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October 27 Worship Service Video

Join us for Worship Sunday at 10:00 AM followed by fellowship and refreshments in the He/SheBrews Café

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Dear Friends

Welcome to worship for Sunday, October 27, 2024.

I have often said that one of the unexpected blessings of studying at Chicago Theological Seminary was that I had to get over myself. Or to be more precise, my denomination. Having grown up in the United Church of Canada, attending a United Church Theological College, and working in UCC congregations, I obviously saw the church through the lens of my denomination. But in Chicago, not only were my fellow students unimpressed with the UCC, for the most part I had to explain to them what it was. I guess I should not have been surprised. Rick Mercer made a career out of his gag “Talking to Americans” which highlighted how much less our neighbours know about us than we do about them.

I call it a blessing because the ‘lenses’ with which we see our home church can also serve as blinders. What is the United Church of Canada? is a question that can be answered with historical reference. We are the coming together of the Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregational Churches in Canada in 1925 (our centennial is next June). In the 1960’s we added a small eastern denomination called the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB). We’re the church that almost joined with the Anglican Church of Canada in the early 70’s but it was called off at the last minute. All that is well and good as an answer but as only as long as the words Presbyterian, Methodist, and Anglican mean anything to you.

My Chicago experience, amplified by making friendships with ministers of other traditions, increased my appreciation for all the ways Christian churches come into being and try to live out their faith. I am genuinely grateful for the faith and the church of my neighbour. And I have an abundance of experiences that bear witness to this gratitude.

I studied for ministry at Toronto School of Theology which consists of seven different colleges from four different denominations. In other words I was formed in an environment designed to see grace in the other. In my personal life I enjoy attending Catholic mass when the opportunity presents itself and have learned much from that tradition which influences my understanding of worship and ministry. Some may remember my stories of worshipping in one particular Anglican church when I am on holidays. In my training I spent four months as a student intern with the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and Americans, another profound influence in my life.

As a minister at Charleswood I have regularly met with the clergy of our neighbouring Anglican, Lutheran, Mennonite, and Roman Catholic churches over the last thirty years. I had wonderful collegial relationships with Salvation Army Officers who worked as chaplains at Grace Hospital. I developed a very friendly relationship with a colleague from a local Pentecostal church. And for many years I have been involved with committees and activities at Canadian Mennonite University. In all, there is a richness to the Body of Christ waiting to be discovered outside our own specific tradition.

The adjective used to describe inter-church and sometimes inter-faith relations is ‘ecumenical’. It comes from a Greek word that means ‘the whole inhabited world’. The study or practise of ecumenism is, by design, general or broad or universal. Ecumenism is not an arena to fight for your way but a place and space to be open to the way of others.

This Sunday is Reformation Sunday and in part marks the anniversary of Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg in 1517, commonly thought of as the advent of the Protestant Reformation. It is often said that Luther had no intention to kick off a movement that would result in a Babel like collection of churches on this side of the Christian family tree. He was primarily interested in re-forming the Catholic Church in Europe. And frankly I think he would have been heartbroken by the division that has often been fostered in Protestant churches over the last 500 years. But I am glad to be a Protestant, a product of the Reformation, and a liberal protestant in particular. It is where I have found a home for my soul and I doubt I would find greater comfort anywhere else. But to think that God cares what we call ourselves is ridiculous. Jesus was concerned that we love God and love neighbour in equal measure. The sign we hang on the door couldn’t matter less.

Invariably the labels and brands of Christian churches are getting blurred anyway. And that is a good thing. I am fairly convinced that more than half of the current congregation of Charleswood United Church were at one time in their lives, worshipping in a denomination outside the United Church of Canada. But by the Spirit and the yearnings of their hearts, this has become the community they call home. We are richer for it.

What a blessing it is when we get over our differences and celebrate our unity.

Grace and peace,

Michael

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• Read this week’s scripture lesson here: Mark 10:46-52