Happy Pascha!

do you mind?

Friends.  Might I be so bold to suggest that if you happen to pass your local save on foods today...and you happen to have some extra save on more points are your card... and you happen you see some white tulips might you buy them and bring to the church for me.... either tonight ... or Saturday.  I have pretty much cleaned out my neighbourhood - walnut grove and fort langley.

Welcome Baby Kassia!

baby Kassia (a girl) born 1.00 am or so on March 30, approx. 8 lbs. 13 oz.
to Ryan and Naomi S; baby and mom doing well Fr. Lawrence had first prayers with them that evening. Many years to her and all her family!

LAZARUS SATURDAY CLEANING BEE!

**NB NO STUDY this week after vespers

Saturday March 27th

Saint Herman’s Annual

LAZARUS SATURDAY

CLEANING BEE

Please join us for Matins

at 10 AM

and pitch in to beautify the church for our

celebration of Holy Week and Pascha

** If you are able, please bring along some lunch to share, and any cleaning supplies and equipment you can provide!

St. John of Shanghai Pilgrimage (update: postponed...)

Update: Because not as many were able to participate at the time scheduled as we were hoping, the pilgrimage has been postponed, probably until the fall... If you are interested in participating in future in a pilgrimage such as is described below, please contact Greg or Fr. Justin and we will work to figure out a date that will maximize the number of people who would be able to participate!

The weekend after Pascha (plus a couple of days on either side), a number of us from St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Mission are going to travel down to San Francisco to visit our mission's patron, St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. Our pilgrimage is being organized by Greg Pennoyer and, while numbers are limited (to a very scriptural 12!) and some priority will be given to members of our mission, there may well be space for some of our friends who might be interested in travelling with us. For more details about the pilgrimage click on the image above to download the full PDF from the St. John's website. For more information or to RSVP, contact Greg Pennoyer at Greg.Pennoyer@incarnationexhibition.org.

Love in Christ,

Fr. Justin Hewlett, rector,

St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Mission.

This Week's LENTEN services at St. Herman's

Please note-- instead of PreSanctifieds this week we have the Canon of St. Andrew with the Life of Mary of Egypt, and the Akathist to the Theotokos.

That means NO meals after these services, and no need to fast completely from noon those days.


Wed. March 17th-- 7 pm Canon of St. Andrew & Life of St. Mary of Egypt

Fri. March 19th-- 7 pm Akathist to the Theotokos 

**LOOKING AHEAD-- Plan now to be at our annual PRE-HOLY WEEK CLEANING BEE on 

LAZARUS SATURDAY, the week after this week, on Saturday March 27th

A special HOLY WEEK BULLETIN issue will be distributed at church next week, and the April Calendar the week after.

This week at St. Herman's March 8-14...DAYLIGHT SAVINGS SPRING AHEAD!

Don't forget to bring food to share after PreSanctified liturgies this Wed. & Fri.  Service starts at 7 PM


This Saturday March 13th, after you get home from 6:30 pm vespers & study, make sure to  

set your clock AHEAD ONE HOUR before going to bed!

This week at St. Herman's March 1-7

Please remember that Fr. Lawrence is at Archdiocesan Council in Toronto this week.



Wed. Mar 3rd 7 PM PreSanctified Liturgy served by Fr. John Bingham
                                  Please bring Lenten food to share afterward.


**NO service this Friday evening Mar.5th

Sat. Mar. 6 6:30 PM    Reader Vespers NO study

Fr. Lawrence will be back for Sunday service.   For any pastoral needs until then, please contact Dn. Kurt Jordan

NOTE DATE CHANGE--Moving Help Needed for Pryadko Family TOMORROW

We are going to be moving tomorrow, Saturday morning .....  I understand it is a last minute  request, but if we had 2 or 3 strong guys respond, we would  be okay.  

We will be starting about 9:30.  

Thanks so much!

       --- Hannah Pryadko

Second Week of Lent at St. Herman's

Once again we are hosting the 

Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers

at 7 pm 

this Sunday February 21st

  We will be joined by the folks of Holy Nativity Ft. Langley and St. Innocent's Everson WA  (if, by the prayers of Sts. Innocent & Herman, the Olympic season border traffic permits!)

 

PLEASE BRING some Lenten finger foods to share with our guests at a coffee time after.

In the coming week:  don't forget to SIGN UP for food categories for the Presanctified Liturgies.

Also please note-- at evening services, there is no assigned cleanup crew, so if you can spare a few moments after the meal, please pitch in to clean up!

Hi Friends,

Hi Friends,

We are coming for a brief visit, and we are looking for a ride on sunday morning from Abbotsford to church, and then for someone else who is going towards vancouver to drive us a little ways in that direction. The main part is getting to church, the other details after church can be figured out on the fly, and/or with my family types. we of course have a carseat for the Destroyer of Worlds (Zeke) and can even be accommodated by more than one vehicle if there are people who only have two seats or something. I can hitch-hike.anyways, this is for Feb 14th.

Thank you! we look forward to seeing you on that sunday.

David, Laurenn, and the Destroyer of Worlds (Zeke)

Tomorrow night-- Feast of the Meeting of our Lord

sorry, gang-- what with the AGM and all, this important announcement was missed yesterday !  

Hope to see you at church tomorrow night  

Feb. 2nd for the Feast of the Meeting of our Lord. 

7:00 PM   VESPERAL LITURGY & BLESSING OF CANDLES

• fast from noon to receive communion

• bring candles, lamp oil, charcoal, incense to be blessed

• bring festal food to share after

Coming up next week at St. Herman's

I'm sure you'll all be at the AGM tomorrow.....and after that, things are getting busy! The bulletin & calendar are available at church. Here are next week's special items, in addition to regular services:

Tuesday Feb 2, 7 pm	FEAST OF the MEETING of OUR LORD Vesperal liturgy & blessing of Candles Festal meal after
Thurs Feb 4th to Tues Feb 9th	Fr. Lawrence away at St. Peter the Aleut Calgary retreat
Saturday Feb 6 10 am	Women’s Breakfast, Rhiannon’s house 9642-139 St. Surrey

Spring 2010 Parish Directory

The updated directory will be available at church this week.

Summer Cheer!

About Haiti

By now everyone knows about the Haiti earthquake. There has just been a strong aftershock as well.

For any who are wanting to contribute, you can do so at church. Just put it in an envelope marked "Haiti relief". The church will send it to a Canadian aid agency such as the Red Cross

Make the cheque payable to St. Herman's this Sunday; time is of the essence.

Unfortunately, Canadian tax regulations put severe limits on how much money registered Canadian charities (such as churches) can send out of the country directly, so it is not practical for us to send via IOCC or other Orthodox agencies located in the US. Therefore Archbishop Seraphim sent a note to the clergy list suggesting that parishes send contributions to an agency such as the Red Cross

Whitehorse Mission pics

Recent Visit by Fr. John Bingham, Mat. Anna Bingham, and Dn. Gregory Wright

Blessing of the Waters

Baby SHower on Sunday, 17 January 2010

Just reposting this as a reminder for this Sunday: Baby SHower on Sunday, 17 January 2010
Time 2-5 pm
Location:	Cloverdale - Robyn's house
	8 - 6443 Rosebury Lane

Description

Now that the holidays are over, lets welcome our newest member of St. Herman's, Ramona Green!

Julia has informed me that they are registered at Toys R Us if you're looking for gift ideas!

--from Robyn B

this is what we call a caption contest:

Baby Shower for little Ramona Green

Baby SHower on Sunday, 17 January 2010
Time 2-5 pm
Location:	Cloverdale - Robyn's house
	8 - 6443 Rosebury Lane

Description

Now that the holidays are over, lets welcome our newest member of St. Herman's, Ramona Green!

Julia has informed me that they are registered at Toys R Us if you're looking for gift ideas!

--from Robyn B

somewhere over the rainbow...

Theophany Services–Revised Schedule

Theophany Services–Revised Schedule

• Wednesday January 6, 7.00 pm Vesperal Liturgy at for Theophany, with the Great Blessing of Water. Bring your bottles to that service to get your annual supply of Holy Water.

• Sunday January 10, about 1.30 pm **NOT the Saturday, as previously announced), weather permitting, Blessing of the Fraser River with Holy Nativity Church from Ft. Langley. Meet at Derby Reach Park.
  

Once again, important to note: CHANGE of date & time for the Fraser River Blessing. Sorry for any inconvenience-- we hope you can all join us. Bring your brollies and puddlejumpers-- we will only cancel if the weather is truly unmanageable!

AND it is now time to schedule your annual HOUSE BLESSING with Fr. Lawrence! Please do not delay-- Lent comes early this year, and house blessings should be complete by then!

Christmas Services!

Christmas Eve Vigil 6 PM



Christmas Day Liturgy 9 AM



Note Early Times!!!!!


NO meal after liturgy Christmas Day, but

Gascoignes have invited any who wish to join them at their house for brunch.

******************************************************

Diaconal vespers & NO study Sat. Dec. 26th

Fr. Lawrence will serve liturgy on Sun. Dec. 27th. NO catechumen class.

Fr. Lawrence will then be on vacation till Jan. 2nd.

There WILL however still be vespers on Wed. Dec. 30th

*********************************************************

Dn. Gregory & Mat. Ana will be hosting an open house on Dec. 28th.

7313 201B st. Celebrating the feast from 7 -11

****************************************

Did I miss anything? PHEW! Busy but wonderful Holiday Season. See you at church!

on a sunday in december:

Women's Quiet Day 2009

Furnishings for sale

Posted on behalf of Georgia & her family.


Sofa/Loveseat, $300 OBO
Bedroom Set $250 OBO


the seller is Georgia and she can be reached at 604-513-3669

Christmas Day Agape

We'd like to invite one and all to our new (old) house on Christmas Day after liturgy to share some yummy breakfast. Anyone who would like to come and share a truckload of bacon with us is welcome. Offerings for the table (besides bacon and eggs, I mean) are not necessary but certainly welcome too :)

Ask us for directions after church!

rhi

Looking ahead-- post-Christmas Open House at the Wrights'

Dn. Gregory & Mat. Ana will be hosting an open house on Dec. 28th.

7313 201B st.

Celebrating the feast
from 7 -11

on Monday, dec. 28th.

Women's Quiet Day coming up this Sat. Dec 12th!

Date:	Saturday, 12 December 2009
Time:	11:00 - 17:00
Location:	Theresia L's house on the mountain

Beginning with an akathist, then a day of sitting about the fire, chatting, knitting, taking a walk outside.

An oasis of relaxation and feminine fellowship in the middle of the pre-Christmas rush.

Leave the kids with dad to catch up on their Christmas shopping!

The day will linger till time to leave for vespers or thereabouts.

Bring some Advent-friendly food to share (fish is allowed).

Write on the wall of the Facebook Event or comment on Spruce Island if you want to car pool with others in your area.


-- reposted as a reminder--MatD.

House Blessing!

BIG BIG THANK YOUs TO everyone who helped us with our two moves!!!!


All the hardworking helping hands, the material support and kind wishes are just overwhelming to our family.

We are so glad to be a part of the wonderful thing that is the Saint Herman's community.


We invite all members and friends of the parish to join us next Sunday to bless our house
and celebrate with us at a Saint Nicholas Day dinner.



Sunday December 6th

4 pm

9626-148th St. unit 313

guest parking underground or on 148th Street.

A change in the moving schedule

Thanks everyone who has offered to help out the Farleys and Gascoignes with our double move this coming weekend!

In case anyone didn't get the news of the change via Facebook or e-mail--


A change for the better is that we get possession of our new condo on Thursday. So this means we can move our stuff out to make room for the Gascoignes to move their stuff in.

We still begin the procedure on FRIDAY at 5 PM, but instead of beginning at the church trailer we begin at our house, 9642-139 Street. The rest will follow on as it goes!

Time-Sensitive local items for St. Hermanites

Attention, Saint Hermanites --

Just re-posting three time-sensitive local items that have unfortunately been bumped down:


First, Fr. Lawrence is speaking tonight at the UBC Holy Cross Chaplaincy. 7 PM at St. Mark's Chapel UBC

The chaplaincy folk would love to have our support tonight and on the other scheduled occasions when local clergy will be speaking there. You can get the full schedule and information from Fr. Justin's post and the Holy Cross site.

Second, a reminder that there is a Festal Liturgy early at 9 AM this Sat. Nov. 21 for the Entrance of the Theotokos to the Temple.


Third, as our plea for moving help was only up briefly and everyone may not have seen it, the Gascoignes and Farleys will both be moving not this weekend but the next, Friday Nov. 27- Saturday Nov. 28. With a double move, any help you can give us at any point of this process would be very much appreciated. Details in the moving post here.

Thank you!

Egeria Orthodox Home Exchange is live!

Hello friends!

It's been a long time since I posted here. Life has been very full for the last two years, to say the least! Your community has been in our thoughts and prayers, and we enjoy getting visitors from the Mainland on the rare occasions when y'all are able to cross the waters! Anyone for Habit? Mole? Pagliacci's?

One of the projects I have been working on has finally come to a sort of fruition today - Egeria Orthodox Home and Hospitality Exchange is live and ready for visitors and membership registration!

For those who may not have heard yet, Egeria is a member-based service website matching Orthodox Christians and their friends for home and hospitality exchange worldwide. It is also a place to find Orthodox B&Bs around the world, or even to create your own B&B listing! So you can sit at home and make money off your Spare Oom. Yup.

On the site there is an extensive FAQ page to answer questions, plus lots of other travel tips and ideas. For a limited time only, we are offering one-year memberships for one penny! Sign up now; we will go to our regular prices soon!

To view the site itself, please visit EGERIAexchange.com

Thanks for reading. Happy travels!

Matushka Jenny Hainsworth
Egeria Orthodox Home Exchange, proprietor

Double Move-- we need help!

Dear Sprucies,

most of you will have heard about our upcoming move Friday November 27th-Sat. November 28th.


Because we are moving not one but TWO households in the 23 hour period Friday 5 pm to Sat. 4 pm, (yes, we are now wondering if we are all crazy!) we really need some extra hands!

The van will load at the Gascoigne caravan by the church late Friday afternoon, and unload in the Farleys' current garage and kitchen as soon as can be managed.

Reloading of the van with Farleys' household effects will begin Friday evening if at all possible, continue early Saturday morning, and be complete (God willing!) by noon, when we get the key to our new condo just a mile from what will then become our former residence and the new Gascoigne residence. We need to complete all the unloading and exchange the washer/dryer sets with the Gascoignes by 3pm Saturday so Greg can return the rental truck. WHEW!

I am especially concerned that we get a bit of muscle on Saturday to keep Fr. Lawrence from doing something to injure himself moving furniture. I hear he will be blessing the people doing this hard labour to have some meatless pizza and beer when the day is over....but if anyone participating prefers to keep the fast more strictly, we will order some sushi as well.

There -will- be vespers on Saturday the 28th, thanks to Fr. John Bingham's kindly serving. Choir might be a little thin, though, so if you attend, please be understanding! :-)

If you can help at any phase of this operation, please do call Fr. Lawrence on the church phone, or e-mail matdonna at shaw dot ca Any kind of help at all will be much appreciated by our two families!

Festal Liturgy Saturday Nov. 21st 9AM

Nativity of the Theotokos



note the early 9AM hour.

fish permitted at brunch afterward.


This is one of our rare chances for a Saturday Festal Liturgy.


Great way to start the day before you go out to (shudder!) start the Christmas shopping! :-)

Missionary Speaker James Hargrave to Speak next Sunday November 15th

The Orthodox Christian Mission Center is sending out missionary speakers to raise awareness, and one of these is Mr. James Hargrave, missionary to Tanzania.

He will be at St. Herman's next Sunday, November 15th, and will be talking to us about Orthodox Mission at lunch hour after liturgy.*

But if you can't be there, Mr. Hargrave will also be speaking at the Holy Cross Chaplaincy at UBC Fri. Nov. 13, 7 pm. Details at the Chaplaincy website.

And there is one other chance to hear him-- after Vespers Sat. Nov. 14th at St. John's in Vancouver.


* don't forget, next Sunday is the first day of Advent. Fish is allowed, but please no meat, eggs or cheese at the post-liturgy lunch at church.

Annual Advent Quiet Day for women of St. Herman's and friends

Date:	Saturday, 12 December 2009
Time:	11:00 - 17:00
Location:	Theresia L's house on the mountain

Beginning with an akathist, then a day of sitting about the fire, chatting, knitting, taking a walk outside.

An oasis of relaxation and feminine fellowship in the middle of the pre-Christmas rush.

Leave the kids with dad to catch up on their Christmas shopping!

The day will linger till time to leave for vespers or thereabouts.

Bring some Advent-friendly food to share (fish is allowed).

Write on the wall of the Facebook Event or comment on Spruce Island if you want to car pool with others in your area.

Ladies & friends of the parish

Calling all lovely ladies to

Amy L's house on

Friday, November 6th at 7:00pm.

Leave the kids at home with the men and come out to a (much needed, I'm sure) fun night out!!! No real agenda, just a group of awesome... ladies having fun and getting out of the house.

I live in Chilliwack and can email you directions if you need them. Please bring an appy or dish to share. I'll have some goodies out and a pretty good share of drinks (alcoholic and non alike), coffee, tea, etc.

PLEASE try to come out - it has been waaaaaaay too long since us ladies had our "breakfast" night out! :)

- Amy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Addendum from Mat. Donna: Macrina & I are both hoping to car pool from Langley. Deanna C from St. John's plans to join us, and she has a mini-van with room for several more passengers. If you are looking to car pool, please add a comment!

Upcoming Holy Cross Chaplaincy speakers

Glory to Jesus Christ!

It has been a long while since I posted anything here, but I thought that a few of the upcoming UBC chaplaincy special events and speakers might be of interest to some of the members and diaspora of St. Herman's!

1. On Tuesday, November 3rd, at 7pm, Fr. Mikhail Fourik will be serving Vespers and speaking about Russian Orthodoxy in Vancouver at St. Mark's College chapel at UBC.
2. On Friday, November 13th, at 7pm, OCMC missionary, James Hargrave, will be speaking to the members of the Holy Cross Chaplaincy and other UBC Christian clubs about Orthodox Missions at St. Mark's College chapel at UBC. (Note: He will also be speaking at St. Herman's after Liturgy on Sunday, November 15th, and at St. John's after Vespers on Saturday, November 14th.)
3. On Tuesday, November 17th, at 7pm, Fr. Lawrence Farley will be serving Vespers and speaking about English-language Orthodoxy in Vancouver at St. Mark's College chapel at UBC.
   

Holy Cross Orthodox Chaplaincy is a pan-Orthodox ministry to the students of UBC blessed by Archbishop Seraphim (OCA). Vespers, followed by a time of fellowship, is held at St. Mark's College chapel every Tuesday at 7pm while classes are in session at UBC. All are welcome!

As you may know "Hallowe'en" is the Eve of All Saints in the Western Church calendar.

Some of you may have seen a Facebook link to this Orthodox blogger's post (I snatched the above photo from there, I am sure they won't mind!):

An Orthodox Hallowe'en idea

You may want to try this at home.

Meanwhile, Fr. Lawrence has given us his blessing to set up an icon and candle container in the church porch Saturday evening, and hopefully we can get some pumpkins carved with crosses or the like to place in the church driveway to encourage trick or treaters to come. I for one am donating candy to give to any trick-or-treaters who come by, and we will offer them the chance to light a candle before the icon. The blogger who first got this idea says that the kids who come to his door almost never turn down this chance.

I think it possible we may not get many little visitors this year-- the weather is not expected to be good, and the majority of houses near the church are still under construction. If so, candy for lunch on Sunday! :-)

Please say a prayer for the safety of the children, community and emergency workers this Saturday too.

And finally, please remember that this weekend is also the end of Daylight Saving Time. Set your clock back one hour Saturday night for an extra hour of sleep!

Notes: Memorial Saturday Oct. 24, Women's gathering Fri. Nov. 6

This Saturday please bring the names of the departed to be remembered in a trisagion after vespers.

Advance note: There will be a women's gathering at Amy L's Fri. Nov. 6.

For all upcoming parish events and announcements, be sure to regularly check the calendar & notes at http://www.saintherman.net/

Welcome baby Adam!

Baby Adam F. has arrived. He and mom Andrea are reported doing well.

all is love.

The Shack

Review of ‘The Shack’, by William P. Young, published by Windblown Media

Despite its best-selling status in the Evangelical Protestant world (or perhaps because of it), I had resolved to somehow avoid reading this novel. The many questions and citations from the book with which I had already been bombarded by a parishioner told me all that I needed to know and more than enough to confirm my jaundiced opinion of it. But when another parishioner held the book up to my face after Liturgy with the request that I please read it and give my opinion, I felt that being a good pastor meant that I would have to slog through it after all.

I found that it was not heavy slogging, but was actually well-written and quite readable. I also found it to be quite heretical. Polite people, I’m told, don’t use the h-word anymore, and I myself like to save it for just such occasions as this. That is, the book does not just contain doctrinal errors. The presence of some errors do not justify use of the h-word. I use the h-word because the Trinity it proclaims is not recognizable as the holy Tri-une God revealed in the Scriptures. As St. Irenaeus says regarding heresy, it is as if someone deconstructed a mosaic of the face of the King and rearranged the pieces to create a mosaic of a fox, saying that this was the face of the King. All the pieces (or Scripture verses) used by the heretics are the same, but they have been dramatically altered out of all recognition. Though The Shack is a compelling read and has many valuable insights regarding the human heart and the state of Evangelical religion, I can no longer recognize the face of the King.

The novel tells the story of a father tragically bereft of his young daughter at the hands of a serial killer. Her body is never found, only her blood-soaked dress, which was recovered in an isolated shack. It is this shack to which the father is invited, much later, by God (in an apparently hand-delivered letter, signed only ‘papa’), so that God can reveal Himself, teach him some lessons and reform his heart (Christmas Carol, anyone?) The father, “Mackenzie” by name, goes alone to the shack to meet this ‘papa’, not knowing what to expect. Then God reveals Himself in a weekend-long retreat, full of good southern cooking, good weather and heart-warming laughter. And here is where the book makes me reach for the h-word.

The Trinity is revealed as three persons: not three hypostases, three persons. The Father is an older African-American woman, complete with southern accent (‘sho nuff’) who answers to the name ‘papa’, though she is “rather fond” of the name “Elousia”. (‘El’—God, and ‘ousia’—essence, get it?) She reminds me suspiciously of the Oracle in the movie The Matrix. The Son is a young man, “appearing Middle Eastern” and dressed in a tool belt and gloves, jeans and a plaid shirt; the Holy Spirit is a “small distinctly Asian woman” whose name is Sarayu. (I asked myself, why an Asian woman? Perhaps because Asians are supposed to be exotic and mysterious? Whatever.) The three are always affirming one another, saying how much they love each other, laughing, kidding around with each other, and giggling. I’m not making this up: giggling. And apparently, the Father appeared to Mackenzie as a mother because he had trouble with his father. Later, He would appear as an older man, with “silver-white hair pulled back into a pony tail, a gray-splashed moustache and a goatee”. (He reminded me of Willie Nelson.) And, straining to be profound, the author offers a fourth member, the woman “Sophia”. Sergius Bulgakov’s reaction can be imagined.

So, what’s the problem? Where to begin? For one thing, the Scriptures teach that the invisible Father, “whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16) is made visible only in His Son, who is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). Thus, the Father reveals Himself in His eternal Logos, so that all Old Testament theophanies of the Father were revelations of the Son, which is why St. John could write that Isaiah saw the glory of Christ when the prophet had his vision of the Lord of Hosts in the Temple (Is. 6:1f, Jn. 12:41). The Father and the Spirit, never having been made incarnate, have no visible image—they cannot be seen as two men, much less as two women.

But more alarmingly, the Trinity as pictured in The Shack is utterly devoid of any awe-inspiring numinus Moses may have been full of fear and trembling at the manifestation of the God of Sinai (Heb. 12:21), Isaiah may have declared himself undone at the sight of the Lord of Hosts in the Temple (Is. 6:5), Ezekiel may have fallen on the face before the Lord at the River Chebar (Ezek. 1:28) and even St. John fell at the feet of the glorified Christ as if he were dead (Rev. 1:17). But the sight of the Trinity in this volume excites no such reaction at all. All is warm and casual, comforting and cozy—a God who giggles, and calls you ‘honey’, a God who drops and breaks crockery, a God who never condemns or is disappointed in any of us. In short, the God who is your buddy, so characteristic of modern Evangelicalism and celebrated in their feel-good choruses. It is not the God invoked in our baptismal service, “whose glance dries up the deep, whose interdict makes the mountains melt away”, the God who “touches the mountains and they smoke, who clothes Himself with light as with a garment”. All of the other errors and mis-steps of the volume pale in comparison with this basic mis-presentation of the divine. The awesome God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has become the comfortable demi-god of the emergent church. The face of the King has been distorted to resemble the face of a fox.

A commendation on the book’s cover says that the book “has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his”. For the sake of our Evangelical brethren, we can only hope not.



--Archpriest Lawrence R. Farley

Langley, B.C.

Saturday Oct 3rd Pilgrimage

Hey,

Is anyone going to Holy Resurrection on saturday? we are looking for a ride for a couple of islanders to and from the church from the ferries. We have a few options, but we thought this would be a good pond to fish in.


Thanks!



David

Vehicle for sale

Angie Pyper asked me to post this. She felt Horst would have liked people from our community to have first chance at his vehicle. Please call her at the number given if you are interested.-- Mat. D.

FOR SALE

1996 MAZDA MPV 4WD

LOW KILOMETERS

$4000

Contact: Angie Pyper(Horst Arnekker’s daughter)

604 513 1707

1996 Mazda MPV 4WD, 176,393 KMS. Sony CD/MP3 Player, Standard safety equipment includes dual airbags, anti-lock brake system (ABS), and rear child safety locks. 3.0-liter 155-horsepower V6 engine and a 4-speed automatic transmission. Power windows, reclining front bucket seats and body-side moldings. Tilt steering wheel, cruise control, power mirrors and door locks. Regularly Serviced at Wolf Langley Mazda, no accidents, second owner.

Pochaev Icon at Holy Resurrection Vancouver Weekend of Oct 3-4

I tried to paste in the schedule, but could not get the table right--- and I could not find anything on Holy Resurrection's website....but there is information on the Archdiocesan website here:


http://www.archdiocese.ca/news.htm

classic jack chick tracts

(I post this simply because somebody at church the other day had no idea who I was talking about when I made a reference to jack chick. theologically, these tracts are highly HIGHLY questionable... to put it mildly)

Ouch/Hooray

Brothers and sisters,

Yesterday on my way to a job interview I fell off my scooter and broke my elbow. By your prayers it's only a minor break. The doctor said if it had broken any further, it would have meant surgery. I have no cast or anything, but what I can do with it will be limited for an undetermined amount of time. I work with my hands so this is a bit a concern for me. The job interview went well, but if my elbow is still useless in a week, I won't be able to take the job. I ask for your prayers over the next week as this thing begins to heal and I try to figure what on earth I'm going to do. I'm not really in any pain, just thinking about income and whathaveyou. Thanks very much to all of you. I appreciate your prayers.

Your servant,

Andrew Seraphim

PS I am open to non-arm-related job suggestions if things don't heal quickly. Thanks again.

Not quite the transfiguration

I'm sure Fr. Lawrence would say "more like DISfiguration",
I have found an orthodox tattoo artist in california, he was featured in the most recent again magazine, his name is Turbo Qualls, and I am thinking that if we can arrange a bunch of us who want to have a tattoo done at some point, (no hurry here, maybe by next year we have it all arranged) he will come up and tattoo us here. he's from california, and if he had a weekend or so of work, maybe he would pay his own way because it would be worth it. one of us could put him up, and then if we were to get orthodox tattoos, it would be by someone who understands orthodoxy. he is also an iconographer in training, so he really does get the idea of holy images. He is a convert in the last five years or so.
caveat 1. I have never met the man in person, but we have mutual friends from california.
caveat 2. I have not spoken to him about rates etc.

but I thought I should put it out there. If I ever get another tattoo, I want it to be done by someone who is orthodox.

Georgie's surgery tomorrow & Liturgy/Cross procession Saturday

UPDATE Friday 2 pm:

By your prayers, Georgie came through the surgery even better than expected and is now in the recovery ward. DV and again by your prayers, she will continue to recover well and hopefully be able to go home as early as Sunday.

Thank you all for your prayers and concern!--Mat. D.

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Little Georgie's surgery for her umbilical hernia will be tomorrow at 10 am.

Please pray for God's blessing on the doctors and nurses for a safe, uncomplicated procedure and recovery. She will remain in the hospital for a couple of days after, and Rhiannon will remain with her.

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Also, for Saturday's 9 AM Liturgy & Cross Procession please see the post below.....apparently I didn't do the right thing so that it would be 'scheduled' and post here automatically earlier in the week, so sorry for the last minute reminder. Since tomorrow is a Friday and Saturday starts the Dormition fast, this is your last meat day till Aug 15th. Enjoy your BBQS today! :-)

so much goodness and beauty.

Looking for some wheels

Hello all. If anyone happens to know of someone (reliable) selling a car in the range of $1500 (give or take - preferably take), please call me at 604-858-5421.

thanks!
Dan

St. Arseny Camp Video 2008 by FDK

St. Arseny Camp 2008 from victoria jordan on Vimeo.

Welcome wee Lydia!

just got the word that Hannah & Andriy's new wee one Lydia has arrived! Welcome little girl and many years, health and salvation to all the family!

we make tything easy!

everyone is advised that we now have the option of tything to St. Herman's without really having to think about it. how you may ask? well we have signed up for an automatic withdrawal program through our bank which means you can have a specific amount debited from one of your accounts as frequently as you desire. this donation will be tracked the same way that a cash or cheque donation is tracked and everything is still tax deductible. this system makes it easier for those of us who are never able to find their cheque book and never carry cash.

if you want to sign up for this please bring a blank cheque to church and track down Muryn. she'll need about 5 minutes of your time so that the form can be filled out and signed.

questions? contact Muryn or Ramona and they try to answer them

Polyphenols and Communion

An excellent post from an Orthodox blogger who is a medical researcher about

communion and concerns about the common cup:

Eastern Christian New Media Awards

For those of you who like to read Orthodox blogs, listen to podcasts etc., you may want to nominate your favorites here:


http://ecawards.blogspot.com/

I just liked this image.

a little shameless advertising...

Hi everyone,

As you may have heard, Gabe is now working from home as an insurance

 broker for ACD Insurance. With his and I each now working from home, and owning our own businesses, we have sunk to shameless advertising and posting messages like this to our friends :)

So if you have a house, car, or business with the insurance needs coming up soon, please think of Gabe! 

I am currently working as his marketing genius, and we are trying to think of a new catch phrase for him. But until we come up with something better, he still wants to go with "Help a brotha' out"

:)

If you need to get ahold of Gabe you can call his cell 604-791-1766 or send him an email gabe (at) acdinsurance (dot) com.

Pascha 2009

one of my favourites

The bells were a fantastic addition to our Paschal weekend.

St. Tikhon & 'STAS'

Hello there friends,

Glory to Jesus Christ!
It's Matthew from St. Herman's sister parish in Edmonton. You will all probably hear this letter read this weekend (posted below - click on image for a larger view) from our beloved Archbishop SERAPHIM. It is a call to remember and seek the prayers of St. Tikhon, whose feast day is next Tuesday, April 7th. St. Tikhon was the Bishop for all Orthodox Christians in North America from 1898 until 1907. There are a few elders in our parish whose parents remembered him!

If you are able, please consider joining the St. Tikhon Archdiocesan Stewards. This voluntary program provides an opportunity for people to give 'above and beyond' their local giving to support the work of the Church across Canada. Many of you know well Deacon Gregory Scratch and his family, who attended St. Herman's in Langley for several years. Father Deacon Gregory is leading this program with great enthusiasm and vision. Already, "STAS" is funding the work of Vladyka SERAPHIM's Episcopal Secretary, Protodeacon Nazari. The Archbishop says that since Protodeacon Nazari has come on board, his desk no longer resembles the rocky mountains - it's more like Saskatchewan!

If you are not yet able to faithfully support your local community, then, as a Christian, that comes first. If however, you are able to make a small, regular gift, then please pray and consider becoming a St. Tikhon Archdiocesan Steward.

Okay, here ends the commercial.

With love in the Lord

- Matthew

time for another: