E-Connections (March 4)

Dear Friends,

The Holy Eucharist is sometimes referred to as The Divine Liturgy. The word liturgy, which comes from the Greek leitorgia, can be translated as “public service” or “work of the people”. I like the second understanding since it indicates something dear to us as Anglican Christians: Common Prayer. Since 1549, we have been using the Book of Common Prayer in one form or another for the various liturgies of the Church. It collects our prayers and praises for the purpose of public worship, incorporating all who are gathered – their sins, needs, desires, forgiveness, praise and thanksgiving – into one beautiful “work of the people”. Anglicans do not listen to someone pray when we gather. We pray “common prayers” and we love them and often know them by heart. This knowing enables us to join in with the priest at the altar as we worship together as the Body of Christ. It is a beautiful thing.

I encourage you to bring your prayer concerns with you as you attend worship. That way, your needs, concerns and praises will be united with those of your siblings in Christ as a united offering to the Lord. I want to say a little more about how we pray for the concerns of the community at St. James Cathedral, so you have a better idea of what is available to you in your spiritual life.

Part of the Divine Liturgy is The Intercessions or Prayers of the People. Intercessions, by definition, are prayers offered for others, but the Prayers of the People also incorporate our own personal needs and concerns as we worship together. When the Intercessor leads this section of the Liturgy, they are not offering their prayers but our prayers. These really are the prayers of the whole community.

You may have noticed that we have become more intentional about leaving significant pauses in key places of the Prayers of the People. These are opportunities for your single voice to join the collective voice of the whole gathering and speak to God from your heart. If you are concerned about someone or have a concern in your own life, please name it at these times. That is exactly what the pauses are for. This is one of the ways that we bring our concerns before the mercy of God and practice common prayer. God hears your prayer just as much as the prayers of any priest or bishop.

We also have two prayer lists we use at the Cathedral. The Sunday Intercessions list is used at Sunday liturgies and is meant primarily for members of the Cathedral or their family members. Names on this list remain for two weeks and the people listed there are prayed for aloud in the liturgy. The second list is for those who need ongoing prayer for a longer period of time. We call this the Long Term Prayer List. The clergy use both lists in their personal daily prayers. The Lay Pastoral Visitors also have access to the Long Term Prayer List. It is essential that no one is added to these lists without their direct permission. Both prayer lists are managed by Claire Latimer-Dennis, who may be reached at clatimerdennis@stjamescathedral.ca.

Daily prayer and weekly common prayer are key components of the Christian life. I thank you for your faithfulness to both and ask for your prayers for myself, the other clergy, and the whole Cathedral. May God bless you during this Holy Season and draw you closer to Himself.

Dean Stephen+

ANGLICAN RULE OF LIFE

“All Christians should from time to time frame a RULE OF LIFE in accordance with the precepts of the Gospel and the faith and order of the Church;  wherein they may consider the following:

(1) The regularity of their attendance at public worship and especially at the holy Communion.

(2) The practice of private prayer, Bible‐reading, and self‐discipline.

(3) Bringing the teaching and example of Christ into everyday life.

(4) The boldness of their spoken witness to their faith in Christ.

(5) Their personal service to the Church and the community.

(6) The offering of money according to their means for the support of the work of the Church at home and overseas.”

– Book of Common Prayer (Canada, 1962), page 555. (Adapted to inclusive language.)

SUNDAY COFFEE HOUR

Join us for Virtual Coffee Hour on Zoom each Sunday at 12:15pm! If you have not already registered to attend, send an email to the office by Friday at noon and you will receive the link each week to join Coffee Hour following the liturgy. Bring along your favourite coffee, tea, or other refreshment!

CONNECTING WITH ST. JAMES

• Sunday: Live-stream liturgy at 11:00am on the Diocesan Facebook page
• Virtual Coffee Hour: Sundays at 12:15pm; email the office to receive the link
• Sermon Discussion Group on Zoom: Mondays at 10:00am; email the office to receive the link
• Morning Prayer: Tuesday and Thursday mornings on the Cathedral Facebook page; you can also find them posted on the Cathedral’s YouTube channel
• Virtual Hymn Sing on Zoom: Email irenecourage105@gmail.com to receive information, dates, and the link; the next sessions take place on Wednesday, March 10 at 4:00pm and Tuesday, March 16 at 7:30pm

PASTORAL CARE

Lockdown can be a lonely experience for many members of the Cathedral. Not only does it take away the opportunity for in-person worship, it adds the burdens of isolation and disconnectedness to so many who live alone. If you know anyone who would benefit from a call from our pastoral care team, please be in touch with Canon Beth Benson at bbenson@stjamescathedral.ca.

ORGAN RECITALS

St. James Cathedral has presented lunchtime organ recitals on Tuesdays for many years. We are delighted that these concerts have resumed and will take place on the first Tuesday of each month at 1:00pm. The concerts will be presented via Facebook live, allowing everyone to have an excellent view of the instrument and performer.

The organ is a fine four manual instrument dating from 1863, composed of four manuals and 5,100 pipes. Further details are available on the Cathedral website.  

Organ Recital Schedule
Tuesdays at 1:00pm via Facebook

April 6: Aaron James (Holy Family Roman Catholic Church and University of Toronto)
May 4: Hanné Becker (PhD candidate in organ performance University of Toronto)
June 1: Rashaan Allwood (St. Ansgar Lutheran Church)

VESTRY MEETING

The Annual Vestry Meeting will be held on Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 1:30pm via Zoom. You can register to attend the Vestry Meeting here. For further information and to view meeting documents, please visit our website at www.stjamescathedral.ca/vestry2021.

EASTER MEMORIAL FLOWERS 

A beautiful way to remember a loved one at Easter is through the memorial flowers that will be placed in the Cathedral for the season. Due to the uncertainty of these times, we don’t yet know whether our Easter services will be in-person or not. However, we do know that we will be live-streaming services and would love to show our Cathedral looking as beautiful as we know it can. All names submitted will be noted on the general Easter memorial flowers list, as we did at Christmas. Names can be emailed to info@stjamescathedral.ca or called in. We are asking for donations of $40 (minimum) per name or per couple. Donations will be designated to the Cathedral Flower Fund and are tax-receiptable. Please indicate whether you will be making your payment for your memorial by credit card online or by cheque in the mail. The deadline for submitting memorial names will be Friday, March 19. A ‘virtual flower memorial’ incorporating all of the names received will also be posted on the Cathedral website.

SEASON OF LENT

JOYFUL GIVING

During this Lenten season you will receive a mailing, which asks you to consider your support of St. James, its mission and its outreach work. In order to assist the Dean and the Wardens in financial planning for the coming year, we are asking all parishioners to provide an estimate of their annual offering. Thank you for taking the time to reflect and consider this request. Your stewardship is vital to the life of this parish, its programmes and its community.

Each of you, with as much as you can, give in proportion to the blessings which the Lord God has bestowed on you. Deuteronomy 16:17

COMPLINE DURING LENT

The Cathedral will be offering a brief, live-streamed Service of Compline on Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm during Lent. You can access the service on the Cathedral’s Facebook page.

LENTEN SERIES: PRAYER IN AN ANXIOUS TIME

Join Archbishop Colin Johnson, Bishop Michael Bedford Jones, and Suzette Cayless, for a series of panel discussions on the topic of prayer in a time of heightened anxiety. The next conversations will take place on Zoom on March 11 and March 25 at 7:00pm. If you’re interested in joining, please email Claire at clatimerdennis@stjamescathedral.ca for the link. Interested participants are also invited to share questions they have about prayer ahead of time, which you can do by filling out this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G9PTKCZ

FAMILY CALENDAR FOR LENT

Looking for ways to practice Lent as a family with young children? The Cathedral is offering access to an illustrated Lenten Calendar, with ideas for activities, projects and ways to pray through the Lenten season. Send Claire an email at clatimerdennis@stjamescathedral.ca for access.

CREATION CARE FAST RESOURCE CREATED FOR LENT

The Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care has produced a resource for Anglicans who want to undertake a fast during Lent that focuses on creation and issues related to the climate crisis. A Fast for the Earth: Lent 2021 provides a fast for each week of Lent, which begins on February 17 and ends on April 3. It begins with a meat fast followed by a consumption fast, a food waste fast, a water fast, an injustice fast, an electricity fast and an ignorance fast. It concludes with a resurrection feast for Easter on April 4. Find the resource here.

LEARNING THROUGH LENT WITH PWRDF: DAILY REFLECTIONS

Registration is now open for PWRDF’s daily Lenten emails. In this year’s Lenten resource, with the focus on Creation Care: Climate Action, PWRDF is seeking to lift up the stories of its partners and invite Canadian Anglicans to learn, reflect and act both through PWRDF and through broader ecumenical initiatives. Through scripture, reflections and prayers, they invite us into the story of Lent, the story of God’s created order, and the stories of PWRDF’s partners. You can register to receive the daily emails here. For further information and more Lenten resources, visit their website here.

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER SERVICE

The Women’s Interfaith Council of Canada (WICC) has been holding the World Day of Prayer (WDP) in Canada for almost 100 years to empower Christians to pursue justice, peace and reconciliation, especially in issues affecting women and children, by standing together in prayer and action. This year is inspired by the Biblical theme “Build on a Strong Foundation” (Matthew 7: 24-27) and the people of Vanuatu, a small country of islands in the South Pacific, who live this every day. This year’s service, coordinated by St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, is being held virtually. The service is available on YouTube here or on St. Andrew’s website. You can watch it on your own or join a live Zoom session to watch it together with other churches located in the centre of Toronto on Friday, March 5, 2021 at 2:00pm. A follow-up Zoom Fellowship and Social hour runs from 3:00–4:00pm. Contact Indra Narayansingh at indra_pilates@hotmail.com to participate in the Zoom sessions. For more information, visit the WICC website here.

FROM THE HEALTH COUNCIL

Vaccination for COVID-19

COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in Canada are free.

Ontario’s vaccination program is in Phase 1 and COVID-19 vaccines will be available to the general public in Phase 3. Details about Phase 2 and Phase 3 timing, who is eligible and the status of completed vaccinations is on the Province’s website.

For your information, the following links to trusted information sources have been posted to the Health Council and Lay Pastoral Visiting page:

• Government of Canada – Vaccine rollout
• COVID-19 vaccines for Ontario
• City of Toronto – COVID-19 Vaccines

FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP

We are exceedingly grateful to those of you who continue to support us financially. If you would like to make a donation, here are the ways to do that:

• Mail a cheque to 65 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 2E9.
• Use the ‘Donate’ button on our website.
• You can now hand-deliver your offerings to the Cathedral Centre: A secure mailbox has been mounted in the Church Street vestibule at the entrance of the doors at 65 Church Street. The doors are open from 9:00am – 4:00pm, Monday – Friday.
• Sign up for Pre-Authorized monthly giving, thus ensuring a vital stream of income for the Cathedral. Please note that at any time you can stop or change the PAG amount by emailing the office.
• Make a gift of securities (see details here).
• We are delighted to have a QR code for donating electronically which you will find in all bulletins. Simply scan with your phone camera and donate! You can also donate here.

STAYING CONNECTED

We invite you to continue to link to the Cathedral’s website or Facebook page for updates, Morning Prayer, service listings and inspirational messages. Thank you for your love and support during this period in the life of St. James. Please remember, you are not alone.

Blessings and peace to you all,

The Very Reverend Stephen Vail, Rector of St. James Cathedral & Dean of Toronto
Don Solomon & Jayne Hobbs, Wardens
svail@stjamescathedral.ca
wardens@stjamescathedral.ca