News & Events

In the interest of transparency for the lack of notice to the public and any concern/understanding that may have resulted from the removal of the cairn, we most humbly apologize. We offer the following as an explanation and outline our future plan for the site.

In 2016 the Session of St John’s Presbyterian Church in Cornwall determined that the cairn at the cemetery located at the corner of Sydney and Sixth Streets had to be removed. The past winter has been particularly hard on the cairn. Action was required to ensure the safety of the public using the park to ensure children and youth are not jeopardizing their personal safety because of crumbling walls and stone despite the wrought iron fence. Over the past few years there has been major deterioration of the cement holding the headstones in place, many of the headstones were badly cracked and some of the rebar exposed. Several stones were completely broken and had fallen away. Major repairs in the 1987 has not stopped the deterioration. The fence does not prevent youngsters climbing and playing on it. Our plans were communicated to Heritage Cornwall, a committee of the city, thus exercising due diligence and careful consideration.

The general condition of the cairn was inappropriate for the proper respect for our ancestors. Consistent with the Cemeteries Act of Ontario we followed our course of action on Monday recognized this obligation.

Please read the attached letter below for more details on the condition of the cairn and our plans for the future.

Press Release for Sixth Street Cemetery 15August2017

Caldwell Hall is much brighter, now that we have replaced the sodium lights with LED lights. This will definitely reduce our electricity costs and the hall is much brighter, which is better for groups like Pickleball. They even have dimmer switches so that the lighting levels can be adjusted. The speakers in the hall have also been replaced with the speakers that used to be in the Sanctuary and the sound is fantastic. If you have a group that would like to rent out the hall, please contact the church office for more information.

Passport to Peru Vacation Bible School will run daily from 8:30 to 11:00 am August 21st to 25th with a lunch and presentation on Friday for the children and their families. Come out and learn about Peru and God’s love. Fun, games, snacks, crafts, making new friends and learning more about the Bible… everything you like . Limited space, so reserve your children’s spot early. Contact Debbie at deb-stjohnyouth@cogeco.ca or call 613 936 3454 for more information. This is an event for all children Grades 1 through 5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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:

• Toys R’ Us
• Home Sense
• Pier 1 Imports
• Bath and Body Works
• Tim Hortons
• President’s Choice Grocery Stores (Independent/Loblaws etc.)
• Banana Republic
• PetSmart
• American Eagle
• La Senza
• Esso
• Cineplex
• and much more!

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,

Connie Gaucher & Gail MacDougall                                       Fundscrip Convenors

 

 

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!