Sunday October 4, 10:30 a.m. Prayer 4) Thy Kingdom Come

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‘Thy Kingdom Come’.

Whenever I lift up this petition, I think of an image presented by Wayne Muller in Learning To Pray, How We Find Heaven on Earth .

The image is that of a heart, a heart with two chambers, sending and receiving blood in life-giving rhythm. One giving out, one taking in.

Like such a heart, this prayer has two beats. The first is a sending out, our yearning for fullness of the kingdom of God to come. The second is a receiving in, our experience of dimensions of the kingdom of God among us already.

This morning we will pray this petition together, in all its life-receiving and life-affirming movement.

And as is our custom on the first Sunday of each month, we will join in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Current public health guidelines however mean that we will not be able to serve each other. If you are joining us online or in the sanctuary, you are invited to bring your own bread and juice. Pre-packaged Communion units will also be available in the church.

The doors of the sanctuary will be open for worship at 10:30 a.m. (Please see the post under ‘Special Events’ in the column to the right for the protocols and shape of the service). The service will also be live-streamed, active just after 10:20 a.m. with organ music for meditation, commencing with the Entry of the Scriptures at 10:30 a.m., found at https://youtu.be/D9-FY_jYbMg

The Order of Service, music notes and announcements can be found at the end of this post.

Once the service has ended, a recording will be available on our channel shortly after the live-streaming has ended – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzEy41z3sqfRm8X_lLfKGUA 

Free parking is available Sunday mornings in the surface civic lot off Queen Street behind St. Andrew’s, and on the streets of the neighbourhood – please note that time-of-day restrictions north of Queen are not enforced on Sundays. For accessible entrance to the sanctuary, please use the ramp by the western-most door along Princess Street.

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Sunday September 27, 10:30 Prayer 3) Hallowed Be Your Name

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Original artwork by Lesley Shatwell

 

When Béatrice and I were considering names for our first born, we began by sharing with each other our personal favourites at the time. For a girl, my contributions were ‘Imogen’ and ‘Ailsa’, one very English and one very Scottish, both probably reflective of my formative years at Edinburgh University. I liked the sound of these names.

This autumn we are exploring the Lord’s Prayer anew, turning this Sunday to the phrase ‘Hallowed be your name’ (Matthew 6:7-13). The original depth of this phrase is difficult to appreciate, given how different are our concepts of both ‘name’ and ‘holy’ two millennia later.

And I think about how the Holy One was never given a name, but in an act of revelation and relationship gave ‘the name’ at the burning bush, ‘I am who I am’  (Exodus 3:14).

The doors of the sanctuary will be open for worship at 10:30 a.m. (Please see the post under ‘Special Events’ in the column to the right for the protocols and shape of the service). The service will also be live-streamed, active just after 10:20 a.m. with organ music for meditation, commencing with the Entry of the Scriptures at 10:30 a.m. DUE TO TECHNICAL GLITCHES, THIS SERVICE HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN.

The Order of Service, music notes and announcements can be found at the end of this post.

IT IS POSSIBLE TO SEE PREVIOUS SERVICES on our YOUTUBE channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzEy41z3sqfRm8X_lLfKGUA

Free parking is available Sunday mornings in the surface civic lot off Queen Street behind St. Andrew’s, and on the streets of the neighbourhood – please note that time-of-day restrictions north of Queen are not enforced on Sundays. For accessible entrance to the sanctuary, please use the ramp by the western-most door along Princess Street.

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Sunday September 20, 10:30 Prayer 2) Our Father

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Rembrandt 1606-1669, The Return of the Prodigal Son

“While Einstein’s theory of relativity may one day put Earth on the intergalactic map, it will always run a distant second to the Lord’s Prayer, whose harnessing of energies in their proper, life-giving direction surpasses even the discovery of fire.” – Kurt Vonnegut  1

This autumn we will explore this powerful Lord’s Prayer anew, beginning this Sunday with the words of invocation, ‘Our Father’ (Matthew 6:7-13). Why do we call God ‘Father’? What does it mean? And what does it not mean? 

The doors of the sanctuary will be open for worship at 10:30 a.m. (Please see the post under ‘Special Events’ in the column to the right for the protocols and shape of the service). The service will also be live-streamed, active just after 10:20 a.m. with organ music for meditation, commencing with the Entry of the Scriptures at 10:30 a.m. – https://youtu.be/lcVLSjh_1Ys The Order of Service can be found at the end of this post.

Once the service has ended, a recording will be available on our channel shortly after the live-streaming has ended – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzEy41z3sqfRm8X_lLfKGUA 

Free parking is available Sunday mornings in the surface civic lot off Queen Street behind St. Andrew’s, and on the streets of the neighbourhood – please note that time-of-day restrictions north of Queen are not enforced on Sundays. For accessible entrance to the sanctuary, please use the ramp by the door along Princess Street.

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Sunday September 13, 10:30 Prayer 1) What is it?

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Amidst much continuing uncertainty and anxiety, we begin a new congregational year with a focus upon one of the foundations of Christian faith, one that I see symbolized so movingly in this drawing of Van Gogh. 

My eyes are drawn to the hands of this man, entwined, and they make me think of prayer. Not the position of prayer, but the relationships of prayer. I think of prayer involving two hands, one hand being mine and the other being that of the Holy One holding mine, holding me, holding us. Prayer is a relationship with God, intimate. Prayer is the assurance we know in Christ, that we are loved with a love that will not let us go. These weeks of autumn we will explore our lives through the prayer that Jesus taught us, the Lord’s Prayer.

The doors of the sanctuary will re-open for worship at 10:30 a.m. (Please see the previous post for the protocols and shape of the service). The service will also be live-streamed, available at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning and anytime after at … https://youtu.be/vUQgX0h5wkQ

Free parking is available Sunday mornings in the surface civic lot off Queen Street behind St. Andrew’s, and on the streets of the neighbourhood – please note that time-of-day restrictions north of Queen are not enforced on Sundays. For accessible entrance to the sanctuary, please use the ramp by the door along Princess Street.


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Being introduced to the dynamics of live-streaming!

Re-Opening of the Sanctuary

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While online participation will continue to be offered, the sanctuary of St. Andrew’s has been opened for Sunday morning worship. The service will not be as we knew it before the pandemic began, but the Elders are now able to offer an opportunity to all for whom this is appropriate.

Great care has been taken to ensure guidelines of public health authorities are followed. Please see below a letter that was distributed to the congregation providing full details. In summary, these include …

– three doors only will be open for entrance to the church: along Clergy Street, the door at the top of the stairs by the canon and the door in the tower; and along Princess Street, the door at the top of the ramp for those with accessibility challenges
– keeping physical distance from those in front, once in the door you will be asked to provide your name (and contact information, if visiting)
– the wearing of face masks at all times in the building is mandatory
– you will be ushered to a seat, filling the front pews first
– there will be no congregational singing or choir: to ensure no sharing of materials, the lyrics to hymns and scripture passages are included in the bulletin
– you will be asked to leave from the same door in which you entered, beginning from the back pews
– we are asked to leave the sanctuary directly to avoid close proximity to others in the narrow aisles at the back or in the foyers, and we will have no opportunity for fellowship within the church facilities

For all the limitations and constraints involved, the Elders are thankful that God has brought us thus far, and we are able to offer this opportunity of praise and worship. 

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Sunday September 6 Worship Online

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Road with Cypress and Star – Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

This morning we conclude our consideration of the Christian faith through the art & life of Vincent van Gogh. Scripture reading, sermon and hymns all invite us to consider life as a ‘journey’, a theme also evoked in Van Gogh’s painting ‘Road with Cypress and Star’.

We will also celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, so you are invited to prepare with some bread, a cup, and perhaps a candle.

We warmly invite you to join us on Sunday morning 
with Video at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzEy41z3sqfRm8X_lLfKGUA
and with Podcast at
https://anchor.fm/st-andrews-presbyterian-church-kingston

Advance notice
Next Sunday it is our hope that the sanctuary will be opened for worship but online participation will continue to be offered, available live at 10:30 a.m. (and anytime after) on the same Youtube channel used now.
For those interested in returning to worship in the sanctuary, a letter of preparation will be posted next week. In the meantime, please be aware that this will be just an initial step towards worship as we have known it – masks and physical distancing will be necessary throughout the service, and no congregational singing will be possible.

Sunday August 30 Worship Online

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The Sower, 1888. Vincent van Gogh

We continue to explore dimensions of the Christian faith through the Bible, and the art & life of Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. We will read one of the ‘songs of ascent’, Psalm 126, and hear a parable of Jesus about a sower and the promise of God bringing a harvest (Luke 8:4-8, 11-15). We will hear some inspiring organ music by the Dutch composer Sweelinck and sing some wonderful hymns, concluding a classic one from the Netherlands, ‘We praise you O God, our Creator, Redeemer’. 

We warmly invite you to join us on Sunday morning 
with Video at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzEy41z3sqfRm8X_lLfKGUA
and with Podcast at
https://anchor.fm/st-andrews-presbyterian-church-kingston