Drop off food bank donations on
Saturday, July 16, 1-3pm
in the parking lot north of the church on Centre St.
(Please note Centre Street is one-way southbound.)

All Saints’ Deacon’s Cupboard ministry is a source of food for members of our community.  It is our way of being church and showing the love of God to our neighbours so that everyone can have their daily bread and know of the provision of the Lord.

Food can be dropped off at the church parking lot between 1- 3 PM on the third Saturday of every month. We will have volunteers unloading your car and taking the food supplies into the Deacon’s Cupboard space at the church.

Donations of the following items are currently in demand:

canned pasta, canned soups, cereal, Saltine crackers, cookies, canned tuna fish, canned sardines, canned tomatoes, instant coffee, canned kidney beans, Kraft Dinner, instant oatmeal, peanut butter and personal hygiene products for men and women (e.g., soap, shampoo, razors, deodorant and, toilet paper).

(NOTE: The foodbank is well-stocked with dry pasta at the moment. Please opt to donate another of the foodstuffs listed above.)

As of December 2021, All Saints’ is a member of Feed the Need Durham (FTND). Weekly orders will greatly help sustain and further develop our food supply for those who come in increasing numbers to the Deacon’s Cupboard each week.

To learn more about the Deacons’ Cupboard (food bank), please contact Gary Gannon, (905) 668-6069 (H) or at garygannon24@nullgmail.com should you have any questions.

Thursday, June 16

by the Rev. Grant Schwartz

Let us Keep the Feast

It’s Thursday after Trinity Sunday. It is nine weeks since Jesus met with his Apostles in
the Upper Room. He thankfully offered bread and wine to His Father and said to the
Twelve, “Take, eat, this is my body” and, “Drink this, all of you, this is my blood of the
new covenant.”

Do you remember how we celebrated that nine weeks ago? The celebrant focussed on
the institution of the Holy Eucharist with these words: “This is the day that Christ our
God gave us this holy feast.”

Then we got sidetracked. So much went on that day (or night) which we call Maundy Thursday (i.e., Commandment Thursday). Jesus prayed the High Priestly Prayer. He gave  commandment to love one another. He washed the Apostle’s feet. He foretold His betrayal by Judas. He sweated blood and prayed, “Thy will be done.” He was carted off
to be put on trial. He was abandoned by his followers. He was denied by Peter.

With all that going on, our celebration of Jesus’ feeding us with himself got short
changed. We quickly slipped by Jesus’ proclamation, “My flesh is food indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed.”

We may have felt that we were missing something but we could not stop to catch up on
Jesus’ words, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood dwell in me and I in them.”
We had to take in the crucifixion. Then we rejoiced in the resurrection. And the
ascension. And the coming of the Holy Spirit. And then God Himself on Trinity
Sunday. Whew.

After all those weeks of excitement about our redemption we might want to pick up on
what we sidestepped. We might feel like having a mini Maundy Thursday. Some
parishes do this on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. Some others do it on the Sunday
that follows Trinity Sunday.

Parishes that observe a mini Maundy Thursday use such names as Corpus Christi, or The
Festival of the Body and Blood of Christ or The Institution of the Holy Eucharist.

The Book of Common Prayer provides this prayer for Maundy Thursday:

“O GOD,
who in a wonderful sacrament hast left unto us a memorial of thy passion:
Grant us so to reverence the holy mysteries of thy Body and Blood,
that we may ever know within ourselves the fruit of thy redemption;
who livest and reignest with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God,
world without end.
Amen.”

Thursday, June 2

Pentecost Ponderings by Deacon Joanne

‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ Acts 1:8

I was recently at the airport. It was just a domestic flight so the bits of conversation I heard while in the waiting area were in English and understandable to me. Imagine though, if that waiting area was filled with people from all over each speaking a different language. I would still be hearing bits of conversation but they would be just be noise.

People were in Jerusalem – they had come from far and wide to celebrate to celebrate Shavuot and offer their first fruits in the temple. Shavuot dates back to the time of Moses and was celebrated 50 days after Passover Sunday. No wonder there were so many languages that day.

The disciples of Jesus are brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit. You cannot be a solo-Christian. Wherever Church exists, it must be a sign of unity and community.

We all need community. Community is not just for the few and it has to be something more than a vague good neighbourliness. We all need real community especially now as we return to a “normalization” of Church life.

The Holy Spirit is the one who will help us, within a framework respectful of God’s design for his creation, to discover our community again.

This Sunday as we come together (don’t forget to wear your red) and hear once again the Pentecost story with the tongues of fire and the mighty rushing wind, think about the ways in which you are part of this community. Not just the community of All Saints’ but the community of the world.

Prayer: (John Henry Newman)

Come, O Holy Spirit.
Come as Holy Fire and burn in us,
come as Holy Wind and cleanse us within,
come as Holy Light and lead us in the darkness,
come as Holy Truth and dispel our ignorance,
come as Holy Power and enable our weakness,
come as Holy Life and dwell in us.
Convict us, convert us, consecrate us,
until we are set free from the service of ourselves,
to be your servants to the world.

Amen.