We will be celebrating the life of Gary Robertson tomorrow, April 5th at 2 PM in the church. Following the service will be a reception in the hall, hosted by our Ladies' Guild.

The funeral service will be livestreamed. You can click on the link below to view the service.

A Livestreamed Celebration of the Life of Gary Robertson - April 5, 2024 (youtube.com)

We invite you to join us at 5 PM on the first Saturday of each month in the Chapel at the Church of the Advent for a service of deep prayer and worship, sacred darkness, and the singing of chants in candlelight.

A Taizé worship service involves sung and chanted prayers, meditation, a period of silence, liturgical readings, and icons. There is no preaching. The style of prayer practiced at Taizé has attracted many worshipers from around the globe and from many different denominations. We gather in the early evening in the chapel for a simple service of chanting, Bible readings and prayer.  

Join us for this special time of worship.

Taizé services are held February through December on the first Saturday of each month, at 5 PM.

The Parish Council will meet on Saturday, April 6th, in the Chapel for the annual Parish Council Retreat. The day begins with a Pot Luck breakfast.

We ask parishioners to please pray for our new 2024 Council, as they discern how they can best serve as leaders for our church ministries.

New to the parish? You are warmly invited to our Welcome Coffee Social at noon after church on Sunday, April 7th in the St. John’s Room. Get to know each other and learn more about Church of the Advent and its people. We hope you can join us!

Sr. Ingrid would like to extend a huge and warm thank you to everyone who ensured that Holy Week and our Easter services all came together so beautifully. Thank you to Kathy and Dianne for the gorgeous flower arrangements, to our Altar Guild, Nell, and the Choir. Thank you to Linda Van Sickle, Brent Cotton, and Zoe Urquhart for leading the evening prayer services. A great thank you to the Mikkonens for organizing the Agape meal. Your heart-felt ministry and support is so greatly appreciated!

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Have you got your tickets yet for the Dessert and Silent Auction coming soon on Saturday, April 13^th?  Tickets are $5 and are available from Mary Wills and the office.  Local celebrity, Jack Knox, returns as our guest auctioneer for the Dessert Auction.  Don’t miss out on this evening of merriment and fun which is also a fundraiser for the Goldstream Foodbank, Qom Qem Coastal Connections (an indigenous outreach service) and our parish. 

Have something for the Silent Auction?  Email Deb Wastle at churchadventdeb@gmail.com by Monday, April 8^th, with your information.  Making a dessert? Email Jeanine Woodman at  jwoodman326@gmail.com with your information or sign up on the sheet in the entryway by Monday, April 8th.  We will be printing a programme for the evening and need this information as soon as possible.  Thanks to everyone for your support and contributions.

For any more questions, please contact Mary Wills at maryewills@outlook.com, or 250-474-4909, or 250-727-8358.

Sr Ingrid will be in South Africa with her mom, who’s health is ailing, from April 15^th to May 7^th. During her absence, we have planned beautiful services led by Linda Van Sickle, Brent Cotton, and Zoe Urquhart, as well as a Eucharist service on the 5^th May, celebrated by Chaplain Anthony Divinagracia.

We are looking for volunteers who can occasionally provide transportation to and from church for some of our parishioners. The volunteers would need to have a vehicle that can contain a wheelchair or a walker. Please contact Bev at bev.somers@outlook or 250-478-9951 if you are interested in this ministry.

We celebrate Spring with our very popular Pot Luck Dinner on Saturday, April 20th at 5 PM!

Please sign up in the Narthex to tell us how many of you are attending, and what you are bringing.

Also, very importantly, we need people to sign up to help to set up and to tidy up afterwards - so the work is fairly shared out between many people.

Please remember that Church of the Advent functions are alcohol-free.

The Synod office has recently announced that Bob Brandle is retiring from his role as Property Advisor. Everyone is extremely grateful to Bob for his many years of service and incredible work looking after all the parishes. While Bob will be impossible to replace, the Synod office will be on the lookout for a new Property Advisor soon. 

Happy Retirement Bob!

SPOTLIGHT ON HENRI J. M. NOUWEN

Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen was born in Nijkerk in The Netherlands in 1932. He was ordained into the Roman Catholic priesthood in Utrecht in 1957, after which he studied and trained in clinical psychology, first in the Netherlands and then in the U.S. He taught pastoral psychology, pastoral theology, and spirituality as a university professor for almost 20 years. While at Harvard, he met Jean Vanier, and in 1985/86 spent 9 months at L’Arche community for mentally-disabled people in France. He was the pastor at L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill, Ontario, from 1986 until his sudden death in 1996.

Wikipedia has a detailed biography. The Henri Nouwen Society’s website at https://henrinouwen.org/ provides a complete list of Nouwen’s books, links to recordings, podcasts, and the offer of daily e-mail meditations from his work in English or Spanish.

NEW BOOK CORNER

Beyond the Mirror: Reflections on Death and Life

Henri J. M. Nouwen

This short book, published in 1990, tells of the author’s near-death experience after he was knocked down on an icy road in the early morning darkness, while walking to work. His experiences during the accident and at the hospital are recounted in detail, and are accompanied by his reflections on death and dying during his recovery. Beyond the Mirror has been catalogued in the theme Death and Grieving, with the shelf code DEGR NOU. It can be found in this week’s Top Shelf Display.

THIS WEEK’S TOP SHELF

Beyond the Mirror is accompanied on this week’s Top Shelf by four others of Nouwen’s books:

• In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (1989): Nouwen shares the fruit of his experience in following Jesus into servanthood.
• Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World (1992): a spiritual guide written for a young friend, at the friend’s request.
• Here and Now: Living in the Spirit (1994): a book of meditations on joy, suffering, prayer, family, relationships, and other subjects.
• The Inner Voice of Love: a Journey Through Anguish to Freedom (1996): a book of spiritual imperatives that Nouwen called his secret journal, written in 1987/88 during the dark period following the end of a deeply-valued friendship.

Readings for this Sunday's services:

ACTS 4:32-35
PSALM 133
1 JOHN 1:1-2:2
JOHN 20:19-31

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 

This Thursday, we will be discussing Chapter One of our book study.

Apr 5 - Funeral for Gary Robertson, 2 PM
Apr 6 – Parish Council Retreat, Chapel, 9 AM – 12 PM
             Taizé Service, Chapel, 5 PM
Apr 10 – Ladies Guild Meeting, Hall, 1:30 PM
Apr 13 – Dessert & Silent Auction, Hall, 7 PM
Apr 15 – May 7     Sr. Ingrid away
Apr 16 – Parish Council Meeting (hybrid), St. John’s Room, 7 PM
Apr 20 – Spring Potluck, Hall, 4 PM
Apr 27 – Messy Church, Rooms A/B/C, 10 AM
May 18 – Lunch & Learn, St John’s Room, 11:30 AM
May 22 – Ladies Guild Lunch, 12 PM
May 26 – Jazz Vespers, 7 PM
Jun 7 – Strawberry Tea set-up day
Jun 8 – STRAWBERRY TEA
Jun 22 – Messy Church, Gordon United, 10 AM

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)

Last Saturday of the Month
6:00 PM - Spanish Language Anglican Eucharist Service  Chapel 

Office hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays

from 9 am until noon.