Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking: https://youtu.be/uUDICYyGmWI

Join us for worship on Sundays at 10:00

• Please join us after the service in the Van Roon Community Hall for HeBrews Café, refreshments and fellowship after worship.

• Tickets for the 100^th Anniversary Spaghetti Dinner and Dance on Friday, June 16 go on sale this Sunday and will be available at the church office through the week.

• The 2023 edition of the Urban Retreats Garden Tours is all set for Saturday, June 24. This year’s event will be hosted by the United Church in Meadowood and feature gardens in South St. Vital. All proceeds support 1JustCity and West End Community Ministry. For more information please visit: https://www.1justcity.ca/garden-tour

• Michael Wilson’s book “A Pastoral Pandemic: Remaining Connected in a Time of Disconnection” is now available in store and online through CommonWord Bookstore (Canadian Mennonite University). “A Pastoral Pandemic” is a collection of letters chronicling the two years Charleswood United Church suspended in-person worship. For more information visit: https://www.commonword.ca/go/3408. A story about the book appeared in last week’s Free Press. Read it here:  https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/2023/05/06/ministers-pandemic-missives-published

Dear Friends

Welcome to worship for Sunday, May 21, 2023.

I recently read an article by Dr. Bill Kervin, professor of worship at Emmanuel College in Toronto, and one of the leading scholars of worship in our church. What was interesting was that Bill was writing about something that is not a common part of our worship tradition, extemporaneous prayer. Extemporaneous prayer is another way of saying praying without a text. Or praying from the heart. Some might call it praying without a net!

While the subject of the article was the ways we can incorporate a freer form of prayer into our worship services, I thought that everything Bill said can be applied to our personal prayer life as well. There are all kinds of ways of praying. One can read beautiful prayers from classical or contemporary sources. One can repeat or recite, aloud or within, the prayers we have committed to heart like a daily prayer or Psalm 23 or the Lord’s Prayer. Some find meaning in contemplative prayer, which is the practice of sitting still with God and focusing on listening instead of speaking. Prayer can be dance, or music, sacred space, or engagement with the earth be it still waters in a canoe or dirty hands in the garden.

It’s probably not swearing at your golf ball lest you think that anything passes for prayer. But there are many, many ways to engage the holy.

On the subject of extemporaneous prayer Kervin’s advice is this, “Take your time. Take a deep breath. Remember that prayer begins in silence; prayer is not words punctuated by silence, it is silence punctuated by words.” Beautiful.

If extemporaneous prayer is not something you have tried to nurture before, I would suggest that you do not begin by offering to pray with or for other people. Rather, try praying with words in your thoughts. But give them a pattern. Something like: Address God – Give thanks for something God has done – Bring a concern before God – Speak of the result you wish – Close the prayer.

It doesn’t need to be long. It doesn’t need to be rushed. Move slowly at first so that the silence can be honoured. Remember, prayer is not words punctuated by silence, it is silence punctuated by words.  

Grace and peace,

Michael

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• The reading for this week’s service can be found here: Acts 1:1-11

• Did you know you can support this ministry by e-transfer, automatic withdrawal (PAR), and gifted securities, in addition to weekly or monthly cheques? For Offering Information please visit: https://charleswoodunited.org/support/  Thank you for your generous support.

• For news and events please have a look at Life & Work on our website: Life and Work