Dear St. Stephen’s church family and friends, 

Grace and peace to you on this beautiful Harvest Thanksgiving Weekend.

A few items of note:

Foodbank

You are invited to bring an item for the foodbank. They are currently in need of infant formula, but any non perishable item is welcome.  If you have warm winter coats or outerwear in good condition that you would like to donate, you may bring to St. Stephen’s throughout October, and we will make sure they go to people who need them. Place on coat rack in upstairs hall.

Canadian Citizenship

On this Thanksgiving weekend, we celebrate so many gifts and the abundance that surrounds us. This past week, the Rev. Sunil, Sabitha and family became Canadian citizens! We have been blessed to be a part of their journey and we know that they make Canada a better place. Congratulations, Sunil and Sabitha and children! The Rev Sunil is now the Director of Spiritual Care and Mission at Samaritan Place long term care home. Sabitha continues to work as an assistant at L’Arche. Sunil leads the vibrant St. Stephen’s Malayalam congregation which meets Sunday evenings at 5.

Services of Remembrance and Thanksgiving

Upcoming services of Remembrance and Thanksgiving: Evadne Merz, Saturday, October 25th at 11 am. Barry Harmon, Thursday, October 23rd at 2 pm.

Both of these memorial celebrations will include a social time of fellowship following the services. With two services so close together, we are asking if volunteers might be available to help at one or the other of these events. We need help with preparing the food, serving and cleaning up. If you can help at one or the other, please be in touch with me, the office or talk with Marje W. This is one way our church is able to support the family as they grieve and provide a space for being together (we usually receive a donation for hosting these events, which is also a blessing for the church).

Neighbourhood Treasure Hunt

The St. Stephen’s 5th Annual Neighbourhood Treasure Hunt–was such a success! Thank you to all who made it happen, including many volunteers (Bronwen, Darryl, Nancy, Norm, Wyndham, Deidre, Paul, Sarah, Jordan, Pauline, Rev Wayne, Janet, Jen and others)! Thank you to Bishop Chad and Dawn for taking part, and manning the Tim Horton’s station at Market Mall. Teams would find the Bishop, give him 5 carrots from Pauline’s garden (the previous station), answer a riddle, get a donut and their next clue. We are truly blessed to have a Bishop who is so involved and interested in our church communities. We raised over $700 for Camp Okema’s Sleepy Hollow Fund, in memory of Quinlyn Smith. Thanks be to God for a wonderful evening!

Photo Opportunity

Speaking of amazing photos, photos for the bulletin board photo directory will be taken on Sunday, October 26th. If you don’t have a photo on the board, please make time to smile for the camera! The photo board is a great way for people to put names to faces as we grow together as a caring community. There are 2 links below, which you must access to sign up for your photo session! If you can’t figure it out, we will try to help you out on Sunday. Jen Stricker, our photographer, does an amazing job with this, and photos may be purchased for yourself if you wish, but there is absolutely no obligation. She will be here at 9:45 am to catch any 8:30 am people, before and after the 10:30 am service on October 26th.

Young Adult Retreat

The Rev Perry is facilitating a Young Adult Retreat at Living Waters Camp from January 16-18. The speaker will be the Right Reverend Chad McCharles, our bishop. The cost is $50 per person. There are limited spaces, so register soon! This is a wonderful opportunity to “Come Away and Pray.” 

Prayer Workshop

All are welcome to come to the next Prayer workshop on Saturday, November 8th, from 10-11:30. Come and join the Rev Perry as we once again learn about the Anglican Prayerbook tradition. Our last gathering was full of good information and inspiration. 

Thanksgiving Potluck

We held a vibrant and fun Thanksgiving Themed Potluck on Tuesday, October 7th. Thank you to Susan for baking a turkey, to Don and Donna and Machot for setting up tables and to everybody who came and shared in the fellowship. There was sushi, pizza, turkey, Korean wings, sausage rolls, salads and homemade desserts.  We were treated to a ukelele singalong song, fiddle tunes, a piano solo by Myra and praise songs and hymns.

Calendars

2026 Anglican Church calendars (Book of Alternative Services) are now in. They are $8 each this year, to cover the higher cost of purchase. If you would like a calendar (or 2) put aside for you, you may email the office. We will do so as long as supplies last! We will also put in an order for Book of Common Prayer Calendars as soon as they are available, and let you know as soon as they come in.

Vestry Meeting

Vestry Meeting: Thursday, October 21st at 7 pm. Agenda and minutes coming soon.

Parish Cycle of Prayer

Monday: for all farmers and for all workers who take part in the harvest of land and sea, in thanksgiving for abundance, for enough to share and for the will to share it.
Tuesday: for all prisoners, captives and hostages, for their health and safety
Wednesday: for Gary G
Thursday: for Jean G
Friday: for Alan and Heather

Sent with joy and hope in Christ,

The Rev. Amy

[We] shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. At best, our faith and reason will tell us that God is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have “tasted and seen.” Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are “patches of Godlight” in the woods of our experience.
-CS Lewis