Meet 'n' Mix/ Méli-Mélo April 29

Once a month we gather in community to share a simple meal, a prayer, a game or activity, and lately: some drumming! We may not know exactly what we`re doing, but the drums are here, and kids and adults alike seem to be drawn to the "circle". 

This Sunday at Meli-Melo we will also be remembering the Battle of Ypres, fought in the First World War. The same afternoon, Rev. David will be at the Verdun Cenotaph (in front of borough hall) at 2:00pm as we partner with Legion #4 for the annual Ypres commemoration and parade. Rev. David  is the "Padre" for Legion #4.

Minister's Message: We Appreciate Our Volunteers!

I thank my God for you every time I think of you; and every time I pray for you all, I pray with joy because of the way in which you have helped me in the work of the gospel from the very first day until now. (Philippians 1: 3-5)

April 15th to 21st is National Volunteer Week in Canada.
We estimate that, each year, over 100 people volunteer in some capacity at SouthWest. We are grateful!

How do we even begin to say thanks for the hundreds (thousands?) of volunteer hours:
- Welcoming at the door, living hospitality
- Collecting and counting the offerings, keeping our accounts in order
- Preparing food for fellowship time and washing up afterwards
- Cooking, serving and cleaning up after meals on Welcome Wednesdays
- Creating cards for shut ins; visiting, phoning those unable to get out
- Setting up for community events, manning tables and being the cheerful face of SouthWest
- Helping organize weddings and baptisms
- Ordering produce
- Passing the broom, the mop, the sponge
-Shovelling snow and putting down salt
- Greeting a newcomer, sharing a smile, singing in the choir
- Praying for those in need, comforting the sick and holding the hand of the dying
- Sorting through donated clothes, books and other items
- Picking up and delivering food and other items
- Writing reports, filing
- Keeping the plants watered and the space tidy
- Giving a lift, being kind to the stranger
- Organizing Christmas joy for children
- Contributing your time and talents, showing God's love in word and in deed

May God bless the hands that do good to all.
that love as Jesus loved with care, generosity and joy.
Bless all hands, and in particular the hands of our volunteers!

Rev. David

Family-Friendly Music Sunday

This Sunday: April 22 at 10 am at the Church.

Music with a smile for everyone!

This is the first Sunday Challenge as well: We invite you
to invite someone you know, who doesn’t usually (or ever!)
come to a Sunday Celebration at the church.
You can tempt them with:

Wonderful hospitality
Great music
Delicious cakes and cookies

All in the warm and friendly atmosphere of SouthWest, 1445 rue Clémenceau, Verdun.

See you Sunday!

The Music Team

Minister's Message: Vision

How do you fund a vision of generous community?

In 2017, SouthWest adopted a vision: We provide a table where all are welcome, with food for body, mind and spirit. Nous procurons une table où chacun trouve de la nourriture pour le corps, l’âme et l’esprit; une table où tous sont les bienvenus.

It was the culmination of many years since SouthWest was renamed in 2007, as both a Community of faith and a generous presence to our neighbours.
Community, what a powerful feeling. That sense of belonging, living with brothers and sisters through the highs and lows, the pain and joys, through all the seasons of life. It is a powerful thing to be loved unconditionally and to know that you are not alone. My faith affirms that God is with us always, in the fabric of our lives and relationships. When I live this faith with others it seeks to accompany, walk alongside of, to serve.
After the resurrection of Jesus his disciples began expressing their belief that he was alive in their midst and continuing his vision of incarnated love in their witness and service to the needs of people around them. They were acknowledged because of their generous care and community involvement and many were won to their cause.
Hear this story from the book of Acts (2: 42-47, NIV).
Jesus' followers...”devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number...”
The commitment of the early disciples to have everything in common enabled them to meet the needs of their neighbours. It is a good thing in changing times to have a vision and to express it in action. It is a big commitment to live as Jesus did in community of faith and among our neighbourhoods.
SouthWest has the challenge of how to fund our vision of a table for all with food that nurtures the body mind and spirit. We are both a worshipping community (church) and a community service provider (mission). Both are about Community!!
As a community of faith that is engaged in the needs of our neighbours we need to enlarge our donor base and to find new sources of revenues to provision the tables of hospitality.
Let’s find the way of speaking about money and fundraising so that we can continue serving.
Let’s live in this journey together.
Let’s share what we have for a common good.
And in so doing be a place of belonging for all.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Rev. David

On Humboldt

Note from Nora*

April 10, 2018

Last Friday night, our hearts were still full of the joy of Easter’s glorious resurrection when news of the terrible bus crash near Tisdale, Saskatchewan took us back to the depths of Good Friday’s sorrow and confusion.

The Humboldt Broncos hockey team was on its way to a semi-final game when a transport truck collided with the team’s bus, leaving a wreckage of twisted metal and broken bodies. Life changed in an instant for the families, friends, and communities of the 15 who died, and for those who were injured. Everyone who survived the crash, including the driver of the transport truck, will remember the horror of that night forever.

Photo: The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

How does one make sense of such a thing? What does one say about something so senseless?

Krystal Sheremeta, President of Saskatchewan Conference, (and minister in Nipawin where Friday night’s game was to have taken place), offered beautiful words of comfort in the message she posted on Saturday. She wrote of God’s heart being the first to break, and said, (and this is just part of her powerful message):

“Today as our souls cry out in shock, grief, and heartache, as we are overwhelmed by the devastation again and again, we are assured that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. When no words will suffice, when our prayers are the tears and stunned silences, we know these too are holy. We weep with those who are grieving, and lift prayers of lament with all those whose souls cry out this day.”

One of the teenagers who died, Brody Hinz, was an active member at Westminster United in Humboldt. A huge sports fan, he was delighted when he was chosen to be the Broncos’ team statistician. His minister, Brenda Curtis, who now is preparing for his funeral, told me that the notes, cards, Facebook postings, emails, and texts, (more than she can personally respond to) that have arrived over the past few days, are “a literal outpouring of love from our United Church right across Canada… and are giving us strength here at Westminster United to keep going… to keep ‘being the church’ in our community and for our grieving families.”

Brenda was one of the clergy who led the vigil on Sunday night that was held in the Humboldt community arena, and broadcast to the nation on CBC. I am not sure whether she had turned to our New Creed when she was trying to figure out what to say, or if those words are just so deeply embedded that they came out when Brenda was searching for how to pray at such a time. She invited everyone present to reach out and take the hand of someone next to them, explaining, “In a few minutes, when we go our separate ways, I want you to recall the touch, warmth, blessing of that hand, to remind you that you are not alone, that we are not alone….”

And then she prayed to our holy and merciful God, “As we leave here, help us to know that in times of tragedy when we can see no way through the pain, help us to know we can put our trust and our faith in you. In life, in death, and in life beyond death, you are always with us tender God, encouraging us, loving us, and opening a path of healing for us all.”

On Good Friday, we grieved with the assurance that Easter would come. My prayers today are with all of those in Humboldt and with the families and communities of each of those who were killed or injured, praying that they will be held in God’s warm embrace during this time of deep pain, and that, in time, they will come to know joy once again. 

God is with us. Thanks be to God.
 
Nora

*Nora Sanders is the General Secretary, General Council of the United Church of Canada. To subscribe to the Note from Nora, or other UCC e-newsletters, go to http://www.united-church.ca/newsletters

Pastoral Care Team Training

Family Life Centre presents : Pastoral Care Team Training

Friday, April 20 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Saturday, April 21 from 8:30 AM to 4 :00 PM

at Cedar Park United Church
204 Lakeview Avenue, Pointe-Claire, QC H9S 4C5

Refresher for pastoral care visitors, clergy, and anyone working in caring professions.
Training for those who might want to join a pastoral care team in their congregation.
This seminar will also be of interest to everyone who wishes to learn more about listening with the heart, honouring silence during conversations on difficult topics, and extending a compassionate hand to friends, family or acquaintances.

Learn more about listening, specifically to those in palliative care (and their families), those who are grieving or dealing with difficult diagnoses personally or with their loved ones (physical and mental health), those facing acute or chronic illness, and those who are housebound due to age or mobility.

The seminar includes presentations by experts, role-play (for those who feel comfortable), sharing of best practices on practical help, and small group discussions on connecting in meaningful ways in this fast-paced, largely technology-based world while maintaining safe boundaries.

$24 per person, includes materials, refreshments and lunch.

Open to all.

Pre-registration is essential by April 16.

Minister's Message: The Greening of the Earth

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome ran from the tomb, distressed and afraid. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.  - Mark 16: 1-8

One could say it is slow in coming each year, the interplay between the ending of winter and the arrival of spring. More sunshine, then cold, gardens starting to sprout then wind and snow. Back and forth like a tug of war.
The resurrection story in Mark's gospel is profoundly human. It is not the full blown Easter joy of the other Gospels but rather the slow greening of the spirit. It is a story of encounter with the emptiness of both tomb and spirit.
The women who go to the tomb find it empty, hear the angelic proclamation "he is not here, he is risen," then run away "distressed and terrified." And instead of sharing joy they say nothing to anyone because of their fear.
This is not the more regimented religious version that accommodates the need for certainty and explanation: the one that goes so quickly from death on the cross to resurrection joy and leaves one with whiplash.
There is progression in the greening of the spirit just like in the greening of the earth. There is room for fear, distress and disbelief. There is not always an immediate turn around, but the slow converting to the light of each place in our hearts, minds and spirit. Resurrection may be an immediate moment but letting the stone be rolled away from my heart takes time.

May I let Life touch my fears, questions and distress.
As the earth is renewed this springtime may I be slowly greened in my faith.
Let the greening begin in me o God!

- Rev. David

When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain,
your touch can call us back to life again,
fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
love is come again, like wheat arising green.
                            (VU 186, John Crum, 1928, to the tune of Noël Nouvelet.)

Minister's Message: Easter Greetings 2018! Joyeuses Pâques 2018!

Sing praises to the Lord, O you God's saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:4-5)

I want to shout it and live its joy: the celebration of resurrection and the promise of new beginnings!

Easter parallels the end of winter and the transition of seasons. We can only appreciate its radical joy after the night of tears. We come to the empty tomb only after the pain and sadness of Good Friday for there is no resurrection without death. As the sun warms our faces and the frozen earth, we see hope realized in the snow drops and other spring flowers.

Death and resurrection, winter’s cold to springtime blooms: all are part of our lives and their seasons. We live in faith community the emotions of passion as the drama of Christ’s last days is relived in liturgy and worship. Out of suffering and death, the love of God raises Jesus to new life.

En cette fête de Pâques, fête du renouvellement de la nature et de nos esprits, nous sortons de l’hiver avec un profond besoin de crier: Alléluia!! Pendant le Carême, nous avons suivi les pas de Jésus dans le désert, un chemin de choix et de sacrifices difficiles à comprendre  pour nous en 2018. La vie vient après la souffrance, la joie après la longue nuit de pleurs, la résurrection après la croix. Oui, nous fêtons, mais toujours après avoir enduré de dures réalités.

Que Pâques remplisse vos cœurs et vos relations de la joie de la résurrection. Quand on vous dit : Christ est ressuscité, criez à pleins poumons : Alléluia!!

May the God of resurrection touch our lives with new life and renewal: Alléluia!

Rev. David Lefneski
SouthWest

Thine is the glory, risen conquering Son:
Endless is the victory thou o'er death has won.
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave-clothes where the body lay.

Craindrais-je encore? Il vit à jamais,
celui que j’adore, le prince de paix;
il est ma victoire, mon puissant soutien,
ma vie et ma gloire : non, je ne crains rien!              (VU 173)

UCC Moderator's Easter Message 2018

[transcript of video message]

Hallelujah, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, hallelujah! That is our Easter refrain—full of joy and conviction. But that sure wasn’t the response of Jesus’ disciples on that first Easter morning. The various gospel accounts show the disciples responding with awe, fear, incomprehension, doubt, terror, and amazement. Our response is born of hindsight. Knowing what we now know about how it all turned out, we think of Easter morning and we declare, “Hallelujah!” But when one is in the midst of resurrection, when it is happening to you or around you right now, it’s a very different experience: full of uncertainty, anxiety, dread, and disbelief. Resurrection is, by its very nature, unexpected and unimaginable. We cannot see it coming; we are never prepared for it. It is the revelation of new life where just moments ago there was nothing but the possibility of despair and loss. The hallelujahs we announce at Easter are our affirmation that despite whatever hopelessness threatens to overwhelm us, we trust in the power of God’s love to bring about resurrection within our lives. We don’t know when, we don’t know how, we don’t know what it will look like, and we will certainly be confused and confounded by it if it should happen. But today, our hallelujahs declare that we believe resurrection is possible. And so we do not lose hope, no matter how hopeless a situation appears. This Easter season, as you sing, shout, whisper, and proclaim “Hallelujah!” may it strengthen your faith in the power and possibility of new life for you, your church, and our world. May we truly be a resurrection people.

Good Friday at the Mission

What is so good about Good Friday?

At the bank there was a notice: closed for Good Friday. Please God, I would like to take that day off as well, and change the direction from passion and death to a ‘being anywhere else day’.  What is so good about Good Friday? it is the darkest day of the Christian year. Jesus dies, crucified.

Throughout the Lenten season the invitation to worship has resonated:

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies,
It remains that and nothing more;
But if it dies it bears a rich harvest. John 12:24

Holy Week, with the turning of the cries of Hosanna to Crucify, is upon us.

The only way to arrive at the Easter Sunday shout of Alleluia is to follow Jesus through these dark days of betrayal, anguish, torture, tears and deep dispair. I am forced to face my own death, ponder the meaning of life and to question the darkness of the cry: Whay have you forsaken me?

Read the story in the Gospels, ponder the characters in the Passion. Where are you in the Passion story?

See Matthew 26-27: 66, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, John 18-19.

Follow Jesus in his last days.

Experience the depth of emotions, absence and death.

A traditonal hymn and meditation for Good Friday is this one written by Paul Gerhardt in 1656 (Voices United 145, french words by Henri Capieu, 1974, Nos Voix Unies).

O Sacred head sore wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down;
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, thine only crown:
how art thou pale with anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn;
how does that visage languish,
which once was bright as morn!

De l'humaine misère
tu t'es fait serviteur;
de chacun de tes frères,
tu portes la douleur.
Seigneur, de nos souffrances
et de nos lendemains,
garde notre espérance
en tes vivantes mains.

May the prayer of the brigand dying at Jesus’ side be ours:
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. (Luke 22: 42)

- Rev. David

The office will be closed, but as is our tradition, we will have a Good Friday service at the Mission at 11AM on March 30th. Stay afterwards for a simple community lunch. 631 Melrose. All are welcome.