Centre for Lay Education
Newsletter, November 23rd, 2011
The Advent
Conspiracy...
Visit the Advent Conspiracy Website
Christ Church Cathedral
Your Cathedral needs practical help with a pioneering
Fair Trade Boutique set up in partnership with
Dix Mille Villages, St Denis. The project is organized
by our Social Justice Action Group, with the support of
Cathedral Forum.
When:
From Thursday, Dec. 1, to Saturday, Dec. 3rd, from 11am
to 7pm each day.
Where: The Atrium on the ground floor of the diocesan
offices
What: Selling a range of Dix Mille Villages fair trade
products from around the world, particularly Christmas
items such as nativity sets, Christmas decorations,
gifts under $20 and fair trade food (coffee, chocolate
...)
Who:
There will be a rep from Dix Mille Villages, St Denis,
plus 3 Cathedral volunteers for each four-hour shift.
That’s 6 volunteers each day. We are particularly
looking for people who have worked in shops or who like
engaging with customers. There will be a two-hour
training session.
How you can
help: Please volunteer to take at least one
four-hour shift.
Why are we
doing this? The Social Justice Action Group felt
deeds were as important as words. This is a practical
way of making a statement about fairness and justice.
Advent is a time when we think about giving, not just
gifts but service to others, as we prepare for Christ’s
coming. This project will give a higher profile to our
outreach. Moreover, we keep 15% of the profits to use on
our social outreach.
Please contact
Jonathan
Bailey or 514 -550- 0054 for information or to offer
your help
And on
Facebook
The
Advent Chapel: An oasis of calm in a hectic mall
The Diocese of Montreal is pleased to announce the
creation of the Advent Chapel, in the old Diocesan Book
Room space, in the Promenades de la Cathedrales mall
(corner of Ste. Catherine and University).
It will be set up with chairs, music, a place for
prayer, toys, crafts, tea and coffee. There will be
information available on local churches and ways to
observe Advent & celebrate Christmas meaningfully.
Visit us in person, and also online at
Facebook on at the
Advent Chapel blog.
Check out
the video describing the project.
Renewing Hope
An
online book and resource by Bishop Dennis Drainville,
Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Quebec
Whether its the “Occupy Wall Street” movement
that has taken place in many cities around the world,
or
whether its the ongoing saga of greed and mismanagement
that is afflicting North America and Europe, we are not
being well served by our political and financial
institutions.
If ever we needed to have leaders to show us the way
ahead, it is now. However, what has become obvious is
that we need a fundamental shift in how our political
institutions operate, a re-evaluation of the values we
espouse as citizens of Canada and we need to discern who
the individuals are who can inspire and commit
themselves to become leaders who work for the common
good of all.
Over the next few weeks I will be publishing a series of
chapters of a book that I wrote over the summer. Simply
stated it is my own take on what is happening in Canada
and in some of the closest nations to our borders. It is
a social, political and economic critique offered from
the perspective of a concerned citizen. If you have any
comments please leave them.
Events for 2011
Music That Makes Community - Learn to Sing
Paperlessly
Saturday, November 26th, from 10 am to 4 pm.
Church of the Resurrection, 99 Mount Pleasant, Pointe
Claire, Quebec
Dr. Barclay McMillan, much beloved for his innovative
music at St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Ottawa will be
leading a one-day interactive workshop, based on the
musical style of St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco
and the All Saints Company on how to use simple songs,
learned without hymn books or sheet music, to encourage
congregational singing and deepen spiritual engagement.
See
the poster.
Allowing Healing into the
Heart - Forgiveness and Self-Forgiveness
A
Still Presence Workshop
Experience
with Cedric Cobb and Michael Johnson
Saturday, November 26, 1- 4 pm
$15 Suggested Donation
Christ Church, Beaurepaire
455 Church St., Beaconsfield
(514-697-2204)
The ability to examine our lives, to
sit intimately with ourselves
and allow our true nature to reveal
itself is a capacity that we can cultivate.
Bringing a kind attention to our
thoughts, feelings and actions opens us to experience our own
goodness and the loving Presence within. While sacred silence holds the
group, there will be two sessions in which we verbally share our common
practice.
Taizé at
Unitas
Friday, December 9th, at 7:30 pm.
The Padua Centre, 1950 Saint Antoine O, Montreal
www.unitas-meditation.ca The
poster
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St. James Drop In Centre
Gala Fund-Raising Dinner
Friday, December 9th, at 7 pm.
Fulford Hall, 1444 Union Avenue in Montreal
Tickets: $75
Writes for Rights - Amnesty International
Saturday, December 10th from 10 am to 12 noon
at the Mansonville Public Library
Hosting/organizing a " Write for Rights" event on the
occasion of the UN Human Rights Day and the 50th
anniversary of Amnesty International.
Exploring Advent with fresh
new eyes
Presenter: Dr. Bruce Wheatcroft
Sponsored by the Deanery of Western
Montreal
and the Diocese of Montreal
AT ST. LAWRENCE CHURCH
520 - 75th Avenue, LaSalle
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011
10:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
(Registration and coffee - 9:30
a.m.)
Participants are asked to bring
along a “bag” lunch.
Everyone is welcome.
A fresh look at the penitential and
celebratory season of Advent, its liturgies and how we
celebrate this start of the Christian Year.
Still Presence Spirituality Centre
at Christ Church in Beaurepaire and Church of
the Epiphany in Verdun
November/December Calendar of Events
Opportunities for meditation, stillness and quiet times
together in the presence of God.
Marriage Preparation Workshops 2012
Courses given each month for those preparing for
marriage. Enjoy a Friday evening and all-day Saturday
together with other couples and two experienced
facilitators as you explore the dynamics of marriage and
relationships. Courses take place at St. Paul's
Church in Lachine. The 2012 schedule has now been
posted.
Lay Readers Study Day and Commissioning 2011
On Saturday, November 26th, from 9 am to 3 pm.
Study Day for Lay Readers with the Rev.
Adele Finney, director of PWRDF, "Creating a more Just,
Healthy, and Peaceful World."
Followed at 4 pm by the Service of Commissioning for Lay
Readers, with Bishop Barry Clarke. At St.
John the Baptist Church in Pointe Claire.
Advent Quiet Day with Bishop Clarke
SSJD Associates and Friends
Saturday, December 3rd at St. Stephen's Church, Lachine,
25 12th Avenue.
9:30 am to 2:30 pm. Please bring a lunch.
Coffee and Tea available.
Suggested cost is $10 with proceeds to SSJD.
Email
Mary Pickup to register, or call 514-595-0614.
Memorial Service for Victims of Violence
Tuesday, December 6th at Christ Church Cathedral at 12
noon.
With celebrant the Rev. Shirley Smith. Everyone is
welcome.
Light refreshments to follow in the baptistery.
Sponsored by the Anglican Church Women.
Jesus Our Hope Incarnate
with Bishop William Willimon in Kanata, Ontario
December 9th, 10th and 11th.
St. Paul’s is delighted to welcome Bishop William
Willimon (Bishop of The United Methodist Church of North
Alabama, and former Dean of the Chapel and Professor of
Christian Ministry at Duke University, NC), one of the
foremost preachers of this generation! A must hear, and
see!
This event is hosted by St. Paul's Anglican Church, 20
Young Road, Kanata, and sponsored by the Anglican
Dioceses of Ottawa, Ontario & Montreal.
Events in 2012
Christian Ethics: The
real world of love, faith and friendship
presented by the Montreal School of Theology
February 3rd to April 20th, 2012 with the Rev. Roland De
Vries
An classroom and online course.
Registration: $325 by January 12th, 2012.
See the poster for
further details.
Vital
Church Planting Conference 2012
The Missional Roadmap Where do we go now?
St. Paul's Bloor Street, Toronto, Ontario
February 2-4, 2012
Registration and more info coming soon!
Plenary Speaker: Dave Male The Rev. David Male is
Tutor in Pioneer Mission Training at Ridley Hall and
Associate Tutor at Westcott House, both in Cambridge,
UK. He is also Fresh Expressions Adviser for the Diocese
of Ely. David was for seven years Vicar of the Net
Church, Huddersfield, a ‘network type’ church which was
one of the pioneers of fresh expressions, and the first
church mentioned in the Mission Shaped Church report. He
is the author of Church Unplugged: Remodelling Church
without losing your soul (2008) and editor of Pioneers 4
Life (2011).
The
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 7:00 PM
at Centennial Theatre,
Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Quebec
Former Presidential candidate, civil rights activist
Reverend Jackson is an influential voice in American
political and social activism. Called “the great
unifier,” he has played a pivotal role in virtually
every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights,
gender equality, and economic and social justice.
Continually challenging America to establish just and
humane priorities, he works tirelessly to level the
political and economic playing field
for all.
Eucharist as Social Justice
Saturday, March 24th, 2012
9 am to 2:30 pm
MDTC, 3475 University, Montreal
Sister Margaret Scott
(
http://srmargaret-aci.com/ )
of Philadelphia will give our March 24th
session to Lay Readers at MDTC.
We will also make the session open to other
interested persons.
Registration is $10.
Please bring a bag lunch.
Contact Tim
Smart to register.
Christians in a Dangerous Time: Conversations about the
Future of the Church
April 20-22, 2011 at All Saints Anglican Church, Vernon,
BC.
With guest speakers:
Douglas Todd one of the most highly acclaimed
spirituality and ethics writers in North America.
And
Brian Walsh, writer, teacher, and campus minister at
the University of Toronto.
Registration is $200. Accommodation not included.
Sponsored by EFM Canada
(Education for Ministry, Canada)
See the
registration form for more details.
Tour of
Greece and Turkey
May 6-21, 2012
Early Christian Christianity: Pauline Texts and
Places"
Department of Theological
Studies, Concordia University
Accompanied by: Dr. Matthew R. Anderson and TA:
Sara Terreault,
For more information, please read the
poster and
full information and application.
Pilgrimage of Trust: Taizé
Gathering in ChicagoMay 25th to 28th, 2012
with smaller gathering in preparation in many Canadian cities.
Visit the website.
Holy
Ghost - by June Beisch
The congregation sang off key.
The priest was rambling.
The paint was peeling in the Sacristy.
A wayward pigeon, trapped in the
church,
flew wildly around for a while and
then
flew toward a stained glass window,
but it didn't look like reality.
The ushers yawned, the dollar bills
drifted lazily out of the collection
baskets
and a child in the front row began to
cry.
Suddenly, the pigeon flew down low,
swooping over the heads of the
faithful
like the Holy Ghost descending at
Pentecost
Everyone took it to be a sign,
Everyone wants so badly to believe.
You can survive anything if you know
that someone is looking out for you,
but the sky outside the stained glass
window,
doesn't it look like home?
MDTC
Montreal Diocesan
Theological College
3475 University
Montreal, Quebec
H3A-2A8
Visit the website
Tim Smart
tel: 514-849-4437
Newsletters
November 2nd, 2011
Email Tim Smart to include information in the newsletter about an upcoming educational event in your parish
Links
Call it Democracy
Listen to Bruce Cockburn's song critiquing
Democracy.
Time to Challenge the Idols of High Finance
Full text of an article written by Archbishop Rowan
Williams in The Financial Times
There is the kind
of economy
that exists to protect the “right” of profit, as does
our present public economy; this sort of economy will
inevitably gravitate toward the protection of the
“rights” of those who profit most.
Our present public economy is really a political system
that safeguards the private exploitation of the public
wealth and health.
The other kind of economy exists for the protection of
gifts … and this is the economy of community, which now
has nearly been destroyed by the public economy.
- Wendell Berry (Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community, p.
138)
E-Course
for Advent
Child of the Light
From Spirituality & Practice
Anglican.ca
Check out what's going on in the Anglican Church of
Canada
SSJD Toronto Retreats, Quiet
Days and Workshops offered throughout the year.