THIS WEEK AT
ST JOHN'S
EASTER DAY
A MESSAGE FROM
BETH+ AND GORDON

Please click on the photo to see a video from us!
A FESTAL
LITURGY OF THE WORD FOR EASTER SUNDAY

Anytime, Online

Alleluia, Christ is Risen! Please join in worshipping on this great day of Easter! Simply scroll down at your own pace, saying the service alone or with others (appropriately distanced, in a virtual meeting, or on the phone). With gratitude for our Cathedral and its ministry!
EASTER
FAITH FORMATION

Illustrated Ministry is providing a story, bulletin with activities, and a downloadable poster to colour. Have fun! Click here for the material.
MUSIC FOR HOPE

Easter Day, 1 pm

By invitation of the City and of the Duomo cathedral of Milan, Italian global music icon Andrea Bocelli will give a solo performance representing a message of love, healing and hope to Italy and the world. Watch live here!
REMEMBER IN PRAYER
Parish
All clergy, staff, and members of St John's in this unusual season.

Those on Our Hearts
All suffering from COVID-19 and any other illness during this time; all healthcare workers.

Diocese of Ottawa
Bishop John Chapman as he transitions to retirement, and Bishop-Elect Shane Parker as he prepares for ordination and consecration.

Anglican Church of Canada (ACC)
The Provincial Synod of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario.

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada (ELCIC)
The dean, council, and congregations of the Manitoba Central Area of the Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario Synod.

Parish Prayer Group
If you wish to have someone prayed for, please call (613) 232-4500 ext 21 or send an email to prayer-request@stjohnsottawa.ca.
GORDON AND
OUR CHOIR

Not being able to share their gifts of music and song during this Easter season through worship, a concert, nor a trip to Carnegie Hall, is so very difficult! Let us give thanks for all who give melodious voice and sound to our praise of God!
THOSE ON OUR HEARTS

It is very important for us as a community to be able to hold people in prayer, whether we are gathering physically or virtually. If you would like to add someone's first name to the prayer list (see "Those on Our Hearts" in the "Remember in Prayer" section above) for the next two weeks, please email the Rector.
GIFTS
DONATIONS

Thank you to everyone who has made the extra effort required at this time to continue your financial support! If you would like to make a special gift this Easter, please visit our website and donate online, or send a cheque to the office (address at the bottom of this email). Thank you so much!
NEED A FACE MASK?

Two of our parishioners are using up their fabric scraps and making face masks. If you would like to put in an order, please email Bea or Lannie. They would ask that you donate to the Ottawa Food Bank to say thank you!
MORE WORSHIP RESOURCES
HOPE IN UNCERTAINTY
RESOURCES
FOR HOME PRAYER

To help keep you connected with prayer, faith and community in times of physical distancing, the General Synod (national office) has compiled a number of resources.
VIRTUAL SERVICES
IN OUR DIOCESE

In-person worship suspended? Prayers are still ascending! Here is a list of virtual services in Diocese of Ottawa.
AROUND THE WORLD
IN WORSHIP

Travel virtually to share prayer and worship experiences across Canada and around the world! During the time of physical isolation, take the opportunity to visit other places and share in daily and weekly prayers and reflections. May you enjoy this experience of travelling virtually, and that you may be lifted by the words, music and surroundings offered here.
APPS

Another thing that might accompany us in our prayer lives right now is an app on our smartphone or tablet. But there are so many prayer apps on Google or Apple, it can be hard to know where to start. Here’s a list of ones to consider. They are all free and they lean towards those which are either based in the pattern of the daily office, Ignatian spirituality, or contemplative prayer. Many of them have audio, music, and even singing. These can help us know we pray with the whole body of Christ even when we may be separated in space.
STAYING CONNECTED
RING THOSE BELLS!

Sundays, Noon
(and 9 am on Easter!)

To remind our Centretown community that we are holding everyone in our hearts and prayers, our bell will be rung every week. A great witness to hope and love! Thank you to those who have volunteered to help.
LIGHT A CANDLE
AND SAY A PRAYER

Sundays, 7 pm

Light a candle of hope in the window of your home or on the porch, and say a prayer.From our Primate, The Most Reverend Linda Nicholls: "All around us, while many are in quarantine or self-isolation, the church is blossoming with prayer. We are digging deep into the heart of our faith to lift our voices in the sure and certain knowledge that the Holy Spirit hears our intercessions, thanksgivings and even our groans." Be a witness.
ONLINE COFFEE
WITH BETH+

Wednesdays, 10 am

The Rector is looking forward to catching up with you virtually! Make yourself a cuppa and then either click on the photo or on this link, to join the Zoom call from any internet browser on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer. Looking forward to "seeing" you!
NEED SUPPORT?

Each one of us is experiencing this unusual time in a different way. If you would like to check in, have a conversation, share a laugh or a cry, or be prayed with, please be in touch with the Rector to set up a Zoom or phone or email conversation. We can get through this together! Also don't forget about our Pastoral Care Team who are also available to give support.
GREETINGS
FROM BISHOP
DENNIS DRAINVILLE

After being with us at St John's in January, +Dennis went to his small country place in France. His spouse, Cynthia, joined him there in February... and they have not yet been able to leave due to COVID-19. All their booked flights have been cancelled, and the earliest hope for returning to Gaspe is May 4th. Cynthia's elderly mother is now being cared for at Manoir Gaspe, an adjustment that is not easy at this time. Please keep +Dennis, Cynthia, and Marge in your prayers. +Dennis sends his love, prayers, and blessings of Easter to each one of us!
EASTER BLESSING
The blessing of the morning light to you,
may it find you even in your invisible appearances,
may you be seen to have risen from some other place you know
and have known in the darkness and that carries all you need.
May you see what is hidden in you as a place of hospitality
and shadowed shelter,
may that hidden darkness be your gift to give,
may you hold that shadow to the light
and the silence of that shelter to the word of the light,
may you join all of your previous disappearances with this new appearance,
this new morning, this being seen again,
new and newly alive

David Whyte, The Bell and the Blackbird

A note from David Whyte:
Every year when he was at home and able, John O’Donohue, would hold a dawn Easter Morning Mass at the ancient ruined monastery of Corcomroe, in County Clare, where many hundreds would join him and his mighty ability to bless, to greet the sun to greet the mist if not, but most of all to welcome the sense of transfiguration and new possibility set going again in the Christian year. This piece was written a few Easters ago in homage to John’s voice and his spirit, his ability to originate and give a home to that most difficult and necessary of disciplines, whatever our religion or no, the art of blessing.
Photo credit: Randal Storey
ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST
ANGLICAN CHURCH

 154 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, ON K2P 0H8
613-232-4500
office@stjohnsottawa.ca
On facebook! here ---> StJfb

 The Reverend Canon Beth Bretzlaff, Rector 
The Reverend Dr Caroline Ducros, Deacon
BGen (Ret’d) The Venerable John Fletcher, Honourary Assistant 
The Reverend Canon Dr Gary Hauch, Honourary Assistant
The Reverend Michael Hicks, Honourary Assistant Emeritus
Dr Gordon Johnston, FRCCO, Organist and Choirmaster 
Laura Macdonald, Church Administrator 
Detlef Dransch, Rector’s Warden 
Bev Humphries , People's Warden