Hello,
Coming Soon:
Wednesday, November 26th, 10am at Holy Trinity: The Annual ACW Corporate Eucharist followed by fellowship. Our church bakers will be making cinnamon buns so bring your toonies.
Thursday, November 27th, Holy Trinity and Emmaus will be down at the Station Mall, 10am – 2pm selling all sorts of interesting things – edible and non-edible. If any other churches will be there, please let me know (susan.montague2@gmail.com) so that I can let others know.
Saturday, November 29, 11am-3pm at Holy Trinity, SSM: Snowflake Tea & Seasonal Market, just $12 and, yes, we’ll have those fancy sandwiches (among other food items). There will be a variety of vendors, baking, “new to you”, and…whoohoo…Holy Trinity merchandise!
Also Saturday November 29th. 11:30am to 1:30pm; Emmaus Anglican Church Annual Bake and Craft Sale – Soup and Sandwich lunch included! Tickets are 15$ per person and are available at the church. Call 705-759-2545 or call Nancy at 705-257-2024. Please leave a message, we will get back to you. Tickets are also available at the door but are limited with a first-come first get basis. (1643 Wellington St. East – in the church hall – rear parking lot level which is wheelchair accessible!)
Opportunities for Spiritual Growth Through Advent:
Zoom Bible Studies: 7-8:30pm on Wednesday December 3, 10, & 17. Let’s rediscover the hope that fuelled the early church.
Quiet Evening & Scripture Study in Person: Thursday, December 4th, 4pm – 6:30pm at the Trinity Centre. Lasagne for supper. We’ll learn about the four pillars of the early church that helped them thrive and then we’ll do some self-reflection and some group reflection about these pillars in our lives. After supper we’ll have a scripture study.
In Person Scripture Study: In addition to Thursday, Dec.4, we’ll also get together at the Trinity Centre, 4-5pm on Thursday, Dec.11 & 18 (Sorry, no lasagne at these studies). 
A Liturgical Note For You: Your Christian New Year’s Resolution
We are about to begin our new Christian year so…Happy New Year!!! Sunday, November 30 brings with it the start of Advent – the beginning of our Christian year. Each year, as we once again live through the dramatic events of our great Story of Salvation, it is our opportunity to immerse ourselves more fully into these events, to learn about and understand more deeply the love of God and what this feels like and looks like in our daily lives. The great liturgical seasons of our year – like Advent – help to transform us as we worship together. This is why it is so important to know and understand our liturgies – why we do what we do and, just as importantly, what we should not be doing in our liturgies.
The liturgical greats over the decades…Alexander Schmemann, Aidan Kavanagh, Rowan Williams, and lesser known, newer on the scene fonts of knowledge like Simon Chan and Juan Oliver…will all tell you the same thing: Bad liturgy = bad theology = unhealthy churches. The opposite is, of course, true: our Anglican liturgies have been carefully put together to be transformational …they are dense with the theology that forms us as disciples of Christ (lex orandi, lex credendi: the law of what is prayed is the law of what is believed. In other words, we are what we pray). As Richard Giles has passed along from one of his mentors, well done liturgy “converts more people than many sermons” (p.25 of Here I Am Reflections on the Ordained Life). Liturgical greats may be more commonly referred to as liturgical grumps but, crucially, they point us to the knowledge and tools we need in order to experience the transformational power of our liturgies. Our liturgical calendar and authorized seasons then place these liturgies within the unfolding drama of God’s saving acts in our salvation history. Following our liturgical calendar thus shapes us according to the way of life in the kingdom of our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Ruler. As we begin Advent, I encourage you to resolve to engage in a group activity, like a bible study, that will help you to explore our great Story so that you are increasingly open to the transformational power of our liturgies.
Beginning Advent – The Advent Wreath: The Advent wreath is not meant to be the object of a little mini rite within our Sunday liturgical rite. The appropriate number of candles is to be lit before the service begins with no prayers, readings, or songs/hymns attached. Why is this? The Advent wreath was introduced to the Church as a means of encouraging the prayers and devotions of families in their homes, particularly at the evening meal together, throughout this reflective season of hopeful expectation. In the church building, the wreath is a visual reminder of the season and something on which to focus as we pray. All that we need to hear and know about each Sunday of Advent is already contained within our Sunday liturgy…in the prayers for the day, in the Prayers of the People, in the scripture readings we proclaim, and in the songs/hymns we sing. Want to read this for yourself? Go to p.A34 here: https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/OccasionalCelebrations.pdf
For Your Devotions:
Monday, November 24th (transferred from Sunday) is the commemoration of Clement of Rome who died around 100 AD. Yes, I’ve said this before and I know I’m a “Church Geek” but, I find it really exciting to know I can read what was written by someone who almost certainly met Paul in Rome and probably even heard him preach! Clement’s letter to the Corinthians (yes, those Corinthians again) spelled out the church hierarchy and apostolic succession (that the bishops succeeded the apostles…i.e. taught what the apostles taught). Tradition has it that Clement was martyred by being tied to an anchor and then thrown into the sea. For more info, check this out: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/clement-of-rome-11629592.html In the joy of Christ,
Susan
Deanery of Algoma 