For National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21st)

In Canada, June 21st is National Indigenous Peoples Day. In the spirit of Reconciliation, we offer the following two prayers.
 

Let us Give Thanks to Our Creator

Let us give thanks to our Creator
for the Creator is always with us.

God is with us in the call of a loon
and in the flight of an eagle.

Our Creator is with us in the changing of the seasons.

God is with us when we gather together
and when we are alone.

Our Creator is with us in our giftedness
and in our search for new understandings of ourselves,
new visions of our communities.

Let us give thanks to God, our Creator.

—A prayer from The Dancing Sun (United Church of Canada/Anglican Church of Canada).
 

We Praise You for the Sacred Fires

God, Creator and Great Mystery, we praise you for the Sacred Fires that burn today and for the prayer-filled smoke that you receive and bless. We offer our deep gratitude that the Fire’s light informs and guides our journey. We pray, just as the Elders prayed, for renewal and for the restoration of beauty to the land and its people.

We acknowledge the diverse and abundant gifts of Canada’s Indigenous Peoples. We recognize that their knowledge and wisdom have benefited generations past and present, and that this blessing will continue for generations to come. We remember the many who are committed to the healing of family, community, and nations.

We pray for Mother Earth, the waters, the winds, for our siblings the animals, birds, and fish, and all of life that surrounds us. We pray that we will walk the good Red Road of life, and that we will walk with courage, honesty, humility, love, respect, truth and wisdom.

We offer this prayer in humility and hope, and in the name, of our brother Jesus, the one who lights our path to wholeness, justice and peace. Amen.

—A prayer for Indigenous Day of Prayer by the Rev. Maggie Dieter, Executive Minister, Aboriginal Ministries and Indigenous Justice; and Bill Snow, Stoney Nakoda First Nation, Alberta, member of the Indigenous Justice and Residential School Committee.

Minister's Message: Fathers and Sons

Two of my most poignant moments on my recent pilgrimage to Israel were:
Standing to pray at the Western Wall of Lamentations in Jerusalem beside a Jewish man whose young son (4-5 years old) approached his Dad, put his hand on the wall and prayed;
A Palestinian boy (8 years old) approaching me to sell a candy bar in a public square in Bethlehem, Occupied Palestinian territory. No words were exchanged, just his eyes catching mine. We were on the other side of the humongous Israeli-built wall that excluded him and his family from the advantages of Israeli citizenship.
One wall was a sacred place of prayer, the other a separation between neighbours. I wonder how fathers explain these differences to their sons?
There was so much prayer being raised across the Holy Land, by pilgrims in Christian sites and churches, Muslims at the Dome of the Rock and in mosques, Jews in synagogue and at the Wailing Wall. Children learn from the adults around them in their formative years. Are they being taught that all prayer is helpful no matter the difference of ritual or language that names the Creator? That human needs expressed from human hearts are reaching the one heart of God, Yahweh, Allah? To these three traditional Monotheistic faiths I would add the Sikh religion which also believes in One God.
On Sunday, June 24 there is a Mobile Brunch at SouthWest and the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, both in Crawford Park. We will break bread together at both locations and neighbours can visit our places of worship and prayer. This St. Jean Baptiste Mobile Brunch celebrates the diversity of religious traditions, communities of faith and a common humanity.
It is neighbour sharing with neighbour, breaking down walls so all children can see from our example that there is a place for everyone. This gathering resonates in the story of the Good Samaritan which asks, "who is my neighbour?"
You are. They are. We are.
May our small effort to meet our neighbours be about breaking down walls and opening dialogue.
May our efforts build kind and respectful community.
May we be open to share prayers together wherever we find ourselves.
May love of neighbour root us in the core message of inclusion that we teach our children.

In our repertory of hymns there is this one that affirms:

Though ancient walls may still stand proud and racial strife be fact,
Though boundaries may be lines of hate, proclaim God's saving act!
Walls that divide are broken down, Christ is our unity!
Chains that enslave are thrown aside, Christ is our liberty! 
                                                                                         (Walter Farquharson, 1974, VU 691)

May all fathers on this year’s Father’s Day 2018 teach this truth by example.

Rev. David

Part of the wall that separates neighbours.

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