Haiti Earthquake: Church at work

Read more about how the Anglicans from the Anglican Church of Canada are helping through the PWRDF.

2009 Christmas Services

Thursday, December 24th
Christmas Eve

5:00 p.m. Carols and The Christmas Story

7:00 p.m. Worship and Carols accompanied by guitar & piano

9:00 p.m. Worship with Parish Choir

11:00 p.m. Traditional Worship and Music


Friday, December 25th
Christmas Day

10:00 a.m. Worship and Carols


Sunday, December 27th
1st Sunday after Christmas

8:00 am Worship

9:30 a.m. Worship and Carols


Note: There will be no 10:00 am service on Thursday, December 24th or 31st

Sacred Shrines or Messy Churches?

So many of the Bible’s stories remind us that, since the fall, we have gotten "caught up" in places; Holy Lands, Holy Mountains, Holy Sites, Holy Buildings. To these places, we get attached in a way that often overtakes the original reason that the place itself was important. For instance, even the disciples, who spent all of there time on the move with Jesus traveling from place to place and who never stayed long anywhere, were tempted to try to make a location Holy with a shrine. Remember the story of Peter, James, and John, when they saw Jesus transfigured on an unnamed mountain. In Mark 9:5 after seeing Jesus transfigured before them “Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”” This shows us that even Peter couldn’t resist the urge to want to build a shrine on that mountain side. We get attached to places and buildings where special events happen and we often try to preserve/honour or even freeze in time that special and important event or encounter with God by building a shrine.

Take the Temple of Jerusalem for instance. The building of the first temple was an important sign for the people that God had made true on his promises to Abraham and Moses and delivered them to a land of their own where they built the temple. In Jesus day, the temple was in fact the third one which had been rebuilt by Herod, over the second, not long before Jesus' Birth. It is important to note that Jesus spent most of his time outside the temple and Jerusalem, preaching against the Scribes and Pharisees who taught that the Temple and that temple ritual was absolutely central to the Jewish faith and their relationship with God. Jesus' message removed the temple from its place in the relationship between God and God's people. This is what made him such a marked man among the religious authorities. Our Gospel passage today reads, As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."” (Mark 13:1-2) In our gospel passage today, when Jesus seems to be predicting the destruction, yet again, of the grand and glorious Temple, Jesus is more truly pointing out that the New Covenant, the new relationship that he has come to invite us into with God, that this teaching itself removes completely the importance of this glorious building. The building of the temple in Jerusalem was a culmination of hundreds of years of struggle and growth for a community who were constantly working out their relationship of faith with God. But once the temple became the center of all they did they began to lose their true center, their relationship with God. God loves people, not buildings.

You see, it does not matter to God or Jesus if we meet in a church or in a pub, or a home, or on the street or anywhere else. It is more important to be the community of God in our actions. It is not where we worship, but that we worship. Even then if what we all we do is worship, if we just speak the words or only pray the prayers, and that worship, those prayers, and those words don't actually touch us and change us, or guide our actions in everything else we do during the week, then we are missing the point of Jesus' message. Meeting God and Jesus doesn’t happen in a church, it happens in our hearts! What we do in this physical place is only important if it lead us to go out by word and example to introduce it to others.

Don't get me wrong, I love this pile of stones, we call St. George's. But as far as our mission as the church, every effort and dollar that we spend on this physical building needs to be held up against that "new relationship" that Jesus called us into. If we are building up our facilities for their own sake our for the sake of what this place once meant to us or for the sake of those that were once here, then we have most seriously gotten off track! Jesus calls us to preserve his message, not the building we built in his name. Jesus taught his disciples to go out and tell others about this new relationship that was available for them. Jesus makes this clear in the commissioning he gives his disciples in the final chapter of Mark Gospel. In chapter 16 verse 15, the resurrected Jesus instructs his disciples to “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” For you and I today that remains the mission as the church.

I want to highlight for you today about one of the great ways that St. George's is proclaiming the Good News and introducing people in our community to the message that Jesus has offered each of us a new relationship with God. Messy Church. The reason I highlight it today is twofold. First, it is very clearly the results of us as followers of Jesus establishing relationships with those who wish to be introduced to the message of Jesus and second it is an example of one of the ways that we, working together as a Christian community, are providing others with the opportunity to begin to grow in their relationship with God through Jesus. I also want to highlight it this morning because it was just this week that some of the abundance of the fruits of our work was revealed. This past Wednesday night, in the parish hall we hosted “Messy Church.” and Messy Church is a monthly service intended and aimed at providing a relaxed, meaningful and family friendly way for folks to experience the teachings of Jesus and taste the kind of community and relationships that God invites us into. This past week, thirty eight people, made up of mainly parents and young children and including The Rev'd Nancy Rowe and her team of volunteers, were guided and supported at Messy Church through crafts, some music and a reflection on the importance of Jesus. At Messy Church prayed, had some fellowship and we ate a meal. This months’ attendance, along with last months total of 34 people both guests and hosts, for me were proof that our efforts to connect new families are beginning to bear good fruit. And I need you to know that the growth that's beginning to take hold at Messy Church is directly related to the dedicated ministry that Nancy is helping us to provide to the family's that come to us for Baptism. With her leadership preparing the families for baptism and her shepherding them with the monthly "First Steps" program, her monthly phone calls, and her letters, Nancy has been tilling the soil of relationship with these young families. Her important ministry says to these families that we as a church community care about them and their children's and family's spiritual growth.

I rejoice today in Nancy's ministry and ministry of her volunteers that support her Messy Church gatherings, and I say thanks to everyone of you who supports our ministry here at St. George's that allows us to reach out to these young families and invite them into a fuller relationship with God and with us. If you would like to be part of this growing area of our ministry then I would encourage you to attend to help us welcome and connect with these new families. I would also encourage you to invite others to our Messy Church gatherings who you think might find this sort of gathering a good step toward strengthening their relationship with God.

What God's children accomplished with the temple was truly awesome. But with the New Covenant, Jesus was inviting them, and us to take it to the next step. The definition of being the church, being a community of Christians, being Anglicans, being St. George's, being a Christian, is determined by the strength of our relationship both with God and with each other. These bonds of relationship form, they hold strong, or they break based on how we treat each other and act with each other. Jesus knew that they day was coming when the stones of the great temple, which had become the central focus of the Jewish Faith, would be torn apart, but he knew he was offering a way build a community in a way that could not be destroyed or torn down by any outside force. The New Covenant was the bond between us and God that he came to strengthen and repair, and the bond between God's children that he came to build up. These relationships are the building blocks if the Kingdom he proclaimed and promised. These relationships build the ultimate and final structure which we glimpse in our lives when we get it right, like we do when we get it right here on a Sunday, or like we did at Messy church on Wednesday, or this week maybe you saw a glimpse of it at work, or even in you home with your family, or when you were out with a friend. With every baptism and every new relationship, the Kingdom grows. With every act of compassion, with every opportunity we have to demonstrate to another person a Christian virtue, the kingdom grows. So may God continue to strengthen us as we encourage and support each other in this mission Jesus leads us in. Amen.

Note from Rob

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I wanted to keep you up to date with some ongoing and upcoming happenings here at St. George's. I can not highlight all the great activities that we are doing here, but please feel free to ask Sue Graham, office@stgeorgesgeorgetown.com, to put you on the emailing list for our weekly e-bulletin.

I also must admit that I completely forgot to let everyone know about the fact that we welcomed Pat Klaus to St. George's in September.

I am soooo sorry, Pat!

Pat is a theological student at Trinity College and will be doing her intern placement at St. George's until Christmas. Please welcome her and keep Pat in your prayer as she spends the next few months walking along side us, and with us (and extra prayers because she has to put up with ME as her supervisor).

Bazaar: November 7th, 10am - 2pm
The Bazaar is fast approaching. I am always amazed and grateful at how many folks help and support our yearly bazaar. One of the highlights and "signature items" of our Bazaar has been our cookie trays. We invite everyone who would like to help with our cookie trays to bake us up a tray or two of your fanciest (nut-free) holiday cookies or squares and drop it by the church on the Thursday night (6-9pm) or Friday morning (9am-noon). Our Coordinators are Marilyn Pope and Linda Reaume if you need any information about any of the great things we have at our bazaar or if you would like to help out. I hope you come and check out the Christmas, Country Kitchen, White Elephant, Sewing, Baking, Used Book, Toy's and Baby's, Jewelry, and Used Book Tables. You can even stay for Lunch!

Bell Ringing: Encouraging Better Stewardship of the Earth
St. George's was invited to join with other churches around the world in raising awareness about the important upcoming UN World Climate meeting. 350.org, invited us to ring the church bells 350 times on Saturday October 24th as symbolic support for their call for world leaders to set a goal of keeping atmospheric CO2 levels at or below 350 parts per million. We did and I posted here about that earlier.

Bishop's Vision: Your Opportunity to Chat
Bishop Michael Bird had asked for the opportunity to come and visit our area to have the opportunity to speak with us about his vision for the Diocese of Niagara. Bishop Bird was at St. Stephen's, Hornby and all five of the local Anglican parishes, including St. George's were invited to attend and speak with him. I was very encouraged that so many people from St. George's came to here and speak with the Bishop. Our recent changes in our ministry with the Contemporary worship service at 11:15, monthly Messy Church gatherings, an improved focus on our ministry to our baptismal families, and our STEAM conversation with the other four Anglican makes St. George's an excellent partner with the Bishop in helping his vision become a reality for our diocese. Here is a link to a copy (in pdf format) of the Bishop's vision as it was presented to synod last November.

Helping in our Community
Now not steal away any of the thunder of our church's bazaar on November 7th but that morning is also the day the local Christian churches have set aside for the fall version of our spring Community Unity clean up. Volunteers are welcomed to help form small teams to go to people's homes and help them with their fall clean up. Contact me if you are interested in helping or if you know someone who would benefit from the help. There is also a sign-up sheet available in the church lobby. The meeting point on the 7th is the Georgetown Alliance Church @ 8:30 am until about noon and please bring rakes, garden gloves and other small garden tools.

Also, I would like to thank everyone who brought non-perishable food items to church on Thanksgiving Sunday and I invite you to continue to support our local food bank, The Georgetown Bread Basket. It is operated completely by volunteers from within the community and, as a member of the Ontario Association of Food Banks, it collects and distributes non-perishable food to needy families and individuals in our community at no cost to them. The Bread Basket is open Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 9 am - Noon and is located at 55 Sinclair Avenue, Unit 22. For information about volunteering or about how to receive food please call 905-873-3368.

mEssY ChUrcH and a VBS reunion
Our latest Messy Church gathering was a great success, as we invited all the families that participated in our summer VBS program. 34 adults and children made crafts, sang, and talked about the many ways that we think about who Jesus is. All that fun and fellowship ended, as always with a meal. Messy Church is the 2nd Wednesday of every month from 5pm to 7pm. Thanks to The Rev'd Nancy Rowe, her team of helpers, and everyone who came out.

Thanks for your prayers and your continued financial support that allows the ministry at St. George's to continue to do all the good things it does to proclaim Christ in your lives and in the lives of our community!

Peace,
Rob