Soup and Discussion March 18th

Sunday March 18 at the Church

You are invited to share in a bowl of soup after the 10 o’clock service. At the same time, we will gather informally to discuss what could be described as “Practical Prayer.” We are overloaded with concerns, from homelessness in our own backyard to the horrors transpiring in Syria. We face all kinds of challenges to our own history with First Nations peoples in Canada. And we are witnessing the power of American youth in their response to gun violence.

We couldn’t possibly cover all these subjects in one sitting, but perhaps this could set the model for future discussion?

Please join us.

Sarah Fraser, on behalf of
The Sunday Service Workgroup

PS: If you are able, please bring a can of tomatoes - crushed, diced, any kind! - to help re-stock the pantry at the Mission. Thank you.

Blanket exercise at Saint Columba House

Participate in the Blanket Exercise

Explore the 500 year relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through an experiential activity and conversation. This activity will have an emphasis on the Quebec context.

blanket.jpg

Wednesday March 28, 2018
6:00-8:00 pm
Maison Saint Columba House
2365 Grand Trunk, Montreal

If you are planning to attend, registration is obligatory                       by March 23rd info@saintcolumbahouse.org

Blanket Exercise facilitators: Tom Deerhouse and Lisa Byer-de Wever. The Blanket Exercise was developed by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition (ARC), one of ten ecumenical coalitions the churches brought together to form KAIROS in 2001.

 

Thank You

How Does God Speak to us?

How does God speak to us? 

Personally I attempt to discern the voice of God in many different ways:

As I pray, when I sing, as I listen to the stories of scriptures and of our elders, as I observe and interact with life. 

A Bible story:
There is the story of young Samuel who hears a voice as he sleeps in the sanctuary of God (1 Samuel 3). He believes that it is Eli the priest who is calling him. Once, twice and even three times he is called. When Eli realizes it is God calling he gives these words of response to Samuel: ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening.’ God was calling Samuel to be a prophet.

A hymn:
A familiar hymn used often as a prayer for illumination after the reading of the scriptures reminds us that beyond the sacred page is a Living Word, a living relationship with Jesus. The words are:

Break now the bread of life, Saviour to me,
as once you broke the loaves beside the sea.
Beyond the sacred page I seek you Lord,
my spirit waits for you, O Living Word.

(Mary Artmemisia Lathbury, 1877, VU 501)

A testimony:

A few weeks ago there was a contact on the SouthWest website from a young man wanting to talk about faith, the Reformed tradition and discerning God’s voice. Kevin Williamson is a francophone and wrote these words of testimony. I include them below as he sent them

- Rev. David

Comment Dieu nous parle-t-il? 

Cette question demeure complexe et nécessite une réflexion poussée. Surtout, encore faut-il commencer par mettre la main sur ce que représente Dieu pour ladite personne répondant à question. Tout d’abord, je crois que Dieu apparaît différent pour chaque personne. Dans le christianisme, nous savons que Dieu est venu sur Terre par l’entremise de Jésus. Les chrétiens s’entendent sur ce point (bien que les unitariens rejettent la trinité). Il n’en demeure pas moins que les premières représentations de Jésus ont été imaginées par des artistes byzantins du IVe siècle. De plus, les Évangiles ne décrivent jamais l’aspect physique de Jésus. Par voie de conséquence, si nous nous fions seulement à la Bible et non aux œuvres artistiques byzantines (et des peuples suivants jusqu’à nos jours), Dieu qui se représente dans Jésus est le fruit de notre imagination et de notre propre expérience (en ce qui concerne son apparence physique). Ceci est le début de la parole de Dieu à mon sens. Il compose et articule notre conscience. Il laisse libre cours à notre imagination et notre raison pour le faire vivre en nous, et ce, même s’il vit en nous. Il me parle comme de cette façon. Dans un autre ordre d’idées, nous avons tendance à voir Dieu comme une entité immense qui transcende tout et qui couvre tout. Au risque de paraître hérétique, ce n’est pas mon cas. Pour ma part, Dieu ne siège pas dans l’infiniment grand, mais plutôt l’infiniment petit. Tout part de Lui. Tout part de cette poussière cosmique qui est la force vitale. Dieu débute dans la molécule universelle de la vie, de la matière, du cosmos, du psychique, du spirituel, de l’occulte, etc. Dieu réside dans la vie qui s’empare du vivant pour le faire bouger. Dieu me parle par la vie. Par le vivant en action. Par les forces cosmiques, Il nous façonne pour nous permettre de produire et donner un sens à ce que nous devons accomplir sur terre. Nous sommes créés à son image. Nous venons de l’obscurité et la lumière s’infiltre en nous comme autant de particules vitales… pour retourner tranquillement dans l’obscurité… mais nous participons à bâtir l’éternité puisque nos atomes vont survivre puisque Dieu protège les atomes. Dieu va survivre. Notre lumière survira. 

C’est de cette façon que Dieu me parle. Il me pousse à allumer ma flamme intérieure et à prendre conscience de ma création (physique, psychique, artistique et spirituelle).  

- K. Williamson

 

Comment Dieu nous parle-t-il?

Personalement, je cherche à discerner la voix de Dieu de plusieurs façons:
Par la prière, par le chant, par l’écoute des histoires de nos aïeux (écrites dans la Bible), par les observations et les interactions de la vie, et dans le silence.

Une histoire biblique:
Dans l'histoire de Samuel (1 Samuel 3), ce jeune a entendu une voix pendant la nuit, une fois, deux fois, et même une troisième fois: ‘Samuel, Samuel!’ Comme il dormais dans le sanctuaire il croyais que c’était le prêtre Eli qui l'appelait. La troisième fois Eli recommande a Samuel de répondre à la Voix en disant: ‘parle, Seigneur, ton serviteur écoute!’ C’était la voix de Dieu qui appelait Samuel à devenir prophète.
J'aime cette prière d’ouverture de coeur et d’esprit: Parle Seigneur, j’écoute.

Un chant:
Comme un souffle fragile, (Nos Voix Unies 96), exprime de maintes manières comment la parole de Dieu nous vient. Le texte se lit comme une prière d'amour.

Refrain :
Comme un soufle fra-gi-le,
Ta parol-e se don-ne;
Comme un va-se d’ar-gi-le,
Ton amour nous fa-çon-ne.

Ta parole est murmu-re
Comme un secret d’amour,
Ta parole est blessu-re
qui nous ou-vre le jour. R

Ta parole est naissan-ce
Comme on sort de prison,
Ta parole est semen-ce
qui promet la moisson. R

Ta parole est parta-ge
Comme on cou-pe du pain,
Ta parole est passa-ge
Qui nous dit un chemin. R

(Paroles/ lyrics : P. Jacob
Musique : G. de Courrèges)

Une témoignage:
Il y a plusieurs semaines un homme m'a contacté via le site web de SouthWest. Kevin Williamson et moi nous sommes rencontrés afin de parler de la foi, la réforme, et comment on discerne comment entendre la voix de Dieu dans nos vies. Ensuite, Kevin a écrit la réflexion ci-dessous.

- Pasteur David

 

Comment Dieu nous parle-t-il? 

Cette question demeure complexe et nécessite une réflexion poussée. Surtout, encore faut-il commencer par mettre la main sur ce que représente Dieu pour ladite personne répondant à question. Tout d’abord, je crois que Dieu apparaît différent pour chaque personne. Dans le christianisme, nous savons que Dieu est venu sur Terre par l’entremise de Jésus. Les chrétiens s’entendent sur ce point (bien que les unitariens rejettent la trinité). Il n’en demeure pas moins que les premières représentations de Jésus ont été imaginées par des artistes byzantins du IVe siècle. De plus, les Évangiles ne décrivent jamais l’aspect physique de Jésus. Par voie de conséquence, si nous nous fions seulement à la Bible et non aux œuvres artistiques byzantines (et des peuples suivants jusqu’à nos jours), Dieu qui se représente dans Jésus est le fruit de notre imagination et de notre propre expérience (en ce qui concerne son apparence physique). Ceci est le début de la parole de Dieu à mon sens. Il compose et articule notre conscience. Il laisse libre cours à notre imagination et notre raison pour le faire vivre en nous, et ce, même s’il vit en nous. Il me parle comme de cette façon. Dans un autre ordre d’idées, nous avons tendance à voir Dieu comme une entité immense qui transcende tout et qui couvre tout. Au risque de paraître hérétique, ce n’est pas mon cas. Pour ma part, Dieu ne siège pas dans l’infiniment grand, mais plutôt l’infiniment petit. Tout part de Lui. Tout part de cette poussière cosmique qui est la force vitale. Dieu débute dans la molécule universelle de la vie, de la matière, du cosmos, du psychique, du spirituel, de l’occulte, etc. Dieu réside dans la vie qui s’empare du vivant pour le faire bouger. Dieu me parle par la vie. Par le vivant en action. Par les forces cosmiques, Il nous façonne pour nous permettre de produire et donner un sens à ce que nous devons accomplir sur terre. Nous sommes créés à son image. Nous venons de l’obscurité et la lumière s’infiltre en nous comme autant de particules vitales… pour retourner tranquillement dans l’obscurité… mais nous participons à bâtir l’éternité puisque nos atomes vont survivre puisque Dieu protège les atomes. Dieu va survivre. Notre lumière survira. 

C’est de cette façon que Dieu me parle. Il me pousse à allumer ma flamme intérieure et à prendre conscience de ma création (physique, psychique, artistique et spirituelle).  

- K. Williamson

New name, New Location, Same Great Camp!

My name is the Rev. Tami Spires and I am the Correspondence Secretary for our Quebec Presbytery Camp, United Spirit Camp Esprit Uni.

I would love to share with you exciting information about our upcoming Presbytery Camp to be held Sunday, June 24th–Saturday, June 30th, 2018 at Camp d'Action Biblique in beautiful Richmond, Quebec.

Our former camp name “Quebec-Sherbrooke Presbytery Camp”  reflected the regional boundaries of our camp.  As we vision to the future, it was decided by the camp committee to come up with a new camp name that reflects our mission statement where,  “We build a space which is safe, healthy and affirming with an openness to God, to encourage people to develop a sense of security and Christian community.” (United SpiritCamp webpage, 2018)

Our camp webpage can be found online at: sites.google.com/view/campunitedspirit/home 

If you click the “About Us” link on the top right hand side of the webpage, you will find all the information about our upcoming summer camp, including dates, cost, our camping groups.

Please keeping checking back regularly for updates and the link to our registration form.

You can find us on social media at:

SnapChat -“unitedspiritcam” 
Instagram -www.instagram.com/unitedspiritcamp
Facebook -United Spirit Camp Esprit Uni

If there are any questions, please reach out to us by email at campunitedspirit@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Rev. Tami Spires

Click on the button to watch a video about United Spirit Camp

Music and soup a success

Soup_cans_jpg.jpg

Thanks to everyone who came out to the special musical service last Sunday. Many thanks for all the cans etc. contributed for the soup drive. They will be much appreciated by neighbours in Verdun. Also thanks to all those who cooked and served the soup lunch that followed the service. Go Team! 

Next up from SouthWest Worship team: another soup and bread lunch and fellowship circle on March 18th following worship. More information to come.

Mini-Market March 14

Every second Wednesday you can buy fresh produce at the Mission at very competitive prices. The fruit and vegetables are delivered that morning and the market is on from 10:30AM to 3:30PM. Most items are sold by weight so you can buy as little or as much as you need. Join us next Wednesday, the 14th of March. Click on the button below to see what will be on offer this week.

Minister's Message: Elders, or, We are not alone

Last Sunday was a marathon day: I led worship and preached in three different services, back to back, that demanded focus and a lot of energy. I preached at SouthWest, Union United and St Andrew’s, Delson, led Communion at two services and celebrated a baptism. In my favour, the metro was running well and the Champlain bridge was flowing. Thank God!

Moses and Aaron and the Elders, by Marc Chagall

Moses and Aaron and the Elders, by Marc Chagall

What made this possible was the leadership in each local congregation, the elders who continued the service at SouthWest when I left early, who stood with me at the table at Union and Delson, who read, prayed, and even helped prepare the parents coming for baptism. 

I am not alone in ministry. I serve in team with leaders who make it possible to be a community of faith with each giving their talents, time, ministry..

One of the stories of the Bible describing the origins of elders is when Moses’ father-in-law suggests that elders from the tribes be named to help give leadership and lighten the tasks. (Exodus 3:16, 12: 21, 18: 13-27). The early Christian church had elders recognized in the early stages of their growth (Acts 14: 23, 15: 4, 23). One passage instructs that those who are sick ask the elders to lay hands on them and pray. (James 5: 14-15). There is strength, wisdom and greater impact when there is a leadership team!

Ministry was never meant to happen in isolation. The image of a body with many members is also true of elders whether called a session (the grouping of eldership), council, board or even a committee model that allows input, support, accountability and shared vision. Ministry needs all the colours of the rainbow prism

We live in changing times when organized religion is in decline. I believe that what we call church can transition into new expressions of Faith Communities with committed leaders at its core. I am honoured to serve with the team at SouthWest and St. Andrew’s, Delson. And if invited elsewhere to support, encourage or preach, to not stand, pray, or minister on my own. 

We are not not alone.
Thanks be to God!

Rev. David 

 

We are pilgrims on a journey, fellow travellers on the road,
we are here to help each other, walk the mile and bear the load. 

(VU 595, Richard Gillard, 1977)

Living history: stained glass windows

Jim_Jane.jpg

In the story of crossing the Jordan river into the promised land, each tribe was to bring a stone out of the riverbed and place it on the opposite bank.  These stones would stand as a reminder to future generations of how God had brought the people from slavery into a new homeland. Joshua said to the leaders of the twelve tribes, When your children ask what these stones mean tell them the story. (Joshua 4:1-7).
A few weeks ago Jim and Jane visited SouthWest during worship. Jim shared a few words about the importance of certain stained glass windows in the sanctuary and their dedication to his grandmother. These are words he sent as a witness to their importance.

In this very place on July 6th, 1963, my mother, Donna Hill, and her husband, Jim Hughes were married. Watching from the first pew were my mother's parents, Donald and Ruby Hill, who were part of the Crawford Park United community for decades. My grandmother passed away in 1966. In her honour and to her memory, Donald commissioned the design and manufacture  of the three stained glass windows that have lived in the church ever since. My wife, Jane, and I are so pleased to be part of today's service and thank you for your kind and generous welcome to Southwest!

Jim Hughes Junior
 

At SouthWest Kitchens in March

Dear Kitchen Friends ,

It’s done! The new sink and counter have been installed.
Time for you to come by and admire them!

Afternoon-tea-1000x666.jpg

YOUNG PEOPLE ALERT:
This week four young ladies between 10 and 14 years of age are participating in our first-ever March Break Cooking Day Camp, led by me and our beloved retired cook Pauline Matte. The idea is obviously for the girls to learn to cook, but personally, I find the learning process easier and more fun when I have a project or am working toward a specific goal.

This week, the young people and I have two, and you are going to want to know about them:
-       Tomorrow, Wednesday, community meal at 12:30
-       This Friday, March 9th, British-style afternoon tea, scones, finger sandwiches etc. 4PM

These two meals will be conceived, prepared and served by our lovely young people. Come support them! All are welcome, you don’t need to book ahead. Donations are gratefully accepted.

FINANCING ALERT:
I am very pleased to announce on the fly that Southwest Mission will be receiving a grant of over $10,000 from Centraide’s Projet Impact Collectif (PIC) for the Verdun borough. This nice sum will allow us to make our Welcome Wednesday lunches weekly instead of every two weeks, as well as offering more kitchen services to other community groups who need them.

We are very lucky to count more than one partner like Centraide, who believe in our mission and support our community work on a daily basis. Without them, we would have much less to offer. O gratefulness!

ACTIVITIES ALERT :
So ! Thanks to Centraide, our community meals are weekly as of right now. One week, we will serve up the three-course meal you have become accustomed to, and you will be able to avail yourself of the fresh produce for sale at our mini-market. The next week, we will offer a lighter lunch, certain to be exclusively vegetarian, with no accompanying market.

Other activities in our kitchen :
-       Tuesday March 13, 1 :30 PM: baby food workshop in partnership with CLSC de Verdun.
-       Thursday march 15, 11 h : first spring meeting of the GUSTO group, collective kitchen for seniors 65 and up.
-       Tuesday March 20, 5:00 PM: beginning of Spring session of Easy Peasy Recipes, cooking workshops for 10-12 yr-olds.
-       Wednesday March 21, 5:00 PM: beginning of Spring session of TeenCuisine, cooking workshops for teens 13 and up.
-       Friday March 23, 11 h 30 : trip to Moisson Montreal. Seeking volunteers to help unload the SUV, sort through the food donation and to participate in some quick transformation.
-       Sunday March 25, 12 h 30 : community celebration (Meli-melo) lunch and activities for the whole family.
-       Monday March 26, 4 :30 – 7PM : Centre des femmes de Verdun collective kitchen.

For details on these activities, please consult the two calendars put together by Verdun sans faim, the Verdun food security and urban agriculture round table (they appear on the Blog in a post from March 1st). Don’t hesitate to share these calendars widely.

Happy maple syrup time!

Léonore Pion
Community Cook
Kitchen coordinator, SouthWest Mission
leonore.pion@gmail.com | 
Facebook : SouthWest Kitchens / Les cuisines du Sud-Ouest

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