Newslinks: Easter 2015

1 | P a g e E a s t e r N e w s l i n k s 2 0 1 5

Rev. Wendy Mencel

As we approach Holy Week and Eastertide, I want to send you and your

family blessings. As we began our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday, it

was daylight savings time: the nights descended upon us early, and the

days were cold. Each year however, as we journey through Lent, I am

reminded that the dark meal-time does not last forever and that winter

gives way to spring.

These are tactile reminders of the journey each Christian takes from

darkness to Resurrection. Jesus’ earthly journey ends with his crucifixion

on a cross but the endless journey ~ the one from darkness to light ~ is

the resurrection of Christ and eternal life for us all.

You may find yourself reading this newsletter and struggling with issues

that you feel are beyond your capacity to deal with in any meaningful

way. That is when I recommend that you slow down, look around, go out

and slowly breathe in the fresh air. Listen to the birds sing. Remember

this darkness will not last forever.

Ask God to fill your heart with peace, gratitude and perspective.

Perspective is the prerequisite for peace and

finding a sliver of gratitude in your day will help

lead you to peace. But much like exercise, to feel

God’s peace, you need to practice every day.

With discipline, you will reap the benefits of a

different perspective and grow in your relationship

with God who loves you unconditionally and

always.

Maundy Thursday Potluck Meal & Foot Washing Evening Service

Thursday April 2nd at 5:30 pm

Good Friday Morning Liturgy

Friday April 3rd at 10:00 am

Easter Sunday Regular Service

Sunday April 5th at 10:30 am

Culture Fest Taste the flavours of the world!

Friday April 24th at 6:00 pm Tickets NOW Available. See Muriel Vincent for details.

It’s About Time!!! Time Management Workshop

Tuesday May 26th at 7:00 pm Facilitated by Paul Townshend.

May the Peace of God be With You Always

Connect with Us! 21557 Richmond St P.O. Box #129 Arva ON NOM 1CO

P: 519-660-8177 F: 519-660-0946 E: [email protected] Rector: Rev. Wendy Mencel Honourary Assistant: Rev. Kate Hathaway Lay Reader: Jean Davies


In Our Community

Decorating Gift Bags “Showing kindness and caring to those in need”

Over the past several weeks, our Kids Club, led by

Muriel Vincent, put together gift bags of 'goodies' for

those people in our community who are 'shut-in' in

order to brighten their days and let them know St.

John’s was thinking of them.

Annual Pancake Supper “Celebrating friends and fellowship at St John’s”

Smiling faces and happy tummies were once again the

result of our consistently well-attended Shrove

Tuesday Pancake Supper. Thanks to all of our

wonderful volunteers for their efforts in and out of the

kitchen.




Stewardship Update

Paul Townshend

Last year the people of St. John’s Arva made great strides in renewing our parish. The efforts of many helped us achieve

a surplus financial position for 2014. I know we all want to see this financial health carry on into our future as we build

our Christian ministry. This will require the continued support of each and every

one of us to find ways of contributing time, talent and treasure for expanding

our service to each other and the broader community.

Renewing our spirit, compassion and enthusiasm will keep St. John’s Arva a

vitally important Christian influence for generations to come.

Our successes last year were enhanced by many individuals doing the things

they could to make a difference. Some things were smaller and some things

were larger. All of them however made a difference and required taking action.

All of the individuals who undertook such actions demonstrated leadership and/or a positive response to leadership,

which is necessary in successfully renewing our future.

Jerry Hoffman, Director of the Center for Stewardship Leaders at Luther Seminary

(St. Paul, Minn), established a list of leadership characteristics, attitudes and

practices that are valued among church leaders.

It would admittedly be difficult for anyone to possess all of these characteristics

consistently, but I am sure you will recognize many of these traits in yourself and

in your fellow parishioners.

We are fortunate to have many talented people in our midst who are able to use these skills for the benefit of all of us at

St. John’s Arva.

I urge you to think about what skills you may be able to foster and “renew” within yourself for the 2015 year.




Characteristics of Church Leaders

Leaders are rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus

They are disciples of Jesus. They seek to do God's will.

They engage in active prayer, dynamic Bible study and

vital worship with others. People know what they

believe by what they do as well as what they say.

Leaders serve people

They have a profound love and respect for people and

listen intently to them. They are hospitable to all.

Leaders know the people they serve and are able to

articulate their thoughts and feelings.

Leaders visualize a better future

They create, articulate, revise and implement vision.

Their vision gives hope as it points to God's power.

Pressure frequently serves as the catalyst for new

vision. Vision grows as leaders engage in synergistic

dialogue with those they serve.

Leaders effectively communicate a shared vision

They energize others by sharing a God-given vision.

Leaders courageously face resistance

They possess the faith that if they do God's will, one

day others will join them. They respect the opinions

and ideas of others who resist and consider resistance a

gift that can be a corrective or an opportunity to

sharpen focus. They strive to have the mind of Christ.

Leaders creatively respond to conflict

They recognize conflict is often a sign of passion,

interest and commitment. They seek to understand and

strive to point this energy towards constructive

solutions. They can identify and deal responsibly with

those who are antagonists.

Leaders energize others

They discover, recognize and affirm others’ gifts. They

entrust responsibility and authority. Leaders generate

leaders and cause them to be in ministry. They are

willing to let others risk and learn from failure. They call

out the best in others and thank them for who they are

and what they do.

Leaders walk the talk

They are grateful for all God has entrusted to them.

They give generously of their time, talent and money.

They do as they say.

Leaders initiate mission

They are not afraid to ask others to join with them.

They cause mission to happen and invite others to give

of their time, talent and money for God's work. They

recognize and reward success.

Leaders prioritize values, issues and tasks

They set the agenda by raising significant questions.

They sort out the important issues from the

unimportant ones. They continually ask, "Where is God

leading us?"

Leaders live trustworthy lives

They are exemplars of Christian conduct and ethical

aspiration. They speak and act with integrity. They

form and keep healthy boundaries.

Leaders get things done

They understand and teach others how systems work.

They promote and model healthy and effective

processes of decision making.




Parishioner Testimony

My name is Jon Dreyer. I am an Emergency Physician, and have been living

in St. John’s Estates, near the Mill, here in Arva for the past 24 years; and

during that time, have been coming to church, sometimes sporadically, and

sometimes more regularly, as in the last couple of years.

I want to thank Rev. Wendy for asking me to share my faith story and

why I come to church. And I say that because it really made me think

about these things.

For as long as I can remember I have been going to church. It was just part of what we

did as a family on Sundays. I don’t think I really gave it much thought until I started going

to an all-boys boarding school at the age of 11. For there we went to chapel everyday of

the week except Saturdays, and twice on Sundays.

I figured, if we were going to be there that much, then I might as well do something

worthwhile, so I joined the choir. And soon I found my love of singing and of church

music in particular. There are so many rousing hymns and great harmonies. It still gives

me a lot of pleasure to be able to contribute to our choir here at St. John’s.

So music is probably the number one reason I come to church, but fellowship and being a part of such a

welcoming congregation and community is a strong second. Coming to church also gives me a chance to

reflect on what I have done, what I ought to have done, and what I ought not to have done during the

previous week. It’s a time to consider what it means to be a Christian. I am not sure it makes me feel any

closer to God, as God is everywhere. But it gives me a chance to be thankful for everything we have and for

the miracle that is this earth and everything on it, and I guess that is the simple reason for my faith.

As a person of science, I like to be able to explain why things are the way they are. And

that works most of the time…at least until you start thinking about how everything is so

incredibly well-balanced in the natural world. And if you ask yourself how all this came to

be, and how unlikely a coincidence it is that the earth just happened in this vast universe,

that’s when you have to believe that there really is a God.




Don’t get me wrong: I believe in evolution, and continental drift and the Big Bang.

It’s just that the odds of everything coming together to create this incredible planet with its myriad of

natural wonders, and of all the different flora and fauna still seems to me to be something of an incredible

miracle. At least that’s how I see it.

I believe that God put us all on this earth for a purpose. And it is up to each of us to do our best to use the

gifts we find within ourselves, to make it a better place for everyone. In the end, I guess my main reason for

going to church is a combination of all these things, but most of all to say thank you for all I have been given.

And with that I will end with a prayer I learned as a child and said every night at bedtime:

“Thank you God for the world so sweet,

Thank you God for the food we eat.

Thank you God for the birds that sing,

Thank you God for everything.”




Announcements

EATING TOGETHER COMING SOON: Saturday April 18th

Share a meal and share memories with friends and fellow parishioners of St. John’s Arva. All are

welcome. For participation and further information, please contact Isle Jones at 519-433-2542 or [email protected]

CULTURE FEST COMING SOON: Friday April 24th at 6:00 pm

Tickets NOW Available!

Taste the flavours of the world! Celebrate your heritage and eat great food as we celebrate diversity

at St. John the Divine. If you are interested in volunteering by making food from a particular country please sign up on

the sheet in the hall. Tickets: $5/person or $10/family. Speak with Muriel Vincent for more details.

COME TO THE TABLE: A SOUP & SANDWICH DINNER COMING SOON: Monday May 11th at 6:30 pm at The London Club (177 Queens Ave)

St Paul’s Social Services invites you to their seventh annual Soup & Sandwich fundraising dinner and

silent auction featuring guest speaker, Jennifer Kirkham of the London Poverty Research Centre.

Tickets are $75/ea (includes a $50 tax receipt); Table of Ten for $750. Please join us for a warm, fun and informative

evening. Call (519) 521-2000 for tickets or more information.

THE THREE CANTORS: IN CONCERT COMING SOON: Thursday May 14th at 7:30 pm at St. George’s Anglican Church (227 Wharncliffe Rd)

St. George`s Anglican Church invites you to this stellar performance in benefit of the PWRDF/HHF and

St. George’s Accessibility Project. Reception to follow in the Church Hall. Tickets are $ 25/ea and are available by

contacting the St. George’s Church Office at 519-438-2995 or at the door.

mailto:[email protected]




ELVIS FOR THE STREETS COMING SOON: Friday May 15th at 7:00 pm at St James Westminster (115 Askin St)

The Deanery of London invites you to come together for an evening of fun and fellowship “in support of

the priestly ministry to the streets of London” featuring award-winning Elvis entertainer, The Rev’d Matt Martin. Tickets

are $12 in advance; $15 at the door. All proceeds to support outreach efforts in downtown London. Please speak with

Rev. Wendy for more details or see the poster in the hallway.

IT`S ABOUT TIME!!! COMING SOON: Tuesday May 26th at 7:00 pm

Many people find themselves being rushed through their week. There’s never enough time for this. There`s

never enough time for that. Never enough time to accomplish what is really important! Learn to recognize

things which may be holding you back from achieving all that’s possible. This workshop will present a variety of tools

and techniques to assist you in doing what really matters to you! Facilitated by Paul Townshend.

Our Team Rev. Wendy Mencel, Rector: 519-850-9174 [email protected]

Paul Townshend, Warden: 519-433-5406 [email protected]

Ian Nicholson, Warden: 519-641-3582 [email protected]

Rev. Kate Hathaway, Honourary Assistant: [email protected]

Jean Davies, Lay Reader: [email protected]

New to St. John’s? Interested in Getting Involved with our Liturgies? Have a Rental Inquiry?

Want Offering Envelopes or to Sign up for Pre-Authorized Givings?

Our Parish Administrator is here to help!

Send us an email [email protected] or give us a call 519-660-8177







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Newslinks: Easter 2015