Minister's message/ message du pasteur

INVITATION: Soup(e) +

VOIR FRANÇAIS CI-DESSOUS

I loved the idea when our choir director Sarah Fraser would include soup before concerts; I loved that a recent SouthWest conversation led by the worship ad hoc group began with home-made soup. Accompanied by fresh bread, hospitality and human exchange, soup can be a simple and delicious way to feed the body, mind and spirit.

Soup(e) + is an invitation to our francophone neighbours (and anyone who speaks French) to a soup “plus “ conversation with questions, songs and informal prayers. It is a link to the many who come to us and would appreciate a gathering in a spirit of welcome and non- judgment. It is experienced in the radical hospitality of Jesus, where “All are welcome, tous sont les bienvenues”. Sunday June 17th 12:30 at the Mission.

I leave today on a pilgrimage to the land of the faith of my ancestors. I go to taste and experience the Holy Land with my Bible in hand, an open heart and excitement.
I will carry you in my prayers at the many places of pilgrimage I will visit. 
Vous êtres tous dans mes prières pendant ce pèlerinage en Terre Sainte.

Rev. David

INVITATION: Soupe +

Un moment d’échange informel autour d’un bol de soupe maison.
Une rencontre pour nourrir le corps, l’âme et l'esprit par une conversation honnête et franche. Toute question est permise. Nous cherchons à cheminer dans la foi, l'amour et l’espérance.
Au programme : un chant, une prière du cœur, de l’écoute et du soutien.
Et on se quittera avec la connaissance d'autres personnes qui cherchent, elles aussi, la justice en résistant au mal à la manière de Jésus.

Bienvenue à tous et toutes : dimanche le 17 juin 2018, à 12h30
Mission du Sud-Ouest, 631 Melrose, Verdun. 
Contact: Judith judithbricault@videotron.ca
              David   Davidlefneski@me.com

Minister's Message: Happy Birthday Church

At Meli-Melo this Sunday, we will be celebrating the birth of the church at Pentecost  (see below). The coming of the Spirit onto the rag-tag group of early disciples, facing fear and reprisal from established Religion and Empire, was a turbulent and chaotic time. Jesus their Leader was gone and they were alone. As people from many nations gathered in Jerusalem the Spirit descended with 'fire', imbuing Jesus' disciples with the courage and ability to communicate good news to all assembled. They spoke words of gospel and continued Jesus' ministry by healing the sick and building a vibrant community of faith which met in homes. Pentecost 'fire' ignited a movement that continues into our time.

How appropriate that, as we celebrate the birthday of the Christian Church at Pentecost, we also have the opportunity this Saturday to be part of the ministry celebration of Montreal & Ottawa Conference and participate in the ordination of Joëlle Leduc. She will be ordained into the ministry of preaching, sacrament and pastoral care. Her journey of many years is one of growing in faith, learning, leading worship, being an elder and a student. Much work, many joys, great challenges.

Joëlle is 'homegrown': over the years she led our breakfast club, organized our office, was our youth group leader and moved into places of youth ministry in Presbytery, Conference and with the wider United Church. When Joëlle joined us we were still Verdun and Crawford Park. Her arrival coincided with our amalgamation and mission plan. SouthWest, through transition and transformation, birthed vocation and ministry. When she is ordained Saturday there will be great shouts of joy, I anticipate your shouts being added to mine: Alléluia! Alleluia!! Alléluia!!!

The Christian Church is alive and well all around the world as a witness to a living faith; we too are followers of Jesus' way. The apostle Paul writes that while there are many members of the body there is but one Body of Christ. In another passage he says Christ is the Head of the Church.

Wherever God is leading SouthWest we have the assurance of Spirit present in our midst:

Spirit who imbues with courage to face all challenges.
Spirit who calls into ministry Joëlle, Beryl, Marco and so many more.
Spirit who helps us to be a vibrant ministry and church amid transitions and change.

Thanks be to God!
Amen. 

Rev. David

Join us Sunday May 27th at 12:30 at the Mission, 631 Melrose. All are welcome!

Félicitations/ Congratulations Joëlle!

We are so proud of Joëlle, whom we have watched grow in faith and ministry these last eleven years. For those who don`t know her, a short bio is printed below. Hear her testimony about the transformation of the church on the Conference website by clicking the button below.

On est tellement fier de Joëlle. Nous avons été témoins de sa croissance en foi et ministère depuis onze ans. Écoutez son témoignage sur la transformation de l'église sur le site web du Synode Montréal et Ottawa en cliquant le bouton. Pour ceux qui ne la connaissent pas, vous pouvez lire une courte biographie en bas de cette page.

I am a francophone Québecoise from a non-practicing Catholic family.  I discovered the United Church in my mid-twenties when I was looking for an open and welcoming milieu to explore my faith.  I rapidly felt home at South-West United (in Verdun).  I became involved first in the choir, and then in the youth group where I discovered my vocation.  My partner and I met at a United Church Youth Forum, when we were both animators for our respective churches.  We are now married and mothers of a one and a half year-old little girl.

Je suis une Québécoise francophone issue d’une famille catholique non pratiquante. J’ai découvert l’Église Unie à la mi-vingtaine alors que je recherchais un milieu ouvert et accueillant pour explorer ma foi. Je me suis rapidement sentie chez moi à l’Église Unie du Sud-Ouest (à Verdun). Je m’y suis impliquée d’abord dans la chorale, puis dans le groupe de jeunes où j’ai découvert ma vocation. Ma conjointe et moi nous sommes rencontrées dans un Forum jeunesse de l’Église Unie, alors que nous étions toutes deux animatrices jeunesse pour nos églises respectives. Nous sommes maintenant mariées et mères d’une petite fille d’un an et demi.

Minister's Message: Mother's Day 2018

Rev. David (right), his son Luke and mother Joy.

Mother's Day is this Sunday, May 13th.

Mom and I are going to Boston for the May long weekend, a mini adventure. I am grateful to still have my 90-years-young mother, who is going to experience my garden this weekend, attend the Spring Fling at the Mission and be part of worship this Sunday.
My Grandmothers and Mom are relationships that taught me much about life and faith, they are a precious inheritance.
I found this prayer that blesses all mothers, including mine, and share it with you.
Rev. David

Gracious God,We thank you for adopting us into your family through the miracle of your grace, and for calling us to be brothers and sisters to each other.

Today, loving God, we pray for our mothers:
• who cared for us when we were helpless
• who comforted us when we were hurt
• whose love and care we often took for granted.

Today, mothering God, we pray for:
• those who are grieving the loss of their mother,
• those who never knew their biological mother, and now yearn for her
• those who have experienced the wonder of an adopted mother's love
• those mothers and families separated by war or conflict.
Lord, give them all a special blessing this Mother’s Day!

Amen.

Prière pour la fête des mères

La prière qui suit est une ressource de l'Église Unie du Canada.

Dieu, nous nommons avec amour ces mères de notre foi :

Agar, à la peau noire, servante de Sara, assise confiante sous le soleil du désert.
Nous nous souvenons de son oppression.

Léa, à la vision défaillante, celle qu’on ne désire pas.
Nous nous souvenons de sa souffrance d’être rejetée.

Anne, qui a offert son fils à Élie, le prêtre, pour être élevé au Temple.
Nous nous souvenons de son sacrifice.

La prostituée sans nom, en marge de la société.
Nous nous souvenons de son grand amour pour son enfant.

Marie, la mère de Jésus, qui regarda son fils mourir sur la croix.
Nous nous souvenons de sa douleur, et de la tienne…

Dieu, qui aime tant, qui a permis à ton fils, Jésus, de mourir afin que nous vivions.
Nous te rendons grâces et louanges.

Nous nous souvenons de celles qui voient souffrir leurs enfants, de celles qui perdent leurs enfants dans des accidents ou à cause d’une maladie.

Nous nous souvenons de celles dont les enfants sont torturés et tués par les autorités au pouvoir. Nous nous souvenons des femmes du Chili rassemblées sur la place publique en protestation face à la disparition de leurs fils et de leurs maris.

Nous pensons aux femmes du Vénézuéla qui prient pour que leurs enfants aient suffisamment de nourriture et d’eau potable.

Nous pensons aux mères d’Afrique du Sud qui se réjouissent pour leurs enfants.

Nous pensons aux mères du Mali qui pleurent pour leurs enfants.

Nous nous souvenons de tous ceux et celles, partout dans le monde, qui s’efforcent de laisser en héritage à leurs enfants un environnement sain.

Nous célébrons les mères et les pères, qu’ils soient en couple ou monoparentaux, qui font chaque jour de leur mieux pour répondre au défi d’élever des enfants.

Nous célébrons celles qui sont pour nous des mères en esprit, qui nous ont nourris, et celles qui continuent à soutenir notre croissance par leur amour et leur don de soi.

En silence, nommons et rendons grâces pour nos mères et toutes celles qui ont contribué à notre croissance. (silence)

Dans le Christ, nous prions : Notre Père et Mère…

[C.A.-Byers, 2002, Traduction: Denis Fortin]

Jazz Vespers/ Vêpres de jazz @ Cedar Park

Nourish your soul through afternoon worship and jazz music. Cedar Park United presents a special Jazz Vespers on Sunday, May 27th at 4:30PM. With renowned jazz liturgist Brian Fraser, and the Simon Millerd Trio. Pay-what-you-can. 

Apaisez votre esprit pendant un après-midi de prière et de méditation accompagné de jazz merveilleux  avec Brian Fraser, liturgiste de jazz de renommé, et le trio Simon Millerd. Dimanche, 27 mai à 16H30 à l'Église Unie Cedar Park.

204 Lakeview, Pointe Claire South. 514-695-3337.
www.cedarparkunited.org

Minister's Message: Living With Emptiness

Living with Emptiness (and an empty fridge)

When I opened the door to the Self-Serve fridge/Libre Frigo yesterday, it was empty. It’s the very first time I saw people opening it to find nothing on its shelves.

We started this fridge as a way of sharing with community from our abundance. We hoped that others would bring and put into the fridge from their kitchens as well. It’s a great idea. But offering free food seems easier than educating about how we all contribute to the wider good.

Giving free food to a family in need is easier than having the conversation to actually listen to their needs, to sit across the table and hear their story. Converting to healthy choices is more difficult than accepting the status quo. What do we hear from an empty fridge? 

We affirm a vision of food for all and are grateful for all that we do. 

SouthWest is where:

-we offer a place of belonging and room at all our table gatherings
-we benefit from a professional cook and a team of volunteers in the kitchen
-we transform the donations we receive from Harvest Montréal ($19,000 in value in a year) into community meals on Wednesday and Messy Church
-we support the Mini Market as a sustainable access to fresh fruits and vegetables, at cost, for the community  

SouthWest is about community helping community. We welcome all, we offer what we can and invite all into a circle of grace, hope and love. We follow the example of Jesus in our radical hospitality. 

SouthWest is also accepting emptiness, accepting that our financial and human resources have limits. Our energies cannot be everywhere nor can we do everything. 

The empty fridge may be a gentle reminder to us that it is only in engaging in conversation our membership, adherents and those receiving our services that we will find the way forward. We need everyone contributing with monies, ideas, time, focus and a vision of a generous table. 

Let’s put what we can in the community fridge but stay focused on sustainability: building a transformative community is a costly enterprise. It needs both vison and the means to fund that vision. This is our present challenge and needs all of our help. 

In Mary's song of praise she sings:

My heart sings praises to the Lord//God has filled the hungry with good things//
God has kept the promises made to our ancestors//and showed mercy. 
(extracts from Luke 1: 46-55)

May we feel our hunger God, our emptiness, so you may fill us with good things! 

Rev. David 

Invitation au conseil général de l'Église Unie du Canada

1 mai 2018

À vous membres de la famille de l’Église Unie,

Un évènement particulier se déroulera cette année dans le cadre du 43e Conseil général, un événement auquel vous et votre paroisse êtes invités. Pour l’occasion, le culte d’ouverture aura lieu le dimanche 22 juillet, à compter de 10 h, heure avancée de l’Est. 

Nous invitons nos visiteurs provenant des quatre coins du Canada à se joindre à nous pour cette célébration, et nous lançons de plus une invitation toute particulière aux paroisses et aux communautés ecclésiales d’Oshawa, Ontario, et des environs. Si vous le pouvez, envisagez de relocaliser votre culte du dimanche matin et venez rejoindre les personnes déléguées à l’assemblée du Conseil général, les visiteurs et les invités internationaux et œcuméniques à Oshawa. Imaginez-vous l’expérience merveilleuse d’être portés par le chant et la prière de près de 2 000 personnes! 

Cette assemblée du Conseil général est organisée conjointement par le Synode autochtone et le Synode Baie-de-Quinte. Cette collaboration particulière sera manifeste tout au long de la semaine et s’incarnera en beauté lors des divers cultes d’ouverture. 

Si vous ne pouvez assister en personne à ce culte d’ouverture du 43e CG, vous aurez néanmoins la possibilité d’en suivre le déroulement en direct sur la United Church YouTube channel [en anglais seulement]. 

Alors, célébrons ensemble la présence de Dieu!

Vous êtes également invités à participer à un nouveau volet de ce 43e CG, le Festival of Faith [Festival de la foi]. Samedi le 21 et le dimanche 22 juillet, tout au long de la journée, divers événements vous seront proposés : concerts, présentoirs, ateliers, kiosques d’artisanat et animation sympathique pour célébrer les merveilles de notre foi et la riche diversité de notre Église. Le culte d’ouverture du dimanche matin 22 juillet n’est qu’un des éléments de cette fin de semaine d’animation.    

L’assemblée du 43e Conseil général se déroulera sur le campus de l’University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), situé au 2000, Simcoe St. North, à Oshawa, en Ontario, du samedi 21 juillet au vendredi 27 juillet. 

Nous espérons que vous pourrez nous rejoindre sur place, ou à défaut en ligne, à certains moments ou tout au long de cette semaine passionnante. Et nous confions à votre prière fervente, au fil des jours, toutes les personnes déléguées qui s’efforceront de discerner et de répondre à l’appel de Dieu pour ce moment de la vie de notre Église. 

Puisse Dieu continuer de vous bénir, ainsi que votre communauté de foi dans votre mission, le ministère du Christ auprès de votre prochain dans les milieux qui sont les vôtres. 

Que la paix et la grâce demeurent avec vous,

Jordan Cantwell
Modératrice
L’Église Unie du Canada

Invitation to Worship at General Council

May 1, 2018

Dear United Church family,

Something special is happening at the 43rd General Council this year, and you and your congregation are invited! The opening worship service is being held on Sunday, July 22, starting at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

We are inviting visitors from across Canada to join us for worship, with a special invitation to the churches in and nearby Oshawa, Ontario. Please consider relocating your worship service that morning and join General Council commissioners, visitors, and international and ecumenical guests in Oshawa. Imagine how wonderful it would be to sing and pray with up to 2,000 people!

This General Council is being co-hosted by All Native Circle and Bay of Quinte Conferences. This unique collaboration will be reflected throughout the week and will be beautifully embodied in our opening celebrations. 

If you are unable to attend the opening worship in person, consider following along online with the livestream from GC43 on the United Church YouTube channel.

Let’s celebrate God’s presence together!

You are also invited to another new feature for GC43 called the Festival of Faith. All day Saturday, July 21, and Sunday, July 22, there will be events, concerts, displays, workshops, artisans, and fun as we celebrate the wonderful faith and diversity of our church. The mass opening worship service on Sunday morning is just one feature of the weekend.

The 43rd General Council is being held on the campus of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) located at 2000 Simcoe St. North, Oshawa, Ontario, from Saturday, July 21, through Friday, July 27.

We hope you will be able to join us in person or online for some or all of this exciting week. And we trust that you will be holding all of the commissioners in prayer throughout the week as we seek to discern and respond to God’s call to the church at this time.

May God continue to bless you and your faith community as you carry out the mission and ministry of Christ where you are among your neighbours.

Peace and grace to you,

Jordan Cantwell
Moderator/Modératrice
The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada

Minister's Message: Future Directions

SouthWest's annual meeting was not only a recognition of the work of 2017 but also an opportunity to speak openly about its future. The investment from the sale of Verdun United is being slowly depleted and if we make no change to current spending there will be no more monies in it by mid 2019. A short report called Future Directions 2018 recognized that last year our income was $90,000 short of our expenses.
I remember the conversations and deep emotions as Crawford Park and Verdun United faced the realities of their future and decided for amalgamation in 2007.
Our Mission Plan opened us to our wider community and incarnated a generous gospel in our words and deeds. We are not the same as we were 10 years ago. We are living a vibrant model of outreach and are evolving into something different as a community of faith. How do we fund our vision? What is God leading us to become? Where will we be next year?
Doing nothing is not an option and concrete ideas are on the table as of the April 8th congregational meeting: sharing ministry with another congregation, evaluating the value of our existing church and manse, looking at how the Mission could be incorporated like St Columba House or Montréal City Mission, and engaging our membership, adherents and those benefiting from our services in fundraising.
I am pondering these options and praying for guidance, wisdom and the energy needed to move forward into new ways of being church, living our mission and loving all those who journey with us and need our ministry.
Pray with me as SouthWest engages in conversations, fundraising and a process of decision making.
We are a resilient community and have a deep faith that the God of our ancestors is alive and in our midst.
One of my favourite hymns says:

All my hope is firmly grounded in our great and living Lord;
who whenever I most need him, never fails to keep his word.
God I must wholly trust, God the ever good and just.
                                                  (Words, Joachim Neander, 1680, VU 654)

We were never alone, we are never alone, thanks be to God!

Rev. David

Please request a copy of the Future Directions 2018 report or the full annual reports by calling at the office.