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You’re invited … Over the coming weeks, the process of designing your Hospice will begin! Hospice of Elgin will be designed to reflect the hearts, minds, and voices of our community. While we won’t get specific with questions of paint colours or table linens, we will be listening for key ideas about what matters most at end of life. We would love to hear from you. If you are interested in participating in a virtual meeting, comment below and email Kimberley Howcroft at Kimberley.howcroft@elginhospice.com Sign up today as spots are limited! Follow us closely & be part of the conversation in designing Elgin County’s first Hospice.

Are you a registered nurse interested in wholistic healthcare and learning how to integrate spirituality into your nursing practice? The Diocese of London has partnered with Dayton University to provide affordable 5-week online courses that are ideal for registered nurses looking to increase their knowledge regarding spiritual health as well as faith formation opportunities. These courses are part of the Foundations in Parish Nursing certificate program at St Peter’s Seminary and are available for any registered nurse. The next course: Facilitating Wholistic Health through the Lifespan begins October 10. Registration is open and there is limited space in the program. For more information and to register, please email pastoralservicesadmin@dol.ca.

Thank you to all the parishioners I have been able to serve over the past 10 years. It has been my honour. You have strengthened my faith and that is a true blessing. Working for the church, while raising our family, was a perfect fit for Whitney and I. Now I go on to find a new path in life, in my so called "retirement". Our boys are laughing at me as they know I don't sit still very well (or for very long) Please be kind to the new staff replacing me. They will be on a learning curve. From the bottom of my heart, thankyou for 10 great years. -Linda

Our Hearts have Landed On July 14, Mayor Preston announced that the City of St. Thomas has found an incredible location at 2 South Edgeware Road (overlooking Waterworks Park) as the future home of Hospice. The location will allow Hospice to be anchored in a beautiful, serene, wooded area, wrapped in the Carolinian forest that is graced with butterflies, birds, and a collection of native species. A special thank you to the City of St. Thomas for their leadership and commitment to building a compassionate community. The City of St. Thomas cares deeply for the people in our community as evident by this very special gift. To learn more about the land announcement visit the Hospice of Elgin Facebook page. Let the Design of Hospice Begin Over the coming months, Hospice of Elgin will be speaking with stakeholders from across our community to ensure what matters most is reflected in the Hospice design. We’re looking to capture the hearts, minds, and voices of our community to build a space (and outreach of programs) for helping families live life to the fullest until the very end. Hospice will be built by the community and for the community, creating a space that is uniquely Elgin. At the Heart of Hospice Thank you to the following volunteers who are part of our Hospice family for dedicating your time, talent, and leadership to help us realize the Hospice vision. Lindsay Barber, John Bod, Paul Bode, John Callaghan, Linda Corriveau, Paul Corriveau, Kate Dymock, Bill Graham, Mike Hanki, Jim Harris, Dr. John Hofhuis, Pat Keenan, Dr. Bob Jones, Dan Kelly, Paul Kiteley, Ellen Luft, Ken Monteith, David Nash, Peggy Rattray, Dan Reith, Dan Ross, Dr. Duncan Sinclair, Melanie Smith, Carolyne Tarry “No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another.” – Author Unknown

Take a tour through our photo album. If you have photos you would like to submit, contact the office.

The Ontario Government has outlined revised capacity limits for our churches. The capacity limit is now restricted to how many people can get in the church with proper social distancing. It is no longer based on a percentage of the maximum capacity. Based on our experience previously, with social distancing, we know the maximum numbers allowed in each church and extended worship space. Registration for mass is still necessary so that we can manage the limits for each church. Similarly, we continue with protocols that have been in place for some time including: masks must be worn to protect others hand sanitization to protect the Priests and others answering the COVID-19 questions before coming to Mass We look forward to seeing you back in church and we continue to pray that restrictions will be lessened in the future.

2 jobs available. Click the title for details

We arepleased to announce that we have found an Event Manager for the St Anne Centre. Sharon Lechner, of Events by Sharon, will start immediately. Sharon brings a wealth of experience and knowledge around event planning. She has been running her own Event Planning business - Events by Sharon- for the past 10 years and has planned and delivered on many large events in the area including L'Arche, Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation, Tall Ships Festival and many more. As well, Sharon is a certified meeting planner (CMP) and has certification for Virtual Meetings and Events (VEMM). She is professional and a delight to her clients. In her role, Sharon will be the main contact for the Centre's clients (internal and external) and will plan and execute the events. She will coordinate with the client, caterers, decorators, bartenders, and others involved in delivering successful events. Sharon will also look at promoting and marketing the Centre to gain more business. This is great news for the St. Anne Center. As COVID restrictions are lessening, it provides the Centre with the potential for new and returning clients. Please welcome Sharon to her new position! If you have current or upcoming needs for any event, please contact Sharon at the SA Centre phone number 519 631-5210.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) are currently holding consultations on several of their policies, including the sections that take away conscience protections for the doctors they regulate. Now that Bill C-7 has passed, greatly expanding access to euthanasia, it is critical that we support physicians who are committed to helping their vulnerable patients live, not hastening their death. Several years ago, the late Cardinal George of Chicago, in a talk to a group of priests, tried to express what he thought the complete secularization of our society would bring. He said: "I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. …" We are all too familiar with how our society has become secularized with many foundational Christian principles, and rights, regularly cast aside. The denial of conscience rights of medical professionals is just one of many recent examples. Here is a link that will allow you to find out more information and to send a message to the College to state that you support conscience rights. You may edit the letter with your own personal comments.

Every year since 2006 the Apostolic committee has held an annual walk to raise funds to build homes in Cambodia. We have lost track of how many families we have given a home. But it is well over 100. Over the years several parishioners have travelled to Cambodia to help build homes and see that part of the world. We mix doing good deeds with education and fun. We have been to Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore as well as Hong Kong. Some have been two or three times. If you are interested in going on an adventure like this let us know.

Catholics and all people of good are asked to make their voices heard in opposition to legislation before the Parliament of Canada, Bill C-7, which expands access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. This Bill removes, among other things, the requirement in the law that a person’s death must be “reasonably foreseen” and extends the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide to those who are not dying. Catholic teaching upholds the inherent dignity of each and every person and affirms that it is gravely unjust to enact laws legalizing practices, such as euthanasia and assisted, that permit the taking of innocent human life. The Diocese of London is joining with faith-based groups and all concnerned Canadians to oppose this legislation

In order to continue to keep our places of worship open, safe and sacred it takes many resources, willing hands and hearts to make this happen. The exterior protective glass for 5 of the beautiful the stain glass windows at Holy Angels’ are cracking and pieces are coming loose. There have been plans for several years to replace all of the protective glass because it is not properly vented and can cause damage to the stained glass over time (because of drastic heating and cooling without proper venting.) Because of the cracked exterior glass, need to preserve the stained glass from the elements and safety concerns, we need to replace the cracked glass. The replacement of the cracked panes will occur this month. This is a temporary measure until we can install new, vented storm windows and paint the window frames for all the windows in the church. On another note, the front steps of the church will require extensive funds to be raised before we can begin work to replace them. We cannot yet set a timeframe for the completion of this work. Minor repair work on the side sacristy steps, deteriorating because of salt has been repaired by very skilled parishioners. Thank you for your generosity! We are all thankful for everyone’s continued support to keep the church safe, sacred and fully operational.