportunity for us to bring our ideas together and discern God's path for the future. For more

information, contact Paul Townshend 519-433-5406 or [email protected]

INTERIM OFFERINGS If you would like to receive an interim report of your offerings, at any time in the year, please contact

our Envelope Secretary, Doug Gould 519-672-3876 or [email protected]

WELCOMING BACK & LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PAUL TOWNSHEND

Summertime and its more casual agenda are quickly coming to a close. We hope everyone has had a chance to enjoy

the greater flexibility of holiday time as well as opportunities to reconnect with family and friends. We are all heading

back into our regular routines as fall approaches. This of course includes getting back into our church routine and

thinking about the meaning of our Christian Community at St. Johns Arva.

Many Churches are wondering what their place is in todays Post-Christian era. Not long ago, Christian traditions,

customs and teachings were an integral part of greater society. Most things in society were done in a Christian way.

Stewardship Update

A Friendly Reminder

Fall 2014



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This is not so today. Now, we share our society with people of numerous religions and of

no religion. There are people who are inquisitive about Christianity, those who are

tolerant of Christianity and those who are working actively against Christianity.

In the past, Anglican church congregations were regularly supplied by the ongoing

immigration of people familiar with Anglican traditions and the Christian way of life,

whereas today, we have immigration from many different areas of the world. This

certainly enriches and broadens our current society, but there are also fewer people

familiar with the Christian way of life.

There are also many people who participated in our churches as youngsters with their parents, but through adolescence

and the pressures of todays society have drifted away. On the converse, societys obsession with consumerism has left

many people seeking greater meaning in their lives a meaning they are able to achieve through finding a church

community. Consumerism tells us that we always need to buy the newest, biggest or best of the latest fad in order to be

truly fulfilled, but in the end, it always rings hollow.

Our challenge as a Christian community at St. Johns Arva is to find ways of demonstrating to others the benefits of

living a Christian life:

Why is it worthwhile to believe in God and follow the teachings of Jesus?

Why does it make a difference to us?

Why would it make a difference for others who are not familiar with Jesus?

It is important for us to wrestle with these questions. We need to become comfortable

talking about our faith, so we can explain to others how belief in God provides fulfillment and meaning through our

relationship with Jesus.

Lets look to the future! Lets look for new ways to help people find meaning within our Christian Community, greater

society and life, in general.

Fall 2014



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Fall 2014



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newslinks: fall 2014

Documents

great support

kate hathaway lay reader

great surprise

great privilege

great deal

stepson james

jean davies

voracious reader