On the Road to Calvary... Found objects. Lenten Edition, 2015

Transcription

1 St. Andrew s Hespeler Presbyterian Church 73 Queen St. E., Cambridge, ON N3C 2A9 (519) Lenten Edition, 2015 On the Road to Calvary... Found objects Have you ever gone on a scavenger hunt? Have you ever been sent out to compete as a team with other teams to find strange and peculiar objects the prize going to the team that finds the most objects on the list? It has been years since I ve done one of those, but it was always a good time and a great teambuilding exercise as each team used the strengths and abilities of all their members as best as they could. But the objects were just objects just things you had to find

2 that didn t have any particular meaning. But what if we had a different kind of scavenger hunt? What if we were to take a journey and find objects along the way, but they were objects that had the potential to change our lives, to transform our thinking and to challenge our easy assumptions? Well, all of that is a pretty good description of what we are doing at St Andrew s Hespeler during the season of Lent this year. As we make our way toward the story of Jesus and how he was crucified on a cross at Calvary this year, we are going to be encountering some objects on our way. They are the same objects that Jesus and some of the people around him encountered during that fateful season. Things like a washbasin, a set of dice, a jar of perfume and, of course, a cross. Those objects forced Jesus and his disciples to ask themselves some difficult questions, the answers to which helped them to define their mission, their identity and their calling. Those objects still have that kind of power. This year during our worship, in our Sunday School and in various other activities we will be encountering these objects and letting them challenge us. Please join us on our path. Why Soulidified Matters Elizabeth Elsegood (Based on a survey of the members) Soulidified Youth Group is a place where the church's youth can come together and become stronger youth in the Church and the community. We may be small but we are mighty. Each Sunday night we gather for discussion, games and time with our peers. The youth discuss how to help out in the Community, how the Bible relates to them now and the trials that teenagers must go through. It is a place where judgement is left at the door. There is never a worry as you are always among friends. It s something many of us look forward to at the end of a busy week at school. We spend the two hours having healthy debates, keeping open minds and having fun with each other.

3 Cell phones are taken away when we arrive and are given back at the end. Learning to communicate without our technology allows us to build on life skills in a fun environment. Many of us enjoy doing the youth services, singing, preparing music, and being in front of the congregation. While music is a big part of our youth services, there are many other equally important processes that go on. We help pick the theme, and the scriptures. The drama parts are always a fun thing we all set up and work on. We either use a pre-made drama, or make our own story, film it, edit it and prepare it for viewing as if it is a movie. Other times we have memorized lines and acted live in the service. Everyone has an area they feel secure in and we make sure everyone gets involved in a way that they feel comfortable with. During the past year Soulidified has been part of the Hespeler Santa Claus Parade handing out candy canes with smiles abounding, and a Christmas Tea at St Luke s Long Term Care Home. Last winter we had an afternoon of family sledding at Forbes park where families joined in and it made for a very memorable afternoon. Soulidified has been part of many events at Crieff Hills Community (a conference centre run by the national church). We were part of a worship service with other youth groups in the region, where we played get to know you games, did a scavenger hunt, and had a barbecue afterwards. For Advent we went through the labyrinth at Crieff together. Look for upcoming events in the coming weeks in the bulletin. A newsfeed will also be added to St. Andrew s webpage as a place where you can keep up with everything that the group is doing. The Pancake Supper on February 17, 2015 is fast approaching! We are working on a youth service, a food bank and Winnipeg Inter-City Missions fundraising event, and eagerly awaiting information on another youth event at Crieff. In a future article you will get to know a bit more about each of the Soulidified members.

4 Adult Choir Project: Spiritual & Gospel Tradition Corey Cotter Linforth The month of February is Black History Month in the United States and Canada and the Adult Choir is taking this time to explore spirituals and gospel music. The terms spiritual and gospel music can refer to different things depending on the context, but in an overly-simplified nutshell, we are looking at the music that emerged from the African American religious traditions in the 17th century and the music that followed it. The harmonic and rhythmic structures are different from the Lutheran hymn tradition that we inherited. By Lutheran I am referring to the changes in hymnstyle that emerged in Martin Luther's hymn compositions during the Protestant Reformation. As the original singers of spirituals and gospels were slaves, the subjects were influenced by their lives which were filled with strifes that I think most of us can't really imagine. While there is a lot of astoundingly joyous music, there are pieces filled with deep longing for home and heaven that I believe we are blessed to have because they touch the soul so deeply. The adult choir has enjoyed preparing this music and we hope you enjoy hearing it! He is Risen He is Risen Indeed! Easter falls on Sunday, April 5 this year. Already plans are being made to make this one of the most memorable celebrations of the resurrection you have seen in a long time. With lots of special music and a guest musician, we know you will be deeply blessed to hear, once again, the story of how he rose from the grave!

5 Delicious Roast Beef Dinner Join us on Saturday, March 21st at 6 pm for this wonderful dinner in support of our Christian Education programs Adults: $12. Children (12 & under): $6 To keep the price of the tickets for the Roast Beef Dinner the same as the last few years, donations of food would be appreciated: butter, milk, apple & tomato juice, miracle whip, dinner rolls, serviettes, frozen vegetables, dessert pies. Also, any help on the day of the dinner would be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions please speak with Joni Smith. Soulidified (our Youth Group) will be holding a Pancake Supper on February 17th from 5:15 to 6:45 pm in the Gymnasium. Come on out for a wonderful supper. With pancakes, sausages, applesauce and more! The cost is $4.00 per person. And why not plan to stay after the Pancake Supper for the financial portion of the Annual Meeting in the lower hall a time to talk about budgets, expenses, balance sheets and to ask any questions. See you there!

6 Updating the Nursery News from your Christian Education Committee (Lori Marsh, Laura Einwechter, Joni Smith, Carol Johnston & Nancy English)! We have recently spent a lot of time researching and planning on a new Nursery & Toddler program. We talked with many of our families who use this program for their children and even talked with a couple expecting their first child to get lots of valuable input. We thank everyone for your thoughts and consideration of this project. We are pleased to say that very soon we will be holding a Grand Re-opening. We will celebrate the wonderful past and an awesome future for our littlest members. This newly, re-shaped program will be held in the existing nursery, but with all new furniture and a lot of new equipment. We are so excited to be able to offer a safe, up to code, warm, welcoming environment for our babies and toddlers. We also are blessed to have a great staff to watch all of our little ones. In the next little while we will be working on introducing you to our Nursery/Toddler group staff, too. Watch your bulletin for information on the Grand Re-opening! Easter and After As explained elsewhere in this newsletter, we will be observing the season of Lent this year by focussing on certain objects that were encountered by Jesus or by his disciples on the way to the cross. But the obvious question is what then? When we get to Easter we certainly won't have come to the end of exploring the meaning of the events that took place in Jerusalem all those years ago. So this year, starting on Easter Sunday we will continue on in much the same vein as during Lent. There are objects in the Easter story as well that put us, as followers of Jesus and as those who experience the power of Jesus resurrection, in a position where we must ponder and decide what we will do with these objects and with

7 ourselves in relationship to them. Here are objects that we will be considering on and after Easter this year objects that may also lead us to consider well what it means to follow Jesus. Here are the objects we will consider: The stone The folded grave clothes His breath The holes in his hands and his feet and in his side On Sunday, October 25, 2015, St. Andrew s Hespeler will celebrate its 160th Anniversary as a congregation. That is a pretty auspicious number and so there has already been a fair bit of talk about what we can do to make this year very special. We will soon be pulling together a small committee of people to lead the effort. But even before that some great ideas have already been put together. Here are some of the things that we can look forward to: A special congregational picnic will be held on the church lawn. This will take place on Sunday, June 14 after morning worship. This event will kick off a year (or more) of festivities. An Anniversary Service on Sunday October 25, We are working on a special guest speaker. We have already been asked by the Hespeler Reunion Committee to host the special town reunion church service on Sunday, July 10, (The guest preacher will be the Rev. Rick Warne.) So why not make that service part of our anniversary celebrations too? We are thinking of coming up with a theme that will unite all of our activities, our worship, our celebrations and outreach and more during the whole year. And that s just what we ve come up with without even really trying yet. Yes, there will be a lot to look forward to and we re certainly open to hear about all your ideas and suggestions. Let s celebrate!!!

8 A Statement on Aboriginal Spiritual Practices The Presbyterian Church in Canada, 2-15 As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada comes to an end this June, a request has been made to the churches to respond to a concern that has been raised by survivors time and time again at hearings of the Commission. That concern is what the churches, who once told aboriginal children that their spiritual heritage was wrong and to be abandoned, are saying today about that traditional spiritual heritage. First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, before any encounter with Christianity, found meaning, spiritual benefit and the presence of the creator through life-giving indigenous spiritual practices that have deeply rooted traditions. Through the churches participation in the residential school system, The Presbyterian Church in Canada contributed to the banning of those traditions. The Presbyterian Church in Canada presumed to know better and in our cultural arrogance tried to suppress practices whose value we were then incapable of perceiving. We acknowledge in a spirit of repentance our role in failing to recognize and respect these spiritual traditions and practices. The church believes that faith and devotion, reverence for life, truth and goodness coexist both in and outside of our own Christian experience. As part of the churches commitment to a journey of truth and reconciliation, The Presbyterian Church in Canada has learned that many facets of Aboriginal traditional spiritualties bring life and oneness with creation. Accepting this has sometimes been a challenge for The Presbyterian Church in Canada. We are now aware that there is a wide variety of aboriginal spiritual practices and we acknowledge that it is for our church to continue in humility to learn the deep significance of these practices and to respect them and the Aboriginal elders who are the keepers of their traditional sacred truths. Some of our congregations have been blessed with experiencing various traditional Aboriginal practices when Aboriginal elders, Aboriginal members of our church and indigenous people visited our congregations as guests, and graciously shared some of these practices and the traditions that give rise to them. These practices are received as gifts and serve to enrich our congregations. Ceremonies and

9 traditions such as smudging, the circle/medicine wheel, drum songs and drumming, and indigenous wisdom teachings have been some of the practices our church has experienced as gifts from Aboriginal brothers and sisters. We acknowledge and respect both Aboriginal members of The Presbyterian Church in Canada who wish to bring traditional practices into their congregations and those Aboriginal members who are not comfortable or willing to do so. The church must be a community where all are valued and respected. It is not for The Presbyterian Church in Canada to validate or invalidate Aboriginal spiritualties and practices. Our church, however, is deeply respectful of these traditions. We acknowledge them as important spiritual practices through which Aboriginal peoples experience the presence of the creator God. In this spirit The Presbyterian Church in Canada is committed to walking with Aboriginal people in seeking shared truth that will lead to restoring right relations. This past summer, our mission team experienced a number Aboriginal spiritual practices during their time at the Winnipeg Inner City Mission. They found those practices very meaningful. It is an encouragement to see that our national church has taken this moment to make this statement that could be very helpful in promoting a better and more healing relationship between the church and Aboriginal communities. Gift Baskets Karen Kincaid (Community Clothing Centre Coordinator) This is a long overdue thank you to everyone who helped out in the basket giving at Christmas. All together we made 58 baskets this year. All adults received five tickets to put in the baskets in hope that they would win one. We made 35 men and women feel very special to be able to receive something for themselves at Christmas. Many thanks to everyone who contributed from the recipients. It doesn't stop there. We had 23 baskets left and we decided to give the same chances to the adults at the food bank. Because of the generosity of this blessed church, we had 23 additional recipients on that day and everyone got a basket! Thank you everyone!!

10 Looking Back at 2014 with Joy and Thanksgiving An Annual General Meeting is a wonderful opportunity for the community of the church to gather and to celebrate everything that God accomplished among us in the past year. As we did last year, we have set aside an evening in the week before the Annual Meeting (February 17 just after the Pancake Supper and we ll meet in the lower hall) to go over the details of the finances of the church and to ask questions about budgeting. So, with that out of the way, when we meet as a congregation after worship on February 22, also in the lower hall, we can just party and thank God for what he has done through us and among us. Various groups and committees will be invited to talk about what they did and how God blessed their efforts in And, of course, since you can hardly have a party without some food, we are asking for everyone to contribute, as you are able, to a pot luck lunch. Please bring whatever finger foods you like best but please no peanuts, nuts or shellfish. Cake and drinks will be provided. We will have to entertain a few necessary motions (such as the adoption of the 2015 budget and the naming of trustees) but, as the discussion of these issues will have already taken place, the focus will be on celebration. Please join us, it should be a lot of fun. Exploring Membership On Saturday, February 28 from 9 am until noon, the minister will lead a class for all of those who are interested in membership in the church. We will cover things like: What is the Christian message? What s in the Bible and how should we read it? The history of the Presbyterian and other churches The government of the Presbyterian Church in Canada Anyone is welcome to join us even if you just want to explore things and may choose not to join afterwards. These classes always lead to interesting discussions. Please speak to the minister or to Joni Smith if you are interested in coming out. Children s Choir We are very excited to see that Cory Cottter Linforth has started up a new children s choir. They had their first practice on Sunday, January 25 after worship and they sang so beautifully and with great gusto and joy. It is not too late for others to join (Grades 2-8 or younger if your child can read). Upcoming practises will be held on after worship on the following Sundays: February 15 March 8 March 22

11 Upcoming Events Please make sure you are part of these fun and meaningful events in the life of our church. Date Place Time Event Tues. Feb 17 Gymnasium 5:15-6:45pm Pancake Supper Tues. Feb 17 Lower Hall 7:00 pm Financial meeting for the Annual General Meeting Sun. Feb 22 Lower Hall After Worship Pot Luck Lunch and Celebration of what God has done among us in 2014 Sat. Feb 28 Foyer 9 am-noon Adult New Membership Class Sun. Mar 1 Sanctuary 10 am Celebration of Holy Communion Sun. Mar 1 Downstairs After Worship St. Andrew s Stars taping and some other really exciting (but secret) events you won t want to miss. Fri. Mar 6 St. Luke s 10:30 am Our minister leads the Chapel Service at St. Luke s Place. Sun. Mar 15 2nd Floor After worship St. Andrew s Stars taping Sat. March 21 Gymnasium 6 pm Roast Beef Dinner Sun. Mar 29 Sanctuary 10 am Celebration of Palm Sunday Thur. Apr 2 Sanctuary 7:30 pm Maundy Thursday Communion Service Fri. Apr 3 Sanctuary 7:30 pm Good Friday worship service Sat. Apr 4 Sanctuary 8 am to midnight Sun. Apr 5 By the Mill Pond Holy Saturday Vigil in the sanctuary (all are welcome to come and spend the time that they desire). 8 am Easter Sunrise Service (Okay, we acknowledge that the sun will be up before 8 am, but that is when we re doing it, okay?) Sun. Apr 5 Sanctuary 10 am Celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus and Holy Communion! Sun. Apr 19 Gymnasium 5 pm Gala Dinner in support of the Thursday Night Supper and Social

12 The Back Page Well, you have now read through this entire newsletter. Now let s see how much of it you remember. Can you fill out this whole crossword puzzle without looking back? ACROSS 3 We'll encounter a jar made of this on March 8 5 What happens in Hespeler in July of 2016? 6 Guess what our guest musician will play on Easter 7 St. Andrew's Youth Group 9 Where to go on the Webpage to get updates on the Youth Group 10 A conference centre run by the national church DOWN 1 The people of St. Andrew s filled 58 of these 2 You can explore this on February 28 4 Goes great with pancakes and sausage 8 Let s have one of these on the lawn this June