Wednesday August 19, 2009

1) Communications Committee Meeting TONIGHT...

Do you have an interest in helping St. Andrew's to improve our communications, outreach and publicity? 

We need you!  A special brainstorming and visioning meeting will take place TONIGHT -- Wednesday August 19 at 7 pm -- for all who might be interested in helping the church to strengthen our ability to be a witness to faith, hope and love in the heart of Toronto.

All are welcome.   For more information, please contact Peter Price at pmprice@sympatico.ca

2) Daily Updates from Geneva Switzerland

Next week, Rev. Ingram will be travelling to Geneva, Switzerland for meetings of the World Council of Churches.  His daily updates will be posted at www.standrewstoronto.org/wcc/geneva2009

An archive of his journal entries from previous WCC meetings and events -- including photos -- can be viewed at www.standrewstoronto.org/wcc/

 These meetings have taken place in Brazil, Switzerland, the United States, Thailand -- and right here at St. Andrew's...

3) Church School and Nursery

St. Andrew's Church School and Nursery will begin the fall term on September 13th.
 

This year, students age 12 to 15 are invited to attend classes in the upstairs assembly room.  The classes will run from 9:30 to 10:20 a.m.  The students will then have an opportunity to attend the worship service or assist in the nursery or church school on a rotational basis.  For further details, please contact Betsy Nieuwland. 

 
All younger students will attend classes during the service (after the children's time).  The nursery will be open at 10:20 (10 minutes before the beginning of the service) until 10 minutes after the service.
 
All children are welcome!

4) Wednesday Morning Bible Study

Please remember that the Wednesday morning Bible study group continues to meet throughout the summer months.  The study begins at 7:30 am and concludes by 8:30 am.  Next week the group will study the book of Malachi, the final book in the Old Testament.   The study of the Wisdom literature, that includes the books of Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and the Song of Solomon, will begin the following week.  All are welcome!

5) SAGA Summer Pool Party - Saturday August 22, 2009

Members and friends of SAGA are invited to a pool party will take place on Saturday August 22, 2009 at the home of Robert Sheng from 2:00 - 9:00 pm.  Robert's home is located at 63 Neilson Ave in Scarborough.  Please RSVP before August 20th at 416-269-7828.  Please bring $10 to cover the cost of food and drinks, or give what you can.

6) Fall Supper Seminars - "Islam and Present Day Considerations" - Wednesday October 14, 21, and 28, 2009

Plans are well underway for our fall supper seminar series.  We are very pleased to announce that Michael AbdurRashid Taylor, who is a Muslim imam and a Chaplain at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), will present a series of three seminars about understanding Islam on Wednesday, October 14th, 21st and 28th.
 

Individual seminar topics in this interesting series are:

 
October 14th:  The Urgency of Muslim-Christian Dialogue

October 21st:   The Problem(s) with Islam

October 28th:   Prayer, Fasting and Charity:  How a Muslim's Worship Life engages Personal and Social responsibility.

Brochures and registration information will be available soon -- but please set these dates aside.

7) The 2009 Annual Congregational Retreat - Saturday November 7, 2009

This year’s congregational retreat will be held at the Old Mill on Saturday, November 7th.  Our leader will be the Rev. Dr. Clyde Ervine of Central Church in Hamilton, Ontario.

More information will soon be available -- but please keep this date free on your calendar and plan to join us for a great day of conversation, reflection and discernment.  

8) St. Andrew's Book Club - Thursday September 24, 2009

The next meeting of the St. Andrew's Book Club will be held on Thursday, September 24th at 7 p.m. in the Board Room.  The selection for the September meeting is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.  Library Journal said:  "this is a warm, funny, tender, and thoroughly entertaining celebration of the power of the written word."  There's still time to read it if you haven't started it yet!  Everyone is welcome to attend.

9)  Catalyst

The next issue of our quarterly newsletter, Catalyst, will be published in September.  The deadline for submissions is Sunday, September 6th.  Please email submissions to co-editors Jane Martin (at janemartin@pagemartin.com) and Kristen Stout (at kwmathewson@rogers.com).

10) Online Donations

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!