Newsletter - Thursday, April 30
Covid-19 Pandemic
Please see the Diocesan website for the most recent correspondence from the Archbishop regarding the Covid-19 Pandemic: https://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/
St. Andrew’s Office
The office is closed, and we are suspending the use of the building for Sunday church services, activities, groups, events and rentals. The office staff are working from home so please email standrewslangley@shaw.ca, instead of phoning for church business as the phone will only be checked occasionally.
Please continue to check in with one another over this time, especially with those who you know don't use email. If necessary, call Andrew’s cell at 778-999-9153.
Online Worship and Sermons
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want…” Psalm 23
We are online using the Zoom website for our 10am Sunday Worship.
Connecting with Zoom is as easy as clicking on the link! You can also use your phone (landlines included) to phone into a Zoom meeting! Contact Andrew if you have any questions at sandrewh@hotmail.com or 778-999-9153.
The Zoom link for Sunday 8am & 10am is https://zoom.us/j/919477422
You can also phone into Sunday Worship at 778-907-2071 and enter meeting code 919477422
Audio recordings of our Sunday Worship (BCP & BAS) including Sermons are on our website. Bulletins for theses Services can be found at the links below.
Look at us on Zoom!!
This is what Sunday Worship looks like these days!!
Behind the scenes of worship and weekly studies. Thank you David and Andrew!!
Online Bible Study
We are online using Zoom for Bible Studies during the week.
The link to St. Andrew’s Tuesday evening 7pm Bible Study: https://zoom.us/j/987274049 or phone 778-907-2071 & enter meeting code 987274049
The link to St. Dunstan’s Wednesday evening 7pm Bible Study: https://zoom.us/j/645038743
The link to St. Andrews’s Thursday morning 10:30am Bible Study: https://zoom.us/j/459692611 or phone 778-907-2071 & enter meeting code 459692611
The link to St. Dunstan’s Friday lunch 12:30 pm Lectio Divina: https://zoom.us/j/593338969
Warden Report - Financial Update
With these unusual circumstances of virtual church and the inability to meet in person, you might be wondering about the finances of St. Andrew’s and how we are managing our operations. We have now been in virtual operation for about 6 weeks. Joanie Markwart is managing the office administration from home; David Harrison is keeping our gardens beautiful and Larry Amskold is cutting our lawns. The daycare is still in operation caring for a small number of children of essential workers, and that means that the church building is being looked at daily. Brian Smith is managing the books and paying the bills and Cathy Barnes and Carl Markwart are counting donations and making bank deposits every month. The Diocese has taken over payment of all clergy for the months of April and May and have stopped taking assessment payments until September. On the income side we have lost some rental income but if you are able to continue giving your regular donations, we should be able to manage payment of all our regular bills ( e.g. Hydro, phone, gas etc.) without seriously effecting the bank balances. With less use, we have reduced our janitorial service to twice a month. At the end of March, we had $58,000 in our operating account. (We will provide an update after the end of each month to let you know how we are doing.)
If you wish to continue to donate to St. Andrew’s during this time, you can do so utilizing our PAD (Pre-Authorized Debit) option. Once a month, on or after the 12th, we submit to RBC our PAD file to automatically debit from your bank account. If the 12th falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, we process the file the next bank business day. To begin this process, call Carl Markwart at 604-575-3068 to provide your name and banking information. Three bank details are needed (usually taken from the bottom of a void cheque) – your bank’s transit number, bank number and your personal bank account number.
Alternatively, you can drop off your weekly envelopes through the church’s mail slot or mail your donation to St. Andrew’s 20955 Old Yale Rd, Langley City BC V3A 7P8.
There is also the option of e-transfer. You can just send it to the church’s email, standrewslangley@shaw.ca, and it will be sent to our Treasurer.
Please stay safe and healthy and we will look forward to seeing you all on our Zoom church services and hopefully getting back together soon.
Stuart Allan
People’s Warden
Dear Friends,
It is a pleasure to share with you that Archbishop Melissa has made Amanda Ruston a postulant in the Diocese of New Westminster. This means that, God willing, she will be ordained to the Diaconate on Saturday, June 20th, 2020 at 10:30am in the Cathedral downtown. You are all invited!
I know the whole congregation wants to congratulate Amanda. The Church is very fortunate to have such high quality people as ordained leaders!
The Rev. Andrew Halladay
Sources Food Bank
Our church building is closed, and our baskets remain empty. We invite people to still give money to Sources Langley Food Bank: https://sourcesfoundation.ca/give
If you have a story to share, or want to let us know how you are faring in isolation, please email Joanie or phone Andrew.
"With COVID-19, I'm becoming a bit of a Zoom expert, more than I ever really wanted to be! As I continue to work at BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services remotely, all of our meetings are taking place on zoom and I can sometimes expect 5 - 6 of those in a day. I am both very thankful for the technology that at least allows us to connect with each other during these challenging times (as well as allows us to meet as a church community!) and getting rather tired of it.
One thing I have noticed is that I am purposefully connecting with friends and family in a way that is distinct from the past. On Sunday afternoons, for instance, I send out a zoom invitation and my daughter Kailee from Victoria, my niece Emma from Campbell River and my sister Linda, from Dallas, Texas, meet up and do a one hour connection and exercise time. We are so enjoying this that it makes me wonder "why didn't we do this before COVID-19?"
I'm also thankful to not spend nearly as much time in the car, commuting to meetings, appointments, etc. The pace of life if slower and I am very much enjoying that. It will be interesting to see how this changes our ways of being and interacting as we move more into a recovery phase of the Pandemic. Sending love to you all.”
Helen Lingham
“What am I doing during these challenging times? I am trying to take one day at a time and enjoy whatever blessings are at hand. We are often told to live mindfully in the present – “sufficient unto the day..”,” life is short, use the good dishes”, “never trouble trouble ‘til trouble troubles you” and so on. This is the perfect time to do that because we really, really don’t know what the future will bring.
Fortunately, because we live where we do and because Spring is here, there are many things to enjoy and be thankful for: new growth all around us, bedding plants in the nurseries, my Christmas cactus that is blooming in April for the first time, our townhouse complex where friendly neighbours are often outdoors, and happy to visit for a few minutes when we walk for the mail, finding a store where they actually have flour and toilet paper. Our book club members are still connecting on line and hope to have an outdoor meeting in May. One resident leads an exercise program every day outside on the road. A big plus, of course, is that so far, my husband and I are both healthy.
I am also learning some new skills – how to “Zoom” in to church and meetings with our kids, how to wear a face mask without steaming up my glasses, how to plan ahead so I only have to shop once a week (something I have not had to do for years). I am hoping that my ability to solve Sudoku puzzles will improve as I do more of them.
Of course, I am not Pollyanna and sometimes things don’t seem so rosy, but I am trying. I just received the Sorrento Centre newsletter and there is a quote in it that really hits the mark. I hope no one minds if I repeat it:
From J.R.R.Tolkein: “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Question – If our kids come to visit and sit outside 2 metres away, does that make them distant relations?”
Marsha Miller
We continue to grow and bloom in isolation…
Our Church gardens are bursting with blooms!!! Thank you to David Harrison for his loving care of our gardens while we are in isolation. Also a big thank you to Larry Amskold for starting up the lawn mower again this year!
“…far beneath the bitter snow, lies the seed that with the sun’s love, in the Spring, becomes the rose…”
Please keep checking in on each other!
St. Andrew’s Anglican Church
20955 Old Yale Road, Langley BC V2A 7P8
604-534-6514
standrewslangley@shaw.ca
Social Media
Check out our Facebook page and our Instagram page @standrewslangley
