A fun COFFEE HOUSE EVENING presenting the Bluegrass/ Folksy band  “Pocket Full Of Dust.”

Friday Nov. 29 th at 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 ish in the hall at the Church of  the Advent.

Tickets $15.00 at the door or purchase in advance from Dayle  Robertson or Bev Somers.

Door prize to be won! Coffee, tea and snacks will be available (cash only please). This event is open to the public.

POCKET FULL OF DUST 

Pocket Full of Dust is a four-piece acoustic band that plays bluegrass as well as traditional roots and folk, with strong vocal harmonies.  The band has been active locally for the past few years playing market venues, some restaurant gigs, as well as busking at the central library. Band members are: Tim Storm – banjo & vocals, Noreen Skoreyko – fiddle, mandolin & vocals, Carol Thibault – upright bass & vocals, and Bruce Medd – guitar & vocals. C’mon out and hear some good old time acoustic music!

For Christians, the season of Advent can offer us a peaceful time of reflection, of waiting and watching for Jesus's miraculous birth.

Journey through Advent with our ever-popular creative evenings for the whole family. We have four special clay Christmas tree ornaments for you to colour or paint, as you listen to meditations from "Preparing for Christmas", a much-loved book of Advent meditations by Richard Rohr. Our thanks to Bob and Charlotte Nichols for the clay ornaments. Bring your coloured markers. Paint and paintbrushes will be provided.

There is a 20-person limit for each of the four evenings. Please sign up for each evening on the signup sheet in the Narthex. 

Where: St John’s Room
When: Thursdays November 28^th, December 5, 12 & 19,
                   6.30 - 7.30 PM (or as long as you wish)

We all look forward to the Christmas Pageant on the third Sunday of Advent!

Our Christmas Pageant this year will be held on Sunday, December 15th at the 10 AM service, with the Dress Rehearsal the day before, Saturday, December 14th at 11:00 to 12:30.

 The Pageant is open to all children and those young at heart.  
The children will be chosen to take on specific roles at the time of the Dress Rehearsal (we have a lot of costumes available).  

We'd also like to invite adults to participate - if you're interested, please advise Michelle or Barb Gossman, your participation will be greatly appreciated. Our thanks to Lenn Enns, who will be our Narrator again this year.

For some, Christmas is not a time of joy and celebration, but a time of loss and grief - whether it be the death of a loved one, broken relationships, loss, or estrangement. This year, we will be offering a Blue Christmas service, a time when we can, with others, acknowledge the "blue" feelings we have at Christmas time. We can lift to God the reasons for our sadness.

Join us in the church on Saturday December 21 at 5 PM for a short service of scripture and prayer in a safe, loving and healing space.

Please consider inviting others who are in need of loving care during the Christmas season.

A joy-filled playful Christmas Eve service is planned for young children at 5PM on Christmas Eve. Will you be attending? Please RSVP your firm commitment to attend at the link below.

Nobody should spend Christmas Day alone - no matter who you are: retired with family far away, a member of the military, or a student. 

Last year’s Home Alone Christmas Dinner at Church of the Advent was a great success with a large turnout and lots of happy faces. We will be hosting the lunch at noon again this year, catering for fifty people, with an online RSVP. A simple meal will be served.

If you volunteered to help out on the day, and were with Sr Ingrid, preparing food and serving at the lunch, you will know what a joyous and rewarding experience it was. We would love you to volunteer for this year's lunch!

How can you help?

- Volunteer to help to prepare and serve food on the day.
- Donate a few dollars towards the cost of the meal
- Bake a dessert

Sign-up sheets are in the Narthex for duties such as setting up and taking down, serving, and food preparation that can be delivered either on Christmas Eve service or Christmas Day. Please speak to Sr. Ingrid for more information. 

This season, Church of the Advent along with Street Hope Ministry will be handing out gift bags to the vulnerable in our community. Last December, Street Hope delivered 270 gift bags! For those of you familiar with the Shoebox project, previously we had used shoeboxes to fill, however this year we are filling drawstring bags. Please fill your bag with essentials and Christmas goodies like snack bars, nuts, snack packs, chocolate or cookies, juice boxes, warm socks, gloves, hats, toiletries or gift card. If you have questions about any items, please contact the parish office. Bags can be brought to the church by December 8^th.

Additionally, the Women in Transition House is seeking community support for its clients. Many of the women there are escaping from difficult and often dangerous situations with nothing in their possession. The Shelter urgently needs donations of adult women's new clothing (with tags on), including underwear, sweatpants, sweatshirts and pyjamas. Donations for the Transition house can be brought to the church by this Sunday December 1st.

Image: https://www.thresholdministries.ca/shv/#contact

This past Sunday, a parishioner's coat went missing from the Narthex closet where she had hung it prior to the service. 

It's likely that another parishioner mistook the coat for their own because of the two coats' similarities. 

If you have a grey, long, wool-like coat, kindly please check the description below to see if it's a match. If you do have the coat, we ask that you contact the parish office. Thank you!

DESCRIPTION OF COAT - Grey, full-length, zipper on the front, hooded, white lining on hood and cuffs, knitted material

The Ladies Guild is offering complimentary luncheon tickets at $10 each. These tickets are perfect for gift giving, have no expiration date, and can be used at any regular luncheon. To purchase them, please contact Jose or the Parish office.

The next Community Lunch is Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025.

You can plan for future community lunch dates by checking our EVENTS page on our website.

My previous attempts in the spring didn’t result in any information so I’m trying again.  There are two parishioners who are using envelopes 2 & 17.  Unfortunately, I don’t have them in my records so although I’m keeping track of all of the donations, I don’t have their names so won’t be able to issue charitable tax receipts.

I’m asking all parishioners to check their envelope number.  If you’re using #2 or #17, please contact me at church or at home at 250-478-4717 and I’ll update my records.  I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me.

This week’s Top Shelf contains two books relating to the two kingdoms—this world, and the Kingdom of God that is among us—which were the topic of Sister Ingrid’s sermon last Sunday. The books are:

Tony Campolo. Which Jesus? Choosing Between Love & Power.
    In this short book, Campolo examines the life represented by Jesus Barabbas, and contrasts it with the life represented by Jesus the Christ.

Richard Rohr with John Feister. Jesus’ Plan for a New World: The Sermon on the Mount.
    The model for a new world order based on following the teachings of Jesus.

FAITH JOURNEYS

Also on the Top Shelf this week are three more books containing an assortment of thoughts and experiences about faith. They are:

Anne Lamott. Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith.
Lamott recounts her journey to belief in God and herself. In the words of the book jacket, it is “a journey through her often troubled past to illuminate her devout but quirky walk of faith.”

Marcus J. Borg. The God We Never Knew: Beyond Dogmatic Religion to a More Authentic Contemporary Faith.
Borg introduces us to the view of God he was given as a child, and his journey to a mature faith. As usual, his account is clear, easy, and engaging reading.

Herbert O’Driscoll. A Doorway in Time: Memoir of a Celtic Spiritual Journey.
The well-loved local author gives us an account of his childhood in Ireland, and his entry into the spiritual world through the Celtic sense of the holiness of place.

Sister Jeremy Hall, OSB. Silence, Solitude, Simplicity: A Hermit’s Love Affair with a Noisy, Crowded, and Complicated World.
A book of Benedictine wisdom based on a personal spiritual journey.

Sue Bender. Everyday Sacred: A Woman’s Journey Home. 
This unusual book is about finding the sacred in one’s own life and everyday experience.

Nov 29 – Coffee House Evening featuring Pocket Full of Dust, 7:30 PM

Nov 30 – Spanish Service, 6 PM

Dec 1 - Breakfast for the 8:30 service

Dec 4 – Book Club, 10 AM

Dec 7 – Taize Service, 5 PM

Dec 8 – Hanging of the Greens Service, 10 AM

Dec 11 - Ladies Guild Christmas Lunch

Dec 15 - Pageant Sunday, 10 AM

Dec 21 – Blue Christmas Service, Chapel, 5 PM

Dec 24 - Christmas Eve Services:

 - Children's Service, 5 PM

 - Family Service, 7 PM

 - Service with Choir, 10 PM

Dec 25 – Christmas Day Dinner, Noon

Dec 26-Jan 14 – Rev Ingrid is on holidays

Dec 29 – Lessons & Carols, Combined Service, 10 AM

Jan 11 – Environmental Expo, 9 AM

Jan 12 – Bishop Anna visits, Combined Service, 10 AM

Jan 19 – Jazz Vespers, 7 PM

Jan 21 – Parish Council Meeting, 7 PM

Jan 22 – Ladies Guild Lunch, Noon

Jan 25 – Spanish Service, 6 PM

Readings for this Sunday's services:

JEREMIAH 33:14-16

PSALM 25:1-9

1 THESSALONIANS 3:9-13

LUKE 21:25-36

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".

Christ Church Cathedral will be hosting an Amnesty International Write for Rights event on Saturday, December 7 from 10am to 2pm in the chapter room. This is an opportunity for you to advocate for and support people who are imprisoned or persecuted. Each year Amnesty International chooses 10 persons or situations that can be changed for the better by the power of the pen. The ten cases will be available ahead of time if you would like to get started early. Contact Susan MacRae at macapplecross@gmail.com to register and receive advance information.

Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2025 Anglican Award of Merit. The award is given to lay persons in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the life and work of the Church, nationally or internationally (or both), over several years or through short-term work.  

The deadline for submitting is December 31, 2024. For more information and to download the nomination form, click READ MORE.

Join us for an engaging evening with Bishop Anna. Build relationships across the diocese, delve into her vision for a bright future, and explore the life-giving ministry thriving within the Islands and Inlets.

This 1st annual dinner will highlight and raise funds for our ministry in the North Island. Hear stories of the work of truth telling, reconciliation and rebuilding that is happening in our churches in Port Hardy, Port McNeil and ‘Yalis (Alert Bay) - true centers of community, hope, and outreach.

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025
6:00pm | Terrace Ballroom, Inn at Laurel Point
Tickets: $200 individual | $1500 for a table of 8

Tax receipts issued for $100 per ticket and for $700 for a table.

Limited Tickets available for purchase on Eventbrite here.

For more infomation visit:

http://bc.anglican.ca/events/bishops-dinner/2025-02-05

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 

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 PM - Spanish Language Anglican Eucharist Service  

Office hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays

from 9 am until noon.