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Dear St. Mary’s parishioners,  

We are changing the format from Update to NOTICES as we have re-opened the church as of last Sunday.

On Sunday, 37 people attended the 10am service. All our preparations paid off and the service ran smoothly even with all the changes. We couldn’t sing, we couldn’t touch each other, we sat a minimum of 2 metres apart, we wore masks. The church was pretty quiet before we began because it felt strange and it was difficult to speak with our neighbours. And still, it was wonderful to gather in the church again! I wore my celebratory stole because it felt so good to celebrating once again!  

But it was somewhat sad too because we missed those whom we haven’t seen in months and who do not feel comfortable attending any gathering because of the rise in cases of Covid-19 on the island.  

To that end, we recorded the service and sent an email link to everyone in the parish so people could watch the service and hopefully feel included in that way.  We will continue to do this.  

If you would like to attend church this Sunday, please register with KAT by tomorrow/Thursday by 2pm. We are limited to the number we can accommodate so please make sure to reserve your seat.  

Please pray for Donis and Bill receiving palliative care at home.

God bless each and every one of you, and your families,
Selinde    

The dragonfly is used as the logo for the Diocese of BC. You’ll see the stylized rendition on letterhead and the Diocesan Post. In the photo above, you'll see the description KAT found of what the dragonfly symbolizes.    

And now for your enjoyment:   Jennifer Birchall-Creighton shared Sing Gently, with Grammy-winning composer Eric Whitacre conducting choristers from 129 countries, the largest virtual choir ever assembled. Click here.

And a chuckle for the day shared by Mary H:

In the year 2020, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in Canada, and said: "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another ark and save two of every living thing along with a few good humans." He gave Noah the blueprints, saying: "You have 6 months to build the ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no ark. "Noah!," He roared, "I'm about to start the rain!  Where is the ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed."

"I needed a building permit."

"I've been arguing with the boat inspector about the need for a sprinkler system."

"My neighbours claim that I've violated the neighbourhood by-laws by building the ark in my back yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the local Planning Committee for a decision."

"Then the local Council and the electric company demanded a shed load of money for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear none of it."

"Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the Greater Spotted Barn Owl."

"I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but NO GO!"

"When I started gathering the animals, the SPCA took me to court. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodations were too restrictive and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space."

"They said that I couldn't build the ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood."

"I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew."

"The Immigration Dept. is checking the visa status of most of the people who want to work."

"The trade unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with ark-building experience."

"To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species."

"So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky.

Noah looked up in wonder and asked,  "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?" 

"No," said the Lord. "The Government has beaten me to it!”  

DID YOU KNOW…