Life In Ministry

Church School & Youth Group

St. Paul’s Church School offers a Christian Education program for children that takes place during our regular 10:30am Sunday Worship. The children of the Church School begin in the morning with their families in the Church. The children gather together at the front of the church for “Children’s time”, a brief informal talk with the children taking place after the opening prayers. They then go to the Sunday school room (located down the hall from the narthex). Children return to their parents following the Lord’s prayer in order to take communion. A Nursery is available for our youngest members. It is staffed by a group of welcoming volunteers. Church school children occasionally remain in the Church for Inter-generational services or special occasions.

Outreach

Local Outreach: Outreach works both in fund-raising and advocacy for improving the conditions of life of others. Through St. Paul’s we develop and promote programs through which we can serve the needs of others in the community. We support the Brighton Food Bank, Supper’s Ready, Maplewood Nursing Home and various fundraisers throughout the year to fund these causes.

• Direct help for less fortunate in the community
• Support for community, diocese, national, international
• Encouragement of all members to get involved in outreach activities

Global Outreach: We support the Samaritan’s Purse with “Turn on the Tap” this provides water filters for Third World countries these water filters are assembled in the country receiving them, thereby supporting the local economy. They will provide clean water for drinking, cooking and washing for a large family for an indefinite period of time. In all the years the programme has been in operation none of the filters has failed or needed repairs. There is always a need for clean water and these filters do fill that need. Additionally, through the Christian Children’s Fund, we support six foster children.

Music

• Ministry style and special services
• Music style, new styles integrated into traditional
• Eucharistic elements enhancing weekly worship

Christian Education

• Support and training for children’s ministry
• Baptism, marriage and confirmation preparation
• Adult education
• Guest speakers
• Spiritual advice and counseling by the minister

Pastoral Care

Pastoral care and hospitality provides for:

• Visits and Holy Communion to the sick, infirm, and bereaved by clergy, St. Paul’s Guild and lay visitors in hospital, retirement homes, or at home;
• Also provides Pastoral counseling, spiritual help and guidance, phone calls, maintenance of an up-to-date parish list, and coordination of Prayers of the People requests.

Please contact the office if you or a loved one is in hospital so that our clergy can visit, or if you wish to be upheld in prayer. While some members of our Parish are also Deanery Hospital Visitors, or PRHC volunteers, they are careful to protect the privacy of the people they visit, and our clergy need to be informed directly in order to be a part of your support team in a time of crisis. Contact the office for further assistance.

Altar Guild

The Altar Guild is a group of people whose ministry is the care of the holy vessels, ornaments, linens, hangings and vestments used in our regular worship. Organized into teams which serve on a monthly rotation, the Altar Guild prepares the altar for our regular Eucharistic worship. This includes setting up the vessels, maintaining the beeswax candles, laundering the linens and changing the frontals and hangings for the various church seasons. This “behind the scenes” ministry is vital to the smooth operation of our regular liturgies.

Servers

Servers assist the priest in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. They carry the processional cross and torches, and assist in bringing the bread and wine to the altar to be consecrated. This is a ministry for people of all ages: boys, girls, men and women.

Sidespeople

Sidespersons serve as greeters and ushers for those arriving for worship. They ensure that everyone has the books and papers needed for worship, and that everyone is comfortably seated. Sidespersons also collect the weekly offering and bring it to the altar to be blessed at the Offertory. They appoint representatives from the congregation to bring the gifts of bread and wine to the altar, along with the gifts of food items for the local food bank. Sidespersons also assist in counting and depositing the weekly offering.