Music and Dessert (May 22 @ 7pm)

Music and Dessert on Friday evening, May 22 at 7:00 pm. The choir will perform a talent night in the Newcombe Room. 

Please mark your calendars and watch for more details.


 

Tiny shampoos and soaps help local shelters

The Ladies Aid is collecting unopened hotel shampoos and soaps, etc..  These small items will be used in hygiene kits at shelters in the Edmonton area.

Help us help others by adding to the collection bin located in the Newcombe room.

CONCERT - "Improvise" (May 9 @ 4pm)

On May 9 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, come, listen and enjoy a late afternoon concert of improvisation.  The concert will feature Mark Segger on drums, Charles Stolte on saxophone, and Roger Admiral on piano.

Admission is $10.00.

 

Camp Kannawin 2015 Brochure

Camp Kannawin is our Presbyterian church camp in Alberta on Sylvan Lake.  They have programs and camps for all ages. The 2015 brochure is now ready to view and download at their website. 

There are two downloadable versions of this year's brochure:
For the version with pages in order for viewing, click here! 
For the version with pages in the right order for printing, click here!

Work on the Great West window starts

Watch the Edmonton Journal video about our stained-glass window renovation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-572Q8YSjAI

Careful, it’s fragile - Church’s century-old window to be cleaned and restored

We made the papers!!!  

There's an article in the Edmonton Journal (April 27, page A4) about the stained-glass window restoration. To read the full article and watch the video, follow this link:

• http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Careful+fragile+Church+century+window+cleaned+restored/11006143/story.html 

CONCERT: EdMetro Chorus @ FPC (May 17 @ 3pm)

Edmonton: Ten Years of Our Lives – Reunion Concert

May 17, 2015 at First Presbyterian Church (Edmonton) in Edmonton, AB.

Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus and Artistic Director David Garber celebrates its 10th Anniversary Season with a series of events during the Victoria Day long weekend, culminating in a concert, “Ten Years of Our Lives” on Sunday, May 17th, 3:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 10025 – 105 Street.

 The weekend commences with reunion rehearsals on Friday and Saturday, in which current members of the chorus will be joined by former members. The celebration continues on Saturday, May 16 with a formal GALA Banquet at Edmonton‘s beautiful Chateau Louis Conference Centre (entertainment, reminiscences, door prizes).

The final event is the concert “Ten Years of Our Lives” on Sunday, May 17. The concert features favourite repertoire as chosen through an online poll by current and former singers, plus audience members. This will include folk songs (“Danny Boy”, “Shenandoah”), spirituals, medleys from “Les Miserables” and “West Side Story”, plus classical compositions by Mozart (“Ave Verum Corpus”), and Gabriel Fauré (“Cantique de Jean Racine”, and “Libera me” from “Requiem in D minor”). The concert also includes two much-loved songs by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins “Adiemus”, from “Songs of Sanctuary” and “A Celtic Prayer,” from “The Peacemakers” (which the chorus recently performed at the Winspear Centre for Music).

A highlight of the concert will be current and former members of EdMetro Chorus joining to perform three beloved gems by Canadian composers, “Four Strong Winds”, “Fare Thee Well Love”, and “We Rise Again”.
Performing with Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus… pianist Remi Do, soprano Janet Smith, alto Mireille Rijavec, tenor Matthew Dalen, bass David McCune, guest organist Jeremy Spurgeon, and Celtic harpist Gordon Ritchie.

See this event on Evensi

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On April 13, we launched our Twitter account.  Follow us at @FPC_Edmonton.

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Scaffolding goes up at the Great West Window

Last week scaffolding went up on the 105th Street side of First Church.  This is sign of work to start on the Great West Window repair.  At over 600 square feet, it is the largest leaded window in Alberta, and consists of seven main lights with shaped heads and thirty shaped traceries of various sizes.

Ross Lepard...organizer of the FPC Community Dinners

Ross Lepard, seen stirring a pot in the picture, has said it more than once, and to more than one group, “The community dinners are like a drug to me, I just can’t get enough.” The dinners started in 2013 and are held on the fourth Saturday, but an occasional month is missed during the year. 

Ross finds the enthusiasm intoxicating, absorbing the enthusiasm of the 30-40 volunteers and the earnest appreciation of those who come to dine. He knows 90% of those who come now – some as early as 4:30 p.m. They know they can find coffee, tea or juice and a welcoming chair. Newcomers may be drawn to the event by the “ad” on the electronic sign or by strategically distributed flyers announcing the event. 

The team never knows whether the numbers will top 100 or be closer to 60. In 2014, near Christmas, when the number went to 110 for the first time, the pots were emptied of food. Helpers went rustling through cupboards looking for canned and packaged foods – anything. Everyone ate that night, but not everyone ate the same meal. 

Each month, preparation starts with the menu, which varies remarkably. Groceries are purchased, totaling $250, with meat costing half the total. Desserts are made Wednesday evening. Then on Saturday, Ross starts early and volunteers come in shifts. Eight come at 10 a.m. for the paring and cutting of vegetables, potatoes and ingredients for green salad. 

They depart and Ross and Chris Sali, a consistent volunteer, are there from noon to 2 p.m. with their tasks. Table setters, who also cut cake, arrive next (2:00-4:00 p.m.), then 8-10 meal servers (4-6 p.m.), followed by 6-7 on the cleanup crew. The goal is to head home by 7 p.m. At that point, Ross, and likely a few others, can’t wait to do it all over again. He says 100 guests is a good size and manageable. If the turnout was low Ross drives by the Youth Emergency Shelter on his way home so he’ll drop off food there – one night it was two roasts and salad. He says the Shelter’s cook doesn’t seem to have a menu, it depends on gifts. 

Ross came to his current role as a member of the FPC Board of Managers, but he may have acquired a taste for it at the famous Josephburg chicken dinners (1700 dinner guests was a Guinness record). Josephburg is a hamlet close to Fort Saskatchewan. Ross cooked the chicken and he can tell you a tip about fried chicken that is worth knowing. He says the dinners, held annually for over 100 years (until 2013), started as a church’s chicken dinner and he knows the church that wrote the cookbook very well. His wife, “Cath” Lepard, or more formally the Rev. Catherine Lepard, was ordained at and served as the minister of the Josephburg United Church of Christ in Canada, a denomination with long-established working relationships in North America and globally with the United Church of Canada. Catherine earned her MA in theology, following her training as a nurse. 

The Lepards, married for 52 years, have a grown family, three born to them and three adopted, that is growing larger. For years they lived in Fort Saskatchewan, where Ross, a SAIT grad, worked for Sherritt Gordon. Now they live in Edmonton in the home where Ross grew up.

Book Launch - "Maryann" by Jim Flatman

On Friday, April 10, Jim Flatman, local author and First Presbyterian Church member, launched his new book titled Maryanne. Jim says the book is a “horror - romance about fundraising for a university”.

The event took place at Audrey's Books (10702 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton).

PCConnect - April Edition released

PCConnect - April Edition

The Rev. Karen Horst is Nominee for Moderator The name of the Rev. Karen R. Horst, minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Orillia, Ontario, will be placed as the sole nominee to be Moderator of the 2015 General Assembly, which begins on June 4 in Vancouver.

Highlights from the Assembly Council Meetings Curious about what happened at the recent Assembly Council meetings? Read more about the discussion on strategic planning, the pension plan and much more.

Canadian Ministries Gathering From March 16–19, leadership from a variety of ministries gathered in Mississauga, Ontario, for education, worship and leadership development. Leaders from across the country represented the camping ministries, National Native Ministry Council, new congregational development, presbyteries, renewing and sustaining congregations, social ministries, and college students.

Responding the Vanuatu Disaster The Presbyterian Church in Canada is responding to the emergency situation in Vanuatu, caused by Cyclone Pam, through Presbyterian World Service & Development.

New Resource: Becoming an Elder in the PCC Becoming an Elder in The Presbyterian Church in Canada is a new resource prepared by Canadian Ministries to provide information about discerning a call to eldership—to discern one’s own call or to nominate others who might be called.

Prayer Resources for Healing and Reconciliation Healing and Reconciliation Sunday is May 24. Aboriginal Day Sunday is June 21. Congregations are invited to mark each of these, and each Sunday in between, with prayer, using  bulletin inserts prepared by Justice Ministries.

New Records Management Resources from the Archives Two new records management resources for congregations are now available. One is meant for day-to-day records management. The other is for dissolved congregations trying to discern which records to send to the Archives.

More News... Job applications are now being accepted for the position of Director of Presbyterian World Service & Development. The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance has been re-established under the World Council of Churches. Please take a few minutes to let us know how PCPak is working for you. Did you see the Moderator's Easter message? New pew cards highlighting the benefits of becoming a gift annuitant are available for order. There's still space available to attend the NACCP Christian philanthropy conference in Kansas. Members of the World Council of Churches are praying for the Middle East on May 29. The Rev. Dr. Carol Woods of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee was interviewed for an article on freedom of expression vs. religious sensibilities.