News and Other Thoughts

St. George’s is located at 159 Church Street in Echo Bay. See you there!

Merry Christmas! We will celebrate the birth of our Saviour at the following times and locations on Friday, December 24, 2021:

4:30pm Holy Eucharist at St. George’s in Echo Bay

7pm Holy Eucharist at Holy Trinity, Jocelyn Township, St. Joseph Island

11pm Holy Eucharist at Holy Trinity, Jocelyn Township, St. Joseph Island.

The Rev. Susan Montague Koyle will be preaching and presiding. Due to COVID restrictions on the number of people permitted, please confirm your attendance with Rev. Susan by email: susan.montague2@gmail.com or phone: 705-253-6456

May the love of Christ give you deep joy this Christmastide and always.

Hi everyone…I’m so excited – my ordination is nearly here (God willing). This Monday, October 4th, 4pm, at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Jocelyn Township is when the service will take place. I am relieved that the COVID-19 cases in our area are swiftly declining so that I am able to have friends join with my family bubble in order to celebrate with me. Thank you to those people who are praying for me – I very much appreciate the love and strength found in the prayers.

With much joy in Christ,

The Rev. Susan Koyle

It feels great to be getting closer to “normal”! With more and more people fully vaccinated every day, restrictions are easing and we can feel confident in gathering safely for worship as of Sunday, July 25, 2021. You will find the link to the Diocese of Algoma’s Step 3 Reopening protocols below but here are some highlights:

Indoor – masks will still be worn until the percentage of people fully vaccinated is higher. So that means no singing yet, no physical contact outside of our social bubbles, and sharing the bread only…but…at least we are gathering. 🙂

Outdoor is a bit of a different story – no masks except for singing and a few other exceptions you can read about. Yahoo!! We will stay 2m apart but – and I’m super excited about this – we can have an outdoor “coffee time” after the service!

Please follow this link to find out more: https://www.dioceseofalgoma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Reopening-Algomas-Churches-Step-3.pdf

God’s Peace be with you,

The Rev. Susan Montague Koyle

Hey world…we’re back! I am excited to announce that we will gather for outdoor Holy Communion (bread only) on Sunday, July 25th, 2021 at Holy Trinity, Jocelyn Township, 10:30am. We will gather – rain or shine – unless there is an absolute downpour or thunderstorm. There is no need to bring your own chair unless you want to.

People are required to keep the 2m of physical distance between others unless they are in the same social bubble. Masks are required except for those who cannot wear one because of medical reasons are those who have been FULLY vaccinated.

I hope to see you there! I will be your Presider and Preacher that morning.

In Christ,

The Rev. Susan Montague Koyle

Night Prayer – or compline – is based on the ancient office of compline and reflects the simplicity and themes of monastic bedside prayer. (Compline is the time when the sun has set and your part of the world is dark. Or, if that doesn’t work well for you, it’s simply at your “bedtime”.)

“Night prayer invokes the presence of God, whose word and love accompany and sustain us through the darkness, enabling us to offer prayer for others as we ‘let go’ into sleep…In Night Prayer, we prepare ourselves spiritually for the night.” To read more, it’s p.46 here: https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/Eucharist.pdf

The first Order of Compline for Sunday is now on our website. You can find the service and accompanying PDF at this page (scroll down to the bottom): https://stjosephandstgeorge.com/reaching-out-2/prayer/

Our group that has been meeting weekly, using Zoom, has been having wonderfully insightful discussions about the various Scripture passages we have been exploring together. We have been examining Christian practices like prayer and issues such as doubt when we can’t see Jesus face-to-face like his disciples did. If you would like to join us, you are very welcome. Please check out the Calendar of Events to choose a date and send me an email. We meet on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7-8pm.

A task force working on behalf of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario House of Bishops has laid out three stages for the safe reopening of our church buildings – Red, Yellow, and Green. At each stage, actions are listed which are deemed to be safe based on social distancing and limited numbers for gathering as laid out by Premier Ford’s governement. Please see the document, Loving Our Neighbours for more information. Church leadership can now use this document to work on specifics for their particular buildings that will result in safe worship practices, hopefully beginning in September 2020, with the number of allowed worshippers being able to maintain 2 metres distance from each other. Stay tuned for more information….

In this thoughtful and prayerful letter, Archbishop Anne outlines her decision to allow same-sex marriages in our churches. This was a decision made after a year of thinking of listening to input from people all across the dioceses. Perhaps it surprised some people when the vast majority at last year’s diocesan synod were not opposed to same-sex marriage. The decision, though, to allow these marriages in our churches will be painful to some. Please join me in praying for healing, for understanding, and for reconciliation. I strongly believe that division in the Church opposes God’s purpose. We do not need to believe exactly the same things in order to be the church together but, we do need to love to be the Church. I pray that we will all be consumed by God’s love so that we may be transformed into God’s love for all others.