This Week at St. Andrew's

This Sunday, there will be a short congregational meeting, following the service, for the purpose of electing a number of new elders to the Session of the Church. This is an important decision in the life of our community, and all professing members have the right to vote. Votes will take place by secret ballot at a meeting at the conclusion of the worship service.

The westbound Gardiner Expressway will be closed from Carlaw Avenue to Jameson Avenue from 2:a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 24^th.

This coming Saturday May 23, 2009, St. Andrew's will once again be participating in "Doors Open Toronto".

The monthly 'Wine, Cheeses and Jesus' event will take place on Thursday May 21 at 7 pm in the Board Room. Stewart Moracen will introduce selected passages from The Prayer Life by Andrew Murray that contain profound ideas about prayer and our relationship with God, and will lead the group in a discussion of these ideas. All are welcome!

Hanneke Van Der Sluys, who is a new member of our congregation, a social worker and an artist, will lead us to explore healing aspects of visual art in the context of the biopsychosocial and spiritual model. Her presentation will include examples using visual aids. We will be encouraged to share experiences of our own or of someone we know that has been touched by healing "powers" of art. She will also tell an uncanny story pertaining to an art print displayed in a hospital room.

Hanneke is an artist and social worker currently working with people suffering from mental health issues. In Montreal she worked in a psychiatric hospital and conducted an artistic expression group with her clientele.

St. Andrew's is once again one of the host sites for 'Doors Open Toronto', which will take place on the weekend of May 22-24. To learn more about the city-wide "Doors Open" event, please visit www.toronto.ca/doorsopen/

A special thanks is extended to David Wishart for organizing and coordinating this event, and the congregational host participants.

Please join us on Sunday May 24 when we will be receiving a number of new members into our congregation. If you would like to become a member but have not yet indicated this to the minister or one of the elders, please contact the church office at info@standrewstoronto.org

5) Congregational Meeting for the Election of Elders - Sunday May 24, 2009

Please note that there will be a congregational meeting for the purpose of electing elders to the Session of St. Andrew's Church on Sunday May 24, 2009 following the morning worship service. A slate of nominations will be presented and all professing members of the congregation are eligible to vote.

This is an important event in the life of our congregation -- please make a special effort to be in attendance at this meeting.

During the fellowship time after the service on May 24, we will be celebrating our annual Nightingale Tea in honour of nurses and of the ministry of St. Andrew's Health Cabinet and our parish nurse, Maureen McNeish.

Victoria Campbell, a qualified yoga teacher and longstanding member of St. Andrew's, will be teaching Hatha Yoga at St. Andrew's. She will be donating all the proceeds to our Out of the Cold program. Hatha Yoga is a gentle approach that brings fitness to one's body and an overall sense of peace. No experience in yoga is necessary.

The first course, consisting of six weeks of classes, will run on Fridays from 1:00 - 2:10 p.m. starting on May 29th. They will be held in the Junior Church School classroom on the 2nd floor at St. Andrew's. The cost is $10 per class and a sliding scale of payments is available if needed. The first class will provide an introduction to let you see if this is something you would enjoy. Classes start on the dot, so plan to arrive early to set up.

If you are interested in participating, please email Victoria at connectiontovmc@hotmail.com.

On May 31, Rev. Will Ingram will lead the monthly forum with a presentation on "The Plight of the Dalits" and on his recent trip to Bangkok, Thailand to attend the Global Ecumenical Forum on Justice for Dalits.

On June 28^th, Mercedes Hughes from the Alzheimer's Society will offer a presentation on Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease.

The Sunday Forum gatherings are a monthly opportunity to learn more about a topic that engages our faith or deepens our understanding of the call of faith in our engagements with the world. The Forum gatherings begin at 12:00 pm in the Board Room, and are finished by 1:00 pm. All are welcome.

For the past 40 years, a large group of Christians who work in the downtown area gather together for a breakfast to meet with, and pray for, the Premier and members of the Provincial Legislature.

This year, the Ontario Prayer Breakfast will be taking place at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Thursday June 4. The special guest speaker will be Dale Lang. Dale's son was murdered in Taber, Alberta in 1999. Dale publicly forgave the young man responsible for his son's death and has since shared the story of his journey towards forgiveness and healing.

All are welcome. The tickets for this event are $45 each. If we can get a sufficient number of individuals from St. Andrew's who would like to attend, it will be possible to purchase a table together.

Please give this your serious consideration as it will be a meaningful opportunity to gather together with Christians from many different backgrounds, to hear an inspiring and thoughtful story, and to share a meal together.

We are looking forward to the next gathering of the St. Andrew's Book Club, which will take place on Thursday, June 25, at 7:00 pm. The book that we will be discussing will be The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill.

We are pleased to announce that donations to the Church, and to ministries such as the 'Out of the Cold' programme, can be made online. To learn more, please click on the button below!

To visit the church website, please visit www.standrewstoronto.org

If you have a different email address to which we should send this weekly newsletter, please let us know at info@standrewstoronto.org.