Posted by stpauls on May 17, 2009 under Staff Blog | 
Please pray for our diocese, its people, its clergy, and Michael our bishop, as we gather in synod this coming weekend to discern God’s call for us. Pray especially for our delegates: Steve Kershaw, Roy Simeon, Hope Telford, and Markus Dünzkofer.
Friday, 22 May, 7pm, Synod Eucharist, Christ Church Cathedral (690 Burrard Street)
Saturday, 23 May, 8.30am-5pm, Synod, St. Mary’s Anglican Church (2490 West 37th Avenue)
All are welcome!
Loving God of past, present and future,
we celebrate your church through the life and witness
of the people of the Diocese of New Westminster.
May we seek to become,
and continue to be,
growing communities of faith in Jesus Christ
to serve God’s mission in the world.
As we plan for the future of your church
help us to be open and honest with one another
as well as with ourselves.
May we together make bold decisions to further enrich
and develop the many ways of being church.
We make this prayer in the name of your son, Jesus Christ,
through the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Posted by stpauls on under Staff Blog |
A big thank you to all who participated in the History Day two weeks ago. If you have stories to share, it is not too late! Please send you stories to the office or mark the date-line downstairs.
We will now continue with our Ministry Assessment Process (MAP – our visioning). Please mark July 5, 2009 in your calendar. During the 10:00 a.m. service that day, we will recap what has been done so far (including a re-introduction to the MAP process itself) and we will talk about what lies ahead.
The service will be followed by a barbecue in the Pendrellis Garden in celebration of our patronal festival (Sts. Peter and Paul).
Posted by stpauls on under Staff Blog |
Pentecost is coming quickly! On 31 May, we will commemorate the Holy Spirit’s manifestation to the apostles and we will celebrate the very Spirit’s presence among us with a festive liturgy and a barbecue in the Pendrellis garden after the 11:00 a.m. service. Wear something red (representing the tongues of fire that rested on the apostles on the first Pentecost)!
All are welcome. Bring a friend.
Posted by stpauls on under Staff Blog |
New ministry opportunity!
Our parish has acquired four lots at the new community garden on Davie and Burrard (adjacent to St. Paul’s Hospital). We are looking for volunteers to tend these lots and grow fresh produce for distribution to the homeless Advocacy Office clients. Far too often, the food we share is of lower quality. Freshly grown vegetables, however, will provide for a much healthier diet.
All the garden tools, etc. are kept in a shed on-site, so none of that is needed. We also have already put soil on the beds and are providing some seeds.
If you are interested in gardening and if you would like to participate in this new ministry, please contact Ellen Silvergieter at the Advocacy Office (604-683-4287), or talk to our priest, the Reverend Markus Dünzkofer (604-685-6832).
Posted by Webmaster on under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog |
Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
1 John 5:1-6
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”
Posted by Webmaster on May 16, 2009 under Contributors, Webmaster Blog |
The Columbarium at St. Paul’s provides a simple and dignified manner of safeguarding the ashes of deceased persons whose remains have been cremated. The ashes are placed in a sealed box, the box is placed in a chosen niche, and the niche is covered with a bronze plate engraved with the name and dates of birth and death of the deceased.
The chapel altar with the Columbarium standing on the south wall
The Columbarium is located in a small chapel on the lower floor of the church, under the chancel. The 270 niches are set in fifteen rows and eighteen columns. About two-thirds of them are occupied. Many parishioners have purchased places in the Columbarium in anticipation of future use. Places are still available for purchase. Purchases are not restricted to parishioners. The purchase fee includes the cost of engraving the plate.* If a change of plan occurs after purchase, a refund may be made, subject to an administrative fee.
The Columbarium project was initiated by the Reverend Harold McSherry during the term of his incumbency, and constructed in 1977 using funds provided by contemporary bequests.
The bronze plate memorializing Edith de Glanville (with a birth date of October 1, 1878 and a death date of January 14, 1978, ninety-nine years later) is the earliest recorded in the Columbarium.
For more information about this ministry, including current fees, contact the church office at 604-685-6832.
*Additional fees are payable for Memorial Services, however, whether deposition in the Columbarium takes place or not.
Posted by Webmaster on May 10, 2009 under Bible Readings, Staff Blog |
John 15:1-8 ~ Gospel reading for May 10, 2009
Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
Posted by Priest on under Sermons |
A fellow clergyman once shared this insight about Holy Scriptures:
“The Bible is not so much a theological book as it is a deeply anthropocentric book.”
What he meant was this:
“The Bible focuses mostly on us, on you and me, on humankind. What is revealed is not God’s identity, but our identity as God’s creation, our identity in the light of God’s will and God’s love.”
When I first heard this, I thought it rather blasphemous. After all, to phrase it in Anglican lingo, the Bible is the Word of God (and not a human Word) containing all things necessary for salvation.
Yet, over the years, I have come to appreciate my colleague’s view more and more. I have come to appreciate it, because it has liberated me to look at our sacred texts from a different angle. All of a sudden, the scriptural passages that had bothered me and that I had found highly offensive, impacted me differently. If the Bible is not about God’s self revelation per se, but about our identity in the light of our relationship with one another and with God, those verses that make my stomach turn, really lose a lot of their intensity. They are still to be considered as part of the canon, but they might teach us something about the writer and his or her or their cultural, sociological, historical, and spiritual context. They might not, however, reveal a theological absolute. If the Bible really is anthropocentric, is centred on humanity, then the way we deal with the text becomes a matter of relating with revelation not in a vacuum. But rather, revelation then occurs within a certain restricted time, culture and context, and needs to be translated and transliterated into our time, our culture, and our context.
There is a prophetic insight to this idea. But, still, I cannot fully embrace it, even today, even as I have experienced the liberating wisdom it contains. I still continue to hold that the Bible is a theological book – as much as it might be an anthropocentric book.
The Bible is a theological book, because in it and through it God speaks. The Bible is God’s self-revelation to a fallen world, to us, to you and to me. The Bible is inspired by God’s Spirit to proclaim spiritual and theological insights, even if some of its content is gut-wrenching.
Furthermore, I cannot fully embrace the idea of the Bible being solely anthropocentric, because there is a danger in this: There is a danger to look at the words of Scripture and make them all about us, make them all about our being, our identity. Yet, sometimes, biblical texts speak about God’s identity first and foremost.
Just look at the text from the Gospel according to John, which we just heard. If we read it solely from an anthropocentric perspective, it becomes all about the branches that need to be pruned, that need to be plucked. And how many of us haven’t been there? How many of us haven’t heard exactly this interpretation of the first view verses from the fifteenth chapter of John? Today’s Gospel text is indeed used solely in an anthropocentric way when it is preached to emphasize the need of humanity to be a certain way, to behave a certain way, to act a certain way in order to avoid being dislodged from God and thrown into the eternal fires of hell. “Repent, ye, that are unworthy!”
This, of course, is a common theme in the history of the church.
Far too often, people in my position have preached on the unworthiness of those who come to listen. Far too often, we have stressed humans’ supposed wickedness, puniness, and despicable character. Far too often, we have over-obsessed about sin and failure as we gave in to scarcity and fear. There has been too much condemnation, too much judgment, too much exclusion preached in the church. There has been too much focus on pruning and throwing out those who do not bring forth fruit. There has been too much pruning done by the church herself, which according to the text should clearly be left to God alone.
And this must stop!
This is the problem when we read scripture solely anthropocentrically. It becomes all about us, even in a bad way. What we then hear in a text like today’s is no longer liberation, is no longer life, is no longer love. But we hone in on the parts that condemn us and that make it all seem unbearable, cruel, and lethal. Unfortunately, though, this is what many have been taught and this is what many still teach. No wonder Scripture has a bad reputation!
But this is not what today’s text is about. It does not first and foremost focus on us, but Jesus reveals something about himself, something about the identity of God:
Today’s text is the last of the so-called “I am” statements in the Gospel according to John. Each of these statements starts with Jesus claiming, “I am.” “I am the life.”1 “I am the resurrection.”2 “I am the good shepherd.”3 “I am the way.”4 “I am the living bread.”5 “I am the truth.”6 And so forth. And then today: “I am the vine.”
Each of these statements opens up a new aspect of who Jesus is meant to be. Each statement reveals how God is working through Jesus in this world. These sayings are at the heart of the Gospel according to John, because what they proclaim is truth, truth about God. They are theological truth. These metaphors speak of God first and foremost. They reveal God as the one, who is reaching out to us; as the one, who is yearning to be close to us; as the one, who wills life eternal and life abundant for us; as the one, who loves us beyond measure and who loves us in ways beyond our imagination. It is about God’s love, not about our ineptness. It is about God’s love, God’s abundant, overflowing, and indiscriminate love, which flows from God to us and through us, like the sap of the vine flows through its branches, bringing forth growth, and bringing forth manifold and good fruits in each and every one of us.
But, then, what about the pruning business? What about the branches that bear no fruit? I know some of you are asking.
Well, it is really important to remember what I said earlier: It is not our job to do the pruning, but God’s. And we should leave the worry about this issue to God, too. Our job is not to operate out of scarcity and fear, but out of abundance and love. Our job is to live into the abundance and love offered to us by the vine and freely given to the many, many branches, which are indeed part of the vine, even if we cannot see it.
Your being here attending this service or reading this blogpost already is a sign that you are a branch connected to the vine. Through us all here assembled, the sap of the vine is already flowing, bringing forth growth and bringing forth fruits, even if the fruits are small. Our job is to rejoice and celebrate what we have been given and what is taking shape already among us rather than agonize or fret about what is not, or what might never be. Let us, therefore, operate out of gratefulness for our connection to the vine of life, and let us continue to grow and bear fruit by sharing what has been given to us with one another, with this community of faith, and with the world at large.
Today’s text is not anthropocentric. But it focuses first and foremost on this: Jesus says, “I am the vine.” Jesus says to us, “I am connected to you. I embrace you. You have been gifted to me. And, as the vine, it is my responsibility – if you let me – it is my responsibility to hold on to you, to bring forth life in you, and to fill you with love, each and every one of you, whoever you and wherever you find yourself on the journey.”
[1] John 14.16
[2] John 11.25
[3] John 10.11
[4] John 14.16
[5] John 6.51
[6] John 14.16
[The Reverend Markus Duenzkofer delivered this sermon on Sunday, May 10, 2009.]
Posted by stpauls on May 4, 2009 under Webmaster Blog |
The Iona Community‘s “Peace” from A Wee Worship Book took longer on Earth Day for St. Paul’s Rector Markus Dünzkofer to read and longer for the community to share:
Not an easy peace,
not an insignificant peace,
not a half-hearted peace,
but the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ
is with us now.
Let us share it with each other.
The members of the community then greeted one another in the name of the risen Christ. But it took so long that Markus gave up for a while and sat down on the job.
Posted by Webmaster on under Webmaster Blog |
At the 11:00 a.m. service on March 8, 2009, St. Paul’s Anglican Church congregation unveiled a plaque commemorating Ina Roelants, a long-time member of St. Paul’s, who died in 2005.
Left to right: Tangerene Johnnie (Ina's oldest grandchild), Miesje Roelants Taylor (daughter), Rector, Markus Dünzkofer; in Ina Roelants' habitual pew below her plaque: Alisrane (Liz) Roelants van Baronaigren (daughter) and her children Nesya and Azrael.
The plaque reads,
In Loving Memory of
Ina M. O. Roelants
1927 – 2005
Feed My Sheep
Ina is remembered for her active ministry among those and with those who are disenfranchised and marginalized. She worked with prostitutes, prison inmates, homeless people, and many others, sharing the love of God with them, reminding them of their God-given dignity, and proclaiming God’s healing in body, mind, and soul. Her ministry was particularly focused on women and she would “take no prisoners” when it came to advocating for “her sheep.” She was truly a prophet and a bringer of good tidings. She moved mountains for the sake of others and spoke truth in a society and in a church that too often would not want to listen.
Her first ministry was in the area of rape relief, becoming the driving force behind a Vancouver safe house for women in 1987. She helped these women prepare themselves better for the outside world, teaching them how to run a home and look after themselves.
As the daughter of a countess and the great-granddaughter of a duchess, Ina came from wealth, though she was never wealthy herself. She never allowed her heritage to stop her from helping others, and indeed, she found many way to reach out. Ina did not worry about a person’s background; she believed that we are all the same, no matter what.
During her regular Tuesday visits to prison women, she would offer a confidential ear and an open heart. On the streets, she would offer cookies, coffee, condoms, and confidentiality to street people whom others would walk past, unseeing. Two-for-one food coupons were an opportunity to be able to offer food; smokes and coins were that little bit extra.
After her death, Ina’s family started the annual ministry, “Feed My Sheep.” Once a year, members of the family stretching from Vancouver Island to Northern British Columbia and the Lower Mainland of Vancouver get together and cook a meal in St. Paul’s Anglican Church basement for everyone who comes. Liz’s husband Darcey prepares all the hot food, which, for the past two years, has been donated by Hollyburn Country Club. In 2008, over 100 people were fed. In 2009, “Feed My Sheep” was held on March 7.
At the suggestion of Liz Roelants van Baronaigren, Montroyal Elementary School in North Vancouver School District has, for the past 3 years, donated both food and clothing to be handed out at the “Feed My Sheep” event. When she was just 6 years old, Liz’s daughter Neysa (named for her grandmother), had the idea to ask her school, to involve the young children in the school by having them decorate brown bags for the people to take food home with them. This would have delighted Ina Roelants, as she worked as a school teacher.
Ina’s spiritual home was here at St. Paul’s: she was grounded in a faith that united her with God and with those around her, and that was nurtured by a deeply sacramental piety. It is therefore more than meek and right to honour this saint and thank God for Ina’s ministry among us.
