Parish Update
THE COLLECT FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lord is Risen, Alleluia!
Holy Week 2025 was a beautiful time of remembering the Mighty Acts of God, accomplished through Jesus Christ: His Triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday; His Last Supper with His disciples, where He re-established the Passover meal in light of His sacrifice, and then washed His disciples’ feet as an example of what loving one another looks like; His death on the cross on Good Friday; and His glorious resurrection at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night and on Easter Sunday.
A big thank you to all who contributed to making these services happen: singers, musicians, servers, readers, prayers, greeters, AV tech team, altar guild, those who offered reflections at our Noon Good Friday service, and staff and clergy. You helped facilitate space for the Living God to minister to His people! Easter Sunday was the highest attended Sunday service post-covid, with many unfamiliar faces, including 17 international students.
Praise God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for reconciling us to Himself and allowing us to be reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body, the Church. Praise Him for all that He has done and continues to do, in us, among us, and through us as a parish. And Praise Him for giving us the precious gift of faith (1 Peter 1:7), that protects (Ephesians 6:16), justifies (Romans 3:26), and allows us to grow in our relationship with our Risen Saviour and Lord (Romans 3:22).
Let’s pray for one another, and for all those who joined us in worship last week:
Lord Jesus, may the seeds you planted in our hearts, take root and grow, bearing the kind of fruit you desire to see in us; may our faith in you be purified and strengthened, that we might learn to live by faith and not by sight; and may we show forth in our lives what we profess by our faith, all for your glory and honour, for you alone are worthy to be praised!
Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; behold I was dead, but now I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. – Revelation 1:17-18
No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach, th’eternal throne, and claim the crown, through Christ my own.— Charles Wesley
UPCOMING EVENTS – Mark Your Calendars
April 26: Men’s Breakfast at 8:30 AM in Stiller Hall with speaker Alphonse Habonimana.
April 26: Feast of Nations beginning at 4 PM in Stiller Hall. Register here.
April 27: Sunday service with Junior Church and Nursery at 10:30 AM. (Streamed online)
May 3: Parish Night Out. Register here.
May 4: Norm and Audrey Henderson presentation after church in Stiller Hall.
May 30 - June 1: Parish Retreat at Camp IAWAH. Register here.
Changes in the Church Office
To cover our current administrative assistant’s maternity leave, we have hired Christine Yeung to serve as our temporary administrative assistant. Christine began working in the office this past week alongside Myra, as she is being trained.
Many of you already know Christine as she has been part of our parish since September when she and her husband, Pastor Harman Thomas, moved here from Vancouver. Christine volunteers her time with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship group that meets in Stiller Hall on Tuesday evenings.
Christine is originally from Hong Kong and came to Canada to study at Regent College in Vancouver where she earned her Master of Divinity degree. Before moving to Ottawa, Christine was serving as a pastor at a Chinese Anglican Church. Her background is in public health.
Please welcome Christine as the newest member of our staff!
Feast of Nations: Saturday, April 26 at 4 PM (Dinner at 5 PM)
We are blessed here at St P&P’s to have a congregation made up of people from many different nations. We want to celebrate that with a special dinner we are having on Saturday, April 26 called Feast of Nations. This is an event for all ages, with games and activities for everyone to enjoy. It is also an opportunity for you to bring a dish to share that reflects your particular culture, heritage, or just favourite kind of food! We encourage you to invite a friend for this fun event. Please register here.
PARISH NIGHT OUT: Saturday, May 3
Parish Night Out is a great opportunity to get to know fellow parishioners as you share a meal in a home setting.
The next Parish Night out is on Saturday, May 3. To participate, please sign up to either host a dinner or attend a dinner with fellow parishioners. The HOST provides the home/beverages and the GUESTS provide the meal (main course/casserole, salad or veggie dish, bread & dessert). If you are interested, please sign up here by Sunday, April 27.
NORM AND AUDREY HENDERSON VISITING on Sunday, May 4
Our outreach partners, Norm and Audrey Henderson, who serve with SIM (Service in Mission) are back from Angola to visit family and friends and to share their work with supporters, churches and others. Norm is an IT specialist and Audrey is a nurse and they work at a hospital in Lubango, along with church plants in the surrounding area. They will be with us on Sunday, May 4. Plan to join us in the Stiller Hall following the service to hear about how they are seeing God at work in their ministry.
CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES
Our Nursery Blessings will read the Easter story this week as they review the events leading up to the empty tomb.
We begin our Easter series’ this week in Jr Church. Our Chapel Lambs will focus on the disciples’ amazement that Jesus is Alive!
In Kingdom Kids, the group will explore the meaning of the resurrection. Jesus opens up the Scriptures - the Old Testament Bible – and shows the disciples how everything in it was all about Him. He explains to the disciples what He had done for them.
Our Lions of Judah examine the evidence of the resurrection as they begin the series: Resurrection Stories.
PLAYGROUP ON TUESDAYS
Our Playgroup gathers on Tuesdays from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM in our Nursery space. This has become a wonderful time of connecting with one another. Children ages 0-5 and their caregivers are welcome to join us! Please consider extending an invitation to any parent or caregiver who may benefit from time spent with others caring for small children. Anyone who would like to see the Nursery is welcome to drop by after the Sunday service to take a look to see where we gather. We are blessed to have this bright and beautiful space and want to share it.
Please help us support the Centretown Community Food Centre!
Bring in non-perishable food items on Sunday mornings. For more information, click here.
Parish Retreat May 30 - June 1
We are pleased to announce that we will hold our third annual parish retreat on May 30 - June 1 at Camp IAWAH. Our speaker this year will be our diocesan bishop, The Rt. Rev. Dan Gifford. This all-ages retreat has been a highlight for our church family, giving us the opportunity to worship, learn, play, eat, and laugh together in a beautiful setting, located only a 90-minute drive from the church, just outside of Westport, Ontario. While we encourage people to come for the whole weekend, there is also be the option of only coming for the day on Saturday. There will be separate teaching and special activities for children during the teaching sessions. Register here.
Please use the Blue Bins
You may notice more blue bins popping up around the church, especially in our washrooms and our kitchen. These specially marked blue bins reading “For Paper Towels Only” are there to collect the paper towels we use to dry our hands with. We are now composting our paper towels in an effort to reduce the amount of total garbage we produce. Please help us by placing ONLY your used paper towels in the specially marked blue bins and then placing all other waste in the regular trash bins.
ONLINE MORNING PRAYER: Online Mondays - Saturdays at 8 AM
Everyone is invited to join us on Zoom daily for Morning Prayer. Morning Prayer is a great way to start your day with prayer, Scripture, and Christian fellowship. Please reach out to the church office at admin@peterpaulottawa.com to get connected.
Thursday Morning Bible Study: Online at 10:45 AM
The Thursday morning Bible study meets at 10:45 AM and ends at noon. We meet on Zoom and all are welcome! Please reach out to the church office at admin@peterpaulottawa.com to get connected.
Rickwood Fund Application Update
Our church has been blessed with a memorial funding source, the Nora Green Rickwood Memorial Life Long Learning Fund, that provides funds to the church each year to encourage learning, growth, and leadership among the clergy and laity.
The Rickwood Committee receives applications each year from the people of our church to cover costs related to courses, workshops, events, study tours, and other educational endeavors.
Traditionally, the Committee has accepted applications and reviewed them using a first come, first served approach. Thanks to God's provision, the funds available at any given time have tended to align very closely with the applications we have received in the same time period.
However with an increase in both applications and in the amounts requested, the Committee has been considering options for a few years now to better handle the application and approval process in order to provide a fairer means of administering the fund.
After prayerful consideration, the Committee has come to the consensus that it will split the available funds each year into two halves. Applications will be queued and reviewed twice a year in batches. Any funds left over from a given period will be rolled forward to the next period.
Based on historical data we have chosen application cutoff dates of March 1 and September 1. The Rickwood Committee hopes that this will provide the fairest means of distributing money in alignment with the provisions and guidelines of the fund. The practicality of this approach will be reviewed in the future to determine if adjustments are needed. To apply for a grant from the Rickwood Fund, contact the office admin@peterpaulottawa.com or call 613-235-1636.
Short-Term Mission Fund
At St Peter & St Paul’s there is an Outreach Partners Committee that administers funds for various outreach initiatives. Part of the funding available has been designated for short-term missions and special requests. Money is available to help pay the costs for someone engaged in a relevant event or mission activity. Some examples might be: Attending a missions conference, participating in a short term mission trip, or even initiating something in your neighbourhood. Imagine hosting a community BBQ or delivering baked goods to neighbours with an eye to how that might spark conversations about Jesus.
If you are interested in finding out more about this, please contact the office via email: admin@peterpaulottawa.com or phone (613-235-1636).
Volunteer Opportunities for Food Makers, Servers, and Cleaning-uppers
Are you interested in serving others by making food, coffee, and tea, serving food, or cleaning up afterwards? We have some wonderful opportunities for you!
The Hospitality Team is a great way to serve at the church in a low-commitment volunteer position. Even those who can only help out once or twice a year are welcome to join the team. For more information or to sign up, click here.
For those looking for more of a regular commitment, Our church runs a weekly drop-in on Friday evenings from 7 PM to 9 PM called A Place To Go. We have volunteers who make the soup and sandwiches once a month and volunteers who purchase the other groceries needed from the supermarket. We also have volunteers who spend one Friday night a month at the church serving those who gather. If you would like to learn more about A Place To Go or volunteering, please click here or speak with Pastor Michelle or Kate S.
CHURCH RESOURCES
Church Office: The church office is open from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM Tuesdays through Thursdays. You can reach the office by phone at 613-235-1636 or by email at admin@peterpaulottawa.com.
Worship: We gather together for worship at 10:30 AM on Sundays, both in-person at the church and online on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/StPandPOttawa/)
Please use the Worship Guide to follow along with the service. You can join us in person at 152 Metcalfe Street.
Parking: There is a paid lot directly behind the church on Gloucester Street that offers all-day parking at a flat rate on Sundays. For street parking, please check posted signs, pay stations, and keep up to date on winter parking bans here.
Online: Check out our Facebook page for livestreams of our services, audio recordings of our sermons, and other news and posts. You can listen to our Parish podcast and sermons on your favourite podcast app by searching for “peterpaulottawa” and subscribing. And there is also our Website where you can listen to our sermons and podcasts, sign up for events, and read an extended cut of the weekly parish update.