Notices: January 10, 2025
Dear St. Aidan’s,
Last Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany. We reflected together on the Magi (also known as the Wise Men) and what it means to experience epiphany. I believe we can learn a lot from the Bible about how we, as people who follow Christ today, are meant to live. Not just as individuals, but also how we are meant to live and move and have our being together as a church—how we are meant to be the body of Christ together here at St. Aidan’s.
What love most of all about the Magi’s story is that everything the Magi did—journeying far, searching diligently, being overwhelmed with joy, paying homage, going home by another way—everything they did, they did it together. It was a group project—whether three or twelve or more of them, we’ll never really know. But what we do know is that they did it together. So, when they were curious enough to drop everything and follow a mysterious, moving star—they did it together.
And when that mysterious, wondrous, moving star finally stopped—that’s the exact moment when they experienced that sense of overwhelming joy you get when you realize “this is the place, we’re finally here.” They experienced this joy together. They bowed in humble reverence together and gave their gifts to Jesus together. The Magi’s quest to follow the star and see the child together, this was one of those “wow, I’m so glad we experienced this together” kind of moments.
Because so much of what makes the awe, the wonder, and the joy worthwhile is being able to be immersed in awe, wonder, and joy alongside someone else. Which, among other things, allows us to assure ourselves that yes, it was real, because this person and this person and this person—they saw it too. They heard it. They touched it. They felt it. It wasn’t just me. It wasn’t just my imagination. There really was a star. And it really moved. And we really followed it. And it led us there, to the child. And we were overwhelmed—truly surprised by joy—when we realized what all that this meant.
The one thing we know for sure about the Magi is that they were plural. And they experienced their moment of sudden revelation together. That was the Magi’s experience of epiphany.
I wonder how each of us could be more intentional about creating time and space to have our own epiphanies—or experiences of sudden revelation, realization, and wonder—in our own lives today.
I wonder how together, all of us here at St. Aidan’s could make more space in our lives to come together to wonder, to share, to listen, to encourage one another to go deeper together in our understanding of God, ourselves, and one another.
One way some of you may choose to do this is by committing to join a Being With conversation group this winter. If you’re curious to learn more, take a look at the overview by clicking here and then send me an email so we can chat about whether the Being With course could be a good fit for you.
(The above reflection is an excerpt from my Epiphany sermon—if you’d like to hear the full sermon, you can find it in our January 5 worship service video by clicking here. The sermon begins at 33:00.)
Grace and peace,
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
Opportunities to Gather & Grow
2. Being With: A new group forming in January
3. Wonder Church: Sunday, January 26 at 4 p.m.
Opportunities to Share & Serve
4. We’re looking for new people to help host our Coffee Hour!
5. We’re looking for people to bake homemade treats for coffee hour
6. Euchre
7. Beach Interfaith Outreach
8. Busy Bees Play Group
Other Announcements and How to Give
9. Nursery available during Sunday worship
10. Announcements for the Notices
11. Offerings
Notices for the Week of January 10, 2025 – January 17, 2025
1. Live Streaming at 10:30 a.m., Order of Service - The service will be live-streamed at the following link:
https://staidansinthebeach.com/live
Click here to view a PDF of the January 12th Service
Opportunities to Gather & Grow
2. Being With: A new group forming in January. Are you curious to learn more? Email Rev. Becky at prieststaidansinthebeach.com.
To get a quick overview of the course visit https://being-with.org.
3. Join us for WonderChurch: A Service for Young Children and their Families with Puppets, Music and Prayers. Sunday, January 26 at 4 p.m.
Opportunities to Share & Serve
4. 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. We’d love to have you help out by signing up to host any Sunday through the end of February.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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., Jan. 21, 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.
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.
Other Announcements and How to Give
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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 Church or scan the QR code below.