WELCOME TO OUR NEWLY AMALGAMATED ANGLICAN PARISH!
UPCOMING SERVICES
8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.
Bulletins: May 11 Holy Eucharist BAS
Announcements: Week of May 11
Our Priest’s Weekly Letter: The Good Shepherd
WHO WE ARE AS A PARISH
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.
UPCOMING EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
See the bulletin for more details
Anyone and everyone who is interested is welcome to join us for these events!
THIS WEEK’S ACTIVITIES
► Sunday 11 May
8:00 am — Holy Eucharist BCP
10:30 am — Holy Eucharist BAS
► Monday 12 May
1:30 pm — Bible Crossword, Rectory
7:00 pm — Group Meeting, Basement
► Tuesday 13 May
11:00 am — Walking Group to meet at the animal park parking lot in Canatara
12:15 pm — Lunch, following the walk at Boston Pizza, 1498 Venetian Boulevard, Point Edward ON N7T 7W6; /// firm.fountain.gravest
7:00 pm — Bluewater Chordsmen, Parish Hall
► Wednesday 14 May
10:00 — Bible Study, Rectory
7:00 pm — Bible Study, Rectory
► Thursday 15 May
3:00 pm — Choir Practice
► Friday 16 May
8:00 pm — Group Meeting, Parish Hall
► Saturday 17 May
10:00 am — Danish Sisterhood, Parish House
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OTHER UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
► Sunday 18 May
8:00 am — Holy Eucharist, Traditional Service from BAS
10:30 am — Holy Eucharist BAS
► Monday 19 May
1:30 pm — ACW meets, Parish House
► Thursday 22 May
1:00 pm — Workshop “My Smartphone Hates Me”, open to all, Parish Hall
► Friday 23 May
5:00 pm — The Slice, venue TBA
6:30 pm — Hymn Sing, Parish House
► Sunday 25 May
12:00 pm — Special Vestry Meeting following the main service, Parish Hall
► Monday 9 June
1:30 pm — Bible Crossword, Rectory
► Friday 13 June
7:00 pm — Creative Word, venue TBA
► Monday 16 June
1:30 pm — ACW meets, venue TBA
► Friday 27 June
5:00 pm — The Slice, venue TBA
6:30 pm — Hymn Sing, Parish House
SMARTPHONE WORKSHOP
An Ongoing Series of Workshops
Next Instalment: Thursday 22 May
The third instalment in this ongoing series of workshops on civilising our smartphones, which will take place on Thursday 22 May beginning at one o’clock in Parish Hall, will focus, in part, and by popular request, on reviewing safe Internet browsing. This is a challenging topic and one that does warrant review. Also by popular request, we will look at increasing the breadth of sending text messages by learning how to add photos and other enhancements to our texts. The big topic, however, will be learning how to use our electronic calendar, from creating straightforward appointment reminders to using the calendar to invite others to joint events, this topic will help open a whole range of possibilities. Once again, because the material being presented is very much participant-driven, missing one workshop does not mean that the next one cannot be attended, but it also means that the agenda must be fluid in order to respond to the needs of the learners. As was the case with this workshop, any and all, whether of this parish or not, are welcome to attend future workshops. If you were a participant in this first or second workshop and left feeling overwhelmed, do not despair! This sort of learning does take time, patience and perseverance, but, rest assured, you will get there!
AMALGAMATION: THE NEXT STEPS
Tuesday 6 May
Heartfelt thanks are offered to Bishop Todd and Archdeacon Amanda for a wonderful communion service held at All Saints’ on Sunday 6 April. After a joint service of the three parishes that were involved in the rotational service schedule, the Bishop led us in a joint special vestry meeting. In the end, St Bartholomew’s and All Saints’ voted in favour of forming a new parish. Archdeacon Amanda Longmoore has stated that “Should Diocesan Council pass the motions we’re requesting, the new parish would come into effect on Thurs, May 8th. At that point, both All Saints’ and St. Bart’s parishes will be deemed to be disestablished, and a new parish will be formed.”
In a letter addressed to the wardens on Tuesday 6 May, Archdeacon Amanda added, in part, that “This also means that the current wardens and council of All Saints’ no longer hold those positions after the motion on Wed evening…There will be a short period where this new parish won’t have wardens or a council, and that’s a necessary step in this process. Wardens and council are put into those positions at a vestry meeting, so we will need to call a Special Vestry meeting as soon as possible. Because we have to give notice, we can announce the meeting this coming Sunday, which means the earliest we can meet [for a Special Vestry Meeting] is Sun, May 25th. Once the wardens and parish council are put together at that Vestry meeting, things can move forward in the usual way of running a parish as you work to build a shared community…During that 2-1/2 week period between Diocesan Council and the Special Vestry meeting, Bishop Todd is appointing The Rev’d Karen Nelles as the parish administrator, which carries the authority of wardens and council during this in-between time…This allows a ‘reset’ of sorts as the leadership of the new parish is built up…Steve will continue to work alongside Karen of course, in his current…arrangement.”
Archdeacon Amanda will worship with us on Sunday 11 May and will join us for our Mother’s Day Lunch. During this time of fellowship, the Archdeacon will be free to update us and to answer questions using a town hall format. Archdeacon Amanda will be back with us on 25 May for our Special Vestry Meeting as we elect new wardens and parish councillors.
TOWNHALL & MOTHER'S DAY LUNCH
DURING MOTHER’S DAY LUNCH
Sunday 11 May following the Main Service
This Sunday, our ceaselessly energetic and highly talented kitchen team will be putting on our annual Mother’s Day Lunch. As always, we offer our heartfelt thanks to this hard-working team of volunteers who go above and beyond every week to ensure that we have the opportunity for coffee and fellowship after worship. This week, however, we will also be hosting Archdeacon Amanda Longmoore, who will be holding a townhall meeting during lunch in order to address any concerns that may have arisen from her announcement regarding the way forward. For details, please refer to the article above under the header “Amalgamation: The Next Steps”. As Archdeacon Amanda points out, in order for our new parish to have wardens and a council, we need to have a Special Vestry Meeting and Sunday 25 May has been chosen as the date for that important meeting. Archdeacon Amanda looks forward to answering all of your pressing questions as you feast on all manner of luncheon fare. Come one, come all!
DEANERY CONFIRMATION
Sunday 4 May
A very moving service was held by The Rt Rev’d Todd Townshend and clergy of the Deanery at our parish during which candidates for confirmation as well as those who wished to be renew their vows and be received into the church were presented to our Bishop. After the service, our intrepid kitchen staff hosted the confirmands and their families in Parish Hall, where a spread worthy of a Buckingham Palace garden party was laid out. Truly, a wonderful time was had by one and all. Thanks, as always, are offered to those who contributed of their time and talent to ensure that this important day in the lives of the confirmands was a special and memorable one.
ST BARTHOLOMEW'S
ST BARTHOLOMEW’S
Sunday 9 March
In a very moving service, St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church was deconsecrated on Sunday 9 March during a mid-afternoon service that was led by Rt Rev’d Todd Townshend. Clergy, parishioners and friends from local parishes were all present. The service included choral communion, a wonderful talk on the magnificent history of the parish, and a moving service of deconsecration. The parishioners of All Saints’ Parish wish the members of St Bartholomew’s all the very best as they determine their future within the Anglican community of Sarnia-Lambton.
