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Dear Friends

Dorothy and I have just finished a couple of weeks of vacation. We shared this time with Dorothy’s brother Bill, Joanne and three adorable little redheads.

I was amazed how quickly the time went by when we were on holiday. Speaking for time flying where did the summer of 03 go to. I looked forward to summer for so long and before I realized it summer’s gone. With the passing of summer comes the return of a new programme year. Welcome Back Sunday is September 7 and I look forward to seeing you all again.

A Few Things to Share.

1. Please keep me informed.

In a parish the size of St. Catherine’s it is impossible for me to be up-to-date on all the happenings in people’s lives. I am honored and privileged to visit those in our community who are hospitalized or house bound. However, we depend on you, or family and friends, to keep us aware of these situations as they develop. So please keep me informed and let me know how we may be of help.

2. Our Prayer List

Our community prayer list is available to anyone to add their own prayer concerns. It is kept in the office Monday to Friday and is found at the front door on Sundays. You will notice that we request two additional pieces of information when adding requests to the list:

• the name of the person making the request, and
• the date the request is made.

We use this information to track and maintain the list. As a rule of thumb we honor most requests for a calendar month unless instructed otherwise. If your concern needs further prayer please remake the request.

3. Special Requests

Some of you have asked how birthday, anniversaries and special events are remembered. In most cases these requests are picked up through general conversation. We have no “failsafe” system for remembering these important family occasions. If you would like your special dates remembered please let me or Susan know. Conversely, if you do not want them remembered let us know that too.

Roof Appeal

On behalf of Parish Council, we want to thank everyone who contributed to the special fund for replacing the Church roof. It is wonderful news that the goal has been reached. Thank you so much!
We would like to acknowledge those people who donated to the roof who wish to be acknowledged - whether you made your contribution in 2002 or in 2003. If you would like mention to be made in the 2003 Annual Report of your name or the names of the people in whose honour you made your donation to the roof, please phone the church office at 604-985-0666 and let Susan know. Many thanks.

Report from the Administrator

Welcome back to a new program year. The Fall promises to be full and exciting with a variety of activities for you to choose from. Between September and December you will have the opportunity to attend a Sunday School family event, three Supper Clubs, three “Picture and Pizza” nights, two retreats, Christian Education Study, an Advent event and the Arts and Crafts Fair. There is something for everyone and I am sure there will be more events as the year progresses.

On another note, we are still building our list of people who would help with maintenance around the church; the more names we get, the less there will be for anyone to do! There are a variety of tasks, some such as painting and repairs can be scheduled at your convenience and others, such as changing lightbulbs and helping with plumbing problems are more on an “on call” basis. Please contact me if you can help in any way.

Finally, I would like to thank the ladies who helped at the reception desk over the summer. They assisted visitors, tidied the lobby, answered the phone, stapled bulletins and generally ensured that the day-to-day business of the church was dealt with, especially when I was away on vacation. I really appreciated their help. Thank you Alison, Eileen, Janet, Linda, Lisa, Mary Anna, Oonagh, Sandra, Theo and Wendy.

Susan Kimm-Jones

Treasurer's News

Parish Financial Position

Despite a highly successful roof appeal which enabled us to completely pay off all roof costs, our parish, as of the end of July, had spent approximately $35,000 more than had been received in income. Some of this was included in the deficit budget which Vestry approved in February, but our deficit is now $10,000 more than the budget amount.
As we approach the end of our fiscal year, please respond to this situation as you are able.

Pre-Authorized Donation (PAD) Program

Some parishioners have asked about the possibility of having their church offerings debited directly from their bank accounts or credit card. This has now become possible, thanks to the PAD Program introduced recently by the Diocese of New Westminster.

St. Catherine's intends to make this program available to all interested parishioners. A pamphlet explaining the program is enclosed with this Newsletter, along with an application form and instructions on how to enrol. Please read this over and, in making your decision, note the following points, some of which are not in the pamphlet:

1. If you participate, your account will only be debited once a month, on or about the 20th of the month;
2. The Diocese will collect a small fee to cover the expense of administering the program. The fees are as follows:
   Payment by Mastercard - 2.5% of the transaction
   Payment by VISA - 2% of the transaction
   Payment by bank account-15 cents per transaction
   NSF cheques - $15 per occurrence
3. The amount the parish will receive will be the amount debited to your bank or credit card, less the fee charged by the Diocese. If you wish to bear the cost of these fees yourself you will need to add the fee to the amount to be debited from your account.
4. The Parish will continue to use offering envelopes for all identifiable givers. Even if you decide to participate in PAD, these will enable you to make special or one-time donations in the usual way. If you decide to participate in the PAD system yet would like to place something in the offering plate, you may choose to mark your offering envelope "PAD" and deposit the empty envelope (assuming no special offerings) in the collection plate each week.This will eliminate the need for the small cards referred to in the pamphlet.
5. Your contributions record and tax receipts will be handled as usual.
   

Please consider the advantages of the program for both donor and parish as mentioned in the pamphlet. You may place your completed application form and voided cheque in the collection plate at any time . Participants will be given advance notice of when the first withdrawals are to be made. If you have any questions, please contact me at 604 929 0720 or by email at Treasurer: Brian Wooding.

Brian Wooding

Summer Fun Program

Thank you to all who assisted with, and participated in, this year’s Summer Fun programme. You are appreciated!

A Quiet Morning of Prayer and Art

The recreation of summer is over. We head into the business of the Fall. Now is a good time to discover that the peace and joy of quiet “seeing” can be carried with you and woven through your busy days.
We welcome you to try this new way of praying. The explanation and registration form follow.
Jeannette Stigger leads Quiet Days and is a spiritual director. Heather Luccock is well known among us for her work in Christian education and as a spiritual leader. Both Jeannette and Heather are amateur (the root meaning is lover of) painters.

CELEBRATING CREATIVITY
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2003
9:30 am - 1:00 pm
at St. Catherine’s (Mary Pellett room)

A Quiet Morning for finding God through the use of a creative process that follows the steps of the Lectio Divina.

1. $10 covers the cost of the morning and refreshments
2. bring your own Art supplies (or they can be provided at a cost of $4)
3. no art experience is required
4. a large part of our time will be in silence

REGISTRATION FORM

NAME:
ADDRESS:
PHONE NUMBER:
Require Art Material: - Yes / No
Fee enclosed: $10 / $14

Sunday School

Welcome back to all our Sunday School students for another school year learning about God's love and sharing his word.

We are hoping to put on another Advent musical and Siiri is busy looking for something lively. We will start rehearsals early so get your voices tuned and your acting skills ready.

We have a new curriculum this year, Living the Good News, that looks exciting and fun. We have changed our schedule this year. Students will go into church with their families for the opening hymn and at the end John will invite all Sunday School students to go down to their classrooms. The young ones may wish to go before the hymn and that is fine too.

We are going to try and do more singing for the grades 1-4 and of course the grades 5-7 will be back with Rhonda and Billy Garton and the teens with Paul Clark. Gillian will be back for the Preschool - K's. Any help that parishioners can give, whether sharing God's ministry in their lives, a substitute or a piano player or singing voice would be greatly appreciated.

Heather Peacock
Coordinator

Welcome Back Party

After a wonderful and busy summer it is now time to say Welcome Back to St.
Catherine's.
Come and join us at the Welcome Back Party. A pot luck dinner, children's
activities and a chance to catch up with friends is planned for Saturday,
September 13, 5:00 pm at St. Catherine's. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Sign up sheets are posted on the bulletin board in the church lobby. We
look forward to seeing you and..... Welcome Back!

Shiela Folkman

Music Ministry

After a long Summer Holiday, everyone coming back from their break, going back to school and back to work, it seems like such a rush. But in the middle of this hurry, the church programs are starting up again. Now is the time to think, how can we use our talents to help in praising God? With the new church season approaching, there are many ways to get involved in the music program at St. Catherines.

To start off, assisting in the services every Sunday, and with practices on Thursdays from 7:45-9:30, the Adult Choir plays a major role in the services on Sundays. No previous experience is required to join.

And for the new generation of youth? There is always Musical Mondays! Rehearsing every Monday afternoon, and performing usually once every month or two, the Youth and Children's Choirs are options for those younger musicians among us. The Children's Choirs for kids in grades 1-6 is an unauditioned choir that runs from 3:45-4:15 on Mondays, and on the same day, the Youth Choir, a mixed choir for youth in grades 7-12 runs from 4:45-5:45.

For those with their minds ringing with music, we have the church's Handbell Choir. They rehearse every Wednesday morning from10:45-12:00. No musical experience needed. Just the ability to count, and a sense of humor.

This year we are planning to resurrect the chamber choir Cantorales. This is a group for people with musical experience and who enjoy more challenging a capella repertoire.
And last but not least, our contemporary music group Joyful Voice. They lead the congregation once a month with the sound of guitars and voice.

If you are interested in any of these groups, please contact Susan at (604)985-0666, or you can reach myself at (604)990-9922.

Siiri Rebane

Introducing:

Sheila and William (Bill) Baker who have joined the 8 o'clock congregation, were both born in England. Bill came to the North Shore in 1948 and Sheila came in 1989 when she married Bill. They have been very active in the Boy Scout movement and it was through that organization that they met when they were both serving as District Commissioners.

Sheila took her general nursing and mid-wifery training in England. She changed to neurosurgical nursing when she came to Canada and nursed in Montreal, Saskatoon, Niagara Falls and Illinois before coming to the Vancouver General. She left nursing for awhile when her boys were small, but returned to the profession after fifteen years, specializing in the area of gerentology. Bill worked with the provincial government as a Highways Manager and retired in 1994. He has been a cricket player all his life and belongs to the West Van Cricket Club. Recently he has changed to umpiring in the sport. The sport has taken him on cricket tours to England and Denmark, New Zealand and Australia and Las Vegas.

Sheila and Bill love to travel and have a passion for snorkelling. Through the time share they own, they have been able to trade their weeks in order to travel to an interesting array of locations that offer prime snorkelling opportunities such as southeast Asia, Egypt, Mexico, Fiji, New Caledonia and the Caribbean. As well their time share trades to ski resorts in the off season have provided great hiking and general sightseeing opportunities. Bill and Sheila have been active downhill skiers at Whistler but are now enjoying their senior's passes at Cypress Mountain here on the North Shore. They have two married sons and two granddaughters.

Kathey and Andrew Carrington with three and a half year old Matthew and two and a half year old Berkeley moved to West Vancouver from Toronto a year ago. They were all Torontonians, being born in that city. Six month old Cole has since joined the family and was baptised at St. Catherine's on July 6th of this year.

Andrew who is in the financial industry was moved to Vancouver to open an office in the downtown area for StateStreet Global Advisors. He loves sports especially hockey and football. Kathey is a very busy stay at home mom looking after the activities of her three little ones. She enjoys working out, the movies and all the family activities. Both Andrew and Kathey love the outdoors and meeting new people. Matthew and Berkeley are both involved in the Kuddles program which is located at St. Catherine's. Matthew likes sports and participates in soccer, swimming and skating. Berkeley is taking ballet, as well as swimming and skating and enjoys other mixed sports. No doubt little Cole will be just as active in community activities once he is a little older.

A very warm welcome to all of you!

Anglican Church Women (A.C.W.)

The New to You sale will be held October 25th from 10 am to 1 pm. Donations of clean clothing and linens in good condition would be welcome and can be dropped off at the church. Jewelry and other accessories such as shoes, belts, hats, scarves, gloves, purses and bags would be acceptable but no household goods or furniture.

Please consider how you can help with sorting, setting up for the sale, selling and clean up afterwards. Your help would be very much appreciated.

Meetings of the ACW resume September 9th at 1:30 pm in the Mary Pellatt room. They are held every second and fourth Tuesday and new members are welcome and needed. If interested, please call Oonagh McDonald at 604-985-5889 or Phyllis Mittlestead at 604-985-6348, or just turn up.

People News

After a busy Grade 12 year, Catherine Watt graduated with honours from Handsworth in June, and is now attending school at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. She will be dividing her time between courses towards a degree in Kinesiology and rowing on the Varsity team.

Catherine was a member of the winning Canadian junior rowing team at the Canada/US/Mexico camp and regatta in Monterrey, Mexico in July.

After 18 months as a youth delegate to synod and member of parish council, Catherine's place will be taken by Janet McMordie. Catherine sends best wishes to everyone and will be home at Christmas.

and...

When giving out awards to this year's high school graduates, perhaps one that we really want to tip our hats to is Emma Kimm-Jones. Emma was one of the several who said "Farewell" to senior matriculation. Only she did it under quite difficult circumstances.

You see Emma had been plagued with headaches for the past year and a half or so. In grade 11 they never seemed to go away. Finally in January of this year she had diagnostic X-rays and learned that she had a brain lesion. Of course this had to be removed. Surgery was performed on Feb. 7 of this year. She and her family had additional worries until the final pathology came through saying that all was well.

Despite an uncomfortable and lengthy recovery period, Emma was back at school in 6 weeks. Pretty phenomenal. She not only graduated from school but gets first class honours for the extra courses she was forced to take from "The School of Hard Knocks". CONGRATULATIONS EMMA ! May you have a great year in your tour of Europe.

and...

Janet McModie this past year received the grade 11 band award (she plays clarinet) and a special digital video award for exceptional work on a digital video production. She was also on the distinguished honour role.

and...

In May Derek Barratt was presented with the Inco Medal by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. The Inco Medal is presented as a mark of distinction to the person who has made a contribution of outstanding importance to the mining and metallurgy industry of Canada. Derek was presented the medal "in recognition of lifetime achievement in the field of mineral comminution, including the development of SAG mill design concepts and technology transfer through industry standard textbooks and conferences"

At the same meeting Frank Willis was elected to the Fifty Year Club as a mark of distinction for his long service.

and...

After graduating from Grade 13 at high school in the vicinity of his home in Beachburg, Ontario, Robert Metzger will be starting studies in the engineering field at Ottawa’s Carlton University.

Also, while on loan from St. Catherine’s to the Parish of Beachburg-Cobden-Westmeath, specifically the Church in Beachburg, Ontario, Patsy Metzger is currently serving as Rector’s Warden and bringing new life to the three congregations.

and...

To say that Karina Stampfli is a high achiever is an understatement! She graduated this year from Sentinel High School in West Vancouver and was among the top award winners at the June ceremony.

Seventeen year-old Karina is the daughter of parishioners Peter and Jocelyn Stampfli and Eileen Oliver's grand-daughter.

Focus and hard work have paid dividends for Karina who is working towards a career in Tourism Management. She received the North Shore News scholarship, the Sentinel high school bursary and the provincial government Passport to Education. She also took home a Gold Cord for being on the honour roll for each of the five years she was at Sentinel.

One might understand if Karina chose to take the summer off but she is currently working hard at three jobs and in September she will enter a one-year programme at the Canada West Mountain School in Vancouver for wilderness leadership, back country touring and avalanche awareness. That will prepare her for a two-year Outdoor Recreation programme at Capilano College followed by two more years in tourist management to achieve her degree.

Supper Club

On Friday 26th September the 29th season of Supper Club will start. We still have 77 members on our roster and a large number will remember the formation of the group way back in 1974 when the inaugural gathering was held at the Kerr-Wilson home. These social gatherings have been opportunities for members to get together, to put the world right, and to discuss the many topics which fill our everyday lives. Many a new recipe has been tried out and some wonderful meals have taken place.

Mary Anna Willis and I have both been coordinators for several years and we feel the time has come to pass over the leadership so we are looking for two people who would like to take over the positions starting in January 2004 to carry Supper Club into its 30th year. Supper Club is an important ministry in the life of St. Catherine's and it would be very sad if it had to disband through lack of leadership, so we appeal to all members to give some thought to being a coordinator and to discuss this with us.

Julia Hadrill: 604-987-4476
Mary Anna Willis: 604-985-1802

The Servers’ Guild

Thanks to all the Servers who came out during the summer months. With the exception of one Sunday, we had a server or servers for every service.
The servers represent an important part of our worship. We want to encourage the young people who are already involved and hope that there will be more interested children and youth in the future.

In June we held a BBQ at the home of Heather and John Luccock, and had a very enjoyable evening with several families and John and Dorothy Mash. It was a good opportunity to get together for a little fun and friendship. We hope to make this an annual event.

As of writing, welcome three new servers, Natasha Ashby, Katherine Brady and Thomas Watson, bringing our total to 15. Anyone who is interested in this ministry please call Joe Coogan, Heather Luccock, Vivian McGie or the office.

Josephe Coogan 604-924-9202
Heather Luccock 604-985-6570
Vivan McGie 604-985-4531
Office 604-985-0666

Communication Corner

The "Help Wanted Line" is slowly taking shape. We hope to be "running" in September. We still need more volunteers. We expect to be fairly busy when we get going. Already we have received requests for assistance. If you are at all interested in becoming part of this ministry please register so we can call on you. The more volunteers we have, the fewer times we will have to solicit your help and the more efficient the system will be. Please give this project some thought. Thank you from those who need you.

Betty Kavanagh

This fall the Christian Education Committee is anticipating a very exciting weekend November 21 - 23, 2003. It is a unit of our study for Community Exploration of Faith and Ministry.

Parish Family Celebration Weekend
November 21, 22 and 23
A spectrum of explorations to challenge and delight

Our popular Pizza and a Picture also returns this fall:

Join us for these evenings of fellowship, some pizza, popcorn and a good movie shown on our large video screen..

Dinner at 6 pm - Cost $10 each

Upcoming dates and movies:

Watch the bulletin and hospitality table for sign-up information.

Youth Notes

Welcome back to Youth Group 2003-2004. Hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable summer. This will be the seventh year of Senior Youth Group and I’m looking forward to the adventures ahead of us.

Last year’s group took off in a lot of creative directions. They started their own rock band, designed a website and created a hilarious video advertising our youth group. The slogan was “Come and join St. Catherine’s Youth Group - a place where you can be yourself”

There are always new people each year and last year was no exception. The grade 8's made a great contribution to the life of the group and we look forward to more new faces.

This year’s events will be a mix of old favourites and new ideas. Anything goes as long as everyone can participate. Many nights in the gym or at a local field we play some combination of football, soccer, floor hockey, ultimate rugby...you get the picture. We always try to support any group member’s performance be it a play or a recital and we sometimes have a BBQ at the beach.

In September and October we will continue our fall traditions of rake and run, spooky pumpkin patch visit, and our harvest project. Last year we cut, squished and bottled 600 lbs of apples. It was all sold in a few days with the proceeds going to our local food bank.

We get together every Friday night beginning September 19th from 8-10 pm. Call me at 604-985-9618 if you want to know what’s happening or if you know someone I should invite.

Come on out and help us create another memorable year of Youth Group.

Paul Clark

The St. Catherine’s Webgroup communicates information about our church community over the Internet using email and the new St. Catherine’s website.

You don’t even have to own a computer to view our website or receive email if you have access to a computer at the local library! Attend a free workshop to learn how. (See below).

We launched our inaugural website in mid-May with a general view of our St. Catherine’s Community. Included then was Janet Morris’ excellent book, “A History of the Parish of St. Catherine's (Capilano) 1949-1993”, published in its entirety. This publication, apart from its fascinating account of our history, has some wonderful early photographs of St. Catherine’s including the original “tar paper shack” used as a church while the first permanent building of St. Catherine’s was being constructed. The choir photographs from 1960 and 1968 show choir member names that will bring back old memories.

Did you wonder about the life of our Patron Saint, St. Catherine (there were several St. Catherine’s)?

Or do you know the origin of our logo seen on the weekly church bulletin cover? It’s in the section, “Did you know?”

Other website topics include Music Ministry, Worship, Service, Outreach, Learning, Youth Program, and the invitation, “Get to Know Us”.

Also published are the current newsletter and a newsletter archive (we’re up to two issues!). A handy map will show your friends exactly how to get to St. Catherine’s.
We have since added a page with photographs and short biographies of all 18 members of our Parish Council.

Also added is an excellent Bible Search tool that uses the powerful BibleGateway.com search engine to quickly display bible text searched by Keywords or by Passage. For example, the Keywords “God love world” displays 4 “hits”:

1. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son”.
2. 2. James 2:5 – “Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?”.
3. 1 John 3:1 – “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”.
4. 1 John 4:9 – “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son [ 4:9 Or his only begotten Son ] into the world that we might live through him.”

There are 16 English versions of the Bible on this website, and translations in 36 languages. Our Anglican NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) is NOT one of these versions, but we have links to two NRSV search websites.

Workshops
Don’t have a computer? Not connected to the Internet? Don’t know how to access the web? Would like to do something un-Anglican to your computer?

We are asking for a response to (free) Internet Workshops this fall to help with the above questions. If there are enough people interested, we will run Workshops for beginners on 1) The Web, and 2) Email.

Suggested topics for the Web Workshop are “Using Local Library Computers”, "bookmarks", "favourites", search using Copernic, browser options, "history" function, home page, etc.

For the Email Workshop, suggested topics are Sending, Receiving, Replying, Formats, Attachments, Organising, Finding, Junk Mail (Spam), Viruses, and - what do those funny symbols ;-) or :( mean that you see in email?

If you are interested, please contact us so we can decide whether to go ahead. Also, if you can offer to help teach the basics, let us know.

Do you know anyone who would like to receive regular email notices from the St. Catherine's Webgroup? This would include former parishioners and clergy, family or friends in other parts of the world (or Vancouver) (or St. Catherine's) who would be interested in the activities of the St. Catherine's Community. It would also include those who don't have a computer but who have access to one at their local library or Internet Café. Please contact us to let us know.

The Webgroup Committee
Michael Ashby
Susan Kimm-Jones
John Mash
Alison Watt
Catherine Watt
John Whalen

The Webgroup Committee is responsible for the website content and design. If you would like to contribute please contact us.

The cost of the website is covered by anonymous donation.

Contact Us:

John Whalen webmaster@saint-catherines.org
604-921-7904
Website http://saint-catherines.org
St. Catherine’s Office 604-985-0666
(Susan Kimm-Jones)

Arts and Crafts Fair

The Parish Guild’s 8th Annual (Juried) Arts and Crafts Fair is coming.

Saturday, December 6th, 2003
10 am to 4 pm.

Once again, we will be welcoming artisans from all across Southwestern BC. Glasswork to knitting, pottery to painting, you name it, we’ll probably have it.

Mark your calendars and plan to be here and support this ever-growing and popular event.

Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, condiments....

The Festive Foods Booth will once again be a feature of the Guild’s Arts and Crafts Fair and we will be depending on everyone’s help.
If you have any questions please contact:

Rosemary Alley at 604-987-1846.

Humour...

The wife said, “You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don’t have to wait as long to get our coffee”.
The husband said, “You are in charge of the cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee.”
Wife replies, “No you should do it, and besides it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee.”
Husband replies, “I can’t believe that, show me.”
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and shows him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says . . .

“HEBREWS”

WELCOME ...

We are pleased to welcome the following people to our parish family...

Bill & Shiela Baker

Andrew and Kathleen Carrington (Matthew, Berkeley, Cole)

Cole Andrew Carrington

Sarah Katherine Ashby
           and
Scott Derek Bradshaw