Dear St. Mary’s Family,
Tomorrow (Sunday, September 6, 2020) at 10.30 I will be celebrating the Holy Communion at St. Mary’s for the first time in six months, very much mindful of those who are unable to come. My sermon tomorrow will focus on the precious gift that is our Christian fellowship, and the responsibility that we all share in safeguarding that gift: Matthew 18. 15-20.
Sunday mornings are going to look, sound, and feel very different. Every other pew has been roped off to conform to the social distancing guidelines. Family groups may sit together. We are allowed to have as many as 60 people present in the service. Masks are encouraged but not mandatory, except when there is congregational singing. I will be standing at the chancel steps wearing a mask to administer the Holy Communion in one kind only (bread). We will not be sharing any food and drink following the service. For all these changes to the look, sound, and feel of things, the heart of the matter remains the same: Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2.2) We need to take to heart that our fellowship and union with Christ and one another is fundamentally a spiritual, and not a human or psychological reality. Our various urges, feelings, wants, desires and experiences are not what bind us together, but rather the Word and Spirit of Jesus Christ that shows and proves itself in orderly, humble service to one another. As St. Paul wrote, and as we will hear tomorrow, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” ( Romans 13. 8)
A service of Morning Prayer with hymns and sermon is still available for those unable to come on Sunday mornings.
Blessings on your Lord’s Day worship!
Claude +
WORSHIP THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY’S
| Sunday | 10:00AM 10:30AM 7:00PM | Morning Prayer Holy Communion Evening Prayer |
| Tuesday – Friday | 8:30AM | Morning Prayer |
| Tuesday | 5:30PM | Evening Prayer for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
PARISH LIFE NOTES
St. Mary’s Children’s Program . “Kingdom. Grace and Judgment” – The Parables of Jesus at 2820 Wascana St. from 10.30 until Noon. Today’s Lesson: Parable of the Great Banquet (Let there be Art. The children and you will create two invitations. Leader: Kate B.
Updated “In Person Worship Guidelines” are available on St. Mary’s web-site.
Faithquest and Worship Centre will begin September 20th. Parents are asked to take their children to these programs before church and go and get them after church. Children who attend Faith Quest and Worship Center are to stay in the area of their program and are not to come upstairs into the sanctuary.
The Nursery will not be open at this time.