Digital Readiness for Advent / Christmas 2020

/
Are you ready for Christmas_.png
Contact Lee-Ann if you wish to talk about this or learn more

Digital Advent / Christmas  2020

Be ready! People are seeking meaningful, spiritual connections more than ever. 

Deck the Halls:

  • Create a unique Holiday invitation / online event to create some curiosity and encourage new guests.  For example, consider creating a FB event for Lessons and Carols that emphasizes festive, holiday music

  • Banner / Cover Photo on social platforms and website: Should be seasonal - ie. festive for Christmas or somber for Advent. Choose a theme and image that best reflects the flavour of your approach to the season. Consider using this image on your bulletins as well. This will create a more consistent, reliable experience for your guests and let them know that someone is tending to details and someone cares.

  • All Information must be accurate: include links to websites or other digital platforms. Verify all details. This can seem obvious but can make or break your credibility for visitors who are getting to know you for the first time or who are deciding if they wish to continue supporting you. Remember, you are building trust and this means being accurate, transparent and reliable.  

  • What is in it for them? If someone is visiting your page, they are seeking something. Perhaps they are seeking comfort or community. Create content that has value to the seeker. Make it easy for them to access you and your offerings. 

  • Pinned Post at top of page / Latest Tweet or share, Keep it Fresh! Must clearly indicate the most relevant and seasonal event that you hope to welcome guests to be a part of. Update regularly! Guests will be encouraged if they visit your page and notice that you have recently updated your content. It’s as though they knocked and somebody answered the door. Reply promptly to any inquiries. Be as interactive as possible.

  • Aesthetics Matter: When communicating events or services, consider including an image or graphic. It is best to use pictures from your own church that reflect your identity as a community. Photos should be good quality, bright,  colourful etc. Consider using the same image on the bulletin of the service. This will create a sense of familiarity, cohesiveness and brand recognition. ie. graphics / images for Lessons and Carols, Christmas Eve service, Christmas Pageant, or a listing of all your services on one graphic. Choose colours and fonts that will reflect your brand, personality and aesthetic as a church. Once you have done this, be intentional and consistent with your communications. For example, you may choose three colours and one font for your Advent / Christmas offerings and this could serve as your template throughout. You may use a free graphic design program such as Canva for ideas, templates, colour schemes etc. 

  • Make all information clear, readable, relevant and provide helpful details to encourage and assist those who are considering visiting. For example, Covid-19 protocol? Parking? Wheelchair access? Donations? How? What to wear? Come early? Coffee afterwards? Which door? What to expect… etc.

Open the Presents: Prepare easy online giving options and speak openly about the importance of giving.

  • Donation Buttons are easy to install. Canada Helps already has every charity in Canada registered on their site. Contact them and follow the steps to upload the link. People are carrying less cash and are enjoying the convenience of online giving now more than ever. WIthout online giving options you are at risk of losing patrons who may feel called to contribute. It is free and safe. 

  • Be specific and identify a ministry. Over the holidays, when you are welcoming new guests either in person or online, find creative ways to request financial support for a specific ministry (children’s program, washroom reno, website costs etc…) Encourage monthly giving and remind patrons of the benefits of giving especially during a these trying pandemic times

  • Giving as a spiritual practice: When donors contribute to your charity, this opens a reciprocal relationship and deepens your connection. Emphasize the importance of this relationship and find ways of cherishing and honouring givers. How can you do this? Use social media to express words of gratitude, notes of thanks, be transparent and open in terms of your budget and spending habits,  Write blogs, sermons and create a series of posts about the importance of your donors. Invite donors to share their thoughts about giving online, etc. 

Tree Topper:  How to build and maintain a digital community

  • Capture email addresses of guests to follow up, thank, invite, encourage and inquire about them and their faith journey. Build relationships with a solid email correspondence. Use Mailchimp or other email platforms to keep your lists organized and provide beautiful email templates. 

  • Speak to your existing community about the importance of digital engagement. Encourage members to go on social and “check in” and “like” the parish FB page, rate the church, invite their friends to like/follow as well.

  • When your church is empty, this does not mean that your job is over. You may continue to connect with existing and potential parishioners via email, website, blogs, video and social media posts. “The service has ended, but the worship has begun…”

Questions to wonder about

  • How can you interact meaningfully with your digital community? What does your community seek? What is meaningful in your context?

  • Consider a digital survey to get feedback. 

  • Remember that it is possible (online) to pray, inspire, worship, ask questions, inquire, dialogue, reflect and more. A digital community is a real community and can be infused with the Holy Spirit, therefore capable of connecting in wonderful and surprising ways!

Be ready! People are seeking meaningful, spiritual connections more than ever.


New Anti Black Racism Task Force Announcement

/

A Message from the Task Force:

"A motion on Dismantling Anti-Black Racism was passed at our November 15th Diocesan Synod. The motion instructs Diocesan Council to appoint a task force which will engage the Diocese in a formal process to address systemic anti-Black racism. The purpose of the task force will be to develop and implement an action plan to equip our members to be agents of positive change."

View this video with a reflection on racism by Bishop Mary.

Thanks be to God for this new day

"Une motion sur le démantèlement du racisme anti-noir a été adoptée lors de notre synode diocésain du 15 novembre. La motion charge le conseil diocésain de nommer un groupe de travail qui engagera le diocèse dans un processus formel pour traiter du racisme anti-noir systémique. L'objectif de ce groupe de travail sera de développer et de mettre en œuvre un plan d'action pour permettre à nos membres d'être des agents de changement positif".

Visionnez cette vidéo, dont le lien est ci-dessous, avec une réflexion sur le racisme par l'évêque Mary.

Merci à Dieu pour ce nouveau jour

NEW! A Video Message from Bishop Mary about the Bishop's Action Appeal 2020

/

Dear Friend,   

The past few months have been difficult as we have all been affected, in one way or another, by this pandemic. I hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and that you might be in a position to give to this year’s Bishop’s Action Appeal. Your gift will help those whose needs have grown so much during this time.

Thanks to your generous response to last year’s appeal, there has been significant progress in the construction of St. Catherine Girls Secondary School in rural Tanzania, which will provide a safe environment for girls to receive an education. Thanks to you, we were also able to provide bursaries for our Lay Readers, who offer vital ministry throughout our Diocese.

Our local missions need your support

As you might know, the pandemic has adversely affected the financial situation of the diocese. Yet, we are committed to support our three much-loved local missions that lift up the most vulnerable in our midst. I invite you to help the Diocese fulfill our commitment to:

The Mile End Community Mission: For most of their members, the pandemic has added a tremendous financial strain to already limited budgets and has left many feeling even more vulnerable and isolated than they were before. To answer the need, the mission has been providing free hot take-out meals, a weekly food bank service and grocery delivery. 

Action Réfugiés Montréal: For some newcomers, huddling at home, not being able to work with children out of school, brought memories of their time in exile before coming to Canada. The situation has made it essential for staff at ARM to provide ongoing support to the people they serve.

Tyndale-St Georges Community Centre continues its commitment to the community of Little Burgundy. Focused on preventing isolation during the pandemic, the Centre is offering new outreach programs, including an online children’s library, remote family support and emergency food security.

 Helping disabled children overseas

This year we are also asking you to support a special appeal in conjunction with the Compass Rose Society: the Princess Basma Hospital in Jerusalem. A project of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem, the Hospital provides rehabilitation and educational assistance for Palestinian children with disabilities. They are urgently appealing for our help to continue their vital work during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Unless you specify otherwise, half of your donation will go to Giving with Grace which funds projects at the national church level, including The Healing Fund, military chaplaincies, indigenous ministries and more. 

 With my thanks and every blessing,


The Rt. Rev. Mary Irwin-Gibson 

P.S. Please give as generously as you can. Gifts of $25 or more are eligible for a tax receipt, which will be issued in February 2021. 

download the letter here
Donate to the Bishops Action APpeal HERE

A Tale of Two Church Signs - Blog by Neil Mancor

/

A Tale of Two Church Signs


20201010_134338.jpeg

I give you Exhibit A. The Church sign, long out use, I came across when I was visiting my friend at St John the Baptist, Pointe-Claire. My first thought was: they don’t make them like that anymore! It’s hard to believe our many parishes could once sustain such a complex liturgical calendar of three services per Sunday with other weekday services as announced. It’s even more amazing that anyone could be expected to interpret the sign and ever know what kind of service they were going to encounter! Holy Communion at 8, Choral Eucharist and sermon at 10, 1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays; Matins and sermon 2nd and 4th. Evensong with sermon at 7:30pm. I guess they thought this would never change as the lettering was painted on the sign. Of course in those days everyone had curates so the preaching load could be shared. Note that they had Sunday School AND Nursery. But they had the people to run that kind of thing then. They probably had classes for every age. The Church was comprehensive in its coverage of every possible age group.

It might be hard for many of us to believe, but it was only fairly recently that weekly Holy Eucharist at the main service became the norm in Canada, and that even this was resisted well into the 70s. When I grew up during that era of liturgical experimentation, my church had a whole week cycle: 1st Sunday BCP Communion; 2nd Sunday Matins & Eucharist; 3rd Sunday Modern Rite Eucharist 4th Sunday Family Service; 5th Sunday Sung Matins. You never quite knew what you were going to get when you showed up. This was a compromise to ease us away from Sung Matins, but old Mr. Chutter at the church fought for Matins until the end. I started out as a choirboy and later became an organist and I always enjoyed Matins and Evensong because of all the music. Those were great times. But that was then.

20201024_134159.jpeg

This is now. I give you Exhibit B. I was walking Basco the Pug through my neighbourhood the other day and came across this Church sign. I have never seen a Church sign so of the moment. Closed during COVID-19 and like many of us surviving with online worship, this Church decided to create a sign that expresses their sense of mission in this moment right now. Someone in that Church was thinking clearly about the challenges faced by so many in the community right now and so expressed their desire to serve their community. They are not asking anything of anybody. Not expecting people to interpret what they were trying to say. Just offering help to the people around them.

Times have changed so dramatically and we need to read the signs of the times. Have a look at your church sign and all the ways you communicate, and ask yourselves what it says to the community in which you are placed. Think about the sense of mission it expresses, or do you still expect passersby to interpret Church language from another age? Because one thing I know is that it is worth making the effort to keep on reaching out beyond ourselves; to find ways to impact the communities in which we are placed. Not waiting for people to come to us we reach out to them. It’s what the Church is called to do: it is our passion and our hope. As Paul says in Galatians 6: let us not grow tired of doing good.