I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. So many of you I have not seen in months but, fortunately, have communicated with either over the phone or via email. I miss seeing your wonderful faces and pray that 2021 brings some positive changes to the world.

I will be on holidays as of December 21st and returning to regular office hours (working remotely from home) on January 4th. Voicemails and emails will not be monitored over this two week period. A volunteer however will be in the office on Tuesday, December 22nd and 29th from 10 am until noon to collect offerings.

For pastoral emergencies, please contact Rev'd Paul at 778-350-5721.

For any other inquiries that must be addressed prior to my return on January 4th, please contact our wardens:

Elizabeth Bennett at 250-642-0185

Joan Hoffman at 250-474-5446 

There will be no midweek bible study December 23rd and 30th.

There is no virtual service on December 27th. Continue to read further down the newsletter to learn more about all the virtual services that will be made available by our sister parishes over the next few weeks.

We hope you will join us for our Church of the Advent Zoom Christmas Eve services. The information for the times and links are found below and also posted on our website under events.

And finally, my wish for you, dear friends, is that you find some measure of peace, stillness and joy in what will likely be a quiet Christmas season. I pray God's light shine upon you all. Best wishes from my little "bubble" to yours.

Blessings,

Caroline DeCiantis

Join us via Zoom for a special family Christmas service at 6:30 pm. The service will be approximately 45 minutes in length and will follow with a Zoom chat time where we can exchange Christmas greetings. 

ZOOM meeting link:  

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88322767893?pwd=S0JheS9lVS9rRWR6OTcyVFhnQlpiZz09

ID 88322767893

Passcode 4743031

Join us via Zoom for a special Christmas Eve service at 10:30 pm. The service will be approximately 45 minutes in length and will follow with a Zoom chat time where we can exchange Christmas greetings.

ZOOM Meeting Link: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88322767893?pwd=S0JheS9lVS9rRWR6OTcyVFhnQlpiZz09

ID 8419319359

Passcode 4743031

The treasurer wishes to remind all Church of the Advent members that, as required by the Canada Revenue Agency, offerings must be either received at the church by December 31 or be postmarked on or before December 31 if mailed, in order to be included in your 2020 charitable tax receipt.  Thank you for your continued support to the parish.  It is most appreciated.

Advent & Christmas Services
Services are livestreamed on our website

SUNDAY DECEMBER 20 – ADVENT IV
10.30 am Service of the Word and Worship Livestream on website
4.00 pm Lessons and Carols for Christmas Broadcast on CHEK TV
7.00 pm Lessons and Carols for Christmas Rebroadcast on website

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 24 – CHRISTMAS EVE
4.00 pm Solemn Evensong with Carols Livestream on website
10.00 pm Lessons and Carols for Christmas Rebroadcast on CHEK TV

THURSDAY DECEMBER 25 – CHRISTMAS DAY
10.30 am Service of the Word and Worship Livestream on website
11.00 am Lessons and Carols for Christmas Rebroadcast on CHEK TV

SUNDAY DECEMBER 27 – FIRST SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS
10.30 am The Dean reads O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi Broadcast on website
4.00 pm Donald Hunt plays J. S. Bach’s Canonic variations Broadcast on website on ‘Vom Himmel Hoch’

We will have a special Zoom Epiphany Study Series beginning in January. The dates will be January 19th and 26th, and February 2nd and 9th from 1 to 3 PM. The Epiphany series will be based on Corinne Ware's book, "Discover Your Spiritual Type."

Please email the parish office at admin@colwoodanglican.ca if you are interested in signing up for the series.

In a year when many Christmas traditions need to be reimagined, Christ Church Cathedral is finding new and innovative ways to celebrate the season. In the absence of large, indoor gatherings this year, the cathedral will broadcast its beloved Christmas Lessons and Carols service in a special television event on CHEK TV on December 20 (with rebroadcasts on December 24 and 25). The candlelit service with readings by some familiar community voices, features a mixture of carols old and new sung by a small cohort from the cathedral’s excellent choirs.

If you can't make the CHEK TV broadcast, you can also watch the service on the cathedral website at 7.00pm on Sunday December 20 (www.christchurchcathedral.bc.ca/live) or on demand following the website broadcast.

Other chances to watch the service on CHEK TV:

December 24, 2020 at 10.00pm
December 25, 2020 at 11.00am

This livestreamed service can be watched here: www.christchurchcathedral.bc.ca/live

Photo Credit: Jeannine Friesen

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.—Isaiah 7:14

Join Anglicans across the country for this first-ever national Advent Lessons and Carols service, to be broadcast live online. View the event at anglican.ca, on Facebook or YouTube. 

The service of Lessons and Carols is one of the most widely-anticipated and well-known events during Advent. A number of our physical worship spaces have been temporarily closed due to public health protocols related to the pandemic. Anticipating this reality, General Synod has worked with Anglican cathedrals across Canada to offer a special, national service of Lessons and Carols this Advent season, which will help us all prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Listen and subscribe to the Sacred Teachings Podcast. ​In its fourth season, Sacred Teachings podcast explores the teachings, languages, traditions and stories of the ancestors.  Highly respected Indigenous speakers are featured in this series, with a different theme for each season, including the sacredness of Creation and finding meaning in a global crisis.

Celebrating 2021 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Canada

Every year, Christians around the world are invited to celebrate a Week of Prayer for the unity of all Christians, to reflect on scripture together, to participate in jointly-organized ecumenical services, and to share fellowship.

The international resources for 2021 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have been prepared by the Monastic Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland, a group of religious sisters from different church traditions brought together by a common vocation of prayer, community life and hospitality and by their commitment to Christian unity.

The 2021 theme

Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit (John 15:5-9) – calls us to pray and to work for reconciliation and unity in the church, with our human family, and with all of creation. Drawing on the Gospel image of vine and branches, it invites us to nourish unity with God and with one another through contemplative silence, prayer, and common action. Grafted into Christ the vine as many diverse branches, may we bear rich fruit and create new ways of living, with respect for and communion with all of creation.

About the Week

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU) was first proposed in 1908 as an observance within the Roman Catholic Church by Fr Paul Wattson, founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in Graymoor, New York. Since the founding of the World Council of Churches in 1948, many other Christian denominations
around the world have come to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In Canada, The Canadian Council of Churches and its ecumenical partners, the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism and the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, work for ‘unity in diversity’ by supporting WPCU celebrations across Canada. For over
40 years, our Canadian ecumenical writing team has adapted WPCU materials developed by the World

Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity for the Canadian context.

Visit weekofprayer.ca for more information and to download resources.

When pandemic-related public health measures necessitated the closure of Canadian places of worship in early 2020, parish leaders entered into a flurry of activity to tend to difficult and immediate pastoral needs, and to reshape the worshipping and gathering life of their communities. For many, the loss of the capacity to celebrate the eucharist struck hard and the grief that ensued was tough.

A growing number of voices began to advocate for permission to adapt Holy Communion for remote or distanced safe practice, and debates sprang up about the nature of words such as real, virtual, presence and communion.

In response to the emerging discourse and in an effort to facilitate conversation, the Faith, Worship, and Ministry committee of General Synod invited submissions of theological reflections on eucharistic practice and sacramental theology. Over forty submissions were received, which have been collected, edited and organized into this resource, for study and discussion.

The diocese is proud to highlight essays by three local contributors:

• Nancy Ford, Christ Church Cathedral - Eucharistic Practice and Sacramental Theology: Practice Versus Intent
• Brendon Neilson, Synod Office - Hopeful Complications for Our Dialogue
• Leslie Flynn, St George the Martyr - Gathering Anew: Reflections on Youth Ministry Amidst a Pandemic

Read more contributions 

The diocese of Islands and Inlets is currently seeking an editor for the Diocesan Post. This is a contract position of approximately 40hrs/month. The editor plans editorial , writes original content, edits manuscripts and oversees design and layout of a 10-issue/yr publication as well as web-exclusive content throughout the year. 

Download a copy of the complete job description.

Please submit resume and covering letter by December 18 to:
Catherine Pate, director of communications 
250.386.7781 for inquiries

Dear Faith Communities of Greater Victoria,

As you enter the winter months with ongoing COVID-related restrictions in place, the ways your community worships, celebrates, and reaches out may have changed. Yet, so many of you are working to continue with what is important. Our Place staff likewise continue to provide nurturing, hopeful support to people experiencing homelessness and poverty in Greater Victoria.

This newsletter includes four specific ways you can share your traditions and channel the spirit of hope and kindness in your communities into upcoming Our Place events.

We would love to receive your questions and to hear your ideas about how to involve your community!

Thank you for connecting with us!

Angela Andersen, Faith Communities Outreach Coordinator
angelaa@ourplacesociety.com      Our Place Phone: 250-940-5060

Care Kits and Warm Clothes

Everyone needs to feel warm and clean! You can help by providing essential items like first aid supplies, feminine hygiene products and toiletries. This year, Our Place provided over 14,000 showers to people in need. Warm clothing, socks, toques, gloves and face masks are also needed. You are welcome to drop off new items at 919 Pandora or 94 Talcott Road, daily. Or, you can help Our Place purchase care kits for vital needs.

Start here 

Join Coldest Night of the Year

On February 20, 2021, gather your faith community and your families to join this walk-a-thon that will take place both virtually from your neighbourhood and, conditions permitting, in timed, distanced, masked groups downtown and on the West Shore. Invite another faith community to walk, too! You can join the fundraiser to help ensure that people experiencing homelessness have drop-in access to snacks, washrooms and showers during evenings and weekends.

Let's walk together (safely apart!)

Create a Poster

Gathering together is challenging this year, but there are still many special events and traditions to celebrate and acknowledge in new ways. Your faith community is invited to create a poster, contribute a holiday message, or gather pictures and information for the bulletin board at the 919 Pandora Drop-in Centre, where Our Place offers meals, showers, warm food and services to hundreds each day.

Our Family wants to hear from you

Sponsor a Breakfast

Every day, hundreds of nutritious meals and snacks are served at the Our Place downtown Drop-in Centre. Hot, filling breakfasts are important during the cold months, and a shared meal is often the first step toward a healthier life and a sense of community in times of despair. Your faith community can help spread the warmth by sponsoring a meal — your efforts will be recognized in an upcoming feature in the Times Colonist in the new year.

Provide a healthy start

We encourage parishioners to maintain their offerings during the time of these restrictions.   We are truly grateful for the encouraging response to the Thanksgiving offerings.  These have been most helpful.

As we did during the early days of lockdown for the pandemic, the parish office will be open for two hours on Tuesday mornings from 10 AM to Noon to receive offerings brought to the church.  The only other options available are as follows:

1. Change to pre-authorized remittances by calling Barb Gossman at 250-478-4747 or emailing her at  barb.gossman@gmail.com to make the arrangements;
2. Mail your offerings to the church (mail will be monitored regularly), or
3. Call Bill Van Sickle at 778-265-5347 or email him at treasurer@colwoodanglican.ca to discuss other arrangements.

Thank you, our faith family, for your consideration and patience as we work together in uplifting and supporting one another.

In this special e-news, diocesan administrator, Ansley Tucker offers Christmas greeting and we share some upcoming events (beginning this Friday) that you can take part in virtually as Advent comes to an end and the Christmas season begins.....

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