Gather your friends and family for a fun night of trivia in support of the local non-profit Grouse Nest in Sooke, as an opportunity to raise money for them to host refugee families affected by the conflict in the Ukraine.  

Our theme is FUN for U (FUNdraiser for the Ukraine). On Friday, July 22nd from 7pm to 9pm, Church of the Advent Colwood will host John Stonehouse as he presents fun trivia questions for everyone of all ages.  

The Grouse Nest was hit hard this year with multiple break-ins and thefts. Our Church community together with John Stonehouse wish to show our support and kindness by donating all proceeds from this trivia night fundraising event to aid in the help that the Grouse Nest will provide to up to 100 Ukrainian refugees. To learn more about the Grouse Nest visit their website at https://www.ukrainiansafehaven.org/

The trivia night will have teams of 4, so you can bring your own team or we will make teams that evening. Come and meet new people and don your blue, yellow, sunflowers and thinking caps!  

There will also be a beautiful quilt on display that has been lovingly donated. It will be up for auction (online) with final bids received and winner revealed on 31 July 2022. 

Refreshments and snacks will be available for purchase. Only 100 tickets will be sold so get yours early! Contact Cat Mason 613-827-7477 or Elizabeth Bennett  250-642-0185 for your tickets! Also if you would like to help out – or have youth in your family who would like to help out that evening – we would love to have a few people to set up, tear down, and sell refreshments and snacks, please let Cat or Elizabeth know. 

The conflict in the Ukraine among other world and local events, affects every one of us. We appreciate your support in our continued community outreach, compassion in action and support to the Grouse Nest that both John Stonehouse and Church of the Advent wish to provide. 

Plan now to attend a multifaith gathering here at Church of the Advent on Tuesday, July 19th from 6:30 to 8 pm in the Main Church, to learn about the recently completed inaugural term of the Greater Victoria Peace School and how you can be a part of peace education in our area.  

The meeting is a great opportunity to meet with fellow Anglicans, and with people from other faith communities, including those who worked together to establish the peace school. You will meet and have discussions with those who live with you on the common ground of faith.  

Everyone is for peace, but what can we do?  Come and learn! Come and contribute your ideas! For information, contact Bill Geimer, 250 642 0185, peacevetcanada@gmail.com. 

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

Amos 8:1-12

Psalm 52

Colossians 1:15-28

Luke 10:38-42

This message comes to each of you in peace, faith and love. My heart is full of gratitude for every message and action that you have conveyed to myself and Bob. The cards, phone calls, visits, emails, gifts of food and flowers have really helped to support us along our journey. We have felt your love, thoughts and prayers.

I continue to heal from my by-pass surgery in April and seem to be a little stronger with each passing day. I will receive my 12th chemo treatment on July 15; with more to follow. Another CT scan, in August, will determine the next steps in my treatment.

We think of you all and miss you so very much. I look forward to when Bob and I will be able to worship, in person, with you soon.

With love, Donna. 

July 19 & 21 – Parish Office is open from 9 am until noon

July 19 – What-Sew-Ever in the Main Hall, 10 am

July 19 – Multifaith Peace Education Gathering

               in the Main Church, 6:30 pm

July 20 – Book Club at 10 am

July 22 – TRIVIA NIGHT (Fundraiser for Ukraine)

July 25 to August 11 - Caroline on Vacation

July 25 to August 13 - Rev. Ingrid on Vacation

August 16 – Parish Council at 7 pm (hybrid meeting)

Sept 10 – TREASURES IN THE TRUNK (Parking Lot) 

Join us for a zoom interview and reading with Carolyn Whitney-Brown - co-author of Flying, Falling, Catching (HarperCollins Canada - co-authored with Henri Nouwen).  Rob Crosby-Shearer will facilitate the interview which will focus on themes of embodied community and actor / theologian Joe Abbey-Colborne will read Nouwen's parts.

Sponsored by The Emmaus Community & The AbbeyChurch - with financial assistance from The Canada Council for the Arts through The Writers' Union of Canada.

For free tickets (which will send zoom link) - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/flying-falling-catching-with-co-author-carolyn-whitney-brown-tickets-383619786107

admin@emmauscommunity.ca for more information about how to join us live.  

________

During the last five years of his life, best-selling spiritual author Henri J. M. Nouwen became close to The Flying Rodleighs, a trapeze troupe in a traveling circus. Like Nouwen’s own life, a trapeze act is full of artistry, exhilarating successes, crushing failures and continual forgiveness. He wrote about his experience in a genre new to him: creative non-fiction. 

In Flying, Falling, Catching, Nouwen's colleague and friend Carolyn Whitney-Brown presents his unpublished trapeze writings framed by the true story of his rescue through a hotel window by paramedics during his first heart attack. Readers will meet Nouwen as a spiritual risk taker who was transformed through his engagement with these trapeze artists, as well as his participation in the Civil Rights movement, his life in community with people with intellectual disabilities, his personal growth through friendships during the 1990s AIDS pandemic, and other unexpected encounters.

What will we do with our lives, and with whom will we do it? In this story of flying and catching, Nouwen invites us all to let go and fly, even when we are afraid of falling.

“Flying, Falling, Catching is a beacon of hope. It reminds us that despite all the perils and sufferings that surround us, with which we often collide, we can find healing, peace, and awe even in the most unusual detours that life offers. A must read.”  - Marina Nemat, Author of international best-seller Prisoner of Tehran

"In Carolyn Whitney-Brown's deft hands, Henri’s intentions literally, vividly swing alive. This is a beautiful, moving story about interconnectivity, interdependence, and life's rich, beautiful, complicated pageant. I devoured it in a sitting.” - Lisa Napoli, Author of Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie

“No question that flying, falling, and catching were unlikely teachers for Henri Nouwen, whose clear preferences were security, stability and being caught! I hope and trust that you, the reader, will allow Henri to guide your journey through risk to freedom!” -  Sr. Sue Mosteller, CSJ, Executrix of Henri Nouwen's literary estate

“I am very grateful for Carolyn Whitney-Brown's accurate account of my brother Henri's inner feelings, hopes, wishes and despair. You brought Henri very close to me again.” - Laurent Nouwen, Founder of the Henri Nouwen Foundation

“A lifelong search for wholeness takes a surprising late turn—toward the circus! As someone who’s spent much of my adult life absorbing beautiful spiritual truths in gritty entertainment venues, I can definitely relate.” - Shad, Rapper, Host of documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution  

"A loving achievement and a riveting story of spirit meets body. With splendid pace and wit, Carolyn Whitney-Brown drops the words of Henri Nouwen’s flights of thought before us. Then, she arranges to gorgeously catch them. A singular spiritual tale written with tender-hearted eloquence from two arresting minds.”  - Kathryn Bond Stockton, Author of Gender(s), Distinguished Professor of English, University of Utah

“In this book, I see Henri in the audience, smiling straight at me, clapping his hands above his head, enjoying our performance success as much as we did. This one is for you, my friend.” - Rodleigh Stevens, Founder of the Flying Rodleighs and former trainer with Cirque du Soleil

"Anyone who knew Henri, either through his writing or in person, will immediately recognise how beautifully he’s been brought to life in this book – his willingness to write so vulnerably about human relationships and feelings as a means to discovering our purpose in life, and a sense of the divine.” - Gary Donohoe, Professor & Chair of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway

“Flying, Falling, Catching is far beyond religious belief or affiliation. It is a universal tale of mind-body connection and disconnection. While undoubtedly an account of a spiritual journey, Carolyn Whitney-Brown nimbly explores the corporeal inner life of Henri Nouwen as he literally swings through the air. It is brilliant!” - Ruth Rakoff, Author of When My World Was Very Small

"For Henri Nouwen, a flying trapeze performance was like a Russian icon, drawing him into a spiritual world. This endearing true story about living and dying carefully brings together all of Nouwen's thinking on the Flying Rodleighs and the circus. Like the act itself, sheer elegance.”  - Michael Ford, Author of Wounded Prophet and Lonely Mystic.