Grace Church Markham

A bishop, a curate, a priest and a church warden walk into a muddy field…..and next year we want a great big Grace Church team!

Today we said farewell to Rev. Ollie as he prepares to move to his new parish in California. Grateful for the past 2 years he has shared with us here in Markham 😊🙏🏼

Introducing our new assistant curate, the Rev. Grace Rockett. Grace was ordained a deacon in a splendid service at the cathedral. We are so excited to welcome her!

Walk the way of Jesus with us this Easter-
the way of peace and compassion.

Weather Alert! A blessed start to Lent and Ramadan to all of our Christian and Muslim neighbours🙏🏼 Today we celebrated Ash Wednesday at 10am but are CANCELLING 7pm due to the snow. Thanks to all who feasted with us yesterday, and especially our volunteers!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DtoxbUCsJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr
A reflection for the beginning of Lent. It’s a time for fasting, prayer, and giving. A time to remember we are all mortal & beloved together.

In a time when so much is crumbling, is burning, I don’t want to romanticize the ashes that come with destruction and devastation. As we approach Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent, I do want to keep asking what the Holy One can do with dust, and to keep looking for how I can be part of that. So many blessings to you, beloved ones, as the new season arrives.

BLESSING THE DUST

All those days
you felt like dust,
like dirt,
as if all you had to do
was turn your face
toward the wind
and be scattered
to the four corners

or swept away
by the smallest breath
as insubstantial—

did you not know
what the Holy One
can do with dust?

This is the day
we freely say
we are scorched.

This is the hour
we are marked
by what has made it
through the burning.

This is the moment
we ask for the blessing
that lives within
the ancient ashes,
that makes its home
inside the soil of
this sacred earth.

So let us be marked
not for sorrow.
And let us be marked
not for shame.
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are

but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt,
within the stuff
of which the world
is made
and the stars that blaze
in our bones
and the galaxies that spiral
inside the smudge
we bear.

—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
janrichardson.com/books

Image: “Ash Wednesday Cross”
© Jan Richardson
janrichardsonimages.com

Our prayers are with the community of Tumbler Ridge,BC. May God comfort them and bring healing in this time of tragedy and grieving.

So excited to welcome Joy Lapps as our guest speaker and musician tomorrow at 10.15am for Black History Sunday. All welcome!

Sunday January 25th-
Church will be held on Zoom at 10.15am (no 8.15am service).
The zoom link is on the weekly eblast and will be on the website.
Please stay warm and safe!