Last Service of 2006!

This Thursday's Little Compline and Study (7pm) at Peter and Judy's house will be the last official service of St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Mission for 2006! As was announced on Sunday, St. John's, the daughter-mission of St. Herman of Alaska parish, will be "going home" this Christmas season to spend it with "Momma" - in other words, all Christmas services this year will be at St. Herman's - quite probably for the last time, if the Lord continues to bless us in the coming year as He has in this one.

Nothing particularly special has been planned for this last Little Compline and Study - other than reading through the first couple of chapters of the Gospel According to St. Luke in preparation for our study of Luke's Gospel and for the Nativity of our Lord.

Our mission's services will resume with the celebration of Theophany at Dunbar Lutheran at 10am on Saturday, January 6th, 2007 - probably followed by a Theophany/New Year's feast at Peter and Judy's house! (Confirmation of these arrangements to follow soon - stay tuned here for further details.)

Little Compline & Bible Study to start 7:45 Dec 14

Hi All,

Bible Study & Compline will start later (7:45pm) this Thursday (Dec 14) because Josh has a school concert until about 7:30 and we will all be home at 7:30.

Thanks!

Judy

Finishing Off Clement's Epistle

So, hopefully we'll finish off St. Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians again this Thursday... That is, if we have the time this Thursday, we'll finish off the lacuna (missing bit) of St. Clement's epistle - and then discuss what we might like to study next!

Here, borrowed from the Early Christian Writings page on Clement's Epistle, are two translations of the section that was missing from the CCEL version of Clement's Epistle:


Charles Hoole's translation:

57:7 For because they wronged the innocent they shall be slain, and judgment shall destroy the unrighteous; but he who hearkeneth unto me shall abide trusting in hope, and shall rest securely from all evil.

CHAPTER 58

58:1 Let us, therefore, submit to his all-holy and glorious name, and escape the threats that have been before spoken by Wisdom against the disobedient, that we may abide trusting in the most holy name of his greatness.

58:2 Accept this our advice, and it will not be repented of by you. For as God liveth, and as the Lord Jesus Christ liveth, and the Holy Spirit, the confidence and hope of the elect, he who observeth in humility with earnest obedience, and repining not, the ordinances and commands given by God, he shall be reckoned and counted in the number of them that are saved by Jesus Christ, through whom is there to him glory, world without end. Amen.

CHAPTER 59

59:1 But if some should be disobedient to the things spoken by him through us, let them know that they will entangle themselves in no small transgression and danger,

59:2 but that we shall be guiltless of this sin; and we will ask, making with earnestness our prayer and supplication, that the Maker of all things may keep uninjured in all the world the number of those that have been numbered as his elect, through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, through whom he hath called us from darkness unto light, and from ignorance to a knowledge of the glory of his name.

59:3 That we may hope in thy name, which is the first of all things, open the eyes of our heart to know thee, who art alone highest among the highest, holy among the holy, who puttest down the haughtiness of the proud, who scatterest the reasonings of the Gentiles, who exaltest the humble on high, and lowerest the lofty, who makest rich and makest poor, who killest and makest to live, the only benefactor of spirits, and God of all flesh, who lookest into the abysses, who beholdest the works of men, who art the helper of those in danger, the saviour of those who have lost hope, who art the maker and bishop of every soul, who makest the nations to multiply upon earth, and out of all hast chosen those that love thee through Jesus Christ thy beloved Son, through whom thou hast taught us, hast sanctified us, hast honoured us.

59:4 We ask thee, Lord, to be our helper and assister, save those of us who are in affliction, have compassion on the humble, raise the fallen, appear to those who are in need, heal the sinners, convert those of thy people who are wandering from the way, feed the hungry, ransom our prisoners, raise up the sick, encourage the feeble-hearted, let all the nations know that thou art God alone and Jesus Christ thy Son, and that we are thy people and the sheep of thy pasture.

CHAPTER 60

60:1 Thou hast made manifest the everlasting constitution of the world by the things that happen. Thou, Lord, who art faithful in all generations, hast founded the world; thou who art just in thy judgments, who art wonderful in strength and greatness; thou who art wise in creating and prudent in establishing the things that are made; thou that art good in the things that are seen and faithful among them that trust upon thee, merciful and compassionate, forgive us our transgressions and unrighteousnesses, our sins and our negligences.

60:2 Take not into account every sin of thy servants and handmaids, but purify us with the purification of thy truth, and make straight our steps in holiness and righteousness and singleness of heart, that we may so walk and do such things as are right and well pleasing before thee, and before our rulers.

60:3 Yea, Lord, cause thy face to appear to us in peace to our good, that we may be sheltered by thy mighty hand, and preserved from all sin by thy lofty arm, and deliver us from those that hate us unjustly.

60:4 Give unity and peace both to us and to all that dwell upon the earth, as thou gavest to our fathers when they called upon thee with faith and truth, so that we should become obedient to thy all-powerful and most excellent name, and to those who rule and govern us upon the earth.

CHAPTER 61

61:1 Thou, Lord, hast given the authority of the kingdom to them through thy almighty and unspeakable power, so that we, knowing the estimation and honour given to them by thee, might submit ourselves to them, in no way opposing thy will; to whom give, O Lord, health, peace, concord, stability, so that they may discharge the rule given unto them by thee without offence;

61:2 for thou, heavenly Lord, everlasting King, givest to the sons of men glory and honour and authority over the things that are upon the earth. Do thou, Lord, direct their counsel according to what is good and pleasing before thee, that, fulfilling with peace and meekness and piety the authority given unto them by thee, they may obtain mercy from thee.

61:3 Thou who alone art able to do these and greater good things among us, to thee do we give thanks through the high priest and protector of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom to thee be the glory and majesty, now and to all generations, world without end. Amen.

CHAPTER 62

62:1 Concerning the things that pertain to our religion, and the things that are most useful to a virtuous life, for those who are willing to live piously and righteously, we have sufficiently charged you, men and brethren.

62:2 For we have handled every argument concerning faith and repentance, and genuine love and temperance, and moderation and patience, reminding you that ye must by righteousness and truth and long-suffering approve yourselves with piety to almighty God, being of one mind, without malice, in love and peace with earnest obedience, even as our fathers, who were beforementioned, approved themselves with humility both with regard to God the Father and Creator and to all men.

62:3 And these things have we so much the more gladly put you in mind of, inasmuch as we knew plainly that we wrote unto men who are faithful and of high repute, and who have looked into the oracles of the instruction of God.

CHAPTER 63

63:1 It is right, therefore, that those who have attended to so great and so many examples should submit their necks, and fill the place of obedience, so that being at peace from the vain sedition we may attain, without any blame, to the end set before us in truth.

63:2 For joy and rejoicing will ye afford us if, becoming obedient to the things that have been written by us, ye put an end, by the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, to the unlawful wrath of your discord, according to the supplication which we have made concerning peace and unity in this epistle.

63:3 But we have also sent unto you men who are faithful and prudent, who from youth up to old age have behaved blamelessly among us, who also will be witnesses between yourselves and us;

63:4 and this we have done that ye may know that our whole thought has been and is this, that ye may speedily be at peace among yourselves.

J.B. Lightfoot's translation:

1Clem 57:7
For because they wronged babes, they shall be slain, and
inquisition shall destroy the ungodly. But he that heareth Me shall
dwell safely trusting in hope, and shall be quiet from all fear of
all evil.

1Clem 58:1
Let us therefore be obedient unto His most holy and glorious Name,
thereby escaping the threatenings which were spoken of old by the
mouth of Wisdom against them which disobey, that we may dwell safely,
trusting in the most holy Name of His majesty.

1Clem 58:2
Receive our counsel, and ye shall have no occasion of regret. For as
God liveth, and the Lord Jesus Christ liveth, and the Holy Spirit,
who are the faith and the hope of the elect, so surely shall he, who
with lowliness of mind and instant in gentleness hath without
regretfulness performed the ordinances and commandments that are
given by God, be enrolled and have a name among the number of them
that are saved through Jesus Christ, through whom is the glory unto
Him for ever and ever. Amen.

1Clem 59:1
But if certain persons should be disobedient unto the words spoken
by Him through us, let them understand that they will entangle
themselves in no slight transgression and danger;

1Clem 59:2
but we shall be guiltless of this sin. And we will ask, with
instancy of prayer and supplication, that the Creator of the universe
may guard intact unto the end the number that hath been numbered of
His elect throughout the whole world, through His beloved Son Jesus
Christ, through whom He called us from darkness to light, from
ignorance to the full knowledge of the glory of His Name.

1Clem 59:3
[Grant unto us, Lord,] that we may set our hope on Thy Name which is
the primal source of all creation, and open the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know Thee, who alone abidest Highest in the lofty, Holy
in the holy; who layest low in the insolence of the proud, who
settest the lowly on high, and bringest the lofty low; who
makest rich and makest poor; who killest and makest alive; who
alone art the Benefactor of spirits and the God of all flesh; who
lookest into the abysses, who scanest the works of man; the Succor
of them that are in peril, the Savior of them that are in
despair; The Creator and Overseer of every spirit; who multipliest
the nations upon earth, and hast chosen out from all men those that
love Thee through Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, through whom Thou
didst instruct us, didst sanctify us, didst honor us.

1Clem 59:4
We beseech Thee, Lord and Master, to be our help and succor. Save
those among us who are in tribulation; have mercy on the lowly; lift
up the fallen; show Thyself unto the needy; heal the ungodly; convert
the wanderers of Thy people; feed the hungry; release our prisoners;
raise up the weak; comfort the fainthearted. Let all the Gentiles
know that Thou art the God alone, and Jesus Christ is Thy Son, and
we are Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture.

1Clem 60:1
Thou through Thine operations didst make manifest the everlasting
fabric of the world. Thou, Lord, didst create the earth. Thou that
art faithful throughout all generations, righteous in Thy judgments,
marvelous in strength and excellence, Thou that art wise in creating
and prudent in establishing that which Thou hast made, that art good
in the things which are seen and faithful with them that trust on
Thee, pitiful and compassionate, forgive us our iniquities and our
unrighteousnesses and our transgressions and shortcomings.

1Clem 60:2
Lay not to our account every sin of Thy servants and Thine handmaids,
but cleanse us with the cleansing of Thy truth, and guide our steps
to walk in holiness and righteousness and singleness of heart
and to do such things as are good and well pleasing in Thy sight
and in the sight of our rulers.

1Clem 60:3
Yea, Lord, make Thy face to shine upon us in peace for our good,
that we may be sheltered by Thy mighty hand and delivered from
every sin by Thine uplifted arm. And deliver us from them that
hate us wrongfully.

1Clem 60:4
Give concord and peace to us and to all that dwell on the earth, as
Thou gavest to our fathers, when they called on Thee in faith
and truth with holiness, [that we may be saved,] while we render
obedience to Thine almighty and most excellent Name, and to our
rulers and governors upon the earth.

1Clem 61:1
Thou, Lord and Master, hast given them the power of sovereignty
through Thine excellent and unspeakable might, that we knowing the
glory and honor which Thou hast given them may submit ourselves unto
them, in nothing resisting Thy will. Grant unto them therefore, O
Lord, health peace, concord, stability, that they may administer the
government which Thou hast given them without failure.

1Clem 61:2
For Thou, O heavenly Master, King of the ages, givest to the sons of
men glory and honor and power over all things that are upon the
earth. Do Thou, Lord, direct their counsel according to that which
is good and well pleasing in Thy sight, that, administering in peace
and gentleness with Godliness the power which Thou hast given them,
they may obtain Thy favor.

1Clem 61:3
O Thou, who alone art able to do these things and things far more
exceeding good than these for us, we praise Thee through the High
priest and Guardian of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom be the
glory and the majesty unto Thee both now and for all generations and
for ever and ever. Amen.

1Clem 62:1
As touching those things which befit our religion and are most
useful for a virtuous life to such as would guide [their steps] in
holiness and righteousness, we have written fully unto you, brethren.

1Clem 62:2
For concerning faith and repentance and genuine love and temperance
and sobriety and patience we have handled every argument, putting you
in remembrance, that ye ought to please Almighty God in righteousness
and truth and long suffering with holiness, laying aside malice and
pursuing concord in love and peace, being instant in gentleness; even
as our fathers, of whom we spake before, pleased Him, being lowly
minded toward their Father and God and Creator and towards all men.

1Clem 62:3
And we have put you in mind of these things the more gladly, since we
knew well that we were writing to men who are faithful and highly
accounted and have diligently searched into the oracles of the
teaching of God.

1Clem 63:1
Therefore it is right for us to give heed to so great and so many
examples and to submit the neck and occupying the place of obedience
to take our side with them that are the leaders of our souls, that
ceasing from this foolish dissension we may attain unto the goal
which lieth before us in truthfulness, keeping aloof from every
fault.

1Clem 63:2
For ye will give us great joy and gladness, if ye render obedience
unto the things written by us through the Holy Spirit, and root out
the unrighteous anger of your jealousy, according to the entreaty
which we have made for peace and concord in this letter.

1Clem 63:3
And we have also sent faithful and prudent men that have walked among
us from youth unto old age unblamably, who shall also be witnesses
between you and us.

1Clem 63:4
And this we have done that ye might know that we have had, and still
have, every solicitude that ye should be speedily at peace.

No Compline and Study this Thursday - Great Vespers on this Saturday

Just to draw your attention to a couple of adjustments to our calendar of services: There will be no Compline and Study this Thursday, November 23rd - Little Compline and our study will resume the following week at Peter and Judy's house, as usual. Great Vespers will be on this Saturday, November 25th (and the following week), at Dunbar Lutheran, as usual, but you should note that it will not be served at Dunbar Lutheran on Saturday, December 10th, as I will be filling in for Fr. Lawrence at St. Herman's that weekend.

Celebration of the Entrance of the Theotokos - This Monday!

Due to unanticipated scheduling conflicts, St. John's will not be celebrating the Feast of the Entrance this Tuesday evening, as planned, but rather on Monday evening (tomorrow!) instead. The service will be a Vesperal Liturgy held at Dunbar Lutheran at 7pm, so those planning to receive communion should come fasting from at least noon onwards.

First Annual BC Deanery Men's Hockey Challenge

On Monday, November 13th, the first annual BC Deanery men's (floor) hockey challenge will take place in Surrey (site TBA). Facing off will be the NHL (Nicaean Hockey League) rivals, the Vancouver Orthojox and the Victoria Saints. The game will be followed by refreshments and food. Interested individuals should contact Kurt Jordan (the-jordans{at}shaw.ca - replace {at} with @) for more information.

BC Deanery Meeting Info

The agenda and poster for the upcoming BC Deanery Meeting on Oct 28th are now up on the (much-in-need-of-an-update) BC Deanery website.

Great Vespers CANCELLED this Saturday (Oct 14)

A combination of factors have made it necessary to cancel St. John's Great Vespers service this Saturday. God willing, St. John's regular services will resume next week with our regular Compline and Study at Peter and Judy's home on Thursday and Great Vespers at Dunbar Lutheran on Saturday, October 21st.

Clement and the Corinthians so far...

We are now up to Chapter 21 of Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians in our study. Last Thursday we looked at Clement's citation of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 51 (or 50 LXX) - passages with which we are very familiar! We noted that Clement's citation of these passages in their entirety shows clearly the continuity of our tradition - these passages have been important to Christians from the very beginning and are still key passages to us today! We concluded with Clement's understanding of creation as a harmonious whole in humble submission to its divine Creator, contrasting it with the story that the Darwinian "survival of the fittest" portrayal of nature that is prevalent today. We also talked a little bit about the Orthodox understanding of the atonement - a discussion which was a bit off-topic, since Clement's main point in citing Isaiah 53 was simply to exhort the Corinthians to follow our Saviour's example of humble obedience, even unto death, but which was appropriate, given the sacrificial language that is so central to Isaiah's prophecy and the Christian understanding of it.

So it looks like we will finally get to Clement's famous example of the phoenix this Thursday - a tidbit that is sure to generate some more interesting off-topic discussion! Looking forward to seeing you there!

Love in Christ,

Fr. Justin.

Great Vespers This Saturday!

St. John's is growing up! This Saturday, we will hold our first Saturday-evening Great Vespers at Dunbar Lutheran Church at 7pm - the first of what will, God willing, be a regular, weekly cycle of Saturday evening Great Vespers services!

Saturday-evening Great Vespers is an important part of the Orthodox liturgical cycle, as it prepares us for the celebration of Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. Since we don't yet have a place to meet on Sunday mornings, we will continue to meet at St. Herman's for Sunday-morning Divine Liturgy until God provides us with one.

There will be a time of food and fellowship afterwards, so bring something to share if you possibly can. Looking forward to seeing you there!

We will also be continuing our regular Thursday-evening Compline and Study at Peter and Judy's house, although if this proves to put too much of a strain on our fledgling community, we may suspend or cut back on our Thursday evening meetings. Pray for God's guidance! Please also note, in this regard, that while it is always more wonderful to have "all hands on deck", there is never any expectation that everyone will show up to all of St. John's services. God calls us to do all we can - but not more!

Love in Christ,

Fr. Justin.

Compline with His Grace Bishop Seraphim

St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Mission will be holding its weekly Compline service at 7 pm on Thursday September 14 (Exaltation of the Cross) with His Grace Bishop Seraphim. The location is changed for this specific date from the Choi's residence to Dunbar Evangelical Lutheran Church (3491 West 31st Avenue - 2 blocks east of Dunbar). After the service, we shall have a potluck supper and fellowship with His Grace. If you are planning to attend, please contact me so Judy and I can plan the meal. If you are interested in bringing food, please remember that His Grace has a modified Atkins diet (fish, eggs, and cheese; low carbohydrates). We look forward to seeing you.

Peter (posing as tech-chick)

Tonight and Next Week

This will probably arrive too late for most people (I actually tried to put this information up last week, but there was an error that prevented its publication), but for this week...

For those who did not make it out to our Little Compline and Study last Thursday [well, the Thursday before last, now...], we have plunged into the First Epistle of Clement, which makes a nice follow-up to our study of I and II Corinthians, since it is a letter written on behalf of the church in Rome to the church in Corinth. The Corinthians are in trouble again, although Clement's description of the Corinthian church in the period immediately preceding the troubles that occasioned his letter, it sounds like they had at least been doing OK for a while there... Clement's letter is very practical (though with more than a few rhetorical flourishes!) and will give us a glimpse into what the immediately post-apostolic Church was like, as well as some insight into its approach to the Scriptures.

Tonight we will say an Akathist to the Most-holy Theotokos in celebration of her nativity (otherwise known as her birthday!), and we will be meeting at our usual Thursday-evening location, Peter and Judy's house. Next week, while we will be back to Little Compline, but we will celebrate the service at Dunbar Lutheran Church with His Grace, Bishop Seraphim, after which we will have a chance to chat with our beloved bishop!

Little Compline cancelled tonight...

Little Compline and study has been cancelled tonight because of the arrival of our newest and youngest new member, Jensina Marie!

What we are studying now...

For those who did not make it out to our Little Compline and Study last Thursday, we have plunged into the First Epistle of Clement, which makes a nice follow-up to our study of I and II Corinthians, since it is a letter written on behalf of the church in Rome to the church in Corinth. The Corinthians are in trouble again, although Clement's description of the Corinthian church in the period immediately preceding the troubles that occasioned his letter, it sounds like they had at least been doing OK for a while there... Clement's letter is very practical (though with more than a few rhetorical flourishes!) and will give us a glimpse into what the immediately post-apostolic Church was like, as well as some insight into its approach to the Scriptures.

Looking forward to seeing you this Thursday!

Little Compline CANCELLED Tonight

Unfortunately, an avalanche of end-of-year work in my secular job (as educator and educational administrator) has made it impossible for me to make it to Little Compline and Bible study this evening. As Peter the medic so aptly put it (describing his own situation tonight), "When everyone else is looking forward to the end of school, we educators are still frantically working!" So, sadly, Little Compline is CANCELLED tonight. I will look forward all the more to seeing you at the celebration of our mission's patronal feast day at the liturgy at Dunbar Lutheran this Saturday!

Our Parish Feast Day!

Following the ROCOR custom of celebrating St. John of Shanghai's feast-day on the Saturday closest to the day of his repose (July 2nd, which is a Sunday, so the ROCOR custom works out well for us this year!), we will be celebrating a Divine Liturgy to celebrate our mission station's feast-day at 10am on Canada Day, July 1st.

Schedule of Services and Events

Regular Services:
Thursdays at 7:30pm: Compline and Study at Peter and Judy's house (contact Fr. Justin for house location info)
Saturdays at 7pm: Great Vespers
Sundays at 9am: Divine Liturgy

Schedule of Services and Events:

No Service This Monday!

Thanks to a little help from my fellow-clergy, I have finally managed to wrap my chronologically challenged brain around the problem of the date of St. John of Shanghai's repose, and it turns out that it is not on June 19th, any way you slice it. So, the short of it is that we will not be celebrating our mission station's feast-day this Monday, as we were planning - instead, we will try to figure out a date closer to the actual date of St. John's repose that works for as many of us as possible, TBA.

The long of it is that the date of St. John of Shanghai's death falls on June 19th on the Old (Julian) Calendar, which corresponds to July 2nd on the New (Gregorian) Calendar - the calendar that we use in our day-to-day lives and which is in use in most of the parishes in the OCA (including ours). Since July 2nd is a Sunday, Dunbar Lutheran is not available to us to celebrate a service in, so at this point the two most promising alternate dates look like the evening of either Friday, June 30th or Monday, July 3rd. If you are interested in coming at all, please let me (Fr. Justin) know which date would work best for you.

Peter & Judy's Slava Saturday June 10th

Hi Vancouverites, please come to our house after service for a Chinese lunch to celebrate our Slava.

Judy & Peter

Services This Week

Just to make sure everything is clear... St. John's will be holding two services this week: the regular Thursday evening Compline and Study at Peter and Judy's house on June 8th, and a liturgy on Saturday, June 10th, in honour of the Martyrs of the Boxer Rebellion.

No Compline Tonight - Instead, Choir Concert...

Since there is a choir concert tonight (June 1st) at St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church (7837 Canada Way, Burnaby, BC) at which the ever-helpful-and-dedicated St. Herman's choir will be singing, Little Compline will NOT be held tonight so that any who wish may attend the concert. Tickets are $15 and the concert starts at 8pm. Orthodox choirs from all around the Lower Mainland will be participating.

Glory to God! Our First Liturgy!

St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Mission's first liturgy was held Saturday, May 27th, at 10am, with most of our "core group" in attendance, and with the additional blessing of a number of our brothers and sisters from our mother parish, St. Herman's. It was wonderful to see our fledgling community working and worshipping together in the new building with which God has blessed us, and the support of St. Herman's was much appreciated. Friday's Daily Vespers service was also well-attended, and was an excellent preparation for the next morning's liturgy.

Many thanks to Gregory and Andrea's help in preparing the music and directing our little choir, to Peter, Judy, Aaron, and Abigail for rounding up so many small but essential items, to Fr. Lawrence for all his hints and tips and help in concelebrating with me, and to all who were in attendance and/or praying for our young community. Deanna's dedication is also worthy of note, having walked all the way from downtown Vancouver with the twins to celebrate with us! There are more that might be mentioned - Donna, Vivian, and Rhiannon, who rounded out our tiny choir, Brother Cyprian, who read and helped serve, Sister Angelina, who has prayed and prayed, Matushka Sarah, who made the prosphora - all-in-all, it was a vibrant reminder of the living reality of what it means to be the body of Christ, each one contributing to and building up the whole, according to the gifts each has been given by Him Who is our Head. Glory to God!

Our next liturgy is planned for 10am, June 10th, at Dunbar Lutheran, in celebration of the martyrs of the Boxer Rebellion. As this is Peter and Judy's family feast-day, we may well be doing something extra-special with them afterwards, so stay tuned!

No Compline Next Week - Instead, Our First Vespers and Liturgy!

Our usual Thursday-evening Little Compline and study will not take place next week. Instead, we will be holding our very first Vespers on Friday, May 26th, followed by our very first Liturgy on Saturday, May 27th - both at Dunbar Lutheran on the corner of Collingwood Street and 31st Avenue! Please pray for us, and, if you are interested in participating in or assisting the hybrid mission/ministry of St. John of Shanghai, St. Herman's daughter mission in Vancouver, please come!

Friday, May 26th - Vespers - 7pm at Dunbar Lutheran
Saturday, May 27th - Divine Liturgy - 10am at Dunbar Lutheran

Compline NOT Cancelled Tonight!

Just a reminder that Little Compline and the study are, in fact, on tonight (May 18th), at the usual time and place (i.e., 7pm at Peter and Judy's place). See you there!

Compline Cancelled Tonight

Unfortunately, Peter, Joshua, and Irina are now all ill. Since no alternate venue is immediately available, tonight's (May 11th) Little Compline and study is CANCELLED. Please get the word out and keep Peter, Joshua, and Irina in your prayers.

We have a place to meet!

Glory to God! By your prayers, we have been blessed with a place to meet and to worship. I have just received word from Dunbar Lutheran that our request to use their sanctuary for Saturday and weekday services has been approved.

This is a particularly meaningful place to begin the sacramental life of St. John's, as Dunbar Lutheran is the church in which Matushka Sarah's own spiritual life began - the church in which she spent the first six years of her life and which formed in her a deep sense of the importance of liturgical worship.

Dunbar Lutheran is actually located one block west of Dunbar Street, on the corner of Collingwood Street and 31st Avenue - right under the tip of the red arrow on the Google satellite image below (click on the picture for a larger version of the image).


A schedule of St. John's Mission services at Dunbar Lutheran will be drawn up and posted here very soon. Stay tuned!

Update on Dunbar Lutheran

It was a good meeting! Thank you all for your prayers. Pastor Ken Grambo and Cecil, the president of Dunbar Lutheran, were wonderful and have presented our request to the church council members and, if I understood correctly, will put the matter to the whole church this Sunday. Keep praying!

New Calendar!

I've just put up a new calendar page for St. John's. It's still a bit experimental, and there's not much to see there yet, but so far it looks as though it's working OK.

This Thursday...

Just a reminder that there is Little Compline and a Bible study at Peter and Judy's this coming Thursday (April 27th) - and to please pray as I sit down and chat with Pastor Ken Grambo of Dunbar Evangelical Lutheran Church around 5:30pm the same day. We are excited about the opportunity to meet at Dunbar Lutheran that seems to be presenting itself, and I am looking forward to finally meeting Pastor Ken face-to-face. Please pray that God will be glorified in our meeting and that His will may be made plain to us.

Holy Week Services at St. Herman's

We will, of course, be celebrating Holy Week and Pascha at St. Herman's, so there will be no service and study this Thursday. A complete schedule of Holy Week and Paschal services can be found on the official St. Herman's website.

Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete this Thursday!

Just a reminder that we will be celebrating the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete this Thursday, so come prepared to stand! And to repent at great length, since the Great Canon essentially takes the Pauline principle of considering ourselves the "chief of sinners" and applies it to the whole of the Scriptures, Old Testament and New!

I've often thought of writing a book about my year in Japan entitled, Learning to Bow. The sequel would be my journey to Orthodoxy, which would be entitled, Learning to Stand!

Out of deference to our hosts and to our bodies, there will be no Bible study after the service this Thursday.

New Business Card: Thanks, Fr. Geoffrey!

Fr. Geoffrey Korz of All Saints of North America (Hamilton, ON) was so excited when he heard that our mission had been blessed with St. John of Shanghai as a heavenly patron that he designed a whole website template for us! We haven't used it yet (I still rather like this one, although I'm leaving any future site-design decisions in Judy's capable hands), but I did use elements from it to design a new business card (shown below, sans phone number) - a necessity now that I am no longer second priest at St. Herman's and now that things are moving forward here at St. John's. Thanks, Fr. Geoffrey!


Also, remember to keep Peter and Judy and family in your prayers as they travel! Holy John of Shanghai, pray to God for them!

The Proofreading Continues...

My thanks to all those who have contributed to the proofreading of our updated Little Compline service, and especially to all those who were present to "beta-test" the new books last night! I noticed a few things that need to be changed as we prayed last night (I'm looking forward to not being distracted by errors in the layout and text when the project is complete!), so, while a lot has been accomplished, there is still more that needs to be done. Keep the "bug-reports" coming!

Proofreading Assistance Requested!

I have finally managed to put together a first draft of the updated English version of Little Compline and would welcome a second (or third) set of eyes to help with the proofreading! If you have a copy of Microsoft Word and would like to help, download the document, turn on Tools > Track Changes, do your stuff, and then e-mail your proof-read and corrected version back to me. Or you could just look it over and e-mail me if you see any mistakes!