Worship

St. Mary’s is home to a diversity of liturgical expressions, each with their own personality, each offering their unique way to gather and worship our God. As a community, we seek to honour this breadth of liturgical styles, so that everyone may be able to find a sense of belonging and welcome in whichever service they attend.

Weekly Worship

Sundays

8:00 am ~ In-Person

Our 8am service follows a traditional style. We use the Book of Alternative Services. It is a quiet and more contemplative service with no music.

(Healing Prayer resumes in the Fall)

10:00 am ~ Hybrid

Our 10am service has musical accompaniment from our choir and organist. It lasts for about an hour. We primarily use the hymnals.

Throughout the school year, we offer children’s formation during the service. In the summer, we switch to offering colouring pages & parent take-home sheets in the Children’s Soft Space.

1st Sunday: Spirit Sunday
(Healing Prayer resumes in the Fall)

Worship with Children

We celebrate the Holy Eucharist at every service. Both bread and wine are offered, but it’s perfectly fine to receive only one element and not the other. Communion is distributed at the communion rail, where people may stand or kneel to receive. We also have gluten-free bread for those who cannot tolerate wheat. Simply ask an usher on Sunday morning if you need this alternative.

Lent, Holy Week, & Easter Schedule

Most services/events will be offered in-person and online, but those marked with * will be in-person only. For more details about any of the services/events below, (and for Zoom info) simply click on the drop-down arrows.

Lent

“Embracing Emergence Christianity”
Mondays, 7:30pm on Zoom, March 3rd to April 7th
This six-week study examines the changing face of Christianity and culture. It is not news to most of us, that we are living in a time of rapid and profound change. Which can be profoundly unsettling. History tells us that about every 500 years or so there are major upheavals in cultural norms, and thus our ways of experiencing and understanding our faith. The last of these upheavals in our Western culture and Christian faith was the Reformation… which happened 500 years ago. The good news is that none of the previous semi-millennial upheavals (from the one 2000 years ago that created the Christian church out of a Jewish movement, to the last upheaval that we call the Reformation) destroyed the church. Instead, a new, transformed church emerged from the turmoil. While none of us has a ‘crystal ball’ to foresee the future, there are plenty of hints and directions that we will look at and explore how Christianity is undergoing another upheaval in our own time.

Each session will begin with a 15-20 minute video by Phyllis Tickle, a well-known professor of religion and author whose book “The Great Emergence” brought this historical pattern to light.

We will meet on Zoom on Monday evenings starting at 7:30pm. There’s a participant workbook available for everyone who wants to join this study. So please email Roberta (rfraser@stmaryskerrisdale.ca) if you are interested in participating or have any questions.
Lenten Midweek Eucharist (Wednesdays, 11:30am*)
This Lent, we are offering a simple mid-week Eucharist service. Instead of a homily, different prayer stations focused on healing will be offered each week. This will be an opportunity to gather around the Lord’s table, in the midst of the week.
Afterwards, a simple soup lunch will be offered. If you can’t make it to the mid-week Eucharist, you can still come to this lunch if you seek connection.
Walking a labyrinth has been a spiritual practice for many centuries. St. Mary’s Labyrinth will be available on Wednesdays from 10am-3pm. The Labyrinth can be found in the gym, located through the main building glass doors along W.37th Avenue.
AN OPPORTUNE TIME: The Seven Temptations of Jesus, a play
Friday, March 21st, 7pm
On March 21st, at 7pm at St. Mary's, we will have an opportunity to do this. There will be a staged reading of a new play about the temptations that Jesus faced; perhaps this will give us insights into our own story, including our own temptations. Come to participate or watch. Invite friends and neighbours for a stimulating evening.
For further information - and perhaps to volunteer to play a role in the play - contact Rudi Krause ( 604-264-1199 )
The Crucifixion: A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer is an oratorio for soloists, SATB choir and organ composed by John Stainer in 1887 with text by W.J. Sparrow Simpson. The piece relates the biblical narrative of the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Hymns by Stainer, such as "All for Jesus," are sung throughout the work.
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To join the Crucifixion service online: click on the link when it’s time or enter the Meeting ID and passcode.
Click Here to Join Online
Meeting ID: 835 4629 5211
Passcode: 2490

Holy Week

Sunday services commencing our journey into Holy Week.
_______________________
This service is available in-person and online via Zoom. To join this service, click on the link when it’s time or enter the Meeting ID and passcode.
Click Here to Join Online
Meeting ID: 993 030 484
Passcode: 1911
Immerse yourself in the solemnity of Holy Week by committing to a daily devotion. Each day we will offer compline; a service of the word with the psalms and responses chanted. Compline’s name is derived from the latin completorium, or completion, marking the service at the end of day before one takes to rest. Joining us as the guest preacher will be the Ven. Ronald Harrison.
_______________________
This service is available in-person and online via Zoom. To join this service, click on the link when it’s time or enter the Meeting ID and passcode.
Click Here to Join Online
Meeting ID: 838 4914 4754
Passcode: 2025
This service is a deeply moving service, recalling the night of the Last Supper. At the Last Supper, Jesus commanded that people should love one another. He then washed the feet of his disciples as an act of kindness. Therefore, at this service, there will be a voluntary invitation to have your feet washed, and then to wash someone else’s feet. The service concludes with the altar being stripped, and we leave in silence.
_______________________
This service is available in-person and online via Zoom. To join this service, click on the link when it’s time or enter the Meeting ID and passcode.
Click Here to Join Online
Meeting ID: 897 4969 8711
Passcode: 2025
A shorter, creative service that explores the sadness of Good Friday while still offering and reminding both the children and participants about the hope that Easter gives to us.
Offered in-person only.
For this service, we arrive and leave in silence. There are solemn prayers and a meditation on the cross to remember the crucifixion of Jesus.
_______________________
This service is available in-person and online via Zoom. To join this service, click on the link when it’s time or enter the Meeting ID and passcode.
Click Here to Join Online
Meeting ID: 874 2656 8022
Passcode: 2025

Easter

We journey from darkness to light, as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Expect singing and movement, as we recall through scripture the redemption of creation and humankind.
_______________________
This service is available in-person and online via Zoom. To join this service, click on the link when it’s time or enter the Meeting ID and passcode.
Click Here to Join Online
Meeting ID: 822 6980 6673
Passcode: 2025
The culmination of Holy Week is resolved in the triumph of Easter morning. Join us as we recall and celebrate the resurrection. Easter egg hunt to follow 10am service for kids of all ages.
_______________________
This service is available in-person and online via Zoom. To join this service, click on the link when it’s time or enter the Meeting ID and passcode.
Click Here to Join Online
Meeting ID: 993 030 484
Passcode: 1911
Join us for our Easter favourite hymns and all the familiar prayers. Followed by a joyful tea with a chance to talk and meet together. If you would like to attend or know someone who would like to be invited, please contact the office. (office@stmaryskerrisdale.ca)
_______________________
This service is available in-person and online via Zoom. To join this service, click on the link when it’s time or enter the Meeting ID and passcode.
Click Here to Join Online
Meeting ID: 863 3733 1040
Passcode: 1911

Iona Prayer (monthly service)

The daily prayer practice of the Iona Community in Scotland comes from an inspired and beautiful liturgy that St. Mary’s worshippers will find both familiar and fresh. It is a gorgeous way to end the day and a perfect reset for the week ahead.

Offered once a month, at 7:30pm (in person only)

January 19th, February 16th, March 16th

Music Ministry

The music ministry at St. Mary’s aims to provide spiritual nourishment through the God-given gift of music. Throughout our heritage as Christian people, music has played a fundamental role in worship and in being part of our outreach to others. While grounded in the wealth of great choral and organ compositions of the past, the music we offer also embraces works by living composers and of other Christian traditions.

The 25-voice choir provides leadership in music-making, offering choral music for all our major festivals and special liturgical events. These include
• Advent Lessons & Carols
• Christmas Lessons & Carols
• Ash Wednesday
• Palm/Passion Sunday – our tradition is to focus on the Palm liturgy at the 10am service, and on the Passion readings at a special 4pm service.
• Maundy Thursday
• Good Friday
• Great Vigil
• Diocesan and Archdeaconry events
Our choir sings at the 10am Sunday morning services, offering both congregational leadership, using the music of Taize, Iona, and other communities, as well as a traditional Anglican repertoire of Eucharist settings, anthems, and motets from the plainchant of the Middle Ages to contemporary works. The choir is led by a core quartet of experienced paid singers.
If you are interested in joining our choir, please contact our Director of Music, Kirk, at music@stmaryskerrisdale.ca
The Family Choir of adults and children has been on hiatus since Covid hit us, and we hope to begin it again to help to lead the monthly Wonder Sunday services. We have a set of handbells that are used for psalmody and special anthems.
The organ is a 3-manual 1964 Casavant with an older console, 1955. It was modernized in 2010. It is used for the 10am Sunday morning services as well as special services and occasional recitals.

Worship with Children

We believe the way we welcome children in church directly affects the way they respond to church, to God, and to Christ. Help us let them know that they are welcome here.

We encourage you to sit where the children can see and hear the service. We encourage you to sing the hymns, pray, and voice the responses; children learn liturgical behaviour from copying you. If you need to leave the service with your child, please feel free to do so, but please come back!

God feeds all children. If you want your child to receive the bread (wine too - that’s up to you), please have them put their hands out with you.
In our Sanctuary we have a safe, comfy space (near the front on the right) for children to be - where children can play, draw, colour, read, and more. It’s an alternative to the pews which some children may find uncomfortable or boring, and offers them a front-row view of the service.
At St. Mary’s we love incorporating children into our worship. Children can be readers, intercessors (leading the prayers), and servers. We also love to think creatively with a family, on how to incorporate their child when there’s a specific interest of the child’s.
Throughout the school year, during our 10am worship on Sunday mornings, we have Children’s Chapel programming (ages 0-9) in the Library near the Sanctuary doors leading to the washrooms and the rest of the building.
The only exception is on the first Sunday of the month, our 10am worship takes the shape of a Spirit Sunday, and children are encouraged to participate in this intergenerational service.
In the summer, we switch to offering colouring pages & parent take-home sheets in the Children’s Soft Space.
Click here to learn more about the other Family Ministry programs we offer.

Liturgical Ministries

These ministry teams help with our worship services each week. Interested in volunteering for any of these teams? Please contact our office (email).

Our Servers help worship to flow throughout the service. They help carry the cross and torches in procession, help with setting the altar at the offertory, and generally help the clergy with the liturgy. We are always glad to have more volunteers.
Chancel Guild members help prepare for Eucharist and other sacraments like baptism and marriage that are vital to parish life. The Guild's ministry includes laundering linens, polishing silver and brass, managing supplies and organizing memorial flowers. Members also decorate the Church for major festivals.
Our Lectors help with reading the lessons and leading the intercessions (prayer petitions) during worship.
Our Greeters & Ushers are our ambassadors to newcomers and visitors. They arrive a little early on Sunday and help people find bulletins and places to sit and help with the offertory collection.
Our Lay Eucharistic Ministers are specially trained to help administer the chalice at Communion.
Our Choir provides music for the 10am service and special Holy days. It rehearses on Thursday evenings at 6:30pm and on Sunday mornings at 9am. If you can’t make a permanent commitment, you may sing for special Christmas and Easter choirs.
Our Coffee Hour Hosts set up for coffee hour after Sunday services. They set out cups and napkins, make coffee, and provide half-and-half, pastries, and juice. Hosts are also responsible for clean-up, but often others volunteer to help.