February 3, 2019 WELCOME Windermere United Church (1912-) 356 Windermere Avenue, T.O. M6S 3L3 Ministers: All of Us Minister, Rev. Alexa Gilmour, minister@windermerechurch.ca Parish Nurse, Anne Marie, parishnurse@windermerechurch.ca Minister of Music, Adrian Marchuk, adrianmarchuk@gmail.com Office Administrator, Michelle Maldonado, windermerechurch@bellnet.ca 416-769-5611 Monday to Friday, 9:00am-3:30pm Follow us on Facebook: @WindermereUC Twitter: @wind_uc Instagram: @WindermereUnitedChurch www.windermerechurch.ca www.opentospirit.org This building is equipped with an AED and First Aid Kit, both are available in skylight room.
Open to Spirit, Open to You! February 3, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. A History in Song Black History Month We welcome you to our Sunday Worship. Help yourself to a cup of coffee and a name tag, at the back of the sanctuary, prior to the service starting. Following the service, everyone is invited for an informal time of conversation and refreshments in the Parlour. Our members will be happy to assist you with any questions or needs you may have. Music to Centre for Worship Gathering *Indicates to rise in body or spirit. Hymn To Freedom Oscar Peterson Sung Introit: MV 2 Come all you people Come and praise your maker Come all you people Come and praise your maker Come all you people Come and praise your maker Come now and worship the Lord (repeat)
Uyai mose Tinamate mwari Uyai mose Tinamate mwari Uyai mose Tinamate mwari Uyai mose zvino (repeat) Words of Welcome and Announcements Acknowledgement of Traditional Territory Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship: One: All: One: All: God, you taught our ancestors to sing with their souls while in a foreign land. Through music, you taught Black peoples to persevere and trust in you, even as their hearts and bodies were broken. Your power, God, moved through our ancestors, as the rhythm and cadence of music moves through our bodies. There would be no Underground Railroad or Civil Rights Movement without a song, and there would be no song without you. Let everything that has breath, praise you! * Hymn: Oh, A Song Must Rise MV 142 Opening Prayer Our Lord s Prayer (in the language of your choice)
Young at Heart Time (Children are invited to join Alexa on the chancel steps as we sing) *Children s Hymn: MV 45 (Zulu) (pronunciation: Hahm-bah nah-tee koo-loo-lee weh-too) Hamba nathi Mkhululi wethu Hamba nathi Mkhululi wethu (repeat) Mkhululi, Mkhululi, Mkhululi wethu Mkhululi, Mkhululi, Mkhululi wethu (repeat) (English) You are holy, you show us the way You are holy, you show us the way (repeat) You show us, you show us, you show us the way You show us, you show us, you show us the way (repeat) Young At Heart Time Good News Candle Ephesians 6:5 A History in Song Slavery is Canada s best kept secret, locked within the National closet AfuaCooper Canadian historian, author, dub poet
*Hymn from 1600s: Praise To The Lord VU 220 (Author: Joachim Neander (1650-1680); Translated by Catherine Winkworth) *Hymn from 1700s: Jesus Shall Reign VU 330 (vs 1,3) (Author: Isaac Watts (1674-1748)) Scripture reading: James 2:1-10, 14-17 *Hymn: Jesus Shall Reign VU 330 (vs 2) *African-American Spiritual: I m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me VU 575 (Author unknown, date unknown) Solo: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Alana Hibbert (Author: Wallis Willis, a Choctaw Freedman, written sometime after 1865) *African-American Spiritual: *African-American Spiritual: Precious Lord VU 670 (Author: Thomas A. Dorsey, 1932) I ve Got Peace Like A River VU 577 (Author unknown, date unknown)
The Offering is Given A Gift Of Music Is Shared: Holding the Light for Others Lift Every Voice And Sing (by J.R. and J.W. Johnson - 1900) Alana Hibbert *The Offertory Hymn: VU 691 *Prayer of Dedication Walls that divide are broken down Christ is our unity Chains that enslave are thrown aside Christ is our liberty *African-American Spiritual: MV 167 (Author unknown, date unknown) Prayers of the People (sung chorus) Oh my Lord, oh my Lord What shall I do? With Sung Response: MV 167 (African-American Spiritual: author unknown, date unknown) (sung chorus) Oh my Lord, oh my Lord What shall I do?
*Closing Hymn: Amazing Grace VU 266 (Author: Slave trader turned abolitionist, John Henry Newton, 1779) *Commissioning and Benediction *Sung Benediction: VU 649 Walk with me, I will walk with you And build the land that God has planned Where love shines through (repeat) Music sends us out ***************** Special thanks to Alana Hibbert for sharing her musical gifts with us today. A History in Song written by Dr. Alydia Smith. Modified by Adrian Marchuk and Alexa Gilmour. Used with permission. All lyrics and music reprinted with permission from One License (Annual License, A-721640) See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/black/index.asp for more information on Black History in Canada.
UPCOMING SERVICES February 10 Annual General Meeting and integrated Worship with Working Lunch. A time for building our community together. Families with children encouraged to come. Childcare will be provided. February 17 6 th After Epiphany February 24 Baptism Sunday. Celebrate the welcoming of Amelia and Sebastian through the ritual of Baptism. March 3 - Transfiguration Sunday March 10 - First Sunday in Lent. Communion Sunday. UPCOMING EVENTS AT WINDERMERE Book Study -The Book Study Group will be doing a chapter study from January 24 to February 28 on the book On The Brink of Everything by Parker Palmer. All are welcome to join this open group. For more info please contact Janet at jpetrie@bell.net Wednesday February 13 th 12pm Parlour Fun Singing - Celebrate! This will be the 25 th Parlour Fun Singing event, 5 th year of the program, as well as George and Margaret Jardine s 80 th birthdays, and 60 th wedding anniversary! All are welcome to enjoy this free musical event followed by a reception in the Parlour. Friday February 22, 5:30-7:30pm Youth Cooking Club! Cook, create and have fun learning to make healthy meals - further details to be announced soon!
Sunday February 24, 1-3 pm - Windermere Sunday School will be hosting a skating party at Rennie Park. Invite your friends and come join us for a fun afternoon of skating. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served. Tuesday March 5, 5:30-7:30pm Pancake Supper! Let your friends at Windermere do the cooking (and the cleaning) while you enjoy Pancakes, Sausages, Maple Syrup and Drinks! $7/Adult, $4/Child, or $20/Family. With an inter-generational Ash Wednesday Service in the Sanctuary at 6pm, and craft time for kids. All are invited to attend this fun community event!
UPCOMING MEETINGS: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Sunday February 10 th The AGM will be part of an integrated Worship with Working Lunch. A time for building our community together. Families with children encouraged to come. Childcare will be provided. Meeting package materials are available for pickup in hard copy during Fellowship time, or can be emailed to you upon request. Send your request to Michelle, our Church Office Administrator at windermerechurch@bellnet.ca AFFIRMING MINISTRY Thanks to everyone who has participated to date in our discussions about the Affirming Ministry program. See http://affirmunited.ause.ca/affirming-ministries-program. There have been good conversations about the process itself and some learning about coming out for LGBT2+ people. The Affirming Ministry process is designed to be respectful and to encourage people to share divergent views. Some concerns have been raised: What do you do if you have questions about the process? What if you re not sure that this is a good idea? What if you re wondering why we re doing this in the first place, or you think we ve missed some important topics? What if you feel you can t express negative opinions that others might not share? These are important questions. Therefore, Council has approved a revised process to give us time to have additional conversations. Let s take the time we need.
Here s an up-dated plan going forward: - February AGM - instead of moving to a vote about becoming an Affirming Ministry, we ll have a check-in conversation with the congregation. What have you learned? What has prevented you from participating? Are there other topics or concerns that we should address before we take any final actions? (Any additional topics would need to be scheduled.) - February/March - a pre-worship conversation about mental health and how to respond to mental health issues - February/March/April - Council works on a proposed vision statement and plan of action (as required by the Affirming Ministry program) - April 28 - a congregational meeting to vote on whether to become an Affirming Ministry We want to hear from everyone in this process, and look forward to making a decision that will be good and faithful to who we are as a congregation, whatever that decision turns out to be. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact David Allen, Council chair at david_allen@rogers.com or leave a note at the church office. OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE Lent As we look ahead an begin to prepare for Lent, we re excited to share the Citizens for Public Justice will be launching their Give It Up For The Earth! campaign again! The global climate crisis has reached a critical stage & we need to take action. We encourage you to consider giving up some of the
things in your life that are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Limiting global warming to 1.5 C can only be achieved if global CO2 emissions start to decline well before 2030. - UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change As Christians, God calls us to love and care for the Earth and all of its creatures. Throughout scripture we find stories that illustrate God s love for all of creation and instructions on the ways in which we are to share this love. We ll keep you updated on the campaign when it is live, but for now, Like and Follow www.facebook.com/citizensforpublicjustice or visit http://cpj.ca/for-the-earth for updates. Green Ribbon/Fabric Needed In an effort to be more environmentally conscious, we re going green for Palm Sunday, and need your help! With the growing controversy over the negative environmental impact of palm harvesting, we are trying something new this year and would love any green fabric or ribbons you no longer need and have stashed away in your homes. Feel free to drop them off to the church for us to upcycle into palms for Palm Sunday! Lay Readers and Fellowship Time Volunteers We are in need of volunteers for Lay Reading and for Fellowship time on Sundays! If you will be here on any Sunday over the next few months, please consider signing up to help out with these very important parts of our Sunday Worship and being church together. Stone Soup Network This is a not-for-profit project of Windermere United that builds stronger communities by making it easier for neighbours to share
with each other. There are many ways to get involved; contribute your company s products or service to help a neighbour; volunteer with us and be part of the team; donate funds to help sustain the project. If you have questions about Stone Soup please talk to Doug Tindal or Chris Rotolo (director@stonesoupnetwork.ca). There for You Project When I was hungry, you fed me these are the words of Christ but also the words of some of us who have needed a helping hand and received it from folks in this congregation. In light of the fact that we all need help from time to time when the unexpected happens we have the There for You project. There is a sign-up list in the Parlour that you can add your name to. It means that you d be willing to help-out when someone s life takes a turn and help is needed. If you are preparing dinner, please consider making a little extra to add to our church freezer that is used to store emergency meals. See Jane Clendenning or Anne Marie Mohler for more information or sign up in the Parlour if you want to be part of this project. Talk to us about the many other ways you can help!: Some of the other things we re into as a congregation include refugee work, The Stone Soup Network (www.stonesoupnetwork.org), Truth and Reconciliation and right relations, and/or community building. If you re interested in these things, let us know. Maybe we can work together! Support Our Ministries Windermere United is a place where we learn how to demonstrate our faith in very practical ways. Sunday mornings, yes, but think of the church school, Messy Church, the book club, the ministry of the parish nurse, the Stone Soup Network, the visioning process we are going through right now, renovations to the sanctuary to make it
more available for creative worship and for the community, the Affirming Ministry program where we will look again at who we are and how open we are to others. All of this good work would not be possible without the support of our congregation and friends. For some this support comes in the form of some new kind of service to the congregation or the community; for others it comes as a gift of prayer; and for others it will be a gift of financial support. Whatever your gift is, we offer our thanks. Regular monthly giving provides us with stable funding, however not everyone is able to be here on Sundays, and have asked "How can I contribute offerings and support the church when I'm not there?", and the answer is we are very fortunate to live in a time where we have more ways to give electronically. We actually have 2 ways of giving electronically that you may want to consider: 1. Online donations via our CanadaHelps.org page. www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/windermere-unitedchurch/ 2. Monthly electronic donations via the United Church of Canada's PAR program (direct debit from your bank account or your credit card). Speak to one of the Ushers or contact the Office Administrator during business hours to learn more about our PAR program Thank you for all you do for our congregation. Thank you for your support of the wider church through Mission & Service. Thank you for your commitment to living out the gospel as we know it through Jesus.