Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking:
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
- Pride Parade is coming up on Sunday, June 7. Once again Charleswood is a registered participant and this year we are leading the United Church congregations of the Prairie to Pine Region. If you are interested in joining our small band of paraders please speak to our coordinator Rosalie Finch on Sunday or call the church office.
- The Celebration of our becoming and Affirming Congregation will take place in worship on Sunday, June 14 and be followed by our annual bar-be-cue lunch. Please set that date aside for this joyful morning.
- Please remember the families of Ruth Epler, Gale Hume, and Richard Milne in your prayers this week as we give thanks for these members of our extended community who have recently died.
- For news and events please have a look at Life & Work on our website: Life and Work
Dear Friends
Welcome to worship for Sunday, May 17, 2026.
It is a Friday morning as I write this letter and it is kind of noisy in the church today. From the sanctuary I can hear the sound of voices singing, voices cheering, voices chanting. Today we are the host of CV Idol!!
CV stands for Community Venture which is the day program run by the Salvation Army who rents our basement Monday to Friday. In their own words they “are a network of people who strive to provide support and social inclusion to the individuals of our communities”. (https://communityventure.mb.ca/ ) This is carried out at six locations across the city. The group who meets at Charleswood is relatively small and they have long been our neighbours and friends.
But a couple of times of year all of the city’s CV programs get together for special events. Today members of the program from across Winnipeg have gathered in our church for the opportunity to live out their dreams as a pop idol. In the manner of Canadian Idol, participants take turns singing along with their favorite song, microphone headsets on and standing under the stage lights. Family, friends, and workers fill the pews cheering, clapping, and just generally celebrating each and every performance.
It sounded like such fun that I went down and sat at the back of the church for a while and took it all in. Seldom has our sanctuary been filled with such blessing!!! Here was a community fully expressing their excitement, compassion, and acceptance. Here was a moment completely devoid of judgement and utterly full of joy. Here was a sanctuary living up to the fullest measure of its definition. It was a safe space. It was a sacred space.
In so many ways this is exactly what a sanctuary is intended to be. A place where the vulnerable gather safely, surrounded and guarded by love. A place where we can be ourselves, exactly the way we were created without shame. A public space where joy and sorrow travel together. A community venture in the best sense of the word.
Grace and peace,
Michael
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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.
