Mission

St. Philip’s Church Mission, Ministries and Outreach

Saint Philip’s Church seeks to build a Christian community in which all members are encouraged to develop and use their gifts to serve both their church family and the wider community. 

We have successfully grown our parish and our ministries. We have seen an influx of young families and we will continue to welcome new people into our parish. They bring a new source of energy and talent to enhance and augment our preexisting wealth of knowledge and experience.

We hope to continue to grow our ministries so that we can serve our parish family, its individual members and our community even better in the future.

Helping others to know, love and serve Christ is viewed as an area of great importance at St. Philip's. Outreach plays a significant part or our parish life and is well supported by the members of our congregation.

During the fall, money and foodstuffs are collected for the NDG Food Depot. We also prepare hundreds of shoe boxes filled with toys and school supplies as part of our contribution to Operation Christmas Child. The program brings joy and hope to desperate children throughout the world and provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple hands-on mission project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas -- Gods love.

At Christmas, we collect toys and money for the Mile End Mission of Montreal, in the "Plateau" district. Our contributions, in large part, provide for their children's Christmas party and allow for the distribution of hampers to those in need. We also provide a collection of toiletries and warm winter clothing for the poeple of St. Michael's Mission.

During the Lenten season, we collect money for Operation Eyesight Universal. This is a Canadian non-profit organization, working in Southeast Asia and Africa, to support local eye doctors, educators and community leaders in their efforts to fight blindness. With the monies raised, St. Philip's has traditionally supported two surgical eye clinics in India that have enabled thousands to regain their sight.

History

In the early days of St. Philip's Church there was a large, involved congregation. Parishioners participated and shared in many church and outreach activities. The Anglican Church Women (ACW), Church Women’s Year (CWY), Boy Scouts, 50/50 Club, the weekly coffee hour with occasional special events, Altar Guild and the Men's Group were among the groups that provided opportunities for parishioners of all ages to unite and share their common interest in St. Philip’s and the Christian faith.

Laity

St. Philip's has always had a strong lay ministry even though it has never been formally established or recognized. The laity plays an important part of the Sunday worship by being servers, choir members, readers, and sidesmen, to cite a few examples.

We are very proud of the lay ministry of St. Philip’s and we welcome all those who wish to assist us with our ministries both within and outside of the church.

Continued care to our aging members

Pastoral Care through visits, telephone or written communication, and prayer is growing to include more parishioners, both those in need and those ministering to fellow parishioners.

Fr. Jim’s Tuesday Night educational program (Bible Study or thematic program) Bible Study has been successful in attendance and in appreciation by those involved.

Continued support of community based institutions and activities

• Individual volunteer support of St. Margaret’s, Montreal Association for the Blind, Meals on Wheels and NDG
• Food Depot and Parish support of NDG Food Depot, Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics
• Anonymous, Mile End Mission, St. Michael’s Mission, Pro-set Autism, the Antigua
• Association and small faith-based groups without facilities (Seventh Day
• Adventists).

Renewed and continued awareness of each member of the parish family

Our efforts have brought us a new and renewed appreciation of each other. We have grown through exercises such as Parish Forums and New Church Development (NCD). We continue to acknowledge members of our parish through initiatives like, We prayed for you this Sunday, Where Are You From?, Name Tag Sunday, and annual recognition of members’ volunteer involvement.

Continued growth in our expression of our faith through the liturgy

We continue to make revisions to available services to adapt to today’s needs. We have experimented with  alternate forms of worship on Tuesday evening. We have also introduced new music and re-introduced older, but much loved hymns into Sunday service.

Guilds/Committees

The work and worship of St. Philip’s would not be possible were it not for the “behind-the-scenes” ministry of the many guild and committee members. Counted among these are the heads of the Altar Guild, Lectors’ Guild, Sidesmen, Decorating & Flowers, Meeters & Greeters, Servers’ Guild and Synod delegates.

Worship Services

Sundays: 8:00 am and 10:00 am

Tuesdays: 7:30 pm

Holy Days as announced

12 Step Groups

St Philip's is pleased to be able to offer, as part of our community outreach, meeting space to a number of 12-step groups, to assist those struggling with addictions.

AA: Montreal West, Wednesdays 8:00 pm
Friday West End, Fridays, 9:00 pm
Come as You Are, Saturdays, 9:00 am
Music in Recovery, Sundays, 7:30 pm* http:// www.aa-quebec.org
Back to Basics, Tuesdays, 7:30 pm*
Inside Job, Saturdays, 12:00 noon http://naquebec.org/en/
End of the Line, Thursdays, 8:00 pm* http://www.cocainomanes-anonymes.org/

Groups marked with * are closed groups, for addicts only; the other groups welcome family and friends of addicts.  For more information about the groups, and what to expect at a meeting, see the web sites indicated.

Address and Contact Information

St. Philip’s Anglican Church

25 Brock Avenue North,

Montreal West,

Mailing address:

3400 Connaught Ave.,

Montreal, QC H4B 1X3

Office:

(514) 481-4871

office@stphilipschurchmontreal.ca