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Join us for Sunday morning worship at CUC is at 10:00 AM
with the He/SheBrews Café following in the Van Roon Community Hall
- Please mark Sunday, March 15 in your calendars. The Annual General Meeting will commence immediately following a light lunch after worship. It is an important time in our life together as we look at amendments to the constitution (see below), receive financial reports, vote on nominations, and consider becoming an Affirming Congregation.
- The Annual Report has been posted on our website. You can read it here: 2025 Charleswood United Church Annual Report Hard copies will be available at the church beginning this Sunday and at the Annual Meeting March 15. Audited Financial Statements will be available from the church office beginning next week.
- In advance of our Annual Meeting on Sunday, March 15 we have posted the revisions made to our church constitution which better reflect our current practises in ministry. To read the revised constitution please click here: https://charleswoodunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/DRAFT.-CUC.-Constitution.-Final.pdf The document begins with notes to explain the changes made. Printed copies are available on request and will be provided for tables at the Annual Meeting.
Dear Friends
Welcome to worship for Sunday, March 1, 2026.
Our 2025 Annual Report was printed this week. It describes much of our life together over the year that was. It is equal parts entirely insufficient and incredibly telling. We were busy.
You may wonder how an Annual Report and the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3 inform each other. Or maybe you weren’t wondering that. But I was.
Nicodemus is an intriguing character. Appearing only in John yet mentioned three times, he is an enigma. A Pharisee who is curious if not impressed by Jesus. Coming to find Jesus by night he confesses that Jesus must have been sent by God. He says, “No one could do the signs that you do unless they were sent by God.” At least, not according to Nicodemus.
The conversation that follows is engaging as the literal-minded Nicodemus is perplexed by the metaphorical-speaking Jesus. Spirit…water….wind…rebirth. What does it all mean?!?
Nothing so far in connection to the Annual Report of Charleswood United Church. But here’s the thing. Nicodemus is a case study in the search for faith. He is searching for deeper meaning and what he finds is an invitation to follow, to wonder and to expand his heart and mind. His spiritual quest is one of breaking out of the limitations and boundaries, the definitions, of the tradition he has known and loved and entering into a new world, a new life, a new birth.
In the Annual Report, you will find the culmination of 18 months work exploring if Charleswood is ready to become an Affirming Church. That question will be put before the Annual Meeting on March 15. It is a very Nicodemus question. Are we ready to be more welcoming, more accepting, more loving than we have been before? Not because we have it all figured out but because this is what God does for people growing and deepening in faith. Renews. Restores. Re-births.
You can’t read how far we have come in a report that only covers the last year. But if you will reflect back on the time you have been part of this community, or indeed over the last generation, you will see so clearly the ways God has worked within and among us to open our hearts, minds, and arms in order to become the affirming community we are.
Nicodemus would be proud.
Grace and peace,
Michael
- For news and events, please have a look at Life & Work on our website: Life and Work
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- 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.
