Zion Calendar

Thursday 31 October 2013

Happy & Safe Halloween Everyone!!

                                                   

A Message from Rev Sheila!

2014 Canadian Church Calendars now available to purchase!

We have just received  the 2014 Canadian Church Calendars. Please call the church office on 354-5851 if you would like to buy one. They are $4.00 with tax included. They will also be available for purchase at the Sunday services or buy dropping into the church office during regular office hours. 


This calendar has the theme of praising and worshipping 
God, and features photos of banners, murals, and 
communion table frontals from United Churches across 
Canada.

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Give a gift and help change the world! The United Church of Canada's Gifts with Vision.


The 2013-2014 Gifts of Vision catalogue is now available in the Church foyer.


Give a gift and help change the world! helps support a variety of important, life-changing programs around the world and in Canada.

Please help share the news of Gifts with Vision with your community. Visit the Gifts with Vision website and click on the"Downloads" link to find slides, a poster, web and Facebook badges, and more tools to invite people to give a gift that truly makes a difference in peoples’ lives. Thank you!

Kinship II – Exploring Diversity through Drama and Art


Monday 28 October 2013

Robbie's Back in Church!!!

Robbie the Dragon and Rev Sheila chat with the kids in Church yesterday. 


Tapestry of Love Concert at Zion United


General Secretary's Weekly Letter





October 25, 2013

Dear Friends,

I led our chapel service this week at the General Council Office, and am pleased to share with you the notes from the reflection I offered on Jeremiah 14:7-10 and 19-22, and Psalm 84: 

We have had quite a bit of rain lately. These rainy October days can be dreary. I had to drive back to Toronto from Niagara-on-the-Lake in the driving rain on Saturday evening, and it was not fun.

In our society, cushioned as most of us are from the need to worry about the growth cycles of the plants we eat, we think of rain as a negative. We might get wet as we walk to work! A baseball game or picnic might be cancelled! Our shoes might get muddy. Or at our house, the dogs might make muddy paw prints on the floor when they come in. Yes, we prefer sunshine.

We sometimes talk about saving for a rainy day. At different times through the financial challenges the church has been facing in recent years, I’ve heard the question, “Is this the rainy day we’ve been saving for?” We’ve used that as a rationale for spending from our financial reserves. The rainy day is a time you save for, and it’s a metaphor for unexpected hardship or need.

Our scripture readings today give a different perspective about rain.

If you live in a desert, rain is something you yearn for, something you pray for, something you celebrate. If you live where water is scarce, you can never forget how precious it is.

Isn’t it interesting how the same thing can look completely different, depending on your perspective?

Isn’t it interesting how your perspective is shaped by how much you have of something, or how much you don’t have?

Here is a headline from the online version of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz from a few days ago: “Weekend weather — Israelis welcome the rain.” I wonder what it takes to let us understand a burden as a blessing.

Maybe it isn’t a matter of changing what we are in the middle of, but of changing how we feel about what we are in the middle of.

My son can be somewhat countercultural when it comes to rain. He takes delight in running around in the middle of a heavy downpour. I have a wonderful image in my head of looking out the front window one day as I heard a sudden rain pounding on the roof. I had looked out wondering if I should go and pick him up and give him a ride home, but there he was in front of the swimming pool across the road from us. He wasn’t hurrying towards the house, rushing to get out of the rain. He was just standing there, soaked to the skin and getting wetter, just standing there in the rain. I don’t really know what was going through his head at that moment, but the impression I had was something like, “What a fantastic rain this is, this is just too great to rush through, I’d better just stay in this place for a moment and soak it up!”

I can remember times out on backpacking trips when it rained and there was nowhere to go to get out of it. There was nothing to do but keep hiking through the rain, and you know, after a while, that wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was good to know you could manage, rain or shine. When you take a long hike or canoe trip, you have to work with whatever the weather dishes out, and you find that you can get through it all, and even enjoy conditions that you wouldn’t even poke your nose out in at home. It’s a great feeling — a feeling of being very much alive.

The times in our lives when we experience adversity can be the times that deepen our humanity.

I wonder if the same might be true for the church.

A few decades ago when most Canadians identified as Christian — many of them United Church — we in the United Church took that for granted. Today, we’re very aware of having fewer people in most of our churches. We are aware of living in a society where Christianity, or faith practice of any kind, can no longer be assumed.

I wonder if there was ever a minister in the 1950s who wished that some of those in the overflowing pews would make less of an assumption of their faith and would go to a deeper place with it. I wonder if we would be thinking and praying so hard about what God is planning for the church of the future, if there weren’t some things in our current situation that are making us uncomfortable!

As we struggle with change in the church it can feel like standing in a cold fall rain without any shelter in site. Let’s remember that new growth cannot be nurtured without rain.

Let me finish with a few lines from the poem A Desert Rain by 19th-century American poet Andrew Downing:

The cool rain poured in sudden haste
Upon the thirsty sod,
And life throughout an arid waste
Rejoices, thanking God.  

Each wild and lonely desert flower
Is royally arrayed,
As if in one brief, stormy hour
The world were newly made.  

My friends, let’s get out in the rain and rejoice in it.  

Nora
















































Monday 21 October 2013

General Secretary's Weekly Letter



October 18, 2013


Dear Friends: 



Wednesday was a rare day of lofty ideas. I was privileged to hear two wonderful talks by valued elders of the United Church. Well, to be honest, I (regrettably) heard only part of the second one, but that is because you can only fit so much into a day.  I can’t do justice to either of them here, but let me share a little of what I heard.

First, I attended a graduation ceremony at York University, where my friend John Whyte was the honorary degree recipient and gave the convocation address. John is a constitutional law scholar, a former dean of law, a former provincial deputy minister of justice, a voluminous writer, mentor to many (including me), and someone whose contributions to constitutional debates in the 1970s and 1980s helped shape Canada. He is better known outside the United Church than within it, but church is an important part of his life, and he is well known in the Wesley congregation in Regina, where he has chaired the board and preached on occasion.

Our connection stems from shared work in the administration of justice, but it became closer during my time in Regina, where more often than not I had lunch after church with John and his wife Tessa, either at their house or mine.

John was addressing law graduates and others, but instead of talking about legal theory, he quoted poetry and spoke of the deepest human experience of mercy and love. He referred to the part of life that lies below the surface, containing an impulse to fairness and justice that is greater than the law itself. He said that the burning purpose of humanity is “to turn what is, to what is good.”

Afterward, several people, perhaps unaccustomed to hearing these themes addressed with such subtlety and inspiration, commented that John’s talk was “almost theological.” Having seen the way John’s intellectual life, spiritual life, and sense of community are all intertwined, this didn’t surprise me at all!

Of course, the convocation was longer than I had imagined, so I was late getting downtown to Emmanuel College for the lecture by Douglas John Hall. I don’t know Professor Hall personally, but I’ve been touched by his work since first hearing some of his thinking reflected in the preaching of Peter Short during my time in the Yellowknife congregation. During the long month prior to General Council in 2006 when I was required to maintain my pending appointment as General Secretary as a closely guarded secret, I prepared for the role by reading Douglas John Hall’s book Bound and Free: A Theologian’s Journey

I’m clearly not the only fan: Wednesday’s event was moved to a bigger room in Victoria University because of the enthusiastic response. The room was still full to overflowing when I made my tardy entrance, and I found myself sitting on the floor at the back. It didn’t matter one bit: the acoustics were fine and the words so worth hearing.

Professor Hall talked about having taught many students who arrived with little or no church background or understanding of scripture. He found that very often these young people found themselves drawn in by the stories of the Bible and the writings of the theologians whose commentaries illuminate our faith. He wondered to the assembled body on Wednesday whether we have lost our way and need to spend more time with scripture and the work of the great Christian scholars. I have been pondering his statement that, “We are called as never before to give a reason for the hope that is within us.” He spoke of a quest for wisdom that goes beyond doctrine.

By the end of this day of feasting on words, my head was full of thoughts, and my heart was full of hope.

Nora





































































Monday 14 October 2013

Happy Thanksgiving Day to All

General Secretary's Weekly Letter






October 11, 2013


Dear Friends,

Landing last week in Sudbury, Ontario, felt so familiar, even though I don’t know the place well and hadn’t been there for years. The topography of rocks, lakes, and trees reminded me of Yellowknife, one of my beloved former homes.

Will Kunder, Executive Secretary of Manitou Conference, knew exactly what I meant; we knew each other first when we both lived in Yellowknife in the 1980s and worshipped together at the United Church there.

As I prepare to spend Thanksgiving weekend in Port Stanley, Ontario, in my native Elgin County, one of the things I’m thankful for is the many places I’ve called home over the years. The landscapes of each of those places are somehow a part of me now:

  • the Yellowknife terrain where I paddled, hiked, skied and snowshoed, with the familiar collection of houses nestled on rocks
  • the limitless views over Frobisher Bay from the street where I lived in Iqaluit and the hills all around where you could hike (or ski or skidoo) forever
  • the long roads through prairie landscapes and the gentle introduction to urban life that Regina offered after my years in the North
  • the leafy streets of my neighbourhood in Toronto, connected to the heart of the city by subway yet a community in itself, too
  • and first and always, the fields and Carolinian forests along Lake Erie’s north shore in Elgin County. 
Those landscapes are part of me, and so are the friendships that cheered me and shaped me in each of those homes along the way.

Any of these places could have been home through a whole rich life, and yet I feel blessed to have been part of them all, each quite different from the others, and yet all part of the tapestry of our wonderful nation.

Thinking of all this reminds me that God’s plans for us are more beautiful and more complete than we could ever imagine ourselves. May God be praised.

Blessings to you in this time of Thanksgiving.

Nora

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Universal Portrait Studio coming to Zion United

 If you would like your portrait in the Directory and have not been called yet for an appointment, please call the toll free number as listed on the brochure. 



10,000 Villages Festival Sale Oct 14@10am-5pm

Ten Thousand Villages Festival Sale,

The Days Inn

Discover a World of Gifts, Handmade for You!

Ten Thousand Villages is coming to The Days Inn! The Days Inn Bridgewater is hosting a sale of beautiful, fairly-traded gifts benefiting artisans from more than 30 Developing countries.  Ten Thousand Villages is a project of Mennonite Central Committee, the outreach arm of the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in North America.

The Festival Sale will be held Monday, October 14, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at The Days Inn, 50 North St., Hwy 103 and North St., Bridgewater.  Admission is free.
The gifts you buy at the Ten Thousand Villages Sales will give the blessings of steady work, fair wages, and a better life for struggling families around the world. For more information call the Front Desk, Days Inn at 543-7131.  Your purchase makes a difference!



Thank you for your willingness to help promote the Ten Thousand Villages sale in your church bulletin. Your efforts help create opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn an income!


From the United Church of Canada

ACTIONS AND CAMPAIGNS

Unsettling Goods: Choose Peace in Palestine and Israel

Join the United Church campaign in working for peace and justice in Palestine and Israel.
Over 2013 and 2014, The United Church of Canada is encouraging United Church members and others to become involved in the search for a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis. On these webpages we invite you to learn more about some of the issues related to the injustice and conflicts in the region, and things you can do to contribute to justice and peace.
This campaign is the result of actions agreed to at the 41st General Council  in August 2012. These actions focus on the illegal Israeli settlements, and they call for education and for economic action by United Church members to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories.
Keep checking this page, as we will be adding new content and action possibilities throughout the campaign.
The Executive of the General Council approved implementation of this economic action campaign in May 2013.

Take Action

Monday 7 October 2013

Dedication of Glastonbury Chair to Zion United


The Glastonbury Chair donated by Dr. Borden & Muriel Bird. This chair was made by Borden's late cousin, Donald Johnson Bird. He built it out of white pine instead of oak as it had to be light to cross the Atlantic by air and also had to fit in a suitcase in it's broken down state.


Donald saw one of these chairs in a Cathedral and was told that it was for the visiting Bishop to sit with "piously folded hands over his paunch, nodding off to sleep, while the Vicar delivered his homily. Donald sketched the chair in his notebook and made it in his basement in Truro. Later he gave the chair to the Bird's who kept it in their Liverpool home. The chair now sits in the Minister's Study and is used at most meetings. 

Covenanting Service of Rev Sheila Redden-Smith

The covenanting Service for Rev Sheila was held on September 29 at Zion United. The Church was full and a pot luck supper followed and was enjoyed by all. Here are some pictures of those involved in the service with Rev Sheila.


Guest speaker Rev. Sharon Lohnes, pastoral charge at Beacon United Church in Yarmouth. 


General Secretary's Weekly Letter




October 4, 2013

Dear Friends,
It has been a month since the summer break ended and the fall round of work and meetings started up again at the General Council Office and everywhere else in the church. I don’t know about you, but I was surprised to find myself turning the calendar this week to October. Where did September go?

Looking at the calendar, I realize it went to meetings—meetings of senior staff of the General Council Office and Conferences; meetings of the General Council Planning Committee, the Permanent Committee on Governance and Agenda, and the Indigenous Justice and Residential Schools Committee;  and, of course, the Comprehensive Review Task Group I visited briefly with other committees, too, and in between met with a range of smaller groups and held one-on-one meetings with staff members and others. At some meetings I do more listening, and at others more talking. I’m frequently inspired by the gifts that so many people—staff, elected, and volunteers—offer to the work of the church.

On Thursday and Friday this week, I am attending a meeting of the executive of Manitou Conference. I haven’t been travelling as much in the past couple of years as I did in the past since my arrangements at home got a little more complicated, and I’m looking forward to it.

In chapel this week, the Rev. Joe Ramsay reminded us of the importance of experiencing the presence of God. It made me reflect that we can think and talk and meet all we like, but there are certain moments in each of our lives that touch us in a deeper place. When we talk about those moments years later, there is a catch in our voice.

I think those are the moments that prompt us all to want to be church, even when it means going to the meetings and doing the work that is sometimes, but by no means always, inspirational. It’s those deeper moments that we share to offer hope and purpose in our communities of faith.

In times of deep connection with God, and in times when you are buried in meetings and work, peace be with you.

Nora