For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ… Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
Beloved in Christ,
Here we are in the last week of the Easter Season, the season starts with the mysterious experience of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on that first Easter. At the heart of our faith is a life and love that when all hope seems lost, rises again. This is a powerful message for us, in the wake of the deaths and losses that we have been witness to in our lives, our city, our country and the world. Resurrection helps to build a bridge from fear and grief into the new life that Christ welcomes us into. We are people of the resurrection, witnesses and participants in the ongoing renewal and transformation of death to life. God is always at work bringing life from death – where have you seen God at work this week? As we enter this weekend, we invite you to keep your eyes and hearts open for Christ at work.
As our province continues to slowly lift restrictions the board and staff continue to look at what a resurrection of church life and work will look like working with both provincial guidelines and the United Church of Canada resources for communities of faith.
In the meantime, we continue to be the church and seek the building of the kingdom of God. Here are some updates on what we have been up to and what is upcoming.
– As we continue to work towards making worship meaningful and increasing participation, we are happy to announce that moving forward in worship Alexis will be offering her voice in singing and leading us in a hymn each week through the end of June when we start worshiping as Downtown United. We are grateful for her participation with us and Sharon as we seek to offer meaningful worship.
-Also in relationship to worship if you don’t have a computer at home or are not comfortable with zoom or Facebook? There is the option to use your phone to call into worship- just dial 1 438 809 7799 and enter meeting ID 422 755 131 when prompted. Please note that Long distance charges will apply unless you have a long distance plan. You will not have access to the screens or words of service, you could request a bulletin be printed and left in the purple folder at the Charlotte entrance at your request.
– We are just waiting on the final draft of the report from Daye-Kelly as they had to make a few changes, once it is back we will be circulating with a date and details around how we will host our annual meeting while complying with public health guidelines for social distancing.
– Helping people engage- we have started a pick-up box for resources to strengthen your faith. If there is something on our website that you would like access to but don’t have a way to access or print. Just call Eric in the office 458-1183 and he will make sure it gets into the purple folder for pick up at your convenience.
– This coming Wednesday will be the final week for God’s Story, Our Story bible study as Rev. Michelle takes holiday time to make last minute preparations for their baby to arrive. Join her Wednesday to explore our Pentecost scripture.
– Speaking of Pentecost we need your Pentecost pictures for next week, our special project will look rather sad without you. So print off your Pentecost flame (either to colour yourself or coloured version) http://www.stpaulsunited.ca/
-this coming Tuesday, Fredericton council for Christian ministry on Campus, Campus Ministry for short will be holding their AGM at 12:30pm online using zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
– Don’t miss evening prayer Sunday at 7pm http://zomm.us/j/863317863 and morning prayer wednesday at 10am https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
– As we move into the maternity leave period, we are still looking for people willing to preside during worship, people who would be interested in being part of a calling ministry to help connect the congregation members on a monthly -by monthly basis, and running a bible study when we are back from summer. Please prayerfully consider if one of these ministries was meant for you. Rev. Richard rev.bowley@outlook.com or Rev. Michelle michellenarmstrong@hotmail.com
-Contacting Your Ministers – while your ministry team is hard at work developing worship, leading prayer services, and facilitating Bible and faith discussion, we are still here for you when you need us. Don’t hesitate to call or email us if you are in need of someone to talk to or pray with. Our phone numbers are: Rev. Michelle: (506)259-7602, Rev. Richard: (506)262-2150, and our emails are: Rev. Michelle: michellenarmstrong@hotmail.com
This week’s scripture has Paul continuing to address the Corinthians ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-26, 51-57) in this biblical writing that predates the writing of the scriptures we have a confessional creedal statement about Christ’s life, death and resurrection. These words of faith bring us together in a statement of belief that brings us together with all others who have come before and with whom we live our faith currently. It also reminds us that we are bound to Christ and each other, forever. A bold statement when so many of us feel so scattered. We hope that you will be able to join us for worship. Through Zoom or phone. As we wait with anticipation to join together again in worship let us pray:
You Christ, are the first born of creation,
raised to new life ahead of us,
you not only show us the way,
but you have made it all possible,
help us to live boldly the promise that beyond death,
we will find abundant life.
May we live as people already blessed and wrapped in God’s promise,
because through you we are.
Join us more fully with the resurrected life, this we pray
with passion in your strong name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Yours in Christ
Rev. Michelle and Rev Richard