PARISH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION - Parish Blog

"Why should we weep when the weary ones rest..."

1/2/2021

A bench appeared at St Matthew's parish hall in Florence last week.
It's perfect, sheltered outside beside the entry, inviting pandemic walkers or churchyard visitors to sit for a bit.
It's beautiful, and it has a beautiful story!
Laura's best friend gave Laura's husband, Mike, two benches to refurbish as a surprise for Laura's birthday. Mike put long hours and fine craftsmanship into the project, and we hear it made Laura cry.
Of course it did!
She keeps one in memory of her sister, Shelley, and has installed the other at the hall in memory of two special people to her, and to the community: her father- and mother-in-law, Don and Joan.
Here is the bench, donated by Mike and Laura Rickman in memory of Don and Joan Rickman.

Ordination - Enrique

12/6/2020

Members of the parish were once again glued to their screens on November 30 as the Reverend Enrique Martinez was ordained at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. He has been appointed deacon-in-charge of the Parish of Long Point Bay (Port Ryerse Memorial Church, Port Ryerse; St. John's, Woodhouse; St. John's, Port Rowan; St. Andrew's-by-the-Lake, Turkey Point; and Christ Church Chapel of Ease, Vittoria).

Photo by Brendon Bedford

Ordination

11/21/2020

Brittany Comber sent us these wonderful pictures of the ordination most of us livestreamed on Thursday night! Almost like being there...

Little Free Pantry update

9/27/2020

When St Matthew's, Florence, set up its Little Free Pantry (see page 9 of the Huron Church News) in April, it hoped it would fill a need.
Did it ever!
It was accessed every day over the summer, and kept constantly stocked by an outpouring of community support.
September arrived, and the property on which it sat was sold. It would need to be moved.
One phone call, and a spot was found, only a block away, and still on the main street!
The pantry builders, Jack and Irene, moved it and weather-proofed it on Saturday.
A local artist, Mike, painted the new sign.
Do you see the lock on the left? That's only to keep the flour-loving squirrel from making herself at home...

in the news again!

9/27/2020

Find "Pandemic ponders" in the most recent Huron Church News, written by our very own in-parish congregational coach, Shirley Sewell. It's here on page 9!

in the news...

4/25/2020

Read contributions to the Huron Church News by some of our own by clicking here. --->
Love in the Time of Pandemic by a parishioner is on page 3, and the Ordination Reflection of our Deacon-in-Charge is on page 4.

Firefighters say thanks

4/9/2020

London Fire Department, Station 12, C Squad have to save their N95s for medical calls, giving any extra to London Health Sciences, so they asked the St Matthew's, Florence, stitchers for facemasks. They said they didn't mind if they were pretty. So they got pretty ones!

Prayer

3/28/2020

From our Deacon-in-Charge:
Over the next few weeks you will likely hear quite a lot about "prayer" here.
It is something that you can do now. Whenever you pray, whatever you say, be assured that God is listening.
At the same time, it is something that is also enriched by our coming together: something that we wait for.
Shirley Sewell, our warden and frequent intercessor at St. Matthew's Church in Florence, has passed on this prayer. You will hear a version of it prayed this Sunday. You are free to offer up these words to God, right now. Read them, pray them, and hope for the day when we can join our prayers together in body and in Spirit.
Justin

http://worldinprayer.org/2020/world-news-in-prayer-thursday-march-25-2020/

A note from Enrique

3/27/2020

Enrique Martinez was our student assistant/curate here in the parish a bit ago, and lately takes parish Sunday services wherever needed.
Like most of us, he is home during the COVID-19 shutdowns, but he sent this note to the parish, along with his telephone number and email address. If you wish that contact information, write to us via the box at the bottom of the CONTACT US page.

God has given me a lot of time to pray for our family of the Transfiguration. That is perfect. For our Bishop Todd and all our priests. And all of you.

I hope everyone in the parish is ok. Please tell everyone to keep strong because God is with us. Also support each other because we are Christians. And pray for everyone because God is listening now to all our prayers.

Remember what I said in my homily: God gives us time to be with our families because this is more important for all of us.

God gives us a moment to think about what we are doing with our planet.

Jesus is suffering for us because he loves us and gave his life for us.

God gives us the opportunity to be one church, and together may our planet, his creation, be truly a home for all of us.

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

I love all my Parish of the Transfiguration family and I keep praying for all of you.

God bless you all.

Enrique

We're in the news. The Huron Church News!

3/21/2020

See our COVID-19 response story here: https://diohuron.org/love-in-the-time-of-a-pandemic-response/