St. Matthew's Anglican Church St.Albert

HAPPY ADVENT 1! The bulletin is posted on our website under "News and Events" should you wish to download either of the two paper documents prior to our service starting. "See" you online around 9:50 :)

Ok. Here’s the thing. We are in unprecedented times. (I know... you’re thinking, Really Angela?! You didn’t need to state the obvious...) No one really knows what the next week holds, let alone the next 6 weeks. I get that. ... However, in light of not being able to have the Advent Lessons and Carols service... and unsure of any one being permitted in person for Christmas Eve... AND WITH AWESOME TECHNOLOGY NOW INSTALLED... I would like some feedback. Would you: (there are multiple options to choose from) 1) Tune in via zoom on Advent 4 (either Friday, Saturday or Sunday Dec 18-20) in the evening (?7pm) for a St Matthew’s Christmas Special? It would be similar to our previous Lessons/Carols or Christmas concerts with your favourite sing-a-long Christmas songs, readings, etc. 2) Consider coming in (one at a time) a recording of favourite songs? There will be really easy to sing/common songs like the traditional carols and a few favs we have done previous years... you could sing in all or some or one. I don’t have details. I’m just trying to ascertain if this is something that people would be interested in before working it all out. Part of me thinks just holding off a year to see where we are at woild be the way to go. But then there is a (fairly large) part of me that wants to do what we can in our little and vibrant corner of St Matts that we can to say, yes, we know this one is different, but the pandemic can’t muzzle the Christmas spirit and celebrating from an appropriate distance away from us! Drop me an email, comment below, send an inbox message, text me... whatever works for you. Thank you!!

GOOD MORNING!! We are officially transitioning to our new technology this morning. As such, I am aware that the camera is not centered on the altar - there is already a plan to correct this, but for today, we appreciate your patience. IF you lose the feed, have issues with the feed or anything of the like - PLEASE comment/message/text me. I can only fix it when I know there is an issue :) Feedback throughout the week is always welcome. Cheers!

Choir in Isolation! This year, it seemed like a great challenge to figure out how we could bring music to the annual women's retreat. Singing in groups is not permitted per current covid restrictions and there were a significant number of people completing the retreat remotely/online. And so the idea of "choir in isolation" came about!! ... I recorded the musical accompaniment, uploaded it as an MP3 file, and then sent interested singers the paper music, the MP3 recordings and an youtube video of the song so they could essentially teach themselves the songs. Then, one by one, people came in and recorded their voice to the accompaniment and after some editing.... VOILA!!!! I am uploading four videos. One is essentially the credits/process and then three are the songs that we recorded! This has caused some serious thought to brainstorming a Christmas idea - but I need a few more days to wrap my head around the programming... watch here for exciting details when they become available! <3 ENJOY! (For the security and privacy of those involved, feel free to forward the links on or save them... the videos are NOT searchable on youtube, but if you have the link, you can view them!) Credits/Process Video: https://youtu.be/uDopXpeHafo Stand by Me: https://youtu.be/WFcGyNYVw5o Imagine: https://youtu.be/WObtZCQjUbw Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World: https://youtu.be/-_UTi1VAYzs

More information to come, but to answer your questions, church on Sunday, Nov 15 is available in-person. Following this Sunday, the Parish or St Matthews will be closed for a two week period, returning with in person worship for Advent 1. We will continue to stream services for the Nov 22 Sunday

St. Matthews Womens Group has something exciting to share. Save the date October 24/2020.

Calling all handy tradespeople! The new equipment that will help us live stream and not require chords everywhere taped in the church (which remains a tripping hazard) will require the help of someone wires handy. Hoping for someone to answer the call because Im honestly not sure who to call. Maybe Ghostbusters? Or my dad. My dad is handy. But wiring isnt his thing either. I know that there is someone we normally will call upon but he is having a well-deserved vacation u...ntil early September. I need to run an internet cable from the office where the modem is to the piano area. I stopped in and tried to look at it by going down by the doorbell wiring but then not sure how to get it to the office. If anyone wants to stop by and look or try their hand at it, please let me know! I would love to just do this thr first time rather than tape it down, but definitely dont have the knowledge to do this piece. Happy to pay in your beverage of choice, eternal gratitude, and either a helping hand or staying as far away as possible... whichever you prefer! Please get in touch if you think you might be able to help! Either send me a message or email or call thr church! The Live Streaming Team at St Matthews thanks you tremendously!

It is sent! The email with the RSVP link has now been emailed out. If you did not receive it, please verify that your email didnt put it in spam or web trash. Barring that you still cant find it, please let me know! We want to ensure that everyone who is interested in returning to a form or in-person (even though it will be different from what you know) has the opportunity to do so! ... Please let me (or someone!) know if you need help with the process!

Calling Sunday school kids, kids of St Albert, grandkids of all ages! ITS DILLYBAR DRIVE BY SUNDAY!! Drive by St Matthews starting at 1130 tomorrow morning (until supplies last) so that you are driving on Larose Drive so that your passenger side is church side... indicate how many kids youre housing and a masked/gloved volunteer will bring the dillybars over! ... Please dont leave your vehicle... see you tomorrow morning!

Having trouble once again uploading to the website. This week, we are using the Gospel of Matthew and the General Intercession. There will be no lyric sheet posted for this week. Matthew 14:22-33 General Intercession: 32 A General IntercessionRemember, Lord, your people bowed before you, and those who are absent through age, sickness, or any other cause. Care for the infants, guide the young, support the aged, inspire the faint-hearted, and bring the wandering to your f...old. Journey with the travellers, encourage the oppressed, defend the widows, deliver the captives, heal the sick. Strengthen all who are in tribulation, necessity, or distress. Remember for good those who love us, and those who hate us, and those who have asked us, unworthy as we are, to pray for them. Remember especially, Lord, those whom we have forgotten. For you are the helper of the helpless, the saviour of the lost, the refuge of the wanderer, the healer of the sick. You know the need of all and have heard each prayer: save us in your merciful loving-kindness and eternal love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Will try again when I get to the church - prioritizing adding the link to todays service. Stay tuned! If a friend who is not on facebook would like the link and you cant get it from the website, send me an email! :)

Its August long weekend and all through the land, the parishioners were relaxin with a beverage of choice in their hand! The sun was shining and the heat (too) hot, in hopes that the Oilers might finally hit the jackpot! ... ... I will save you the rest of the poem... However you and your people are spending this long weekend (hockey, the patio, the lake...) the live stream service will come to you! Documents posted on the website under news and events and we look forward to spending part of our long weekend with you! Stay safe! And feel free to post a pic or two of how today/this weekend finds you!

Hello all! Happy Wednesday! We had sent out a survey to find out if we had people interested in helping as greeters and cleaners as well as an email outlining what our plan looks like (sent as a FAQ document). If you have... a) changed your mind and would like to refrain from returning (and havent already updated us), could you send a quick email/Facebook message/reply to the survey? b) discerned that you would like to return to in-person but didnt receive either email, ...could you send us a quick message (email/Facebook message)? c) discerned that you would like to return but are not comfortable with being a greeter/cleaner, could you please indicate this via a Facebook message/email/survey response? Im only a little worried that the number of people who indicated wanting to return is not matching the number of replies weve received this week... and your response (however it finds you!) is of great value as we look forward and plan our steps. Thank you for those who have replied, discerned a different response and let us know! Email the information came from was [email protected]

Hello all!! I working to try and email all the people who said they wished to return to in-person worship, Im struggling as I dont have email addresses. Most (if not all) our communication will be circulated to an email distribution list, people will be asked to RSVP via an email link if they are attending that Sunday, and so forth from "[email protected]" - a happy generic email that can be managed by others should roles change, people leave, etc. IF you rep...lied yes, you would like to be included on the return to worship communications when we did the call outs, can you please send us a private message on here or email the above address with your email? I am trying to go through facebook (which I know most of you are on here watching weekly), but I cant seem to message you on facebook (or find you) from our parish page. IF you are a person who has a lot of emails for congregation members, feel free to contact me! I would LOVE your help trying to reach people! :D

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the internet is fixed! Or upgraded. Or happier. Or however one wishes to describe it. And the documents (bulletin) for tomorrow have been uploaded to our website and emailed out. If you would like to be receiving the information via email rather than the website, let us know by sending us a message. Happy Saturday!

Have you ever had a REALLY great start to your day that you want to climb to the mountain top and tell the world about? (Minus wanting to climb a mountain right now...) GUESS WHAT?! With yesterdays "freezing" of Archdeacon Lee, I have been assured by our internet provider that they will get back to me in 24-48 hours with an appt to come and change out our equipment, maintain us on the same-costing plan, ANNNND increase our upload speed to 5mbps (we are currently running les...s than 1)! This is a big deal and a joyful morning announcement! The best part of the calls this morning? Contrary to Marchs phone calls, this only accumulated to about an hour on the phone/hold!!! :D Stay tuned! Who knows.. maybe on Sunday, Archdeacon Lee will be moving his arms so fast, he will be blurry!! :D Comment below with some awesomeness of how your week started! #technologywins #letshopethisworks #IamnotanITwhiz

We have officially called most of the parish list looking for your thoughts/feelings/comfort on St Matthews reopening. If you havent had a chance to reply to our questions or have missed our call, PLEASE MESSAGE US!! I would love to call you and include your voice as an important one! If youve been tuning into our live-streams, rest assured those will continue! ... Looking forward to calling a phone near you!!

Have you been wondering how you can invest your free time during this pandemic? Have WE got a DEAL for YOU! Our lawns need some summer lovin and the best part? You get to work on your summer tan simultaneously! You dont need to be experienced or hold a certificate in lawn maintenance, we are happy to train any and all interested parties! ... Just call the parish office for more information or to volunteer your services! Try not to volunteer all at the same time! :D

Gooooood morning all! Going to go live shortly after 1030 to see if I can get the image fixed. If you get a notification that St Matts is live, stop by and provide some feedback...live streaming is like raising a child in that it takes a village! Will delete the stream after we finish so if you cant find it later, thats why

However you find yourself celebrating this glorious feast day, be reminded that God is here. Here is our picture of red this fine morning! Feel free to post yours here!! HAPPY PENTECOST!

Happy Pentecost Eve! AKA... WEAR RED SUNDAY!! Lets have some fun! Wear something red tomorrow and send us a picture! Here were some from last year to get us started! Comment here with your WEAR RED picture or send us a message! :D Also, documents are loaded on the website for tomorrow! If you want to be added to the mailing list for the documents, send us a message! <3

An update from our Bishop Jane about reopening churches.

Good evening all! The bulletin is posted on our website (www.stmatt.ca) under "News and Events" ANNNNND because we are always growing, there is a new addition this week! COLOURING SHEETS! If the piano is late to start a piece of music... I ^may^ be colouring... :D See you tomorrow morning!