Our Book Sale is here! 

Pre-Sale is Friday from 6 to 8 PM - $5 Entry

Sale Day is Saturday from 9 AM to 3 PM

The committee continues to welcome volunteer support for the evening pre-sale, book sale day, and post-sale clean-up. If you can help, please let Jose know at joseinvictoria@shaw.ca. 

We invite you to join us at 5 PM on the first Saturday of each month in the Chapel at the Church of the Advent for a service of deep prayer and worship, sacred darkness, and the singing of chants in candlelight.

A Taizé worship service involves sung and chanted prayers, meditation, a period of silence, liturgical readings, and icons. There is no preaching. The style of prayer practiced at Taizé has attracted many worshipers from around the globe and from many different denominations. We gather in the early evening in the chapel for a simple service of chanting, Bible readings and prayer.  

Join us for this special time of worship.

Taizé services are held February through December on the first Saturday of each month, at 5 PM.

All are cordially invited to our annual blessing of the pets in honour of the feast day of St Francis. The brief service will be in the yard at Church of the Advent. Bring lawn chairs. Dogs to be on leashes, please.

Ariana has organized a church Garden Cleanup Day for this Sunday, October 6^th at 12 PM, rain or shine. Plan to join us. The more hands involved, the quicker the job is completed!

Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash

Our heartfelt thanks to Bob and Charlotte Nichols, who have donated two beautiful Eddies Wonder Dogwood trees, to replace the dead Douglas Firs that had to be felled. Our thanks, too, to their son, who helped Bob to dig holes for the new trees.

 

Come to Messy Church on Saturday, October 19th (10 am to 12:30 pm) in Rooms A, B, and C, and celebrate God's inclusive love for ALL people and ALL families.

Crafts, activities, music, stories and lunch. 

ALL FREE FUN for kids and adults.

On Sunday, October 27th during Coffee Hour in the hall after the 10 AM service, we are holding a Ministry Fair. This is a great opportunity for you as a parishioner to learn about all the exciting ministries we have going on and discover if you would like to become a part of them! Representatives from each of the various ministry groups will be stationed around the hall and available to answer your questions. Hope to see you there!

Church of the Advent is growing, and for the first time in many years, we now have two Sunday School classes - one for elementary school and one for middle school. We need at least three or more Sunday School teachers plus two Assistants to help grow the faith of our youngest parish members.  This would only require a once-a-month commitment with the class plans already prepared and sent directly to you.

Here are brief descriptions for the roles we are seeking:

• Elementary class teacher – This role is perfect for anyone who enjoys working with the littles. There is an excellent curriculum and plenty of supplies provided. Each teacher will have an assistant to support them and help guide the children through art, song, and discussion.
• Middle class teacher – If you enjoy deeper discussions with a slightly older demographic (12+ age group), this is the perfect role for you. The curriculum is provided through a weekly video and is followed up by a group discussion. The children each have a journal in which to write their comments or artistic impressions.
• Teacher Assistants – Safe Church requires that more than one adult is always present with the children. The Assistant would help with the younger class while also monitoring the older class. The upper half of the St. John’s room door remains open so that the Assistant can visually see what is happening in the other class, and step in to assist when necessary. The Assistant will act as floater and be available wherever support is required.

There is no age restriction for these positions. It is an enriching and rewarding role to help our youngest members grow in the body of Christ. We sincerely invite interested parishioners to give their heartfelt consideration about investing a bit of their time and talent to this group.

Please notify either the Parish Office, Sr Ingrid, or Nell Divinagracia if you have questions or would like to be considered for any of the roles.

The Anglican Church of Canada has released the 2025 calendar, and it has yet again stunning photography of churches across Canada. They are available for purchase through the parish office at $6 each.

For Harvest Sunday on October 13th, we are accepting food/money donations on behalf of our local Food Bank. Please consider giving to support the needs of our community.

 

Photo by Dana Ward on Unsplash

What is a "secret shopper" and why do we need some?

The idea of a "secret shopper" comes from business, where people are sent into a store to evaluate aspects of how that store is run. They are not identified as information gatherers from head office, so they look like an ordinary shopper - but have a secret mission. Secret shoppers are really helpful in gathering information in order to improve practice - whether it's a Best Buy, a Timmies or a parish.

What would you do?  We are looking for people to volunteer to visit one church of similar size as the Church of the Advent in the Greater Victoria area during September, October and November. You should not know anyone at this church. You will be an ordinary once-off visitor - and not identify yourself as a secret shopper (duh). You would tell no-one that this is what you are doing.

It is better to visit a denominational church, such as the United Church, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or other Anglican church, because they are similar in practice and budget to Church of the Advent. You would be given a form to fill in that would cover aspects of the appearance of the church, how you are welcomed, what the parish bulletin boards, bulletins, and sources of information look like, how you are treated at coffee hour, etc. 

Why are we doing this? It's always good to compare our practice with that of similar churches, so that we can improve, keep fresh and up-to-date, and to make sure that we are doing things as well as we possibly can. It is easy for us to get stuck in the ways we have always done things. This is an opportunity to assess our systems and improve.

And: If you have friends who would like to visit Church of the Advent anonymously and fill out the form for us, that would be very helpful indeed.

Interested?: Please email Sr. Ingrid at iandersen@bc.anglican.ca with the name of the church you would like to visit.

The Christmas Craft Fair committee will be collecting items between now and the time of the Craft Fair in November. They are needing Christmas mugs and small canning jars for jams and jellies. There is a bin in the Narthex where you can drop off the items. Any other questions can be directed to Liz Garland. Thank you!

The emphasis for the sixth and final week in the Season of Creation, which ends on Sunday, is Franciscan spirituality. We have a new book in this area as the centrepiece of this week’s Top Shelf:

Care for Creation:
A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth

Ilia Delio, Keith Douglass Warner, and Pamela Wood.

This well-organized and thoughtful book is a must-read for any Christian who is concerned about the environment, and especially for those engaged in group work in the area. It has four main sections: the relationship between the Earth as God’s creation, and Jesus as the Incarnation of God; the implications of St Francis’ Canticle of Creation for our time; the role of contemplative prayer in the light of global climate change; and conversion (transformation) in the Franciscan tradition. Each section has three chapters, one on ecology, one on theology, and one of reflective action.

Although this may sound like heavy sledding, the book makes for engaging reading, and the chapters on reflective action, which include guided individual and group meditations and exercises, are very practical. It was published in 2007, and has been catalogued in the library’s Environment section, with a shelf code of ENV DEL.

Accompanying Care for Creation on this week’s Top Shelf are a book about living with greater simplicity (“live simply, that others may simply live”), Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster, and Uncommon Gratitude: Alleluia for All That Is, by Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams. Karen Armstrong’s Sacred Nature, and Tending the Garden: Essays on the Gospel and the Earth, also return to the Top Shelf.

On top of the cabinet in the seating area of the narthex are two children’s story books, Clare’s Choice: A Story about Clare of Assisi, and Brother Francis: A Story about Francis of Assisi, as well as C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew, which is an imaginative account of the creation of a world and is suitable for tween through adult.

To borrow any book for six weeks, please fill out a green slip from the shelf underneath the display, and put it in the pink box marked Library. To return a book, please fill out a yellow slip in the same way, and leave your returned book next to the box.

Faith Tides is the online, faith-based publications of the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets (BC). Through news stories, reflections and feature articles Faith Tides aims to showcase the work God is doing through our churches. It is a space where people of faith and doubt can walk alongside one another, share their stories and grow together.

In this issue

Bishop's Column: A month of thanksgiving
Rebecca Yeo and Mona Smart ordained to the scared order of deacon
Oh God, it’s Otter!
An invitation to stretch
A letter to the editor

Read the October issue online or click READ MORE to download a PDF version.

 

Read More

Bishop Anna Greenwood-Lee has shared a short video providing an overview of the two days of Synod events and encourages all synod delegates to attend their regional meetings prior to synod. 

Upcoming Regional Meeting:

Western Peninsula and Gulf Islands Regional Meeting
Saturday, October 5 from 10am–12pm
St. Mary, Saanichton (Parish of Central Saanich) located at 1973 Cultra Avenue

 

Synod 2024:

Opening service
Friday, November 1st from 7pm
Christ Church Cathedral

Synod 2024
Saturday, November 2nd 
The Baumann Centre (St. John the Divine, Victoria) 

Read More

Readings for this Sunday's services:

JOB 1:1, 2:1-10

PSALM 26

HEBREWS 1:1-4, 2:5-12

MARK 10:2-16                                                            

Read Sunday's readings online:
1. Go to https://lectionary.anglican.ca/  
2. Select next Sunday's date in the space at the bottom.
3. Click "Link to full text for this day".

All are welcome to join us on Thursdays for our relaxed and interesting Zoom online Bible Study, to look at the readings for the following Sunday. No experience or prior knowledge is needed.

Time: 10 AM - 11 AM.

Zoom Link:  

https://bc-anglican-ca.zoom.us/j/88378461340?pwd=cU9wSUNEZG02M3h3bGVrUmpyMjRNZz09

Meeting ID: 883 7846 1340
Passcode: 4743031 

Lisa Brodersen will lead Bible Study on October 10th and 17th, while Sr. Ingrid is on vacation.

 

Oct 5 – BOOK SALE 

              Taize Service, Chapel, 5 PM

Oct 6 –  Garden Clean-up, 12 PM

               Pet Blessing, church yard, 3 PM

Oct 7-22 - Rev. Ingrid away on vacation

Oct 9 –  Ladies Guild Meeting, 1:30 PM

Oct 13 – Harvest Sunday, Food Bank Donations

Oct 15 – Parish Council Meeting, 7 PM

Oct 19 – Messy Church, Rooms A, B, C, 10 AM

Oct 20 - No 8:30 service

Oct 23 – Ladies Guild Lunch, 12 PM

Oct 26 – Spanish Service, 5.30 PM (note earlier time)

                Harvest Dinner, Hall, 6:30 PM

Nov 2 – Parish Council Retreat, 9 AM

               Taize/All Souls Service, 5 PM

Nov 3 - Choir Concert, 2 PM

Nov 15 – Christmas Craft Fair Prep Day

Nov 16 – Christmas Craft Fair, 10 AM – 3 PM

Nov 24 – Jazz Vespers, 7 PM

Nov 27 – Community Lunch, Noon

Nov 29 – Coffee House Fellowship Evening, 7:30 PM

Nov 30 – Spanish Service, 6 PM

Dec 7 – Taize Service, 5 PM

Dec 8 – Lessons & Carols Service, 2 PM

Dec 21 – Blue Christmas Service, Chapel, 5 PM

Sunday
 8:30 AM - Traditional Eucharist, Book of Common Prayer
(no choir) Chapel

10:00 AM - Contemporary Eucharist, Book of Alternative Services,
with choir Main Church

First Saturday of the Month
5:00 PM - Taize service with singing  Chapel (except August and January)

Last Saturday of the Month
6:00 PM - Spanish Language Anglican Eucharist Service  

Office hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays

from 9 am until noon.