Thanksgiving Sunday is not in the liturgical calendar. But somehow it would not feel right for us as Christians, who are called to a life of thanksgiving, to ignore the day and not engage in a festival of thanks. 

It was good to see quite a few of our members who returned to church for the first time since the second lockdown last November. Of course we missed all those who could not be with us. Please know you are named and remembered in the prayers of the church - as vital members of the community. 

Thank-you to Shelley Meglaughlin and and Lin Parkinson for the liturgical seasonal display, and to Sonja and the choir for the beautiful anthem. Your voices were strong and blended beautifully together. 

We also expressed our appreciation to Lin for her faithful stewardship of the Community Garden and for its abundant harvest - 200lbs. of produce were donated to the community at Turning Point. 

Gail Berger is Gloria Dei's lay delegate to the Convention and it was good to send her off with a rite of blessing. Pastor Vida is our clergy delegate and has been appointed by the Bishop to the Committee of Reference and Counsel. It is a committee that oversees the drafting of resolutions - so it is quite a demanding responsibility and she covets our prayers. 

Lastly,  a reminder to anyone who would like to purchase a personal copy of the new hymn supplement, "All Creation Sings" to phone in your order to Shelley, our office administrator. Cost is $20.50 + applicable taxes. 

We are honored to have Rev. Deacon Rennie Nahanee join us as guest preacher for a special Service of the Word at 2:00PM this Sunday. Deacon Rennie serves the St. Paul's Squamish Nation Church, is an elder and recently retired as Coordinator of Indigenous Ministries at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. Deacon Nahanee is also an accomplished musician and together with his spouse, Emma has graciously offered to bless us with a gift of song. 

Coffee and light refreshements will be served following the service. 

There is still time to register for the BC Synod Learning Day!

Rev. Susan Beaumont will join the BC Synod on Saturday, October 23^rd ~ 10:00am – 3:00pm PDT (with one hour break for lunch)  

Susan will explore the experience of moving through a liminal season and clarify the differences between decision-making and discernment, and how each of them can be used as we seek to understand the new things God wants us to learn.
Pastor Vida is encouraging all of us to register and participate in this timely learning. Gloria Dei, as all congregations, has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. We are glad to be able to offer in-person services again, but there is no returning to a pre-pandemic normal. We all will need to engage in prayerful discernement and visioning for the future. 

Click here for the poster with live links

At the Thanksgiving Sunday Service Ken Junck, our Council Chair, announced that the congregation of Mt. Olivet has designated Gloria Dei as a recipient of a generous gift. 

Barry Anderson, chair of Mount Olivet Council, will present the gifts to Gloria Dei on Reformation Sunday. 

We know that you will not want to miss this momentous occassion so that you can express your own gratitude to the people of Mount Olivet for their generosity and trust in us to steward their gift well on behalf of the gospel and Lutheran witness on the North Shore.