Our Saviour's This Week:

Dec. 6-12

Monday

6:30 p.m. Cubs

8:30 p.m. Friendly A.A. Group

Tuesday

Wednesday

11:00 Mission to Seafarers St. Nicholas Day eucharist, at Our Saviour's

7:00 p.m. Midweek Advent study (Zoom)

Thursday

8:00 p.m. Friendly Group A.A.

Friday

Saturday

Sunday, December 12, Third Sunday of Advent

10:30 a.m. Advent/Christmas Music Cantata service (video on YouTube later)

1:00 p.m. Virtual Fellowship

Readings: Christmas Cantata

Sermon : Christmas Cantata - 'Tidings of Comfort and Joy'

Virtual Fellowship

Our next session is on Sunday, December 12 at 1:00 p.m. The Zoom invitation will be sent out in the Sat. email, or can be received by emailing osimm@tbaytel.net.

At this time, we will normally be meeting on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of the month (non-Communion).

Advent/ Christmas worship schedule:

(NOTE: vaccination certificates required for Christmas Eve worship; other services: social distancing in effect)

-Sunday, December 12, 10:30 a.m. Advent 3 - Cantata service - 'Tidings of Comfort and Joy' (Instruments and Voices)

-Sunday, December 19, 10:30 a.m. Advent 4 - Holy Communion

-Friday, December 24,

7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve - Holy Communion (Vaccination certificates required for 12+)

-Friday, December 24, 10:00 p.m. Christmas Eve - Holy Communion (Vaccination certificates required for 12+)

-Saturday, December 25, 10:30 a.m. Christmas Day - Holy Communion

-Sunday, December 26, 10:30 a.m. Christmas 1 - Service of the Word

-Sunday, January 2, 10:30 a.m. Christmas 2 - Holy Communion

In-person Worship

We have resumed receiving Communion 'in both kinds'. Individually wrapped wafers are given to you as you enter, and we stay in our pews for eating of the bread. You may also bring your own bread for your bubble, if you prefer. For those needing gluten-free wafers, please ask at the Greeter's table. Following this, you are invited to come socially distanced forward, as you feel comfortable, to pick up a glass of wine/grape juice from a table, drink it, leave the glass, and return to your seat. Masks are to be worn except for the eating of the bread and for drinking of the wine/juice.

The province’s new stages of the reopening plan began Oct. 25. They include removing capacity limits for indoor worship, but only for those with Covid vaccination certificates.

The present Stage 3 permits us to continue using as our limit the number of persons who can be socially distanced. For our sanctuary this works out to roughly 50-60 persons, which is ample for our present attendance levels.

Under this guideline, participants are not required to share their certificates. However, all are encouraged to receive their vaccinations.

Covid-19 guidelines remain in place -- self -screening and name taking at the door, wearing masks, no singing, sitting socially distant except with households and caregivers.

Vaccine passports ARE needed for events in Immanuel Hall when food and drink is available.

We continue to record our services and post them on our YouTube channel, ‘Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church of Thunder Bay’. Links are on our website and Facebook page. We email worship and sermon files each Saturday, and post them on our website.

If you would like to borrow a copy of ‘Evangelical Lutheran Worship’, to use at home for the hymns, please call the office: 344-1926.

'Come share the gifts of God - serve the world'.

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Recorded Services:

-Our services are recorded and uploaded to our YouTube channel, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church of Thunder Bay’:

New: November 28, First Sunday of Advent (Worship with the Band):

https://youtu.be/DviENgqYMe8

November 21, Christ the King (Holy Communion):

https://youtu.be/SUmUkEonbXQ

November 14, Time after Pentecost/ Remembrance Sunday (Service of the Word):

https://youtu.be/W5-66Shl4bc

Children's Ministry

Activity handouts related to each Sunday's readings are available. We email them or they can be picked up at the church in the front hall. To sign up to receive them, send an email to osimm@tbaytel.net.

Seasonal drop-off/pick up activity kits are being prepared, with the next one on the theme of Advent/ Christmas. To sign up to receive them or to update your address, email osimm@tbaytel.net .

There has been no in-person Sunday School since March 2020. The current provincial guidelines enable children to gather, provided they are socially distanced and masked. However, we will not be returning at this point. Children are welcome at worship. Those who wear masks in school need also to wear this in worship.

Our previous practice;

On the first and third Sundays of each month (our Holy Communion celebrations) we had traditional Sunday School sessions, for children in JK - Gr. 6. They joined worship for the sharing of Communion.

'Adventure' bags were available on all Sundays, located under the mailboxes. These bags contained both general and Sunday specific activities for the children to engage in while they attend worship - either sitting in the area near the mailboxes or in the pews. There was a Children's Message on each of these Sundays as well.

Our Coordinator is Karen Bishop.

BC Flood Relief

Massive floods and landslides have devastated parts of British Columbia, destroying roads and leaving several mountain towns isolated. Several persons have been confirmed dead, others are missing, and thousands are displaced from their homes.

Candian Lutheran World Relief is responding. Your gift today will provide critical support to those affected by the BC floods. Thank you for responding in love to this emergency!

CLWR is accepting donations now on its website at clwr.org/BCfloods. Donations can also be made by designating a donation on your offering envelope, phoning its office at 1.800.661.2597 (Monday to Thursday, 9:00 – 16:00 CDT) or by mailing a cheque to 600-177 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 0W5.

‘Gifts from the Heart’

Give a meaningful gift from the comfort of home with CLWR’s Gifts from the Heart catalogue. Your gift to a loved one will provide meaningful, tangible items for people around the world facing hunger, poverty and the threat of COVID-19. No matter which gift you choose, the gifts you give will change lives and touch your loved ones! Visit www.clwr.org/GFTH to learn more.

A singing communion in Advent 2021

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches expectantly await the coming of Christ this Advent in music and worship with a 27-day-video calendar of hymns. In this fourth year of the Advent Hymns: A Singing Communion, hymns from LWF Member Churches and LWF Country Programs will share songs with the communion.

“This Advent finds us in our second year of a pandemic which has been difficult for everybody,” said Rev. Arni Danielsson, LWF Head of Communication. “Into that context Christ comes and we will prepare for this together, through prayerful songs and music. It is so precious to have this insight into the member churches and our country programs.”

Special care has been taken by participants to maintain physical distancing, respecting the regulations concerning Coronavirus (COVID-19) in each country. Some hymns were recorded in previous years to comply with precautions.

The churches offering hymns this year include the Lutheran Church in Singapore, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Romania, the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi, the Lutheran Church in Guyana, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. LWF World Service in Burundi and Angola will also share hymns.

The first hymn will be shared on 28 November which is the First Sunday of Advent and the last one on 24 December, Christmas Eve.

Ecumenical Prayer Cycle

Myanmar, Thailand

05 - 11 December 2021

Intercessions

We give thanks for:

• the beauty of these countries and their people, and their many distinctive Buddhist temples

• those who long have struggled that these countries might become more democratic

• the faithful witness of churches, which have advocated with others for greater justice

• efforts to protect the environment and resources in these countries.

We pray for:

• minority ethnic and religious groups who continue to experience discrimination, persecution or even genocide (such as the Rohingyas), and for greater interfaith understanding and tolerance for ethnic and religious diversity

• those victimized by sex tourism and exploitation, and those who perpetuate such acts

• political stability and progress toward democratic rule

• economic justice for all people, and environmental protection, as these countries undergo development.

Prayer

Give us this day our daily bread.

All good gifts of the earth come from your generous hands, God.

Yet, this abundance is not shared equally among us.

While some are satisfied, others are starving.

Women often become the victims of exploitation because they are desperate to feed and care for their children.

If only we would be mindful that each and every one of us must pray:

Give us this day our daily bread.

(World Day of Prayer Committee of Myanmar 1989, Lord, teach us to pray. © 1989 World Day of Prayer International Committee.)

OFFERINGS

Thank you for your offerings, sharing the gifts of God so that together we might serve the world!

During our in-person worship, you are able to share your offerings at the entrance to the sanctuary. At other times, and for those unable to attend worship, here are other options:

1. Mail envelopes to the church

Mailing address: 10 Farrand St. Thunder Bay P7A 3H5

2. Drop envelopes off at church

You can drop off envelopes in the mailbox beside the parking lot doors. Calling to let us know, 344-1926, is appreciated, so that the offering can be brought inside as soon as possible.

3. E-Transfer online banking

a. If you use online banking, log into your account

b. Add Our Saviour’s as a recipient using our office email address:

osimm.office@tbaytel.net

c. Enter the desired amount and click ‘send’.

4. Sign up for Pre-Authorized Withdrawal (PAR)

You are able to have your monthly offerings directly deposited from your financial institution to that of the church. You can designate it 1-3 ways: Weekly, Building, Forward in Mission. You also can receive undated envelopes for other offerings. To sign up, call the office. If you desire to make any changes at any time of the year, or if you have updates on your address or financial institution, please call the church office, 344-1926.

5. Canada Helps

Our regional synod office has set up Canada Helps button link, you can use to donate to congregations. The charitiable donation receipt will be issued by Canada Helps directly. (It is important to note that there is a cost to using Canada Helps as our donation service. Please considering adding 4% to your donation to cover these costs.)

http://mnosynod.org/donate/

Sets of envelopes for your 2021 Sunday and special offerings are available in the front hall. If you wish to sign up for one, please contact the office, 344-1926, osimm@tbaytel.net .

Again, we are so thankful for your faithful generosity.