• Services this week
• Get to know Rebecca!
• TONIGHT: 17 Jan Guitar recital - Simon Farintosh & friends
• This Sunday: Thank you Party for Shannon
• Starting 1 Feb Pastoral Care training opportunity
• Starting 5 Feb Mindful Living: 7-Week Course at St Philip
• Tuesdays – Contemplative Prayer
• Thursday Book Study - Laudato Si'
• 28 Jan Parish Council meeting 7pm
• 30 Jan Taizé Prayer  7pm
• 31 Jan Teens & Twenties Games Night 6pm
• 1 Feb An invitation from Bob Watts' family
• 11 Feb St Philip Parish Vestry
• 22 Feb Contemplative Society - Introduciton to Contemplative Prayer
• Links to recent financial updates
• How to view Facebook Live and videos
• This Week in Prayer
• Useful links

19 January 2025 - 2nd Sunday after Epiphany

8am Holy Communion

9am Community prayers downstairs in the youth room

9.30am Eucharist, in-person and live streamed via Facebook Live [LINK]

• Celebrant & Preacher: Fr. Allen Doerksen
• Deacon: Rev. Rebecca Yeo
• Altar Guild: Kathy Fyfe,  Jenni Jennings  
• Usher: Bruce Richmond
• Music leader:  Andrea and John Andrachuk
• Reader:  Stacy McGhee
• Prayers of the People: Lisa Alexander
• Powerpoint & slides:  Clayton Savage, Marcus Schlag
• Facebook Live: Karishma Iyer
• Children's ministry: Melinda Budgell
• Youth ministry: Ruth McGhee
• Coffee: Karen Van Rheenen
• Offerings counters: Betty Davidson, Mike Pipes

21 Jan, Tuesday 10.30am Contemplative Prayer

23 Jan, Thursday 10am Holy Communion followed by book study (see below)

Please join us downstairs in the hall for coffee and fellowship after the 9.30 service.

Please join us in celebrating Shannon's 15 years of Creative Children’s Ministry!
this Sunday, January 19, 2025
following the 9.30 service.

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay

From an interview with Rebecca Yeo in Faith Tides, November 2024:

"My childhood was a love affair with church. I have treasured memories of Sunday school, Christmas pageants, and Sunday mornings spent singing hymns and eating goldfish.

I experienced my faith primarily through song and story, communion bread and crafts, and carefully playing with ladybugs in sunlight filtered through stained glass. I loved taking communion, but could never understand why we needed to pray for so long first. I drew nativity scenes obsessively every December — my mother still has a collection of them!

Looking back, I can see many of the building blocks of the faith of my adulthood: I love the sensory experience of church (its scents, sounds and art), I love to sing and chant, and I have a deep devotion to the incarnation and the eucharist (sometimes, I still wonder why the prayer is so long)."

A benefit concert at St Philip for Mike Pichichero, a local guitarist who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. The concert will feature performances by local guitarists, and all benefits will go to Mike and his family to support his ongoing treatment. Tickets on the door or click below.

"Mindfulness is paying attention to what is occurring in the present moment, on purpose and non-judgmentally.” - Jon Kabat-Zinn 
Through exploring mindfulness teachings, mindful practices, and meditation, we learn to accept our experiences, emotions, and thoughts just as they are in the moment. This involves acknowledging and observing them without the need to fix, react, or suppress what arises.

Over time, these practices help build resilience, empowering us to respond more effectively to life’s challenges and relationships. Mindfulness also enhances focus, creativity, curiosity, compassion, and learning—supporting key areas of daily life.

Join us for this 7-week introductory course, where you’ll discover a mix of mindfulness teachings, practical exercises, and meditation techniques. Start 2025 with greater mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being through present-moment awareness.

Session Topics
•    What is Mindfulness and Mindful Breathing 
•    Start with Self-Compassion and Kindness 
•    Coming home to the body 
•    Mindfulness of Emotions 
•    Being with What’s Difficult 
•    Anxiety and Resilience 
•    Loving Kindness and Moving Forward

 The Details 
•    When: Wednesday evenings, Feb 5- Mar 19
•    Time:   6:30 – 8:00 pm
•    Cost:   $25 for workbook 
•    Contact: Florie Varga 250 709 7063 or Florie@Florievarga.com 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of VIctoria presents online training sessions for Pastoral Care Ministry volunteers who wish to visit the lonely, homebound, sick, injured, elderly, and dying, in hospitals, extended health care facilities, or at home. Zoom provides the opportunity to train more Lay Pastoral Care visitors to help share the message of Christ’s healing love and compassion with those in need.

https://www.rcdvictoria.org/pastoral-care

Sessions are offered on Saturday mornings from 9:30 am - noon.  The next session is scheduled for February 1 - April 5, 2025 (with no session on March 8 for spring break)

 For more information or to register, please contact the coordinator at moiraking@shaw.ca.

Highly recommended - some of us attended this course last year and it was exceptionally well done.  

- Evelyn Savage

Please join us on Tuesday mornings, 10:30 - 11:30, meeting in the choir area of the nave (at the front of the church), for a 20 minute contemplative sit with a time of prayer following. 

Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash

Following the 10am Thursday Eucharist service, our regular seasonal book study resumes starting 9 January 2025 with Laudato Si', Pope Francis' 2015  encyclical subtitled "On Care for our Common Home".

All are welcome to join in the book study, whether or not you attend the service before it!

• 23 Jan The Gospel of Creation (62-100)
• 30 Jan The human roots of the ecological crisis (101-136)
• 6 Feb Integral theology (137-182)
• 13 Feb Lines of approach and action (163-201)
• 20 Feb Ecological education and spirituality (202-246)
• 27 Feb Conclusions

Full text of the encyclical Laudato Si'

'The Letter' film

Image by Harish Sharma from Pixabay

All are welcome to St Philip Oak Bay for a candlelit service of song, silence and contemplation, in the style of the Taizé Community, on the last Thursdays of the month at 7pm:

• 30 January 2025
• 27 February
• 27 March

Board game night is back for the new year!

We have snacks and board games, and all we need is you! Feel free to invite your friends and bring your own snacks and games if you want to - this evening is for *everyone* between the ages 16 and 29. We won't nitpick about the age limits :)

Details:

Date: Friday, January 31st

Time: 6pm till 9pm

Where: St. Philip Anglican Church - entrance to the lower level through the pathway by the garden at the side of the building - follow the signage!

Feel free to drop in or leave at any time. There are bus stops for buses 4, 9, 7, 11, and 15 within walking distance from the church.

Questions?: Contact Karishma at ms.shrutikarishma[at] gmail.com

Thanks for everyone’s kind and compassionate responses to Bob’s passing - so very appreciated.

Here is a link to his obituary  

A few months ago, with typical enthusiasm, Bob engaged himself in the bitter-sweet role of planner for his final party, invitation below.  As you know, Bob thought outside the box, never one to draw inside the lines, hence a party, not a traditional Celebration of Life or funeral.  He just wants you to have fun, enjoy great music and connect with each other.  Please come if you can and we’ll honour his parting together. 

If I have missed sending an invitation to anyone who knew Bob, please feel free to invite them on our behalf.  It’s an open party for friends meeting friends.  No solemn dress or manner, please just come and enjoy - Saturday 1 February, 1-3pm,  at Lutheran Church of the Cross (Cedar Hill and Cedar Hill X).

- Bonnie de Moissac

St Philip Oak Bay will hold its AGM (also known as the Annual Vestry Meeting) at the church on Tuesday 11 February 2025 7-9pm.  We will receive 2024 reports, vote on a budget for 2025, and elect our Parish Council. We look forward to 2025 as we serve God by meeting the needs in the world.

The 2025 agenda, 2024 annual reports, and proposed 2025 budget will be circulated via email ahead of the meeting. Print copies will be available in the narthex.

The deadline for sending in annual reports is Monday 20 January, to allow for compilation and timely circulation ahead of the meeting. Please email reports as plain text in the body of an email. If you would like to include a photo of your parish group/ministry/activity/event for illustration, please attach it as a jpg or png file measuring at least 600 pixels across (vertical dimension can be larger or smaller).

Image by claude_star from Pixabay

Saturday 22nd February 2025 (10 am-12 noon PT).
Participation Fee: $40 or pay-from-the-heart.

For more information and to register: https://www.contemplative.org/events2/justincoutts-feb2025/

For December 2024

For the 4th quarter and for 2024

-  Mark Laidlaw, Treasurer

A note about access to Facebook Live and videos - as long as they have been shared as Public, and St Philip's are, *you do not need to log in to Facebook to see them*. FB is very sneaky about this. Don't be deceived!

If you are not logged in to Facebook and you click on e.g. this public video of Fr. Allen:
https://www.facebook.com/stphilipoakbay/videos/368251172626318
a login interface will pop up in front of the video page, looking like the screenshot above this post (minus the red circle and arrow).

FB wants you to think this means you must log in, but you don't have to.
Click the X at top right of that pop-up, indicated by the red circle & arrow shown above.
It will just disappear and you will be able to play the video.

• Live Streams:  via Facebook Live [LINK]
• Service outline: for those viewing the live stream, the coming Sunday's 9.30 service outline is online here
• Listen to a past sermon only: click here, choose a sermon, scroll down & click "jump to sermon". Now featuring audio-only as well!
• Service recording & sermon audio: choose any past Sunday here (listed most recent first)
• More news & events from our church neighbours and wider community: click here
• Previous parish newsletters: click here
• Parish Council minutes: click here , see under Downloads
• Staff contacts: via the parish website
• Liturgy for the Islands and Inlets: click here for full text
• Salal + Cedar (Diocese of New Westminster): click here
• Book of Alternative Services: click here
• Anglican Church of Canada lectionary: click here
• Revised Common Lectionary: click here
• Diocesan Comings & Goings: read latest
• Inclusive Christians at UVic: read latest
• Faith Tides: click here for latest issue
• Contemplative Society: latest news
• L'Abri Canada: read latest
• Sorrento Centre news: click here
• PWRDF updates: read latest
• KAIROS Canada: read latest
• Anglican Church of Canada news: click here
• Anglican Journal: click here for latest articles

The Welcome pew leaflet, weekly parish news, current Anglican Journal, & Faith Tides, recent Parish Council minutes and more are all available in print in the narthex. Please let Anna know if more print copies are needed, on Sundays or for sharing with those who don't use email.

Header: “Water into Wine”. Stained glass, Jude Tarrant, 2009. St Colman’s church, Portsmouth UK. Photo: Jude Tarrant on Flickr, https://flic.kr/p/7bUzoc. Copyright permission: Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0  . More about: https://stainedglassartist.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/stained-glass-of-the-rosary/
Candles: S. Hermann & F. Richter, NoName_13 on Pixabay
Footer painting: Caitlin Ambery, 2007