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Lent 2, 2021 – Sermon

St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church, Lent 2, February 28, 2021 Canon Claude Schroeder.

Sermon on Mark 8. 31-38

Sermon Audio

The season of Lent, as we have been learning, was established in the early church as a period of preparation for the “Paschal Feast”, which we call Easter, that is the joyful victory celebration over sin, death, and the devil which Jesus accomplished through His suffering, death, and Resurrection. Lent was also a time when convents to the Christian faith were prepared for that moment when in Baptism they were marked out as followers of Jesus Christ, were united to Jesus in His death and Resurrection, sealed with the Holy Spirit, adopted into the family of God, and were made members of the Body of Christ. God willing, we will be celebrating Easter baptisms at St. Mary’s this year!

But who is this Jesus Christ, and what does it mean for us to follow Him?  Our Gospel lesson today puts before us the centrality of the suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our understanding of who He is, and our life as Christians. 

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Lent 1, 2021 – Bulletin

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT.

February 21, 2021

TODAY AT ST. MARY’S

10.30  A.M. MORNING PRAYER WITH HYMNS AND SERMON. Beth  preaching.

  • GODLY PLAY for children 3-6 years via zoom. Today’s story is ‘Lent-Thirty Pieces Of Silver’ Matthew 26:14 – 27:5.
  • FAITHQUEST (for children 7-13 via zoom). Today we continue with the story of Jacob and Esau with a Divine Diversions workshop  – led by Len.

1.00 P.M. “BENEDICITE” WALKING GROUP meets this afternoon under the Lych Gate at ST. Mary’s  for a guided prayer walk . “O ye ice and snow bless ye the Lord, Praise Him and Magnify Him for ever!”

4.30 P.M. FASTING FOR FEEDING. Today we will be joining together on zoom to cook Sweet Potato. and Chick Pea Stew. Please see attached recipe for ingredient list. To join in, please go to: this link . 

PARISH LIFE NOTES

ST. MARY’S ANNUAL MEETING was held last Sunday afternoon via video conference with 40 parishioners in attendance. We received the 2020 Annual Reports and Financial Statements, and approved the budget of $224,996 for the coming year. Beth was the Rector’s appointment for Churchwarden, and Mary was the elected Churchwarden. Returning to serve on the Vestry this year are: Katherine, Bob, Nathaniel, Alanna, Tom. New members of Vestry are: Andrew and Ben. Special thanks to Dave for chairing the meeting, and to Janice, who retired from serving as churchwarden.

PLEDGE FORMS FOR 2021. The churchwardens ask that parishioners fill out and return paper pledge form that was mailed out, or fill out the pledge form on the parish web-site. Financial commitment is not only part and parcel of our out discipleship of Jesus Christ as expressed in our Rule of Life (BCP, p. 555), but is vital for the health, and well being for our parish, and assists the Vestry in stewarding our parishes finances. 

BUILDING UPGRADE. This week saw the installation of a new sound system for St. Mary’s with enhanced audio recording capability and the installation of new lighting in the lounge/ meeting room. Our thanks to Terry for overseeing this work.

BIBLE STUDY ON THE LETTER TO THE HEBREWS with Henry meets on zoom this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.  Please contact Henry for advance readings and zoom link.

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Lent 1, 2021 – Sermon

Sermon Audio

A period of forty days is significant in scripture, and is repeated over and over:

We heard in the Penitential Rite on Ash Wednesday that the forty days of Lent are the Church’s preparation for the great feast at Easter, and that that preparation takes the form of “self-examination and repentance, prayer, fasting and self-denial, and reading and meditation on God’s holy Word” (BCP pp. 611-612). 

  • Genesis 7 – in the great flood, rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
  • Exodus 24 – Moses was on the mountain with God forty days and forty nights.
  • Numbers 13 – the Hebrew spies were in in the land of Canaan forty days.
  • 1 Samuel 17 – the giant Goliath tormented the Israelite army for forty days before David killed him.
  • 1 Kings 19 – when Elijah was on the run from Jezebel, an angel fed him a meal of bread and water, and on the strength of it he walked forty days from Beer-Sheba to Mount Horeb.
  • Jonah 3 – Jonah’s prophecy to Nineveh was that they had forty days to repent.

And Mark tells us in his Gospel that after Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, he went into the wilderness for forty days and was tempted by Satan.

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Ash Wednesday, 2021 – Bulletin

ASH WEDNESDAY
February 17, 2021

TODAY AT ST. MARY’S

7.00 P.M. Penitential Service with Hymn and Sermon. Claude Schroeder preaching.

KEEPING A HOLY LENT

BAPTISM IN THE ARTS  STUDY GROUP

with Beth meets this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. This group is going to look at how baptism has been portrayed in the arts as a way of understanding the role our baptism plays in our lives and in our culture writ large.  We will be looking at visual arts, poetry, literature, film, and music. Reading for our first session are below:

More about this group

Every week on Saturday at 7 PM from Feb 20 until Mar 27, 2021, 6 occurrence(s)
        Feb 20, 2021 07:00 PM
        Feb 27, 2021 07:00 PM
        Mar 6, 2021 07:00 PM
        Mar 13, 2021 07:00 PM
        Mar 20, 2021 07:00 PM
        Mar 27, 2021 07:00 PM

Download and import these dates as iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.

Link to Join the Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 845 1035 9783
Passcode: 677305

Reading material for this group:

Introduction-and-Background-Information
If-She-Comes-Up-Its-Baptism
The-Baptism
The-River

FASTING FOR FEEDING

Next Sunday afternoon at 4.30 p.m. will be our first on-line Fasting for Feeding Community Kitchen, where will be cooking Sweet Potato Chick Pea Stew! Please see attached recipe for ingredient list. To join in, please go to: this link . 

“BENEDICTE” WALKING GROUP

will meet this Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. under the Lych Gate at St. Mary’s “O ye ice and snow bless ye the Lord, Praise Him and Magnify Him for ever!”

BIBLE STUDY ON THE LETTER TO THE HEBREWS

with Henry begins next Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The Letter to the Hebrews is a wonderful explanation as to how the ancient Israelite sacrificial liturgy is superceded by the one that is introduced to us via the life, ministry and death of Jesus Christ. Please contact Henry for advance readings and zoom link.

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Ash Wednesday, 2021 – Sermon

St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Ash Wednesday, Feb 17. 2021 Canon Claude Schroeder

Sermon Audio

“The word “Lent “ comes from on old  English word ‘lencten” meaning ‘spring-time ’ which isn’t particularly helpful in  mid February on the Canadian Prairies  where we are just starting to come out of a particularly brutal polar vortex.

Besides what does Lent have to do with spring-time?

Nothing. 

Lent, as we heard in the exhortation was, in the early Church, a penitential season of preparation for baptism, and the annual journey of remembrance towards the celebration of Easter.

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Last Sunday after Epiphany, 2021 – Sermon

St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Epiphany 6, Feb. 14, 2021. Canon Claude Schroeder

Rector’s Report to the Annual General Meeting

Sermon Audio

At a recent video conference, the clergy of the Diocese were asked to share in small groups their response to some questions, including “How have you been affected by the pandemic?” “How has your parish coped during this time?”

I shared that it has been a bit like the magician who attempted the trick of pulling the table cloth out from under the dishes and glasses on the table, without disturbing them. According to the laws of physics, it’s not much of a trick at all, because when you pull the cloth, the dishes stay put on account of what physicists call  “inertia”, which is the property of matter that describes its resistance to any change in its motion.  Only in this case, when the magician yanked the table-cloth, while some of the dishes and glassware, thanks to inertia, remained in place, others landed in broken pieces on the floor, which has required a certain amount of clean up and re-setting of the table.

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Last Sunday after Epiphany, 2021 – Bulletin

THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
February 14, 2021

GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY BE TO HIM FOREVER!

TODAY AT ST. MARY’S

10.30  A.M. MORNING PRAYER WITH HYMNS AND SERMON. Claude Schroeder preaching.

Godly Play for children 3-6 years via Zoom. Today’s story the Parable of ‘The Great Banquet’ Luke 14:15-24.

Children’s Lenten Alms. For our Children’s Lenten Alms Family Ministries has chosen City Kidz. We will be collecting alms for City Kidz, an organization that exists to help children living in low-income communities by providing inspirational experiences and personal relationships.

3:00 P.M. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING via Zoom (see below).

PARISH LIFE NOTES

ANNUAL MEETING takes place today at 3:00 p.m. on Zoom. The purpose of this meeting is to receive ministry reports from 2020, review 2020 financial statements, receive proposed budget, and elect parish officers for 2021. Members of the congregation who have been baptized and attained the age of 18 years and regularly attend services at St. Mary’s are encouraged to attend and entitled to a vote on motions. To access the meeting, please go to:: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82611913486?pwd=YzVleGpXMGZ0NjZ1dGtIdE9XREhDQT09

KEEPING A HOLY LENT. Packages containing a pastoral letter from the Rector, prayer and study materials and information on Lenten offerings have been mailed out and hand delivered this week end. 

ASH WEDNESDAY devotions for the Home Church will be sent out this Tuesday, along with Zoom links and materials for small group studies.

FASTING FOR FEEDING. Next Sunday afternoon at 4.30 p.m. will be our first on- line Fasting for Feeding Community Kitchen, where will be cooking Sweet Potato Chick Pea Stew! Please see attached recipe for ingredient list.

PLEDGE FORMS FOR 2021. The churchwardens ask that parishioners fill out and return paper pledge form that was mailed out, or fill out the pledge form on the parish web-site. Financial commitment is not only part and parcel of our out discipleship of Jesus Christ as expressed in our Rule of Life (BCP, p. 555), but is vital for the health, and well being for our parish, and assists the Vestry in stewarding our parishes finances. 

THE PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY began in the early 1990’s in the USA and is now practiced beyond North America.  This ministry began in 2008 in the parish family of St. Mary’s Anglican in Regina.  Prayer shawls, knitted or crocheted, throw-size or scarf-size, are made by a group of knitters on a regular basis, as a way to provide tangible evidence of the loving, prayerful support of the congregation for someone in need.  Someone may be blessed with a prayer shawl when they are college-bound and leaving St. Mary’s, are in a crisis, facing surgery, critically ill or dying. They may also receive one when they are expecting a baby, recently bereaved or in a seniors’ residence.  The repetitive nature of knitting allows the knitter to meditate and pray with every stitch – every inch of the yarn passes through their fingers, knowing that it will eventually embrace another. Crafters choose soft yarn in order to provide comfort to the recipient and their work is blessed at a worship service before it is presented.

If you would like to be one of our knitters or wish to gift a prayer shawl, please contact Norma or Kate.