The spiritual life of St Alban is
greatly enhanced by the presence of music in our sanctuary. The choir members,
who act as leaders of liturgy and spirit, come from diverse backgrounds - some
reading music, some continuing to learn. On Sunday mornings they take the
congregation through music of all time periods and from all the ends of the
earth - Peruvian songs to Gregorian Chant; Chinese prayers to American
spirituals. We worship with voice and piano; organ and flute; African drums and
trumpets. Just as the Holy Spirit knows no bounds, we too find ourselves
singing all of humanity's songs, growing in faith and learning from one another.
The choir practices each Thursday evening from 7:30pm-9:00pm. All are
welcome! We worship and sing in the spirit of inclusion and friendship. Contact
Kevin at kevinzakresky(a)me.com if you would like to come try it out.
St. Alban's Altar Guild is a group
of ladies, under a coordinator. They prepare the Sanctuary and the Chapel for
services. This involves seeing that the linens are kept clean, the brass
polished, candles replaced and flowers arranged on the altar ready for Sunday
services. They also prepare for daily Communion, setting up the chalice with
linen, veil, and burse of the appropriate liturgical colour and putting out the
wafers and wine.
The Altar Guild provides memorial flowers, wine, wafers and candles. For
weddings, pew markers and satin cushions are provided. Guild members also help
with any questions families may have about extra flowers. For baptisms, the
Guild ensures there is water for the Font and a supply of Christening towels
and candles.
There are approximately 20 sidespersons divided into teams under captains and a
Co-ordinator. Sidesmen and women greet the
congregation as they enter the Church, distribute pew leaflets and hymn books
and assist with seating. During the service, they take up the collection and
bring it up to the Sanctuary.
In addition, at the 8:30 a.m. service they may read a lesson.
Two members of the congregation
greet parishioners and newcomers as they arrive at the 10:00 a.m. service.
There are about 20 readers organised
by a Co-ordinator. All three readings are used.
There are three intercessors who have been appointed by the clergy to
lead prayers for the people.
There are youth servers overseen by
the clergy. During the main Sunday services, one of them carries the cross and
the other receives the collection and assists the Celebrant to prepare the
bread and wine, and to clean the Communion vessels.
There are bread makers under a
Co-ordinator who bake bread for the 10:00 a.m. Sunday Service. The members are
joined by the children who carry up bread and wine (the Gifts of the People),
during the service.
The Ladies
Afternoon Guild has changed direction and is now a Social Group of Ladies
meeting on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. We are available at all times to help Church
functions, but will not be convening or holding events as in the past.
The Student
we sponsored through Save the Children Fund graduated, and as they have changed
their criteria for sponsorship, we no longer support them.
In the past
two years we have supported Camp Artaban, Richmond
Christmas Fund and The Food Bank.
Although we are no longer a “Guild” we hope to be able to continue to
raise funds to carry out some of our past obligations. We need younger people to do the set-up and
serving for teas etc. but we are willing to supply and prepare the food.
We are
continuing the recycling of bottles as the funds raised have contributed to the
garden plants, mending front door panels and cleaning of the drapes for
example. Ongoing small jobs have been
attended to from this fund so please keep the clean bottles coming!
A small group of crafters meets at
1:30 pm on the 4th Tuesday of each month in the Lounge.
An
Energy Conservation Workshop took place on Saturday, April 28 2008, with
diocesan coordinator David Dranchuk and special guest
Jason Packer of Green Solutions. Much of the day was spent hands-on,
demonstrating low cost retrofits, including caulking of windows and door
frames, installing door sweeps and storm guards, insulating hot water pipes,
and other measures to reduce heat loss. All materials were provided. The hope
is that participants will leave with skills that can be applied to their own
homes.
For buying carbon credits to offset our pollution, Jason recommends an
organization is called the Solar Electric Light Fund, see their carbon neutral page. By
contributing to SELF’s work of helping villagers install solar PV, instead of
burning kerosene or diesel, you can offset your personal emissions of CO2. It’s
not the full solution to global climate change, but it can be a small
contributing part of the solution.
St. Alban's now has a solar powered hot water heating system.
Contact the Environment Steward via the office for more information...
"Stewardship is nothing less than a complete life-style, a total
accountability and responsibility before God.
Stewardship is what we do after we say we believe,
that is after we give our love, loyalty and trust to God from whom each and
every aspect of our lives comes as a gift."
This quote from John Westerhoff is the basis
for the stewardship programme. The stewardship committee has a regular
financial stewardship programme each year but we also try to encourage members
to think about ways in which each of us can support and nurture the ministry
that we share offering our gift of time and talent as well as our money. We
assist in community building by sending a regular letter at Easter,
Thanksgiving and Christmas to every member of the church keeping everyone up to
date on church events and programmes.