Throughout the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, people celebrated Christmas with efforts to share seasonal cheer and compassionate care for vulnerable people in their communities.
We hope you enjoy our diocesan photo album. It’s a tradition we hope to build on, so please send us favourite photos from your parish or ministry in 2025.
Belong Ottawa hosts Christmas dinner
Belong Ottawa served festive turkey dinners at all three of its locations —Centre 454, St. Luke’s Table and The Well—in the days leading up to Christmas.
Ascension House staff volunteered at The Well on Dec. 16, helping serve turkey dinner and treats, helping with games and distributing gifts.
Belong Ottawa staff gathered for an all-staff meeting and Christmas lunch in December
Special holiday concert raises funds for Centre 105
Cornwall, Ont. — In partnership with the Centennial Choir of Cornwall, Centre 105 in Cornwall held a Christmas Concert Fundraiser during the afternoon of Dec. 7 at Trinity Anglican Church where the outreach centre is located. Taylor Seguin, executive director of Centre 105, said: “The concert featured an incredible performance by the Centennial Choir of Cornwall, as well as the Parish Choir of the St. Lawrence Anglican Parishes, led by Penny Bedard.” The event was hugely successful, raising more than $8,000. “The reception featured a praise band, hot chocolate, and holiday treats. Professional photos with Santa also took place, thanks to the photography company Eye of the Beholder.” — Carol Goddard
Ottawa parishes work together to give gifts to women in shelter and seniors
For Christmas 2024, St. Aidan’s Anglican Church teamed up with St. Thomas the Apostle Anglican Church and Emmanuel United Church in Ottawa to prepare gift bags for residents at a low-income seniors’ residence and for women staying at the Heron Community Centre shelter.
This year, the need was greater than ever. Between the three churches 147 filled gift bags were donated. Along with the great support of parishioners, other community members joined in with donations to help as well. As volunteers brought the bags into the buildings, they could see excitement on many faces of the recipients who were happy and touched to see how many useful supplies and treats were in the bags. Many thanks to all who participated in this outreach project. — Lois Wynn
St. Mary’s parish hosts community Christmas dinner in Russell
Russell, Ont. – There was a lot of work being done at St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Russell on Saturday, Dec. 21 in anticipation of the annual Christmas Dinner organized by Janice Stewart and a team of volunteers and hosted by the church. “The dinner is a gift by the community for the community” explained Stewart, who mentioned the event has been a Christmas tradition in Russell for 18 years and is made possible thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the Russell community. People are able to enjoy a complete turkey dinner, with a choice of apple cider or eggnog, dessert and mandarin oranges, with eat-in, take-out or delivery options available, with reservations needed beforehand to help plan the event. She wished to thank the volunteers who donated food, their time and efforts to ensure the tradition of community togetherness continues. From the left: Volunteers Gail Salmon, Lorraine Comeau, Mary Inglis, Nellie Kingma, Eamer Kelly-Rombough, Cherry Bekkers, Lois Durant and Raja Wysocki take a moment from their work to pose for the camera. —Carol Goddard
Christ Church Seaway hosts festivities and takes carols out to the community
Long Sault, Ont. – Christ Church Seaway in Long Sault, a member of the St. Lawrence Area Parish, hosted a holiday favourite with local people and parishioners on Nov. 29. The annual Make it, Bake it, Sew it, Grow it event was held in the church hall. Parishioner Brenda Goyer said there was plenty of time to enjoy some delicious treats, coffee and tea. During Advent, the church choir sang at Sunset Cover and Marlborough Place in Long Sault, singing 14 songs in each location. The choir then proceeded to O’Neill’s Pub in Long Sault to enjoy dinner and afterwards sang a carol. —Carol Goddard
St. James, Morrisburg began Advent with a musical jubilee
Morrisburg, Ont. – On Dec. 1, the first Sunday of Advent, the community gathered at St. James Anglican Church in Morrisburg to enjoy “A Christmas Jubilee!” The event featured the Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de la Montérégie under the direction of Georges-Etienne d’Entremont, soprano Margaret Whisselle and a performance by the
Jubilee Singers of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus as well as a Christmas sing-a-long of holiday favourites. The event was organized by Tilted Steeple Productions in collaboration with the Anglican Parish of South Dundas and was a fundraiser to support the community ministries of St. James Anglican. —Carol Goddard
Advent wreath shines with Christmas messages
Winchester, Ont. – The candles on the advent wreath at St. Clare’s Anglican in the Parish of North Dundas were lit during the Advent season.
The white candle in the centre of the Advent wreath represents the arrival of Christ and the light He brought into the world by his birth and is often referred to as the Christ candle. Around the centre candle are four candles, each of the which represent a different aspect of Advent.
The first candle, purple in colour, is sometimes referred to as the prophesy candle and presents hope, and the anticipation of Christ’s coming into the World. The second candle, also purple and known as the Bethlehem candle, represents peace and preparation for the birth of Christ. The third candle, pink in colour to symbolize a rose, is often referred to as the Shepherd’s candle, represents joy and the return of Christ, with the third candle, purple in colour, referred to as the Angel’s candle representing love and God’s message of love which was announced by angels as Christ was born. — Carol Goddard
Seasons and cycles