St. Paul’s United Church
Our Mission: Glorifying God through Worship, Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ, and Serving Others in Christ’s name.
From the desk of Rev. Michelle…
Happy New Year! This week’s worship is our first gathering in 2024. I hope you join us. I like the beginning of the new year. It offers a natural opportunity to reflect on what has been and dream about what will be. As I take down a full calendar and hang up the blank one, I am filled with awe for what might fill the pages and the possibilities before me. It is a new chapter; we have 12 months to write it.
So, what do you hope for this year? Seeing family? Taking a trip? Retiring? Surgery to fix a medical concern? What about a profound experience of the transcendent? A deeper connection to and assurance of God’s love for you? The feeling you get when you know you are making a difference in the world or living out who you truly are?
This year will hold many every day and routine activities and special one-time events. We will fill the calendar with the moments that create our lives. I hope and pray that all of us will come to appreciate that each moment is filled with the divine, even the most mundane. Our attitudes and expectations shape our ability to experience this truth.
Our faith tradition is full of practices to help us come to know God and God’s presence. When we intentionally engage in spiritual practices or exercises, we strengthen our ability to see God in and at work in the world. Many of us easily identify and long for more burning bushes and mountaintop experiences of God, as these are hard to miss. The reality is, however, that many, if not most, of the experiences we will have of God are quieter and more subtle. Often, they are anything but earth-shaking.
For example, simple tasks, such as dishwashing, can become moments of gratitude for the food we have eaten and the ability to provide for our families. As you wipe off the leftover food, you can reflect on what in your life needs to be wiped away or the ways that God has wiped “your plate clean” giving you a fresh start. As the dishes are rinsed, and freshwater pours out of the tap, you could spend a second thinking about Jesus as living water and what that means for you.
Alternatively, if all this reflection seems like too much work, you can let the repetitive nature of tasks calm and quiet your mind. In this case, take the opposite approach and center yourself fully on what you are doing. This is a spiritual practice of presence. It quiets our often-racing minds, as our attention shifts to the movements needed to complete the task at hand. I see this practice connecting to the scripture “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has worry enough for itself” (Matthew 6:34). For me the practice of presence allows me to lay aside all the worries I carry. I have often found that this practice creates gratitude for the time to just be and renewed energy and clarity.
Faith is more about the expectation that God will show up and that God is present in the world, than a set of belief statements that one must ascribe to. As a faith community, let us foster our sense of God’s presence with us and seek to experience the awe and wonder of the divine in our midst this year.
As we head into this year and towards this weekend let us pray:
Holy God,
You prompted generations to write about their experiences of you,
You came to the world in the person of Jesus,
You gave us the Holy Spirit as your continued presence,
For all of these gifts, we give you thanks.
Be here for us, O God, as you were for those in the past.
Let us know your presence and experience your goodness!
Guide us in your way of abundant life, love, grace, and joy.
This we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
Featured In This January 4th Edition of St. Paul’s eNews
Worship This Sunday January 7th
M&P Announcement ~ Farwell Rusty
Annual Report Season Is Coming!
Church Envelopes Available For pick-Up
Fellowship Hour Servers
Warm Clothing Donations Needed!
Pantry Program
Worship At St. Andrew’s
Upcoming Dates To Remember
God’s Story, Our Story
Bible Study on Sunday Reading
Evening Small Group Faith Exploration
Worship This Sunday January 7th
Please join us Service at St. Paul’s at 10:30 am
Can’t join us in person, join us via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81834519740
Meeting ID: 818 3451 9740 Passcode: 657067
M&P Announcement ~ Farwell Rusty
Our Church Custodian, Rusty Blakely, is leaving his job at St. Paul’s on January 12th, 2024. Rusty plans to study carpentry and fine work in that area when his studies are complete. He started his work at St. Paul’s in 2021. We will miss Rusty, but we wish him all the best with his new endeavours. For those who would like to express thanks to Rusty, Ann Krause will have a signing card available before and after the service this Sunday, January 7th, 2024.
Annual Report Season Is Coming!
If you are a chair of a committee or group, it is time to start thinking about your annual report. This is the official record of what has happened in the life of our congregation during 2023. We are asking for all reports to be submitted to Meghan by January 17th, and if you could keep your report to a 2 page maximum, it would be greatly appreciated. Now is a great time to begin reflecting on what you did in 2023.
Church Envelopes Available For pick-Up 
Church envelopes are available in the Narthex or from the office. Please pop in to pick yours (and friends) up!
Fellowship Hour Servers
Thank you to everyone who has provided for our fellowship time this past fall and those who have already signed up this winter. We have a full slate of servers for January. You can help our faith community by picking one day to serve. Check the bulletin board across from the hall for available dates.
Warm Clothing Donations Needed!
Our clothing cupboard is running low on winter boots and warm jackets. Also needed are warm socks and mittens. If you have any gently used items to donate, please drop by the office. Many thanks for helping keep things warm!
Brown Bag Lunch Program
This week, the program needs proteins with flip top lids, and pudding cups. Thank you for your continued support and generosity of this program.
Pantry Program
The Pantry program needs the following items this week: canned milk, coffee, white, brown & icing sugar, pudding cups, soda crackers, Ritz crackers, vinegar, chunky soup, Hamburger Helper, oatmeal, Corn Flakes, Rice Crispies, canned corn, tin foil, waxed paper, laundry & dish detergent, Mr. Clean, and Comet. Thank you for your continued support of this increasingly busy outreach program!
Worship At St. Andrew’s
Rev. Michelle will be away on continuing education on January 21st. We have been invited to attend worship at St. Andrew’s that Sunday. This is also the first Sunday in the week for Christian Unity. What a great way to celebrate! The worship committee hopes that they will see you at St. Andrew’s on January 21st, at 11 am.
Upcoming Dates To Remember
January 7th ~ Service at 10:30 ~ Fellowship Hour hosted by Beth & Shawn Meister & Debbie West
January 10th ~ Board Meeting at 7pm
January 14th ~ Service at 10:30 ~ Fellowship Hour hosted by Lois Walker, Ann Krause and Jane Banks
January 17th ~ Annual Report Submissions Due
January 19th ~ Joint Leadership Meeting from 2-4pm
January 21st ~ Joint Service at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church at 11am
January 28th ~ Service at 10:30 ~ Fellowship Hour hosted by Mel & Barb McGuigan & Debbie Allison
February 4th ~ Service at 10:30 ~ Fellowship Hour hosted by Beth & Shawn Meister
God’s Story, Our Story
Pick up this reflection guide in the narthex to use as a home devotional or with your friends.
Bible Study on Sunday Reading
Returns January 9th from 10:45am-11:45am in the Board room. Can’t make it in person, Join by Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81736183320 Meeting ID: 817 3618 3320 Passcode: 750844
Evening Small Group Faith Exploration
Returns January 11th from 6-7pm in the Parlor. We hope you will join us.
St. Paul’s United Church
190 Years of Glorifying God through Worship, Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ, and Serving Others in Christ’s name
Contact Information
224 York St., Fredericton, NB E3B 3P1
Web: www.stpaulsunited.ca | Tel: 506-458-1183 | Email: stpaulsoffice224@gmail.com
Minister: Rev. Michelle Armstrong | Organists: Dr. Sharon Pond & Alexis Ervin
Church Administrator: Meghan Roebuck | Custodian: Rusty Blakely