Our various outreach activities at St. John's
ACW (Anglican Church Workers)
All in the parish are invited to be part of the ACW. We meet on the third Monday of every month (except July & August) at noon in the church. Our purpose as Anglican workers is to provide the opportunity for all in the diocese to be united in fellowship of worship, learning and offering with a view to deepen and strengthen their devotional life.
We support our church through fundraising and then put these funds to work for our parish and diocese. Our ACW supports the Sanctuary Guild (more information below) and also looks after the kitchen in the church. Over the past few years we have provided a new stove, dishwasher, refrigerator and coffee urns.
We support our church through fundraising and then put these funds to work for our parish and diocese. Our ACW supports the Sanctuary Guild (more information below) and also looks after the kitchen in the church. Over the past few years we have provided a new stove, dishwasher, refrigerator and coffee urns.
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Some of our yearly activities and projects include:
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Our Outreach program includes:
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Friendly Visitors Group
The friendly church visitors’ program at St. John’s is an outreach program led by the Rector encouraging congregational members to visit people who are no longer able to attend our church but have the desire to stay connected with us. Typically, two-person teams or individuals visit nursing homes or private homes, once or twice a month.
These visits are very rewarding to the visitor, mainly because the people visited are so very pleased to see people from the church and eager to explain to them what has been, or is, going on in their lives. Most visits consist of offering opportunities to ask questions about the church, listening to their stories, offering them a current bulletin, or any other information of interest to them and, if wanted, having a brief prayer.
The group generally meets together 2-3 times a year to report the status of the visitees, to exchange visitation experiences any new ideas for the future.
These visits are very rewarding to the visitor, mainly because the people visited are so very pleased to see people from the church and eager to explain to them what has been, or is, going on in their lives. Most visits consist of offering opportunities to ask questions about the church, listening to their stories, offering them a current bulletin, or any other information of interest to them and, if wanted, having a brief prayer.
The group generally meets together 2-3 times a year to report the status of the visitees, to exchange visitation experiences any new ideas for the future.
L'Arche Homefires larchehomefires.org
L’Arche Homefires was founded in Wolfville in 1981 with the support of friends and local churches. They are a community of people with and without developmental disabilities working and living together in five homes, two supported apartments and three day programs.
In 2012, L’Arche purchased St. John’s former Church Hall planning to renovate and expand it. With the support of St. John’s congregation and the generosity of many donors, they now have a resplendent building in which to consolidate day programs, create accessible workplaces, and enhance our community gatherings and welcome friends.
Their links with St. John’s continue to be close, sharing spiritual needs and community activities.
They seek to offer not a solution, but a sign - a sign that society, to be truly human, must be founded on welcome and respect for all people whatever their abilities.
In 2012, L’Arche purchased St. John’s former Church Hall planning to renovate and expand it. With the support of St. John’s congregation and the generosity of many donors, they now have a resplendent building in which to consolidate day programs, create accessible workplaces, and enhance our community gatherings and welcome friends.
Their links with St. John’s continue to be close, sharing spiritual needs and community activities.
They seek to offer not a solution, but a sign - a sign that society, to be truly human, must be founded on welcome and respect for all people whatever their abilities.
WAICC (Wolfville Area Inter-Church Council) waicc.org
St. John’s Anglican Church was instrumental in the founding of the Wolfville Area Inter-Church Council. This was founded in 1970 as a form of ecumenical Christian commitment to address perceived spiritual and social needs. Some of the projects undertaken include Senior Citizen Housing which developed into Blomidon View Manor, the existing Meals-on-Wheels program, and most ambitious of all, the Interchurch Housing Society which created decent affordable housing for poverty-stricken families. The Wolfville Area Inter-Church Council in conjunction with various community organizations, such as the Wolfville Rotary Club and the Wolfville Lions Club, has operated a Christmas Food Program. A year round Emergency Food Relief program has been added. These two food programs currently represent the major on-going social commitment of the Council and cover the area in which the supporting congregations are located.
The spiritual needs of the community have been attended to by a continuing program of public seminars, lectures, workshops, and religious services organized by the Council and financed out of annual dues paid by the member churches. These churches also contribute financially to the food programs in addition to monies donated by individual members of their congregations and various church organizations. This council fosters ongoing collaboration between the various denominations in the area.
The spiritual needs of the community have been attended to by a continuing program of public seminars, lectures, workshops, and religious services organized by the Council and financed out of annual dues paid by the member churches. These churches also contribute financially to the food programs in addition to monies donated by individual members of their congregations and various church organizations. This council fosters ongoing collaboration between the various denominations in the area.
PWRDF (Primate's World Relief and Development Fund) pwrdf.org
Health and well-being – without one, the other simply isn’t possible. Likewise, the well-being of humans isn’t possible without a healthy planet; something we are discovering every day as we face a growing and global climate crisis.
This theme is at the centre of PWRDF’s 2024 Lent Resource. Every day of the Lenten season, you will receive a daily email with a reflection from Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat, on what health, well-being and good living require of us in our lives and our relationships with one another, with creation and with God. As you will read, things begin to break down when human beings separate themselves from creation, exploiting it as a commodity, or separate from and exploit one another. In so doing, we separate ourselves from the Creator.
And so, on this journey through Lent, PWRDF invites you to join Dr. Keesmaat as she walks with us, meditating on our current climate crisis and the well-being of ALL of creation, human and non-human, and offering us lessons in repair and restoration that are both profoundly ancient and current.
About Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat
Renowned biblical scholar, Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat is the past co-chair of the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care for the Diocese of Toronto. She offers on-line courses at Bible Remixed, and speaks widely on issues connected to climate justice and the Bible. Sylvia is the co-author, with Brian Walsh, of Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice, and is currently writing a book on ecological grief and hope in the biblical story. She lives on Russet House Farm, an off-grid permaculture farm in the Kawartha Lakes of Southern Ontario, on the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig Anishnaabeg, with her husband, Brian Walsh, and a fluctuating number of people and animals.
This theme is at the centre of PWRDF’s 2024 Lent Resource. Every day of the Lenten season, you will receive a daily email with a reflection from Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat, on what health, well-being and good living require of us in our lives and our relationships with one another, with creation and with God. As you will read, things begin to break down when human beings separate themselves from creation, exploiting it as a commodity, or separate from and exploit one another. In so doing, we separate ourselves from the Creator.
And so, on this journey through Lent, PWRDF invites you to join Dr. Keesmaat as she walks with us, meditating on our current climate crisis and the well-being of ALL of creation, human and non-human, and offering us lessons in repair and restoration that are both profoundly ancient and current.
About Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat
Renowned biblical scholar, Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat is the past co-chair of the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care for the Diocese of Toronto. She offers on-line courses at Bible Remixed, and speaks widely on issues connected to climate justice and the Bible. Sylvia is the co-author, with Brian Walsh, of Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice, and is currently writing a book on ecological grief and hope in the biblical story. She lives on Russet House Farm, an off-grid permaculture farm in the Kawartha Lakes of Southern Ontario, on the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig Anishnaabeg, with her husband, Brian Walsh, and a fluctuating number of people and animals.
