Wednesday, December 16, 2009

1) The Annual Rugby Carol Service at St. Andrew's - December 18, 2009

On Friday December 18 2009 from 7:30 – 9:00 pm, the 36^th Annual Rugby Carol Service will be taking place at the church.  For years, members of one of the local Rugby leagues, and their families have been having the caroling evening at St. Andrew’s and have “passed a hat” for the Out of the Cold programme.  It is great evening – all the old great Christmas carols sung with gusto in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.

This year, it is our intention to begin a new tradition of having a great participation from the people of St. Andrew's as well.   Arrangements are being made for childcare for kids up to age 4 – and kids of all ages are welcome to join in the caroling.   Every year, there are a few kids from the Rugby community and they are invited to join in the caroling with everyone else.

One of the reasons why this would be such a great evening for the kids is because it will give them a chance to hear, learn and sing many of the old Christmas carols that we do not have a chance to gather to sing in many other contexts.  Please plan to be here -- and bring your friends and family members.

2)  Special Christmas Remembrance Service

In this season of joy and the promise of peace, it is good for us to remember that it can be a difficult time for some, and a time of cherished memories for others.  Please join us for our annual Christmas Remembrance service, where we will remember and give thanks for those who are not with us at Christmas, and return thanks for those members of our church, over the past year, who have passed away.

All are welcome for this time of remembrance, thanksgiving, sadness, comfort and peace.

3) "Wine, Cheeses & Jesus" - Thursday December 17 - 7 pm.

The next meeting of the Wine, Cheeses & Jesus fellowship group will be on Thursday, December 17th at 7:00 in the second floor meeting room.  The group will celebrate the holidays by having pot luck refreshments (finger food).  The discussion theme for this meeting will be "Christian global responsibilities".  Everyone is welcome!

4) SAGA Christmas Party - Saturday, December 19

SAGA had a wonderful surprise birthday party for its coordinator, Robert Sheng, at the last meeting.  There was a large turnout and everyone had a great time!  The annual Christmas party will be held on December 19th.  The group will gather at 5 p.m. and have dinner at 6:30 p.m.  This is a coordinated pot luck dinner.  Please contact Robert (416-269-7828) to select a dish.  SAGA members & guests will eat, sing carols and exchange gifts ($5 and under).  Everyone is welcome!

5)  Dedication of Pulpit Bible

During the morning worship service on Sunday, December 20 we will dedicate a new pulpit Bible to the Glory of God and in gratitude for the life, love and witness of Dr. W. J. (Jack) Reynolds, husband of Beverley and brother of Eric.  Jack was a long-time member of St. Andrew's and was an Elder for many years.

6)  "A Moveable Feast" Silent Auction a great success!

Preliminary results are in from the third annual "A Moveable Feast" silent auction held on December 8th to benefit our Out of the Cold program.  Net proceeds after expenses came to just over $17,000!  Our sincere thanks to everyone who made this event such a wonderful success.  A big hand to hard-working organizers Liz Hodgson, Grazyna Krupa, Shannon McKinnon, Nicole Bergot, Leigh Gravenor, Cathie James, Liza Lawson, Sam Linton, Crystal Asher, Michelle Guerrero, Tassie Cameron and Judy Neal.  Thanks also to our Out of the Cold Coordinator Lorraine Irvine and Church Manager Doug Pearson for their help behind the scenes. 

7)  Out of the Cold - weekly update

Joe-Anne Roberts, who writes a wonderful weekly summary about each Monday night's dinner, said in this week's email that: 

The menu last night was:

Soup               Spinach with Parmesan Cheese (I had some, very good)

Main               Chicken pieces coated with Parmesan cheese

                        Roasted Potatoes

                        Green Beans, which later in the evening became corn

Salad               Cole Slaw

Vegetarian       Smokey Sweet Potato chili, with tofu and mashed potatoes

Dessert            Chocolate Pudding Cake

Total attendance 253.  A new record.  Reminds me of the era of overnights at St. Andrews.

145 people were inside by about 6:15 pm which left about a half dozen outside.  As you know, it was not a nice night and people were anxious to get in.  Again we served soup to the line up.Dinner was served quickly and we moved people out as quickly as we could, without rushing anyone.

We had to ask one man to leave, as he was inebriated and was being verbally abusive at his table, upsetting a guest, Kathy, to the point where she broke down and left the room to compose herself.  She later came back and enjoyed her dinner, saying it was one of her favourites.  She and her companion, Richard, both expressed their appreciation, Kathy saying it was one of here favourite meals.

The reviews were consistently good, excellent, etc.  One guest leaving while blowing kisses to everyone.  Liz on leaving said that dinner was so good it was bad for her cholesterol.

Now for your Christmas story.  Jackie was speaking with Kerry, a new guest. Kerry told her that she had heard that St. Andrews was a special place, so she came, for the first time to see what was so special.  She said she was very surprised.  She was welcomed, and drawn into a family atmosphere. There was no judgement of her circumstances.  She was treated with courtesy and dignity.  Kerry told Jackie that our guests looked forward to coming to St. Andrews and was surprised by Jackie's response, "so do our volunteers. Monday night is special for them as well."

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, as I will not be there next Monday.  I will be in snowy Muskoka, spending an early Family Christmas with my dear sister and her children and grandchildren.  John Matheson will be the new Joe-Anne and will send you a report on the evening (probably not as verbose as me).

Lorienne, one of our boutique volunteers, was busy later in the evening, getting coats from upstairs and making 2 guests very happy.  The third guest asked for, and received, a warm coat.  It was full length, a beautiful smikey blue faux ultra suede, with a fur trimmed hood.  It looked very smart on her.  As she left, I complimented her, and she said "yes, but it not really my style".

Oh, well, you can't win them all.....maybe it is another case of going to The Bay.

Thank you again for your hard work.

Financial donations to support the program are always welcome, and can be sent to the church office.  Please make cheques payable to "St. Andrew's Church" and show "Out of the Cold" in the notation line.   St. Andrew’s covers all administration costs and all financial donations go directly toward the purchase of food and supplies for the program.  

For information about corporate participation please speak to the "Out of the Cold" Coordinator Lorraine Irvine.    Please feel free to share information about the "Out of the Cold" programme in your workplaces if there are requests for suggestions about corporate charity donations.

If you would like to donate new or used warm winter clothing, books (not romance novels, please) or magazines, please bring the items to the church or contact Judy Neal in the church office.

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8)  Church School

The church school primary room is looking for one or two small bookcases (24"wide and maximum 36" high).  Please contact Erica Cooke (cookegande@rogers.com or 416-489-5368) if you could donate such an item.  Thank you!

9)  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!