Come, share the gifts of God with us,
and serve the world together,
at
OUR SAVIOUR'S LUTHERAN CHURCH,
10 Farrand Street (at River),
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO, CANADA
807.344.1926 osimm@tbaytel.net
Our congregation is located on the traditional territory of the Ojibway of the Fort William First Nation, a signatory to the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850.
Welcome!
We invite you to be part of our community of grace and faith, active in Thunder Bay for the past 115 years. We seek to continue to be a place where people can grow in their understanding of God's forgiving love revealed through Jesus. Gathered in to worship, God's Spirit calls us out to share in word and action what it means to be people of God.
OUR VISION:
"Come share the gifts of God - serve the world"
Our Facebook page is 'Our Saviour's Thunder Bay'
Our YouTube channel is Our Saviour's Lutheran Church of Thunder Bay.
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Recorded Services:
-Our services, are recorded and uploaded to our YouTube channel. However, for August 14 and 28, and for September 4, we will only posting the sermon video from the ELCIC's Summer Sermon series:
New: August 7 - Time after Pentecost (Holy Communion):
July 31 - Time after Pentecost (Service of the Word):
July 24 - Time after Pentecost (Holy Communion):
July 17 - Time after Pentecost (sermon only):
July 10 - Time after Pentecost (Sermon only)
Newsletter:
To receive a copy of the monthly 'Ambassador' by email, please send a request to osimm@tbaytel.net.
The text version of our Summer 2022 Newsletter is on the page 'Our Newsletter'.
Deadline for Summer 2022 'Ambassador' articles: Sept. 6
Our Saviour's This Week:
The church is open!
River Street will remain closed between Algoma and College until at least later in the year, while we wait for repairs to the sinkhole over McVicar Creek take place. Farrand Street remains open, with access from cross streets off Algoma St. N., or from Margaret Ave. We will post pictures and updates.
In-person Sunday worship is at 10:30 a.m. We continue to record the service and upload it to our YouTube Channel later on Sunday ("Our Saviour's Lutheran Church of Thunder Bay"). Files for the order of service and sermon are emailed on Saturday and posted to our website.
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Coffee & Conversation
Join Pastor Matthew, Wednesday, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., August10, for our last gathering this summer for informal conversation and brief prayer. Bring a coffee or another beverage, and a folding chair, if you have one. We will meet behind the church if the weather is favourable: otherwise, in the front hall.
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August 8-14
Monday
8:30 p.m. Friendly A.A. Group
Tuesday
3:30 p.m. VON Exercise class
Wednesday
7:00 p.m. Coffee & Conversation,
Thursday
3:30 p.m. VON Exercise class
8:00 p.m. Friendly Group A.A.
Friday
Saturday
Sunday, August 14 - Time after Pentecost
10:30 a.m. Service of the Word
Sermon - Pastor Matthew
11:30 a.m. In-person Fellowship Hour
Readings: Jeremiah 23:23-29; Psalm 82; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56
VON Exercise and Falls Prevention Class
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church is restarting exercise classes
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30
Starting August 2, 2022
For more information contact Pastor Matthew.
Equipment provided, free to participate.
**Please note there are no classes on Holidays.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Falls Prevention Supervisor at 807-344-0012 ext. 260.
Worship News
Hymn books are back in the pews . The words to the songs continue to be in the larger-print version of the bulletin, and in the Saturday e-mail version, and on the website.
Council has decided that we will continue to close off every other pew, unless needed. This is for the comfort and well-being of those attending.
Council recommends that we continue to wear masks in the building when in close contact with others, especially in the sanctuary when singing, and if not fully vaccinated. Thank you for making this what the Health Unit calls a 'mask-friendly space'!
Fellowship Hours after worship have resumed! Volunteers are needed to make this work: please sign up on the sheets in the front hall, or call the office for more details.
Holy Communion at Our Saviour's
We have resumed sharing both elements.
If watching online, when the presiding minister says, ‘The body of Christ given for you’, we welcome all to take and eat a piece of bread, remembering and giving thanks for the promises of grace, forgiveness, love, new life and community given us in Christ Jesus. Please also do so, taking a glass of wine or other beverage, when the presiding minister says, 'The blood of Christ, shed for you'.
For those needing gluten-free wafers, please ask Pastor Matthew.
Children's Ministry
Activity handouts related to each Sunday's readings are available. We email them on Thursday 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.
Our Summer seasonal activity bags are available for pick-up in the front hall, and can also dropped off. To sign up to receive one or to update your address, email osimm@tbaytel.net The next one will be released in September/October for Fall/ Thanksgiving.
Our Coordinator is Karen Bishop.
ELCIC Bishop apologizes to 2SLGBTQIA+ community
JULY 15, 2022 CARTER BROOKS ASSEMBLY 2022, NATIONAL BISHOP, NATIONAL CONVENTION'
“Today I apologize to the members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community for the ways that we have not lived up to our commitments and to the ways we have treated you in the past and even now,” Bishop Susan Johnson shared.
“I want to acknowledge the harms that members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community have experienced in our church.”
The apology came as part of the National Bishop’s report to delegates at the 2022 ELCIC National Convention, taking place July 15-16. The meeting took place online, the first time the church has met virtually for its national convention.
Bishop Johnson acknowledged the times members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community did not receive welcome, had been denied sacraments, vocation, marriage rights, and when proper gender identity had not been affirmed.
“I acknowledge the harms that we do not know and that people have not shared,” she continued. “I acknowledge the harm experience by those who still feel the need to be closeted and not live out their full identity in our church.”
“With this apology I acknowledge the harms we as a church have caused and those harms we continue to cause,” she said. “We have work to do and I cling to a hope that the entire church will learn from the past and work toward a future where all generations will feel acceptance, affirmation, and celebration for the gifts they bring our church as valued children of God.”
Bishop Johnson indicated her hope for a similar apology to be carried out in-person at next year’s planned in-person convention.
The National Bishop’s report also included her appreciation for the church’s incredible perseverance through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“You have shown yourselves to be resourceful and resilient,” Bishop Johnson said. “We have found ourselves capable of making changes quickly to adapt to ever-changing guidelines from governments. A church, adaptable and quick to change – who knew it was possible.”
This year’s convention theme was Let There be Greening
“Greening is all about new life,” she said. “We want our church and all of our members to be greening, full of the spirit and of the new life in Christ. We want our world to be greening, with an end to war in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere, and a chance for new life to re-emerge. We want the creation to be greening, restored to the freshness and health the way God created it.”
The Bishop’s report also highlighted the ongoing Living our Faith initiative and gave thanks to the ELCIC’s many partners.
“It is an honour to serve you as your National Bishop,” she concluded. “I love our church and I’m proud of what we do and what we stand for. We pray fervently, we work for justice passionately, we face challenges head on, and we embrace the future with hope.”
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada joins Canadian Lutheran World Relief in asking its members to consider donating to those suffering from hunger in sub-Saharan Africa.
Together with the Humanitarian Coalition, CLWR is appealing for donations to respond to a historic hunger crisis. Your gift today will provide life-saving aid in countries like Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan, which are facing years of drought, climate shocks and supply disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine.
More than 50 million people are facing starvation. The needs are enormous, but we can all do something. You can make a difference— please consider giving, and giving generously.
Donations will be accepted securely by visiting https://www.clwr.org/hungercrisis, or by including a donation with your offering, marked 'CLWR - Hunger Crisis'.
A Statement from the ELCIC’s National Church Council on Ukraine
MARCH 7, 2022
The ELCIC’s National Church Council met virtually from March 4-6, 2022. As part of their work, they issued the following statement.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) joins the World Council of Churches, The Lutheran World Federation, and the Canadian Council of Churches in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and global solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
We denounce any and every use of deadly armed force to resolve disputes that could be resolved by dialogue. We firmly believe that dialogue – based on the principles of international law and respect for established national borders – was and is the proper path for the resolution of tensions surrounding Ukraine. We call for an immediate end to the current armed hostilities, and for the protection of all human lives and communities threatened by this violence.
The ELCIC through its partnership with Canadian Lutheran World Relief calls on its members to respond through financial support to the urgent humanitarian needs in Ukraine.
We ask all members, congregations and related agencies to examine their financial investments to ensure they do not support Russian investments.
We urge all members and all people of good will around the world to join us in prayer for peace for the people of Ukraine and the region.
Loving God, you are our peace. We pray for peace between Russia and Ukraine. We pray for the people of Ukraine – those who are forced to flee, those who are trapped and unable to flee, those who are in need of aid, those who have died. We pray for Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, that they may be moved to lay down their weapons. We pray for world leaders, that they would be led into your ways of peace and justice. We pray for our whole world who watches and worries. God have mercy!
ragement from National Bishop Susan Johnson amid these anxious times.
Ecumenical Prayer Cycle
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea
07 - 13 August 2022
INTERCESSIONS
We are thankful for:
the natural resources and diverse gifts that come from these countries, such as the distinctive music and dance of Cameroon
those who minister to victims of sexual violence, trafficking and other human rights abuses
Christians and people of other faiths who courageously have pursued reconciliation and peace among those in conflict
individuals and organizations who have provided for health clinics and schools in Cameroon and the Central African Republic.
We pray for:
just resolutions to the conflicts and violence among diverse groups and their leaders
refugees who flee to other countries, and for those who host them
economic developments that make it possible for all to rise out of poverty
stable democratic governments that effectively serve the common good.
PRAYERS
For our country Cameroon, our regions, our villages, our towns
Heavenly father, we humbly pray: Direct the leaders of our country, Cameroon, now in this time when terrorism is overtaking this great nation. Grant them wisdom and understanding, and help them to respond to this crisis, quickly and effectively. Direct them that they may do what is right in your sight. May they follow your divine will to lead our nation on the paths of peace and safety.
Unite all response agencies in an organized and harmonious fashion to bring quick and effective resolution to the issues created by the actions of Boko Haram. Empower us as Cameroonian citizens to do our own part, financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Give us strength to support all who have been affected by this tragedy.
O Lord, we also pray for effective eradication of corruption that is destroying our beautiful and rich country. Touch our heart and enlighten our thoughts so that we will use our resources for the benefit of the entire nation, for Africa and ultimately the whole world.
Bring peace and comfort to all those who are suffering as a result of these crises.
Surround us with your love and mercy!
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Catherine Manga, Cameroon)
Lord Jesus, you who have marked seventy times seven our falls each day, and who know the dull frenzy of our eyes, darkened with fever and rancid wind, you who know the snares of the fowler, and his net that circles our steps in the bush, and our paths to the villages, here we are given over to the horn of the rhinoceros, and here are hovering the vultures and goshawks.
But you, who know the frailty of our two feet of clay, and the place of our weakness and that of our rousing again, Lord, let us not yield to temptation, but deliver us from evil.
(A Procession of Prayers: Meditations and Prayers from around the World, comp. John Carden, WCC, and Cassell, London, UK, 1998, p.210)
Prayer from Cameroon
When we contemplate such beauty, the immensity before us, blossoming with colour and scent, the surprising diversity of all that surrounds us, the green forests, the animals, the intelligence which allows us humans to create with you, God, the acts of your grace on our behalf, we can only express our joy at being your children and gladly sing of the generosity of your love.
(© Rev. Dr Kayoka-Luendu M., Cameroon. English transl. Dr Colette Bouka Coula, adapted by Terry MacArthur)
OFFERINGS
Thank you for your offerings, sharing the gifts of God so that together we might serve the world!
During our 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 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.)
Envelopes for your 2022 offerings are. available. If you wish to sign up for a supply, please contact the office, 344-1926, osimm@tbaytel.net .
Again, we are so thankful for your faithful generosity.