Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking:
Join us for Sunday morning worship at CUC 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 an Affirming Ministry will take place in worship on Sunday, June 14 at 10:00 and be followed by our annual bar-be-cue lunch. Please set that date aside for this joyful morning.
- 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 24, 2026.
If you would like, have a look at the Pentecost window in the sanctuary of the church: https://charleswoodunited.org/pf/pentecost/
The Pentecost window is the last or southernmost window in the sanctuary. It is, by design, rather abstract, attempting to capture the essence of the Pentecost story found in Acts 2 in colour, light, texture, and symbol. Each of us will see something different in it, yet the implied message of Pentecost is that we are one.
The story unfolds of a moment in the life of the early church where everything changed, in particular the hearts and minds of those who had followed Jesus most closely. If Easter is the day that marks the transformation and new life of Jesus, then Pentecost is the day of transformation and new life for the church. Luke (the author of Acts) describes it as a howling wind and tongues of dancing fire. The most remarkable manifestation of all is that they were gathered with people from all the known world and each heard the other in their own language. Pentecost is the ultimate narrative of unity.
Some biblical interpreters have linked the story of Pentecost to that of the Tower of Babel. That pre-historical narrative from Genesis ends with God confusing the language of humankind lest we aspire to be too much like God. The people are left disconnected and confused. Pentecost is a story that re-introduces the unity that God desired in the beginning.
How is this all achieved? By the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises repeatedly that after he is gone there will be a blessing that comes to humanity. It is the same promise made by John the Baptist that after he would come one mightier, one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. It is all a way of describing that which cannot be described, of seeing that which cannot be seen. Pentecost, in all it’s iterations, announces love.
If the disciples are transformed, it is by Love. If they are newly courageous, it is by Love. If they now have a determination and purpose and mission in the world, it is to Love as they themselves have been Loved. Pentecost says that God sends Love into the world so that believers are empowered to share such Love as they have found in Jesus.
A stained glass window can’t do this justice. But it can do a better job than my words. God artfully enters our life so that we can be transformed by Love and begin to see those who are in so many ways othered, as beloved neighbours.
That is the meaning of Pentecost.
Grace and peace,
Michael
- Share the service with friends by forwarding this email or using this link: https://youtu.be/vyOW4tjT_Uo
- 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.
