Weekly Update

MUSINGS:

Quinn Caldwell serves as pastor and teacher at Plymouth Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Syracuse. He’s known in the wider United Church of Christ (UCC) as a member of the UCC Stillspeaking Writers’ Group and an author for the Stillspeaking Daily Devotionals.

One of my favorite things about all the rituals and traditions attached to this time of year is the way they mess with time.

My husband and son and I decorate our Christmas tree, and as we hang each ornament—the ones we brought from our parents’ houses and the ones we got together—we tell their stories.

As we do, we find that we are not just standing in the living room we share, but we’re also standing in footed pajamas in the living rooms we grew up in, decorating every tree we’ve ever decorated, right in that moment.

We gather on Christmas Eve with the lights down and the candles lit, and we sing “Silent Night.”

As we do, it’s like we’re singing it at every Christmas Eve service we’ve ever been to; it’s like we’re singing it at every Christmas Eve service yet to come; it’s like, by our song, we’re calling the birth of God into existence again.

It’s not nostalgia; it’s not just a hazy remembrance of the time back when things used to be better than they are now.

It’s more than that; it’s like a collapsing of time, a drawing in of past and future into one long now.

Theologians would say we’re stepping out of ordinary time, or what they call chronos, and catching a glimpse of God’s time, or what they call kairos.

In chronos, minute follows minute, and you can only go forward; that’s where we live most of the time.

But for God, in kairos, every moment is one, and your first Christmas, your last Christmas, this Christmas and the redemption of the whole world are all happening right now, forever.

It’s one of the reasons people love this time of year so much, that quality it has that, for many people more than many other time of the year, lets us glimpse the world the way God sees it.

So what things or traditions do that for you? What brings you back to your childhood at warp speed? Whatever it is, you should plan to do it; this year, maybe, more than ever …

CHRISTMAS EVE KID CHURCH!:
This fun, interactive Zoom children’s event will take place TOMORROW at 11:00 am.

Thanks to all of you who have RSVP-ed… looking forward to some faith-based fun together!

ZOOM CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP:

Christmas Eve worship will take place via Zoom at 7:00 pm TOMORROW evening.

SPECIAL NOTE: please be sure to bring along some bread/wine (or alternatives) as we will be celebrating Communion together.

Looking forward to celebrating this holy night!

CHRISTMAS EVE OFFERING:
As is our tradition at Grace, our Christmas Eve offering will be gratefully accepted and designated to the Mission and Service Fund of the United Church.

SERVICE NOTE:

Please note that there will be no Zoom worship on Sunday, December 27.

Worship will resume on Sunday, January 3 😊

A COUPLE OF NOTES FROM OUR TREASURER:

The e-transfer method of sending in your offerings has been popular and is quite easy to do. 

In your online banking site, just send an e-transfer to  laubertin@kpmg.ca 

In the notes/message, you can indicate where you’d like the money to be applied: general, M&S, rebuilding etc.

Many thanks for your on-going support of our life and work at Grace Unite!

Our Fundscrip program has been seeing some action recently. 

Each order placed earns some donation money for our church.

Periodically, the Fundscrip program has promotion offers that increase the donation percentage received from certain vendors.

The current promotions are:

Ultimate Dining (Swiss Chalet, Montanas, Kelseys, East Side Marios, New York Fries, Harveys, and many others).  (regular 5%) — promotion is 9%

(ie – for $100 spent – we’d get $9 donated back to the church).

Esso (regular 2%) – promotion 3%

Homesense/Winners/Marshalls (regular 6%) Promtion 8%

La Vie en Rose/ Bikini Village (regular 8%) Promotion 11%

Mobil (regular 2%) Promotion 3%

Sally Beauty (regular 10%) Promotion 12%

If you would like to order but don’t feel comfortable doing so online, I can certainly place the order for you. 

Just let me know what you’d like to order and I’ll get it put through and paid for.  

You can then e-transfer the money to me or send me a cheque to reimburse me. 

I’ve done this for a few people and it works quite well.

If you don’t have a computer and would like to see the list of vendors, just let me know and I’ll mail you a paper order form.  (laubertin@kpmg.ca   or 705-618-3256)

A CHRISTMAS PRAYER …ADVENT FAITH PRACTICES …

By Maureen Killoran

Not gold, nor myrrh, nor even frankincense
would I have for you this season,
but simple gifts, the ones that are hardest to find,
the ones that are perfect,
even for those who have everything (if such there be).

I would (if I could)
have for you the gift of courage,
the strength to face the gauntlets
only you can name,
and the firmness in your heart to know
that you (yes, you!) can be a bearer of the quiet dignity
that is the human glorified.

I would (if by my intention I could make it happen)
have for you the gift of connection,
the sense of standing on the hinge of time,
touching past and future
standing with certainty that you (yes, you!)
are the point where it all comes together.

I would (if wishing could make it so)
have for you the gift of community,
a nucleus of love and challenge,
to convince you in your soul
that you (yes, you!) are a source of light
in a world too long believing in the dark.

Not gold, nor myrrh, nor even frankincense,
would I have for you this season,
but simple gifts, the ones that are hardest to find,
the ones that are perfect,
even for those who have everything (if such there be).

Read Full Post »

Weekly Update

MUSINGS:

John Pavlovitz is a well-known pastor and blogger from Wake Forest, North Carolina. A 18-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John’s mission is to nurture better, more productive conversation about faith, and to help the Church become a more compassionate, loving environment for all people.

Throughout this Advent season, I will be sharing excerpts from Pavlovitz’s new collection of Advent devotions, Low.

“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” —John 15:10–12

God wants you to be happy.

It’s easy to get that message from a consumerist, capitalistic, comfort-based Christianity, the variety of which is never more prominent than during this season.

As much as any time of the year, we’re taught to conflate faith and happiness, to imagine that believing will yield tangible and emotional rewards.

But our faith tradition isn’t built on anything resembling such promises.

A word more akin to joy appears exponentially more often than the word translated as happy in the scriptures—and while more difficult to grasp, the former is far less transactional, temporary, or contingent than the latter.

Happiness tends to revolve around our circumstances, around what is happening to us, and it requires favorable conditions to remain.

The problem is that such conditions are not likely to hang around for very long. Financial struggles, physical illnesses, relational challenges, internal battles, and exterior threats are bound to show up.

When they do, happiness, like a fair-weather friend, tends to flee.

The joy spoken of and so prevalent in the life and teachings of Jesus is something perennial, an immutable, unstealable internal peace, that, like a friend, simply stays regardless of what’s happening.

It allows us to feel secure in the shaking, to laugh when everything hits the fan, and to experience abundance even when we should be lacking.

Today, don’t feel any pressure to be happy, but do feel invited into great joy.

“COME TO THE QUIET” CONTEMPLATIVE WORSHIP:

Christmas can be a time of mixed emotions.

Along with the seasonal joy and excitement, often there is sorrow, grief, anxiety and exhaustion.

It can be hard to find safe space to experience the “shadow side” of Christmas, or even to find a few moments of tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle.

THIS EVENING at 7:00 pm why not come to the quiet and know the Spirit’s gentle presence.

CHRISTMAS TREE “SHOW-AND-TELL” ZOOM PARTY:

A Grace first! 

Being as covid has put a damper on our usual holiday in-person get togethers, why not put on your pajamas, mix yourself a nice holiday drinkie, and Zoom-in with your Grace friends for some informal fun and fellowship? 😊

We’ll show off our Christmas trees and spin some yarns about Christmases past.

6:30 to 8:00… See you there!

CHRISTMAS EVE STORY TIME!:
Calling all kids and parents/grandparents!

You are invited to spend a little bit of time Christmas Eve afternoon Zooming with Rev. Erin and Grace the Little Green Monster, as we celebrate the birth of Baby Jesus!

Time and details to be determined… Please RSVP as soon as possible if you would like to log on!

ZOOM CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP:

Christmas Eve worship will take place via Zoom at 7:00 pm on Thursday, December 24.

Looking forward to celebrating this holy night together!

GIFTS WITH VISION:

Christmas gifting time is almost upon us; and, just in time, this year’s incarnation of the Gifts with Vision catalogue is now available online.

Every gift in the catalogue is developed by one of our United Church’s Mission & Service partners and each one truly makes a difference!

Our gifts through Gifts with Vision provide additional support for Mission & Service partners and ministries for selected projects. ​

This Christmas season, let’s give the gift of hope; both here in Canada and across the world! 

Please visit http://www.giftswithvision.ca to choose a gift online!

MUFFIN MINISTRY:

Tracy Joy (aka the “muffin mama”) has very generously offered to coordinate our muffin ministry for the winter months.

Our weekly offering of big, healthy muffins will help feed folks at the Frood Road drop in/warming center.

Muffins can be fresh or frozen, and should be individually wrapped in plastic wrap.

Drop off will take place at St. Peter’s on Wednesdays from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

For those who can’t make the Wednesday time, arrangements can be made with me (Rev Erin) for drop off at a different time.

Stay tuned … the “muffin mama” will be calling you! 😊

ANOTHER WAY TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY:

The Sudbury Women’s Centre offers a safe place to support women in their journey in getting from where they are now to where they want to be; offering the tools, resources and support to help and promote women’s status and well-being.

At present, the centre is in desperate need of personal hygiene products for distribution to women in need.

Everything from shampoo, to dental care products, to sanitary napkins, to soaps and body washes would be greatly appreciated.

Items can be dropped off at St. Peter’s on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday afternoons from now until the end of December.

A COUPLE OF NOTES FROM OUR TREASURER:

The e-transfer method of sending in your offerings has been popular and is quite easy to do. 

In your online banking site, just send an e-transfer to  laubertin@kpmg.ca 

In the notes/message, you can indicate where you’d like the money to be applied: general, M&S, rebuilding etc.

Many thanks for your on-going support of our life and work at Grace Unite!

Our Fundscrip program has been seeing some action recently. 

Each order placed earns some donation money for our church.

Periodically, the Fundscrip program has promotion offers that increase the donation percentage received from certain vendors.

The current promotions are:

Ultimate Dining (Swiss Chalet, Montanas, Kelseys, East Side Marios, New York Fries, Harveys, and many others).  (regular 5%) — promotion is 9%

(ie – for $100 spent – we’d get $9 donated back to the church).

Esso (regular 2%) – promotion 3%

Homesense/Winners/Marshalls (regular 6%) Promtion 8%

La Vie en Rose/ Bikini Village (regular 8%) Promotion 11%

Mobil (regular 2%) Promotion 3%

Sally Beauty (regular 10%) Promotion 12%

If you would like to order but don’t feel comfortable doing so online, I can certainly place the order for you. 

Just let me know what you’d like to order and I’ll get it put through and paid for.  

You can then e-transfer the money to me or send me a cheque to reimburse me. 

I’ve done this for a few people and it works quite well.

If you don’t have a computer and would like to see the list of vendors, just let me know and I’ll mail you a paper order form.  (laubertin@kpmg.ca   or 705-618-3256)

ADVENT FAITH PRACTICES …

It is a spiritual discipline to listen well. It also is one of the profoundest “gifts” we can give another person.

Look for opportunities this week to listen deeply to someone’s joy or pain…

Read Full Post »

Weekly Update

MUSINGS:

John Pavlovitz is a well-known pastor and blogger from Wake Forest, North Carolina. A 18-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John’s mission is to nurture better, more productive conversation about faith, and to help the Church become a more compassionate, loving environment for all people.

Throughout this Advent season, I will be sharing excerpts from Pavlovitz’s new collection of Advent devotions, Low.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” —Luke 1:26–33

Growing up Catholic, I understood Mary the mother of Jesus very differently than I do today.

When I was younger, she held this place of rarefied adoration that, while reverential, almost obscured the earthy reality of her part in the story: the uncertainty and scandal in which she’d found herself.

Largely lost on me was the fact that she was a young girl, already engaged, and suddenly with child of unfathomable origin—living surrounded by ordinary people who didn’t read her story with the detached hindsight we have.

The fear and the pressure of her circumstances would have been disorienting.

She was invited into something beautifully terrifying, and she simply said, “Yes.”

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve focused on Mary’s yes in that moment, the way she accepted the invitation she’d been given, knowing it would also mean welcoming opposition. Today I see her as an ancestor in this journey, the first responder for those of us who seek to emulate Jesus in the world.

Mary was asked to literally carry and deliver the love of God to a planet in dire need of such a thing.

She willingly accepted the collateral damage of bearing goodness in a time and place in which doing so would prove difficult.

You and I get to play a similar role in this moment in the story of the planet, a place burdened with sadness and disconnect.

We are similarly pregnant with a capacity to bring peace and kindness and healing. Today, think about the character traits of Jesus that resonate most deeply with you (especially those that seem lacking in the world), and realize that these are what you are invited to birth into the world: compassion, forgiveness, courage, honesty.

Let goodness form within you today, and find a way to release it into the world.

LISTENING CHOIR:

The “listening choir” continues this coming Tuesday, December 15 at 7:00 at St. Stephen’s on the Hill.

ADVENT MINI-RETREAT:

TONIGHT from 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Through contemplation, conversation, and prayer, we will take a fresh look at the the birth of Christ through the eyes of three of the “unsung heroes” of the story: Zechariah, Joseph and Simeon.

Hope you’ll join us!

“COME TO THE QUIET” CONTEMPLATIVE WORSHIP:

NEXT Wednesday, December 16 at 7:00 pm

Christmas can be a time of mixed emotions.

Mingled with the seasonal joy and excitement, often there is sorrow, grief, anxiety and exhaustion.

It can be hard to find safe space to experience the “shadow side” of Christmas, or even to find a few moments of quiet amidst the hustle and bustle.

Come to the quiet and know the Spirit’s gentle presence.

GIFTS WITH VISION:

Christmas gifting time is almost upon us; and, just in time, this year’s incarnation of the Gifts with Vision catalogue is now available online.

Every gift in the catalogue is developed by one of our United Church’s Mission & Service partners and each one truly makes a difference!

Our gifts through Gifts with Vision provide additional support for Mission & Service partners and ministries for selected projects. ​

This Christmas season, let’s give the gift of hope; both here in Canada and across the world! 

Please visit http://www.giftswithvision.ca to choose a gift online!

MUFFIN MINISTRY:

Tracy Joy (aka the “muffin mama”) has very generously offered to coordinate our muffin ministry for the winter months.

Our weekly offering of big, healthy muffins will help feed folks at the Frood Road drop in/warming center.

Muffins can be fresh or frozen, and should be individually wrapped in plastic wrap.

Drop off will take place at St. Peter’s on Wednesdays from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

For those who can’t make the Wednesday time, arrangements can be made with me (Rev Erin) for drop off at a different time.

Stay tuned … the “muffin mama” will be calling you! 😊

ANOTHER WAY TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY:

The Sudbury Women’s Centre offers a safe place to support women in their journey in getting from where they are now to where they want to be; offering the tools, resources and support to help and promote women’s status and well-being.

At present, the centre is in desperate need of personal hygiene products for distribution to women in need.

Everything from shampoo, to dental care products, to sanitary napkins, to soaps and body washes would be greatly appreciated.

Items can be dropped off at St. Peter’s on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday afternoons from now until the end of December.

CHURCH CALENDARS:

The 2021 United Church Calendars are here!  

They’re $10.00 each, with all proceeds going to the United Church’s Mission and Service Fund.  

Please contact JoAnne at 705-560-7431 or blackwell@isys.ca to arrange to get yours.

PLANTS FOR SALE:

Linda Arseneau has six Aloe Vera plants she would like to sell for $10 each, in support of Grace United Church rebuilding fund.

If you are interested please contact Linda via email at linda_arseneau@hotmail.com or call 705-566-2597 

A COUPLE OF NOTES FROM OUR TREASURER:

The e-transfer method of sending in your offerings has been popular and is quite easy to do. 

In your online banking site, just send an e-transfer to  laubertin@kpmg.ca 

In the notes/message, you can indicate where you’d like the money to be applied: general, M&S, rebuilding etc.

Many thanks for your on-going support of our life and work at Grace Unite!

Our Fundscrip program has been seeing some action recently. 

Each order placed earns some donation money for our church.

Periodically, the Fundscrip program has promotion offers that increase the donation percentage received from certain vendors.

The current promotions are:

Ultimate Dining (Swiss Chalet, Montanas, Kelseys, East Side Marios, New York Fries, Harveys, and many others).  (regular 5%) — promotion is 9%

(ie – for $100 spent – we’d get $9 donated back to the church).

Esso (regular 2%) – promotion 3%

Homesense/Winners/Marshalls (regular 6%) Promtion 8%

La Vie en Rose/ Bikini Village (regular 8%) Promotion 11%

Mobil (regular 2%) Promotion 3%

Sally Beauty (regular 10%) Promotion 12%

If you would like to order but don’t feel comfortable doing so online, I can certainly place the order for you. 

Just let me know what you’d like to order and I’ll get it put through and paid for.  

You can then e-transfer the money to me or send me a cheque to reimburse me. 

I’ve done this for a few people and it works quite well.

If you don’t have a computer and would like to see the list of vendors, just let me know and I’ll mail you a paper order form.  (laubertin@kpmg.ca   or 705-618-3256)

ADVENT FAITH PRACTICES …

Make a special effort to offer a smile or kind gesture (such as opening the door) for a stranger today …

Read Full Post »