1st Sunday of Lent February 21, 2021
Services in church continue to be cancelled for Covid protection
THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
Lent 1
21st February 2021
St. Andrew by-the-Lake
Toronto Islands
www.standrewbythelake.com
1
Priest- David Howells 416-890-4578
Church Office – 416-203-0873
Warden - Bella Beazer 416-203-4142
Warden – Jane Davidson-Neville 416-203- 8564
Deputy Warden & Synod Rep – Julia Weldon Tait
Deputy Warden - Nancy Kendrew
Outreach Chair – Graham Mudge 416-203-3556
Treasurer/Bookings – Joyce Rogers 416-203-0987
Musicians--
Roger Sharp, Julia Weldon Tait,
& Jane Davidson-Neville
Music selected by Jane Davidson-Neville
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THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
We acknowledge the Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, and Mississauga Nations upon whose traditional territory our church stands and the homes of many of us. We pray that what has been wrongly taken may be restored: lands, language, trust, and culture.
Amen
Beginning our Journey through Lent
May the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.
God’s mercy endures for ever and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O God, maker of everything and judge of all that you have made,
from the dust of the earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up.
By the redemptive power of the cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit,
that we may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit:
one God, now and forever. Amen.
When you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.
And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
TO OBSERVE A LENTEN DISCIPLINE
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ: the early Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration there should be a forty-day season of spiritual preparation.
The whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew our faith.
We invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to observe a holy Lent:
by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial;
and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.
To make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel or bow before our Creator and Redeemer as we are able.
We pray Psalm 51:1–17
Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
Wash me completely clean of my guilt; purify me from my sin!
Because I know my wrongdoings, my sin is always right in front of me.
I’ve sinned against you—you alone. I’ve committed evil in your sight.
So you are justified when you render your verdict,
completely correct when you issue your judgment.
You want truth in the most hidden places; you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.
Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and celebration again; let the bones you crushed rejoice once more.
Hide your face from my sins; wipe away all my guilty deeds!
Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!
Please don’t throw me out of your presence; please don’t take your holy spirit away from me.
Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
A broken spirit is my sacrifice, God. You won’t despise a heart, God, that is broken and crushed.
May the almighty and merciful God, who desires not the death of a sinner but that we turn from wickedness and live, accept our repentance, forgive our sins, and restore us by the Holy Spirit to newness of life. Amen.
The Service for the first Sunday in Lent
The Collect
God of wilderness and water,
your Son was baptized and tempted as we are.
Guide us through this season,
that we may not avoid struggle,
but open ourselves to blessing,
through the cleansing depths of repentance
and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.
Opening Hymn #9: ‘Today I Awake’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uAGtJi00KE
Today I awake and God is before me. At night, as I dreamt, God summoned the day; For God never sleeps but patterns the morning with slithers of gold or glory in grey.
Today I arise and Christ is beside me. He walked through the dark to scatter new light, Yes, Christ is alive, and beckons his people to hope and to heal, resist and invite.
Today I affirm the Spirit within me at worship and work, in struggle and rest. The Spirit inspires all life which is changing from fearing to faith, from broken to blest.
Today I enjoy the Trinity round me, above and beneath, before and behind; The Maker, the Son, the Spirit together they called me to life and call me their friend.
1st Reading Genesis 9:8-17
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
"As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,
and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.
I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Psalm 25: ‘To You, O Lord’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9IaT4TRtxU
Refrain: To you, O Lord, I lift my soul, to you I lift my soul.
v.1: Lord, make me know your ways, teach me your paths and keep me in the way of your truth, for you are God, my Saviour. Refrain
v.2: For the Lord is good and righteous, revealing the way to those who wander, gently leading the poor and the humble. Refrain
v.3: To the ones who seek the Lord, who look to God’s word, who live God’s love, God will always be near, and show them mercy. Refrain
THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark (Mark 1:9-15)
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,
and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
The Gospel of Christ
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection on the readings and the beginning of Lent https://youtu.be/c9IlgcDfSuY
There is a wild, dangerous, untamed and chaotic nature about God.
The passages from the Bible both deal with an unpredictable God; an impulsive, overwhelming and unknowable presence in and through everything.
It is hard to imagine yourself into these readings without being overwhelmed
There is something about conflict or conflicting thought, something about struggle both with others and within your own heart, something about the confusion and uncertainty of swirling chaos in which you come to the point of saying, “Enough! I will go this way!” And you may never know whether this was the best decision, or how many other decisions you could have made. But this, you dig your heels in and commit to, is the choice you made.
"You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Jesus hears the huge affirmation of God. In the movies when someone says they love you, there is nice music swelling with joy and you walk into a radiant sunset for a life of Happily Ever After. But Jesus is plunged into the equivalent of the windswept tundra of Canada. Inhospitable. A danger of environment and danger of predators. Yet somehow Jesus gets through, not by his own cleverness or resourcefulness, but by stumbling upon food or water just in time, as if it had been left there for him. As if, unseen, he is watched over and given just enough, and he has no control over his survival. Caught between angels and wild beasts!
Christianity is mostly a domesticated faith of a gentle Jesus, meek and mild. The King of love my shepherd is. But as we enter Lent there is a warning. “Walk into the wilderness and you won’t come out unchanged, or even undamaged!”
Most of us live cushioned lives. I like our health care system, my pension plan, our savings squirrelled away over the earning decades. I like fire insurance. I like these and other things that cushion me from the bumps of life. I liked the ambulance crew that picked me up out of a ditch when a deer in BC knocked me off my motorcycle, and I almost liked the physioterrorist whose torturing manipulations straightened my ripped muscles back into place. I have had a not a few occasions where the cushions have helped.
But Noah’s story, passed on by word of mouth reciting, from about 12,000 years go and written down only 3 or 4 thousand years ago, this story is catastrophic. This is one of many other stories that were recited around a campfire. This is the one, the truth of which, made it continuously handed down.
Why was it memorised, why honoured and retold over countless generations, why written down, why kept? I think because it rang true.
The danger is that as we have domesticated the risks of life, to a considerable, but not complete degree. We have forgotten.
The teaching of Lent is that we have a soul as well as a body.
Most of what I have said applies to our physical health.
But as well as being patients in health care countries, we are souls, spirits.
Someone once said that the body is the container of the soul, or two shillings and sixpence worth of chemicals. That catches it nicely!
Lent invites you to strip away some of the body’s comforts. Stop pandering the container of your spirit. And then step out into the wilderness, away from the safety, from the comfort of our constructed safety.
The Fast of Lent is about stepping a little out of the house of safety. I don’t mean a Lenten discipline is to walk out in to traffic without looking! I mean it is about removing a few of the buffers, the treats and rewards, the distractions and the sleeping pills of life.
On this first day of Lent I experienced a loss of coffee. This is a small beginning. In Canadian measures I drink around 6 cups a day of strong coffee. It has been like losing a dear friend! I keep turning around for my mug. It lubricates the little frustrations and boredoms. The answer to many a need is, for me, a cup of coffee. Just in this first day I am looking for my mug like a baby looks around for the “soother” to suck, and drift back to sleep.
Caffeine is a stimulant, but it puts another part of me to sleep. Without that coffee I find myself thinking,
“Am I happy? or sad? or anxious? or......”
Even the removal of a relatively small thing you find yourself asking, in a very surface way, about the discontent, the boredom, that guilt or emptiness of your souls. Removing the distraction of TV, of a comforting novel ( a work of “fiction” to get away from your own “reality”), a glass of alcohol, an hour or more of TV......You are left with.....YOURSELF!
Without your comforters, soothers and blankies, you are in the wilderness with nowhere to get anything. No place to get away to. You are alone with God. You are alone with yourself. And the lights are all on.
Noah is so beyond his safe zone. It would not be surprising if he had jumped. The sounds of the caged animals, roaring in hunger, squealing in fear, the endless feeding and cleaning and anxiety. But Noah stuck with the task he had been given instead of thinking of all the things he would rather have been doing, or asking “Why me? Why me?” in self-pity. Perhaps it is that Noah stuck with the deprivations of the Ark, the endless hard slog of the work and the helpless hope of finding land, that God blessed him with the promise that it would never happen again. And one day he and his family walked onto dry land as the animals, rejoicing sped past him and away.
Jesus’ story is the same but the other way around.
And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And then the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Not as a punishment, but as a grounding, Jesus hears the profound truths; “Beloved”. “I am well pleased” and then he has nothing but these to get him through 40 days alone in the wilds.
And being unsupported, open to doubts, to uncertainties, the temptation is to say, “What? God? I’m stuck here! Why don’t you come and save me? Why aren’t you here for me like you promised. I can’t do this. This is too hard! Can’t I even get a coffee!!! Some God you are! I need you, now, and where are you? eh? What’s this? Angel Cake? Ugh! I hate Angel Cake!”
Lent is about joining Noah and Jesus as they keep on going through the lousiness of ordinary life without treats, or rewards or escape routes. It is about staying home, not having parties and not going shopping. It is about putting yourself in a quiet place for 30 minutes plus each day. No distractions, no coffee, no moving around the room. Just being still with the reading of the passage of the Gospel you have chosen to read through, a chapter or two at a time. You look at the reading, imagining that you were there. And you notice how lacking in distractions and entertainment life was then, as in this moment as you sit. You notice the thoughts that swing through your mind, but you don’t get up to play with them. You just notice them and say “grocery shopping list” and let it go. “ I am so angry with F” and let it go, “I am getting bored.” and notice and let go.
Eventually you get to “I am lonely.” “I wish someone loved me.” “I never had enough time for my mother before she died” “Am I a good person?”
“Do I hide from life?” “Why didn’t I do that good thing I always wanted to do?” These are the animals in the ark whispering in God’s name to you.
Sometimes these are the demons saying, “Oh! for Pete’s sake, have a coffee and stop fretting.” or “This won’t work. You are no good at being good, forget this prayer stuff” “The newspaper over there.. I can read the headlines, why don’t you look?” and “Was that your cell phone buzzing? you should check it!”
Our God needs silence of heart and mind if we are to hear the utterly personal love that is being whispered into our souls.
Our souls need silence of heart and mind to hear the demons and name their distractions as demonic.
We need to still our chattering monologues so that we can find a stillness in which to say, “God, Let me trust you, please. God, let me hear you, help me to make these spaces for us to be together. Thank you Jesus for being with me, loving me and trying to open my heart to be loved.”
This is the first week of Lent
Make a beginning. Walk into the wilderness, don’t be chased away by dark fears or guilt. Listen for God speaking into your thoughts. Slow your mind down. Think slowly enough to let God get a word in edgeways. Listen for the whisper of the Spirit. God will come if you ask. The work for us is to be still, and listen and make as little noise as we can.
May your Lent be blessed.
Reflection Music: ‘There is a Balm in Gilead’
https://amidonmusic.com/images/mp3s/Balm-in-Gilead.mp3
Refrain: There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.
v.1: Sometimes I feel discouraged and think my work’s in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again. Refrain
v.2: If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus, who died to save us all. Refrain
traditional African American spiritual arranged by Peter Amidon as sung in the Guilford Community Church, United Church of Christ, Guilford, Vermont
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Let us pray for ourselves and each other, and for those that we do not know, but who you know, God.
We remember those we know who are sick in body mind or spirit, especially Donna, Michael, Penny, Enid, Freda, Anne and Craig and family,
We pray for those who are close to death or who have passed through death, remembering Ron, Joey, Jack, Mick, Paulette, Bev, Farima, Fred,
In the diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for the Parish of Lloydtown, its support of the King Township food bank, Christmas in King community initiative, and Schomberg Country Run supporting the Indigenous solidarity initiatives;
for the Church of the Messiah, its community garden and hosting of the Avenue Road Food Bank;
and for the Parish of Minden-Kinmount, its Thrift Shop, and the outreach initiatives it supports.
Here take a few moments to ponder who you are carrying in love and care.....
All of our longings and our fears, our hopes and our desires we bring to you. Hear our prayers, gracious God. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Final Hymn #606: ‘There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfyZIJUHKpU
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea. There’s a kindness in God’s justice, which is more than liberty. There is no place where earth’s sorrows are more felt than up in heaven. There is no place where earth’s failings have such kindly judgement given.
For the love of God is broader than the measures of the mind, and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind. If our love were much more faithful, we would gladly trust God’s word. And our lives reflect thanksgiving for the goodness of our Lord.
Riverside Church in New York City, pandemic choir and organist, from May 2020
As you close this page pause for a moment. Some questions...
What will you chose to affirm in yourself this Lent
What will you ask God to help you to put away from your soul?
What do you feel Jesus is ready to heal in you?
What blessing do you ask God give you?
Now go in peace, and at peace.
NOTICES
Below are letters from our Bishops regarding Lent and also about the Pandemic and Worship
And the minutes of our Annual Meeting last week
Sincere thanks to all of you who have contributed regularly to St. Andrew’s especially since March 8 when our world turned topsy-turvy. I appreciate that the donations come in a variety of ways at a variety of times. You have found a way that works for you and gets deposited in the church account. Thank you.
Here are several ways you can support your church:
PAR - Pre-Authorized Remittance. This is the best way we have found to help. It is secure and well recommended. For information contact Joyce Rogers at standrewbookings@gmail.com
You can continue to use these methods of support too..
E-Transfer - Use email: standrewbookings@gmail.com
Canada Helps – See the link in the announcement section or go to the website.
https://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=d65834
Below is an “unlicensed copy” of the Lent letter to Niagara Diocese from their newish Bishop Susan Bell, who I know and have a very high opinion of ! It’s good intro to Lent
Dear friends,
The idea of pilgrimage or sancta loca – the journey to holy places – has deep roots in our faith. As early as the third century, visiting the places of significance in Jesus’ story was established as a holy act – an act that deepened Christian discipleship and brought us closer to Jesus.
Well, it’s hard to journey when you can’t leave home. Our wings have been clipped for a time while we wait out the ravages of this pandemic. So what we are being called to now in these 40 days of Lent in 2021, is a pilgrimage of another kind: it is a pilgrimage of the heart. We are being asked to go to a sancta loca of a different kind. This is an ancient and respected practice. If would-be pilgrims could not journey either because of cost or because of circumstance, they entered into a spiritual journey instead.
We certainly cannot journey from our homes today – not even to our local parishes – the human cost is simply too high, and our love of neighbour is simply too great. And so we must make our journey in quiet, with patience as we remain with intention and go inward rather than outward.
I recognize that this is a true discipline at the moment and perhaps not one that we greet with unalloyed joy. But I also recognize that this discipline is good for our souls. As the great Henri Nouwen wrote, “patience is an extremely difficult discipline precisely because it counteracts our unreflective impulse to flee.”
And it occurs to me that if faith is to really mean something in our lives and in this world, that this discipline of remaining and journeying inward is in fact not a side show to faith – that it is in fact central to our faith. It is very, very important. The practice of faith must create a space where we hear things that we can’t hear anywhere else – the truth about God and the truth about ourselves.
However, as we make this pilgrimage of the heart, we need not lose sight of the fact that we make this journey wrapped in the embrace of God’s Grace. And that grace contains within it some important truths – truths that we hear over and again in the whole of scripture: that while we are inevitably found wanting through our sin and by turning away from the Lord, our God is a God of second chances, of forgiveness, of limitless patience, a God of encouragement and creativity. We walk with a God of Hope, and love through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, I pray that as you observe a holy Lent – with your heart in pilgrimage – that you would do so, resting in what God can do in love along the way.
Bishop of Niagara The Rt. Rev Susan Bell (I did actually get permission for this!, David)
Minutes of the 2021 Vestry meeting of St. Andrew by-the-Lake Anglican Church held on Sunday, February 14, 2020 by Zoom video conferencing.
Present: Joyce Rogers, Bella Beazer, Cathy Moore Broatman, Anne Carter, Laura Cooper, Helen Robinson, Roger Sharp, Nancy Kendrew, Alison Stirling, David Howells (chair), Jane Davidson-Neville (recording)
Regrets: Lynn Robinson
1.Roll Call and Opening Prayer
The meeting was called to order by David at 10:00 a.m; he opened with a prayer.
2.Designation of Chair and Recorder
It was agreed that David chair and Jane take the minutes.
3.Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved as presented. (The agenda had been sent out prior to the meeting.)
4.Approval of Minutes from 2020 Vestry Meeting
The minutes were approved as presented. (The minutes had been set out prior to the meeting.)
5.Acceptance of Letters from the Bishops
The letters from Bishops Andrew and Kevin were accepted. (These had been sent out prior to the meeting.)
6.Incumbent’s Annual Report
The report was accepted as presented. (The report had been sent out prior to the meeting.)
7.Church Officers
Bella and Jane agreed to remain as wardens; Nancy agreed to remain as a deputy warden. Since Julia not in attendance, her decision will be confirmed by David. (He will report back on this.)
Joyce agrees to remain as treasurer and booker but is hoping to transfer the treasurer’s tasks to someone new; she is willing to mentor this person for a year.
No confirmation from Graham Mudge about remaining as outreach chair and auditor; Joyce hopes to hear from him shortly. If Charlotte and he are not back in Canada by June 2021, the executive will discuss other options.
8.2020 Financial Statements and 2021 Budget – Treasurer’s Report
See written report attached.
Further comments from Joyce: Despite the pandemic, revenue has remained constant as people have donated through e-transfers, Canada Helps or PAR. Funds from the diocese and the federal government were crucial to the year with only a small deficit of $1,336. Bookkeeping is more complicated with e-transfers.
Amaryllis bulb sale made small profit but price needs to increase above $20 per bulb.
The Faithworks grant for $5,000 helped with purchase of new used van.
Doug Cutler did good work on the church’s buttresses; exterior staining and interior painting by Scott Perrins also good.
Neither Mick Gold not Bob Hammell estates have been received to date. Joyce mentioned the early history of emergency loans set up in mid-90s to help Islanders pay outstanding taxes or pay for land leases. (Bob Hamell’s loan portion of $11,245.19, to be returned to church, was part of this process. There is also a gift of $25,000 from his estate.)
Joyce notes that, in the past, estate givings have been used to repair or maintain the church building. The $25,000 gift from the Hammell estate is to be put in the church account to be dealt with as the wardens see fit.
We should try and get the church floors re-sanded and re-finished during the COVID lockdown.
Q & A:
Laura: What about using the church building as a film location? A: Joyce: Because of flooding, the uncertainty has been a risk factor for filming. Bella: Only small film companies have been interested to date.
Roger: Why isn’t there more advertising about using church building as wedding site? A: Joyce: In the past, 20 to 30 weddings a year. Again, the risk factor of flooding has put people off and the nature of weddings, that is, non-religious, has probably had an impact.
Moved by David and seconded by Cathy that the 2020 financial statements and 2021 budget be accepted as presented. Carried.
Many thanks to Joyce for all her work. Should she receive a stipend; no decision was made.
9.Other Business
David thanked the wardens and Joyce for their help. He also thanked Roger and Jane for help with the music.
Some discussion about David’s retirement in August and the necessity for the executive to press Bishop Kevin about a new incumbent.
10.Adjournment
It was agreed to adjourn the meeting at 11:30 a.m.
Church of St. Andrew by-the-Lake - 2020 Treasurer's Report
Welcome to the nightmare of a year for treasurers! I guess not just for the one at St. Andrew by-the-Lake but it has been a year of steep learning curves for me. The pandemic has forced all of us to live life differently. I can wax on eloquently about filling out report after report after report for the Diocese Jubilee Program and for Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). In short, though, the Parish has received considerable financial help. We could have ended the year with a much larger deficit for our church operations.
Our financial picture at the beginning of 2020 was bleak. We had experienced a $6500 deficit in 2019 due to yet another year of the church being physically closed. 2020 began with some angst as more severe flooding on the Island was anticipated. The flood preparation fund was reactivated for donations. Then Covid 19 hit. The church was closed yet again and this time we couldn't even meet at the Shaw House. We met via email, YouTube, Zoom! How would people make their contributions??
People did find ways though. They donated through Canada Helps, they sent e-transfers, they registered with Pre-Authorized Remittances (PAR), they mailed cheques - these are pesky because I almost never go to the city to make a deposit! Donations came weekly, maybe monthly and even annually! One arrived at my home taped to a fine china (collection!) plate! I commend all of you for your regular donations and irregular ones. Thank you.
Not only did you find ways of providing your support. The Diocese quickly initiated the Jubilee Program through which parishes were provided with funds to assist with expenses – primarily payrolls. By April/May the federal government initiated CEWS which, for the diocese, has replaced the Jubilee Program.
Major expenditures were made in 2020. With a welcome Diocesan grant, we replaced our 2005 Dodge Caravan with a 2010 Dodge Caravan. It has not seen much use due to the Covid related lockdowns. We undertook the restoration of all the church buttresses, restaining of the exterior of the church and painting of the interior. The hardwood floors remain to be redone. Although it was a year of fewer revenues, we decided to dip into our reserves to do the work. It provided welcome income for some people in a year when it was so needed.
I have provided the usual financial statement details. Not exactly a pretty picture but we are still afloat. There is information that doesn’t show on these pages but that I know will provide help and comfort. The church is the beneficiary of two estates. Mick Gold’s estate is still not finished. The executor of his estate died and the estate proceedings are now delayed by Covid. Mick would not be pleased!! The second estate is that of Robert Hammell, an Islander who died in Spring 2020. That too is delayed by Covid but the executor assures me that that money will be coming soon.
I have provided the revenue and expenditure figures with the comparison with 2019 for you – 2020 (mauve column) and the 2021 Budget (amber column), 2019, and the Budget for 2020. Remember that 2019 was a flood year but we met weekly either at the church or the Shaw House. St. Andrew by-the-Lake has suffered a run of bad luck since 2017 – the church itself has been closed for use 3 of those 4 years. It is difficult to depend on rentals as we have had to cancel so many. It is hard, in good conscience, to book forward for this coming summer or beyond. Viruses and floods are still lurking!
Revenue has depended on subsidies from the Diocese and CEWS, Pancake Supper, Amaryllis Bulb Sales, the Heritage Fund Letter. The usual revenue from church rentals, Blessing of the Boats/ Strawberry Social, Sunday offerings was not available due to church closure. The operational expenditures were not reduced in the same way. Utilities and maintenance continue whether we use the church or not. We have a resulting deficit of ($17,350). Strangely it is not much more than we budgeted for last year ($16,310) and we had no idea a pandemic was coming!! I have not been successful in having a positive budget for 2021 so we may be looking at a deficit of over $19,000. On the bright side the Balance Sheet shows us with $79,000 worth of assets. I think that is OK news – where is Graham Mudge when I need help explaining a Balance Sheet?
Review the financial statement pages. Email me with suggestions, comments, questions – use the line # on the left side of the page to identify the part you are talking about. I can address issues at the ZOOM Vestry Meeting on Feb. 14 if not before.
Email: standrewbookings@gmail.com
Submitted respectfully,
Joyce Rogers, Treasurer.
A letter from the College of Bishops about lockdown and colour codes for returning to church
Earlier this week, the Government of Ontario returned to its colour-coded COVID-19 response framework, lifting the “stay-at-home” order for several health regions in the Province.
The Diocese of Toronto covers all or part of seven provincial health regions. Today it was announced that two of them – Peel and Toronto – remain under lock-down and the “stay-at-home” order until March 8. Parishes in these health regions continue under our Red Stage Guidelines. Gatherings for worship must be in groups of ten or fewer, primarily for the purposes of livestreaming. All protocols around distancing, mask-wearing, singing and the distribution of communion are to be followed. Apart from worship, there are to be no other in-person gatherings at this time.
The five other health regions in our Diocese have returned to the Provincial colour-coded system: York (as of February 22), Simcoe-Muskoka and Durham Regions in the provincial Red (Control) level, Haliburton-Kawartha-Pine Ridge at Orange (Restrict) level, and Peterborough in the Yellow (Protect) level. We rejoice with these Regions that their numbers of COVID-19 infections have been decreasing to a degree that they can enjoy some lifting of restrictions.
Despite that positive sign, the new, more contagious variants of the COVID-19 viruses are concerning, and predictions of a “third wave” are sobering. When it comes to re-opening our churches to larger gatherings, the question should not be what is permissible, but what is advisable. One of the hallmarks of the pandemic response in this Diocese has been the careful decision-making of parishes to act in the best interests of their communities. The College of Bishops continues to exhort parishes to exercise extreme caution in assessing their capacity to re-open for larger worship gatherings and other events.
Having said that, the Bishops have authorized that those parishes in the colour-coded health regions may return to the Amber Stage Guidelines if the parish leadership agrees that it is the right decision for their community. This allows for those parishes to gather for worship at a 30% capacity of the space, with physical distancing. Other gatherings are permitted, again with physical distancing and the wearing of masks indoors, to the limits allowed by the various government-imposed colour levels. Everyone is responsible for being aware of the restrictions of their health region’s colour level (See “Gatherings and Close Contact” under each Colour.)
Parishes that wish to re-open under the Amber Stage Guidelines are to consult with their Regional Dean and/or Area Bishop before doing so.
We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the initial wave and first lockdown. The Bishops are conscious of the deep fatigue that has affected us all. As we enter this Season of Lent, a time of intentional reflection and dedicated prayer, let us channel that tiredness into our devotions, laying all of our griefs and anxieties on a Saviour who knew all too well the pain and sorrow of human suffering. May Christ, the Great Physician, lead us towards all healing and wholeness.
The College of Bishops
21st February 2021
St. Andrew by-the-Lake
Toronto Islands
www.standrewbythelake.com
1
Priest- David Howells 416-890-4578
Church Office – 416-203-0873
Warden - Bella Beazer 416-203-4142
Warden – Jane Davidson-Neville 416-203- 8564
Deputy Warden & Synod Rep – Julia Weldon Tait
Deputy Warden - Nancy Kendrew
Outreach Chair – Graham Mudge 416-203-3556
Treasurer/Bookings – Joyce Rogers 416-203-0987
Musicians--
Roger Sharp, Julia Weldon Tait,
& Jane Davidson-Neville
Music selected by Jane Davidson-Neville
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THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
We acknowledge the Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, and Mississauga Nations upon whose traditional territory our church stands and the homes of many of us. We pray that what has been wrongly taken may be restored: lands, language, trust, and culture.
Amen
Beginning our Journey through Lent
May the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.
God’s mercy endures for ever and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O God, maker of everything and judge of all that you have made,
from the dust of the earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up.
By the redemptive power of the cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit,
that we may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit:
one God, now and forever. Amen.
When you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.
And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
TO OBSERVE A LENTEN DISCIPLINE
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ: the early Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration there should be a forty-day season of spiritual preparation.
The whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew our faith.
We invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to observe a holy Lent:
by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial;
and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.
To make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel or bow before our Creator and Redeemer as we are able.
We pray Psalm 51:1–17
Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
Wash me completely clean of my guilt; purify me from my sin!
Because I know my wrongdoings, my sin is always right in front of me.
I’ve sinned against you—you alone. I’ve committed evil in your sight.
So you are justified when you render your verdict,
completely correct when you issue your judgment.
You want truth in the most hidden places; you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.
Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and celebration again; let the bones you crushed rejoice once more.
Hide your face from my sins; wipe away all my guilty deeds!
Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!
Please don’t throw me out of your presence; please don’t take your holy spirit away from me.
Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
A broken spirit is my sacrifice, God. You won’t despise a heart, God, that is broken and crushed.
May the almighty and merciful God, who desires not the death of a sinner but that we turn from wickedness and live, accept our repentance, forgive our sins, and restore us by the Holy Spirit to newness of life. Amen.
The Service for the first Sunday in Lent
The Collect
God of wilderness and water,
your Son was baptized and tempted as we are.
Guide us through this season,
that we may not avoid struggle,
but open ourselves to blessing,
through the cleansing depths of repentance
and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.
Opening Hymn #9: ‘Today I Awake’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uAGtJi00KE
Today I awake and God is before me. At night, as I dreamt, God summoned the day; For God never sleeps but patterns the morning with slithers of gold or glory in grey.
Today I arise and Christ is beside me. He walked through the dark to scatter new light, Yes, Christ is alive, and beckons his people to hope and to heal, resist and invite.
Today I affirm the Spirit within me at worship and work, in struggle and rest. The Spirit inspires all life which is changing from fearing to faith, from broken to blest.
Today I enjoy the Trinity round me, above and beneath, before and behind; The Maker, the Son, the Spirit together they called me to life and call me their friend.
1st Reading Genesis 9:8-17
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
"As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,
and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.
I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Psalm 25: ‘To You, O Lord’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9IaT4TRtxU
Refrain: To you, O Lord, I lift my soul, to you I lift my soul.
v.1: Lord, make me know your ways, teach me your paths and keep me in the way of your truth, for you are God, my Saviour. Refrain
v.2: For the Lord is good and righteous, revealing the way to those who wander, gently leading the poor and the humble. Refrain
v.3: To the ones who seek the Lord, who look to God’s word, who live God’s love, God will always be near, and show them mercy. Refrain
THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark (Mark 1:9-15)
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,
and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
The Gospel of Christ
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection on the readings and the beginning of Lent https://youtu.be/c9IlgcDfSuY
There is a wild, dangerous, untamed and chaotic nature about God.
The passages from the Bible both deal with an unpredictable God; an impulsive, overwhelming and unknowable presence in and through everything.
It is hard to imagine yourself into these readings without being overwhelmed
There is something about conflict or conflicting thought, something about struggle both with others and within your own heart, something about the confusion and uncertainty of swirling chaos in which you come to the point of saying, “Enough! I will go this way!” And you may never know whether this was the best decision, or how many other decisions you could have made. But this, you dig your heels in and commit to, is the choice you made.
"You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Jesus hears the huge affirmation of God. In the movies when someone says they love you, there is nice music swelling with joy and you walk into a radiant sunset for a life of Happily Ever After. But Jesus is plunged into the equivalent of the windswept tundra of Canada. Inhospitable. A danger of environment and danger of predators. Yet somehow Jesus gets through, not by his own cleverness or resourcefulness, but by stumbling upon food or water just in time, as if it had been left there for him. As if, unseen, he is watched over and given just enough, and he has no control over his survival. Caught between angels and wild beasts!
Christianity is mostly a domesticated faith of a gentle Jesus, meek and mild. The King of love my shepherd is. But as we enter Lent there is a warning. “Walk into the wilderness and you won’t come out unchanged, or even undamaged!”
Most of us live cushioned lives. I like our health care system, my pension plan, our savings squirrelled away over the earning decades. I like fire insurance. I like these and other things that cushion me from the bumps of life. I liked the ambulance crew that picked me up out of a ditch when a deer in BC knocked me off my motorcycle, and I almost liked the physioterrorist whose torturing manipulations straightened my ripped muscles back into place. I have had a not a few occasions where the cushions have helped.
But Noah’s story, passed on by word of mouth reciting, from about 12,000 years go and written down only 3 or 4 thousand years ago, this story is catastrophic. This is one of many other stories that were recited around a campfire. This is the one, the truth of which, made it continuously handed down.
Why was it memorised, why honoured and retold over countless generations, why written down, why kept? I think because it rang true.
The danger is that as we have domesticated the risks of life, to a considerable, but not complete degree. We have forgotten.
The teaching of Lent is that we have a soul as well as a body.
Most of what I have said applies to our physical health.
But as well as being patients in health care countries, we are souls, spirits.
Someone once said that the body is the container of the soul, or two shillings and sixpence worth of chemicals. That catches it nicely!
Lent invites you to strip away some of the body’s comforts. Stop pandering the container of your spirit. And then step out into the wilderness, away from the safety, from the comfort of our constructed safety.
The Fast of Lent is about stepping a little out of the house of safety. I don’t mean a Lenten discipline is to walk out in to traffic without looking! I mean it is about removing a few of the buffers, the treats and rewards, the distractions and the sleeping pills of life.
On this first day of Lent I experienced a loss of coffee. This is a small beginning. In Canadian measures I drink around 6 cups a day of strong coffee. It has been like losing a dear friend! I keep turning around for my mug. It lubricates the little frustrations and boredoms. The answer to many a need is, for me, a cup of coffee. Just in this first day I am looking for my mug like a baby looks around for the “soother” to suck, and drift back to sleep.
Caffeine is a stimulant, but it puts another part of me to sleep. Without that coffee I find myself thinking,
“Am I happy? or sad? or anxious? or......”
Even the removal of a relatively small thing you find yourself asking, in a very surface way, about the discontent, the boredom, that guilt or emptiness of your souls. Removing the distraction of TV, of a comforting novel ( a work of “fiction” to get away from your own “reality”), a glass of alcohol, an hour or more of TV......You are left with.....YOURSELF!
Without your comforters, soothers and blankies, you are in the wilderness with nowhere to get anything. No place to get away to. You are alone with God. You are alone with yourself. And the lights are all on.
Noah is so beyond his safe zone. It would not be surprising if he had jumped. The sounds of the caged animals, roaring in hunger, squealing in fear, the endless feeding and cleaning and anxiety. But Noah stuck with the task he had been given instead of thinking of all the things he would rather have been doing, or asking “Why me? Why me?” in self-pity. Perhaps it is that Noah stuck with the deprivations of the Ark, the endless hard slog of the work and the helpless hope of finding land, that God blessed him with the promise that it would never happen again. And one day he and his family walked onto dry land as the animals, rejoicing sped past him and away.
Jesus’ story is the same but the other way around.
And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And then the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Not as a punishment, but as a grounding, Jesus hears the profound truths; “Beloved”. “I am well pleased” and then he has nothing but these to get him through 40 days alone in the wilds.
And being unsupported, open to doubts, to uncertainties, the temptation is to say, “What? God? I’m stuck here! Why don’t you come and save me? Why aren’t you here for me like you promised. I can’t do this. This is too hard! Can’t I even get a coffee!!! Some God you are! I need you, now, and where are you? eh? What’s this? Angel Cake? Ugh! I hate Angel Cake!”
Lent is about joining Noah and Jesus as they keep on going through the lousiness of ordinary life without treats, or rewards or escape routes. It is about staying home, not having parties and not going shopping. It is about putting yourself in a quiet place for 30 minutes plus each day. No distractions, no coffee, no moving around the room. Just being still with the reading of the passage of the Gospel you have chosen to read through, a chapter or two at a time. You look at the reading, imagining that you were there. And you notice how lacking in distractions and entertainment life was then, as in this moment as you sit. You notice the thoughts that swing through your mind, but you don’t get up to play with them. You just notice them and say “grocery shopping list” and let it go. “ I am so angry with F” and let it go, “I am getting bored.” and notice and let go.
Eventually you get to “I am lonely.” “I wish someone loved me.” “I never had enough time for my mother before she died” “Am I a good person?”
“Do I hide from life?” “Why didn’t I do that good thing I always wanted to do?” These are the animals in the ark whispering in God’s name to you.
Sometimes these are the demons saying, “Oh! for Pete’s sake, have a coffee and stop fretting.” or “This won’t work. You are no good at being good, forget this prayer stuff” “The newspaper over there.. I can read the headlines, why don’t you look?” and “Was that your cell phone buzzing? you should check it!”
Our God needs silence of heart and mind if we are to hear the utterly personal love that is being whispered into our souls.
Our souls need silence of heart and mind to hear the demons and name their distractions as demonic.
We need to still our chattering monologues so that we can find a stillness in which to say, “God, Let me trust you, please. God, let me hear you, help me to make these spaces for us to be together. Thank you Jesus for being with me, loving me and trying to open my heart to be loved.”
This is the first week of Lent
Make a beginning. Walk into the wilderness, don’t be chased away by dark fears or guilt. Listen for God speaking into your thoughts. Slow your mind down. Think slowly enough to let God get a word in edgeways. Listen for the whisper of the Spirit. God will come if you ask. The work for us is to be still, and listen and make as little noise as we can.
May your Lent be blessed.
Reflection Music: ‘There is a Balm in Gilead’
https://amidonmusic.com/images/mp3s/Balm-in-Gilead.mp3
Refrain: There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.
v.1: Sometimes I feel discouraged and think my work’s in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again. Refrain
v.2: If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus, who died to save us all. Refrain
traditional African American spiritual arranged by Peter Amidon as sung in the Guilford Community Church, United Church of Christ, Guilford, Vermont
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Let us pray for ourselves and each other, and for those that we do not know, but who you know, God.
We remember those we know who are sick in body mind or spirit, especially Donna, Michael, Penny, Enid, Freda, Anne and Craig and family,
We pray for those who are close to death or who have passed through death, remembering Ron, Joey, Jack, Mick, Paulette, Bev, Farima, Fred,
In the diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for the Parish of Lloydtown, its support of the King Township food bank, Christmas in King community initiative, and Schomberg Country Run supporting the Indigenous solidarity initiatives;
for the Church of the Messiah, its community garden and hosting of the Avenue Road Food Bank;
and for the Parish of Minden-Kinmount, its Thrift Shop, and the outreach initiatives it supports.
Here take a few moments to ponder who you are carrying in love and care.....
All of our longings and our fears, our hopes and our desires we bring to you. Hear our prayers, gracious God. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Final Hymn #606: ‘There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfyZIJUHKpU
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea. There’s a kindness in God’s justice, which is more than liberty. There is no place where earth’s sorrows are more felt than up in heaven. There is no place where earth’s failings have such kindly judgement given.
For the love of God is broader than the measures of the mind, and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind. If our love were much more faithful, we would gladly trust God’s word. And our lives reflect thanksgiving for the goodness of our Lord.
Riverside Church in New York City, pandemic choir and organist, from May 2020
As you close this page pause for a moment. Some questions...
What will you chose to affirm in yourself this Lent
What will you ask God to help you to put away from your soul?
What do you feel Jesus is ready to heal in you?
What blessing do you ask God give you?
Now go in peace, and at peace.
NOTICES
Below are letters from our Bishops regarding Lent and also about the Pandemic and Worship
And the minutes of our Annual Meeting last week
Sincere thanks to all of you who have contributed regularly to St. Andrew’s especially since March 8 when our world turned topsy-turvy. I appreciate that the donations come in a variety of ways at a variety of times. You have found a way that works for you and gets deposited in the church account. Thank you.
Here are several ways you can support your church:
PAR - Pre-Authorized Remittance. This is the best way we have found to help. It is secure and well recommended. For information contact Joyce Rogers at standrewbookings@gmail.com
You can continue to use these methods of support too..
E-Transfer - Use email: standrewbookings@gmail.com
Canada Helps – See the link in the announcement section or go to the website.
https://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=d65834
Below is an “unlicensed copy” of the Lent letter to Niagara Diocese from their newish Bishop Susan Bell, who I know and have a very high opinion of ! It’s good intro to Lent
Dear friends,
The idea of pilgrimage or sancta loca – the journey to holy places – has deep roots in our faith. As early as the third century, visiting the places of significance in Jesus’ story was established as a holy act – an act that deepened Christian discipleship and brought us closer to Jesus.
Well, it’s hard to journey when you can’t leave home. Our wings have been clipped for a time while we wait out the ravages of this pandemic. So what we are being called to now in these 40 days of Lent in 2021, is a pilgrimage of another kind: it is a pilgrimage of the heart. We are being asked to go to a sancta loca of a different kind. This is an ancient and respected practice. If would-be pilgrims could not journey either because of cost or because of circumstance, they entered into a spiritual journey instead.
We certainly cannot journey from our homes today – not even to our local parishes – the human cost is simply too high, and our love of neighbour is simply too great. And so we must make our journey in quiet, with patience as we remain with intention and go inward rather than outward.
I recognize that this is a true discipline at the moment and perhaps not one that we greet with unalloyed joy. But I also recognize that this discipline is good for our souls. As the great Henri Nouwen wrote, “patience is an extremely difficult discipline precisely because it counteracts our unreflective impulse to flee.”
And it occurs to me that if faith is to really mean something in our lives and in this world, that this discipline of remaining and journeying inward is in fact not a side show to faith – that it is in fact central to our faith. It is very, very important. The practice of faith must create a space where we hear things that we can’t hear anywhere else – the truth about God and the truth about ourselves.
However, as we make this pilgrimage of the heart, we need not lose sight of the fact that we make this journey wrapped in the embrace of God’s Grace. And that grace contains within it some important truths – truths that we hear over and again in the whole of scripture: that while we are inevitably found wanting through our sin and by turning away from the Lord, our God is a God of second chances, of forgiveness, of limitless patience, a God of encouragement and creativity. We walk with a God of Hope, and love through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, I pray that as you observe a holy Lent – with your heart in pilgrimage – that you would do so, resting in what God can do in love along the way.
Bishop of Niagara The Rt. Rev Susan Bell (I did actually get permission for this!, David)
Minutes of the 2021 Vestry meeting of St. Andrew by-the-Lake Anglican Church held on Sunday, February 14, 2020 by Zoom video conferencing.
Present: Joyce Rogers, Bella Beazer, Cathy Moore Broatman, Anne Carter, Laura Cooper, Helen Robinson, Roger Sharp, Nancy Kendrew, Alison Stirling, David Howells (chair), Jane Davidson-Neville (recording)
Regrets: Lynn Robinson
1.Roll Call and Opening Prayer
The meeting was called to order by David at 10:00 a.m; he opened with a prayer.
2.Designation of Chair and Recorder
It was agreed that David chair and Jane take the minutes.
3.Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved as presented. (The agenda had been sent out prior to the meeting.)
4.Approval of Minutes from 2020 Vestry Meeting
The minutes were approved as presented. (The minutes had been set out prior to the meeting.)
5.Acceptance of Letters from the Bishops
The letters from Bishops Andrew and Kevin were accepted. (These had been sent out prior to the meeting.)
6.Incumbent’s Annual Report
The report was accepted as presented. (The report had been sent out prior to the meeting.)
7.Church Officers
Bella and Jane agreed to remain as wardens; Nancy agreed to remain as a deputy warden. Since Julia not in attendance, her decision will be confirmed by David. (He will report back on this.)
Joyce agrees to remain as treasurer and booker but is hoping to transfer the treasurer’s tasks to someone new; she is willing to mentor this person for a year.
No confirmation from Graham Mudge about remaining as outreach chair and auditor; Joyce hopes to hear from him shortly. If Charlotte and he are not back in Canada by June 2021, the executive will discuss other options.
8.2020 Financial Statements and 2021 Budget – Treasurer’s Report
See written report attached.
Further comments from Joyce: Despite the pandemic, revenue has remained constant as people have donated through e-transfers, Canada Helps or PAR. Funds from the diocese and the federal government were crucial to the year with only a small deficit of $1,336. Bookkeeping is more complicated with e-transfers.
Amaryllis bulb sale made small profit but price needs to increase above $20 per bulb.
The Faithworks grant for $5,000 helped with purchase of new used van.
Doug Cutler did good work on the church’s buttresses; exterior staining and interior painting by Scott Perrins also good.
Neither Mick Gold not Bob Hammell estates have been received to date. Joyce mentioned the early history of emergency loans set up in mid-90s to help Islanders pay outstanding taxes or pay for land leases. (Bob Hamell’s loan portion of $11,245.19, to be returned to church, was part of this process. There is also a gift of $25,000 from his estate.)
Joyce notes that, in the past, estate givings have been used to repair or maintain the church building. The $25,000 gift from the Hammell estate is to be put in the church account to be dealt with as the wardens see fit.
We should try and get the church floors re-sanded and re-finished during the COVID lockdown.
Q & A:
Laura: What about using the church building as a film location? A: Joyce: Because of flooding, the uncertainty has been a risk factor for filming. Bella: Only small film companies have been interested to date.
Roger: Why isn’t there more advertising about using church building as wedding site? A: Joyce: In the past, 20 to 30 weddings a year. Again, the risk factor of flooding has put people off and the nature of weddings, that is, non-religious, has probably had an impact.
Moved by David and seconded by Cathy that the 2020 financial statements and 2021 budget be accepted as presented. Carried.
Many thanks to Joyce for all her work. Should she receive a stipend; no decision was made.
9.Other Business
David thanked the wardens and Joyce for their help. He also thanked Roger and Jane for help with the music.
Some discussion about David’s retirement in August and the necessity for the executive to press Bishop Kevin about a new incumbent.
10.Adjournment
It was agreed to adjourn the meeting at 11:30 a.m.
Church of St. Andrew by-the-Lake - 2020 Treasurer's Report
Welcome to the nightmare of a year for treasurers! I guess not just for the one at St. Andrew by-the-Lake but it has been a year of steep learning curves for me. The pandemic has forced all of us to live life differently. I can wax on eloquently about filling out report after report after report for the Diocese Jubilee Program and for Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). In short, though, the Parish has received considerable financial help. We could have ended the year with a much larger deficit for our church operations.
Our financial picture at the beginning of 2020 was bleak. We had experienced a $6500 deficit in 2019 due to yet another year of the church being physically closed. 2020 began with some angst as more severe flooding on the Island was anticipated. The flood preparation fund was reactivated for donations. Then Covid 19 hit. The church was closed yet again and this time we couldn't even meet at the Shaw House. We met via email, YouTube, Zoom! How would people make their contributions??
People did find ways though. They donated through Canada Helps, they sent e-transfers, they registered with Pre-Authorized Remittances (PAR), they mailed cheques - these are pesky because I almost never go to the city to make a deposit! Donations came weekly, maybe monthly and even annually! One arrived at my home taped to a fine china (collection!) plate! I commend all of you for your regular donations and irregular ones. Thank you.
Not only did you find ways of providing your support. The Diocese quickly initiated the Jubilee Program through which parishes were provided with funds to assist with expenses – primarily payrolls. By April/May the federal government initiated CEWS which, for the diocese, has replaced the Jubilee Program.
Major expenditures were made in 2020. With a welcome Diocesan grant, we replaced our 2005 Dodge Caravan with a 2010 Dodge Caravan. It has not seen much use due to the Covid related lockdowns. We undertook the restoration of all the church buttresses, restaining of the exterior of the church and painting of the interior. The hardwood floors remain to be redone. Although it was a year of fewer revenues, we decided to dip into our reserves to do the work. It provided welcome income for some people in a year when it was so needed.
I have provided the usual financial statement details. Not exactly a pretty picture but we are still afloat. There is information that doesn’t show on these pages but that I know will provide help and comfort. The church is the beneficiary of two estates. Mick Gold’s estate is still not finished. The executor of his estate died and the estate proceedings are now delayed by Covid. Mick would not be pleased!! The second estate is that of Robert Hammell, an Islander who died in Spring 2020. That too is delayed by Covid but the executor assures me that that money will be coming soon.
I have provided the revenue and expenditure figures with the comparison with 2019 for you – 2020 (mauve column) and the 2021 Budget (amber column), 2019, and the Budget for 2020. Remember that 2019 was a flood year but we met weekly either at the church or the Shaw House. St. Andrew by-the-Lake has suffered a run of bad luck since 2017 – the church itself has been closed for use 3 of those 4 years. It is difficult to depend on rentals as we have had to cancel so many. It is hard, in good conscience, to book forward for this coming summer or beyond. Viruses and floods are still lurking!
Revenue has depended on subsidies from the Diocese and CEWS, Pancake Supper, Amaryllis Bulb Sales, the Heritage Fund Letter. The usual revenue from church rentals, Blessing of the Boats/ Strawberry Social, Sunday offerings was not available due to church closure. The operational expenditures were not reduced in the same way. Utilities and maintenance continue whether we use the church or not. We have a resulting deficit of ($17,350). Strangely it is not much more than we budgeted for last year ($16,310) and we had no idea a pandemic was coming!! I have not been successful in having a positive budget for 2021 so we may be looking at a deficit of over $19,000. On the bright side the Balance Sheet shows us with $79,000 worth of assets. I think that is OK news – where is Graham Mudge when I need help explaining a Balance Sheet?
Review the financial statement pages. Email me with suggestions, comments, questions – use the line # on the left side of the page to identify the part you are talking about. I can address issues at the ZOOM Vestry Meeting on Feb. 14 if not before.
Email: standrewbookings@gmail.com
Submitted respectfully,
Joyce Rogers, Treasurer.
A letter from the College of Bishops about lockdown and colour codes for returning to church
Earlier this week, the Government of Ontario returned to its colour-coded COVID-19 response framework, lifting the “stay-at-home” order for several health regions in the Province.
The Diocese of Toronto covers all or part of seven provincial health regions. Today it was announced that two of them – Peel and Toronto – remain under lock-down and the “stay-at-home” order until March 8. Parishes in these health regions continue under our Red Stage Guidelines. Gatherings for worship must be in groups of ten or fewer, primarily for the purposes of livestreaming. All protocols around distancing, mask-wearing, singing and the distribution of communion are to be followed. Apart from worship, there are to be no other in-person gatherings at this time.
The five other health regions in our Diocese have returned to the Provincial colour-coded system: York (as of February 22), Simcoe-Muskoka and Durham Regions in the provincial Red (Control) level, Haliburton-Kawartha-Pine Ridge at Orange (Restrict) level, and Peterborough in the Yellow (Protect) level. We rejoice with these Regions that their numbers of COVID-19 infections have been decreasing to a degree that they can enjoy some lifting of restrictions.
Despite that positive sign, the new, more contagious variants of the COVID-19 viruses are concerning, and predictions of a “third wave” are sobering. When it comes to re-opening our churches to larger gatherings, the question should not be what is permissible, but what is advisable. One of the hallmarks of the pandemic response in this Diocese has been the careful decision-making of parishes to act in the best interests of their communities. The College of Bishops continues to exhort parishes to exercise extreme caution in assessing their capacity to re-open for larger worship gatherings and other events.
Having said that, the Bishops have authorized that those parishes in the colour-coded health regions may return to the Amber Stage Guidelines if the parish leadership agrees that it is the right decision for their community. This allows for those parishes to gather for worship at a 30% capacity of the space, with physical distancing. Other gatherings are permitted, again with physical distancing and the wearing of masks indoors, to the limits allowed by the various government-imposed colour levels. Everyone is responsible for being aware of the restrictions of their health region’s colour level (See “Gatherings and Close Contact” under each Colour.)
Parishes that wish to re-open under the Amber Stage Guidelines are to consult with their Regional Dean and/or Area Bishop before doing so.
We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the initial wave and first lockdown. The Bishops are conscious of the deep fatigue that has affected us all. As we enter this Season of Lent, a time of intentional reflection and dedicated prayer, let us channel that tiredness into our devotions, laying all of our griefs and anxieties on a Saviour who knew all too well the pain and sorrow of human suffering. May Christ, the Great Physician, lead us towards all healing and wholeness.
The College of Bishops