While in-person services may be cancelled, church is not cancelled.
Faith is not cancelled.
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Although we cannot gather publicly for worship at this time, there are many ways we can still worship and practice our faith, including through technology.
Sunday Morning Worship
From St. John the Baptist, Norway
(a) Dial-In Service of Morning Prayer
We will be offering a dial-in service of Morning Prayer, beginning at 10:30 am. We invite people dial-in early between 10:15 – 10:30 to check-in with each other and socialize.
Instructions for following along:
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- Download the Order of Service and follow along.
- Between 10:25 and 10:30 am on Sunday morning, please dial: 416-933-3854.
- When prompted to enter the following Conference ID Number, dial: 9903106# (don’t forget the # sign!).
- You’ll then be part of a conference line and will be able to hear and be heard by others on the line.
- Please try to limit excessive background noise or conversation. If you need to mute the receiver on your phone, press *6 (to unmute, press *7). This will allow you to hear the service without being heard by others.
- Scripture readings will be taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible and are included in the Order of Service.
(b) Pre-Recorded Service of Morning Prayer
We will also be posting a pre-recorded service of Morning Prayer which will follow the same order of service and include the same homily as the dial-in service at 10:30.
As we prepare for re-opening in September, we have taken a break from the pre-recorded services.
- August 2, 2020 – Pentecost IX Audio Order of Service
- July 26, 2020 – Pentecost VIII Audio Order of Service
- July 19, 2020 – Pentecost VII Audio Order of Service
- July 12, 2020 – Pentecost VI Audio Order of Service
- July 5, 2020 – Pentecost V Audio Order of Service
- June 28, 2020 – Patronal Audio Order of Service
- June 21, 2020 – Indigenous Day of Prayer Audio Order of Service
- June 14, 2020 – Pentecost II Audio Order of Service
- June 7, 2020 – Trinity Audio Order of Service
- May 31, 2020 – Pentecost Audio Order of Service
- May 24, 2020 – Ascension Audio Order of Service
- May 17, 2020 – Easter VI Audio Order of Service
- May 10, 2020 – Easter V Audio Order of Service
- May 3, 2020 – Easter IV Audio Order of Service
- April 26, 2020 – Easter III Audio Order of Service
- April 19, 2020 – Easter II Audio Order of Service
- April 12, 2020 – Easter Audio Order of Service
- April 5, 2020 – Palm Sunday Audio Order of Service
- March 29, 2020 – Lent V Audio Order of Service
- March 22, 2020 – Lent IV Audio Order of Service
From St. James Cathedral
St. James Cathedral will be live-streaming a service of morning prayer on the Diocese’s Facebook Page, beginning at 11:00 am.
St John’s Virtual Choir
From our Music Director, Damien Macedo:
In 2010, American conductor and composer Eric Whitacre distributed his piece Lux Aurumque (“Light and Gold”) and gave the choral singers of the world a task: using a conducting track to set the tempo, record yourself singing your own part, and send in the file. Using those files, Whitacre formed a choir of 185 voices from 12 countries. The next iteration of his choir comprised over 2000 singers from 58 countries, and subsequent projects have grown in size and scope.
Since the end of March 2020, St. John’s Norway has hosted its own Virtual Choir. It is an extraordinary means of staying connected through music during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Senior Choir of St. John’s Norway forms the core of our singers, and we also include members from Catholic, Presbyterian, United, and other Anglican churches from across Ontario and around the world. Our recordings are featured in our own online services and those of other churches.
Between singing members and our audience, we include St. John’s Norway (Anglican, Toronto); Corpus Christi (Roman Catholic, Toronto); St. Andrew’s (Presbyterian, Kingston); Sydenham Street United Church (United, Kingston); St. George’s Cathedral (Anglican, Kingston) St. Paul’s United (United, Perth ON); St. Paul’s Anglican (Anglican, Sydenham); Melos Early Music Ensemble (Kingston); Frontenac Women’s Chorus (Kingston); Dormition Abbey (Roman Catholic, Jerusalem, Israel); St. Mark’s Anglican (Anglican, Florence, Italy); and others.
If you would like to learn more about the Virtual Choir or take part in upcoming recordings, please email the Director of Music, Damien Macedo, at music@stjohnsnorway.com.
Recordings:
- Be Thou My Vision, translation by Mary Elizabeth Byrne (trad. Irish hymn, 8th C.)
- Joyful, Joyful, text by Henry van Dyke and music by Ludwig van Beethoven
- O Canada, in celebration of Canada Day
- O Lord, Increase Our Faith, Henry Loosemore
- Come Down, O Love Divine, Ralph Vaughan Williams
- Almighty and Everlasting God, Orlando Gibbons
- Ave Verum, W.A. Mozart
- Lead Me, Lord, S.S. Wesley
- If Ye Love Me, Thomas Tallis
Other Online Worship Services
Daily Morning Prayer (live-streamed from St. James Cathedral):
- Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00 am (said)
- Sunday mornings at 11:00 am (with recorded music)
These services will be live-streamed on the Diocese’s Facebook Page and can be watched anytime after they are posted.
Sunday Evening Prayer (from the Church of the Redeemer):
- Pre-recorded services of evening prayer posted to the Church of the Redeemer’s Facebook Page (found in the “Videos” section).
Online Personal Devotions & Prayer Liturgies
The Brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE):
Subscribe to a variety of daily and weekly email devotions from the Brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, a monastic community living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The most popular daily devotion is “Brother, give us a word,” which can be viewed online if you would prefer not to subscribe by email.
As a parish, we were participating in the Signs of Life programme organized by the Brothers of SSJE. These materials can be a found online where you can subscribe to a daily reflection (scroll to the bottom of the page to enter your email and subscribe).
The Way of Love: Practices for Jesus-Centred Life
This online programme is organized by the Episcopal Church of the United States and is led by Archbishop Michael Curry. It lays out a set of practices (a “Rule of Life”) that help us follow in the way of Christ: Turn – Learn – Pray – Worship – Bless – Go – Rest.
Online Daily Prayers (Church of England):
These online daily prayer liturgies for morning, evening, and night may be said alone or as a group. All that you need to participate (including the readings, psalms, canticles, and prayers) are included. Scroll down near the bottom of the page to select the liturgy appropriate to the time of day. Under “More Options”, you can select either contemporary language or the traditional language of the Book of Common Prayer. Be sure that the correct date is listed.
Daily Prayer app (for iPhone or Android)
The Daily Prayer app includes the same liturgies as the Online Daily Prayers listed above, but in the convenient form of an app (iPhone/iPad iOS 9.0+ and Android 5.1.1+).