Wednesday, June 2, 2010                   

A huge thanks is extended to Sue Goodwin and the many volunteers who hosted almost 1300 visitors to St. Andrew's last Saturday at the "Doors Open Toronto" event! For the first time, this year, our volunteer hosts indicated other languages in which our guests could be welcomed -- and many had the opportunity to use their diverse linguistic gifts in their interactions with visitors.  

1)  Do You Want to Sing? - An Organizational Meeting for St. Andrew's Singers...

Music has always been an important part of the life and worship of St. Andrew’s Church.  In addition to our incredible choir, we have recently been exploring other avenues for music -- including jazz concerts, Christmas Carol services, a children’s choir, organ recitals and vespers services.  A number of people have also expressed interest in forming a choir for members and friends of the congregation.  This choir will not replace our present choir, but is intended to provide an opportunity for interested individuals to sing choral music together at special events and occasions in the congregation and community.

An organizational meeting for those who might be interested in exploring this possibility will be held following the service on Sunday June 13, 2010 from 12 to 12:15 pm in the Board Room.   Attendance at this short meeting does not obligate participation, but is simply for the purpose of discerning whether there is sufficient interest to proceed with plans for the formation of such a choir in the fall.

If you cannot attend this meeting but would like to be informed of future plans for this choir, please email the church office at info@standrewstoronto.org     

2) Church School Barbecue and Pool Party - Sunday June 13, 2010

On Sunday June 13, the annual Church School Barbecue and Pool Party will be held at the home of Bev Reynolds.  All children, parents, grandparents and teachers are welcome.  For more information, please contact Irene Faiz, our Church School Superintendent, at irene.faiz@sympatico.ca

3)  Sunday Forum - June 20

Our next Forum will be held on Sunday, June 20th following the worship service.  The theme will be "Christianity in Asia and its implications for Asian newcomers to Canada."  The presenters will be Maggie Kong, Deborah Loo, Lillian Sun, Annie Wang, Stellar Shen, and Biao and Emma Su.  The presentation will be held in the Board Room from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m.  Everyone is welcome.  Plan to attend this informative and interesting presentation.

4)  Pew Psalters

The blue Psalters that are the pew racks in the sanctuary have been removed as they are not regularly used in the worshipping life of St. Andrew's Church.  However, they continue to be an excellent resource for prayer and for reflection on Scripture, and will be available at both the front and back of the sanctuary.  Please feel free to use them when you are in the sanctuary.

5) Special Book Offer -- "The Master Missionaries:  Sermons from Acts" by the Rev. Dr. R. Sheldon MacKenzie

Rev. MacKenzie is a respected minister in the Presbyterian Church, and has recently published a series of sermons on the Book of Acts.  The sermons in this book not only open windows and examine events in the early Church, they also bridge the distance between the early and present day Church, as well as creating in the reader a desire to learn more.

Copies of this very interesting book will be available on Sundays at Coffee Hour, and from the church office on weekdays, for the discount price of $10.00.

6) Summer Teacher / Volunteers Needed

The church school will break for the summer in mid to late June.  However, to allow parents with young children to attend the morning worship service, the nursery will continue to operate during the summer months.  If you would like to help out in the nursery any Sunday from mid-June until September 5th, please contact either Barbara Sargent (bigsam2003@rogers.com) or, in Barbara's absence, Betsy Nieuwland (betsy@lawrye.ca).  If you would like to teach a Church School class during the summer weeks, please contact Irene Faiz at irene.faiz@sympatico.ca.

7)  Road Closures - June 6, 2010

Ride for Heart

The DVP will be closed.

The Gardiner Expressway will be closed from the DVP to the Humber River

Please go to http://wx.toronto.ca/inter/city/events.nsf/AllEventsCalendar?OpenView&Grid=3 for full information about this Sunday's street events.

8)  Installation of Elevators at St. Andrew Subway Station

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has begun work to retrofit the St. Andrew subway station with two elevators.  Work is scheduled for completion in spring 2011.

Most of the work will be done within the station, but during the earlier and latter stages street-level work will be necessary.  Street-level work will be restricted to evenings and weekends.  Work at street level will entail traffic restrictions on University Avenue between Adelaide and King Streets.  There will also be some restrictions to pedestrian access.  Efforts will be made to schedule noisier work on weekends.  The contractor has been requested to try to avoid especially noisy work during our scheduled church services.

St. Andrew Station will remain accessible and operational during construction.  Work at street level will not affect the 504 King streetcar service.

For more information, please see www.standrewstoronto.org/TTC-SAC.pdf

9)  G20 Updates

We have received a detailed update about security plans for the G-20 Summit being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on June 26th and 27.  The security fencing and traffic management plans will likely cause considerable disruption for travel on Sunday, June 27th.

It is our intention to hold our regular worship service on June 27th.  We would encourage you to plan to be here -- and plan for a bit of extra travel time in anticipation of travel delays on the way to church that day.

More information will be provided in the coming weeks.

10)  Presbyterians Sharing:  GRANADA

Our gifts to Presbyterians Sharing have sent Jim and Ann Young to serve The Presbyterian Church in Grenada.  Jim is minister at Belair Presbyterian Church. Ann is teaching English and math at MacDonald College, a secondary school of the Presbyterian Church in Grenada and working at Belair Primary School as part of a literacy test program. Jim writes, “Belair Presbyterian Church is a source of delight, challenge and community to us. We are part of a happy, healthy worshipping community.  God is good.” As Jim and Ann work with this worshipping community to reach out to the broader community on the island, they find a growing source of encouragement, care and understanding.  They ask us to pray for God’s abundance to continue to surround their work in Grenada.

11)  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!