From Lancelot Andrewes...via Malcolm Guite...for Pentecost 2020

A video for your information, reflection and enjoyment...

a glimpse at the Pentecost sermons of

Lancelot Andrewes...

At the end of the clip, Rev. Guite reads from his sonnet for Pentecost, published in Sounding the Seasons (Canterbury Press, 2012).

Pentecost

Today we feel the wind beneath our wings
Today  the hidden fountain flows and plays
Today the church draws breath at last and sings
As every flame becomes a Tongue of praise.
This is the feast of fire,air, and water
Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth.
The earth herself awakens to her maker
And is translated out of death to birth.
The right words come today in their right order
And every word spells freedom and release
Today the gospel crosses every border
All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace
Today the lost are found in His translation.
Whose mother-tongue is Love, in  every nation.

The Feast of Pentecost: Worshipping "In Place"

This week, we share worship with the Parish of St. John's, Olds, Alberta.

Readings for Pentecost

The Book of Acts 2: 1-21

Ephesians 4: 1-16

Canticle 9: A Song from Ezekiel
(Ezekiel 36: 24-28)

The Gospel of John 7:37-39

Thanks to Rev. Robert Sears

and

parishioners from

the Anglican Parish of St. John's,

Olds, Alberta

Expand thy wings, celestial Dove,

brood o'er our nature's night;

on our disordered spirits move,

and let their now be light.

-- Charles Wesley

Source: Common Praise, Hymn #177

May your day be blessed.

FYI: The View Going Forward - from Rev. Chris Roth

Shared from Facebook, this is a video prepared by Rev. Chris Roth of St. Leonard's on the Hill, Red Deer, Alberta, as the church faces transition back to in-person worship.  There is a long road ahead of us!  The video is about 15 minutes long; pour a cuppa, and take your time to 'mark, learn and inwardly digest' the information...

Please pray for our congregation,

for our parish,

for our Diocese,

for the Province of Rupert's Land,

for the Anglican Church of Canada,

for the Anglican Communion

and for God-in-Christ's work in ALL of us

as we go forward.

May your day be blessed.

FYI: An Up-coming Webinar for Uncertain Times

There will be three 1.5 hour webinars on Monday, June 8, Wednesday, June 10, and Monday, June 15. Each session is offered at 10:30 am and 6:30 pm to suit your schedule.

From the Webinar description:

We are living in a time of unknowns. We know our lives have changed significantly and that things will not go back to how they were. What we don't know is what our lives are going to look like moving forward.

Right now we are living in an in-between time. For many of us the goalposts keep changing as we try to discern what we can expect. This time can be fraught with feelings of frustration, disappointment, anxiety, isolation, and/or disorientation. This in-between time is a time of transition.

For more information, and the e-mail link for registering for this FREE three-part webinar, please click HERE.

FYI: The Archbishop's Task Force Re: Re-opening Publice Services

Shared from the Anglican Diocese of Calgary:

Purpose of the Task Force: 

To consider the guidelines and protocols, including timelines, provided by the Province of Alberta for Services of Worship, and advise the Archbishop on both timelines and protocols for the re-opening of public worship services for the Anglican Diocese of Calgary.

 Members:

Chair:  The Very Rev’d Leighton Lee, Dean of Calgary

Dr. Chris Bockmuehl, Medical Doctor, Parishioner at St. James, Calgary

Dr. Sebastian David, Medical Doctor, Parishioner at Christ Church, Fort Macleod

Dr. Brend Ireland, Medical Doctor, Parishioner at St. Augustine’s Lethbridge

Linda Kamhuka, Infection Control Practitioner, Alberta Children's Hospital, Parishioner at St. Andrew’s, Calgary

The Venerable Noel Wygiera, Archdeacon Rocky Mountain and Incumbent at St. Luke’s Red Deer

The Ascension of the Lord: Worshipping "In Place"

Christi Himmelfahrt
(Christ Ascends)Fresken von Gebhard Fugel, 1893/1894

Today's service comes to you from the Parish of St. Cyprian's, Lacombe, Alberta

The sermon is entitled "Working from Home"

Readings for The Feast of the Ascension:

The Book of Acts 1: 1-11

Psalm 93

Ephesians 1: 15-23

The Gospel of Luke 24:44 -53

Thanks to Rev. Dr. Robert Sears

and 

parishioners from

the Parish of St. Cyprian's, Lacombe

May your day be blessed.

Archbishop Greg on the Diocese's COVID-19 Transition Planning

Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson
Archbishop of the Diocese of  Calgary
Metropolitan, Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land

To read this letter from the Archbishop, click HERE.

Reflections for a Pandemic: From the Garden

Gardening brings many of us a sense of peace and pleasure -- not to mention the beauty and bounty gardens provide.  And gardening is a way for us to co-create with God, the first Gardener.  In Scripture, life began in a Garden -- and ever since humanity was banished from Eden, we've been trying to make our way back...

For your consideration and reflection as those of us who are planters and tenders and reapers, setting out our plots and beds and field this time of year -- in a particularly difficult time in the world -- I offer a variety of resources.

The first is an episode from the podcast "The Growing Edge", co-created by educator and author Parker Palmer and singer-song-writer Carrie Newcomer -- both Christians who've been informed by the Quaker Tradition.  The episode is called "Gardening in the Dark" and you can listen to it HERE.  

The episode includes Parker and Carrie's reflection on a poem by Marge Piercy:

The Seven of Pentacles

Under a sky the color of pea soup
she is looking at her work growing away there
actively, thickly like grapevines or pole beans
as things grow in the real world, slowly enough.
If you tend them properly, if you mulch, if you water,
if you provide birds that eat insects a home and winter food,
if the sun shines and you pick off caterpillars,
if the praying mantis comes and the ladybugs and the bees,
then the plants flourish, but at their own internal clock.

Connections are made slowly, sometimes they grow underground.
You cannot tell always by looking what is happening.
More than half the tree is spread out in the soil under your feet.
Penetrate quietly as the earthworm that blows no trumpet.
Fight persistently as the creeper that brings down the tree.
Spread like the squash plant that overruns the garden.
Gnaw in the dark and use the sun to make sugar.

Weave real connections, create real nodes, build real houses.
Live a life you can endure: Make love that is loving.
Keep tangling and interweaving and taking more in,
a thicket and bramble wilderness to the outside but to us
interconnected with rabbit runs and burrows and lairs.

Live as if you liked yourself, and it may happen:
reach out, keep reaching out, keep bringing in.
This is how we are going to live for a long time: not always,
for every gardener knows that after the digging, after
the planting,
after the long season of tending and growth, the harvest comes.

-- Marge Piercy - source: Famous Poets and Poems.com

The second is a podcast entitled "The Art of Being Creatures, from On Being -- host Krista Tippett's interview with Ellen Davis, Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke University Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina -- interspersed with poetry from the farmer, poet and environmentalist, Wendell Berry.  Mr. Berry's poems, read by the author, can be listened to HERE.  (I commend to you in particular, "The Peace of Wild Things".)

And the third is a portion of the Tapestry @ 25 podcast from CBC radio, hosted by Mary Hynes.  Entitled "Back to the Garden", its Ms. Hynes' interview with Canadian gardening advisor and author, Marjorie Harris, which you can listen to HERE.

And then there are these small offerings...

God's Garden

...The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth --

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

-- An exerpt from "God's Garden", a poem by  Dorothy Frances Gurney

...We are stardust, we are golden --

And we've got to get ourselves back to the Garden.

         -- from "Woodstock" by Joni Mitchell

May these selections bring you a blessing this week.

6th Sunday of Easter: Worshipping "In Place"

This week, we share worship with the Parish of St. John's, Olds, Alberta.

Readings for the 6th Sunday of Easter

The Book of Acts 17: 22 - 31

Psalm 66

1 Peter 3: 13 - 22

The Gospel of John 14: 15 - 21

Thanks to Rev. Robert Sears

and

parishioners from

the Anglican Parish of St. John's,

Olds, Alberta

May your day be blessed.

A Prayer and a Blessing for Canada

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you

and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favour

and grant you peace.

AMEN

May this bless you today and every day.

For Your Information: Resources for This Time of Transition During a Pandemic

There are two resources recently produced that deserve to be shared FYI on this page.

The first is Archbishop Greg's encouragement and prayers for us at this time re: COVID-19 and the transition to re-opening.  There is both text and a video in this article, which you can access HERE.

The second is recommended by Rev. Robert; in sharing it with me by e-mail, he wrote:

Here is an article from the Anglican Journal that advances the need for caution with easing restrictions in the church, primarily for the protection of the weaker brother...

The article mentions Paul’s advice of not causing “divisions” in 1 Corinthians. His parenthetical example is of access, public vs private transport, but it is the health and welfare of those on the public transit that is salient. The problem with the example is that public/private transport can tend to merge with the state/church animus in some folks’ minds, and he wisely wants to move away from that spurious division.

To access this article, click the link below:

https://www.anglicanjournal.com/the-eucharist-and-coming-out-of-lockdown-a-tract-for-these-covid-19-times/

Blessings to all; stay informed -- and stay safe!

COVID-19 Update: Alberta Enters Phase I

This is just a link.  For those of you who are interested in the details of Phase I as it applies to places of worship, click HERE.  The ultimate decision about whether or not the parish can open for services rests with the Anglican Diocese of Calgary...but...it's not looking great at the moment.  Several of our traditional worship practices are risky with respect to preventing spread of this highly contagious virus.  These include: congregational prayer, singing, sharing "the Peace" and participating in BOTH forms of the Eucharist (without modifications).  Let us be thankful we remain safe and well, and caring of each other.  Let us be thankful for online services and online gathering, regular phone and written communications...and prayer.  We can do this hard thing, by the grace of God.

5th Sunday of Easter 2020: Worshipping "In Place"

A Spring Sky - Cranna Lake 

Today's service comes to you from the Parish of St. Cyprian's, Lacombe, Alberta

Readings for the 5th Sunday of Easter

The Book of Acts 7: 55 - 60

Psalm 31: 1 - 8

1 Peter 2: 2 - 10

The Gospel of John 14: 1 - 14

Thanks to Rev. Robert Sears

and 

parishioners from

The Anglican Parish of St. Cyprian's, Lacombe

May your day be blessed.

Think Ahead Tuesday

When pandemic restrictions lift enough for us to worship in community again...are we going to be ready?  😉

Thoughts for a May Monday During a Pandemic

This greeting comes from the Anglican Diocese of Calgary 

by way of Facebook...

May your day be blessed!

😉

4th Sunday of Easter 2020: Worshipping "In Place"

This week, we share worship with the Parish of St. John's, Olds, Alberta.

Readings for the 4th Sunday of Easter

The Book of Acts 2: 42-47

Psalm 23

1 Peter 2: 19-25

The Gospel of John 10: 1-10

Thanks to Rev. Robert Sears

and

parishioners from

the Anglican Parish of St. John's,

Olds, Alberta

May your day be blessed.