Dear Members of Gloria Dei,

Thank you for your generous year-end Staff Gifts!  

Your kindness and support are deeply appreciated and are a meaningful encouragement to us. We are blessed to be able to work together as a team and look forward to continuing to serve you in 2026 as you continue to shine the light of Christ in the world. 

Thank you for being such a caring and generous community.

With gratitude,
Pastor Vida, Ha Na, Marcia and Sonja

Pancakes for a Purpose: Join Us for Sunday Brunch

Our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper is moving to Sunday brunch, and you’re warmly invited! This joyful gathering is our annual fundraiser in support of Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR).

As we share food and fellowship, we also remember neighbors near and far. Through CLWR, our gifts help provide food, clean water, shelter, and hope to communities facing hardship around the world, including Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. In a time when international aid is under increasing strain—due to the dismantling of USAID—every contribution, large or small, helps make a real difference.

During brunch, we’ll also share a short video from CLWR featuring an interview with Bishop Pavlo Shvarts of the German Lutheran Church in Ukraine and his message to Canadian Lutherans.

Feasting begins at 11:30 a.m., following worship—plenty of time to enjoy brunch and still make it home for the Super Bowl. Come hungry, leave full, and know that your generosity matters.

Welcome Baskets Ministry

Our faith calls us to care for those in our community who are experiencing times of transition and healing. We are especially mindful of the women in our neighbourhood who may be in need of encouragement and support.

Turning Point Recovery House is preparing to welcome a new group of women. In partnership with St. Catherine’s Anglican Church, we provide thoughtful welcome baskets for each incoming group, helping them feel supported and valued as they begin this new chapter.

Please consider making a donation as you are able. 

The downtown Eastside shelters are in urgent need of clothing and personal items! Cari Klaassen is organizing a church wide clothing drive and looking for gently used items. 

 What is needed! Since the weather is cold the shelters are in need of: 

• gently used sweaters 
• warm coats
• gloves and scarfs 
• hats and toques
• warm blankets
• boots or running shoes 

Most shelters are also in need of personal items such as:  

• underwear and socks
• hygiene items such as soap and shampoo 
• menstrual products
• toothbrushes and toothpaste 
• combs and brushes

Items can be dropped off at the church on Sundays or weekday office hours until Feb. 11.
Please place items in the large brown wooden bin across from the office. (NOT the blue Harvest Project Bin.) 

Cari Klaassen is also accepting financial donations to purchase items in bulk from COSTCO.
If you would like to donate of have any questions please contact Cari Klaassen directly at cmsk29@hotmail.com

The public is invited to join us for an ecumenical service marking the 4th year of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. This event, with Father Mikhailo Ozorovich as guest preacher, is being held in partnership with the Ukrainian Holy Eucharist Cathedral and several cross denominational churches of North and West Vancouver. A freewill offering will be taken for humanitarian aid to Ukraine.  

In recognition of the truth that, "No one is free, until all our free,"  the service will conclude with an expression of solidarity with the people of Iran as the Iranian Vanchoir performs, "My Country, I will Build you Again," with text by renowned Persian poet Simin Behbahani and music by composer Amir Mir Ebadi. 

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Sunday is our annual worship celebration that affirms our congregation’s commitment—together with partner faith communities—to welcome, include, celebrate, and advocate for LGBTQIA+ people in the life of the church.

Our RIC designation is supported through ReconcilingWorks, which provides resources and ongoing accompaniment for congregations engaged in this ministry. As part of our commitment, we make an annual financial contribution to ReconcilingWorks. This year, Council has set a goal of $250 as an appropriate offering from Gloria Dei. We do this mindful of the realities many LGBTQ+ people continue to face. In the USA, legal protections are being eroded; in others, including here in Canada, public rhetoric has contributed to anxiety and heightened vulnerability, especially for transgender youth.

A freewill offering will be received during worship on February 15. Gifts will be matched up to $250, and any additional funds will support our own local LGBTQIA+ ministry. We invite you to give as you are able, trusting that every gift—like every act of welcome—matters.

We are pieces and parts,

particles and bits,

scattered like broken

seashells and seagrass

on a spread of beach sand;

each life tossed, storied,

too many discarded,

disregarded and left

to the gulls for picking.

So often we miss —

in our anxious living

— our connection

across the sand:

grain by grain, the very

stuff of which we’re made

making us one:

your brokenness

and mine together.

~ Rachel G. Hackenburg

To see the author's intended arrangement of verses and for her prayer go to: https://rachelhackenberg.com/pieces-and-parts/

Photo by Mark Timberlake on Unsplash