Amidst much continuing uncertainty and anxiety, we begin a new congregational year with a focus upon one of the foundations of Christian faith, one that I see symbolized so movingly in this drawing of Van Gogh. 

My eyes are drawn to the hands of this man, entwined, and they make me think of prayer. Not the position of prayer, but the relationships of prayer. I think of prayer involving two hands, one hand being mine and the other being that of the Holy One holding mine, holding me, holding us. Prayer is a relationship with God, intimate. Prayer is the assurance we know in Christ, that we are loved with a love that will not let us go. These weeks of autumn we will explore our lives through the prayer that Jesus taught us, the Lord’s Prayer.

The doors of the sanctuary will re-open for worship at 10:30 a.m. (Please see the previous post for the protocols and shape of the service). The service will also be live-streamed, available at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning and anytime after at … https://youtu.be/vUQgX0h5wkQ

Free parking is available Sunday mornings in the surface civic lot off Queen Street behind St. Andrew’s, and on the streets of the neighbourhood – please note that time-of-day restrictions north of Queen are not enforced on Sundays. For accessible entrance to the sanctuary, please use the ramp by the door along Princess Street.


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Being introduced to the dynamics of live-streaming!

Here in Kingston it is a beautiful snowy winter day. We have procured a mini shovel with which to greet our one year old grandson when he arrives next week – he has work to do!

It is a season when we can be overwhelmed by all the work that is ours. It is not just the shovelling or the preparations for the gatherings of friends and family that can fill these weeks. We are all aware also of the work that is ours as neighbours and global citizens – from advocating for the unhoused in these winter days when the city shelters are full, to exploring ways we can encourage a transition into a culture and an economy that will respect this world sufficiently to leave it intact for the next generation (and to the glory of God). It can be overwhelming.

It is exactly at a time like this that Christian faith comes to the fore. Many of us in the Presbyterian Church in Canada are joining together in reading daily devotions by Walter Bruggemann, ‘Celebrating Abundance’. The emphasis is on rejecting the contemporary emphasis on ‘scarcity’ and living into the ‘abundance’ of God’s promises and provision for us and for all. As I turned the pages this past week, I thought about how Bruggemann once said to a group of ministers … ‘Few of our people imagine God to be an active character in the story of their lives’.

We may believe in God, but we treat God as somewhat detached and passive, involved perhaps just at the end of lives, on the periphery between this world and another. Generations of God’s people before us have thought of God very differently. They declared that God does things, that God is constantly at work among us, for good …

 

Corby Eisbacher

This sense of wonder and joy that God is at work is what Mary and Elizabeth share when they meet. Mary makes clear that it is not just the child growing in her womb that God is working, but a new humanity and new world through that child/Christ. We can hear her she sing to this day … ‘God has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts and put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree. God has filled the hungry will good things and the rich God has sent empty away’ (Luke 1:46-55) and so much more. God is at work, and in that work of God we find assurance and strength … to work with God. 

That big shovel belongs to God. That little shovel is mine and ours.

If you are in the area, we warmly invite you to join the worship of God. Certified child care is offered during the service and there is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service. If you have any questions about forthcoming events and opportunities, please call the church office Tuesday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, 613-546-6316, or email [email protected]

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Join us next Sunday as we continue our journey to Christmas and light the third candle of Advent during a service of Lessons and Carols led by the choir of St. Andrew’s.

Albrecht Dürer,1512

Albrecht Dürer, 1512
The National Gallery of Canada

It is Reformation Sunday. It is good to look back and thank God for the reformation of the Church, for the return of … the Bible to the people, the singing God’s praise to the congregation, grace and sovereignty to God and God alone. I look forward to the hymn of Martin Luther ‘A mighty fortress is our God’ and joining in the prayer of John Calvin ‘I greet thee, who my Redeemer art’.

But I know this Sunday also challenges me with the truth that the Church is to ‘reformed and always reforming’. Yes, there are dimensions of Christian faith that are eternally valid. But how they are experienced and communicated change from one generation to another, from one context to another. And these changes must not only be acknowledged, but welcomed.

As we continue to journey through the Gospel according to Mark, we arrive at a scene in which Jesus speaks of overcoming ‘a strong man’ (Mark 3:20-27) and plundering his possessions. If this strong man were the Evil One, then it would be humanity that was in bondage. If Jesus has broken in and released us, how do we live this new and gracious freedom in our generation and culture? 

Albrecht Dürer engraved this scene in 1512, just five years after Martin Luther began his service of Christ in the Church. It shows Christ ‘harrowing hell’, liberating God’s people who had died before his life, death and resurrection. I have enjoyed meditating upon this print with relation to this parable of Jesus early in his ministry. After all, is the resurrection life something lived only the other side of the grave? Is freedom not a particular way of life now as well as from the ultimate hold of death?

If you are in the area, we warmly invite you to join the worship of God. With great joy we will be welcoming new members. And after the service, if you have time to linger, have a seat at our monthly congregational lunch and allow us the opportunity to introduce ourselves.

Certified child care is offered during the service and there is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service. If you have any questions about forthcoming events and opportunities, please call the church office Tuesday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, 613-546-6316, or email [email protected]

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Join us next Sunday, November 3, for the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

In loving remembrance of George Davidson, an Elder of this church for 50 years, who died 4th of May 1891, and of his wife Helen Caruthers who died 7th of May 1885, erected by their daughter.

These Sundays of summer we are exploring the gospel through the stained glass windows of the sanctuary of St. Andrew’s. This morning the Mary and Martha window, the first that greets us as we walk in the main doors of the sanctuary.

I love the pomegranates that provide a border to this scene – how exotic they would have been in Kingston of the late nineteenth century! And I am moved by the dedicatory words – an unnamed daughter remembering her parents. I wonder if one of her parents was a ‘Mary’ and another a ‘Martha’? And what does being a ‘Mary’ or a ‘Martha’ mean anyway?

This story from the gospel according to Luke (10:38-42) certainly bears hearing and considering again, for oft has it been misunderstood and misapplied.

We warmly welcome you to join us. Certified child care is offered during the service and there is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service. If you have any questions about forthcoming events and opportunities, please call the church office Tuesday -Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, 613-546-6316, or email [email protected]

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Photo Credit: Paul Bennett (England) – Eternal Dawn

I know that in the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition, every Sunday is celebrated as an Easter Sunday, but I have to admit there is something special about THE Easter Sunday that comes round once a year! The strong hymns of praise, the wonderful gospel narrative, and even the display of flowers proclaim the joy that we know in the resurrection of Jesus, and in the presence and promises of the Living Lord with us. ‘Greetings’ and then ‘Be not afraid’ the risen Jesus spoke to those women on Easter Morn (Matthew 28:9-10), and words he speaks to each of us today.

Jesus Christ is risen today, hallelujah!
Thine be the glory, risen conquering son!

If you are in the area, we warmly invite you to join in the worship of God. Have a look at the Order of Service below (and also the announcements – please consider each a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service).

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

If you have any questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email [email protected] (But please note the Church Office will be closed Easter Monday!)


Please join us Sunday April 14, 2019

If you are in the area, we warmly invite you to join in the worship of God. Have a look at the Order of Service below (and also the announcements – please consider each a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service).

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

This morning we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. All who ‘love the Lord a little and yearn to love him more’ are invited to join us in this sacrament of God’s love.

If you have any questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email [email protected]

PLEASE JOIN US Sunday March 24th!

If you are in the area, we warmly invite you to join in the worship of God. Have a look at the Order of Service below (and also the announcements – please consider each a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service).

During the service there is offered a nursery for infants and a programme for young children if desired. There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. There is a wheel chair lift available in the doors of the church closest to the manse (the courtyard is entered from the driveway half way along the St. Andrew’s block of Clergy Street) and a wheelchair ramp is available by ramp and door along Princess Street.

A special welcome to the Rev. Dr. William Morrow who is our preacher this morning. Bill received his Masters of Divinity from Knox College Toronto, is Full Professor in the Queen’s School of Religion, and is non-stipendiary priest of the Anglican Church, currently serving at St. James Church on Union Street.

If you have any other questions, please call the church office Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email [email protected] For matters of pastoral care during the Minister’s absence, please contact Alberta Saunders, Clerk of Session – [email protected]