Table of Contents

Easter 2006 Edition
Table of Contents

• Editorial
• Easter 2006 Message from the Rector
• St. George's Evangelism
• Reflections on a Visit to the Solel Congregation
• Music & Worship
• A Visit to Trinity Church Streetsville
• The Story of a Life-Long Knitter: Ethel Harvey
• What Our Kid's Think About Lent
• Water: A Precious Resource
• Easter 2006 Youth News

Editorial

By Lucinda Landau

What is it like to hear the voice of God? Have you ever heard it?
We often puzzle over this issue. How can we be sure that we, mere humans, actually hear the voice of God? Archdeacon John McMulkin once described the 'voice' we hear upon answered prayer as the second part of hearing - while there is no person present to speak words out loud, the effect registers inwardly in our brain as thought. Our minds understand that we have been spoken to.

There are other ways to perceive the presence of the Divine in our lives. It can come from participation in a moving liturgy, sharing a life story with someone who is in distress, or simply watching a beautiful sunset.Something takes place that is out of the ordinary and we are forever changed by an inner realization. We, as faithful people, can hear the voice of God and feel loved.

In Israel, twenty-three years ago, I wandered the streets of Old Jerusalem as a pilgrim. My husband and I walked the Via Dolorosa behind a tour group who were following the Stations of the Cross. Somewhere near the 12th station, we were instinctively led off the designated path and we took a turn away from the tour group. Another pilgrim, a tall, handsome young man from Sweden split off with us as well. We weren't sure where we were going, but we followed our inner guidance until we unexpectedly arrived at hidden courtyard with a beautiful enclosed garden.

The three of us walked into the garden and stood dumbfounded. We were filled with the Spirit of Christ and could not speak. We stood on sacred ground.

This spot was not marked as one of the Stations of the Cross, but we knew we were in a holy place. All of our inner yearnings to immerse ourselves in Christ's journey of pain and suffering were me

Easter 2006 Message from the Rector

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I begin by stating the obvious fact that you are reading these words. Yes, it is true. The question is where are these words that you are reading? Are they in the paper version of The Georgian or the online version? This note from me, like many of the articles in this edition of our newsletter, will be found in both places, and that it is a really good thing for St. George's and our Evangelism efforts.

Our web presence is an important way for St. George's to let people know who we are and what we are about. It can, just like our traditional paper Georgian, tell stories and share our faith by witnessing to the things we do and say here in God name. Yet, one thing that makes our web site different from our traditional newsletter is that it can be accessed by anyone on the internet from anywhere on the planet. This edition of The Georgian will be the third available online and because they are stored there, you can refer to and read previous editions.

Our web site also has the ability to be updated much more frequently allowing current information to be added. On our main web site we have shorter stories and scriptural reflections about current events or our Sunday bible readings. There are links to a short history of the parish as well as links to our Parish's diocesan profile and our service times. As you can tell (or see), our web presence on the internet is helpful to new folks looking to find out more about who we are and what we do, as well as be a place for us to communicate amongst ourselves.

If you are reading this online, I invite you to look around the web pages and also visit the links to our fabulous Diocesan Web Page or the excellent and informative Anglican Church web site. If you are reading this in the paper edition of The Georgian, I invite to check out the web site at www.stgeorgesgeorgetown.com.

As we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, I pray that we may grow in the many ways to spread the important message of hope and salvation to others!

A joyful Easter to you all!

The Rev'd Robert W.A. Park

St. George's Evangelism

By Helen Vandermey

A new initiative for our parish will be a hospitality workshop: how to be a good host in the house of God. Being a good host has become an important area of ministry for parishes that successfully attract newcomers.

We can no longer assume that people will automatically be drawn to our church. Our society has become increasingly secularized; sports practice has replaced Sunday church for many busy young families. Belonging to a faith community is now the exception rather than the rule. So, when people do make the effort to integrate into our parish we need to be trained and ready to
greet them and help them adjust to parish life. The Barna research group has uncovered some interesting statistics:

70% of all people who visit a church make up their mind about coming back BEFORE the clergy gets up to speak!

Almost 80% of our visitors and newcomers do not return to our churches after their 4th or 5th visit!

3 out of 4 parents say a church that provides religious training for their children would be of interest to them.

How can we be better hosts?
Sign up for our Hospitality Workshop where you'll learn about:

Improving first impressions: what are the first things guests hear and see

Job descriptions and training for greeters, ushers and sidespeople

The strengths and weaknesses of our biggest asset, our buildings!

Mentoring newcomers over time
St. George's workshop has been booked for Saturday, June 3rd from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Service Booklets
Negotiating your way through the Book of Alternative Services, BAS (green book) can be a little overwhelming for newcomers. We're not going to do away with the green book, but we are going to make it easier, especially for our one-time guests who attend St. George's. We have decided to prepare service booklets to make participation easier for our visitors. One booklet will contain the order of service that begins on page 185 of the BAS and the second will include the baptismal service. Newcomers or visitors will receive the appropriate booklet before the service and will return the booklets after the service for future use. We hope to have booklets available in time for Easter Sunday.

Distribute Parish Leaflet
This fall we are going to prepare a flyer describing our parish which will be delivered - either by parish volunteers or Canada Post - to all the new homes in Georgetown south. We know there are more Anglicans out there and even a few Anglicans-in-waiting! We want to put our parish on the map and welcome them to our worship services.

Community Youth Event
Also in the works for the fall is a youth event that will be open to all town youth, Grade 6 and up. The type of event will be determined by the youth of our parish who will help plan and host the event. Aside from providing a much-needed social venue for this age group, we want to bring
families into direct contact with who we are as a Church.

The Momentum is Building!
We're beginning to establish a core group of parishioners who are excited about Evangelism at St. George's. I invite you to join our group or simply give me your ideas on how you feel we might best meet your faith needs within our parish. Who knows? Your suggestions might just help along the faith journey for others as well. Talk to me during coffee hour or leave a
message on the bulletin board or call me at home.

St. George's is on the move with Evangelism - the momentum is building and we're excited about the possibilities for our Church.

Reflections on a Visit to the Solel Congregation

By Helen Tazzman

Every year, the Solel Congregation in Mississauga invites the various Christian churches in the area to a special Friday evening Shabbat service. The aim is to promote good relations through understanding between Christians and Jews. The action of the Jewish congregation is a reminder of the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

On February 3, 2006, in company with a friend from St. Thomas À Becket Anglican Church, I participated in a worship tradition that would have been familiar to Jesus. The rabbi welcomed us with the ancient greeting, “Shabbat Shalom.” Then we were taught a hymn in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament. Throughout the service, the hearty congregational singing,
led by Rabbi Englander and a young assistant on guitars, may well have been the envy of many of the Christian pastors present.

Other features of the service reminded me of the continuity of worship from ancient Israel to the modern Anglican Church. The kindling of the Shabbat Lights was similar to the lighting of the candles on the altar. The rabbi pointed out that Jesus had recited the Sh’ma, the Creed that appears in the Book of Common Prayer. The word, “Sh’ma” (Hear), is the beginning of the
declaration of faith: Hear, O Israel, Adonai (the Lord) is our God, Adonai is One. The reading of Psalms was a feature of worship in the temple at Jerusalem, modern synagogues and in our own church. The Roman Catholic and High Anglican genuflect and low Anglican bow to the altar arises out of the Jewish practice of both bending the knee and bending at the waist in succession in acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God. Our remembrance of the dead in our prayers arises from the Mourner’s Kaddish.

In the Jewish prayer book, Paths of Prayer, Prayers for Shabbat, which I subsequently bought, I discovered this illuminating prayer, Creator of all the worlds, not in reliance upon the righteousness of our deeds do we place our longings before You; we look instead to Your abundant mercy. Doesn’t that sound like the words of the Anglican prayer, not trusting in our own righteousness? That prayer should lay to rest any misconception that Jewish people think that they are justified by the works of the Law. Rather, they follow the Law out of love and respect for God. Like us, they rely on Divine grace.

Worshipping among Jesus’ living relatives in a way that Jesus would have worshipped was a moving and unforgettable experience.

Music & Worship

By Ron Greidanus

This year, Lent was all about change, which brought about exciting changes in the choir loft. The pews were removed and chairs were put in their placethus providing an enhanced sound from the choir.

The up-and-coming season also promises another dynamic programme, involving French Horns, tympani, violin, organ and four-part harmony. Much thought and practice has been put into the music selection for this Easter Season. The pieces chosen include reflective and triumphant music written by Brucknerand Bach, who were themselves both guided by God's hand.

Both choir and myself hope that you will enjoy the musical offerings for the Easter Season as we have worked very hard to prepare them for yourenjoyment.

Wishing you all a blessed Easter,
Ron

A Visit to Trinity Church Streetsville

By Ian Oldaker

If ever you have wondered at the diversity of the Anglican Church you will see one part of it at Trinity Church in Streetsville. Yvonne, my wife said they rocked when she was there with some of her dancers at the re-opening after two devastating fires, but they weren't demoralized because "the Church is its people not the building" is what I heard - there the love ofChrist is very strong.

I went with Rob and Sheri Reid and their four children and we sat in the comfortable pews. what did I say? Yes, they are cushioned nicely and the sermon given by Rev. Harold Percy, though very long by our standards, wasnot a challenge to the backside!

Several people in a bright and open assembly area beside the worship space greeted us. Two main doors lead in, one at the back where the near pews are reserved for mothers with babies, and one at the front for the less intimidated. We passed a booth at the back for lighting and video control. The large hall is pleasant, with curved pews in three groups; I think about 300 can be seated easily in the essentially rectangular space. The only windows separate the worship space from the assembly area, with the one surviving stained glass window in a gothic style opening. A deep steel girder above the front holds the lights and video projectors. On the left on the raised stage area, a combo of five was performing gospel songs. Behind them an angled panel extended to the ceiling in a gentle forward curve, and above the singers a video screen showed the song's words, which were easily read. On the other side was a matching panel and screen; at centre the small altar, spot lit under a cross cut-out in the front wall with a brickbacking, nicely illuminated.

At the start of the service an assistant stepped smartly onto the raised stage area and welcomed visitors and newcomers alike. He offered a visit from a church member next week if desired. We then sang three songs with much emotion then sat for the reading. The children had meanwhile left for Sunday school. We said a psalm, reading the words off the screens (no books in the pews - no holders for books either, just for newcomers' cards), and then Rev. Harold Percy first stepped up and gave the sermon. And what a charismatic man! Sheri, who was brought up a Roman Catholic, allowed that the reason their family goes is because of Harold. He preached to the gospel for about one hour. Several messages came out of this, and Sheri confessed that she does remember and reflects about the sermon during the ensuingweek.

It seemed that the Eucharistic prayer was rather shorter than standard, and some knelt as we said the Lord's Prayer. Four stations across the front offered the bread, and we dipped this in the wine before eating. A last song followed the blessing. I noted that no vestments were used and there was noprocession, etc.

We had some coffee/soft drinks in a room on the other side of the assembly area where there were some stations set up for newcomers and parish activities. Rev. Harold Percy was in a designated spot for people to meet him, which I did briefly. He is without doubt an enthusiastic person with avibrant cross-section of our modern society in his church each Sunday.

A Happy Easter to you all!

Ian

The Story of a Life-Long Knitter: Ethel Harvey

By Helen Shannon

Ethel Harvey was born in Norfolk; that lovely area of England on the North
Sea, a land of winding rivers and shallow lakes called Broads – a popular
holiday area for many years for sailors. She attended the local village
Church of England school; that is where she learned to knit, at age five! In
those days village schools all had a one-hour lesson a week for knitting and
another hour a week for sewing lessons. While the girls were busy knitting,
the boys learnt simple carpentry and gardening.

The wool at the schools was not wound in neat balls as it is today, but came
in twisted skeins. To be wound, it required two people, one to hold the
skein taut on outstretched arms and one to wind the yarn into a round ball.
Ethel says that she and her friends would go on the school porch to wind
wool and if the following lesson was not too popular, they would
deliberately tangle the wool. Then they had the excuse that it had to be
untangled before they could return to class!

The first completed article that Ethel knitted was a potholder in orange &
beige that she backed with a piece of tweed – probably somebody’s old
trousers cut up! She gave this to her mother, who never used it, but when
Ethel grew up and got married; her mother presented it back to her. In 1948,
Ethel, her husband Geoffrey and daughter Ena immigrated to Canada. Ethel
knitted for her baby daughter and for herself and eventually for the
grandchildren as they came along.

For over twenty years Ethel has knitted baby outfits for Etobicoke and
Georgetown Hospital Gift shops, plus some sweaters for older children.
Ethel estimates she knits approximately twenty baby sets a year – jacket,
bonnet and booties. She also knits for the Seniors Christmas Bazaar as well
as for our own Bazaar at St. George’s.

Ethel loves to knit! She admits to waking up in the night sometimes and,
unable to get back to sleep, she will sit up and add a few more rows to her
current project.

Knitting is having a resurgence; even Hollywood stars are photographed
knitting away during takes. As Ethel points out, there are only two
stitches, plain and purl – everything else is just a variation on these two
stitches.

Some years ago, Ethel told me that she and her husband were at a craft sale
and saw a knitting machine. He asked her if she would like one and she was
horrified! “Not doing it myself would take away the soul of my hobby”, she
told him.

If you have not knitted for a while, pick it up again. Make a fluffy scarf
for a daughter or granddaughter (really simple: 2 balls of eyelash wool, 25
stitches, 5 ½ mm needles and knit until you run out of yarn); try tiny, tiny
bonnets for preemie babies – Young’s Drugstore has a pattern; and for
something really, really easy, knit cotton dishcloths. Knit for yourself,
your family or Christmas Bazaars. It is highly satisfying, great therapy and
at the end you have something to brag about!

Thank you Ethel, and keep knitting!

What Our Kid's Think About Lent

Members of our Sunday School were asked for their meaning of Lent. Some of
their responses were as follows:

• Lent is when someone raised from the dead and his name is Jesus.

• Lent is the month of April and ends on Easter Sunday.

• It is about God's promises.

• Lent is when Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus also gave up everything for 40 days and 40 nights. That is when Satin tempted Jesus in the desert, so that's why people give up stuff for Lent.
  

• Lent is when you get the cans to put the money in.

Water: A Precious Resource

By Henriette Thompson

Water, Nsu, L'eau, Tubig. In any language, water is life. Without which we
die.

For Christians water is both symbolic and real. God's word is deeply bound
up with water.

At creation, God brooded over the waters of chaos. The poetry of the
Psalmist whose soul thirsts for God as the deer longs for flowing streams
resonates with our own experience (Psalm 42). In John's gospel, a tired and
thirsty Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. Their
conversation reveals a transformational encounter that at its conclusion
leaves the woman asking Jesus for the "living water" that he offers. To
Christians of every age and culture the sacrament of baptism symbolizes
God's action of washing away our sins and the receiving of the gift of new
life in Christ.

Water: A political issue?

The deep spiritual meaning of water for Christians is expanding to action in
the political arena. There is a pending crisis over the development of water
resources for public use as business arises to provide much needed delivery
systems. Increasingly water - a basic need - is being privatized.

This year Canadian churches and labour groups are raising public awareness
about the need for water and water services to remain in public hands.
People, especially in developing nations, do not have the resources to 'pay'
for the water they need.

Corporations see the present human crisis as an economic opportunity.
"Water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century:
the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations," according to
Fortune magazine. For that reason churches and other groups maintain that
providing water cannot be left to market forces. Also, historically water
has been considered a "public trust" and therefore public and municipal
systems have held responsibility for water services.

In South America, private companies have taken over municipal water supplies
in many countries. Recently a US multinational signed a 40-year deal to
increase water supplies and services to Cochabamba, Bolivia, and water
prices skyrocketed. Farmers lost ancient water rights; citizens rioted and
chased the company out of the country.

The recent World Water Forum in Mexico City saw children, along with
government ministers, discussing the world water crisis and demanding that
their governments accept responsibility for children's suffering through
lack of access to water.

1.2 billion people do not have clean, safe drinking water, the most basic of
human needs. This is unacceptable.

If you would like more information or to join the Canadian voices pressing
for community control of water services, visit the Ecumenical Water campaign
via the KAIROS website at www.kairoscanada.org

Locally, we have an organization called P.O.W.E.R. group (Protect Our Water
& Environmental Resources) www.powerhalton.ca , they work actively to
monitor development in Halton Hills. In conjunction with Willow Park Ecology
Centre, Power is planning to show a series of films about water and water
resources at the upcoming Riverfest www.riverfest-norval.ca in Norval this
June.

It's time to begin thinking about our water resources in a different way! If
we want our great-grandchildren to have the same access to water that we do,
then we need to pay attention to some of the recent developments that can
affect all of us.

Easter 2006 Youth News

By Raeanne Dingwall

Our church youth group has a very relaxed environment. The only rule that we have is that we do not put down others with hurtful words or gestures. We meet every third Sunday of the month and discuss what God means to us. Each session we have a different theme. For example, some past themes include, Our Feelings and Trust. We also play a variety of games and we go outdoorswhen weather permits.

Occasionally we organize what is called a youth service. This is a service in which the youth group creates and helps out with parts of the Sunday services. Our last youth service was highly enjoyable. During this service the youth group decided to envelope the congregation with our beautiful singing and acting. Certain people also aided with the crucifix, candles, serving of the sacraments and the multiple readings. During the portion of the service when Rev'd Rob does his sermon we decided to sing and act for the congregation. Everyone sang a song by Casting Crowns called Who Am I. We also acted out a short skit that we created. I believe that it is important to have youth services, since it reveals to the congregation how we, theyouth group, add to our special church.

The youth group also adds to the life of our church, but also contributes to many other people outside of our immediate spiritual community. We love to get involved in helping raise money for a program called Big Brothers. Every year Big Brothers host an Annual Bowl-a-thon where different people in Georgetown form teams which compete to raise money for the Big Brothers.
Every year our youth group raises money for this great cause and participates in the bowl-a-thon. Although this year they cancelled this exciting event due to lack of participation, we have the memory of previous years. Next year, we are hoping to have stronger participation from the community.

Every day people hear that children are the future. This is true, but I believe that we have a very important role to play in the life of our churchtoday, as we move forward together.