May 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Recent Teaching
We began 2025 with a 12-week study from the book of Amos in which God consistently warns His people that unless they repent, judgment will break upon them like a gathering storm.
As we walked through the book, we saw this very specific event in the Ancient Near East was but a preview of something even greater yet to come. Ultimately, the fall of Israel, approximately 700 years before the birth of Christ, pointed ahead to cross, where, standing in the place of Israel, He took on our sins and was judged for us.
Having explored that central idea through four very different services over Easter weekend, this Eastertide, we’ll be looking at what it means for us in a new series called Resurrection: after the storm. In this series we’ll see how Christ rose, fulfilled scripture, and gave his Holy Spirit, with the encouraging thought that the same Spirit who rose Jesus from the dead, now lives in us.
Growing in Faith
If you would like to commemorate some significant change in your walk with Christ, we also hope to baptize several members, or invite people to reaffirm their baptismal vows this Pentecost (June 8th 2025). Then, the week after that, the Bishop will be visiting us for a service of confirmation. Some people think that confirmation is only for teens, but in fact it’s a great service for anyone who would like to make a public declaration of their faith, especially if there have been some significant changes in recent years.
Traditionally confirmation was a time when believers would stand up and confirm what they believed, pretty much like a testimony Sunday in the contemporary church. Over time, in Anglicanism, it also became a moment to seek the laying on of hands by the Overseer of the church and for them to pray on your behalf for more of the Holy Spirit.
We do not run a confirmation class, where we teach a few basic facts in order for you to pass a test. Instead, we teach the full gospel every week in our small groups, Podcasts, and church services in order that the whole body might be encouraged together.
If you would like to know more about membership, baptism, re-affirming your faith, or confirmation, please speak to me or Rev. Ben, or look at this part of our website.
Building Development
I am thrilled to say that we have now received enough in donations to renovate the Parish Hall. Work begins in June with demolition, then we’ll be replacing the floor, ceiling, doors, windows, lighting, and bathroom, adding new electrics, temperature control, HVAC, and A/V equipment, and constructing a new dedicated Children’s Ministry room.
I am also thrilled to say that we look very close to having raised enough in pledges to complete the sanctuary development as well. That money will take a couple of years to come in. We have planned for some amount of inflation in costs, and so we can only hope that we are about right in our math, but to think that our church has done so much, with such a simple and modest ask is an incredible blessing and gives me enormous joy. Thank you.
A Safe Church
Creating a safe church for our youngest members is important to us. Their new classroom will be equipped with cameras, a dedicated bathroom, and better safety in the event of a fire.
We’ll also be working on a new policy designed to protect our children and most vulnerable adults. We already do a lot in this area, but the ACNA nationally is using this year to review everything we do from the ground up.
This is a good time to remind everyone about the importance of signing your children in and out of nursery and children’s ministry properly. Even if we know who you are, sometimes things can happen in a family that we cannot be aware of, and so we only allow the person with the official lanyard to pick up their children at the end. It also models a safe environment for new families, demonstrating that we are taking precautions to keep their children safe. On busy days, when the children leave the service at the dismissal, please also give them a moment to leave the sanctuary before leaving yourself, so that we can get them safely back to their room.
Love in Christ,
Rev’d Alex
