If you know the answer, ask bigger questions!
No practice this Sunday. Please meet next Sunday, April 10th @ 9:45 a.m. for pre-service rehearsal. Lindsey encourages you to continue to work on your music at home.
Visit: www.TransfigurationMusic.ca and email Lindsey from the Website.
I am so excited and pleased to offer Resurrection Eggs to families of all ages this year for Lent and Holy Week. If you aren’t familiar with this concept, it is a dozen eggs, each filled with a small token that represents a portion of the Passion story. There will be laminated cards that guide you through each portion of the story. The eggs themselves are thoughtfully packaged and intended to be a faith formation tool that gets used in homes year after year. These will be offered at no cost to those who are interested.
If you would like to reserve a set of Resurrection Eggs for your family, please email me at transfigcyfm@gmail.com
Our goal for Coldest Night of the Year 2022 is $150,000. What’s so amazing about this? We’ve raised $140,000 again, in the middle of a Global Pandemic, with more Teams than ever before. We ranked 2nd across Canada for the most walk Teams. Way to go Niagara, we did this! We missed seeing many of your smiling faces in person, but we’re so happy to share the photos you sent in.
For those who were able to come out to our 1st ever ‘Chilli & Chocolate’, it was a treat to be able to come together. We’ll have to do that again. There is still a short amount of time to get the last of your donations in. The final day to submit funds is March 31st. Donate here: https://coldestnightoftheyear.org/location/stcatharines
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, donations to the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) have flooded in, with an overwhelming $266,500 being raised by Canadian Anglicans in just a few short weeks.
After an initial $50,000 grant to the ACT Alliance and its local partner, Hungarian Interchurch Aid, PWRDF has announced an additional $50,000 allocation to continue supporting Ukrainians as they make the long journey from their homes to the Hungarian border. An additional $50,000 has also been given to HelpAge International to support seniors trying to cross the border into Moldova.
Sheila and Lindsey are putting together an updated list of the Key Holders in our Parish. Here is what we would like you to do:
Then we need you to come to the Church with your key(s) as we need to find out what doors your keys can access.
If you know anyone who has a key but does not have email can you please have them call the office please.
Thank you so much!
If you would like anything added to our weekly newsletter please get the information to me by Wednesday at noon. Also if you want that information added to the Sunday slides please indicate this as well.
Thanks so much everyone! Lindsey
Ray Elder – Rector’s Warden
Barbara Sainty – People’s Warden
Kelly Twerdy – Treasurer and Deputy People’s Warden Beth Kerley – Lay Delegate to Synod
Byron Nicholson – Lay Delegate to Synod
Barbara Forder – Alternate Delegate to Synod
Karen Perry
Joanne Lynagh
Don Alsop
Carrie Adewumi
Katherine Kerley – Children Family Youth
Parish Council Meeting Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room. All Members are asked to be present.
My husband, Gerald Flemming, and I form the music duo, Infinitely More. We’re a freelance ministry that provides musical leadership for many churches in the Diocese, including monthly leadership at Advent Cafe at St. George’s (St. Catharines). This Lent, we’ve partnered with the Anglican Diocese of Niagara to create a Lenten Musical Calendar! Each week, we’re creating a new video, inspired by that week’s Gospel. The video features a clergy member from the Diocese sharing a brief reflection, followed by a song performance from Infinitely More. Some churches are already taking advantage of this free resource, but we want to make sure that all parishes know how and when they can find the videos! We’ve created a Welcome video that explains how to find and use each week’s offering: https://youtu.be/WW3iMgrRkXs
Blessings, Allison www.InfinitelyMore.ca
The Contemplative Circle explores contemplative practices. Over four Thursday evenings (March 17, 24, 31 & April 7) we will focus on Centring Prayer. Over the four sessions we will learn the four guidelines for Centering Prayer, practice together via Zoom and discuss.
Each one-hour session begins at 7pm and will focus on a particular aspect of Centering Prayer. Attending all four sessions will provide the broadest introduction to the Centering Prayer. To register for one or more of the sessions, click here.
We will show my video on week 1 and Kevin’s on week two. You can see the videos here:
https://youtu.be/BugYdqLopzY
https://youtu.be/-nVd8xpwUqw
From the Greater St. Catharines Social Justice network.
(Pete is one of our Brood of Vipers & Prelude Trio Harmonica Player)
I am the one who always waits for you. Your car has a special sound that I have imprinted on my senses, I can recognize it among a thousand. Your steps have a magic timbre. Your voice is music to my ears. If I see your joy, it makes me happy! Your scent is the best, Your presence is what moves my senses. Your awakening wakes me up. I watch you sleep and for me you are my God, I am happy watching over your sleep. Your gaze is a ray of light. Your hands on me have the lightness of peace and the sublime display of infinite love. When you go out, I feel a huge emptiness in my heart. I wait for you again and again.
I am the one who will wait for you all my life today, tomorrow and always:
I am your dog
A big thank you Marilyn Trinder who is stepping down as Parish Historian.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank Marilyn Trinder for her many years of service as Church Historian. Marilyn has been a tremendous help to Corporation in providing details from the church history, helping interim and new rectors become acquainted with the parish and our members and reaching out to parish families for photos, contact information, etc. Marilyn, thank you again for all you have done for the parish and all you continue to do.
For May/June/July have arrived. If you pre-ordered from Erica your copy is on the table outside of the Church. Pick your copy up when able.
To find out more about what we can do, use your web browser or Google: joingoodside.com or The Good Guide: Learning About Climate Change. This site offers free e-books ( some short, some longer) that offer excellent information and guidance about a variety of actions we can participate in.
This year we will be studying Katharine Hayhoe’s book “Saving Us: A climate scientist’s case for hope and healing in a divided world”
The books are not inexpensive—they are available from Chapters or Amazon for $36.00 for hardcover, or you can download the Kindle version for less, a softcover is not available. If you are not able to find the book in store and can’t order online please let me know ASAP and I will order it for you. Please be sure to let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in taking part in the book study and if you need a book purchased. It looks like there are some copies available at the Chapters at Fairview Mall but I can’t promise anything.
We will have discussion groups meeting at the church on Wednesdays beginning on March 9th at 11:30 am and an evening Zoom meeting on Thursday evenings (time to be determined) beginning on March 10th. The meetings will run for 5 weeks. If you are taking part please read the first section of the book up page 33 before the first meeting.
Lent is right around the corner, beginning on Ash Wednesday, March 2nd. Each lent is a time for Christians to reflect on their relationship with God through prayer, study and giving of time talent and treasures.
This can take many forms, from setting aside time each day to read the Bible and pray, joining a church or on-line Bible or book study, or looking at how we use our time, talents, and treasures with regard to reacting to the needs of individuals or groups or our planet.
This year at Transfiguration we would like to look at our stewardship of the planet we call home and so would like to challenge each parishioner to find ways be a blessing to the earth.
This could take the form of eliminating single use plastics in your home, using beeswax wraps, reusable mesh bags for produce and reusable lunch and food storage options
It could be to take a ‘trash walk’ where you bring along gloves and bags to pick up trash in your neighbourhood or somewhere you already walk each day. This is a wonderful family or group project, make sure to plan a number of walks in different areas throughout Lent.
This might mean raising awareness for environmental issues, or donating funds or time to environmental groups or causes.
In all this, the idea is to thank God for the beauty and generosity of this planet our island home and as we take on these challenges to pray about them and use them as ways to refocus our lives and hearts toward God’s love for us and all people.
Brier has resumed her yoga classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9:30. You can reach her at brierc54@cogeco.ca.
Justine Cotton (justinelcotton@gmail.com)will be resuming her barre classes on March 7 (Monday) at 7pm.
Anna Racine will be facilitating two upcoming events at the Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre in Niagara Falls. The first event is a one-day workshop called “Surviving separation and Divorce”. It takes place from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm on Saturday, March 5 and costs $65 (lunch included). The second is a retreat exploring the “Power of Forgiveness”. This event costs $300 and takes place March 18-20.
Please contact Anna Racine through www.annaracine.org for more information or to register.
The Canadian Council of Churches has offered this prayerful reflection on the protests that we have been witnessing in recent weeks.
“When we are weary, longing for renewed human connections, impatient to return to the way things used to be, struggling with what is becoming, let us not allow fear or suspicion to erode our hearts, hearths, and communities, pulling us into isolation and distrust.”
Protests have happened in several communities in our diocese, including in Fort Erie on the weekend. “When we are at the end of our rope, Lord draw us into the Spirit’s tether,” offers Bishop Susan Bell who invites our prayers for peace and harmony.