Wednesday September 2, 2009

1) Daily Updates from Geneva Switzerland

This week, Rev. Ingram is in Geneva, Switzerland for meetings of the World Council of Churches.  His daily updates are posted at www.standrewstoronto.org/wcc/geneva_2009
 

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

2)  Name Tags

Many who attend our Bide-a-Wee Coffee Hour following worship services on Sundays have mentioned that it would enable us to get to know each other more easily if we wore name tags.  A formal request for name tags was presented at this year's Annual Congregational Meeting.  After researching types of name tags and various ways of storing and retrieving them, we are pleased to announce that we have prepared cord style name badges for members and adherents--and their children--and they will be available at Coffee Hour in September.   The badges will be stored alphabetically in boxes at several tables at the entrance to the Great Hall. We encourage everyone to wear their badges--and to return them to the storage boxes before you go home!  Please extend a warm welcome to our visitors, who will be invited to wear stick-on name tags.

3) Church Office

Our administrative assistant, Judy Neal, will be away from the office from September 10th - 16th inclusive.   Please submit information items for the September 13th Sunday bulletin and the September 16th issue of This Week at St. Andrew's by 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8th.  (Judy will be visiting her son and daughter-in-law in London, U.K., and will be meeting her new grandson, Jack Patrick Washburn, for the first time.)

4) Church School and Nursery - Fall Term

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!

5) Volunteers Needed for Church School and Nursery

We are very short of volunteers for both the church school and the nursery programs, and are seeking help in both areas.  Your assistance on a rotational basis would be most appreciated.

Please contact either Betsy Nieuwland (betsy@lawrye.ca) for more information regarding the Church School, or Barbara Sargent (basarge@rogers.com) if you are interested in the nursery program.

Thanks so much!

6) Bible Study Groups

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.  The group is now studying the Wisdom literature, which includes the books of Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and the Song of Solomon. 

The Sunday Morning Bible Study Group will resume meeting on Sunday, September 13th and will commence studying the Old Testament book of Ruth.  The group meets in the Board Room at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday.

Both Bible Study Groups enjoy studying the Word in the context of fellowship and coffee.  Everyone is welcome to attend either or both study groups.

7) Wine, Cheeses & Jesus Fellowship Group

The group will meet on Thursday, September 17th at 7:00 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

The topic will be Globalization and Active Faith.  Almost every region of the world is connected in a complex web of trade, transportation, and communication. This globalization affects everyone in different ways. While some are growing wealthy and healthy; many regions in our world are becoming impoverished, dependent, diminished, and unwell.  The Bible calls the people of God to respond with acts of justice and mercy in the world, to be stewards of God’s creation, and to view all people as reflections of the image of God.  How do we live our faith in a global economy? What does it mean to be sent as agents of God’s redemptive love today?  Alternative Globalization Addressing People and the Earth (AGAPE): The World Council of Churches has been engaged in study and discussion of the issues of globalization from a faith perspective for over a decade.  Please view an important a background document online at www.oikoumene.org.

To read the article, please download the PDF file from here (it is a large file, and may take a few moments to download).

8) Annual Congregational Barbecue

This year's barbecue will be held on Sunday, September 27th after worship service.  It's a great opportunity to enjoy a meal together and to get to know each other better.  Everyone is welcome!

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

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 are now being distributed; you may register by phone, mail, email or online at:

www.standrewstoronto.org/special_events.htm

Beginning on September 13th you may also register at Bide-a-Wee Coffee Hour after worship services.

10) 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, who will facilitate a discussion of The Presbyterian Tradition.

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

11) 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.

12)  Catalyst

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

13) 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!