New & Events – Page 17 – St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Thunder Bay, ON

White Gift Sunday – December 13

On this, the third Sunday in Advent, we bring non-perishable food items unwrapped or in a white bag or loose wrapping, or cash/cheque donations to place under the Christmas tree in the sanctuary. All food is delivered to the RFDA. Please make cheques payable to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and marked for the RFDA. Your donation will be forwarded to the RFDA and included on your St. Andrew’s tax receipt.

History of White Gift Sunday
White Gift Sunday dates back to 1904 in Ohio. The wife of a Methodist minister and her two daughters came up with the idea of giving gifts wrapped in white paper at Christmas time to people in need.

Gifts are wrapped in white so that they will be anonymous. People who can only give a little will not be embarrassed. There is a Chinese tradition where all the people gave their king a gift wrapped in plain white paper so that every gift would look the same. People gave the king what they were able, and the king welcomed them all.

The White Gift shares in the spirit of Christ and the God of love at Christmas. We give gifts of love to people in need. These gifts are often nonperishable food items that are distributed to people in the community.

White Gift Sunday celebrates the stewardship of God’s love and giving at the time of year when we remember the coming of the King of Kings.

Christmas Party for Youth

For all youth in grade 5 and up, please join us at Lakeview Presbyterian at 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 13, 2015.

Bob Belanger is retiring!

Bob Belanger, our longtime caretaker, Mr. Fixit (or MacGuyver) and friend, is leaving St. Andrew’s after 15 years of dedicated service. We hope you get time to wish him the best. His last day of work here is Monday, November 30.

Check out the Heritage Wall!

The Heritage Committee is getting into the Christmas spirit with their new display of seasonal pictures drawn from their store of photos and documents.

Be sure to stop by the new display on the Heritage Wall.

Do you remember these events? Are you in any of the pictures?

Oras Chamber Choir

The fall concert season is beginning!

The Oras Chamber Choir, accompanied by members of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Erik Reikko, will present the Fauré Requiem at 8:00 pm on Friday, October 30, 2015.

William Byrd–Ave Verum Corpus
Ola Gjeilo (a Norwegian composer)–Second Eve
Einojuhani Rautavaara–Missa a Cappella
(intermission)
Gabriel Fauré–Requiem in D Minor

Admission is $20 for adults, $10 for students.

This concert is the first of three presenting Requiems by Herbert Howells and Maurice Duruflé and works by Francis Poulenc in 2016.

We are very fortunate to hear these pieces performed to such a high standard in this warm, resonant space.

Community Celebration Service

Restoring! Renewing! Rejoicing!

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church celebrates one year anniversary
of sanctuary restoration.

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is celebrating with a service of Thanksgiving and Rededication on Sunday October 25 at 7:00 p.m. In attendance will be community and business partners, representatives from the faith community, City of Thunder Bay Heritage Advisory Committee Members, as well as individuals who were all a part of the effort to restore the sanctuary ceiling after two sections collapsed in the summer of 2013.

Fifteen months after the incident closed the sanctuary for worship and community, use it was reopened in October of 2014. Sunday October 25^th marks the one year anniversary of the completion of the 1^st phase of the project in this City of Thunder Bay Heritage building. The congregation of St. Andrew’s wishes to recognize and celebrate with all those involved in restoring the beautiful sanctuary.

For pictures and more information about the restoration, click here.