We are quickly moving toward the culmination of this church year. November 21st will mark the last Sunday after Pentecost and the Reign of Christ the King Sunday. The following Sunday, November 28th, will mark the beginning of Year C of our Common Lectionary and beginning of the journey through Advent toward the birth of the Christ-child at Christmas. 

On November 28th, the Church of The Advent will celebrate its Thirty-fifth anniversary of the consecration of our worship space. We are planning a service of celebration and hoping to be able to distribute individually wrapped cupcakes with some form of beverage in a way that does not breach diocesan directives around kitchen use. This will be a work in progress and subject to change depending on COVID protocols. For those who have been inquiring about kitchen use, please keep in mind that the possibility of having some form of celebration does not entail that the kitchen facilities are open for use by any groups or events. This is still not permitted. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience. 

Last week, we gave indication that we would begin checking vaccination passports and personal ID for all persons attending in-person worship at Church of The Advent. It has come to our attention that diocesan policy has been established such that we are to expect everyone attending in-person worship to be fully and doubly vaccinated before attending. We have been asked to rely on the honesty of all attending in abiding by this directive for the safety and well-being of our children and adults alike. Everyone attending worship services must be masked at all times, including congregational singing. This policy applies for worship services of less than fifty persons. Over fifty attending requires that we do check everyone (at the moment those age twelve and older) for vaccination passports and government-issued photo ID.  

All gatherings outside of worship are required to check for vaccination passports and government-issued photo ID for everyone in attendance. At the moment this means all persons over the age of twelve years. If a registration list is recorded on the first occasion of meeting, this list can be used as an ID checklist for all those registered going forward. That means you will not be asked for your passport and ID each time the group gathers (if you are registered). 

At the time I sat down to write this piece, we have not had any new directive from the Bishop’s office regarding relaxation of the restrictions on the maximum number of persons allowed to attend in-person worship. Please be aware that the safety and well-being of all our congregants is first priority for everyone. We intend to keep the parish informed of all changes in policy and directives for our parish. 

 As we have heard many times, “Be calm, be kind, and above all, be safe.”

Blessings.

Paul+ 

On Saturday, October 23 the bishop conferred upon thirty-three people the Order of the Diocese of British Columbia, in recognitition of their contributions to the common good. New members and officers include parishioners of our diocese and some outside of the church including leaders of other faith traditions. Dr. Bonnie Henry, who was made an honorary officer, gave closing remarks which mirrored those in Bishop Anna's sermon; both calling  us to continue to work together for the good of all, abandonding notions of self-sufficiency and strenghthening our commitment to interdependence.

During these days of pandemic life, the service was as much a celebration of what we have come through together as the individuals who have helped get us through it.

Read more about the investiture service and the new members in the November issue of the Diocesan Post. Download a copy of the book of recipients below.

On Friday, October 22 Lon Towstego (Haro region) and Elizabeth Northcott (Nimpkish region) were collated as regional archdeacons. At the same Eucharistic service, Brenda Nestegaard Paul (Trinity Anglican + Lutheran, Port Alberni) and Eric Partridge (St Andrew, Sidney) were installed as canons of Christ Church Cathedral. We are grateful for and celebrate their ministry among us! 

 In her remarks to the recent meetings with synod office staff, archdeacons and the diocesan council, Bishop Anna set out six current priorities as a way of focusing the efforts (as they relate to the vision) of diocesan leadership in the coming months. These priorities were also published in the October 2021 issue of the Diocesan Post:

1. Faith in Foundation — Current ministries: post-pandemic re-opening  

Support our churches in the work of re-opening. As we transition to a post-pandemic reality, this is an opportunity to consider carefully what needs to be done in-person and what can/should we continue to do online (e.g., worship, workshops, meetings, conferences).

2. Faith in Action — Reconciliation and Beyond: racism and decolonization  

We need to be awake to the racial reckoning that is going on in the world and do our own work, including learning more about our colonial history. This is work we will each need to actively undertake in a life-long practice, as part of our labour to live into our baptismal covenant by respecting the dignity of every human being.

3. Faith in Action — Engaging God’s World: climate catastrophe

We are being called to the work of addressing the climate catastrophe. How will we collectively do this as the body of Christ? Discerning what is ours to do will be a focus of our work.

4. Faith in Foundation — Current Ministries: personnel

Our people our most valuable treasure. Diocesan Council has created a human resource (HR) working group, chaired by vice-chancellor Isabel Weeks, to update our HR policies and procedures and develop an HR manual.  

Some of our recruitment and retention challenges:      

• The number of parishes served by part-time and retired clergy, clergy who are close to retirement
• How our compensation package aligns with the cost of living in this part of the world
• Reduced number of clergy available to take positions  

We also need to encourage congregations to raise people up for ordained ministry; “Vocations Day” Saturday, November 6 to begin this work.  

5. Faith in Foundation — Current Ministries: governance

The pandemic has forever altered how we are Church in many ways. We need to identify systems and ways of being that will work for us as we move forward post-pandemic. We also need a governance system that balances transparency and accountability with flexibility and adaptability.

6. Faith in Action/Faith in Foundation: stewardship

As we develop a 2022 budget, we will be transparent and conscious that we have a culture in this diocese that has yet to embrace a robust financial stewardship ethos. At the parish level this means that many parishes are overly reliant on rental income. At the synod level apportionment and investment income may not be enough to cover expenses. Difficult decisions will have to made to adjust for this reality. 

Download a copy of these priorities below.

The Westshore Craft Fair Crawl is only a week away! On November 6th from 10 am to 4 pm, Church of the Advent will be hosting an outdoor bake/gift sale as part of the larger Westshore Craft Fair Crawl event. We would like to continue extending the invitation for baking and craft donations to sell on November 6th.

If you would like to contribute, please keep these pointers in mind:

 - We strongly encourage that home baked goods arrive at the church pre-packaged so that there is minimal handling of the food. Plates and bags are availabue for use and can be picked up in the church office (or you can call Mary at 250-474-4909 to arrange for pick-up/delivery).

- The deadline to deliver donated craft and baked good items to the church is Friday, November 5th between 6 and 9 pm.

- To help the sellers, please put a price on the sewing items.

Want to help?

We are looking for volunteers to help on the day of the sale (Nov. 6th). We will need help with setting up the tents and tables, selling the baking and gift items, and taking everything down at the end of the day. Please contact Mary Wills at 250-474-4909 or email maryewills@outlook.com to sign up for a 2 hour shift.

Thank you so much for your support!

Our Sunday School is now in session and we will be doing a special commissioning this Sunday at the 10 am service.

We are also looking for teachers and helpers to assist during the new Sunday School year!

If you have a desire to share God's gifts through connecting with our youth and children, please contact Barb Gossman at 250-478-4717 or at barb.gossman@gmail.com.

As a teacher or helper, you would only be asked to help with the Sunday school one Sunday per month at the most.

For clarification, the teacher role requires you to plan the lessons and materials. Helper roles do not do the advanced prep work with the curriculum, but provide assistance to the teacher and kids on the Sunday they are assigned.

We welcome anyone who is interested. Please be advised that a criminal background check would be required before proceeding as well as Safe Church certification (which is provided by the church).

Thank you and God bless!

Flowers on the altar this Sunday are placed there in loving memory of Arthur Wallace by his wife Lorna and his family.

Lest We Forget

Please join us for a service of Remembrance on November 7th.

On this Remembrance Day Sunday we will lay the wreath and read the roll, honouring the names of those who have served in both World Wars.

We invite our parishioners who have served or are currently serving to wear their uniforms, medals and/or commendations if they so choose. 

For your time of quiet reflection and preparation, here are the readings we will share this Sunday in our worship services:

Isaiah 25:6-9                                                                                                                             

Psalm 24     

Revelations 21:1-6a

John 11:32-44 

Jazz up your Sunday evening with a Jazz Vespers service in the church starting at 7 pm on November 7th.

This short service, about an hour long, will feature lots of jazz along with contemporary prayers, poems, and readings.

Come and see, and hear, what it’s all about!

Please note that you will need to wear a mask, be distanced in the church except within family groups or established bubbles, and use hand sanitizer when entering the church. At this time, Bishop Anna has advised that unvaccinated individuals over the age of 12 are encouraged not to participate in-person services. This action is based on our collective responsibility to care and protect the most vulnerable, particularly at this time, our unvaccinated children.

Christ Church Cathedral is pleased to announce its All Souls’ Day observances for 2021: A Solemn Requiem Eucharist featuring Gabriel Fauré’s much loved Requiem in D Minor, op. 48. 

November is a liminal season in the church’s calendar. It’s what the ancient Celts would refer to as a “thin time,” or a time when the veil between this world and the next is more gossamer than usual. With the turning of leaves and the ever-present chill in the air, we are reminded that death is all around us. November contains not only Remembrance Day, but also the feasts of All Saints and All Souls’, both closely linked to the pagan celebrations of Halloween (or “All Hallow’s Eve”). All Souls’ Day (November 2) is when we pause to once again remember those who have gone before us, and to consider our own mortality.

On Tuesday, November 2, at 7.00pm, the Choirs of Christ Church Cathedral will sing French composer Gabriel Fauré’s setting of the Requiem Mass (Mass for the Dead). Originally scored for woodwind, brass, strings, organ, and harp, the 30-voice choir will offer this unusually gentle setting in a version with organ accompaniment.

The cathedral offers many services throughout the course of the year with beautiful music and readings, but this one is special because the proceeds raised will go towards our Covid Catapult Campaign, a year-long, multi-pronged program to reduce our structural deficit. The Dean, The Very Reverend M. Ansley Tucker explains, “We regularly take up a collection at all our services, and this offering is returned to the community through the good works that the cathedral does. This work requires the continued support of all who care about making a difference in the world, and we invite all who attend this service to join the cathedral through their generosity.”

The Cathedral Choirs, composed of skilled volunteer singers and choral scholars, have kept the tradition of weekly sung services throughout the pandemic (with reduced numbers). In this liturgical offering of the Fauré Requiem, they will be led by Director of Music, Donald Hunt with Mark McDonald at the organ.

French composer Gabriel Fauré’s setting of the Mass for the Dead, offered in its original liturgical context by the Cathedral Choirs and Organists. With the turning of leaves and the ever-present chill in the air, we are reminded that death is all around us. In deep respect for our own mortality and in remembrance of those who have gone before us, we gather to hear words and music that bring challenge and comfort. 

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 7.00 pm
In-person and online
christchurchcathedral.bc.ca/live

Online donation link:
givepoint.com/christchurchcathedral/general-donations

Cost: $26 (includes lunch)

This workshop will provide an opportunity for us as a diocese to engage her on how varieties of structural evil (climate, racial and economic injustice) operate in our context and how we might respond to them.   

At the end of the day, we hope you will be able to: 

• identify forms of structural evil that are present in our lives 
• consider strategies for resisting that evil (non-cooperation)
• imagine generative alternatives (participation in the good)  

About the speaker

Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, this fall's John Albert Hall lecturer (December 2), is professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and author of the award-winning Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological-Economic Vocation

Register to view online

Climate justice may be the foremost moral challenge of the 21st century. Race and class dimensions of the climate crisis are haunting. While caused primarily by high-consuming people, climate change is wreaking death and destruction foremost on impoverished people who also are disproportionately people of color. How are we to face this crisis with courage, wisdom, agency, and hope? What do spirituality and religion bring to this question? What is
the role of economic life in building sustainable Earth-human relations? Join us for honest and hopeful inquiry into these burning questions.

Cynthia Moe-Lobeda is professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Pacific
Lutheran Theological Seminary and author of the award-winning Resisting Structural
Evil: Love as Ecological-Economic Vocation.

David Seljak is professor of Religious Studies and chair of the department of
Religious Studies at the University of Waterloo.

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Guided by the fifth Mark of Mission members of the Anglican Communion Environment Network "strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the earth." Their regular news digest is encouraging and uplifting, with contributions from Anglicans all over the world, including Ken Gray, retired dean of St Paul's Cathedral, Kamloops and former priest of this diocese.

We want to acknowledge that this is a very difficult time for many families and to encourage everyone to please consider giving to our local food banks. 

Church of the Advent also has a Food Bank donation bin. It is located under the table on your right as soon as you enter the Narthex. When you are attending services, you can always drop a non-perishable food item in the bin on your way in. 

Thank you for your giving hearts!

Some local food banks in our area:

Goldstream Food Bank - 761 Station Ave

Goldstream Masonic Lodge - 679 Goldstream Ave

Mustart Seed Street Church & Food Bank - 625 Queens Ave

Victoria Community Fridge - 2725 Rock Bay Ave

Victoria Rainbow Kitchen Society - 500 Admirals Rd

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul - 4353 W Saanich Rd

For the 16 Days of Activism in 2021, the Anglican Communion Office is inviting young Anglicans (aged 35 and under) to submit short videos which express their perspectives of gender-based violence.

Youth/yound adults are encouraged to submit messages and/or stories looking at sexual and labour exploitation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women and girls, cis and trans, 2SLBTQAI persons in your local communities. These are critical gender-based justice issues in Canada and globally, for advocacy and action by Anglicans everywhere.

Between 25 November and 10 December, the Anglican Communion Office will release a selection of those videos on their official social media channels as part of their response to the 16 Days. Submission deadline October 31.

Learn more.

International Day for the Elimination of Voilence Against Women

"Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data and reports from those on the front lines, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified.

This is the Shadow Pandemic growing amidst the COVID-19 crisis and we need a global collective effort to stop it. As COVID-19 cases continue to strain health services, essential services, such as domestic violence shelters and helplines, have reached capacity. More needs to be done to prioritize addressing violence against women in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts." - UN Women

Read more about the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on the United Nations website.

Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on December 10 — the day on which the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Learn more about how you can take part

hosted by Anglican Campus Chaplaincy, UVIC

Tuesday November 9, 2021 – beginning at 7 p.m.

On behalf of the Victoria Shoah Project, you are invited to attend the annual remembrance of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass).  This year’s commemoration will take place on Tuesday November 9th, beginning at 7 p.m. streamed live on Zoom: 

 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84934377604?pwd=ZFkzeHJBMnVORk9ZVmJ0RlFvbWkydz09 

We are a diverse collective of Shoah survivors, descendants, educators and caring individuals whose main focus is to continue finding innovative, informative and inspiring ways to honour, commemorate and educate about the Shoah. We are sponsored by Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue. 

On Tuesday, November 9th, we will be remembering what took place on the evening of November 9th, 1938. Kristallnacht targeted Jews solely for who they were with planned attacks of Jewish owned stores, buildings and synagogues in Germany and Austria while authorities did nothing to stop the assault.  The Name Kristallnacht refers to the pieces of broken glass covering the streets but represents the broken lives forever changed by this tragedy. 

November 9th, 1938 was only a hint of greater harm to come. The history of Kristallnacht reminds us of how quickly lives can be shattered. Kristallnacht is not only a painful scar in the pages of Jewish history, but a lesson for all humanity. All of us have a responsibility to respond promptly and loudly at the first appearance of injustices targeting any group. This message is particularly significant in today's world when acts of irrational and violent prejudice are all too common. 

Our program will remember all who perished in the Holocaust with a candle lighting ceremony by survivors, second- and third-generation descendants, as well as students and youth, representing our ongoing hope for a future of peace. In addition, the program will include a variety of other speakers, musicians and the reading of our Pledge of Mutual Respect and Support by politicians, multi-faith representatives and law enforcement leaders from the Victoria community and others in attendance.    

Please join us to remember the past and pledge to take action for a better future where we will respect and protect our neighbours, not remain indifferent in the face of any injustice against any person or group and work towards building bridges leading to unity and shalom (peace) in our own community and beyond.  

For further information please contact: 

Victoria Shoah Project Email: victoriashoahproject@gmail.com

Website: https://www.victoriashoahproject.ca/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/victoriashoahproject  

What is the role of clergy in the 21st century church? How is this vocation changing with the times? Who is called to this sacred order? 

Join Bishop Anna, along with 11 other speakers (postulants and clerics), each with a unique story to tell about how God called them to ordination and how God has been using them since. Each member of the panel will speak for 12 minutes, with opportunities for questions and comments throughout the day. 

Whether you might be discerning a call to ordained ministry or you are an active member of your parish and want to know more about what your parish can be doing to raise up people for ministry, you are encouraged to attend.

Speakers: Ruth Dantzer, Gyllian Davies, Wally Eamer, Leslie Flynn, Anna Greenwood-Lee, Craig Hiebert, Jim Holland, Juli Mallett, Bill Tarter, Lon Towstego, Ansley Tucker, and Stephanie Wood.

Order homemade marmalade and pies by contacting Lydia at 250-478-4564, or email chezfrogbc@gmail.com.

To purchase TruEarth Laundry Strips, call Jose at 250-857-3025 or 250-857-3025 (cell), or email her at joseinvictoria@shaw.ca. 

For Fairway Cards, please contact Joan at 250-474-5446, or email jnlhoffman@telus.net

The Ladies's Guild very much appreciates everyone's support!