Dear Parish Family,   

I hope that you are well this first week of June.  If you are like me you are distressed at the violence unfolding in the US.  You may have family there, too, and worry for their safety.  It seems like every time I listen to the news I have tears in my eyes.  It is certainly a time for prayer – for comfort and discernment: how can we live out our Christian mission to love and support our fellow human beings? What can we do to end the racial and ethnic discrimination around us that we have mostly ignored, thinking that it has nothing to do with us?  We mayalso be brought up short like our Prime Minister, when he was asked, “What message does it send if you do not answer this question?”  What message are we sending as individual people and as a Christian community?  These are hard questions.  Last night when I was listening to the news I lit a candle because I didn’t even know how to pray, I was so distressed.  But we have been told that God hears our distress – we don’t have to have words to say.  So maybe that is one thing we can do when we are still so isolated from each other – light candles in our homes as a prayer for ourselves and others. The Missioner for Christian Formation sends out bulletins often and I thought I’d include a couple of suggestions.  You can also go to the Diocese website to read more.  vancouver.anglican.ca 

NON SCREEN FAITH FORMATION These could all be done in households or physically distanced groups over the summer. Parish groups of any/all ages could meet in a park or parish lawn, and do these together. 

Faith5 - Simple, five step faith practice for families. SHARE your highs and lows, READ a Bible verse or story, TALK about how the Bible reading might relate to your highs and lows, PRAY for one another’s highs and lows, BLESS one another. Here's an example for Pentecost. Wonder what bible passage to choose? Pick from the readings from your Sunday bulletin. https://faithink.com/faith5 

Praying and Walking - I don't know about you, but I go for A LOT of walks right now and often haul my 10 year old along. Perhaps some of our walks could be dedicated to prayer or intended as prayerful. It could be as simple as stepping out the door and offering to God our intention to dedicate the walk as prayer. Here are some ways to consider praying and walking in your neighbourhood:Pray for discernment – Seek the gift of observing what God is already doing there; ask God to show you how you can pray with greater insight for the people, events, and places in the community.Pray for blessings – Pray for every person, home, school, business and situation you encounter.Pray with empathy – See and feel what your neighbors live with every day; offer intercession for signs of brokenness and give thanks to God for the blessings and gifts in the community.Pray from Scripture – Prayers based directly on Scripture can be especially powerful. You might start with Jeremiah 29:5-7; Luke 10:1-2; Mark 12:30-31; or Revelation 21:3-5a.Pray in God’s silence – Allow times of silence for God’s spirit to speak to you, or through you.

 Home Prayers for Pentecost, Dinnertime, and Beyond A low-tech resource from the Book of Alternative Services are the home prayers in the back from pgs. 685-697. It offers a simple outline of daily prayer with seasonal variations. Here's a pdf of the book.  

As always, outside work continues at CTR.   Jacquie has asked that I put in a request for people to come to help with tasks such as raking grass along the sidewalk.  The City does some cutting there but then leaves the clumps of grass behind.  Please feel free to come any time you can and do what you can. I love the different colours of green in the shade garden. And the peony is in full bloom. 

One of the reasons for the Special Vestry Meeting ( see notice below) was to discuss our hopes for having a full-time priest.  Yesterday, our wardens spoke with Archbishop Melissa and the outcome of that conversation is below: The Parish Executive wishes to announce the appointment by Archbishop Melissa of the Venerable Louie Engnan as Priest-in-Charge at CTR. Louie will serve both CTR and St. Michael’s parishes in a half-time capacity. Over the next weeks we will be meeting with the executive of St. Michael’s to discuss and develop parameters for how that will look. Louie will take his first service with us on June 14th.This is welcome news for us all as the last couple of months - indeed the last year - has seen so many challenges here.  And there will be changes for us as we work through these new arrangements.  But we are very happy to welcome Louie Engnan into our parish and look forward to our first service together on June 14th!

Please mark Saturday, June 20th in your calendars. We will gather at 10AM for the purpose of a Special Vestry to discuss some major issues in the life of CTR moving forward. The Parish Executive wants to invite as much discussion and input as possible, so please be there. The meeting will take place in the sanctuary where there is ample room to allow for distancing. 

 For our Sunday re-opening, June 14th - Those of you who are able and ready to gather together for worship, please join us on Sunday, June 14 at 10 AM.  Service will look different as there are a number of protocols that we need to observe so that we can worship together.  Alternating pews will be roped off, we will not be having communion, we must speak hymns rather than sing them, we'll even have directional arrows on the floor so that we do not enter and exit via the same doors.  But by now we are all pretty used to the changes that we have to cope with just doing our grocery shopping so I'm sure we will manage. You are welcome to wear masks if that is a concern for you.  There will be more information next week, but as we are a small congregation, we are confident we will be able to keep to our limit of 50 people and be able to manage physical distancing.  

Thank you to everyone who has been so faithful in their giving of time, labour, and offering over the past three months.  It will be wonderful to have the ability to meet again in person and be able to pray and worship together with our new Priest, Louie Engnan.

Blessings to all,Annie--

Annie Smith

Parish AdministratorChrist the Redeemer Anglican Church

16613 Bell Road, Surrey, BC V3S 1H7

604-576-2216

ctrchurch2016@gmail.com

We are grateful to worship and celebrate our Creator in the traditional, unceded territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, and Semiahmoo First Nations of the Coast Salish Peoples.

Peace Arch
Christ the Redeemer