Dear church family,

There’s a particular kind of fullness to life in our church these days, not just the busy kind (though there’s that too), but the kind that’s laced with grace and good surprises and a sense that something meaningful is unfolding, even if we don’t always catch it in real time. So here’s a little update on what’s been going on, what’s coming up, and what we’re giving thanks for...

What little things in our lives erode our hearts? 

Sin doesn’t always destroy instantly. More often, it corrodes. A little rust on the soul, a slow compromise here and there, until one day, what was once whole collapses under its own decay. But even in the ruin, grace rebuilds.

Join us this Sunday at 10am as we explore what this means for our lives. Stay after for coffee and conversation. We would love to see you.

Celebrant:

Rev. Seth Enriquez

Readings:

Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3:4-14; John 12:1-8 (Read now)

Hymns:

Behold Him (Listen now)

Come Thou Fount (Listen now)

Be Unto Your Name (Listen now)

Here I Bow (Listen now)

Jesus With Your Church Abide (Listen now)

What songs are shaping your faith right now? Take a listen to the ones we're singing this season on our church playlist on Spotify!

Join us this Eastertide for a thought-provoking book study of C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. We'll explore the many shades of a Christian life, and the power of evil versus good through the eyes of a senior demon. Come out and share with your hearts and minds, as we discover more about each other and ourselves. The registration link is below! 

Dear St. George's Parishioners,

Here are our updated office hours at St. George's! Our Parish Administrator, Ji Won, will be available Friday through Tuesday, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Please note that the office will be closed and Ji Won will be unavailable to answer phone calls on Wednesdays and Thursdays. She'll return your queries when she returns on Friday.

We at St. George’s in the Pines are thrilled to be hosting a brand-new community initiative right here in our building! OESA Cafe in the Upper Room is opening on April 8 at 100 Beaver Street, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome this vibrant and inclusive space into our church home...

Dear friends,

Our deepest appreciation to the Banff Food & Friends team, to Arctos & Bird for sponsoring Monday's meal and all of our faithful volunteers! We're so grateful to have such a great community.

Yesterday, we had two incredible meals: Palak Paneer and Chickpea Curry, with Biryani rice and flat bread. We served 284 meals and received $334.25 in donations. Thanks to the chefs from Arctos & Bird, for preparing these two hits!

What if the real distance between us and God isn’t measured in miles but in motives?

In this message, Rev. Seth unpacks one of Jesus’ most familiar stories, and helps us hear it the way the first audience did: not as a cozy tale of repentance and forgiveness, but as a scandal. A story where both sons are lost in different ways, and the father’s love is almost offensive in how freely it’s given.

This sermon explores what happens when sin isn’t just about what we’ve done, but about why we come back at all, and what that says about our hearts.

If you grew up Christian in the 90s and early 2000s, you remember the Left Behind book series, stories about the Rapture, where true Christians are abruptly swept from the earth into heaven by Jesus, which ushers in a dystopian era of satanic rule over the world. Those left behind, non-believers and Christians who weren’t Christian enough, have to endure the Tribulation: years of haunting and terrifying judgments of God unleashed on the planet, as revealed in the Book of Revelation at the end of the Bible...

Calling all Banff chefs!

Banff Food & Friends is looking for passionate chefs to join our cooking team! We want your creative meals to be a gift to the whole community. Share your gifts, and help us bring people together!

Job Details:
Food Safety Certificate required.
Paid position: Up to 10 hours/week at $30/hour.

Interested? Join our team and make a difference! A link to our May-August cooking schedule is below! Add your name and contact information!

Banff, we appreciate all your help!

We are in need of volunteers for this Monday’s meal April 7 and April 14 from 5-7 P.M. If you are available to help and you'd like to support Banff Food & Friends' ongoing impact, please sign up using this link: Food & Friends Volunteer Sign-Up. Your support is greatly appreciated!

We are inspired by the kindness and generosity of our volunteers and weekly attendees who dine in our space and share friendship. Your time and effort make a difference in the lives of so many. Thank you for being a part of this amazing community!

- Devil and the Deep Blue Sea  is a captivating podcast reviewing the 'satanic panic' of the 80s that helps us better understand how fear-driven moral panics can distract the Church from confronting real sin within its own walls.

- How a Skeptical Philosopher Becomes a Christian Larry Sanger, a co-founder of Wikipedia turned Christian, dissects his own journey from skepticism to faith with the precision of a logician and the urgency of a man who has realized the limits of mere reason. You can watch a video of his journey here.

- Why Everyone Should Believe that the Gospels are Reliable this eye-opening article lays out why the Gospels aren’t just ancient myths but some of the most reliable historical documents we have, backed by non-Christian sources, tons of manuscripts, and real eyewitness testimony—making them pretty hard to ignore.

- Should “Sex Work” Be Legal? Exodus Cry unpacks why legalizing sex work doesn’t protect the vulnerable but instead fuels exploitation, trafficking, and deeper societal harm.

- The Vagabond King In this haunting article, Paul Kingsnorth weaves history, myth, and faith into a meditation on Christ as the wandering King who upends the world’s empires and expectations.

- The Efficacy of Prayer In this incisive article, C.S. Lewis dissects the dangers of moral busybodies and the creeping tyranny of well-intentioned control, reminding us that the road to hell is often paved with unchecked benevolence.

- Worship Starts with a Pierced God In this gripping article, Esther Shin Chuang explores how extreme religious devotion—like Thaipusam’s body piercings—reveals a deep human hunger for transcendence, one that only Christ truly satisfies.

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