We have had a few changes since our original Year Ahead Newsletter went out. Please note the following changes. 

Bishop Anna Greenwood-Lee will ordain Leslie Flynn and Lynn Mills to the Sacred Order of the Deacon (transitional) on September 14th, at 7pm at Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria. All are welcome to attend. 

This event will also be livestreamed. To watch the livestream, please click on the livestream icon below at the correct time and date of the Ordination Service.

Please join us for the collation and installation of The Ven. Craig Hiebert as Regional Archdeacon of Greater Victoria. The service will take place at Wednesday, September 27th at the 5pm Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral.

We invite you to join the celebration. There will be a reception after the service.  

If you are Clergy, an Officer or a Canon, and would like to process for this event, please RSVP by clicking on the button below. The deadline to RSVP is September 15th.

During the month of September this year, parishes will be able to offer an opportunity to complete Safe Church Training in person for our Volunteers. Volunteers are also welcome to complete Safe Church Training through our online learning platform, Praesidium.

In addition to each parish offering this opportunity, the Synod Office will also be providing a session. Anyone from any of our parishes is more than welcome to attend but registration is required. You can do so by clicking on the registration button.

There is a maximum attendance of 30 people for this event. It will take place at Christ Church Cathedral in the Chapter Room. Registrants will be contacted prior to the event with any additional forms or materials they may need to complete prior to the training session. 

Any questions or information about this event can be directed to Anna van der Hooft at safechurch@bc.anglican.ca. Any questions about in-person training opportunities at your parish should be directed to your Safe Church Liaison or Parish Administrator.

St. George, Cadboro Bay is hosting an in person gathering to watch the Evolving Faith Conference on Oct 13th an 14th. If you are interested in attending or learning more, please visit the St. George website by CLICKING HERE.

Want to learn:

• The best way to Invite newcomers to your parish?
• Welcome them when they visit?
• Connect them with parish life and community so they belong?

You are invited to attend the Invite Welcome Connect workshops on October 12^th (part one) & 13^th (part two) at Church of the Advent, Colwood. (and via Zoom)

This is an invitation for parish leadership teams to learn some of the best ways to foster church vitality and growth, to re-examine their own parish systems, and then to create strategies for new ways of doing things and implement those strategies.

What is Invite Welcome Connect?

The ministry of Invite Welcome Connect is a useful framework, gathering existing best practice and supporting its parish implementation in ways that thrive in today’s culture.  It equips and empowers congregations to practice invitation, hospitality, and connectedness. Invite Welcome Connect relies on the collaborative creativity of clergy and laity who choose to actively, intentionally embody the principles of hospitality, making this method adaptable to any parish, age group, or location.

Invite Welcome Connect is not a program, it is a ministry that moves parishes from a maintenance culture to a Gospel-driven mission culture. Its strength lies in the excellence of the workshops, the accessibility and applicability of its resources, and the ways to acknowledge and work with the discomfort some of us might have with inviting people to join us in worship or fellowship.

Each person who attends the workshop will receive a copy of the award-winning book, Invite Welcome Connect: Stories & Tools to Transform Your Church, published by Forward Movement in 2018. This book will be used for the follow-up Zoom book study in October and November that can be used by parishes to design and implement their strategies                                                                                            

Workshops October 12 & 13

Mary Parmer will run a two-part workshop at Church of the Advent on Thurs Oct 12 - Fri Oct13. Each evening starts with a finger supper at 6 PM, the session begins at 6.30, and ends at 9.30 PM (Thurs), and 9 PM (Fri). These sessions will be livestreamed as a Zoom webinar for those who cannot attend in person, and who wish to participate in the Q & A afterwards. The sessions will be recorded for the use of our Diocese. The workshops will be followed by a 6-week implementation book study via Zoom during October and November, in which parishes could work together to create a strategy for their parish, and the steps to implement that strategy.

Watch out for an email this week with further details, costs and the registration form.