WAS
By Michael Wilson Pastoral Letters November 29, 2024

 

Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking:
December 1 Worship Service Video

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

  • Join us this Sunday when our Advent 1 service will feature musical guest Jon Buller. Jon is an acclaimed contemporary Christian recording artist. For a sample of Jon’s gifts you can watch this video: Thankful

 

  • The 2025 Stewardship Campaign has begun. In light of the postal strike, we are encouraging you to look for the pledge form on our website. Information for this year’s campaign has been sent by email. It is also available in print at the church or online by clicking here: 2025 Stewardship Pledge Form; 2025 Stewardship Letter

 

  • The Manitoba Multifaith Council presents “Faith in the Public Square” with special guest Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, General Secretary, World Council of Churches to be held at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on Sunday, December 8 at 7:00 PM. An Interfaith panel discussion will include Michael Wilson. Admission is free but registration is requested through eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/faith-in-the-public-square-tickets-1076257738869?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

  • A funeral for the late Rev. Norman Velnes will be held at Charleswood United Church on Friday, December 6 at 2:00 PM. Please remember his wife Margaret and his family in your prayers this week.

 

  • Dates for your calendar (information available on our website see: Life & Work )

 

  • Monday, December 2 at 7:00 PM
    • Women’s Advent Service 7:00 PM
  • Sunday, December 8
  • Sunday, December 15
    • Advent 3 with the Winnipeg Brass Ensemble
  • Sunday, December 15
    • Care and Community Bake Sale (after worship)
  • Tuesday, December 17 at 7:00 PM
    • Blue Christmas Worship Service – special service of healing for the bereaved
  • Christmas Eve services at 5:00, 7:00, and 9:00 PM

 

Dear Friends

Welcome to worship for Sunday, December 1, 2024.

And so the season of preparation has begun. What needs to be prepared in Advent depends on what one wants to have happen.

This week the decorations went up in the church. The trees and greens abound. The Lights for Lives garland (for our Christmas memorial program) adorns the sanctuary. The Advent banners were hung in the entrance hall. The colours have been changed on the chancel. So by appearances anyway, the church is prepared.

If you are preparing to make Christmas cake then, by my mother’s tradition, you need to go to Bulk Barn and assemble the various dried fruits and nuts that are required by the recipe. If you are preparing to send out your annual Christmas letter then you must acquire a whole bunch of email addresses you never thought you would need (Ouch! Too soon?). And if you are preparing to take advantage of Black Friday sales…oops…too late!

If you are preparing to go somewhere else for Christmas, then hopefully you didn’t wait until Advent to make arrangements. If you are preparing to welcome guests into your house in just under four weeks, then it is almost time to look for the things you put away in a new place last year where they couldn’t possibly be forgotten. If you want to change the pre-set button on your car radio to the station that plays nothing but Christmas music, just ask me, I did it two weeks ago.

But if you are tired of preparing or thinking about preparing or don’t want to prepare, then there is only one thing you need to do.

Worship

As I was thinking about this week’s letter, I opened an email from Winnipeg musician Steve Bell. His opening lines extend the invitation I was hoping to offer but much more poetically:

In our current era of mass distraction, it’s hard to find a quiet time and place to let our souls settle and take in the mystery of the One “who came with love to Bethlehem, who comes with grace into our souls, and who will come again in glory at the end of the age” But there may not be more important work to do. The world so desperately needs a people at peace: a non-anxious presence sustained by the Love who promises to be with us unto the end of the age… Emmanuel!

At Charleswood United Church, we are here to offer you that quiet time and place where you can be part of that people-at-peace, the people the world so desperately needs. And we are preparing to be that place for you. The next four Sundays will once again focus on the light of hope, peace, joy, and love. We will rejoice in song, be settled by prayer, and gather at the table. On Christmas Eve, there will be a choice of worship with services at 5:00, 7:00, and 9:00.

In addition, we are offering a few more opportunities to find the quiet time and place where our souls are settled. The Women’s Advent Service on Monday, December 2 at 7:00 PM is a peaceful and nourishing gathering led by Rev. Noelle Bowles, guest ensembles True Harmony and nStyle, and a team of volunteers committed to your care. Our Blue Christmas service led by Rev. Nancy Finlayson on Tuesday, December 17 at 7:00 PM is a soft and contemplative time specifically designed for those who are experiencing sorrow and loneliness at Christmas. Where, in Nancy’s words, “we will enter into the silence and peace of the manger.” The Lights for Lives service on Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM will bring that program to a close, as the song says, “in the quiet curve of evening”.

We are preparing to be the quiet time and place you need in preparation for everything else. Please join us.

Grace and peace,

Michael

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

 

  • 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Wilson / About Author
Michael’s involvement in the wider church has included ministry with children and youth, membership on the National Division of World Outreach, supervision of campus ministry, and the Ten Days for Global Justice National Committee. He has been blessed by the opportunity to represent the United Church of Canada in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Africa on different occasions. Michael has taught at the University of Winnipeg – Faculty of Theology and is past President of the Conference of Manitoba and North Western Ontario.
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