A Week in the Life

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

A social week at SPPC this time. On Thursday, Friendship Coffee gathered in the Ross Lounge. It was crowded and loud but enjoyable.

Thanks to Brian and Vivien, Al and Irene for continuing to host this popular ministry.

On Friday afternoon, the "Out to Lunch Bunch" ten of them, met at the Thai Corner restaurant. They had such a good time, no one remembered to take pictures! No one forgot to eat.

Also on Friday afternoon, about 25 people from the Parkinson's Disease Support group used our building for a meeting and a slide show.

I mentioned that Friendship Coffee met in the lounge instead of in the hall, as usual. The reason for the change was heat. Our brand new heat pump was hooked up using our really old breaker box. Early in the week the breaker box shut off the power. This has happened before and a little judicious jiggling has made the system work. This time, the breaker box was well and truly kaput. 

Old breaker box

Shiny new breaker box

Since the issue with the breaker box had been developing for some time, the replacement had been scheduled for Monday. However, since we had no heat on Thursday, V.I. Electric moved us to the front of the line, expedited the delivery of new parts, and worked all day on Friday to ensure the congregation could meet in comfort on Sunday morning.

Many thanks to Todd, Aaron and Derek for their understanding, expertise and great service. 

Notice the bright red lever -- new breaker switch                                                                        

New breaker box installed along with enhanced railing.

$20.00 DEALS.

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

Thanks to our clerk of session for this week's blog post.

   Two quite different outings this week, both worth the $20.00 for each event.

The first one on Thursday with the ‘Out to Lunch Bunch’ when 13 of our congregation enjoyed lunch together at Zanzibar. We had a wonderful time of laughter, chatting and eating on a beautiful warm Spring Day.

You should join us next time & yes, my lunch and drink came in just under $20 00.

Then on Saturday, being International Organ Day, I caught the bus and went on an Organ Crawl with about 30 other people. It was arranged by the Royal Canadian College of Organists. Registration fee was $20.00! Proceeds were split between the RCCO Hart Memorial Scholarship Fund and the venues.

Both events were so enjoyable and worth every penny.

What an adventure this one was!

The morning was scheduled from 10:00am to 12:15pm, however, were didn’t finish until 1:00 pm.

Our host for the day was Mark MacDonald the Assistant Director of Music for the Cathedral. Mark is an internationally recognized performer, choral director, and teacher, based in Victoria and very knowledgeable regarding the 3 churches and their organs.

We met at the Church of our Lord, from there we walked to St. Ann’s Academy and finally up the hill to Christ Church Cathedral.

The Church of Our Lord, built in 1866-1870 and is located at 626 Blanshard Street in Victoria, it is an historic Carpenter Gothic church that is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. A typical Anglican Church.

The oldest extant organ in B.C. stands in the chancel of this building where it has been since 1876 and came from America.

The organ, was purchased by Sir James Douglas and was transported to the brand-new Church of Our Lord and set up by John Bergstrom in 1875

Bishop Cridge, Emily Carr, Sir James Douglas and other such well known people have most likely sat in the pews and heard this organ.

Across the road at St Ann’s Academy, we found a very different venue.

It has a French-Canadian history.  The chapel, now deconsecrated but it is still used for weddings, was built in Roman Catholic French style, very ornate, lots of gold paint, very open and bright. The organ too is French and located in the loft at the rear of the church. The organ is by a French company started by Joseph Casavant of Montreal.

 

Finally, to the Cathedral which houses 5 organs that I counted, the largest being housed at the rear of the Cathedral up in the organ loft. This was an adventure in itself getting up there.

This one was built by Hellmuth Wolff a Canadian organ builder.

Mark played all of the 3 main organs at each church and here at the Cathedral he played, Holst’s, The Planets – Mars, as the grand finale.

Standing right by the organ console was an amazing experience and loud!

So that we could compare all of the organs, Mark played Judas Maccabeus by Handel (Thine be the Glory) @ each location.

There was so much more information that I could share, the background history of the churches and the organs in which they are housed but time and space is limited. If you are interested in more, just Google them.

 

 

 

 

 

The Week that Was

 The link to this week's live-streamed service is here.

Friendship Coffee in the Rose Garden

 We've had a very social week at SPPC. Whether it's the good weather, the approach of summer holidays, or the phase of the moon, for whatever reason, folk at Saanich Peninsula Presbyterian Church have been in a visiting frame of mind.

On Thursday morning, Friendship Coffee was held in the rose garden beside the Sidney library. Covid prompted the use of that outdoor space when we couldn't meet

indoors. There are no longer restrictions on gatherings but so many people enjoyed the rose garden that Friendship Coffee gatherings are now held there by choice rather than necessity, when the weather is good.

And then . . .

On Thursday afternoon, the "out to lunch" bunch met at Zanzibar restaurant in Brentwood Bay to share some delicious food and lots of conversation. 

The special was a chicken and brie wrap that proved very popular.

Finally, on Saturday evening, the DieMahler Ensemble, with our own Larry, played a concert at SPPC. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. The music included some familiar favourites. The audience of around 30 enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere- no numbered seats, no usher

checking tickets. A share of the proceeds went to the church resulting in over $200.00 being donated to our Food Bank Drive. 

Speaking of the Food Bank Drive, don't forget the draw next week for the flower baskets. You still have time to make a donation (cash or food items) and get your name in the hat.

On Wednesday we continue our study of The Apostles' Creed. We confess this statement to our faith at every Lord's Supper. Considering and studying what "I believe," is time well spent. All are welcome, even if you haven't been there before.

Food Fests

On Sunday morning, our clerk of session announced that we eat too much but we enjoy it. I'll say we enjoy it. Here are a few examples of our gastronomic indulgence.

Betty had her 90th birthday, so we had cake.

We began the "out to lunch" program as an experiment in June. It has definitely been successful. Last week there were 16 people enjoying food and fellowship at the Waddling Dog. Our next event will be Oct. 3 at Good Fortune Restaurant in Sidney. Sign up in the narthex.

June at Smitty's

July at Spitfire

August at Beacon Landing

Sept. lunch at Waddling Dog

Don't forget, next Sunday, we're celebrating fall with a hot dog lunch after worship service. 

They say an army travels on its belly. I have a notion that Presbyterians do too. 

Season's Round-up

The end of the school year signals the end of regular programs at SPPC as well. We are now all on summer schedule. Among other things, that means no choir on Sunday morning. Of course, before we went on holiday, the choir went out to dinner. 

At Mary's where the servings were generous!

Speaking of eating, the out-to-lunch-bunch had their second outing on July 4th. Some wore red,white and blue in honour of the US holiday. This time we were at the Spitfire Grill with 21 attendees. 

Next month, August 1, we'll be at the Beacon Landing in Sidney's waterfront hotel. But sure to sign up on the sheet in the narthex if you plan to attend. Obviously, the event is popular and we need to give enough notice to the restaurants we patronize.

When we're not eating out. We're celebrating with food after service. There have been a number of special birthdays lately. 

Carla invited us all to share a cake with her. 

Barb Chorlton celebrated her 102nd birthday, with help from some of the congregation at the Sunshine lunch earlier in June.

 And, finally, Helen Ewing celebrated her 97th birthday on Sunday. Both the cake and Helen look terrific.

The flowers in the sanctuary on Sunday were dedicated to God and in thanksgiving for family. At SPPC we are blessed not only with our birth family, but with the family of believers that make up this congregation. Loving hearts who share joy and sorrow, laughter and singing and occasional tears. Let us give thanks for all those who make up the family of God. Ephesians 2: 19-22