Coolest Street in the World?

Time Out readers ranked our very own Wellington Street in Verdun as “the coolest street in the world” earlier this month, beating out Deptford High Street in London, Hayes Street in San Francisco and 30 others. Admittedly, the online magazine’s polling method is not entirely random. Readers of Time Out chose to answer their survey question, posed in a dozen languages, and more than 20 000 of them did. Time Out is a global empire, but is probably best known in Europe and North America, so it’s probably no surprise that the majority of cities that made the list are in those parts of the world. Even so, it’s fun to peruse the list and imagine yourself exploring the streets of Melbourne, Mumbai, or Mexico City.

Here’s a link to the Time Out story.

History Mystery

“This goes under the caption, ‘things I found in my basement,” says Aline. She is cleaning out the house that once belonged to her in-laws, and there is no telling what could turn up. Aline thought we would be interested to see this ceremonial trowel with the following inscription:

"Presented to Mr. Robert Munro at the laying of the church cornerstone, Presbyterian Church, Park St. Louis, October 9, 1909"

We believe that Park St-Louis is an old name for part of Lachine near the waterfront, but we have not been able to find a Presbyterian church that would have been established there in 1909. Aline doesn’t believe Robert Munro is any relation to her in-laws, so the provenance of the trowel is a mystery. Any feedback from those with longer memories would be welcomed!

Aline passed the trowel on to Douglas Hastie, knowing that his background was in Verdun’s First Presbyterian. Doug will pass it on to his brother in Ontario who will offer it to the Presbyterian museum.

Support for Tenants

The Mayor of Verdun, Marie-Andree Mauger, shared the following on Facebook:

“As July 1 is approaching, some Montrealers are still looking for housing. If this is your case, contact 311 by phone. The City offers several resources to support you:

Temporary storage of certain goods

Support in finding accommodation

Temporary accommodation in case of emergency

Help desk to answer your questions”

Mme. Mauger also reminds landlords that short-term Air BnB-type rentals are not allowed in Verdun. This is to keep more properties available for long-term (1 year or more) leases.

Comedy Fundraiser at Verdun Legion #4

Our local Legion is in financial trouble. Why not get a few friends together and get out and support them on August 6th? Couldn’t we all use a laugh?

The show will be hosted by Ted Bird and the headliner is Joey Elias.

Tickets ($20) are available at the Branch (5971 Verdun ave.)

They are open on:
Wednesday 3 - 10 pm
Friday 3 - 10 pm
Saturday, 12 noon - 10 pm

Our Next Moderator

[the following is from the United Church of Canada E-ssentials newsletter]

On June 17 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, nominations closed for 44th Moderator of The United Church of Canada. At that time there was only one nominee, the Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne. The United Church of Canada requires an election process for Moderator. That election will happen on July 23, and the individual elected at that time will be installed on August 7, 2022. Learn more about the nominee in this biographical statement.

At the close of the GC44 Discussion Sessions on June 19 the General Secretary outlined the process for the election, and a video of placing a stole on the moderatorial nominee was shown. 

Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne
Ordained Minister
Nominated by Pacific Mountain Regional Council
Read Carmen's profile [PDF]

Listen to a conversation with Carmen on the United Church "It's Your Call" podcast on Apple, Google or Spotify.

Where Else Could Sabbath be so Sweet?

As explained in an earlier newsletter, we are no longer able, as a congregation, to keep up with the bills, and the church property, including the manse, will be going on the market very soon.

It is a sad state of affairs for sure, but our best shot at staying together as a congregation lies in selling the property.

Many of you have gone through this before, some more than once. But you did get through it, and I hope you feel that you found a new home in SouthWest United, wherever you came from before. It is always sad to leave a church, but we must try to remember that a church is not the bricks and mortar; a church is the people who pray and sing and laugh and cry together.

Some may feel like turning away at this time. Not wanting to witness another church closing, the instinct may be to remove ourselves now, try to spare ourselves the pain. Instead, I hope each of us will ask ourselves what we get from being part of SouthWest United, what are the essential parts of the experience, and also, what might be let go? Because the one thing we know for sure is that we can’t continue on exactly as we are now, but if we can identify for ourselves what we get, and what we need from our church, that will make it easier to find those things again.

The pandemic showed us that a church community can exist even when in-person worship is not possible; but I think most of us would agree that meeting together in a space is an important part of our church life. So let’s assume we need to meet in a space: what kind of space? Is it important that it be a traditional church, with pews, stained glass and a high arched ceiling? Could we worship in a plainer setting and still feel close to God and our community?

And then there’s time. We are accustomed to meeting on Sunday mornings. At 10:00 to be precise, although many of us have worshipped at different times in the past. How much would our church experience be harmed by meeting at a different time, say in the afternoon? Or even on a different day of the week? I know it sounds radical but if God is wherever two or three are gathered, then surely that gathering can take place any day of the week, any time.

Do you ever look around your home and feel bogged down by stuff? A church can feel that way too. I love the sense of history in our church building, but I also know nobody gets through the eye of the needle with 20 centrepieces, 10 boxes of sheet music and a bunch of seat cushions in tow! Even if we weren’t selling, the church is in need of a good de-cluttering!

In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, the villagers of Anatevka are forced to leave to escape the murderous pogroms. It’s a situation far more dire than ours, and one that mirrors the current displacement of Ukrainians and many other peoples all over the globe. Walking single file, carrying bags over their shoulders, pushing wooden carts, the villagers sing:

A little bit of this,
A little bit of that.

A pot
A pan
A broom
A hat.

A bench
A tree
So what’s a stove? Or a house?

A stick of wood, a piece of cloth.

What do we leave? Nothing much
Only Anatevka.

 Church is supposed to be the place we feel the closest to Creator, to Spirit. Maybe our attachment to objects – even beautiful ones like stained-glass windows and a wooden pipe organ – can get in the way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as attached to those things as the next person, and maybe we will find a way to keep them in our lives. But even more importantly, we need to stick together.

The villagers in Fiddler on the Roof go on to sing:

Anatevka, Anatevka
Underfed, overworked Anatevka
Where else could Sabbath be so sweet?
Anatevka, Anatevka
Intimate, obstinate, Anatevka
Where I know everyone I meet…

Soon I’ll be a stranger in a strange new place.
Searching for an old familiar face…

This is worse than leaving stuff, even leaving a home: it is the loss of Community. We are lucky; we don’t need to let that happen to us.

We will need to be brave, and to accept that nothing stays the same, that change is a part of life, and that We are the Church.

The friendships that have been formed over the years, the hymns sung together innumerable times, the baptisms and funerals, the memories of good times and bad: this is the church. So let’s get ready to pick up what is essential and carry it forward, together.

Amy

Let the Summer Begin! Pools and Beach Open in Verdun

Nouvelles d’Ici reports that both outdoor pools in Verdun (and two in Nun’s Island) will be open as of tomorrow, Saturday June 18th. Admission to all four is free as long as you have a library card (Acces Verdun). The public beach is also open, but you should always call ahead to make sure swimming is allowed. Sometimes weather conditions force the closing of the beach.

If you go to the Natatorium, on the waterfront near Stephens, I suggest wearing your bathing suit as it’s unclear whether the changing rooms will be open.

Nouvelles d’Ici is an online local newspaper for Lachine Lasalle and Verdun. It’s only in French for the moment, but that could change. Consult the swimming schedules for all three boroughs here.

Image credit: Karine Joly

Spring Regional Council Gathering Round-Up

The following is taken from the most recent Nakonha:ka newsletter. On June 4th, our Regional COuncil held their first live meeting in three years. n fact it was a hybrid gathering, with many from all over the region attending via Zoom. Pastor Beryl attended, as did Shirley Stark, who has faithfully represented our congregation for many years. There should be some familiar names in the following report:

“The day dawned bright and sunny as people from around the Regional Council gathered on Zoom and in person at Lakeshore Trinity United Church on Saturday, June 4, 2022. A renewed sense of connection after a long separation could be sensed in the animated conversations in person and online. Outgoing Regional Council President, Rev. Linda Buchanan, called the assembly to order just after 10 am. Following a welcome to the Mohawk Territory by Kanesatake Elder Satewas Gabriel (with an invitation to join the celebration scheduled for September 2023 for the completion of the Mohawk translation of the Bible), Susan Montour of Kahnawake offered the Thanksgiving Address (the words before all words), and Rev. Steve Gillam welcomed the gathering to Lakeshore Trinity United Church. The morning’s presentations focused on:  a deeper understanding of the nature of the treaties between indigenous nations and colonizers set in a biblical context (video with Adrian Jacobs, presented by Lisa Byer de Wever on behalf of the Living into Right Relations Leadership Circle)  life-threatening injustice and corruption related to the actions of mining companies and governments in the Philippines (presented by Patricia Lisson, DM, and Guy-Lin Beaudoin on behalf of the Beaconsfield Initiative and ICHRP-International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines), with special mention of the longstanding contributions of Rev. Shaun Fryday, and the ongoing support of Rev. Arlen Bonnar and the community of St. James United Church.  the new LGBTQ2+ Refugee initiative being created at Beaconsfield United Church in partnership between the BUC Refugee Integration and Support team and the West Island LGBTQ2+ Centre (presented by Bailey Eastwood, Adedeji Akintayo and David Hawkins). Gratitude for the continued inspiration and support offered by Rev. Shaun Fryday to all of these initiatives was expressed, as well as for the news of a recent grant from the Granting and Enabling Leadership Team to support this new initiative. The upcoming slate of the Executive Council was presented by Rev. Tami Spires (on behalf of the Nominations Leadership team) for a vote. Before the assembly dispersed for a lunch break, Rev. Dr. James Christie brought greetings from Wood Lake Press, highlighting the first of two publications dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the UCC (Keys to the Kindom), and distributing 10 complementary copies to those present. Throughout lunch time (and the rest of the day) many of those attending in person enjoyed the delicious treats prepared by the hospitality team at Lakeshore Trinity (not to mention Rev. Mead Baldwin’s famous cinnamon rolls!) The afternoon’s worship celebration included covenanting with the Executive, including incoming Regional Council President Marc Grenon, and members of leadership teams. Rev. Steve Gillam shared some of the ups and downs of the amalgamation journey of Dorval Strathmore United Church and St. John’s United Church as they worked together to become the new Lakeshore Trinity United Church. The contributions of retiring ministry personnel, Rev. Lee Ann Hogle, Rev. Shaun Fryday and Rev. David Fines were celebrated. Rev. Joelle Leduc offered a moving sermon on the topic of daring justice, with a reminder of the importance of opening our mouths to speak and our ears to hear uncomfortable truths that move us to action. We were also blessed by the musical leadership of Rafael de Castro throughout the day.”

In Case of Emergency

UPDATE:

Thank you to all those who filled in the forms distributed at church last Sunday. We hope never to have to use the information supplied, but it gives us some peace of mind knowing we can contact your dear ones if anything should happen to you. We hope it brings you some peace of mind too.

As always with this sort of thing, it was only after they started coming back that I noticed what was missing. For women, I should have explicitly asked for maiden name as well as married name. I should also have asked you to specify your relationship with the contact people (son, sister, etc.) Don’t worry if you didn’t supply it, I will be getting back to everyone who submits the form to double-check their information.

It is not too late for those who received the form in the mail to send or bring it back. In Case of Emergency forms will continue to be available at the front of the church, and the list can be updated at any time.

Amy

ORIGINAL POST:

I recently heard a story at another congregation about a member who suffered a heart attack during a meeting. Although several people present knew his children’s names, they realized none of them knew how to reach them. I realized the same thing could happen to us at SouthWest. We may think we all know each other well, but think about it: would anyone know how to get in touch with your spouse in an emergency? Your children? Even if you attend church every week with your spouse, or with a friend, there will be the odd time that you come alone. That’s why we are asking your help in making an ICE (In Case of Emergency) list.  

At upcoming services, we will be passing out a half-sheet of paper requesting emergency contact information. It is intended for people who attend services or other events at SouthWest, even occasionally. It is up to you whether to fill it in or not, but I would suggest it’s better to be safe than sorry. There is space for two contact people on the form, but you can add more. It’s always better to give at least two names because people don’t always answer their phones. Mobile phone numbers are preferable to land lines, if possible.

If you would like us to send you a copy of the form by mail or email, please send a request to southwestunited@gmail.com. Any information you share will be kept confidential.

One last thing: the form asks for your birthday, but it is your choice whether to share. The reason we ask is because we would like to start announcing birthdays once a month during the service. Day and month are sufficient, you don’t have to tell us the year (but you may)!

Amy
P.S. the man who had the heart attack is fine.

Last Church Standing

Pastor Beryl will be officiating at a wedding this Saturday, but this is her week “off” and the Sunday service will be lay-led. Instead of her usual word in the newsletter, I am sharing the text composed for our Mission Support grant. It lays out SouthWest’s current situation in a pretty stark way.
Our Mission statement was crafted some years ago when we still had SouthWest Mission. I believe the sense of community it talks about it still alive and well at SouthWest United; what we lack is resources.

The grant application asks that we provide the following:

-the context in which your ministry is situated

-why you are applying for a grant

- how long you anticipate needing such a grant

- a financial plan for decreasing the grant

- effect on the ministry if request is not granted

- if your application is successful, how your organization will recognize the financial support provided by The United Church of Canada within your organization and the broader community

I hope, in reading the text below, you will find that we have addressed all of these points.

-Amy

Mission statement:

At SouthWest, our sense of community is inspired by our Christian faith. We partner with individuals and organizations to address issues like food security, poverty, education and wellness. Our programs and activities encourage and inspire all of us to realize our potential as uniquely gifted individuals in our families and neighbourhoods. 

Our Context
SouthWest United Church is the last remaining English United Church in Verdun. The only other UCC congregation located in the borough is the Montreal Korean United Church. As we are located at the western edge of Verdun, a portion of our membership has always come from LaSalle, another community with no remaining United Church. There are no United Churches left in all of the South-west borough either, apart from Centenary United, a congregation which no longer has a building of its own.

In 2007, when Crawford Park United and Verdun United churches amalgamated to create SouthWest Pastoral Charge, the VUC church was sold and we were able to invest a tidy sum. It is due to having that principal to draw on that SouthWest United has been able to continue its ministry into 2022. Even in the first year, SouthWest never raised enough in offerings to cover salaries and upkeep of the building.

For twelve years (2007-2019) we had our office in, and ran SouthWest Mission out of, Verdun Elementary School. We were instrumental in starting the Breakfast Club program which continues to this day and which we still support. The Mission also established a clothing room where students could find whatever they needed, from a pair of socks to a clean shirt to snowpants or boots. Over the years, the Mission’s services expanded to provide meals and food programs to the entire community, and became a gathering place for many groups. We received occasional grants from the United Church and other sources to help run these programs, but the existence of the Mission always depended on funding from the church.

By 2018 the writing was on the wall and we were looking at various cost-cutting measures. The 3 possibilites as we saw it were: to cut salaries, to close the Mission, and to sell the church property. We realized at the time that all three would be necessary eventually. In 2019, we cut our full-time minister (David Lefneski) to half time. As a result, he had little time to devote to the Mission; soon afterward the decision was taken to close the Mission, which was costing us $1100 a month in rent alone. Our office was moved into the SouthWest church building at 1445 Clemenceau. We also had a change of leadership at that time, going from a part-time Ordained Minister to a part-time Designated Lay Minister. This was more of a happy accident than a cost-saving move, as Pastor Beryl Barraclough was our first choice anyway when Rev. David left.

In the fall of 2019, even with reduced energy and resources, our congregation was enthusiastic about starting new projects: a Sunday school, bingo, a concert series… but then of course Covid happened. For the two years - and counting - of the pandemic, we have managed to continue worshipping, whether in person or online, but our ability to reach out into the community has been severely limited. Covid prevented us from holding an Annual Congregational meeting in 2020 or 2021 (our core people are elderly and many would have been incapable of attending an online meeting). Various federal programs helped us in 2020 and 2021, but we were still obliged to draw on our investments in those two years. Had we been able to meet two years ago, we would probably have held a vote then on selling the property. As it is, we voted on May 1st at our first congregational meeting in three years, and the following motion was adopted: “that the Board of Trustees make arrangements to share or sell the church property to generate funds to continue the ministry of this church in the South West sector of Montreal."

Reason for Application
Ours is an aging congregation which finds itself land rich and cash poor. On paper, we have assets of about 1.3 million dollars. Our bank account tells a different story. We anticipate not being able to meet our payroll by sometime in the fall of this year.

It is because our available funds have dwindled to almost nothing that we are applying for Mission Support at this time. Our monthly income in 2021, including offerings and rents received, stood at about $3250. Our monthly expenses, on the other hand, ran to about $9000. We are examining all our options, including selling the property, but we anticipate needing funds before any sale can go through. That is why we are turning to you at this time, in the hope that you can help us bridge the gap to the next phase of the life of our congregation.

At this point we have tightened our belts so much that we can barely take care of our own pastoral care list, let alone look for new pastoral relationships. If the financial pressure were taken off for a couple of years we might even be able to think about ways to rejuvenate our ministry in this part of the world. As mentioned, we now have a mandate from the congregation to sell the building if necessary. With your help, we hope that might not be necessary for several years.

Time frame
We would hopefully only need Mission Support for two or three years.

Plan for Decreasing the Grant
In the short term, and if Covid will allow, we are eager to look for new community partnerships in the form of local organizations wanting to rent our space. Although we have a small office in the building now, the pandemic has taught us that both our minister and our office coordinator can work from home 90% of the time. At a time when there is a shortage of real estate either for purchase or rental, we have a building that is practically unused six days of the week. We have spoken to our local borough council and they are aware of the plight of SouthWest United and eager to help facilitate partnerships. We believe that if Regional Council would agree to make up the difference between our current income and expenses for one year, we could increase our income significantly through rentals and require less help the following year.

It is difficult to imagine how we could make up the whole difference through rentals alone however. In recent years, pre-pandemic, we were drawing $50000 from our investments each year. That amount was decreased in 2020 and 2021 because of government support to businesses during Covid.

We do not have an infinite number of options to improve our financial picture, but we are looking at all of them. One possibility is asking the city to divide our lot in two in order that we might sell the manse and keep the church afloat for some years on that revenue. Another of course is to sell the whole property as is and to find rental space to continue our ministry elsewhere. Our church attendance is not high, but we have become a family, with relationships in some cases going back 60 years or more.

Effect of not receiving support
Unfortunately, not having been able to meet since 2019, we are coming to you at a point where things have already become quite desperate. Without Mission Support, we fear we might have to disband as a congregation because we can no longer pay the bills.

Recognition

Despite its small size, SouthWest United has a significant online presence. Our professionally designed website, at southwestunited.net, has a Blog with new content posted every week. Likewise, our Facebook page, with over 400 followers, features new content at least weekly. Our Friday newsletter goes out by email to 244 people every week, and the same list receives our pre-recorded services every Sunday. Since Covid, we have a presence on YouTube as we post all of our services there.

If we receive Mission Support, all of these platforms could be employed to recognize and express our gratitude to the United Church of Canada. We are producing fewer written materials than in the past, but certainly bulletins, paper newsletters and letterhead could all feature acknowledgements of this funding.

We sincerely hope that Conseil regional Nakonha:ka Regional Council will see the value in keeping a United Church presence in the South-west sector of Montreal. Whether in our current building or not, the SouthWest United community hopes to be that presence for years to come.