Greetings from Lucy, Betty, Scott, and Chris.
We are so grateful for the welcome we’ve received at St Michael’s, St David’s and St Peter’s, as we’ve been making our way round, getting to know each church and the distinctive communities that they are. Thank you for your openness and warmth, and for your patience as we’ve worked on ironing out some of the wrinkles!
This is to give you an update on the events, programmes and groups being offered by the Three Saints team, and to tell you the progress being made by us with you in creating a strong team that can enable all three churches to flourish.
The original mandate of the team ministry was “to establish an evangelically-driven initiative of shared ministry between the three congregations” [wording from the motion passed at March 2010 Diocesan Synod]. This was not going to be business as usual, but a fresh experiment in reaching out, revitalizing and doing/being church differently.
What we’ve done so far
Thanks to the energy and commitment of many, we have:
- celebrated a new beginning with a special service and supper at Glendale Gardens attended by more than 100 parishioners from all three churches
- created a junior youth group, and worked to strengthen the existing senior youth group
- established a rotation of clergy around the three churches to lead services on Sundays and Wednesdays
- trained some 20 volunteers from all three churches at a Messy Fiesta, in preparation for offering monthly Messy Church gatherings
- hired a team office administrator, Lynda Dominy, to work in the church offices and establish a consistent, co-ordinated administrative arm to the team ministry
- worked on making community connections, e.g. with the Cordova Bay 55+ club
Coming up
For the future, we are working on the following:
Messy Church gatherings at St David’s once a month on the last Saturday morning of the month at 10 a.m..
This is an inter-generational, hands-on, creative approach to learning about the Christian
faith, based on stories, crafts and songs, and ending with a shared meal. Instead of being in a formal church setting it is in a child-friendly hall where it’s OK to be loud and messy. Contact Chris or Scott for more information.
Theology Pub - meeting in casual settings for open-ended discussion of faith, the Bible, God and daily life. Again, the intention is to take the gospel outside the normal church setting,
to meet people where they are. We have been meeting at Yucatan Pizza in Cordova Bay: on the last Wednesday of the month and at the Monkey Tree Pub on the second Monday of the month. Contact Scott for more information.
Future Theology Pub dates: Wed. May 25 at TBA, Mon. June 13 at Monkey Tree Pub, Wed. June 29 at TBA.
Spiritual retreat – a day of quiet prayer, guided reflection, meditation and creativity, to nourish our contemplative side and find God in silence and stillness. at St David’s, date to be confirmed in May. Contact Lucy for more information.
Meditation group – a shorter, weekly opportunity to experience the richness of contemplative prayer. Thursdays, 7 p.m., in St Michael’s church. Contact Lucy.
Spanish-language services - supporting and developing the growth of a Spanish-speaking congregation at St Peter’s. Usually the first Saturday of the month at 6pm, followed by a pot-luck meal! The service is usually the first Satuirday of the month at 6pm! Contact Dimas, Lucy, Betty or Scott for more information!
Los datos del servicios proximas: Junio 4, Julio 2, Agosto 7, Setiembre 10, Octubre 8, Noviembre 12, Diciembre 10.
Bereavement support – offering a supportive group for church members and others following the death of a loved one. A new group will begin in February. If you are interestd, please contact Lucy.
Office hours and contact information
Our team office administrator, Lynda Dominy, is the primary contact person for all three churches. Soon there will be a co-ordinated telephone system so that Lynda can answer calls to any church wherever she is. Her office hours are as follows:
Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. – St Michael’s (250-479-0540)
Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m – St David’s (250-590-7822)
Thursdays, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. – St Peter's (250-384-7757)
Fridays, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. – St Michael’s
Clergy office hours: Chris has office hours at St David's on Monday mornings; Scott has office hours at St Peter's on Monday mornings; Lucy has office hours at St Michael's on Friday mornings.
We also have a Three Saints blog! You can visit it at http://3saintsanglican.blogspot.com/ and contribute to it. A team website will also be developed in the future, because we know that people go looking for a suitable church on their computers these days, long before they walk through our church doors for the first time.
As we continue to work on being a team, we need to keep our eyes continually on the goal of doing and being church differently, and looking beyond our church walls to the needs of the community around. We also need to remember that it is only through the workings of the Holy Spirit that we will accomplish anything!
We have the support of the bishop in this endeavour, and many in the diocese are watching to see what happens in the Three Saints team.
May the work that we have begun in faith be brought to completion through the Holy Spirit, in the community of Jesus Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Scott, Betty, Chris, Lucy
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