Notices: February 9, 2025
Dear St. Aidan’s,
As we end a week filled with lots of very heavy, stressful news stories, I want to highlight a good news story from right here at St. Aidan’s in the Beach.
On January 26, we celebrated our very first Wonder Church service. You won’t be surprised to learn, though, that creating a new worship service doesn’t just happen overnight.
Our children’s and youth minister Elizabeth Achimah started having conversations with me and others, including Diocesan congregational development staff, back in the summer and fall. We looked at other worship services for young children and families, including one from the UK called Bubble Church, to get ideas.
Then Elizabeth began to write a grant proposal, we refined and edited it, and sent it off to the Diocese. Toward the end of 2024, Elizabeth and I had the chance to make our pitch to a Diocese of Toronto grant-awarding panel. (Kind of like Dragons’ Den, but with a much nicer and more supportive panel!)
Once we received the good news that we received the funding—for puppets and supplies, for marketing expenses, for extra hours for Elizabeth, and more—then we could start planning the service. Elizabeth, with input from me and our music minister Michael Pirri, planned out the Wonder Church liturgy and we were all very excited to see how it would go!
Finally, on that much anticipated Sunday afternoon, about 25 of us gathered for a different kind of worship service in the St. Aidan’s Nave. Pews were carefully moved aside, and colourful circles of carpet were placed around the floor for the children to sit on.
Throughout the service, we sang carefully chosen, upbeat songs with lots of fun hand motions. Some songs were simplified versions of the creed and the Lord’s Prayer. A few of our youth group members helped Dominic lead the songs.
We watched a puppet show, performed by a few talented parishioners, about Peter and Jesus walking on the water. After the puppet story, we took a few minutes to wonder together about what was most important in the story, and to wonder how we saw ourselves in the story. Then everyone got to make cute little boats that we could take home to float in our sinks or bathtubs—and decorated them with sparkly stickers to make them extra special.
We shared snacks and we made new friends. A few families who had never worshipped at St. Aidan’s before decided to try Wonder Church. Most of the people lingered for a long while after the service, families getting to know each other and St. Aidan’s folks taking the time to get know those who were new to us. One Wonder Church family joined us for Sunday morning worship a couple weeks later. Others were wanting to know all the future Wonder Church dates so they could be sure to have them on their family calendar.
Our next Wonder Church service is Sunday, March 2, at 4 p.m. (And we have a few more scheduled throughout the spring.) Whether or not you have a young child in your family, know that people of all ages are welcome.
If you’d like to support this new worship ministry of our church, please talk with Elizabeth about how you can be helpful. More than anything, please pray for this new ministry of our church as it develops—and pray for everyone connecting with this service, that they will sense the love of God through us and through our worship.
This is my prayer for all of St. Aidan’s ministries and worship services—that each one will be a channel through which we share God’s love and grace with all who take part.
I hope to see you in church soon,
Becky+
Notices at a Glance
Scroll down for details on each of these items.
1. Live Streaming at 10:30 a.m., Order of Service
2. Social Justice Vestry Motion for 2025
3. Vestry Meeting and Pre-Vestry meetings
4. Revitalization Fund Report
5. New Office Hours
Opportunities to Gather & Grow
6. Death Is Inevitable, Legacy Is Optional is a lunch and learn program
7. Wonder Church
8. Busy Bees Play Group
Opportunities to Share & Serve
9. Beach Interfaith Outreach
10. We’re looking for new people to help host our Coffee Hour!
11. We’re looking for people to bake homemade treats for coffee hour
12. Euchre
Other Announcements and How to Give
13. Nursery available during Sunday worship
14. Announcements for the Notices
15. Offerings
Notices for the Week of February 7, 2025 – February 14, 2025
1. Live Streaming at 10:30 a.m., Order of Service - The service will be live-streamed on YouTube, which can be found through the following link. The service may be viewed live or at anytime later through our YouTube channel.
https://staidansinthebeach.com/live
Click here to view a PDF of the February 9th Service
2. Social Justice Vestry Motion for 2025: Our Social Justice Vestry Motion for 2025, "Protecting and Expanding Harm Reduction in Ontario" is now available on the Diocesan website. Despite an overdose crisis that claims the lives of at least seven people in Ontario every day, the provincial government has recently passed legislation that will close ten supervised consumption sites across the province and ban new sites from opening. This year's motion calls on the government both to keep the sites open and to expand harm reduction services across the province. In addition to the motion and accompanying backgrounder, additional resources will be uploaded to the Vestry Motion page over the coming weeks. Printed copies are available in the church entryway, or you can read online here: https://www.toronto.anglican.ca/diocesan-life/social-justice-advocacy/social-justice-vestry-motion/?lang=en
3. Vestry meeting and Pre-Vestry meetings: Our annual Vestry meeting will be on Sun., Mar. 2, after the 10:30 worship service. Lunch and childcare will be provided. For those interested in taking a deeper dive into the 2024 financial statement and the 2025 budget, there will be pre-Vestry meetings on Sun., Feb. 23 after the 10:30 service in the Willow Room and via Zoom and Tues., Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m via Zoom. Vestry packets will be distributed via email in the weekly notices on Fri., Feb. 14.
4. Revitalization Fund Report: Corporation has prepared a final report of Revitalization Fund revenue and expenditures. Printed reports will be available in the Narthex on Sun., Feb. 9. A meeting to review the report will be on Sun., Feb. 16 after the 10:30 service in the Willow Room and via Zoom and on Tues, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. via zoom. Please contact Courtney Ebner at staidans.warden3@gmail.com for the Zoom link.
5. New Office Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m.
Opportunities to Gather & Grow
6. Death Is Inevitable, Legacy Is Optional is a lunch and learn program being organized by our St. Aidan’s Stewardship Committee on Sun., Feb. 9 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Join us for an important presentation and discussion around the Dos and Don'ts of life planning. This event is relevant to all adults and will highlight key issues around: Wills, Power of Attorney (POA), family dynamics, assets (financial, physical, digital), leaving a legacy (metaphorically and literally), and more. Regardless if you plan to attend, please take 30 seconds to complete this quick survey for planning purposes: https://forms.gle/AfXhSBtxe1bU57Ky8
Lunch will be provided! Questions? Speak with Adam Gordon, stewardship chair.
7. Wonder Church: St. Aidan’s is excited to offer a new service designed for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, early elementary children and their families called Wonder Church. This is a 30-45 minute service that includes puppets, music, and prayers. Coffee and treats are provided. All are welcome. Our next Wonder Church is Sun., Mar 2, at 4 p.m. For more information, contact children’s minister Elizabeth at children@staidansinthebeach.com
8. Busy Bees Play Group welcomes children ages 0-3 and their caregivers on Thursdays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in our Parish Hall. We offer stories, music, and activities. We are looking for lightly used toys for babies and toddlers for our Busy Bees Play Group. Do you like to bake? We are looking for people to bake peanut-free goodies for the Busy Bees Play Group. If you can support us in either of these ways, please speak with Elizabeth.
Opportunities to Share & Serve
9. Beach Interfaith Outreach: Locations and dates for all lunches are listed in the Beach Metro News. The next lunch held here at St. Aidan’s is Tues., Feb. 18, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. As part of St. Aidan’s involvement in the Beach Interfaith Outreach Committee, we support the Grace Pascoe Care Centre. Your weekly donations (to the basket by the church office) are gratefully received.
10. We’re looking for new people to help host our coffee hour: Don’t worry, we’ll show you what to do to be a host! You can sign up with your family or friends to serve coffee, tea, and snacks. You can pick a Sunday that works for you, and you can help out once a month or just a few times a year. To sign up, you may find a sign-up sheet for hosting coffee hour in the church entryway (Narthex), or you may email Ella at ekeemmanuella0@gmail.com. Hosts are still needed for these Sundays: Feb. 23, Mar. 9, Mar. 16, and Mar. 23.
11. We’re looking for people to bake homemade treats for coffee hour: We're looking for volunteers to bring treats for our coffee hour on Sundays! Whether it's baked goods, snacks, or any other delicious offerings, we would love to have your contributions. Please remember to label any items for allergies. Email Ella at ekeemmanuella0@gmail.com if you're interested in bringing something for an upcoming coffee hour.
12. Euchre: Join us on Tuesday nights from 7-9 p.m. for a fun and friendly evening of progressive Euchre downstairs in the Parish Hall. Beginners welcome. Cost is $5; all proceeds support St. Aidan’s community outreach.
Other Announcements and How to Give
13. Nursery available during Sunday worship: We offer nursery care for children ages 0-3 during the 10:30 a.m. service. The nursery is located in the Beech Room, adjacent to the main basement hall. For more information, please speak with Erika or Elizabeth.
14. Please submit new announcements for the weekly notices to Mary at office@staidansinthebeach.com by Wednesdays at 4 p.m. All notices are subject to incumbent’s approval, and will be edited for clarity and conciseness.
15. Offerings - Thank you for your support. There are a variety of ways to make your donation:
· PAG – set up monthly pre-authorized debits from your bank account directly to St. Aidan’s by completing the authorization form found on the Giving page of our website https://www.staidansinthebeach.com/giving
· PAG Changes – to change the amount of an existing donation, send an email with the details to donations@staidansinthebeach.com
· E-transfer – send to donations@staidansinthebeach.com
· Envelopes – to obtain a set of weekly offering envelopes, send a request to donations@staidansinthebeach.com
· Cheques should be payable to and can be mailed to: The Church of St. Aidan, 2423 Queen St E, Toronto, ON, M4E 1H6, or dropped in our secure mailbox beside the front door.
· Credit card – click on the link Canada Helps: St. Aidan’s or scan the QR code below.