Our much anticipated annual Christmas Craft Fair and Lunch is finally here! Come to Church of the Advent this Saturday, November 15th from 10 am to 3 pm.

Browse among a wide array of beautifully hand-crafted items, all locally made - perfect for Christmas gifts. After shopping, sit and enjoy some delicious sandwiches and dessert with tea/coffee for only $12. You won't want to miss it!

A special thank you to all who have signed up to help on the prep day, Craft Fair day, and clean-up. Plus a huge thanks to all the amazing bakers who are contributing to the bake sale. None of this would be possible without your great support!

Church of the Advent was fortunate, last year, to be one of the two parishes chosen by Bishop Anna to participate in the Provincial School for Congregational Development. We have been joined this year by another parish from this Diocese. We join the other dioceses in the Province (Caledonia, Kootenay, New Westminster, Territory of the People, and Yukon) to learn together. You can learn more about the School here

Our team, comprising Sister Ingrid and lay leaders Jose and Linda, are now in Year B of the process. This Sunday, we are visiting a dynamic Lutheran parish to engage in an Appreciative Inquiry exercise. We will be learning from their best practice and sharing our learnings with Church of the Advent.

The Rev. Sr. Sulin Milne will be celebrating and preaching at both services this Sunday - welcome back, Sulin! 

With Covid and influenza infection numbers rising, as they do each fall, this is a good opportunity to remind everyone of how we keep you safe during our Sunday services.

Communion bread: Sr. Ingrid and the Lay Eucharistic Minister always disinfect their hands with plenty of sanitiser before beginning the Eucharistic Prayer, and again just before breaking the bread into pieces prior to communion. 
Communion wine: the Ministers of the Chalice also use hand sanitiser. In addition, as the Common Cup is administered, the Minister of the Chalice wipes the chalice with a clean part of the purificator cloth and turns the chalice, so that a new part of the chalice is presented to the communicant. The high level of alcohol in the fortified communion wine and the silver chalice also assist in preventing the transmission of disease.
Intinction (the act of dipping the bread or the wafer into the wine in the chalice) is strictly forbidden in this and most other dioceses. The reason for this is that people can easily misjudge and their fingers (often the dirtiest part of their bodies) can touch and contaminate the wine. We offer wine in separate glasses to meet the needs of those who prefer not to drink from the chalice.
If you are immuno-compromised, please feel free to wear a mask, and to restrict physical contact to your own comfort level. There are bottles of hand sanitiser at the greeters desk, should you wish to disinfect your hands before communion or after the service. It is a good idea to wash your hands with soap and water after the service before going to coffee hour.

We are thrilled to welcome The Attila Fias Trio to our Jazz Vespers stage. Come and enjoy this group of musicians as they perform an evening of world class jazz right here in the Westshore. 

This season the Compassion in Action Ministry would like to support Connection Point. They provide a gift shop for parents to shop for their children and gifts for the unhoused. Please provide however you wish with a gift, gift box, or gift bag/ backpack for a child adult or senior.  The gift box/bag could include toiletries, snacks and treats, cold weather items etc.

Connection Point is also currently seeking support with their Dignity Program, a place to shower and launder clothes at their Goldstream Ave. Outreach centre. Sometimes the individuals who use this service do not have a change of clothes. Donation of men's and women's shirts, pants, socks and underwear are needed, as well as shampoo, bodywash and razors. 

Thank you from the Compassion in Action Ministry Team.

Last year’s Christmas Day Lunch for anyone who was alone was yet another great success. We had a large turnout and saw lots of happy faces. So, mark your calendars because Church of the Advent will host the lunch again this year!

Sign-up sheets will be in the Narthex the week this Sunday.

This week’s Top Shelf features some books returned from loan over the past couple of months (have you returned your overdue books?):

Belden C. Lane. Backpacking With the Saints: Wilderness Hiking as Spiritual Practice.
   This author went out into the wilderness with basic camping equipment and a collection of the world’s great spiritual writings. The discipline of backpacking becomes a metaphor for spiritual journey.

Mariann Edgar Budde. How We Learn to be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith.
   Extraordinary courage is possible for ordinary people.

Stephen Cherry. Barefoot Disciple: Walking the Way of Passionate Humility.
   Humility is currently “impossibly uncool,” writes the author, but here is a guide to a humility that is true to the example and teaching of Jesus.

Anne Lamott. Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace.
   What grace may look like to one fallible human being.

Alexander McCall Smith. The Sunday Philosophy Club.
   The first novel in a series about the Edinburgh editor of an ethics journal who feels morally obliged to investigate the mysteries she encounters.

THE CHILDREN’S SECTION

On display on the small table in the narthex:

Noah’s Ark. Written by Linda Falken and illustrated from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

To borrow any book, fill out a green loan slip from the small bookcase in the narthex, and put it in the pink box labelled “Library.” If you are returning a book, fill out a yellow return slip, put it in the Library box, and leave your book beside or under the box; please do not reshelve it.

All are welcome to join us on Thursdays for our relaxed, lively and interesting Zoom online Bible Study, to discuss the readings for the upcoming Sunday. The readings are posted in this newsletter.

No experience or prior knowledge is needed.

Time: 6 PM - 7 PM.

Zoom Link:  

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

Meeting ID: 883 7846 1340
Passcode: 4743031

Our thanks to Lisa Brodersen, who will lead Bible Study this Thursday. Sr. Ingrid will be in Nanaimo in order to attend Clergy Day.

Readings for this Sunday's services:

ISAIAH 65:17-25

ISAIAH 12 (AS CANTICLE)

2 THESSALONIANS 3:6-13

LUKE 21:5-19

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".

Nov 14 Christmas Craft Fair Prep Day

Nov 15 Christmas Craft Fair, 10 AM – 3 PM

Nov 22 Spanish Service & Potluck, 6 PM

Nov 23 Jazz Vespers, 7 PM

Nov 26 Ladies Guild Luncheon, noon

Nov 27 Prayer Shawl Mtg, 10 AM

Nov 29 Parish Council Christmas Dinner

Nov 30 8:30 Service Breakfast
              Advent 1 Parish Anniversary

Dec 10 Community Coffee Social is CANCELLED
              Ladies Guild Appreciation Lunch

Dec 15 Christmas Caroling

Dec 16 Parish Council Mtg, 7 pm

Dec 20 Blue Christmas Service

Dec 24 Christmas Eve Services

Dec 25 Home Alone Christmas Lunchon. 12 noon.

Faith Tides is the online, faith-based publication 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.

Bishop's Column: Growing into the new

St. Dunstan’s holds final service at church in Gordon Head 

Final women’s retreat explores faith in the turbulent 2020s

Anglicans support the revitalization of Indigenous languages

106th Archbishop of Canterbury announced

Rethinking the Anglican divide

Ripples: November 2025

For more infomation visit:

https://faithtides.ca/

All are invited to join with St Mary's, Central Saanich, for the December 6 National Day of Remembrance

We will gather to honour the lives of the 14 women murdered at École Polytechnique in 1989, and to stand against all gender-based violence. This National Day of Remembrance calls us to reflect, remember, and renew our commitment to building a safer, more just society. All are welcome—your presence matters.
We will be meeting at St. Mary's at 5 pm for a short service and then a time of Gathering. 

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

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

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

Fourth Saturday of the Month
6 PM - Spanish Language Anglican Eucharist Service  

For any issues to report concerning the condition/maintenance of the church building and grounds, please email the parish office directly at admin@colwoodanglican.ca, or record them in the maintenance logbook that is located on the parish office door.

Office hours are Mondays  - Thursdays
from 9 am until noon.