Minister: Rev. Matthew Penny
Youth Co-ordinator: Rebecca Allen
Church Secretary: Judy King
Organist: Alan Davidson
Parish Nurse: Jan Linner Accessibility – Please enter at the south side of the church off of Beattie Street to access our lift. |
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We sing Thanksgiving! From Former Moderator, Jordan Cantwell – Listen.
Rt. Rev. Jordan Cantwell was the 42nd moderator of The United Church of Canada.
Rebuilding Community in the Philippines
Our gifts for Mission & Service, together with our emergency response for Typhoon Haiyan, support the agricultural program of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP). In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan destroyed large parts of Philippine infrastructure, affecting the economic base of many communities.
The Visayas region in Central Philippines, a predominantly agricultural area, was hard hit by Haiyan. Ninety-five percent of fruit trees were uprooted, livestock were killed, and crops were destroyed. Also destroyed were many families’ hopes for feeding their families and making a living. As part of the recovery process, Mission & Service partner the UCCP is working with agricultural communities to restore livelihoods.
Working with community-based organizations, the UCCP developed a plan that identified the most appropriate livestock to distribute to local families. Basic veterinary skills and training help farmers ensure the health and welfare of the animals they receive. Home solar lighting kits are being distributed to communities. For some, this was the first electrical light their home had ever had.
A third component of the plan is helping farmers plant and harvest aerobic rice, which uses less water and requires less labour than traditionally grown rice. Given the right conditions, seed is easily saved from year to year, and a growing season can have two harvests.
Our emergency response provided a robust short-term response to start the rehabilitation. Through Mission & Service, our ongoing support ensures that these programs grow and develop to create resilient and sustainable farming communities in the Philippines.
If Mission & Service giving is already a regular part of your life, thank you so much! If you have not given, please join me in making Mission & Service giving a regular part of your life of faith. Loving our neighbour is at the heart of our Mission & Service.
Watch the ‘Bells’ practise for our Sunday Service.
Sunday, September 23rd – Listen/Follow along in the bulletin.
Sunday, September 30th – Technical Issues Unavailable/Follow along in the bulletin.
Sunday, October 7th – Listen/Follow along in the bulletin.
Sunday, October 14th – Listen/Follow along in the bulletin.
A Song of Faith
Grateful for God’s loving action, we cannot keep from singing…
God is Holy Mystery,
beyond complete knowledge,
above perfect description.
Yet,
in love,
the one eternal God seeks relationship.
So God creates the universe
and with it the possibility of being and relating.
God tends the universe,
mending the broken and reconciling the estranged.
God enlivens the universe,
guiding all things toward harmony with their Source.
Grateful for God’s loving action,
We cannot keep from singing.
With the Church through the ages,
we speak of God as one and triune:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We also speak of God as
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer
God, Christ, and Spirit
Mother, Friend, and Comforter
Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love,
and in other ways that speak faithfully of
the One on whom our hearts rely,
the fully shared life at the heart of the universe.
We witness to Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love….
[A Song of Faith continues. Download the complete Song of Faith, with preamble and appendices, below.]
A Song of Faith, adopted in 2006, seeks to provide a verbal picture of what The United Church of Canada understands its faith to be in the historical, political, social, and theological context of the early 21st century. It is also a means of ongoing reflection and an invitation for the church to live out its convictions in relation to the world in which we live.
Downloads
