Sunday Evening Church

SJR worships at a unique and special Anglican Evening Service in the centre of Richmond.

Service begins at 6pm at Trinity Lutheran Church, 7100 Granville Ave. (follow the signs for St. John's Richmond).

Our Sunday Evening Church gathering begins at 6pm. Sunday gatherings feature great music, children's and youth ministry, refreshments and conversation afterwards. A terrific way to end the day and begin the week!

At SJR we worship God with classic Anglican liturgy: an ordered service with singing, prayer, reading, preaching, and response, all of which help us worship God in a thoughtful way. In our Evening Prayer or Holy Communion services (Holy Communion services are held on the first Sunday of each month), we recognize our sin and need for God's mercy, hear the affirmation of his forgiveness and grace, and respond with sincerity and joy. The congregation are not spectators, but engaged and involved throughout the service. Click here to learn more about Anglican worship.

New to Christianity? You are welcome any Sunday, or learn more about the basics of our beliefs.

Click Here to Livestream the Evening Service

More information, along with the downloadable weekly service sheet (Liturgy) and song sheet (Lyrics) are available here.

Midweek service of Morning Prayer: While Sunday Evening is our primary weekly service you are invited to join us for a midweek service of Morning Prayer online on Zoom. We are absolutely dependent upon the Good Shepherd to feed, guide, and protect us. We follow the classic 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer (BCP) liturgy for Morning Prayer, or Family Prayer, depending on the season.

Simplified Wednesday Morning Prayer is 30 minutes and includes a brief liturgy with ample time for open prayer and thanksgiving, from 8:30am-9am, every Wednesday. Seasonally (Advent, Lent) we will offer the full BCP Morning Prayer Service, on Wednesdays from 8-9 am, with a short teaching. This will be announced in advance.

Link to join our Simplified Wednesday Morning Prayer Service, 8:30am-9am.

For regular updates on the life of the church, you can join our email list: reach us at contact@stjohnsrichmond.com

Sunday FAQs

Why Evening Church?
Sunday Evening is a unique and special time when Christians have gathered throughout the centuries. It is a terrific way to end the day and start the week. An evening gathering allows people who work on Sundays to worship God. For many people, a 6pm service opens opportunities for enjoying creation or having a relaxed morning or joining with friends and family (and the church family) for special activities. It is a good time to invite people to church to hear about the good news of God in Jesus Christ. The 6pm service includes children's and youth groups, with refreshments following.
Why do we gather on Sundays?
We believe that God gathers us in order to meet with us. The purpose of the Sunday worship service is to help us hear the word of God, to praise him, to pray and to love one another, and to equip us to live our whole lives in relationship with Him.
What does a Sunday service look like?
Our Sunday evening service begins at 6:00 pm. The pattern we follow each Sunday includes Bible readings, music (traditional, classical and modern), prayers, a sermon, and sometimes Holy Communion (the Eucharist or Lord's Supper). The form of service (or 'liturgy') that we use is from the Anglican Prayer Book, and includes English versions of prayers that have been prayed by the church since it was founded by Jesus in the first century AD.
How long is a typical Sunday service?
About 75 minutes.
How do I follow along?
The liturgy (order of service) is projected on screen. There is also a downloadable liturgy for each Sunday on the website at Sunday Services Online.
What denomination is St. John's Richmond?
St. John's Richmond is a part of the Anglican Diocese of Canada, which, through the Anglican Church in North America, is part of the global Anglican Communion.
What do I do with my children during the service?
Children remain in the service until about 6:15 when there is a brief prayer and then they move upstairs into their Children's Church groups. See our Children's page for more information about what happens in Children's Church. There are also activities at the back of the church for parents with toddlers, and a cry room for those with infants.
What happens after the service?
Our Sunday gathering also includes a time to meet and talk over coffee and snacks. Please stay and enjoy the hospitality and friendship. We meet in the Hall.
How does Holy Communion work at St. John's Richmond?
Holy Communion is open to any baptized Christian. Communion is provided at the front of the church. If you do not wish to receive communion you can either come to the front for a prayer of blessing (cross your hands over your chest to indicate that you wish prayer only) or simply remain seated during this time in the service. If you are unable to come to the front for any reason, but still wish to partake in communion, please let someone know before the service begins so that we can serve communion at your seat.
Communion for children is at their parents' discretion. Teachers from Children's Church will return your children to you prior to distribution of communion. Please instruct your child to hold their hands out to receive communion or cross their hands over their chest to indicate that they are to receive a prayer of blessing.

Creeds

We believe in historic Christianity as revealed in the Bible and summarized in three creeds: The Apostles’ Creed, The Nicene Creed, and The Athanasian Creed. We include them below along with the 39 Articles of Religion from the Book of Common Prayer which express the central beliefs of the Anglican Communion.

Declarations

We endorse the Montreal Declaration of Anglican Essentials (1994) and the Jerusalem Declaration (2008) as clear applications of Biblical norms for Christian duty and doctrine.

Gospel

Christianity is unique among world views; it is not a religion (human effort exerted to reach the Divine) but a relationship. God speaks creation into existence, speaks humanity into being, and through His word reveals Himself to us so that we might know Him as Creator and King in our lives. This is what we are made for.

God reveals to us in His Word that humans have rebelled against Him. Sin is not simply specific actions contrary to God’s law, but primarily an attitude of heart and mind which says, “I know better than God.” Sin is the posture of asserting my rule, not God’s, in my life. Sin is broken relationship with God who made us and loves us.

What has God done about this state we are in? The stunning news is that He has taken it upon Himself to reconcile us to Him. He has done this through His own son, Jesus the Messiah (Christ). Jesus was rejected by humanity, brutally tortured, and died, taking upon Himself the righteous judgment and punishment (death) our rebellion deserves, so that we can stand before God washed of our sin. It’s not that sin disappears into thin air, however. Justice demands that sin be paid for. The sentence must be served in full. Jesus does this for all humanity as our substitute.

How do we respond to what God has done? He tells us that we must repent (change course; do a 180) from trying to create and run our own kingdom, and believe in His son (trust in who Jesus is, and what He has done). To be a Christian is to live in response to what God has done. And God has designed us to live in community. The church (a local congregation or gathering of Christians) is God’s goal: His people living in His creation under His rule.