Wednesday, July 14, 2010 

Contents:

1)  This Coming Sunday

2)  Summer at St. Andrew's

3)  SAGA's July Meeting

4)  Fall Supper Seminar dates

5)  Hold the date:  a special event in October

6)  ROM Special Exhibit - group discount information

7)  Presbyterians Sharing - Flemingdon Gateway Mission (Toronto)

8)  Online Donations

2)  Summer at St. Andrew's

Worship Services:  As always, we will hold weekly Sunday morning worship services at 10:30.  We welcome you to invite your friends and neighbours to join us for worship and for coffee hour following the service.   Our Thursday noon Chancel Communion services will be held every Thursday from 12:15 - 12:45 p.m.  Please consider joining us if you are downtown at noon on Thursdays.

Ministers:  Our Senior Minister, the Rev. Will Ingram, is on vacation and will return to the pulpit on Sunday, August 1st.  The Rev. Dr. George Vais, our Associate Minister, will preach on Sundays throughout July.   The Rev. Rodger Hunter will celebrate chancel communion on the remaining Thursdays in July.

Pastoral Care in July:  If you have a pastoral emergency during July, please contact Dr. Vais at his home.  His home telephone number will be available on our voicemail system and from Judy Neal in the church office during office hours  (416-593-5600 ext. 220).  For non-urgent pastoral care please contact Judy, or leave a message for Dr. Vais at extension 229.

Music:  The St. Andrew's Choir vacations in July and August.  Over the summer we are blessed with solos by selected Choir members.  Our soloists this summer are Elizabeth Forster, Diane English, Allison Angelo, Mark Wilson and Xin Wang.  Our Director of Music Emeritus, Douglas Bodle, will be our organist on August 8, 15 and 22 while our Director of Music, Dan Bickle, is on vacation. 

Church School:  Children are welcome to attend St. Andrew's Church School classes during the summer weeks.  We will be offering a combined class for children between 3 - 12 years of age.  Children should proceed to the classroom after the Children's Time during the service.  Toddlers are welcome to play in the nursery during the entire service.  Our classes for youth will resume on Sunday, September 12th.

Wednesday Morning Bible Study Group:  The Wednesday morning Bible Study Group is reaching the end of its study of the Wisdom literature and will begin a new topic, the wonderful stories in the book of Genesis, intermingled with Paul's distinctive interpretation of Genesis, as found in the epistle to the Romans.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For further information, please contact Eric or Pat Reynolds at ejreynolds@sympatico.ca. 

Sunday Morning Bible Study Group:  Throughout July, Noel Ramsey will be leading a discussion promptly at 9:30 a.m. on "Insights into Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians."  Everyone is welcome! 

The Sunday Bible Study group will not meet in August, and will resume their study of Isaiah on September 15th.

July Sermons:  During July, Dr. Vais will base his messages on Moses--His Birth, His Escape, His Call and His Excuses, as handed down to us in Exodus chapters 1-4.

The book of Exodus is dominated by the life and actions of Moses and arranged around two outstanding redemptive acts, the Exodus from Egypt and the establishment of the Covenant at Sinai.  In fact, Moses and these events are so fundamental to an understanding of God's plan for the redemption of humanity that it could be argued that much of the Bible is a dialogue which reacts to, explains, implements, elaborates, and completes the redemptive plan of God as it is revealed in this book.

--Lyman Coleman

Community Breakfasts:  Our dedicated group of early rising volunteers will continue to serve "the best breakfast in town" to our guests every Tuesday morning.  The first volunteers arrive at about 5:30 a.m. to begin making eggs and toast.  The rest of the volunteers arrive between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. to make pancakes and bacon, sausage or ham, and to put on the coffee and tea.  By 8:30 they have served breakfast to over 100 guests, and have done all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. 

3)  SAGA - July Meeting

SAGA is taking a break from regular meetings in July and August, but members and friends are invited to Robert Sheng's home for a pool party on July 24.  Instead of a pot luck dinner, a picnic meal will be provided.  Please bring $10 to cover the cost of food and drinks.  If you are coming, please contact Robert before July 22nd at egdown@eol.ca.

 4) Fall Supper Seminars - Save the date!

We are pleased to announce that the Rev. Dr. Pamela McCarroll, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Knox College, will be our seminar leader.  The seminars will be held on Wednesday, October 13, 20 and 27th.  Mark your calendars, and watch for more information in late August or early September.

5)  Hold the date for a Special Day at St. Andrew's - October 30, 2010

In October the Rev. Dr. George Vais will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments. 

Dr. Vais often mentions that during his ministry he has frequently asked himself, and the congregations he has served, three questions to help stay focused on their call.  George's three questions are:

        1.  Where have we been?

        2.  Where are we now?

        3.  Where are we going?

On Saturday, October 30th St. Andrew's will host a special event, The Three Questions:  A Day of Reflection and Learning in Honour of the Rev. Dr. George Vais.  We have a roster of excellent speakers who will present seminars on a wide variety of topics related to this theme, so there will be something for everyone! 

We'll provide more information over the coming weeks.  Registration will begin in September. 

6)  ROM:  The Warrior Emperor - group discount

The Warrior Emperor and China’s Terracotta Army is coming to the Royal Ontario Museum!  For a limited time, the ROM will showcase one of the largest collections of artifacts related to the Warrior Emperor ever displayed in North America. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the story of the Warrior Emperor up close and personal.

Working with over sixteen museums in China, the ROM has produced an exhibition that explores the period leading up to the Qin Dynasty, the life of Emperor Ying Zheng and the legacy the first Emperor had on the Han Dynasty and the future of China.  This show is completely unique and has never been seen anywhere else in the world. 

The ROM has extended group discount rates to St. Andrew's Church, including the option for individuals to receive the group discount by using a promotional code for on-line ticket purchases.  For more information about group discounts, please click here.

Below we have included a code and instructions on how to redeem the discount.  The code does not expire until the end of the exhibition after January 2, 2011.

Visit www.rom.on.ca to buy tickets today.

7)  Presbyterians Sharing:   CANADA: Presbytery of East Toronto

Our gifts to Presbyterians Sharing support Flemingdon Gateway Mission, where church and community work in partnership to enhance the quality of life for children, youth and their families living in Toronto’s Flemingdon Park community. The mission runs an after school program where over 70 Muslim and Christian children and youth from many different countries come together to develop social, academic and leadership skills that will help them succeed in school, society and the working world. They are helped with homework, given leadership training, taught health and nutrition and given the opportunity to do arts and crafts, dance and structured play. The leaders believe that, with opportunities for learning, leadership development and leadership modeling, all children and youth can learn to believe in themselves, develop the resilience to overcome the barriers they face, participate in their own self-transformation and make meaningful contributions to their communities and society.

8)  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!