Remembrance
By Michael Wilson Pastoral Letters November 7, 2025

Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking:

November 9 Worship Video

 

Join us following worship in the Van Roon Community Hall for the He/SheBrews Café.

 

 

  • Join us this Sunday for our annual Remembrance Sunday service which will include an Act of Remembrance and moment of silence.

 

Dates to Keep in Mind in the Next Month

  • Sunday, November 16                   Stewardship Sunday. Pledge forms to be returned
  • Saturday, November 22                Christmas Craft Sale and luncheon
  • Wednesday, November 26          Senior’s Fellowship Christmas Lunch
  • Saturday, November 29                Super Saturday Sundae – Children’s craft making event
  • Monday, December 1                    Women’s Advent Service 7:00 PM with reception to follow
  • Sunday, December 7                      White Gift Sunday, kick-off to hamper week with many volunteers opportunities

 

  • Hurricane Melissa Emergency Response – In horror we have witnessed the devastation that came upon Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean islands this week. While we have at times responded to such emergencies through the United Church of Canada or the Canadian FoodGrains Bank, we are recommending that the most immediate and direct response to Melissa at this time is through the Canadian Red Cross. For more information please visit: https://www.redcross.ca/

 

  • A Place At The Table – The 2026 Stewardship Campaign –One Week Left! -Third quarter statements and printed copies of our 2026 Stewardship Campaign materials are available at the church in addressed envelopes. If you would like your ¾ statement mailed to you please contact the church office. Also, pledges may be returned by email at office@charleswoodunited.org. Together we make a difference in hundreds of lives as we have done for over a century. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.

 

 

Dear Friends

 

Welcome to worship for Sunday, November 9, 2025.

 

It is one of the most poetic and evocative phrases in all of scripture. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. These words are found in Hebrews 12 verse 1. If there is any mistake about who the author is speaking of, one only needs to read chapter 11. No less than 17 saints of the Jewish tradition, mostly ancient, are referred to by name. As well as countless others by implication. A great cloud, after all, is a great cloud. Not a little puff.

 

The proverbial great cloud of witnesses is an Act of Remembrance by the writer of Hebrews. In encouraging his/her current generation, the appeal is made to remember the past, and to treasure it, for those who have gone before us remain in community with us. They inspire us. They encourage us. They surround us.

 

Arguments can be made for not having Remembrance services in church on the Sunday before November 11. Remembrance Day is unequivocally a civic and secular event. It is an opportunity for civic religion to gather, have ceremonies, and to honour the legacy of armed service personnel in our nation’s history. There is no one religious tradition that owns or speaks for Remembrance Day. I understand why some may not want to bring Remembrance Day to church. But I totally disagree.

 

There is a history that we all share in this country. Public ceremonies and observances are good and positive things. But public ceremonies are not worship. Worship takes place within the community of faith. And worship changes the way we look at and understand our history.  Our desire is not simply to remember the past and honour the living. Our hope is to be reminded once more that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, a product of God’s grace made manifest in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

 

Or another way to put it is this. Those who have gone before now live in the time without time, God’s time, eternity. As such, by God’s grace they remain with us, one in communion and company all awaiting the fulfillment of history. In a sense, the church is seizing upon  the nation’s moment for remembering on November 11 and contextualizing it into the Christian observance of All Saints Day which was November 1.

 

So this Sunday, at church, we will pause, be silent, give thanks, and remember. And then we will be lifted up, encouraged, renewed, and sent forth by the prayers, hymns, and promises which bind us together. In the sanctuary of the church, in the public spaces of our country, and in the stillness of our hearts, lest we forget we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

 

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/   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.
More posts by Michael Wilson