Sermon for November 14th - Flesherton Pastoral Charge

We say it every week ... Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name – THY KINGDOM COME ... Thy Kingdom Come – is simply a succinct proclamation of Jesus thology and understanding of the world. The coming of the Kingdom was foundational to all that Jesus was about and all that he believed. The pending Kingdom of God informed everything from Jesus’ approach and attitude towards the temple through to his understanding of the Messianic Banquet that would bring an end to all of time and space in Jesus’ eschatology.

The Kingdom was far more than just the apocalyptic vision of history drawing to a close – it was and remains an active and involved process. The Kingdom will come when ALL of God’s children embrace, accept, live and celebrate the values of the Kingdom and share them with one another. Jesus teachings and parables were ALL about the kingdom – a time and place not unlike that envisioned centuries earlier by prophetic voices like Isaiah’s.

Jesus proclamations about The Kingdom of God are offered in a time and place where apocalyptic voices were proclaiming the end of time was at hand, while other voices were advocating for the creation of the end times by actively engaging in violence and uprisings to help encourage its creation ... Jesus stood and said – “the Kingdom of God is like ...” and used mundane everyday examples to illuminate the need to care for one another, and to create a place of compassion, acceptance and loving faith where all people belong.

Jesus’ vision of the kingdom was not about a violent cataclyism that ends history ... but was about every day actions being offered in faith to create the world the WAY GOD WANTS IT TO BE.

For Jesus, the Kingdom was about to reveal itself – but not through some light show worthy of a 21st Century Hollywood blockbuster – but through simple individual actions of people like you and me ... The Kingdom of God and its existence or its destruction ultimately was placed in OUR hands. We would decide if it was to happen or not ... our actions would herald it or deny it ... our faith would be the determinent for its arrival or departure. The Kingdom of God was what we would or wouldn’t do.

This notion of the pending Kingdom played a significant role in Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica. Like most of his epistles, Paul wrote this letter in response to crisis unfolding in the heart of the faith community. In this case, it was a strong notion that the apocalypse was about to come. As I read commentaries about this letter, I envisioned a community with a number of folks walking about with the “end is nigh” signs on their back, warning others that the end was about to come.

The members of the Church in Thessalonica were so convinced that these doomsayers were right, that they began to neglect other aspects of their lives ... the description of this early church reminded me of the 18th Century movement that would become known as the Shakers.

So convinced that the end was at hand, members of this sect sold everything they owned, donned white cotton garments and climbed tot he top of a mountain in the Eastern US to await the rapture ... the next morning, cold, tired, hungry and poor, they came back down and tried to make sense of their apparent error ... Three times, this sect announced a date and climbed to the top of a mountain and waiting, and three times they returned the next morning to try and figure out what had happened.

Back in the 80’s I remember being handed a newspaper that proclaimed that the end of time was at hand ... the date was something like the 17th of November 1989 ... then again when I was in Theology College a Church out of Korea made the same assertion ... and if we look back to 1999, we’ll remember the Y2K phenomena that foresaw the demise of life as we know it because programmers had failed to add two digits to their computers ... and today, we have many who believe the Mayan Calendar points to the end of time in 2012 ... we can cite example after example of apocalyptic visions, and the use of fear to convince people that the end is truly at hand ...

Our reading from Isaiah arises in a time and place that seemed like the end times. The people of Israel had experienced war after war after war ... they had watched the temple fall ... they knew that just over the next hill lay yet another army ready to crush them militarily, and it was just a matter of time before ALL that they knew would be wiped away. Yet, here is Isaiah, standing before the people saying – “Don’t be afraid ... it may seem like the end of time, but God is with us ... God will restore us, God will guide us back to the place where swords are forged into plough shares, spears are reshaped into pruning hooks, and God’s Shalom is poured out upon all people ...”

Isaiah, wasn’t speaking from a place of comfort and security – but was standing in the midst of a era full of fear and apprehension and uncertainty ... there was no comfort and no security ... just fear of what was going to be ... and he stood and said – “DO NOT BE AFRAID” offering a reminder to the people that God’s presence promises a transformation in the face of this fear ...

It was fear that gripped the people of Isaiah’s world ... it was fear that gripped the people of Jesus and Paul’s world ... and ultimately, if we are wholly honest, it is fear that grips our world ... We are really no different than the folks in Isaiah’s world, or in Jesus’ world, or in the church at Thessalonica ... they ALL had the same ideas ebbing through their community, convincing people the end was at hand.

And so for the Thessalonians, Paul sat down and penned a letter to try and convince the church people of their mistake ... he wanted them to come back to some rational expression of faith ...

The greatest irony in ALL of this though, is how similar the circumstances faced by the early church is to the context in which we live ... we live in a time where many voices counsel us that the ‘end is nigh’, and want us to live in a place of selfish fear more worried about where we’re gonna end up, then about what we’re doing with our faith.

In the US in recent months, Conservative Commentator Glenn Beck has tried repeatedly to take Jim Wallis of the Sojourners Community to task for being unfaithful. Beck has said that social activism has no place in the Church, and has dubbed Churches and preachers who emphasis social action as unfaithful ... and yet, if we turn back to the words of Jesus himself – even the prayer he taught his followers, we find that social action – making a difference in THIS world was fundamental to everything Jesus proclaimed, preached, taught and was about.

Folks like Beck who denounce social action, and those who are so focused on the end times that they look BEYOND this present moment are missing a significant component of our faith ... living our faith today, in today’s world, addressing today’s issues and challenges.

Ultimately the counter balance to the uncertainty and the fear is the proclamation of the Kingdom of God because the Kingdom of God is about living our lives with faith and integrity, trusting in the very presence of God to transform the fear of this moment into the hopeful certainty of being sustained and held by the holy presence of God.

Yesterday at Presbytery we talked for a time about the need for Stewardship in the Church. We noted that often the idea of Stewardship is the annual campaign to raise money to address a need, or a budgetary short fall. We talked about becoming more aware of stewardship issues and how our faith connects to the church in more ways than just putting a few dollars on the collection plate.

I shared with a colleague my view of stewardship that when we embrace the ideas put forward by Jesus himself of the Kingdom of God found within each of us, our need for stewardship campaigns diminishes. Instead of having to appeal for time, talent and treasures each week in the Church, we instead live the notions of transformation that are foundational to our faith.

A good steward makes EVERY decision about finances and resources by considering the full impact of their decision ... as an example, the simple act of buying coffee is an act of stewardship ... we can buy the cheapest brand name, or the no-name store brand, OR we can commit to being good stewards and buy a fair trade brand that ensures 25% of our purchase price goes directly to the grower ... moreover, the fair trade companies invest in local business in the coffee growing regions, so another percentage of our purchase helps the friends and neighbours of the grower find a better life. Most fair trade companies also emphasis the use of shade grown coffee, which produces a better product, maintains more of the natural forest cover, AND encourages the presence of wildlife alongside the coffee plantations. Shade grown coffee also means fewer human interventions to prevent disease and pests, AND it offers spin off products like fruit for the grower’s family, and dried fruit or jam to be marketed and sold beyond the community ... AND many of the fair trade companies invest their profits in foundations that provide education and training for the children in these areas. In one case, the company prioritized the education of girls and young women offering them a chance at something they had never had before – a university education.

So, when we stand in the aisle of the grocery store and have to decide which coffee to buy, ALL of the factors from economic and social through to environmental should come into play, and as educated and faithful stewards we should make our decisions accordingly ...

As good stewards standing firmly in the Kingdom of God, every decision we make should be done from a perspective of faith that accepts and understands and proclaims the certainty that God’s transformation is at hand.

Unfortunately, too often we’ve gotten good at limiting, restricting, protecting and gatekeeping our faith when what we are called to do and to be, is LIVING our faith.

Living our faith out there in the real world, every day, not just here one day a week. Good stewardship begins here (heart), by embracing the idea that our faith and our compassion and our care can and will transform the world – not just our little corner – but the world.

Ultimately, we are called to become engaged believers. The idea – ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ is a call to live out our faith by being good stewards of all that God has given to us ... it’s about being active and involved, not cowering in fear waiting for the end times ... Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand – and it is you and I and what we do with our faith ...

Go into the world and BE the Kingdom of God in all that you do ...
May it be so, thanks be to God, let us pray ...

Everybody needs a sunbeam !!

In this moment ... remembrance ...

As I reflect on Remembrance Day I keep recalling the words of Oscar Romero:

Peace is not the produt of terror or fear.

Peace is not the silence of cemeteries.

Peace is not the silence of violent repression.

Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all.

Peace is dynamism.

Peace is generosity.

It is right and duty.

Today is about remembering the cost of war and violence ... it is not about wrapping everything in a patriotic flag and blithely accepting a pro-militaristic agenda ... Today is about acknowledging the profound sacrifice an entire generation made counter the evil wrought by a tyrannt, and expressing our appreciation ... Today is about recommitting to a way of peace and challenging our leaders to stop glorifying the horrors of war ...

Today is about reclaiming Shalom as more than just the absence of war ...

We Remember ...

Today, for the first time in my ministry, I was invited to lay a wreath before the Cenotaph during a Remembrance Day Service ... as I climbed the stone stairs before the simple monument that marking the sacrifice of the fallen who left this community and never returned, I thought of my Grandfather who began a similar journey not far from here when he joined the Royal Canadian Navy and left his family behind to spend 6 years in the service ... I thought of the men and women whom I have met over the years who have shared their memories, experiences and stories about their time serving God, and King (Queen) and Country in Two World Wars and the many peace keeping missions that have forged the identity of this nation ... and I thought about the first hand experiences I've been blessed to hear ranging from Afghanistan to Vimy, from the men who have been there ...

Today as I laid the wreath, I thought of the many moments that have shaped my experiences and recollections of Remembrance and I gave thanks that I have been privileged to have met so many men and women who have been part of this story and experience. I realized as I placed the wreath that none of them ever asked for respect or special treatment, but on November 11th, they each remembered quietly and reflectively the losses and the experiences they have been part of ... none of them ever called themselves heroes, and none of them expressed support of armed conflict and war as a solution ... instead they looked back, wept and remembered ...

Today it got me thinking, that we need to follow thier lead and quietly acknowledge the losses that have defined this nation, and recognize that in a time and place of Remembrance it is about recalling the fallen and nothing more ...

146 ... 147 ... 148 ... 149 ... 150 ... 151 ... 152 ...

Trooper Larry Rudd

age 26,

of the Royal Canadian Dragoons

died May 24th 2010

Sgt Martin Goudrealt

age 35

of the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment

died June 6th 2010

Sgt. James MacNeil

age 28

of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group

died June 21st 2010

Master Corporal Kristal Giesbrecht

age 34

and

Private Andrew Miller
age 21

of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group

died June 26th 2010.

Sapper Brian Collier

age 24

of the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment

died July 20th 2010.

Corporal Brian Pinksen
age 21

of the 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Newfoundland Regiment

died August 22nd 2010.

.

With thoughts and prayers

for their families,

their comrades,

and for all touched by their deaths.

.

They shall not grow old as we who remain grow old,

Age will not weary them, nor the years condemn,

at the going down of the sun, and in the morning,

We Shall Remember Them

.

We Shall Remember Them.

.

Lest We Forget.

PLEASE !!!!!

Sermon for Sunday November 7th - Remembrance Sunday

We stand in the season of Remembrance ... a significant piece of our task in this season is to hold on to the lessons of the past and place them in their proper context, offering lessons for today and tomorrow from the experiences of what once was … and the goal of marking Remembrance Day is remembering the past so we can learn how NOT to repeat it?

The challenge in drawing from the well of the past is to avoid engaging in a process of nostalgia that colours the past in warm soft tones and dubs it a “golden era” where everything was simpler and somehow better … remembrance is about recalling the past and honestly appraising its pros and cons to inform our decisions today.

Looking back on the era that we recall on November 11th, we need to remember fully the impact that world war one and two had on our society, and ultimately on us, even across the passage of time. Canadian Author Robert Collins in his retrospective work “you had to be there” looks back on the effect the Second World War had on his generation and notes:

"We were not a miltant people. We grew up with veterans of the first “great War” and their horrific experiences soured any taste we might have for battle. Yet 1 136 999 of us, men and women – 10% of the population – joined up, because it was the right, necessary and only thing to do." (page 54 – You Had to be There)

One cannot really underestimate the experience war had, but to revisit Collins, we gain an appreciation of WHY the second world war had such an impact. For starters he notes:

“we know that thousands of Canadians died wastefully, and we grieve for them. They were friends, brothers, husbands, sons and daughters. But those who fought, and the rest who served in uniform or in war plants at home, have a right to be proud. That time, that experience, has set us apart ever since.” (page 54)

Today, the impression of the Second World War has faded, and for most of us war is simply something that is viewed on our screens and in our reading material. It is something distant and far away. Even with attempts to honour our soliders and the fallen from Afghanistan, war is still something very distantly removed from our day to day lives here in Canada. We know our soldiers are serving overseas in an active combat war, and periodically we hear of casualties and deaths – but by and large it is something over there.

In World War Two, war was a reality for everyone, whether they were involved in combat or not. Inordinate numbers of men and some women served in a huge diversity of roles during the war. Ordinary citizens too were involved. At first agricultural production was ramped up and prepared for shipment to our British cousins, then came the Victory Gardens to produce food for homes and families, allowing the commercial ventures to send more to feed the troops and support network. Next came knitting socks, sewing pajamas, and baking cookies to be sent to airmen, sailors and soliders.

Collecting scrap metal, and not wasting anything became common activities, especially among children who valued the pennies they earned collecting old cars, equipment and other recyclables. The pennies in turn were used to buy Victory Bonds, War Saving Certificates and others investments that supported the war effort.
Collins notes that in 1942 rationing came into effect for everything from milk to gasoline. But his observation that alcohol was rationed to ensure our airmen had enough alcohol to supply necessary de-icing fluid to our air force so they could “avoid the icy hand of death.”

Even the role of women in society expanded dramatically in the early 1940’s with more and more women working in factories and industries that had previously been closed to them. More than the fanciful representation of Rosie the Riveter, the involvement of women in every branch of the service and at every juncture in the vast supply network meant the role of women had forever changed.

Yet, the war effort was not without its darker side ... the internment of the Japanese across the west, the establishment of Prisoner of War camps in remote corners of our nation, and the ever increasing toll of wounded, missing and fallen, meant that war was more than a grand patriotic adventure. It was as many observed – Hell ...

At a time of Remembrance we are challenged to balance our nostaligia and our revulsion and find the balance point that remembers the sacrifice of the fallen, while committing to finding a better way to deal with human conflict than all out war.

I’ve long consider it an honour to have met and heard the stories of vets from all of the conflicts Canada has been part of in the last century. I cherish the recollections of sitting with Herb, a Vimy Ridge vet who at the age of 105 was finally honoured for his service in that definitive Canadian Battle ... his story, 80 plus years removed from the actual event retold in vivid detail the days of battle that forever coloured his character and his view of the world.

I cherish the time I spent with Franklin, a simple army grunt turned poet who spent his idle hours penning poetry that captured the essence of battles he was witnessing and participating. But underlying it all was a deep cynicism that questioned the wisdom of armed conflict and proclaimed with out shame or fear the futility of war ...
There were many others ... the Mosquito pilot from Hanover who flew a plane with wings that came from the factory his father managed ... the landing craft pilot who watched helplessly as dozens of men died before his eyes in places with the familiar names of Dieppe, Scily, and Juno ... and there was a young father who lost four comrades in Afghanistan and has spent years recovering physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally from the moment that shattered when he glanced at his watch and a bomb hidden in a box of grapes detonated ...

Over and over, I have been blessed to meet men and women who have served in our military and who have quietly shared the stories of their experiences ... stories and memories of both heroism and horror, that serve to remind us that we must never forget ...

Never forgetting is not about glorifying war and wrapping everything in a patriotic fervor and ignoring the bloody horrors of war ... never forgetting is about ensuring that the sacrifices of the past are not and have not been in vain.
Never forgetting is about finding a new way of Shalom ...

Archbishop Desmond Tutu puts it well when he notes in his book “No Future without forgiveness” that:

“most of human history as a quest for that harmony, friendship and peace for which we appear to have been created. The Bible depicts it all as a God-directed campaign to recover that primordial harmony when the lion will again lie with the lamb and they will learn war no more because swords will have been beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Somewhere deep inside us we seem to know that we are destined for something better. Now and again we catch a glimpse of the better thing for which we are meant ...”

Tutu goes on to cite the examples of cleaning up after natural disasters, global responses to famine and other happenings that need help from beyond the immediate community ... the human spirit yearns for something more – something better ...

Remembrance Day – and this season of Remembrance is when we do more than embody that yearning ... Remembrance Day is when we use those memories to at actualizing that yearning ...

Franklin, a soldier in world war two gave me a book of his poetry, much of which was written on the battlefields of Europe through 1944 and 1945 ... in his later years he shared his words with me because he didn’t want the lessons he and his comrades had been part of to be lost. One of the strongest lessons Franklin learned was that in war when you die, it doesn’t matter the colour of your uniform – you’re still dead.

One late afternoon he sat on a hill side above two cemetaries in Italy – one for Allied troops, and one for German troops and watched the people of the surrounding country side come and pay their respects to the fallen on BOTH sides of the conflict that had so recently rolled through this valley, he wrote the following:

The shades of night are falling
On a cross-enstudded field
‘tis the resting place of hundreds
Of the Nazi marksmens’ yield;

While not far over yonder,
Less than half a league away
From the graveyard of the khaki,
Are the gravestones of the gray.

There’s one common soil to hold them,
Warmed by the self same sun,
And the winds that blow o’er khaki
Wails its path across the hun.

Too, the bees, by nature’s bidding,
Reckoning not from where they grow
Mix the nectar from the blossoms,
Off a friend with that of foe.

Hear the bells on hillside chapel,
Sounding out the vespers call,
Tolling out in common volume,
On the sleeping one and all.

See the peasants wending mass-ward,
Up the path at eventide,
Sign the cross with equal fervor
To the dead on either side.

Comes the stealthiest of hushes,
On this hero-strewn lea,
And the spectres of the corpses
Live in forms they used to be;

But one thing alone is lacking,
‘tis the longing to affray,
And in one forgiving mingle,
Are the Khaki and the gray.

Gone is all their warring spirit,
Followed by their martial mien,
Love has gathered in their heart-reins
Where but hatred once had been.

Lo! They speak in bated whispers
Of the grief that is to be,
With the last and western problems
And the wars near hallowed seas.

They decide in ghostly murmus,
To tender on this plea –
“Let war hatches all be sunken
In some unrelenting sea.”

So, they spake, ‘til dawning flares
Heralding in the rising sun,
Hastens on their prompt adjourning,
Sends them back from whence they’d come.

But the journey back togehter
To that haven they must go,
For He has but one lone barracks,
For the warrior, friend and foe.

Now to all the worldly salons,
Who we, from war, would save,
Pray be guided by this venture
From the land beyond the grave.

Our task of faith is to remember ... and to commit to a path of Shalom that is more than merely the absence of war ...
May it be so, thanks be to God, let us pray ...

Autumn Images ...

I was playing around with my camera and found a number of pictures ... some I took ... some that mysteriously appeared on my camera ...

These three I decided to share !! (the top two I think we taken my Ms. H ... the bottom one is mine) !

In this moment ...

The sun is shining, the temperature is rising, and it has the makings of a great day ...

This morning over coffee, I sat in the dining room and read through a stack of back issues of the United Church Observer that the church secretary had given me yesterday ... as I read over the last year and a half of articles and stories I noted a very warm and positive glow to much of what had been published. There are few articles that note the negatives the modern church is facing ... I was struck by the unrealistic portrayal of the Church that this overarching tone offers.

As I read the articles I heard the echo of Reverend Mervyn Reuber's counsel on a warm summer afternoon in 1993 ... as he reflected with me on my pending ordination, Rev. Reuber offered words I have long held as my mantra and have shared on numerous occassions:

"The church is NOT a namby pamby social club," he said bluntly, "It is not a place where warm pink fuzzy hugs are handed out to people ... it is the BODY of Christ incarnate and real in the world." He would go on to reflect what that incarnation means and how it is about living the prophetic words of generations who saw the need to comfort the afflicted while afflicting the comfortable.

I can't help but think that today in the United Church of Canada the official status quo operating within our denomination is about comforting the comfortable and afflicting no one, which is an affront to our heritage as a church and is counter to the Gospels.

People outside the Church - those we yearn to offer a message to, see the Church very differently than those of us who are safely sequestered within. As one who has been rejected by the Church and driven out, I have seen a very different face of the Officialdom than that which is presented to the world.

Having experienced the abuse of a toxic congregation, and a spectrum of violence against myself, my family and my ministry, I can say with honesty that I am not alone in these experiences. The Spirit has perhaps lead me to meet many others who have had similar experiences of violence, threats and abuse at the hands of "Good Church people" and yet, the common experience beyond the savagery of the experience has been the ostrich like behaviour of people in positions of power and influence.

For me, being TOLD that the anonymous report to the Childrens' Aid that I was beating my children, the slashed tires on my van, the repeated shots fired at my house, and the anonymous threats to myself and my family, were not connected to the ministry I was part of speaks volumes about the fear the officials of the Church cower behind. Sadly though, my experience is NOT unique ... others who have been treated in similar ways within the Church have experienced the same treatment by the structure of the Church that supposedly prides itself on being caring, welcoming and just. I've also met too many who have had experiences similar to mine to label us as "unique" ... and yet our experiences are also ignored and belittled !!

It is tragic that there is no where within the Church where we acknowledge much less accept and deal with the horrendous reality that in too many corners of our Church we hang signs proclaiming "All Welcome" and failing miserably to live out that inclusive welcome. When proof of this diconnect is uncovered and the drake truth of toxicity is revealed, the blame is placed firmly on the shoulders of the victim, and never on the perpetrators. Sadly, the warm pink glow MUST be maintained at all costs despite any evidence to the contrary!!

Yet, beyond the safe doors of the Church, we hear voices of those who see this stark inconsistency and the breath-taking hypocrisy and who in turn reject the Church accordingly. Within the Church, we continue to fail miserably at owning this reality that everyone else can see, and we fail to engage constructively that critique.

I liken this process to the moment at a Conference AGM when a member of the Church stood and shared his experience of rejection and marginalization within the Church and said - "we are not as welcoming nor inclusive as we think we are ..."

The response of subsequent speakers was to completely deny his PERSONAL experience and repeatedly note that he was WRONG. This betrayed the inability of the Church to accept the reality of the moment, much less our ministry ... In truth, if even ONE person feels rejected, then we are not being the inclusive community we think we are. If ONLY one person feels like an outsider, we have failed to include them, and we are NOT inclusive. To argue that the person who feels excluded is WRONG is beyond ridiculous ... and it is unfaithful !!

Yet, that is the reality of the church today ... we maintain at all costs the status quo that tells us that the Church is fine. We hold to the illusion that when clergy step up and say they feel abused and rejected, it is THEIR fault, and never the fault of a toxic congregation, or an inept denominational structure ... Regretably, when these incidents happens (and they are FAR from occassional occurences), instead of addressing the blatant hypocrisy it represents, and setting out to rectify the situation, we instead entrench the status quo, pretend there is no problem, blame the victim and continue to wring our hands about the ongoing decline of our denomination.

I've said it repeatedly, and I will never shy away from saying it - people beyond the Church can see us for who we REALLY are, they can see clearly the hypocrisy and the failings that we chose to ignore, and they have the reasonable expectation that the Body of Christ will do more than just shrug and pretend that the warm pink fuzzies of denial are enough.

People outside the Church want a Church that is relevant, and that speaks THEIR language without fear or shame. They want ministers and congregations that are real and that take seriously the need to move past the hypocrisy of saying one thing, and doing another. A Congregation that claims "ALL Welcome" then fails to grapple the abuse wrought upon those who fail to meet the status quo expectation is failing to live out its welcome. This is in turn compounded by the failure of the Greater Church to acknowledge when this happens ... and such blatant and toxic hypocrisy is what is cited by those outside the Church who feel rejected, marginalized and ostracized by a Church that in turn scratches its head and says 'why aren't people coming?'

If we are serious about survival in the modern Church we MUST OWN our negative traits and deal with them. We must confess to our sins and alter our behaviour. We must acknowledge our demons and actively work to exorcize them. To do otherwise is to simply feed the view of the Church held by many that we are irrelevant, out of touch and hypocritical.

If we are serious about the survival of the modern church, we must stop pretending that everything is fine, and the problem lies with those who don't fit the mould ... The church grows and changes when those who don't fit the mould persist in following the Spirit and embracing the radical call of the Gospel !!

Moreover, to launch a volley of abuse and criticism at those voices who speak from their personal experience, and blame them for what they've endured fails miserably to embody the heart of the Gospel that sends us into the world to love and tend the wounded ... to blame the wounded beggar at our gates for his rejection and his wounds flies in the face of the ministry Jesus left for us all ...

So, for the modern church it is time to own our darker side ... it is time to honestly do the Shadow Work that needs to be done ... and it is time to reach out beyond the status quo and engage people where they are using the language, the tools and the experiences they have ...

Today, the Church has within its hands the ability to use a myriad of tools and resources to expand our mission field beyond the comfort of the buildings we call home. Through instant messaging, twitter, facebook and the many other online resources that have become ubiquitious in the modern world, the Church has the opportunity to reach out beyond the status quo and engage people where they are, and invite them to be part of the Body of Christ as it is meant to be ... the only thing lacking today is the courage to move beyond our fear and our hesitation.

For me, my commitment to a ministry of outreach means never silencing my insistence that the Church CAN and must do better, and it also means using whatever means necessary to expand the Circle of Care beyond the immediate physical location I call home ... The Church is the incarnate body of Christ, and our job is to stop trying to impose limits and restrictions on that Incarnation.

Stay tuned ... today I had an ephiphany realization about the possibility and potential the rural church has in better utilization of online resources in sharing the welcome to those who hunger for things spiritual ... If we're gonna say "ALL WELCOME" we need to be prepared to embody what it means ... and from where I sit today, I have found a community who understands that and are willing to live it ...

Thank be to God !!!

Hello ...

Order of Service - Covenanting Service October 31st 2010 - Flesherton Pastoral Charge

OUR WORSHIP - APPROACH TOWARD GOD
*Asterisks invite all who are able to stand
Gathering Music: David Kell

Words of Welcome:
One: The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God and the
Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
ALL: AND ALSO WITH YOU

Let us quiet ourselves before God
The lighting of the Christ Candle symbolizes the presence of Christ

*Introit: Come Let Us Sing. VU 222

Opening Prayer:
One: Holy One, as we mark the heritage of our past and celebrate the
gifts offered by All the Saints, may we be a church that
is more courageous than cautious;
a church that will not merely comfort the afflicted but
afflict the comfortable;
a church that will not only love the world but
also judge the world;
a church that will not only pursue peace but also demand justice;
a church that will not remain silent when
people are calling for a voice;
a church that will not pass by on the other side
when wounded humanity is waiting to be healed;
a church that will both call us to worship and
send us out to witness;
a church that will follow Christ even when
the way points to a cross.
ALL: Holy One, as your church, we offer ourselves in the name
of the one who loved us and gave themselves for us. AMEN

CELEBRATION OF THE NEW MINISTRY
Presentation:
Presider: We are gathered here in the presence of God to celebrate a
new ministry and to covenant together for the service of God in this place.

Member of the pastoral charge: We present The Reverend Shawn
Ankenmann who has been called to a ministry of Word and Sacrament and Pastoral Care in Flesherton Pastoral Charge. We believe he is qualified and has been prayerfully and lawfully selected.

Presider addressing the new minister
Shawn, you are here in response to the call of Flesherton Pastoral Charge and by the action of Northern Waters Presbytery and Toronto Conference. We come together to mark a new relationship among you, the presbytery, and the pastoral charge.
May the God who has given us the will to do these things give us the power and grace to perform them.

*Hymn: In the Bulb There is a Flower VU 703

SERVICE OF THE WORD
After the lessons the reader may say, The Word of the Lord.
And the people say, Thanks be to God.

Hebrew Scriptures: Jeremiah 18:1-6
Epistle Lesson: Phillipians 4:4-9
Gospel Reading: Luke 4:16-21

*Hymn/Psalm: Make a Joyful Noise VU 820

Sermon: “A Toolkit for New Ministry”
The Reverend David Shearman

*Hymn: I, The Lord of Sea and Sky VU 509
COVENANTING ACTION

Renewal of Baptismal Faith:One: Let us stand and join in a statement of our communal faith.

ALL: We are not alone,
we live in God's world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church;
to celebrate God's presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone,
Thanks be to God. Amen

Statement of this New Ministry:

Presider: Shawn, you are about to undertake the ministry of Word,
Sacrament, and Pastoral Care in this place.
You, the members of this pastoral charge are called to join
Shawn in worship, study, prayer, and action.
We, the presbytery, will be responsible for the oversight of this
ministry. Let us ask for God's grace as we covenant together this day. Let us pray:
ALL: Gracious God, by our baptism you have called us
to Christ's ministry; pour out your Holy Spirit
upon us as we commit ourselves to work
together in Christ's name. Amen

Promises of the New Minister:
Shawn, do you, in the presence of this congregation, commit yourself
to this new trust and responsibility?
New Minister: I do.
Will you accept the discipline of the presbytery and, together with its
other members, be responsible for the oversight of the church's life?
New Minister: I will.
Will you accept the support and encouragement of this pastoral charge and this presbytery?
New Minister: I will.

Promises of the Pastoral Charge:
The members of the pastoral charge shall stand.
Will you join with Shawn in a ministry of worship, study, prayer, and action within this pastoral charge and in the world?
Members of the pastoral charge: We will.

Will you support him/her as he/she serves among you in this ministry?
Members of the pastoral charge: We will.

Promises of the Presbytery:
Members of the presbytery shall stand.
Will you, as members of Northern Waters Presbytery, join with Shawn
and the People of Flesherton Pastoral charge in the ministry that is both theirs and ours?
Presbytery members We will.

Will you exercise oversight for their work and witness, support and encourage them in this ministry?
Presbytery members We will.

Presentation of Symbols:Take this Bible. Be among us as one who teaches
and proclaims the Word.
People: Amen
The new minister places the Bible on the pulpit or lectern.

Take this pitcher of water and be among us as one
who baptizes in the name of Christ.
People: Amen
The new minister pours the water into the font.

Take this bread and cup and be among us as one who breaks the bread
and blesses the cup, caring for those who hunger and thirst.
People: Amen
The new minister places the bread and wine upon the table.

Take this computer and atlas, be among us as one who is available
within this community and to the greater world around us.
People: Amen
The new minister places the computer and atlas upon the table.

Take this coffee cup and be among us as one who shares
our stories and joins in our fellowship.
People: Amen
The new minister places the coffee mug upon the table.

Take this puppet and be among us as one who celebrates
the Love of God to all people with joyfulness and play.
People: Amen
The new minister places the puppet upon the table.

Take this Manual and be among us as one who affirms and
strengthens our place within this United Church of ours.
People: Amen
The new minister places the Manual upon the table.

Presider: Shawn and the people of Eugenia and St John’s United
Churches, who are together the Flesherton Pastoral Charge, let these be signs of the ministry that is ours and yours in this place and to your community.
People: AMEN

New Minister’s Prayer for the People:
One: Holy One, we gather before you as Your Church,
Trusting in the gift of grace claimed through our prayers …
Hear us as we pray for ourselves, and for ALL your children …
Today, in this time and in this place,
We pray for children
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those
who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can’t find any bread to steal,
who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
whose monsters are real.
We pray for children
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed
and never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at
and whose smiles can make us cry.
And we pray for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren’t spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for children who want to be carried
and for those who must be,
for those we never give up on,
and for those who don’t get a second chance.
For those we smother with attention
and for those who will grab the hand of anybody
kind enough to offer it.
O God, we pray for all your children. Most gracious God,
we pray for your Church throughout the world.
Fill it with all truth,
and with all peace. we offer ourselves
in the name of the one who loved us and gave of himself for us,
In the name of the Risen One, we pray. AMEN.


Response to the Covenant

Passing of the Peace:
Presider: Many grains are gathered to make the loaf we share,
many grapes are mixed to craft the wine we pour out,
and so we, who are many and who come from many places,
are made one in Christ.
May the peace of Christ be with you as we rejoice
in the covenant we have made this day.
Let us greet one another with the sign of peace...

* Hymn: Jesus You Have Come to the Lakeshore VU 563

Offering:
The money collected during today’s service will be
divided and shared a family who have been facing a pastoral care crisis to help in unexpected expenses they are facing, and with the Pastoral Care Chaplaincy with Grey Bruce Health Services.

Offering Hymn: “We Praise You O God” VU 218
We praise you, O God, Our Redeemer, Creator
In grateful devotion our tribute we bring.
We lay it before You, we kneel and adore You;
We bless Your Holy Name, glad praises we sing.
Offering Prayer:

SERVICE OF THE TABLE

The Invitation:The table of bread and wine is now to be made ready.
It is the table of company with Jesus, and all who love him.
It is the table of sharing with the poor of the world,
and all those whom Jesus identified himself with.
It is the table of communion with the earth,
in which Christ became incarnate.
So, come to this table, you who have much faith,
and you who would like to have more;
You who have been here often,
and you who have not been for a long time;
You who have tried to follow Jesus,
and you who have failed;
Come. It is Christ who invites us to meet him here

As we join together offering the prayer:
Voices United page 959
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. AMEN

The Story of The Last Supper:
Blessed is our brother Jesus, who walks with us on the road
of our world’s suffering, and who is know to us
in the breaking of the bread.
On the night of his arrest, Jesus took bread and having
blessed it, he broke the bread and gave it
to his disciples saying, ‘This is my body, given to you.’
In the same way he took wine and having given thanks for it,
he poured it out and gave the cup to his disciples, saying, ‘This cup is the new relationship with God, sealed with my blood. Take this and share it. I shall drink with you next in the coming Kingdom of God.’

Let us pray:
Loving God, through your goodness we have this bread
and wine to offer, which earth has given us, and which human hands have made.
May we know Your Presence in the sharing of the
bread, so that we may you’re your touch in
all bread, and all matter.
We celebrate the life that Jesus has shared among his
community through the centuries, and shares with us now, made one in Christ, and one with each other, we offer these gifts and with them ourselves as a single, holy and living sacrifice. AMEN

The Great Thanksgiving:

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts,
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.

We offer you our praise Dear God, with hearts lifted high,
for in the fellowship of your love
Christ comes close to us and we come close to Christ.
Therefore with the whole realm of nature around us,
with earth, sea and sky we sing to you.
With the angels of light who envelop us,
with Michael and the host of heaven,
with all the saints before and beside us,
with our brothers and sisters of everytime and place,
With our family east, west, north and south, we sing to you,
and with our loved ones, separate from us now,
who yet in this mystery are still close to us,
we join in the song of your unending praise:

Holy, holy, holy, God,
Power of life and love!
Heaven and earth are full of your glory!
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who comes
In the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!

Hear us, O Christ, and breath your Spirit upon us
and upon this bread and wine.
May they become for us Your Body, vibrant with your life,
healing, renewing and making us whole.
And as bread and wine which we now eat and drink,
are changed into us, may we be changed again into you, bone of your bone, flesh of your flesh,
loving and caring in the world. AMEN.
Christ has died.
Christ is Risen.
Christ will come again.

The Sharing of the Bread and the Cup:

Behold, the Body of Christ is broken for the life of the world.
He is Christ coming to us in bread and in wine,
The Gifts of God for the People of God.
Come the table is ready …

Hymn: Eat This Bread and Never Hunger VU 471
The hymn will be sung while we are seated
& receiving the elements. It shall be repeated until all are served.

Prayer after Communion:Let us pray:
For the bread we have eaten, for the wine we have tasted,
for the life we have received, we thank you God.
Grant that what we have done and have been given here,
may so put its mark on us,
that it may remain always in our hearts.
Grant that we may grow in Christian love and
understanding, and that ours may be lives of
faithful action, in Christ’s name. Amen.

We Go Forth Into The World

*Hymn: May the God of Hope Go With Us VU 424
Benediction:
Choral Response: Amen, Amen, Hallelujah, Amen (VU 974)

In this moment ...

I want to describe the feelings that are still left within me, from yesterday's Covenanting Service, and put to words the 'wow' that is still ringing within me ...

It was a beautiful service. Brian Nicholson did a fantastic job presiding on behalf of Presbytery, and David Shearman's sermon was simply awesome!! The liturgy, the message, the music, and the fellowship capped off a fabulous day of celebrating being Church, and affirming the ministry that is unfolding in this place.

There are many thanks to be offered ... Brian and David for thier part in the service, to the folks of both Eugenia and St John's Churches for thier many contributions to the service, and to the folks who filled the Church and the hall with laughter, and fellowship ... it was an amazing day, and it was an amazing way to mark the beginning of this Ministry Covenant.

The feelings of 'wow' are still rolling within me, and hopefully in the community too !!!

It is moments like this that make ministry worthwhile!! And it is moments like this that help to affirm the healing that is part of my journey, and set right the Karma scale that has been out of whack for too long in my journey within the Church.

In this moment ...

The day seemingly ends where it began ... sitting at the dining room table at the lap top ...

And oh what a day it has been ... the Anniversary Service for St John's United followed by a lunch with food in abundance !!! Along with cakes that Ms H and her new BF created on Friday night during their sleep over, it was a feast that strained tables and tummies !

Then at 2:30 we gathered in the sanctuary to continue our day of celebration as Brian Nicholson and Rev. David Shearman presided at a Covenanting Service between the folks of the Flesherton Pastoral Charge, Northern Waters Presbytery and myself ... Brian came as the Presbytery rep presiding over the service, and David came to preach ... I feel honoured to call both men friends ... David since my first forays on the pre-internet ECUNET forums ... and Brian since my time of serving on the Board of FairHaven United Church homes in Vancouver and Burnaby ... they are colleagues and friends, and together we marked the new Covenant here with a liturgy full of joy in its fullest sense.

The service ended with a second lunch downstairs which had more food and more cake!!

Late in the afternoon as the shadows were lengthening and the evening was drawing near, I came home and started setting up the Halloween decorations in anticipation and preparation for the trick'r'treaters that were due to arrive ... with some help we got everything ready despite the intermitent snow, and by sundown the front yard looked fantastically spook-tacular!!!

Dinner of white chili (YUMMY !!!!!) came in fits and spurts between handing out buckets of candy !!! ... then when all had quieted down, yet more cake was served - this time to belatedly mark a 13th Birthday that had come earlier in the month ...

Looking back from here to where my day began ... I can only say it was a very good day filled with laughter, a few tears, and many more memorable moments with friends both old and new ... it was a beautiful way to mark the day, and tonight I am truly grateful for all of it !!

Good night ... and once again: Happy Halloween !!

Sermon for October 31st 2010 - Anniversary Sunday for St John's United Church, Flesherton Ontario

The story of Jesus Christ is this:
The people of this earth waited for a Messiah ... a Saviour ...
and only God would send a little baby king.
The child grew and began to question things as they were,
and ther man moved through his days and through this world,
questioning the system of kings and priests and marketplace.
He was called the New Creation, the New Covenant, the son of God,
who brought to all who listened, who saw, who understood
change and new life.
But Kings and corporations and churches of this world work very hard
to keep things as they are out into forever – AMEN.
And so they killed him, he who said Love one another
he who said feed my sheep.
For they didn’t want to share their bread and their wine.
Now the story should have ended there
except that the story has always been
that our God is the God of the Covenant.
The Good News is that in spite of our faithfulness - God is faithful,
And Jesus Christ was resurrected for God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoever believed might have everlasting life.
Listen you who have ears to hear,
Listen and sit down to bread and wine with strangers.
Feed his sheep ... love one another, and claim new life in his name.


We are those who are part of the story and heritage of this place – this congregation, this community, this building – this gathering we call The Church, who are here to claim and to share and most of all, to celebrate the new life offered in the name of the Risen Christ ...

For 148 years, a Church community has been part of the fabric of the community of Flesherton. 133 years in this building, going through the many changes and challenges that have been part of the history and heritage and the story of this place ... and oh, what a story it is ...

I spent part of this past week digging through drawers and cupboards in the offices and the upstairs fellowship room, and I unearthed a few wonderful treasures that provide a glimpse into the history of this place, and some of the happenings that have created this community of faith ...

It started with a reference to the first visits by the Methodist Circuit rider who was assigned to this area in 1850 ... it was noted in a brief history compiled my Irene Field that The Reverend S. Brownell came “with his library and toilet arrangements on his back” and travelled up and down the lines ministering to the people ... while most of his services were held in houses and school houses in the area, his very first communion – divine service – was held at Munshaw’s Bar !!

The building of the first timber framed Church which was located downtown not far from the current stop lights, began in 1860, and services were held in the building before its completion in 1861.

In 1874 the two Methodist groups – the Wesleyans and the New Connexion joined as one, and began dreaming of the future. In early 1877 the decision was made to build a new 40’ x 60’ foot brick building on a lot of land purchased from Mr Flesher himself.

History tells us that the corner stone was laid on May 24th 1877 and with 110,000 bricks made by Thomas Bowler of The East Backline and sold for $7 per thousand. Then rounding out the costs was brick laying at $3 per 1000, $150 dollars for the stone basement, $120 for window glazing, $75 for hardware (I don’t think the Duncan’s were in the hardware biz yet though), $300 for the roof, and 8000 board feet of lumber ... On November 11th 1877 the new building was opened and dedicated.

The services and celebration of dedication spanned two weeks of happenings – not unlike the 50th Anniversary service held in 1937. One significant footnote of the original dedication service was the delivery of the sermon by The Rev. Dr. Egerton Ryerson, the grand old man of Canadian Methodism in Upper Canada and the Province of Ontario ... Having Ryerson come here is a notable occasion.

I did a quick study of Ryerson’s life and learned quite a lot ... in 1836 he founded Upper Canada Academy in Coburg, in 1841 he became principal of Victoria College in Toronto, and in 1847 he founded The Normal School in St James Square in Toronto, which today is part of the University that bears Ryerson’s name.

Ryerson also founded the Christian Guardian in 1829, which would in time form the foundation of the modern United Church publication – The Observer, and in 1844 he became the superintendent of education for the Province of Upper Canada, a position he held until his retirement in 1876. As superintendent Ryerson was responsible for the establishment of the various School Acts that established Ontario’s education system as a world leader in revolutionary education innovation that has many aspects continuing to this day in our schools.

Having The Rev. Dr. Ryerson come to preside at the dedication services for this building is astounding – his term as Superintendent of Education had ended, and his tenure as President of the Methodist Church in Canada was winding down ... and here he stood marking the opening of this building !!

These people who lived six generations back and I(Us) ...
We are linked forever throughout history.
We are the flesh of their flesh, but even more,
We are the heart of their hearts,
For who they are, they gave away to those of us who followed ...
And the children of Israel (back generation after generation after generation)
And I are linked together throughout eternity,
For in the beginning was the Word
And through time the Word is spoken.
Those who hear the story live abundantly,
The love of God written on their hearts ...

Yet, as great as that moment might have been – as significant as the opening of this beautiful building was – it was merely the beginning of a new chapter in the life and work of this faith community ... After the building opened, the ministry of the faith community continued.

Digging in the drawers I found some other interesting tidbits of our history – our story ...

In 1898, the Womans’ Missionary Society of St John’s marked the death of Mr Flesher by sending his widow a beautiful letter that reads in part, “When we think of your dear husband’s constant Christian life, we feel assured that he has entered the holy of holies and beholds the King in his beauty and while you are left to mourn his loss – yet you have the unspeakable comfort of knowing that your loss is his gain. Earnestly, we petition our Father to comfort you in this sore bereavement and sustain you by His grace and mayyou be enabled to to claim the promises He has given to the widow and the fatherless ...”

The letter was signed by twelve members of the society.

In 1901, a letter was sent to the Trustees of the Church suggesting the placement of a private telephone line from the church to the home of J. Blackburns to allow him “to hear the gospel preached from Sabbath to Sabbath.” The letter was requesting the “most serious” approval and support of the Trustees.

Other tid-bits that turned up in my poking around in old files include the receipt issued in March of 1911, to Mr Bellamy for two years of RENT on pew #6 for the sum of $5. As I read this, I thought of the hymn ‘Come in and Sit Down’ that proudly proclaims – “no body here has a claim on a pew.” Apparently, that wasn’t the case in the past ... you not only claimed a pew, you paid rent for the privilege of USING a pew !

In September of 1888, a Mr Fred Ryder tendered for the construction of a new parsonage that was located at the corner of what is now Toronto Rd and Campbell St, where the Bell Canada building now stands ... Mr Ryder estimated it would take 12000 bricks, 60 bushels of lime, 8 yards of sand and he would build the house for $65 dollars for his labour. On the flip side, the total cost of the house was recorded: $65 for brickwork, $80 for the bricks, $7.50 for the lime, and $4.50 for the nails. Adding to this total of $157 were the expenses of $30 for shingles, $3.00 for more nails, $8.00 for tar paper, $35 for the shingling, and $5.00 for the chimneys – rounding off the price of the house at a whooping $238.00!!

A small photo of the house taken sometime in the 1920’s noted on the reverse that the house served as a manse – parsonage until sometime in the early 1920’s when the manse behind the current legion was purchased ... to me there is something delightfully ironic at being able to stand in my kitchen and look out the site where my predecessors once called home. In truth, I wrote much of this sermon sitting at my dining room table with both the parsonage site and the church steeple visible from where I sat ...

I’ve never understood those who say they don’t need the Church.
Mine is a profound need to worship and to live ...
... in solidarity with the community of the faithful.
Of course, I can pray by myself and make decisions by myself,
but it has to be in the context of the covenant that you and I have with God.
To love mercy in the midst of the unmerciful,
to do justice in the jaws of injustice,
to be humbly aware of God’s grace
Takes constant communion with God and the community.
To me, being faithful assumes LIFE in this community
which Christ called his Church.
To me the church is home ...

This place is our home. This Church and its many stories is our home – the place we find life ... sharing the Good News is what first drew people together to form a community of faith – it is what lead them to create this magnificent structure and it is what has kept us together worshipping, ministering and living together as a faith community. The story of this place has not been lacking in its challenges and its set backs ... there are tales of fights and decisions that were less than kind in their outcome, but despite it all, or perhaps IN SPITE of it all – St John’s as a building, a community, a church and a gathering of faithful people remains part of the fabric of Flesherton, and active in its mission to the territory first claimed by Rev. Brownell with his library and toilet arrangements on his back !!

We are part of a legacy of faith that stretches across a vast distance of time and space and that continues far beyond this moment. We, like the members, adherents, and clergy who are part of the history of this place, are part of a great cloud of witnesses who have strived day by day, step by step, and week by week, to share the Good News of the Gospel with our community and our world. We are part of the story – and the story is part of us ...

In the absence of a burning bush or a blinding light or a voice that claims us,
how does one know for sure that it is God who is calling?
Of course, the question could be asked:
How does one know anything for sure?
Perhaps this is where faith comes in ...
... and hope ... and love ... and prayer without ceasing ...
I do know that when the hand of God is laid on the should of our lives
somehow we do know.
We are even given the boldness to say,
“Here am I. Send me.”

The history of this place – this people – this Church, continues ... in 140 years perhaps another generation will gather to remember the fellowship, the knitting group, the dinners, the outreach, the Sunday school programme and the many things that we do, and continue to do as The Church ... in 140 years they will dig through the drawers and cupboards of this place and use the assorted pages and papers they find to speak reverently of our work and our ministry and to give thanks that we actively chose to live the calling of faith and respond in joy to the ministry God placed in our hands ...

May it be so, thanks be to God, let us pray ...

(italicized poems are by Ann Weems and found in her book "Family Faith Stories")

In preparation ...

After an 11am service, lunch, a 2:30 covenanting, then a fellowship tea with sandwiches, goodies, and cake it was time to head home and decorate the yard for All Hallow's Eve !!

It took an hour or so to track down the various boxes and containers, and assemble SOME of the decorations in the snow ... but it was very worthwhile, and the trick'r'treaters who came by all enjoyed the decorations and their laughter and whispers as they headed off to their next stop said it was ALL worth while !!

Happy Halloween !!!!

Laughter is the best medicine ...

I hear a dear friend is having some challenges on his health front ... so, in addition to offering him up in my prayers, I would like to offer him a dose of "good medicine." ... He's a prairie boy thru and thru, and in return for his care and friendship and support, I want to post this video clip as a gift of laughter to him ...

Get better my friend !!!!
We're thinkin (and praying) for you and for your health and well-being !!!!

In the meantime - enjoy a few chuckles from the crew at Dog River's Corner Gas !!!

In this moment ...

I'm tempted to call this posting - "in real time" ... but that would risk a scathing reply or email from Katie over at "At The Half Note" for stealing her thing ... so, with a nod of respect to Katie for setting the bar, I'll continue by calling it "in this moment" instead ...

Coffee is poured ... cats are purring ... dogs are snoozing ... the house is relatively quiet ...

My sermon is done ... communion bread is ready ... and the day stands poised to begin ...

Today will be a full and busy day ... Anniversary service at 11 ... lunch at noon (or thereabouts) ... Covenanting Service at 2:30 ... then tea and fellowship ... tonight will be trick or treaters ... and along the way we quietly mark the beginning of my 44th year of life ...

Today I look back on many twists and turns ... more downs than I care to consider, and some marvelous ups ... I have some regrets, and more than a few unfulfilled dreams and aspirations ... I carry the wounds and scars of conflicts and altercations ... and yet through it all runs a faithful ribbon of hope that keeps me moving forward ... a faithful ribbon of hope that keeps me breathing ... a faithful ribbon of hope that tells me that life is about change and transformation and moving from the darkness into the light ...

Today I stand outside the tunnel for the first time in a very long time and can look back with relief and give thanks for this moment and all that is part of it ...

As the ancient prayer says - Dayenu !! Dayenu !!

In the quiet of this moment, as I consider all that is within my life, I feel blessed and content, and I can join in the chorus of 'Dayenu' !!

Is it just me or ????

Is it just me, or is it too DAMNED early for Christmas Trees to be up ???

Last night driving home from visiting my mom we noticed a house with their Christmas Tree up in their living room window ... Ms H had noticed it a week ago when we made the same trip ... Christmas is almost TWO months - THAT'S 60 DAYS - away !!! I like Christmas as well as the next person, but seriously - a Christmas tree in October !!! That strikes me as a tad ridiculous ...

UGH !!!

... and so it began,

October 31st 1967 ...

... and 43 years later, it continues !!!

Born this day ...

Musician Tom Paxton

Actor - Comedian Chris Tucker

creator of the Cabbage Patch Kid Xavier Roberts



Comedic Actor Rob Schneider



and of course,
the celebrity I am most happy to share
my birthday with:
The LATE and TRULY GREAT
John Candy !!!

Happy Hallowe'en !!!!

Hmmmm ... Coffee !!

Today my sermon is written, my bulletins for Sunday morning's Anniversary service at St John's and the afternoon covenanting service are both printed and ready to go ... I need only bake a couple of loaves of bread for the afternoon communion service ... so, for the moment I can enjoy the peace and quiet of the morning with a cup of coffee ...

I discovered a local coffee company recently, and find their dark roast whole bean product to be simply wonderful ... Ashanti Coffee Enterprises is crafted in nearby Thornbury, using beans grown in central Africa ... for those in the area - ENJOY !!! ... for those beyond the immediate area - kinda sucks to be you right now ... sorry !!!

Now back to my coffee !!!

Sermon for October 24th 2010 - 161 st Anniversary Service at Annesley United Church, Markdale Ont.

To be honest, I’m not sure what to offer by way of reflection today ... you as a congregation are marking your 161st Anniversary, and I am a relative johnny come lately to the Grey Highlands area ... while my familial roots run deep in the soil of the areas around Chesley and Desboro here, and Stratford and Shakespeare a little bit farther south, the bulk of my adult life has been spent in far flung corners of Western Canada ... I began my ministry in Southern Ontario then faced my trial by fire in the First Nations Community of Bella Coola followed by a stint in the Lower Mainland, then a small rural community just north of Brandon Manitoba ... along the way I’ve faced more than my share of ups and downs, a few twists and turns and in 2006, a fire that destroyed the 104 year old sanctuary of the Church I was then serving in Minneodsa ... for the last four years, I have been amongst the ever growing number of people who once called the United Church home, and who through a variety of reasons found themselves outside looking in, and yearning to come home ... In the spring of this year I was offered and accepted the call to Flesherton, and have figuratively and literally found my way home ...

So, for me Anniversaries are bitter sweet moments ... they are when we stand and look back and where we’ve come from, while looking forward and wondering about where we’re heading. They are a time full of memories and nostalgia as well as potential, excitement and a bit of apprehension ... I find it interesting that the lectionary offered up the readings we have today ... they celebrate God’s blessings and bounty, while also counselling us to be mindful of things spiritual ...

As one who has been outside looking in, Anniversary Sundays are a good opportunity for those within to pause and actively consider if they are actively promoting the work of the Kingdom by expanding the realm of the Church, or are they simply perpetuating the comfortable status quo by resting on our laurels and enjoying the benefits that have come from the labours of our ancestors ...

The words of Joel offer just such a challenge. They are foremost words of rejoicing and celebrating but then they end with a powerful prophecy that God’s Spirit will be poured out upon the people and our sons and daughters will prophecy, our old men shall dream dreams and our young men will see visions, and all will share in this experience of the Spirit. Couple this reading with the words of encouragement from 2nd Timothy, and the sharp comparision of the Pharisee and the tax collector, and we have a good set of readings for an Anniversary Sunday at ANY church.

The words of Joel set us up to celebrate 161 years of bounty and blessings that this faith community has been to the greater community around it ... how many teas, dinners, bazaars, and social events have accompanied the countless Communions, Worship Services, Special Holy Days, Christmas Pageants, and other liturgical events that have marked the passage of the 16 decades?? How many cups of coffee and tea have been poured and shared? How many sandwiches have been offered? How many prayers have been lifted to God?

The list goes on and on ... it is who we are and what we do ... the things from Sunday School to the Choir on Sunday right through to the cookies and muffins dropped off after a hospital stay or a death ... it is the ministry we offer and embody, and share is the abundant rain and full threshing floors that Joel proclaims so forcefully ... yet, as we stand and look back over ALL of those blessings, we MUST ALSO look forward to the work of the Spirit that is still to be done, and that is still unfolding ... the visions, and dreams – the hopes and aspirations – the things that are new and exciting as well as a bit discomforting and disconcerting ...

Today perhaps like no other time in our history as a Church we stand in a very uncertain and troubling time ... but like the 161 years – the 1932 months – the 8,372 weeks – the 58 805 days – the 1 411 326 HOURS that have come before – we WILL face whatever comes and as we have countless times since the first service was held here in this community, we will continue to be the BODY of Christ to the town of Markdale.

But in the midst of this celebration and rejoicing is where the sharpness of the warning from Jesus comes into play, and we are challenged to heed the call to a mindful and considerate faith stance ... On one hand, we have the Pharisee – a pious and righteous man coming to pray, then on the other hand we have the tax collector – a seemingly not so pious nor righteous man coming to pray ...

Jesus choses well in his contrast ... for the listener, the Pharisee is clearly a man of God, while the Tax Collector is reviled and hated by almost everyone, and you would be hard pressed to find ANYONE who would regard them as a model of virtue ...

Then Jesus delivers the coup de grace – “watch them pray” he likely whispers to his disciples ... The Pharisee stands out in the open where everyone can see him and openly offers his prayers to God KNOWING that they will be heard – KNOWING they will be answered and KNOWING that everyone around will be impressed ...

But look at the tax collector quietly standing in the corner and offering his prayers to God in secret – almost silently ... “lord have mercy on me a sinner,” says the tax collector ...

And with that, Jesus challenges the status quo ... the humble will be made great and the great will be humbled ... the church goers may be surprised ... things are not what they may seem ...

In our comfort and our complacency we may have lost our way ... we may well have become MORE like the Pharisee and less like the tax collector. We may assume that we are humble when in fact we’ve become complacent and self-righteous in our piousness ...

The point of Jesus’ contrast is to ask ourselves constantly which character are we most like ... are we like the Pharisee or are we like the Tax Collector ... after 161 years, it’s possible our comfort has forged us into a Pharisee who sits content in the knowledge that we are righteous and beloved of God ... we’ve lost the edge of humility ...

German Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer hit this when he offered the contrast between costly grace and cheap grace ... Cheap grace is the mistaken belief that we’ve earned our salvation by virtue of our family – our history – our heritage ... Cheap Grace is what happens when the Church become nothing more than a social club where like minded people gather to “be the Church” and the emphasis is on maintaining the status quo ... Costly Grace is making sacrifices to appreciate the Grace that has saved us. Costly Grace is about living the words we say so easily – ALL are welcome.

ALL – not just those we’re comfortable with – those we like – those who don’t irritate and annoy us - but ALL ...

Too often we’ve over indulged in cheap grace and we’ve forgotten the true cost of faithfilled Grace ... we’ve taken our salvation for granted and we’re in danger of exchanging our humilty for egoism ...

And that egoism is the very thing we must consciously avoid as we look back on our history and heritage. We need to be – and rightly so – proud of our past – but we can not and must not become so enamored of our past that we foolishly think that we’ve attained our salvation and our status of our own accord ... We are the children of God, loved and redeemed and transformed by GRACE into God into the Kingdom. We have done little to become and to embody the Church that we are ... and we MUST live accordingly.

Ultimately, we are simply the stewards of the many resources around us and our
calling is to share them not just with one another, but with everyone around us ...

Too often in the Church we get hung up on the unimportant things. We focus on the bricks and mortar and we get our knickers in knots over the mundane and the frivilous, when what we are called to be and to do is to embody and share the Kingdom of God in our midst ... as for me there is reserved a crown of righteousness – and not just for me, but for all ... if we are to claim our crown, why would we let the mundane things get in the way.

I’ve been through Church conflict. I’ve seen and experienced first hand what Congregations can do to each other, and to themselves ... I bear the bruises and scars of the nasty things Churches are capable of doing when they forget their calling ... the calling that in its most basic form says: we ARE the Body of Christ called to share the Gospel with the world.

In the days leading up to my ordination in 1993, The Reverend Mervyn Reuber, a then retired EUB preacher took me aside and reminded me that my roots runs deep in the EUB tradition ... the German Methodist Branch of the United Church that joined in 1968.

Reverend Reuber said that the task of the church is not to be a social club. It is not to be a place of warm pink fuzzies that make everyone feel special and comfortable. He said with a smile “the Church is the body of Christ Incarnate and REAL within the world. Our job is to go into the world and share the Gospel. To comfort the afflicted, to afflict the comfortable and in ALL things, share the Truth of the Gospel without shame or fear ...” This is the heart of costly Grace.

Too often in the Church we’ve found a comfortable place and drifted to the realm of social club ... we’ve grown confident and complacent in our faith and we’ve forgotten the transformative power of the Gospel ... we’ve lost the humility that allows us to draw before God to claim the gift of Grace and to experience fully the transformative power of the Gospel ... in addition to partaking in cheap grace, we’ve become the Pharisee who wants everyone to admire them for their piety and thier faith, and we look down upon the tax collector.

At the end of the day, we ARE the tax collector ... we are far from perfect, we are simply the recipients of God’s grace, and we draw before God with a profound sense of awe and humility that God loves even us ... Anniversary Sundays are those moments in our liturgical life when we pause and look back and rather than giving thanks like a good Pharisee overconfident in their piety, and self righteous in their faith, we bow before God and from the depth of our being offer our thanks and praise for the many blessings and bounty that God has so richly poured out upon us ... rather than strutting proudly at what a great job we’ve done, we bow our head before God and accept with humility that kiss that God places upon our head that proclaims us a beloved and cherished child of God !

Happy Anniversary Annesley United Church – may you have many many more as you live and share your faith to the community of Markdale and the people of the Grey Highlands ... you have much to be proud of in your history and heritage, but perhaps what should make you most proud is the gift of Grace you have been given to share ...

Go into the world boldly sharing the love, the mercy, the care and the faith that is embodied in your history and heritage ... you, as a people have earned the crown – wear it proudly !! Share the gift of Grace as you have for the last 161 years, and know that your greatest legacy is the sharing of that boundless and abundant grace ...

May it be so, thanks be to God, let us pray ...