Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking:
Join us for Worship Sunday at 10:00 AM followed by fellowship and refreshments in the He/SheBrews Café
- Roofing Project Fundraiser – Raise the Roof is a Coffeehouse style event on Friday, September 20 at 7:00 PM. You can expect fresh coffee and beverages, pies and cakes, silent and rainbow auctions, and a whole lot of fellowship. Entertainment that evening will feature professional tenor Adam Sperry who is starring in Manitoba Underground Opera Company’s production of “Tales of Hoffmann”. Tickets are $20 and available Sundays before and after church and through the week at the church office.
- Regular church office hours 9:00 – 4:00 resume Tuesday.
- Coming Up In September:
Thursday, Sept. 5 Resumption of Senior Choir Practise – 7:30 PM
Friday, Sept. 6 September Men’s Lunch at Boston Pizza – 11:30 AM
Sunday, Sept. 8 Commencement of Church School – 10:00 AM
Tuesday, Sept. 10 Resumption of Seekers Tuesday morning Bible Study – 9:30 AM
Tuesday, Sept. 17 Senior’s Fellowship and Lunch
Presentation on Frauds and Scams by the WPS – 12:00 Noon
Friday, Sept. 20 “Raise the Roof” Coffeehouse Fundraiser – 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Sept. 25 Resumption of Still Waters, Grief Support Group – 1:30 PM
Information on these activities and more at www.charleswoodunited.org
- For news and events, please have a look at Life & Work on our website: Life and Work
Dear Friends
Welcome to worship for Sunday, September 1, 2024.
You don’t need to see all the back-to-school commercials on television to know that we have arrived at September. Many of the rituals and routines of summer will soon give way to the return of fall activities. I’m not exactly sure how many more times the lawn will need to be mowed but I suspect it is few. It’s a much more pleasant task than shovelling snow even if it is messier.
At church Labour Day weekend is a pivot point. Or should I say a transition Sunday. Monthly communion resumes after a summer hiatus but church school and choir get one last Sunday off before re-convening September 8. Our Mission and Social Action Committee are inviting us to donate to their annual school supply drive. A table full of colour pencils, glue sticks, scribblers, and more primarily for children in need at Westgrove School will be packed and distributed in the weeks to come.
Perhaps this is wishful thinking but I wonder if the beginning of September is one of the rare moments in the year when we give some thought about how we wish to spend our time. Therefore, it is a moment when we might make changes to our routines. I think this is true if we have school age children in our lives or not. If we do, then that reassessment is done almost automatically. I saw a feature on the news the other day about strategies for getting children back to a bedtime appropriate for their age and the school year. Talk about time-consciousness!!
But all of us can choose how to use our time. You may say this is the year I’m going to have a regular gym schedule. Your time may be altered by your new volunteer activity or an old one that is shifting. Or this year you bought season’s tickets to the symphony and so must adjust accordingly. Maybe you will have the grandkids on Wednesdays and that starts in September. Maybe Friday afternoons is when you go to the care home to visit your mother. Time is a precious gift and so being mindful about how to use it is a sacred responsibility.
I believe that part of my responsibility is to invite people to church. It is an invitation to include worship in the distribution of your time. I want to say that worship is time well used. To be in the safe space and company of others (including strangers). To sing. To pray. To shake a hand. To smile, ponder, think. Worship has much to offer even if it doesn’t have much in the way of an advertising budget. And if you are already spending time with us, please consider inviting someone else. Or at least extend my invitation to them.
If it is true that the beginning of September is a moment to reassess how you wish to use your time this year, please consider joining us for an hour or so on Sundays and see how it feels.
We have time for you.
Grace and peace,
Michael
- 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/ We have begun to receive donations for this summer’s Roofing Project which will be held separate from Operations and Mission & Service. Thank you for your generous support.
- Share the service with friends by forwarding this email or using this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV2veORi0Sc
- Read this week’s scripture lesson here: Mark 7:1-8