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!