February 7, 2021
Flowers have been placed on the altar in praise to God who renews our strength and comforts us.
Annual Congregational Meeting: Our ACM has been postponed, and will now be held on Sunday, February 28 over Zoom. Please register if you plan to attend by informing the office by telephone or email. The booklet of reports and other material will be ready two weeks prior to the meeting. We will advise you of your options for receiving the material soon.
Ash Wednesday Worship – February 17 at 7 pm: Welcome to Lent. We will begin our journey towards Easter with a joint Ash Wednesday service with Good Shepherd and Trinity Lutheran churches. The service will be online, of course, and the link will be available to view at 7 pm on Trinity’s YouTube channel here.
Ashes are not an option this year. Instead, we are preparing packages of flower pots, soil and seeds for planting during the service. The packages will be available for pickup starting Monday, February 15th at the church.
Racism and Repentance – Lenten Study: Racism is a difficult topic that many of us would prefer to ignore. This Lenten season, you are invited to join a conversation on racism and repentance, examining our lives and the systems we live in. Student Pastor Elina will lead the conversation on Zoom on Wednesday evenings from February 24th to March 24th 6:45 pm on Zoom. Members from both Trinity and Good Shepherd are invited to join. Please register for the study by contacting the office.
BC Synod Climate Justice Action Group Invites You…: This Lent, the BC Synod Climate Justice Action Group invites you to create space to use these resources as part of your spiritual practice whether as individuals, congregations or other groups.
1. An Invitation to Care for Creation Journey. One of the Lenten spiritual practices is to fast. You are invited during the 40 days of Lent to reflect on each day’s message, be moved to action and in so doing, choose life for all of creation. This link will be available next week.
2. Presentation and Conversation with Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda. “Climate Justice: Faith Active in Love”. Saturday Morning, March 13, 2021. Further details TBA
Watch for further details next week. Questions or thoughts? Contact Louis at louislouisgiguere@gmail.com. Help us get the word out. All are welcome.
Not Counting Sundays – A Lenten Journey of 40 Days by Rev. David Kaiser and Rev. Frank Armistead:
This book combines Frank’s artwork and David’s poetry in a meditative journey through the 40 days of Lent, reflecting the 40 year journey of the Israelites through the wilderness.
Click here for a PDF version of this book. While the book is for sale, David would like as many people as possible to have access to it. When you open the PDF in a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat, the book will display best if you set the View -> Page View to Two-Page View and turn on Show Cover Page in Two-Page View.
Printed copies are available through Blurb.ca at these links: softcover NCS or hardcover NCS . They can also be ordered for reduced cost by sending an email to David.Solheim@sasktel.net, or DavidKaiser@hotmail.com but shipping time might be longer.
A Lenten Prayer Opportunity: An email Prayer Series from Pastor Bruce Ehlert:
Here’s a simple and easy way to adopt a spiritual practice during Lent – receive a prayer and a picture to ponder each day via email. You’ll be joining your prayers with more than a thousand other Christians all over the world. All are invited to email Pastor Ehlert at pbprayer@telus.net (Put “subscribe” in the subject line.) and each day you will receive a beautiful Lenten Prayer to read and contemplate.
May God bless us all on our journey through the season of Lent!
Discovering Grace and Mercy in a Divisive World by Pastor Aneeta Saroop: Pastor Aneeta Saroop writes for the Times Colonist newspaper in Victoria, and her latest article was published in the January 3, 2021 edition.
“If mercy is when you don’t get what you do deserve then Grace is when you get what you don’t deserve. Grace is undeserved kindness. We’re all familiar with the modern-day idioms: “by the grace of God”; “grace period” or “a saving grace”. However, when it comes to extending grace to other or extending grace to ourselves…” Click here for full article.
Greening Your Church – Free Mini-Course: The year 2021 can start positively for so many churchgoers if they put their minds on a project to help their church and improve their environment. Learn the 10 steps to inspire your faith community towards sustainability through this self-paced online course, also available én français. If you’re curious, check it out! Enroll for free when you by clicking here
Worship with CLWR: Canadian Lutheran World Relief has produced some worship videos featuring Christians and congregations from around the world. These are produced occasionally and can be found here.
Zoom Training: The Synod Covid Response Team is proposing the creation of a Zoom training group. Volunteers are needed to be a resource for technical help, instruction and tips, or possibly helping by co-hosting the online meeting of a congregation. (The eyes of another person to aid in admitting participants to the meeting, or to monitor the chat, often helps the flow of the session.) Since many congregations will be holding their AGM soon, this is yet another way to continue to offer support to one another.
If you are able to help by sharing your expertise, or, if you would like to sign up for instruction, please contact Karen Lee (Peace, Vernon) at kelee2018karen@gmail.com.
Luther League Legacy Fund: If you are a young person in the ELCIC or someone who is looking to offer a training program that would directly benefit youth under the age of 25, then the Luther League Legacy Fund (LLLF) is for you. LLLF is here to develop leaders in the church and for the world. It provides grants and bursaries to enable young people to participate in leadership training and development activities. In the past, $500 grants have been awarded. Leadership training can include online education and training events.
To find out more information on who and which projects can apply for funding, and to fill up an application, please visit: https://www.elcic.ca/Youth/LuthernLeagueLegacyFund.cfm . Deadline is in March.
LTS: LIFT Curriculum: Leading in Faith Today (LIFT) is a set of curriculum modules that anybody with theological education can easily teach in a congregation, synod, ministry-preparation setting. Courses in Bible, Theology, History, Preaching, Worship Leadership, and Church Leadership, are available including specialized courses for Lutherans and Anglicans, prepared by qualified scholars. All courses are brief and inexpensive, with both Student and Leadership Manuals offered in downloadable and printed formats. LIFT is a product of the Lay Academy – a joint effort of Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS), the Western Synods of the ELCIC, and the Anglican Diocese of Rupert’s Land. For more information, please visit: https://layacademylift.ca/courses/