Mark your calendars for Church of the Advent’s Annual General Meeting for the year 2023, to be held in-person on Sunday, February 25^th following the combined 9:30 AM service in the Main Church.

AGM reports will be emailed to you next week and hard copies will be available in the Narthex. Please pick up a copy.

For those unable to attend in person, all questions or comments need to reach Terry Mikkonen at wardens@colwoodanglican.ca by Saturday, February 24^th at 5 PM. All proxies and postal vote forms need to be handed in before the commencement of the meeting. The meeting will be livestreamed should you wish to observe.

Come and enjoy a pancake lunch or dinner on Tuesday, February 13th in the Main Hall! We are serving pancakes for lunch at 12:00 PM, and again for dinner at 6 PM. $8 per person/per meal ($5 for kids under 10).

On February 14^th 10 AM and 6 PM Ash Wednesday services will be held in the Chapel.

Mar 28 - Maundy Thursday Agape Meal, 5 PM;
               Service at 7 PM

Mar 29 - Good Friday, Main Church, 10 AM

Mar 30 - Easter Vigil (Spanish), Chapel, 6 PM

Mar 31 - Easter Sunrise Service, 7 AM at Esquimalt Lagoon
               Easter 8:30 AM Service
               Easter 10 AM Service

If you are interested in being baptized or have children you would like baptized, please let Sr. Ingrid know, as we will be having a baptism service on Easter Sunday.

This Lent, we are focussing on building greater belonging in our parish community. Beginning from the first Sunday of Lent (Feb 18) we will be using a course from the Anglican  Church of England. "Building a Relational Culture" is a thought-provoking series that takes us into deeper, more meaningful relationships with each other in our faith community - that go beyond our usual church friends to greater togetherness:

"Churches need to model loving and life-affirming relationships. Momentum has been building up that it is time for a renewed and intentional focus on building a relational church. This project is concerned primarily with “fellowship”.  This is a crucial area of Christian life, which is often neglected in practice.  We find it all too easy to focus on worship as an activity, or on mission as a series of initiatives, while we neglect the relationships that hold us together as a worshipping and missional community. 
The aim of this book is to refocus our attention as Anglicans on the importance of fellowship as a foundational principle which underpins our shared mission and corporate worship. We hope to be a catalyst for more conversations and to learn from each other." 

The book "Building a Relational Culture" can be purchased in hard copy and Kindle or epub - or downloaded for free here (PDF). (bolded words are links)

Sr. Ingrid will be sending out detailed information about the Lenten Course focus chapters as well as the discussion links and other resources to those who are interested. There are four ways to use the material, depending on your spiritual needs at the moment.  Please contact her at iandersen@bc.anglican.ca for more information.

If you are interested in doing this year's Lenten Study and would enjoy learning in a small group, please tell Sr. Ingrid or email the parish office (admin@colwoodanglican.ca) by this Tuesday. Tell us in which area you live, and if you have a preference for daytime/evening and in-person/hybrid/online. Tell us if you already have a group with which you would like to learn, and who is in the group. Thank you to those who have responded.

Thank you to the 64 households who have responded - we're just over halfway there. Please be sure you have updated your contact information for our parish roll. The parish office needs to have the correct information so we can be sure you are receiving important correspondence. A reminder that this information is used for pastoral reasons only and is never shared with an outside party. The online form and all online responses will be deleted from the website at the end of the week.

We are excited to announce that, starting February 24^th, Fr. Dimas Canjura will be celebrating a monthly Spanish Anglican service at the Church of the Advent.  These services will take place at the Chapel on the last Saturday of every month at 6 PM. Following the service will be an informal pot-luck dinner. All are welcome. 

There will be an Easter Vigil on Saturday 30th March. Please let Sr Ingrid know if you would like to attend - if we have several English-speaking members of the congregation, we will make it a bilingual service.

We are excited to announce that on Sunday, March 3^rd at 2 PM in the Main Church, The Greater Victoria Police Chorus returns for another spectacular concert performance! Tickets are $25 each. Please inquire with the parish office for purchase.

The Altar Guild is actively seeking new members. This is a wonderful ministry that can be done by two or three people.  Get a team together. It involves only a couple of hours to set up the altars (fewer if there are a few of you) and then about 30 minutes after the services to clean up. We try to make sure we have enough people that we need to ask only once a month or so. The more people involved, the less work there is!  

If you would like to know more about this ministry or if you have questions, please contact Kathy Middleton  kathy50@shaw.ca or 250-889-2039! 

You have likely noticed the white and gold hangings on the wall above the choir in the church sanctuary.  These panels were designed and created by Mary Wills, a parishioner, about one year ago.  The plan is to make additional pieces of fabric art to hang in this space, using the other liturgical colours (green for the season of Pentecost, blue for Advent, purple for Lent and red for the Feast of Pentecost and other special occasions).

Mary Wills and Linda Van Sickle are in the midst of creating three quilted panels using beautiful green fabrics, which will be ready for hanging by the season of Pentecost in mid-May.   While we are delighted to be undertaking this and the subsequent projects, there are significant costs related to fabrics and other supplies, as well as the professional quilting to finish each piece. 

If you would like to contribute towards these expenses, you are welcome to do so.  If you give by PAG (pre-authorized giving), you can insert a cheque or cash into an envelope marked with “Liturgical Fabric Art”, your name, and your PAG number, if you know it, and place the envelope on the Sunday collection plate.  If you use church envelopes for your regular offering, you can add your contribution for the project to your envelope and mark on the front “Liturgical Fabric Art” and the amount you are designating for the project.  If you don’t use PAG or regular envelopes but would like a charitable receipt, you can put your donation into an envelope marked with your name and address and “Liturgical Fabric Art”.

Thanks for your interest in this project which will add beauty and colour to our church sanctuary.  Please contact Linda Van Sickle or Mary Wills if you have any questions.

Books for Lent, Part III:

The final selection of books in this series of books for Lent offers reflections on Jesus:

Brennan Manning. The Relentless Love of Jesus: Meditations on the Son of God.
   Manning speaks of his mission as healing our image of God: a God who is unique, uncreated, infinite and totally other, and who loves us no matter what. In this series of reflections, he talks about both the power and the tenderness of Jesus.

Debbie McMillan.  Confronted by Jesus: Daily Reflections for Lent.

   Forty retellings of Gospel stories about Jesus, with questions for personal reflection, and prayers.

Peter J. Gomes.  The Preaching of the Passion: the Seven Last Words from the Cross.

    This brief book contains seven short, powerful sermons on the last words from the cross by the American Baptist minister and Harvard University professor.

Timothy Radcliffe.  Seven Last Words.

   Dominican friar Timothy Radcliffe provides seven illustrated meditations on the last words from the cross, which he calls “The Word of God spoken in the face of silence.” Their importance, he goes on to say, is that they are not, in fact, last words. Seen in the light of the Resurrection, they live.

Andrew Greeley.  Jesus: a Meditation on His Stories and His Relationships with Women.

   Father Greeley provides a thoughtful reflection on aspects of Jesus’s life, with an in-depth look at the parables, and the stories of his conversations with women.

Marcus Borg & N.T. Wright.  The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions.

   This is a fine book by two prominent Anglican writers who were also friends—not that they agreed with each other. Each topic, from the stories of Jesus’s birth and what he taught, through his death and resurrection, to his second coming, is discussed by both writers, who present their differing viewpoints.

These books are available to borrow now and can be returned in the week after Easter.

Readings for this Sunday's services:

2 KINGS 2:1-12

PSALM 50:1-6

2 CORINTHIANS 4:3-6

MARK 9:2-9

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".

All are welcome to join us on Thursdays for our relaxed and interesting Zoom online Bible Study, to look at the readings for the following Sunday. No experience or prior knowledge is needed.

Time: 10 AM - 11 AM.

Zoom Link:  

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

Meeting ID: 883 7846 1340
Passcode: 4743031 

Feb 13 – Shrove Tuesday, 12 PM & 6 PM

Feb 14 – Ash Wednesday Services, Chapel, 10 AM & 6 PM

Feb 20 – Parish Council Meeting – Hybrid/St. John’s Room, 7 PM

Feb 24 – Spanish Anglican Service, Chapel & Main Hall, 6 pm

Feb 25 – AGM (in-person), following the combined 9:30 AM service

Feb 28 – Book Club, St. John’s Room, 10 AM

Mar 2 – Taize Service, Chapel, 5 PM

Mar 3 – Police Chorus Concert, Main Church, 2 PM

Mar 9 – Parish Council Retreat, Chapel & Main Church, 1-4 PM

Mar 19 – Parish Council Meeting, Hybrid/St. John’s Room, 7 PM

Mar 28 – Maundy Thursday Agape Meal, 5 PM; Service at 6 PM

Mar 29 – Good Friday, Main Church, 10 AM

Mar 30 – Easter Vigil Service (in Spanish), Main Church, 6 PM

Mar 31 – Easter Sunday Services at 8:30 & 10 AM

Sunrise Service, Esquimalt Lagoon Beach, 7 AM

Apr 6 –    Taize Service, Chapel, 5 PM

Apr 7 or 14 – Bob & Liz Garland 55^th Wedding Anniversary celebration,

Main Hall, Coffee Hour

Faith Tides is the official publication of the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets. It is a space where people of faith and doubt can share their stories, challenge their perceptions and grow together.

In this issue: The harvest is plentiful by Bishop Anna; Decolonizing the archives; Let's talk faith and justice; and more!

Read it here!

On January 21, 2024 a special service was held at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria to recognize the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The service brought together christians in our community from our own diocese, Grace Lutheran, Broad View United, The Greater Victoria Ethiopian Orthodox St Gabriel Church of Victoria, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria.

A special note of thanks goes out for the performance of the Lord's Prayer (in their prefereed language, Aman BeAma) sung by the Sunday School Choir of the Greater Victoria Ethiopiano Orthodox St Gabriel Church. Their joyful singing of this prayer brought the service to a close.

Special Guests Included:

Bishop Anna Greenwood-Lee, Bishop of  the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets

Bishop Gary Gordon, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria

The Reverend Brigitte McKenzie, Deacon at Grace Luteran Church, ELCIC

The Reverend Ha Na Park from Broad View United

Canon Dr. Brendon Neilson, the Executive Director of the Diocese of Islands and Inlets

The Reverend Canon Jeannine Friesen, Priest in Charge of Christ Church Cathedral

Photo Credit: Jan van der Hooft, J.Abram Photography

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

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

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

Office hours are Tuesday to Thursday

from 9 am until noon.