… a sense of wonder

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think that everyone who attended our “All Hallow’s Eve” event (held on the 29th of October, a couple of days before the actual Eve of All Saints’) would agree that it was a really good evening.  The event was offered in collaboration with the home congregation of All Saints Church, and in part was designed to respond to those who would see Hallowe’en as some sort of occult or demonic event.

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

(a traditional Scottish prayer)

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I call the community into a time of prayer.

God, you have called your people to love you completely with body, mind and soul.  May we seek to enact this daily, opening ourselves to a fuller understanding of the intense simplicity of this commandment of love.  As part of this, may our regular dealings with each other be marked with the same kind of committed love, filled with understanding, grace and honesty.
In your mercy…

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This evening the responses in the litany are taken from the order of service from the funeral of Princess Diana of Wales.

It is a still, quiet time these days as the earth prepares to go to sleep for a season.  We are gathering leaves, bringing in the harvest, filling our larders with what will bring us comfort in the coming months.  As we remain open to the senses of autumn; the smells, the sound of the leaves disintegrating under our feet, the rustle of the wind in the trees, the visual of colors, and the still-warm sun and the bright harvest moon.  May we be equally open to the transparency of you to us, O God.  In the words of the Exodus reading, we learn of a somewhat timid Moses’ need  to see God – and hear the many words related to that – show me, let me see, needing to see God, favor in your sight.  Keep our eyes equally fixed on you in our vocations, in the sacred spaces where we invite friendship, enjoy family life and embrace community.
Lord of the loving, hear our prayer.

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 Steve Bell offers up a new recording, largely consisting of music developed within the liturgical life of saint benedict’s table.

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e’re pleased to let you know that Steve Bell – internationally acclaimed musician and saint ben’s member – has just released a new CD, largely rooted in music written and developed by Gord Johnson for use in our community’s worship life.  Of the ten songs on Steve’s Devotion CD, eight are by Gord, and all will be very familiar to anyone who has spent any time in and around our community’s worship.

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Church, Music, News | 1 Comment »

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s a community of believers we gather, carrying with us many cares, needs and burdens.  None of which are too great or too small that they cannot be brought to you. We pray this night for the enormous needs of the world, for the many people who struggle to find enough food, for the many people for whom the only water available is dirty and diseased, for the people whose constant companion is sickness.  Today we give thanks for the knowledge that you are there in the midst of those people, your people, our people.  Help us to help each other.
Lord in your mercy…

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John Coltrane’s search for truth

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n his book Virtual Faith, Tom Beaudoin makes the case that the church needs to pay more attention to the arts and popular culture as sources for doing its theological work.  This edition of ideaExchange  – the first of this season, presented by Jamie Howison and recorded October 4 – is something of a demonstration of that case.

In this 57:43 presentation we explore the life and work of jazz legend John Coltrane and attend to four representative pieces of his work, examining them in terms of what they have to say to the people of faith.

There are several ways to listen to this edition of ideaExchange:

• click on the arrow below
• use the podcast widget in the left sidebar
• click here to download the episode from iTunes

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Podcast, ideaExchange | No Comments »

Gerald Folkerts’ ongoing battle with cancer

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his post is both an invitation to walk with Gerald Folkerts in his current battle with cancer, and a call to prayer for Gerald, his wife Arlis, and their four children.

The Folkerts are members of Covenant Christian Reformed Church, but for some time now they’ve related to saint ben’s as their second church home.  Gerald may also be known to some of you as an artist, and one of the contributors and organizers of last year’s amazing “Invisible Dignity Project,” an art project that will have another showing this fall in Edmonton.  Well, just over a month ago now Gerald was diagnosed with brain cancer, and almost overnight found himself in surgery and then in treatment.

His journey is being blogged as Gravel Road Journey; a moving and courageous online journal of his life with cancer.  Actually, it is more than a cancer journal, in that it speaks to – and asks hard questions of – the stuff of faith.   This gravel road is one worth watching.

Blogroll, Commentary | 1 Comment »

a series of saint benedict’s table home communions

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ver the next two months, saint benedict’s table is going to be presenting a series of home communions, based on the pattern of the 1^st Century church.  In part, these will be educational, in that you will learn something of how the early church gathered for its worship, and you’ll be able to see how our practice of communion is rooted in ancient practice.  These will also be social events, meant to connect people in our community in a series of smaller gatherings.

Four households have indicated a willingness to host one of these home communion gatherings, and you are encouraged to sign up to attend one of them.  You will be asked to bring a designated food or wine to share, and these food choices are those which might have been brought to church in the ancient world; olives, bread, cheese, and hummus.  The four households have different capacities, and we have also noted whether or not there are pets in the home.

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e call the community into a time of prayer.

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Lord in your mercy…

Lord also, grant us the ability to trust you with all our heart, for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast in you and your mercy.
Lord in your mercy…

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