While Easter itself has come and gone, the season of Easter lasts until Pentecost (May 24th) for the purpose of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We are still in that season of Easter to embrace joy in Christ’s victory over sin and death.  We are still remembering anew our life in Christ in the promise of eternal life.  This season is one of renewal and hope.

Like new flowers well rooted and bursting expectantly from the soil, at St. Giles we are celebrating new life through various events, including the Walk for Housing, the Labyrinth Cafe, the monthly Speaker Series and the St. Giles Orchestra.  We celebrate life by welcoming new people to our community, and we share our joy with neighbours through our front sign, our 24 hour accessible Labyrinth, and various ministries to the community such as Inn From the Cold.  We are blessed to share God’s light with the world.

We welcome ‘The Vine Church’ led by Pastor James Cho on Sunday afternoons, ‘Wellbriety’ led by Willy Anderson on Saturday afternoons, and Kaiden Reding in the office (Tuesday-Friday, 9-2) to our community.  We are grateful that God has led all of these people to St. Giles, and look forward to sharing our space, our walk, our work, and our lives with them!  We are all God’s people called to bless each other with the joy and peace of fellowship that emanates from St. Giles.

This week in worship at St. Giles, we are grateful for the leadership of Rev. Bruce Clendening from the Presbytery of Calgary-Macleod.  He will be helping us lean into Christ’s reassurance of “Do not let your hearts be troubled” from John 14, and inviting us to dive deeper into what it means to follow ‘the way, the truth and the life.’  The bulletin for the service – with the announcements for the week – is attached.  Please consider downloading and printing the bulletin if there appears to be formatting issues on screen.

On a personal note, I look forward to returning from holidays!  You are all deeply missed, and I pray that your studies, ministries, fellowship and worship has fed your souls and fed the souls of others.  Thank you for all you each do to let your lives reflect Christ, our resurrected Lord!  See you next week!

As we approach the third Sunday of Easter, we can consider God’s promises to us.  God has promised to be faithful to us and we can respond by seeking to live out our faith and love one another as God loves us.

Here’s some additional information to the attached bulletin:

Walk for Housing: Saturday May 2 at 3:30.

Join us in our “Spring Walk for Housing” in support of Home Space Society to raise critical funds to create and maintain safe, affordable homes for families who need them most. You can join the St. Giles team or donate by clicking this link.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/team/st-giles-team-2

You can also donate through St. Giles by e-transfer or in the offering plate. Please clearly note that the funds are to be designated for the Walk for Housing campaign.

Bring a Friend Tea:  Friday, May 8 @ St. Giles 1:00-3:00 pm. Mark your calendars for this annual event. Ticket sales begin after church today.

St Giles Orchestra:  Lift Your Soul Beyond the Ordinary!  May 23@ 7 pm.

The St. Giles Orchestra will showcase the visiting Korean violinist, Donghwi Kim, performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, in its upcoming performance on May 23.  We are looking for a host family for Donghwi during his stay in Calgary May 18-24.  If you are able to help out in this regard (even a couple of nights) please be in touch with Jeongmin Park, the conductor of the St. Giles Orchestra.  Please email him at [email protected].

Prayers, please:  We ask for prayers for our friend Fiona Swanson as she faces surgery this week.

Please note: Rev. Chandra will be on holidays until May 4.

“Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”  – 1 Peter 1:22-23

Dear Beloved St. Giles,

He is Risen!  The women at the tomb watched as Christ was laid to rest in the tomb of a wealthy man who believed Jesus was the Son of God.  In the morning, Christ was no longer contained, having resurrected.  Sin and death were conquered.  These grieving women were the first ones trusted with this sacred message.

We too are trusted, like these women, to share the good news.  We do it through activities such as the Labyrinth Cafe, the St. Giles Orchestra, our Speaker Series, and the Walk for Housing… just to name a few!  And we are blessed to be able to study scripture together with our teacher, Denis Mascardelli, so we may be nourished by the living word in our daily lives.  

We encourage everyone to come to services as often as possible now with the daylight growing and (God willing) the snowfalls diminishing.  And we look forward to the times we will spend together this spring as we share in the events in this week’s bulletin (see attached).   

As we remember the gift of eternal life bought with a price by Christ this Easter Sunday, may you continue to meet and pray, worship and study, eat and celebrate and sing together as often as possible as members of the family of Christ, thanking God for our many blessings.  He is Risen!!!

In joy,

Rev. Chandra

Psalm 118:17

“I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.”