Page 1 August 21, 2014 NEWS FROM THE PEWS NEWS AND INSPIRATION FROM ST. ANDREW S UNITED CHURCH, GEORGETOWN, ON Sunday, August 24 Reader: Florence Riehl Greeters: Scott and Pat Huckins Ushers: Luise Zander and Jean Brown Counter: Ross Yahiro AV operators: Bryan Scott and Ryan Wilson Announcements: Rev. Grant Williams Next week, August 31 Reader: Dianne Grundy Greeters: Mel and Jeannie Yach Ushers: Nolle and Mark Ohashi Counter: Pat Moore AV operators: Andrew and Andrew Piper Announcements: Rev. Grant Williams WORSHIP THIS WEEKEND August 24, 2014, 10:00 am Theme: The Purpose of the Church Topic Chosen by Steve Cowley This week we continue with our August request sermon series. This week s topic, The Purpose of the Church, was chosen by our Youth leader Steve Cowley. Throughout time people everywhere have been asking what the church is about, or what is its purpose. Since the times of the New Testament in the book of the Acts and in Paul s letters to the early churches the church has been about communities that gather to worship Christ. Churches exist for people to build relationships, to worship Jesus and to provide training for discipleship. Jesus never set out to begin a new church, but he did start a movement that motivates people to be kind and loving to each other. He created a movement that provided the training and skills necessary for people to be more peaceful and respectful of one another. The first mention of the church is in the beginning of the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit came on the church at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came upon the believers like a rushing wind and they broke bread together. The church creates a place where people can worship, pray, support one another in fellowship and learn about the Kingdom of God. AUGUST REQUEST MONTH This week s readings are: Romans 12:1-13 Acts 2: 42-47 Sermon: The Purpose of the Church August 24 Theme: The Purpose of the Church (suggested by Steve Cowley) August 31 Theme: God in Our Schools (suggested by Rosemarie Lee)
Page 2 CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ST. ANDREW S BASEBALL TEAM - THEY WON THE FINAL TOURNAMENT! Not only did our St. Andrew s Baseball team win Game 1 of the Tournament last Wednesday, they won the whole tournament that continued on Saturday! Congratulations to the team for a great season and a sensational win last Saturday! BOARD MEETING ON MONDAY There is a Board Meeting scheduled for Monday, August 25th at 7:00 pm in the Fellowship Room. Coming Soon! Our second annual Christmas Craft, Bake Sale and Silent Auction will be held on Saturday November 8th and we are already looking for vendors. If you, the Members of St. Andrew s, have a home-based business you would like to share with the community (either craft related or something like Arbonne, Tupperware, jewellery etcetera), please contact Jeanne Brennan at stacraftsale@hotmail.com. Table rental is $25 for a 6 foot table. Applications are also available through the church office. Table space will be made available to other vendors after September 1st. Thank you. THANK YOU TO ALL THE COFFEE TIME VOLUNTEERS FOR THE SUMMER Thank you to everyone who volunteered for Coffee Time over the summer! The last Sunday in August is now covered! THE BLESSING OF THE BACKPACKS SERVICE Sunday August 31st. This year we invite any children and youth to come to church with their backpacks for school to be blessed before they begin the new school year. A special prayer and blessing will be offered in the service. NEEDED: ONE MORE SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOLTEACHER Only ONE more volunteer Summer Sunday School Teacher is required for Sunday, September 7th. The lesson is already planned. The Lessons are in a box in the Church Office - you pick which one you want to use and take it with you. The Sign up list is on the easel outside of the Sanctuary. Thank you!
Page 3 VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL (VBS) THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED BAKING - EVERYONE ENJOYED THE TREATS! PLEASE PICK UP YOUR CONTAINERS ON THE TABLE OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE. THANKS AGAIN - FROM ROSS YAHIRO AND THE VBS SNACK TEAM OUR DAILY BREAD BOOKLETS - NEW ISSUE NOW AVAILABLE The Our Daily Bread booklets are available for September/October/November. Please find them on the table by the photocopier. A donation of $1 would be appreciated. ST. FRANCIS PARKING LOT CLOSED The school staff at St Francis has informed us that they will be closing their parking lot for the rest of the summer to allow for excavators to remove curbs., etc to make more parking spots. COMMUNITY AFTER SCHOOL CARE STILL NEEDED We are looking for 30 minutes of after school care for a Junior-Kindergarten (J-K) student at Gardiner Public School. Please contact Sara at 289-891-8935 or Barb at 289-891-8456. ZUMBA CLASSES STARTING UP AGAIN AT ST. ANDREW S Ditch the workout and join the party! Try Zumba classes for fun and fitness here at St. Andrew's. When: Wednesdays 7:30 8:30 PM Location: St. Andrew s Upper Hall/Gymnasium Classes begin on Wednesday, September 17th, and run until the spring of 2015. To save your spot or for more information, email: info@ditchtheworkoutnow.com or call 416-400-8597 Jackeline Bigras, Instructor Notes: 1) The First Class is Free for new participants*. Visit Ditchtheworkoutnow.com to find out how. 2) Members of St. Andrew's get a discount when they mention they read it in the News from the Pews. 3) Cost is on the website: Ditchtheworkoutnow.com
Page 4 BBQ SMOKED HAM CHOP DINNER - BALLINFAD UNITED CHURCH Labour Day - September 1st, 2014 from 5-7pm served continuously (Rain or Shine) CORN ROAST - SUPPORTING S.H.A.R.E. SCHOLARSHIP FUND Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 3-7pm Donations to help needy teens in Belize go to high school. Come rain or shine. Bring friends. Bring a lawn chair. Eat, drink, visit, swim, relax in the country on a working dairy farm. Hosts: Ray and Ellen Thomson Music by John Solberg and Friends, Guelph Tax Receipt for all donations. EDUCATION CHANGES LIVES ALL OVER THE WORLD 5231 Wellington County Rd. #27 Between Brucedale and Rockwood Contacts: Ellen Thomson: raefield@sympatico.ca 519-856-9953 Isabelle Harmer: isabelleharmer@hotmail.com 905-335-3730 Marg Frayne: margfrayne@hotmail.com 519-843-3274 Joe Gray : je.gray64@gmail.com 905 838 0897 www.shareagfoundation.org at the Ballinafad Community Centre. Menu: BBQ Smoked Ham Chop, Baked Potato, Corn on the Cob, Salad and Pie. Free hot dog meal for children 10 years and under. Take outs available. Also, a fabulous Silent Auction. Tickets: $15 - To reserve tickets, call 905-877-4072. Sponsored by Ballinafad United Church S.H.A.R.E. Agriculture Foundation, 14110 Kennedy Road, Caledon, ON L7C 2G3 Humour Corner! Thanks, Val! If you have a funny story or joke to share, please send it to standrewsoffice@cogeco.ca Sunday after church, a Mom asked her very young daughter what the lesson was about. The daughter answered, "Don't be scared, you'll get your quilt." Needless to say, the Mom was perplexed. Later in the day, the pastor stopped by for tea and the Mom asked him what that morning's Sunday school lesson was about. He said "Be not afraid, thy comforter is coming." HAVE A NICE DAY!
OUR CHURCH VISION With God s Help we will: Page 5 develop Spiritual and personal growth through Christian faith and fellowship welcome and encourage new ideas encourage outreach programs offer programs for all ages and stages in life foster personal growth and friendship through Small Groups ministries be more visible in our community Week-at-a-Glance Sunday, August 24 10:00 am Worship Monday, August 25 7:00 pm Board Meeting Tuesday, August 26 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm Good Food Box Pickup Sunday, August 31 10:00 am Worship - Blessing of the Backpacks STAYING CONNECTED TO ST. ANDREW'S ONLINE! St. Andrew s has a Facebook site at: www.facebook.com/standrewsunitedgeorgetown. On the site you will find news about upcoming events, pictures, videos and daily devotionals. Please like our site! Check it out! You can also follow us on twitter @SaintAndrewsUC to read late breaking news. Our Website at www.standrewsuc.ca includes lots of information about St. Andrew s programs, events and ministries. Church Secretary/Office: standrewsoffice@cogeco.ca Secretary - Summer Hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays: 8:30 am - 1:30 pm Minister Hours: Monday - Thursday Grant Williams: standrewsminister@cogeco.ca
Page 6 GRANT S WORLD The Ice Bucket Challenge. This week I learned a new word. Slacktivism. Hmmn! You might say what is that? Well it is like Activism without doing anything. I was reading a blog by Seth Godin who was writing about Slacktivism. It is by far not a new phenomenon. Seth writes, Hundreds of years ago there were holier than thou people standing in the village square, wringing their hands, ringing their bells and talking about how urgent a problem was. They did little than wring their hands, even then. This week many millions of people have been challenged to the ALS Ice Bucket challenge. This challenge powered by social media sites like Facebook or Twitter invites people to dump a large bucket of ice water on themselves to raise awareness of ALS. (Lou Gehrig s disease.) Yes it is kind of funny to watch people doing it and in many cases we may have been challenged and done the challenge themselves. Funny that I have not been challenged yet! Well until this article goes to print! Some of us may have even seen some local TV stars like Mike Holmes, doing the challenge with a Front End Loader bucket full of water dumped on himself. I even know of one young person in our congregation who has done that to himself also. In Seth Godin s blog he writes that it is reported that as much as 90 percent of people mentioning the Ice Bucket challenge, or doing the challenge themselves don t actually give a donation to ALS. When we say we will do something to promote awareness of a cause and then fail to do what we say that is Slacktivism. However, I think when the original poster for the Ice Bucket Challenge came up with the idea that they thought it would be a really cool idea to raise awareness for ALS it is anything but Slacktivism as Seth Godin suggests. In reality, since this challenge has gone viral though media broadcasters and social media sites it has raised awareness of ALS. So many people may not really know what the disease is about, but when they log on to the ALS website at www.als.ca they find out more. In fact the regular ALS website was taken down so they could focus on the Ice bucket challenge. Whew. It really is amazing the amount of donations that are pouring in. At this point 1.2 million dollars has been donated out of their 3 million dollar goal. You may be a slacktivist who does nothing when you are challenged to the Ice Bucket challenge or you may go online right now and make a donation. It is your choice. I have not been challenged yet but I just made a donation to ALS because I feel that it is a great cause to support. Living in Georgetown has also raised our awareness to it immensely because our own Dr. Sutherland has been suffering from this disease for 7 years. The Ice Bucket Challenge is brilliant. Go ahead and support ALS today! In other news. Congratulations are in order! On Saturday, our St. Andrew s baseball team won the Church league 3 pitch baseball tournament. Our church has had a team for 9 years since 2006 and never once have we come close to the semifinals let alone the final game. On Saturday, we played 4 games of ball and won every game! The last game was against Immanuel Lutheran church and it was a Home Run Derby. So many balls were hit over the fence that a family stayed there for the entire game retrieving our balls. We won the game 19-17. A big Shout out to Jeff Scott for the many home runs on Saturday and to all our players for an amazing year of baseball! See you on Sunday. Blessings to you. Grant
Page 7 Uganda Martyr s Church Youth Visiting St. Andrew s There have been so many exciting events happening that it is difficult to keep up with the pictures. This week s pictures are from the visit by the Uganda Martyr s Church youth on August 10th. They had a lot of our congregation dancing around the Sanctuary!
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Page 10 One of the Youth did the Children s Time They were off to Winnipeg to Rendez-vous last week - a United Church of Canada gathering for Youth.