WELCOME TO OUR NEWLY AMALGAMATED ANGLICAN PARISH!
8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.
The service at 8:00 in the chapel is Holy Communion using the BCP on the first and second Sundays of the month and the traditional-language service using the BAS on the other Sundays of the month.
Bulletin:Nov 9 Holy Eucharist BCP 8 am
Nov 9 Remembrance Day Service
Announcements: Week of Nov 9
WHO WE ARE AS A PARISH
On Sunday and Throughout the Week
Welcome to our new Anglican parish, formed through the amalgamation of St Bartholomew’s and All Saints’ on 8 May 2025. We have yet to choose a name for our new parish, but we do know that it will be housed in the old, familiar Victorian structure that was known as St George’s throughout much of Sarnia’s history. We are located at the intersection of Vidal Street North and Charlotte Street.
We are truly a work in progress and all are welcome to join us as we strive to build a parish that reflects God’s truth, beauty and goodness. If you are looking for a place with opportunities for great involvement, we can build that church together. If you need a place of peace and refreshment — a place just to be — let it be with us.
Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let it be.
Let us see Thy great Salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee.
We worship God in reverence and wonder at 8:00 and 10:30 each Sunday. Our 8:00 service is a traditional said-service and our 10:30 service is wonderfully choral. Our worship is directed towards heightening our awareness of God’s love for the world, as revealed through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. We enjoy fellowship during our coffee hour after the second service.
Throughout the rest of the week, our energy is focused on activities that provide opportunities for parishioners and outside friends to increase our fellowship in God’s love through work and play together by partaking in such activities as Bible study, a walking club, a book club, cards and board games, Bible crossword, and workshops on topics of interest to the congregation. An important part of our parish life is to provide outreach and support to the community, most notably through our work with the Inn of the Good Shepherd and our sponsorship of self-help groups.
To read more about us, please visit the various pages in this website, which is always a work in progress, or click here to be taken to the “ABOUT” page. To see a curated selection of photos of our activities this year, click here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
See the announcements page for other events
In addition to those activities that have been included in the announcements page — see the blue link under the date at the top of the page — the following activities, which vary from time to time, or were planned after the publication of the announcements page, will also be taking place:
► 🎄 Saturday 1 November 🎄
9:00 am — Christmas Bazaar; Parish Hall, Memorial Hall, Nave & Quire
► Sunday 2 November
2:00 am — Daylight Saving Time ends
► Monday 10 November
1:00 pm — My Smartphone Hates Me, Parish Hall
► Friday 14 November
7:00 pm — Creative Word, Rectory
► Sunday 23 November
11:30 am — Special Vestry Meeting, Parish Hall
► Friday 28 November
5:00 pm — The Slice, TBA
6:30 pm — Hymn Sing, Parish House
► Tuesday 2 December
7:00 pm — Service of Deconsecration, Canon Davis Memorial
► Saturday 13 December
6:00 pm — 🎄Christmas Feast, Parish Hall 🎄
► Sunday 21 December
10:30 am — Nine Lessons & Carols Service
► Wednesday 24 December
7:00 pm — Christmas Eve Service
► Thursday 25 December
10:30 am — Christmas Day Service
MY SMARTPHONE HATES ME The fifth instalment in this much beloved workshop series will take place on ⭐ Monday 10 November — well after the all-important and all-consuming Christmas Bazaar — beginning at one o’clock in Parish Hall ⭐. This instalment is for those who wish to review old topics with a view to consolidating previous learning and to revisit topics that, well, need revisiting. We will look at the basics, including how to take charge of an unruly smartphone, how to use the messaging app, how to organise emails, and how to use the calendar app. Any and all, whether of this parish or not, are welcome to attend. Watch this space for the time and date. Until we meet again!
MISSION & OUTREACH
Tuesday 30 September
As we continue down the road to becoming a new parish, we are pleased to announce that the Mission & Outreach Committee has been reconstituted with representation from both former parishes and, also, with representation from Canon Davis Memorial. Last Tuesday, the new committee met with a view to determining which areas of mission work from the three parishes we would be able to continue. After much discernment, it was determined that we would definitely continue our work with the Inn and the St Andrew’s Food Bank, because, after all, that would be an ecumenical matter. We also decided to continue the Christmas dinner at London Road Public School and the food hampers to certain of that school’s families. Other work will be announced as plans are formalised. We are happy to announce that we will also be involving the congregation to a greater extent in some of our work. Stay tuned for more details!
NEWS FROM PARISH COUNCIL
HARD AT WORK
On Sunday 25 May, our amalgamated parish elected its first parish council, thus beginning a new chapter in our shared history. With that move, we became self-governing, with the Rev’d Karen Nelles as our priest-in-charge and the Rev’d Canon Steve Harnadek as our associate priest.
Information on what our wardens and the rest of Parish Council have been doing and are currently doing can now be found on the Parish Council subpage. You can find that page by clicking on the link in the dropdown menu at the top of the screen or, if you prefer, by clicking here.
Parish Council now has two very pressing matters on its hands: the first is to oversee the choosing of a new name for our parish. That process is detailed above in the article entitled “Your Suggestions Are Welcome”. The second is to work with Archdeacon Amanda to begin the process to find a new priest for our amalgamated parish
CALLING THE FAITHFUL
Renewing Our Old Practice
As part of our return to old practice, we have begun ringing the bell five minutes before our main service in order to call the faithful to prayer. In the photo infra, Kory seems to be caught up in the ringing of the bell. Perhaps the bell has tolled for him… Perhaps, instead, we can just say, “Up, up and away!”
CHRISTMAS FEAST
Saturday 13 December at 6:00 p.m.
Once again, our Intrepid Kitchen Staff™ and Warden Heather will be treating us to yet another ultra-scrumptious Christmas Feast. This year, the feast will take place on Saturday 13 December beginning at 6:00 p.m., with the doors opening at 5:30 p.m. Quoth Heather, “The feast will include a fabulous home (church) cooked dinner with a number of enjoyable side dishes. We will have a selection of homemade desserts that remind you of what Christmas feasts are all about. Bring your friends and enjoy a lovely evening with a wonderful meal, some laughs and Christmas music.” The per person fee this year will be twenty-five dollars. The photo below is of some members of our Intrepid Kitchen Staff™, supported by others, preparing for last year’s feast.
SPECIAL VESTRY MEETING
TO CHOOSE OUR NEW NAME
Sunday 23 November
Now that Bishop Todd has sent his short-list of five names from which we may choose the new name of our amalgamated parish, we are closing in on our much-anticipated “Choose-a-Name Sunday”. In accordance with canon law, our territorial archdeacon, Archdeacon Amanda, will oversee the procedure. Here is an extract from the letter that you received on or around 7 September: • The vestry will vote on the Bishop’s shortlist using a secret write-in ballot; • A successive balloting method will be used; • After each ballot, the name with the least votes will be removed; • Eventually, individuals will choose between the two names that secured the most votes; • Subject to the Bishop’s approval, the name with the greatest number of votes will be chosen as the new name of the our parish; • The number of votes received by each proposed name will be shared after each ballot has been counted; • To make this a joyful experience, food and activities will be provided as we wait for ballots to be counted.
The privilege of voting is restricted to parishioners who possess these qualifications: Are baptised members of New Sarnia Parish; Have attained the age of 16; and Have, for at least three months during the preceding twelve months of the date of this Special Vestry Meeting, been identifiably involved in the parish through regular worship, fellowship, and financial support.
The names from which you may choose, in alphabetical order, are:
- All Souls’
- St Anne’s
- St Cecilia’s
- St Lawrence’s
- St Michael and All Angels’
Click here to read the letter that our wardens distributed on Sunday 19 October, which provides an overview of the naming process to date. Click here to read the notice of the Special Vestry Meeting. Thanks are offered to our wardens for the countless hours that were spent in working through this process with our priests and Archdeacon Amanda.
OUR CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
All Saints’ Day, Saturday 1 November
Our wonderful Christmas Bazaar has come and gone, and what a truly fun experience it was. Countless thank-yous are offered to those parishioners and friends who spent a busy week preparing our church for this annual extravaganza. Once the doors were opened on Saturday morning, all of the aches and pains of lugging boxes and saleable ware from the dungeon below the church to Parish Hall and beyond were (mostly) forgotten — Voltaren helps — as enthusiastic shoppers swarmed the various tables eagerly snatching up goodies and treasures to take home. Many a shopper was heard to say that this was the best bazaar in the city. Well done, one and all!
Here are a few photos of the crowd that swarmed Parish Hall mere minutes after the doors were opened by a harried but cheerful greeter:
And don’t forget that these lovely puzzles, courtesy of Angela, are for sale. They depict some of the beautiful and, indeed, world-class architecture of our stately High Victorian church.
FOOD BANK, EVERY FIRST SUNDAY; INN OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, EVERY OTHER MONTH ON THE FIRST MONDAY
The first Sunday of each month will be ‘food bank Sunday’. All items collected will be donated to the St Andrew’s Food Bank in Corunna. Much needed items are canned fruit, snack crackers, Manwich, canned chilli, canned pasta with meat, juice boxes, and men’s and women’s deodorant, shampoo and conditioner. At this time, they do not need canned beans or soup. They do not take clothing or empty containers.
In addition to the food bank, please do not forget our long-standing commitment to the Inn of the Good Shepherd. We continue to actively support the Inn by preparing hot meals on a rotating schedule. Our most recent such day was Monday 2 June when a team of volunteers — and this could have included you! — met at 10:30 in the kitchen at the Inn to prepare a tasty lasagna dinner. Carol Arnesen will happily provide details to those who wish to join the team next time. Perhaps the next time the meal will be eagerly devoured grilled cheese sandwiches!