St. John's Presbyterian Church
A community of faith in Cornwall, ON since 1787
As 2018 quickly approaches, there are a few upcoming events we would like to highlight.
All the event details are listed in our calendar of events! For more information on these fundraising events, please contact either the office or Debbie Plant! We look forward to seeing you in 2018!
We have some exciting news to share with you regarding some developments about our Presbytery’s two Syrian Refugee sponsorship applications!
Pending completion of their security and background checks, both Ms. Daghistani and the Nahhs family could arrive here before mid-year. Ms. Daghistani will be settling Brockville, while Tamy, Hiba, Joud, Waled and Dalal will be living in Kemptville. Among these talented and accomplished people, we have an ESL teacher, a pharmacist, an engineer and two former educators.
The Presbytery’s Refugee Sub-committee has raised $22,853.75 to date to support these refugees. We need to raise approximately $20,000 more to ensure we have sufficient funds to support the refugees during their first twelve months in Canada. We encourage congregations to please continue their efforts to fundraise in the next few months. Every effort, small or large alike will help us reach our fundraising goal!
We do not have a planned fundraising programme for 2017 – yet – we hope to have one or two events once we find our transition opportunities in the next few months. In the meantime, we invite you to consider giving an “extra mile gift” through your envelope, clearly noting that the gift is for the, Refugee Fund.
The Presbytery has not asked for an allocation from the congregations, leaving it to each congregation to respond as each is able and willing. On behalf of our Kirk Session and the Presbytery, I thank you for your generosity, as you are able and willing.
Thank you for your generosity as we offer these people a chance for a new life in Canada!
Blessings and Shalom!
Rev. Ian K. Johnston
We are in urgent need of one or more people to operate the church elevator Sunday mornings for worship and for special events. This is a volunteer position rewarded with the gratitude for those who need a lift up and down to worship Anyone who is interested in learning how to operate the elevator can speak to Nick Cox, Dale, or Rev. Ian
Come join us for our annual Christmas Eve celebrations! There will be two services. The first service is at 6 PM, and will feature a more family-oriented service with light hearted carols and celebratory message and heart-warming music. The second service is at 8 PM, and will feature a more traditional service, a time to reflect on the glory of the birth of Jesus and his coming into the world. All are welcome to join us for this blessed occasion, and we hope to see you there!
Come and prepare your hearts for this blessed season with an evening/afternoon of memorable harmonies. The Centennial Choir of Cornwall will be holding two concerts, one on Friday, December 9 at 8:00 PM, and another on Sunday, December 11 at 2:00 PM. Both concerts will take place at St. John’s Presbyterian Church. Tickets are $15 for Adults and $7 for Children 12 and under.
Tickets are available at St. John’s, Home Hardware (Located on Pitt and 13th), the Lottery Kiosk on the 2nd floor of the Cornwall Square, and from Centennial Choir members.
For more information, please call at (613)936-1131
We are appealing to the congregation of St. John’s for their continued support during the upcoming Christmas Season of the Funscrip Program. For those who are not familiar with the program to, we operate a fundraising program every week in which we sell gift cards to various stores, businesses, and much more. Grocery gift cards, gas gift cards, restaurants, clothing stores, toy stores, beauty stores, and countless others.
How the program works is very simple: you buy gift cards at their normal price, and we get a percentage of that sale. For example, say you want to buy $25 worth of Grocery gift cards. You spend $25, and you get a $25 card. No extra fees or taxes or extra expense! It doesn’t cost you a single cent extra to buy gift cards through this program, and it gives our church a return of at least 3% per card, sometimes up to 5% and more!
Gift cards are a wonderful gift for the Christmas season for friends, family, or even a little something for yourself. There are many retailers to order from, some of which include, but aren’t limited to:
A full list of available retailers is available after service. Due to the unavailability to send orders every week, we ask that you order your gift cards well in advance to ensure delivery well before Christmas. Orders sent in on any Tuesday will be delivered to us by Friday. So far, we have never had any back orders with the Fundscrip program.
Please consider stopping at our table downstairs after church to buy cards to retailers in Cornwall or to order cards to retailers found outside Cornwall. It is such an easy way to raise fund to be put towards any of our current debts and projects!
Best part is: there is no additional cost to you!
We thank you so much for any consideration you may make towards helping us meet a worthwhile goal!
Sincerely,
A heartfelt thank you to all of our people who so willingly worked with us at the Christmas Luncheon & Bazaar. It was a great opportunity to share in fellowship amongst ourselves, and also with so many of our guests who look forward to visiting with us each year. If you baked a pie, served, decorated or set tables, helped prepare the delicious meal, or did dishes, please know; we could not have done it without YOU! All together, we raised $5,023.50! Thank you to all who attended, assisted, and planned the event!
A suggestion arising from the Sunday School curriculum this fall as part of the “Be Good Caretakers of God’s Creation” focus was to make a collection of new, warm socks and small items that could be useful to the homeless of our community. The children came up with suggestions for small hygiene items like soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, hairbrush, lip balm, small shampoo and/or hand sanitizer; as well as individual snack items, water bottles or juice packs. We will be collecting the items to be stuffed into the socks for the children to put together and donate at our White Gift Service. There will be a collection in the Sunday school area if any of the congregation would like to contribute items starting at the beginning of November. Feel free to add ideas to the children’s list!
St. John’s Youth is hosting a Chicken Dinner and Silent Auction at the Royal Canadian Legion in Cornwall on November 20th from 4:30 to 6:30 PM. Tickets are $14.00, and it gets you a quarter chicken dinner with all the fixings and a donation to the Youth of St. John’s Church. A silent auction will also be taking place during the event, which will feature many wonderful items to take home as gifts for yourself or for loved ones. Tickets are available during office hours at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, as well as after the service on Sunday November 6th and 13th, and at the Legion Branch 297. Take out containers are available for those unable to stay for the dinner. Advanced ticket sales are preferred so we know how many meals to prepare. Come and support the young people of our community!
Come join us on November 9th, 2016 for our W.O.C Christmas Bazaar and Luncheon. Doors open at 10:30 AM and the meal is from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM. The Luncheon will consist of ham with various salads, rolls, and desserts. Tickets for the Luncheon is $12. Come and seek treasures for your Christmas shopping needs, enjoy a meal and partake in some fellowship at St. John’s Church!