NOTICES AT A GLANCE - more details below
 
    1.     This Sunday: special content
    2.     Children's program on Sundays
    3.     Honouring Kamloops
    4.     Carbon Coffee questions – after service
    5.     Service videos
    6.     Meditation on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm
    7.     Summer book group: Braiding Sweetgrass
    8.     Moorelands Kids' Camp appeal
    9.     Help St. Aidan’s win $20,000!
  10.     June is Indigenous History Month
  11.     New podcast episodes
  12.     Daily Spiritual Opportunities
  13.     Mighty May Challenge
  14.     Offerings
 
AND NOW THE DETAILS:
 
1. This Sunday: Special Content
This week our service will include Gemma leading the adults through a typical kids' program up to the Prayers of the People, while Lucy and Michael are with the children.
We will then all join together for a eucharist to honour the children who died at residential schools, using a liturgy put together by Jeff.
 
To join our Sunday service on Zoom at 9:30 am just click on this link and follow the prompts:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89458540617?pwd=bnN5ZmRCRlhuTjZWNDloNjVTUktGdz09
Or call in on your phone: 647-374-4685
The meeting ID is 894 5854 0617
Passcode: 098692
 
2. Children's Program on Sundays
There is a special program for children after we've all begun the service together. To go to the children's program click on this link: https://tdsb-ca.zoom.us/j/93190362564
 
3. Honouring Kamloops
We invite families to honour the victims of the Kamloops Residential School with us. We will aim to colour and post 215 feathers outside the church this Sunday. Print the colouring page (click the link below to access it) created by Indigenous artist Michelle Stoney, and have your family members colour one in. Bring them down to the church to tape up outside our building in honour of the 215. 
https://mcusercontent.com/9602008078ea1b1ac17a38d52/files/623cd59f-7297-85dc-a7b7-cdf0b423a694/Feathers.pdf
 
4. Join us after service for Carbon Coffee questions!
What did you like about the Carbon Calculator? What didn’t work for you?
Link: https://app.projectneutral.org/
What did you learn? What changes did you make? What changes do we need to advocate for? Carbon: Share your ideas!   What would you like to see as our ‘ONE THING’ about carbon each month?
 
5. Service Videos on Website and YouTube
We are recording our Sunday morning service each week, for those unable to attend it live. Look for it on the church website here: https://www.staidansinthebeach.com/services/pages/virtual-services, or on YouTube by searching St Aidan's in the Beach Sunday Service.
 
6. Meditation
The current meditation series continues on Wednesdays from 7:30 to 8 pm by Zoom, and runs weekly to June 30. The theme of this spring meditation series is emptying, clearing space, letting go, befriending death. The Zoom link is here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3204394907
Phone: 647-374-4685
Meeting ID: 320 439 4907
 
7. Summer Book Group
Our summer book group continues on Thursdays at 7:30 pm by Zoom. See below for the link. We are reading and discussing Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The author is a mother, an environmental biologist and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. You don't need to have read the book: just join in!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82995525900
Phone: 647-374-4685
Meeting ID: 829 9552 5900
 
8. Moorelands: Empowering Kids to Transform their Lives
For decades many St. Aidan’s parishioners have donated to the Send-a-Kid to Camp program. This year, owing to the pandemic restrictions, camp facilities are not allowed to open but an online city camp will take its place and a package of the craft supplies will be given to a camper at home. Gemma is contacting families with young children to request donations of craft supplies from a list we have received from the camp, and we encourage parishioners to make a financial contribution to help Send Camp to Kids during the month of June if they are able.  All the donations collected by St. Aidan’s will be forwarded to Moorelands Kids.

To make a financial donation, and also help St. Aidan’s win $20,000, make your donation on St. Aidan's Canada Helps donation page, choosing Moorelands Kids from the Fund menu Canada Helps: St. Aidan's Church.  Donations made in June will automatically become ballots for St. Aidan’s in the Great Canadian Giving Challenge. As always, donations may also be sent to the church via e-transfer or cheque if you prefer.

Moorelands Kids was recognized as one of the Top 100 Rated Charities in Canada in 2020 by Charity Intelligence!  To learn more about their work, visit their website: Moorelands Kids  or watch this short video: What is Moorelands Kids?

9.  Help St. Aidan’s win $20,000!
Every dollar donated to St. Aidan’s via Canada Helps, during the month of June, becomes a ballot in the draw for the $20,000 prize.  
The parish leadership encourages you to choose the Moorelands Fund for a special donation this month.  All the donations collected by St. Aidan’s that are directed to Moorelands will be forwarded to them at the end of the month.
 
Click here to make your donation: Canada Helps: St. Aidan's Church
 
This $20,000 prize would allow us to upgrade our plans for the new west garden space and also provide some extra resources for our highly successful and growing Ministries for Children, Youth and Families in the Beach.
Thank you for your support!
 
10. June is Indigenous History Month
St Aidan's is actively working on continuing to educate ourselves about the history of colonization and the legacy of the residential schools, and taking steps towards reconciliation. Here are some things we're doing:
- Land acknowledgment at our Sunday services
- Learning about what it means to be an ally or in solidarity
- Planning community projects and events
- Reading Braiding Sweetgrass
- Celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Sunday on June 20th
There are also many useful resources from the Toronto Urban Native Ministry. Please see the link below:
https://mcusercontent.com/9602008078ea1b1ac17a38d52/files/deeea4fb-215a-22aa-91d4-367120b09acd/_Resources_for_Observing_National_Indigenous_Peoples_Day_1_.pdf
 
11. New Podcast Episodes
Two new Boardwalk Talk episodes are now available. One episode features a conversation with Eileen Henderson, long-time restorative justice advocate who sits on the board of Restorative Justice Housing Ontario. The other episode is a conversation with Christine MacMillan, an ordained Salvation Army officer who chairs the World Evangelical Alliance’s Global Task Force on Human Trafficking. You can listen to these new episodes, and all other episodes, on the St. Aidan’s website or mobile app. Or you can download them from Spotify, Apple Podcasts, RadioPublic, and many other podcast platforms.
 
12. Daily Spiritual Opportunities
Although we aren’t able to provide paper copies of the Forward Day by Day daily bible reading guides, those interested can access them online or as a podcast, along with other resources for prayer at their website: https://prayer.forwardmovement.org
Canterbury Cathedral Morning Prayer is recorded each morning in the Deanery Garden at Canterbury Cathedral in England and is available as a video through the cathedral’s YouTube channel.  Led by Dean Robert Willis, and sometimes assisted by cats and other creatures that reside in the beautiful 2.5 acre garden, it provides a unique setting for daily prayer and spiritual reflection: https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/worship/online-worship/#morning
 
13. Mighty May Challenge
Do you think you could be the champion of our Mighty May Challenge!? Send your tracking sheets to gemmasnider@hotmail.com and she will pick the winning families! Winners will be announced next week, and awarded a special prize!
 
14. Offerings
Your regular offerings support the mission and ministry of St Aidan's, and we thank you.  Here's how to make a donation:

  • E-transfer from your bank account to staidan.envelopesec@gmail.com. Please set the security password to "jesuslovesme"
  • Donate online using your credit card at Canada Helps: St. Aidan's Church
  • Mail cheques to the church: 2423 Queen St. E., Toronto, ON M4E 1H6, or drop off your donation in our secure mailbox on the construction fence facing Queen St.
  • To begin donating by pre-authorized debit, please go to Giving on our website for more information and authorization form: https://www.staidansinthebeach.com/giving
  • If you already give by PAG, and wish to change the amount of your monthly donation, please send an email with the details to staidan.envelopesec@gmail.com