Brothers and Sisters,
Well, the first Bring a Friend to Church Sunday was a success! There was lots of food, great conversation, and fellowship to fill the hall to overflowing. Between the worship, the singing, the sharing and the caring we are, step by step, living into being a community that welcomes, invites, and engages.
Speaking of engaging, February is looking to be a busy month. Here is just a run down of some of the activities to keep in mind :
-on the evenings of February 2nd and 16th there will be Youth Group gatherings
-on February 10th the UCW will be holding their annual Casserole from 10 am to 12 pm
-For worship on February 11th we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday and will also share in communion (seated). The Children’s choir is also slated to sing during worship on this day
– on February 13th, we will be holding our annual Pancake supper. Join us at 5:45 pm for the free-will offering supper, and watch as the ministry staff compete in the third annual Pancake flip-off
-normally we would have an Ash Wednesday service, but this year it falls on Valentines day, and so we will be foregoing the regular start to Lent this year. We hope you are surrounded by love on this day and throughout the year
-following worship on Sunday, February 18th (which is the first Sunday of our Lenten journey) we will be holding our Annual Meeting. We hope that as many as able will be in attendance as we reflect on the year that was and do some forward thinking for the year ahead
-for the last full week of February we have 2 special events that focus on Stewardship. We have invited Roger Janes, Stewardship support and resource person for the Atlantic provinces in the United Church of Canada, to come and speak to St. Paul’s on the evening of Tuesday, February 20th (7 pm). If you can’t make this event, but are still interested in hearing what Roger Janes has to say, we are holding an event on the evening of Thursday, February 22nd (7 pm) that is open to the all the churches in the area interested in rebooting their stewardship programs
-finally, on the last Sunday of the month, we will have our second Bring a Friend to Church Sunday This is the last potluck fellowship until the end of April, and so we hope you are able to join us (and maybe bring someone to experience the Holy with you).
As you can see there is a lot going on over the course of this month, and so be sure to mark your calendars. We’ll give you updates and reminders as the month goes on, and we look forward to seeing you often.
Looking into next week, the women’s and men’s groups continue to meet on their respective nights to journey through the book Bullseye: Aiming to follow Jesus. The women meet Monday nights and the men on Wednesday nights, both at 7 pm.
But before much of this, we begin the month of February in worship as we gather on Sunday, February 4th at 10:30 am. There we will hear the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan Woman at the well, and we will hear as she did that the hour has come when worship should not be confined to mountain or temple, but should be lived in every moment of our lives. We would also like to remind everyone that the first Sunday of the month is Pantry Sunday, so if you have some food or around the house items to donate, those gifts would be greatly appreciated.
God of our hearts and of our very souls, we long for your love in a world that seems overwhelmed by hate and distrust. We thirst for your justice, parched as we are by injustices and prejudice that flows like a river through our lives. Guide us again to the light of your presence. Speak again your word of hope, reminding us that you are not so far off as we sometimes feel, that indeed you are as close as our next breath. We offer this and all our prayers in the strong name of Jesus Christ. AMEN
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Richard & Rev. Michelle
The bulletin is also available for download here.