This Sunday, March 9, Daylight Savings Time begins and our clocks will move ahead one hour. Don't forget to change your clock so you are not late for church!

The Parish of the Valley is thrilled to once again be welcoming choristers from our Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa, to share their musical gifts with us!

In anticipation of their tour of Ireland this summer, the Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa Girls Choir will lead an intimate service of Choral Evensong at St. Patrick's, Lower Stafford (2595 Snake River Line) on Saturday, March 22nd at 4pm.

Seating is limited, please reserve your seat at the link below, or call Gail at the office: 613-732-4658. A freewill offering will be received at the door, suggested donation is $40 per ticket. All proceeds will be divided equally between the Girls Choir and the St. Patrick's Building Restoration Project.

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”   - Jamie Anderson

During the season of Lent, we are offering two sessions exploring the many facets of grief and loss. The two sessions will build upon each other, and they will each be held in three different locations across the parish.

We are all experts at grieving. No one can get through this life without experiencing loss. As we move through the cycles and seasons of life, there are ways to resolve grief; ways that do not diminish our love and memories but help us to move through them so that we transform our experience of it. 

Our faith in Christ gives us strength; as we come to 'remember' Jesus in the Eucharist, he becomes alive to us. As we and all our relations remember our loved ones, so also do they come alive in our hearts. This time we spend together will be a gentle time of sharing insights, deep listening, and walking together on the road.

The Sessions will take place at:

Epiphany, Barry's Bay: Thursday March 13 (Session 1) and Thursday April 3 (Session 2):  12pm-1pm

Holy Trinity, Pembroke: Wednesday March 19 (Session 1) and Wednesday April 9 (Session 2): 11am-12pm, following the 10am Mid-week Eucharist.

St. John the Evangelist, Eganville: Thursday March 27 (Session 1) and Thursday April 17 (Session 2) : 5:30pm - 6:30pm (Session 2 will lead into the Maundy Thursday Service at 7pm) 

The Parish of the Valley is once again partnering with St. Timothy’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pembroke (503 Alfred St.) to offer Holden Evening Prayer at St. Timothy’s on Wednesday evenings during Lent at 7pm.

Services will begin on March 12th and will continue for five Wednesdays, concluding on April 9th. This year's services will include reflections on the final words spoken by Jesus from the cross: "Words that Last Forever."

All are welcome to join in these beautiful and reflective sung evening prayer liturgies. The services last for approximately 30 minutes and are followed by a time of fellowship in the St. Timothy's hall.

In this Lenten Study being offered by Rev. Margie Patterson, a retired United Church of Canada minister, we will explore how the power of music can deepen our connection to God and form us as disciples of Christ. For many, music is a ubiquitous presence in our lives that affects us, sometimes despite us. The music we resonate with speaks to who we are, what we believe, and what we aspire to as people. Because of this, music is a powerful faith formation tool.  What we sing together has the power to change us.

Using the resource, Something Sacred: Reflections on Faith and Music, this study is being offered at St. John's Eganville on Thursdays March 6, 13, 20, 27, and April 3, 10 from 4-5pm. All are welcome and pre-registration is not required.

Our first issue for 2025 of our parish newspaper, Revelations, will be published in April.

We would love to share stories from across our parish about things that have already taken place or events that are coming up in the life of your congregation.

Please send any submissions to revelations@valleyanglicans.ca or feel free to reach out to Rev. Gillian if you have a story idea but want work with someone to write it - we're pleased to assist in sharing the good news of what the churches and groups of our parish are up to!

Our first Food Bank Sunday of 2025 will be on Sunday, March 30th.

Jesus teaches that there are two great commandments: love of God and love of neighbour.

Food banks and community kitchens play an essential role in strengthening food security across our communities. These services help to ensure that the most vulnerable members of our society have sufficient access to food -- a fundamental human right.

Across our parish four times per year we intentionally make contributions to the food banks operating within our local communities. For a list of our local food banks and links to their websites, please click the link below.

Thank you for helping to care for our neighbours and communities this Food Bank Sunday.

The season of Lent began with Ash Wednesday on March 5th. Each Lent we share a number of daily devotional reflections that you may enjoy adding to your daily prayer practices throughout the season. This year we again have some familliar and some new suggestions for you to consider.

The Primate's World Relief & Development Fund (Alongside Hope) again offers a daily reflection, "Living into God's Dream." This daily email Lenten resource weaves together scripture, reflection and prayer with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Anglican Marks of Mission.

A Lenten Journey in the Holy Land is a six week video and study program prepared by the staff of St. George's College Jerusalem and offered by the Canadian Campaign for supporting the College. 

Episcopal Relief and Development, the American counterpart to PWRDF, is also offering a daily reflection that calls us to celebrate our common life together: the everyday human experiences of prayer​​, worship, grace, love, community and service, as well as our relationship to nature.

Lent Madness is a fun and interactive daily Lenten practice where we learn about the different people listed in the Church Calendar of Saints. It is in the format of a tournament-style elimination bracket and each day you can vote for one of the profiled saints.

For more information about any of these, and links for how you can sign up for them, please click on the blue button below.

Annual Congregational Vestry Meetings will take place following the scheduled celebration of the Holy Eucharist on the following days:

This Sunday: March 9th
Holy Trinity Pembroke
**St. Stephen’s Micksburg – St. Patrick’s Lower Stafford – St. Thomas Rankin

Sunday, March 16th
Ascension Killaloe / St. John’s Tramore

Sunday, March 23rd
St. John’s Eganville

**The Micksburg/Stafford/Rankin vestry will be an afternoon potluck followed by the Vestry at 1pm at the home of Patty & Thane Childerhose (1440 Ross Rd, Cobden).

The Canons, Bylaws and Regulations of our Anglican Diocese of Ottawa require the Incumbent Priest of a parish to serve as the chair of all meetings of Vestry. With the Incumbent’s agreement, an Associate Incumbent may chair a Vestry in the Incumbent’s stead

Worship times and locations for Sunday, March 9th are:

We continue to be grateful for the many ways that members of the Parish of the Valley share gifts of time, talent, and financial resources to further God's mission across the Valley and beyond. To ensure the continued financial health of our ministries, all members of the Parish of the Valley are encouraged to make regular offerings to their home congregations and chapels. There are a many ways that you can give. Please click the blue button below to learn more.

Thank you for your continued support of the Parish of the Valley.

Here you will find our parish prayer list, scripture readings according to the Sunday lectionary, and links to worship by the Parish of the Valley and other Anglican resources and services.

Please download from the link below.