Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian & St. Paul’s United
From the desk of Rev. Michelle…
Last night at our Ash Wednesday Service we sang the song “Now Quit Your Care”, found in The Book of Praise #191 and Voices United #109. As we seek to ground ourselves in Lent this year, I am hoping we can lean into the ideas presented in this song’s second verse:
To bow the head in sackcloth and in ashes,
or rend the soul, such grief is not Lent’s goal;
but to be led to where God’s glory flashes,
God’s beauty to come near.
Make clear, make clear, make clear where truth and light appear;
make clear, make clear, make clear where truth and light appear.
Lent is a time of reflection, and recommitment, but it doesn’t have to be sad. This year, for the next 5 weeks, we will be engaging with the work of Rev. Janet Gear who wrote the book Undivided Love: Navigating Landscapes of Living Faith. Rev. Gear asserts that faith is, first and foremost, a lived experience and significantly more than assenting to specific beliefs or statements. How we live our faith can help us to understand the theologies that drive our behaviour and ground us in God.
In her work, she carefully observed congregations looking for the different ways faith was lived. Within every church there are differences in the ways people experience God’s love, different ways people seek to follow Jesus, different ways of giving glory to God, and differences in how we align our lives for the flourishing of the Spirit. The clashing of ideas on God and practice are more likely to happen when we assume everyone experiences and responds to God in the same way. Yet when one stream of theological understanding is dismissed, the church suffers, and we can unintentionally cause spiritual harm to each other.
The reality is that God created a rainbow of theological expressions, a banquet to celebrate the divine presence with us and around us. In her research, Rev. Janet Gear identified 5 different ways in which we engage the holy. Imagining them as tables in a great banquet hall, she asserts that we have a preference for which table we sit at. At our primary table, we identify with a specific way of experiencing God’s welcome and abundance. Our table also helps to shape our understanding of the purpose of the church.
Over this Lent we will be exploring one of the banquet tables each week. Above you will find an image of the different streams Rev. Gear found in her research. She has associated each of the streams with a different colour, image and title that seek to help people understand how a specific operative theology is lived out. Some of the titles that she has used have a considerable amount of negative baggage associated with them. However, I am hoping that in this season of turning around and reorientation that we will be able to embrace these ways of being church, more positively, and see the blessings in each of the theological streams.
This Lent, my goal is to help us know the diversity among us, provide words to help us understand the differences we may encounter and find ways to celebrate the whole rainbow of theological expressions that are at home in this place.
As we head into this weekend, I also want to say sorry to those who have tried to access the recording from last week’s service. We had some technical difficulties and were unable to get a recording of the service. I am hopeful that the problems have been solved. So, as we head into this first weekend in Lent, let us pray…
God of Love,
in Jesus Christ you gave yourself to us,
so may we give ourselves to you,
living according to your holy will and the call you have placed on our lives.
We acknowledge the diversity within the God head,
and seek to celebrate the diversity in Christ’s body, the Church.
Keep our feet firmly in the way where Christ leads us,
help our lips speak the truth that Christ teaches us,
fill our bodies with the life that is Christ within us.
As we take this Lenten journey together,
in Christ’s holy name we pray. Amen.
Featured In This March 6th eNews Edition
Worship This Sunday March 9th
St. Paul’s Office Closure
Daylight Savings Time Begins Sunday
SAPC Committee Reports Due ASAP!
Upcoming Dates To Remember
World Day of Prayer Services
“Spring With An Irish Twist”
Ongoing Church Activities
Connecting With Rev. Michelle
Bulletin & eNews Submissions
Worship This Sunday March 9th
Please join Rev. Michelle for service this Sunday at 10:30am.
To view the bulletin in advance click here!
Can’t make it in person, join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83673756287 Passcode: 2023
View anytime on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@st.paulsunitedchurch984/videos
St. Paul’s Office Closure
St. Paul’s office will be closed from March 11th through March 19th while Meghan is on vacation. Please contact Joanna in Saint Andrew’s office at sapcfred@gmail.com or 506-455-8220 Monday-Friday from 2-6pm or Rev. Michelle at michellenarmstrong@hotmail.com or 506-259-7602 for emergencies or concerns. The office will reopen on March 20th at 8am.
Daylight Savings Time Begins Sunday
Just a friendly reminder that daylight saving time begins this Sunday. We spring forward, so don’t forget to set your clocks forward 1 hour Saturday night before bed. You don’t want to be late for Service Sunday!
SAPC Committee Reports Due ASAP!
It’s that time of the year again! All SAPC committee chairs need to submit their 2024 annual reports to the office asap. Many thanks, Joanna.
St. Paul’s Pantry Program
The Pantry will focus on white sugar and dish soap in March. Other items needed are salt, dish and laundry soap, Mr. Clean, Comet, cheese whiz, ketchup, coffee, tea, granola, cookies, ritz crackers, molasses, mayo, jam, tomatoes, 1L orange juice, canned milk, sardines, white sugar, flour, cake mix, tin foil, plastic wrap, apple sauce, and puddings. Thank you for your ongoing support!
Upcoming Dates To Remember
March 9th ~ Daylight Savings Time Begins
March 9th ~ Service at 10:30am ~ Fellowship Hosted by Debbie West
March 9th ~ World Day of Prayer Service at St. Andrew’s at 2pm
March 16th ~ Service at 10:30am ~ Fellowship Hosted by Heather Labadie
March 23rd ~ Service at 10:30am ~ Fellowship Hosted by Chris Grant & Mary Stickles
March 30th ~ Service at 10:30am Fellowship Hosted by the Mission Committee
World Day of Prayer Services
An invitation is extended to all Women and Men to attend the World Day of Prayer Services in the Fredericton area. The World Day of Prayer for 2025 was prepared by the Women of the Cook Island. The theme is “I Made You Wonderful” (Psalm 139: 1-18.)
Northside: St. Mary’s Anglican Church, 780 McEvoy Street, Fredericton on Friday, March 7th, 2025 at 2 PM. Storm Date: Sunday, March 9 at 3 PM.
Southside: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian and St. Paul’s United Church, 512 Charlotte Street, Fredericton on Sunday, March 9th, 2025 at 2 PM. Storm Date: March 16 at 2 PM.
“Spring With An Irish Twist”
Lintuhtine Singers present a fun, fun, fun concert “Spring With an Irish Twist” at the Hazen Centre in Oromocto on Sunday March 16th at 3pm. Special Guests: Sidney Murgatroyd (Strings), Andrew Somerville (guitar, vocals), and Sparra (Dance troupe). Director: Helen Mórag McKinnon, Accompanists: Lynn Mills and Conrad Levesque. Fun, fun, fun!!!! Monetary ($) donation at the door to cover concert & needed outreach costs.
Ongoing Church Activities
Monday – Friday ~ Community Outreach ~ Brown Bag Lunch Program in St. Paul’s Office
Tuesdays ~ Tuesday Morning Ladies Group at 9:30am ~ All are welcome!
Tuesdays & Thursdays ~ Quilting from 1-4pm ~ All are welcome!
Wednesdays ~ Community Outreach ~ Pantry Program from 9-11am
Thursdays ~ Bible Study from 6-7pm ~ All are Welcome!
Thursdays ~ Choir Practice from 7-8pm ~ All are welcome!
Fridays ~ Community Outreach ~ Breakfast 2 Go from 8:30-10am
Connecting With Rev. Michelle
Rev. Michelle can be reached on the main office phone lines, her office directly at 506-455-0639, by text or call to her cell at 506-259-7602 or via email at michellenarmstrong@hotmail.com. Drop-in office hours are Sundays and Mondays from 1-2:30pm. Appointments are preferred to ensure the time you need to connect.
Bulletin & eNews Submissions
Please send announcements to Meghan at stpaulsoffice224@gmail.com by noon Wednesday.
Contact Information
Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian & St. Paul’s United
512 Charlotte Street, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 1M2
Saint Andrew’s: Tel: 506.455.8220 | Email: sapcfred@gmail.com |Website: https://sapc.ca/
Office Administrator: Joanna Price |Office Hours: Monday-Friday 2pm-6pm
St. Paul’s: Tel: 506.458.1183 | E-mail: stpaulsoffice224@gmail.com|Website: www.stpaulsunited.ca
Office Administrator/Bookkeeper: Meghan Roebuck |Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 8am-3pm & Friday 8am-12pm
Minister: Rev. Michelle Armstrong |Organist: Dr. Sharon Pond
Custodian: Doug Newman |Ministers Emeriti: Rev. Doug Blaikie & Rev. Dr. Basil Lowery