wellington square April 20, 2014 NO WAY! From Despair to Joy

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1 wellington square April 20, 2014 Resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing. F. BUECHNER God will make a way, where there is no way. PROVERB OF AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVES No event of your life, whatever its character, can imprison you This is what the Resurrection is all about. Not even death is capable of telling us what God has to say about life. I shall not allow the events of my life to make me their prisoner I shall continually believe that God is not through, not merely with life, but with me When I die, I will go down to the grave with a shout, because life is not through even in death. This is what Jesus discloses I am the Resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will never die. HOWARD THURMAN NO WAY! From Despair to Joy But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Mark 16:11-13 (NRSV)

2 happenings Staff Notes The office will be closed Easter Monday, April th Anniversary Dinner Tickets for the dinner are available from the office Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm, and next Sunday, April 27 is the last day to get your tickets. Rock Your World III dance party fundraiser for WS Outreach and Music Ministries. Friday April 25, 8pm. Come enjoy great hits played by our two awesome church bands. We've rented the Polish Hall on Fairview and are practicing our hearts out for you! Tickets are $20 each for this licensed event, and include a light buffet. Bring some friends! See Jeff Weir next Sunday after the service for tickets, and consider amping up the fun by coming dressed as a rock or movie star! Looking for door prize sponsors! Interested? See Jeff. Annual Spring Flower Sales Just in time for Mother s Day, the Youth Group from Wellington Square are selling spring flowers to help fundraise for their Mexico Mission trips. The flowers are of great quality, come in several varieties, colours and formats and are very competitively priced. Add a little colour to someone s life this spring and help support a worthy cause. Order forms with all the details are available in the office, in literature racks in the foyer and online at wsquare.ca. All orders must be in by Tues. April 22. New Members Have you been around Wellington Square for a while now and feeling comfortable enough to belong? We d love you to officially join this congregation on Sunday, June 22. A welcome and orientation session will be led by Orville and Katie on Sat. June 21 morning for anyone previously baptised and confirmed (in any Christian church). Please let us know by contacting the church office. Fellowship Lunch Sunday, April 27 after the 11am service. Tickets are available at the door $10/each. Spiritual Care This event has been rescheduled to Monday, April 28. Please join us for a seminar on Spiritual Care by Rev. Moe Anderson on Monday, April 28 at 7pm in the McMillan Room. Moe's new book, Spiritual Care encourages members of faith communities to provide spiritual care to their members through the challenging but rewarding experience of visiting. Rev. Anderson is the Spiritual Care Professional to the Critical Care Program at the University Health Network, Toronto Western Hospital. Walk Where Jesus Walked Visit Bethlehem, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem with Rev. Ted and Cris Vance, Nov. 5-15, Information session at Wellington Square on Monday, April 7:30pm (or Sunday, April at Millgrove United Church). Any questions please call Ted Vance at

3 adult faith ministry Vision to grow a prosperous, vibrant ministry together that glorifies God and equips His people to live out the great commandment and the great commission. Mission to create a loving, kind atmosphere where God s people are cared for and the marks of discipleship are lived out. Welcome! Equip! Send! Lenten Study 2015 If anyone has been using the study DIVING DEEPLY and would like to donate the book for a future small group study that we are hoping to offer next year at our Friday Night Community Dinner, please leave it at the Connection Table on Sunday or in the office. Thank you in advance for your generosity! small groups to help us go deeper Thursday at Seven Men s Bible Study Lenten Series: Experiencing the Passion of Jesus by Lee Strobel and Gary Poole. Thursdays 7-8am, 855 Brant Street. Contact Bruce Magwood bmagwood@wsquare.ca Joyful Spirits Our next gathering will be at the home of Ruth Couldrey, Thursday, April 24 at 7pm. Please remember to bring your BIBLES as we continue the study TRUST: the Bridge to Joy. CAP Have you ever considered Spring Cleaning your Finances? This FREE three week basic budgeting course will provide valuable life tested tools to budget, save, spend. The material is relevant from students to retirees. Course starts Thursday, April 24 at 7pm. Sign up at Connection Point between services on Sunday or Tony Wilson at twilson@wsquare.ca Power of a Whisper Postponed. TBA at a later date.

4 youth ministry children s ministry Rockpile grades 7&8ers 1st & 3rd Wed nights 7-8:30pm Apr 25 Rock Your World May 3 WSUC Anniversary Dinner May 7 Rockpile 7-8:30pm May 21 Rockpile Bowling 7-8:30pm May 24 Mexico Bottle Drive 9am-1pm Edge high school youth 2nd & 4th Wed nights 7-9pm Apr 23 Edge Movie Night 7-9pm Apr 25 Rock Your World May 3 WSUC Anniversary Dinner May 14 Edge Bottle Drive Flyers 7-9pm May 24 Mexico Bottle Drive 9am-1pm May 28 Edge 7-9pm Fusion Friday, April 25, all youth are invited to be a part of Rock Your World by helping out with kitchen and clean up duties! Talk to Cait or Jeff for more details! Our purpose is to provide a fun, safe and friendly place where we learn about God s love. To ensure safety for all, please sign your child in/out. Please ensure that you have completed a participant form for each child. 2013/14 forms available on web or in GraceLand reception. GraceLand s April theme Jesus entry to Jerusalem, the Last Supper, Good Friday, Easter Sunday (He Is Risen), Message to the World GraceNotes Choir practice Sundays to 11.00am in the McMillan Room GraceLand Dancers practice Sundays to in the Grade 1&2 Room It is important to attend all practices! Moms & Tots Every Tuesday 9.30 to 11.00am Thank you for supporting our Sunflower Seed Project! We collected 196 packets of seeds and mailed them to High River, Alberta supporting the community initiative in helping the environment and spreading sunshine!

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6 outreach Hope for the World, one teen at a time, through Ensenada Outreach Ministries and the Friday Night Community A parent writes, poverty now has a face for my teen! My 17-year-old, in grade 12, came home from school, and needed to talk about poverty. Some of the privileged teens in her class called Craig Kielburger a hypocrite, because he came back from seeing poverty, went to Harvard, and eventually created a charitable organization. Unlike her classmates, she got it, experiencing poverty changes you. She looks back at what she was doing when she was 12. She can happily say she was witnessing poverty and helping a family, by building them a new home. As we approached her third trip to EOC, I am truly thankful for the eye opening experiences that she has had. Poverty has a face for her. She remembers and prays for those families for whom she has helped build homes. She does not judge. Her exposure through WSUC has also allowed her to see that poverty is everywhere, even in her own backyard, as our church provides a weekly dinner for those in need, and snack bags for kids who would go without in their lunches. After her homework is done, she s planning on doing extra work. She s writing her teacher a letter. She plans on outlining that poverty is here, in Burlington, with people helping, and also showing that teens do care. She will tell her teacher about EOC and all it does, and how through WSUC, our youth are able to go, and put a face to poverty. With hearts transformed our teens will hopefully help change perceptions, lives and ultimately the world-by putting a face to poverty. Submitted by a humbled parent friday community Thank you to our friend Gwen for nominating the Friday Night Community for the recent Community Development Award: This past Monday morning the Wellington Square Friday Night Community Volunteer Team was awarded the Community Development Halton 2014 Community Development Volunteer Team Award for Halton Region. I nominated the Friday Night Community Volunteers because not just for the dinner they provide us every week, but because they have created a community for us, which is inclusive and free of stigma. The Friday Night Community has become family for many of us that enjoy the meal every week, a place to share a meal with others, to meet with friends and feel that we belong. For some it is a meal to count on each and every week, despite weather, or holidays, Wellington Square Friday Night Community s doors are open every Friday night of the year. Being a community volunteer myself, I have never witnessed selflessness as I have in the Volunteer Team at the Wellington Square Friday Night Community dinner. Charity alone is not the objective because the philosophy I witness every Friday night at Wellington Square is that Friday Night Community volunteers believe Love breeds Life. Most Needed Items: *baby monitor *size 6 & 10 wide women's running shoes *size 8.5 black women's running shoes and winter boots *size 8 wide, 10 & 11 men's running shoes *hamster shavings *dress pants size 32 waist *dress shirts, short & long sleeve medium or large For more information contact: fridaynightcommunity@wsquare.ca

7 27 Volunteers needed see signup poster in foyer

8 In Memory of... Bill Walker Jim & Bess Walker Mabel Spence Owen R.M. Stidwill Laura & Harold Stidwill Rev. Dr. Harry & June Stevenson Hester & Curtis Ross Mary & Ernest Butler Mildred Sellers Wray & Doris Hagerman John Pearson Arlene Wilson Lillian Wilson Ivy & Charlie Wiles & their parents Hugh Sutherland Dyer and Swaine families Hilda Rowland Margaret & Elmer Hunter Bain Farnham Maureen Hagglund Yvonne Dennis & Don Harold Magwood Jack & Helen MacDonald Roy Foster Harry & Jessie McCutcheon Harold & Irene Luxa John & Dorothy Kossup Fred & Dorothy Durdan Claudia Angus Sylvia Greeff Michael Greeff Clifford & Beryl Morgan Please take your Easter Lilies home to enjoy after each service.

9 Footsteps Library this week s pick Blue Hole Back Home by Joy Jordan-Lake Racial hatred flares when a family from Sri Lanka moves to an allwhite Appalachian town in the late 1970s. Shelby Lenoir Maynard finds herself at the centre of the escalating chain of events after she invites the new girl along for a swim at the teen hangout, The Blue Hole. From the first page, you ll find yourself swept in by this insightful, beautifully written story about friendship, love, jealousy, faith, and heartbreak. welcome! We re glad you re here today. We re a group of people learning what it means to be followers of Jesus. We welcome and encourage you to share your life with us as we journey in faith together. We provide opportunities for study, serving and growing deeper in our relationship with God. We believe that by working together, sharing our faith and our lives, we can accomplish much more than we could individually. With God s help and the power of the Holy Spirit, we believe we can transform our community and our world as the hands and feet of Jesus on earth. If you re ready for us to get to know you, please fill out a yellow Welcome card from the pew and bring it to the Connection Point table in the foyer, after the service. We hope you too will find a place of belonging here, and share your life and faith journey with us. finance

10 Tel Web Caroline St, Burlington ON L7R 1L7 Office Hours: Mon. to Fri. 9am - 4pm Ministerial Team The Rev. Dr. Orville James (ext. 19) ojames@wsquare.ca The Rev. Katie Southon (ext. 14) ksouthon@wsquare.ca The Rev. Tom Chire (Voluntary) Brian Vickers, Evan Smith (Ministry Candidates) Children s Ministry (GraceLand) Heather Mackey (ext. 21) hmackey@wsquare.ca Youth Ministry Caitlin Belanger (ext. 15) cbelanger@wsquare.ca Adult Faith Ministry Joy Magwood (ext. 23) jmagwood@wsquare.ca Outreach and Mission Ministry Roni Beharry (ext. 11) rbeharry@wsquare.ca Music Ministry James Bretzler (ext. 20) jbretzler@wsquare.ca Administration Beth Rose/Catherine Wagg (ext. 10) office@wsquare.ca Finance Ruth Ferry (ext. 16) in Wednesdays treasurer@wsquare.ca Custodians Randy Taylor (Weekdays) (ext. 12) Karlene Phillips (Weekends) The proclamation of Easter Day is that all is well. And as a Christian, I say this not with the easy optimism of one who has never known a time when all was not well but as one who has faced the Cross in all its obscenity as well as in all its glory, who has known one way or another what it is like to live separated from God. In the end, his will, not ours, is done. Love is the victor. Death is not the end. The end is life. His life and our lives, through Him, in Him. Existence has greater depths of beauty, mystery, and benediction than the wildest visionary ever dared to dream. Christ our Lord is risen. F. BUECHNER For a glimpse of next week s topic, Not A Fan read Matthew 28:16-20 and I Corinthians 15:1-8, 54-16:2