Dear Congregants,
Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “Human beings may separate things into as many piles as we wish—separating spirit from flesh, sacred from secular, church from world. But we should not be surprised when God does not recognize the distinctions we make between the two. Earth is so thick with divine possibility that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars.”
Over these last twelve months, the separation between our distinct worlds has grown fuzzy. Isolation and masked culture has permeated all barriers and we now share more in common with people from all walks of life. We all struggle with restrictions and longings. We all find hope in the smallest acts of kindness. We find divine possibilities in the smile of a store clerk, on walks petting puppies, in our online gatherings and with our families and friends. Neighbourhoods are coming alive as spring is once again beckoning us from our homes, unfolding us into cross-lawn conversations.
As we welcome the growing warmth of the sun, may we welcome divine possibilities in all that we encounter.
Lenten blessings of hope,
Loraine
BECAUSE THERE IS HOPE HERE: LENT 2021 WORSHIP SERVICES
This year’s Lenten services will feature congregational reflections on hope.
March 21:
The heart of the cross; Celtic-themed Lenten service with Emily Casselman singing.
HOLY WEEK SERVICES
All of our Holy Week Services will be offered jointly with St. Andrew’s River Heights United Church
March 28 – 10:45 a.m.
Palm Sunday live-streamed at Westworth with dialogue between Karen & Loraine; soloists Howard Rempel and Fred Cross
April 1 – 7:00 p.m.
Maundy Thursday pre-recorded at St. Andrew’s and available at 7:00 pm. Have communion elements, water, basin and towel ready as you join the service from home.
http://standrewsriverheights.com
April 2 – 10:30 a.m.
Good Friday pre-recorded at Westworth, St. Andrew’s, West Broadway Community Ministry and Oak Table
http://standrewsriverheights.com
EASTER SERVICE
April 4th
Westworth Easter Service is live-streamed at 10:45 am with 6 youth confirmations, Morna-June M. on handbells and soloist Cheryl M.
SPECIAL APPEALS
Every Lent, we invite donations for our special appeals to support our non-profit community agencies and ministry partners. The congregation usually raises around $1600 and the UCW contributes $1800 from their Rummage Sale and Bazaar fundraisers. Because the UCW was unable to hold either due to COVID-related building closures last year, the congregation generously gave $2500, which allowed us to continue supporting most of our partners. This year, the UCW is again unable to contribute because our building remains closed to fundraisers. We are therefore asking the congregation once more to consider giving more than usual so that we can continue supporting our partners, who are more stretched than ever. These are the partners we were able to support last year through Special Appeals:
Theological Education
Prairie to Pine Regional Council Bursary Fund
St. Andrews CollegeSandy Saulteaux Spiritual Centre
Centre for Christian Studies
Local Social Justice
Willow Place
West Broadway Community Ministry
1 Just City
L.I.T.E. (local investment towards employment)
Rossbrook House
Jubilee Fund
Youth Support
Rock Lake United Church Camp
Our Special Appeal donation deadline is Easter Sunday, April 4.
SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS
Hope this e-mail finds you all well, and I will continue to send the Sunday school lesson by e-mail until we can meet in person again.
This is the Fifth Sunday in Lent- our service theme will be HOPE.
This week’s Sunday school lesson ‘The Greatest Commandment’, has been sent by e-mail and it includes all the age groups from N/K to G5/6, with the activity sheets. If you need a printed copy of the curriculum, please let me know at churchschool@westworth.ca.
The Sunday school teachers will be on Zoom this Sunday from 10.15 am-10.30 am to chat with you. Our theme this week will be about ‘Rules ’. Then join the online service starting at 10.45am this week with Loraine following Zoom Sunday school.
Julia will read the bible story this week and Danielle will read The Lord’s Prayer. Your Sunday school teachers are on the Westworth Face Book page for you to view and there is also a link in the CE drop down menu on our web site.
Holy Week and Spring Break fall on the same week this year (March 29-April 2nd), with Friday being Good Friday. If there is any interest, CE is willing to do Zoom programming on Holy Week and the Days of Easter each day for 1 hour for our Westworth Kids to stay connected. If you are interested, please email me at: churchschool@westworth.ca
Zoom Sunday School Information
Zoom Meeting ID 743 937 1522
Pass Code 042976
Maggie
DAILY LENTEN CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
Rev. Barb Jardine has put together a Lenten series that introduces us to the practice of contemplative prayer. Her introduction, along with her daily 10 min. YouTube videos are designed for beginners who have never tried this form of prayer. These can be found in the link below and on our website home page in the What’s New section. Barb has produced these for her congregation, but she is willing for Westworth to have access to them as a thank you for the inspiration she received from Thriving Churches.
Here is this week’s installments:
Day 21:
http://westworth.ca/2021/03/take-ten-day-21-by-rev-barb-jardine-daily-lenten-contemplative-prayer/
Day 22:
http://westworth.ca/2021/03/take-ten-day-22-by-rev-barb-jardine-daily-lenten-contemplative-prayer/
Day 23:
http://westworth.ca/2021/03/take-ten-day-23-by-rev-barb-jardine-daily-lenten-contemplative-prayer/
Day 24:
http://westworth.ca/2021/03/take-ten-day-24-by-rev-barb-jardine-daily-lenten-contemplative-prayer/
Day 25:
http://westworth.ca/2021/03/take-ten-day-25-by-rev-barb-jardine-daily-lenten-contemplative-prayer/
Day 26:
http://westworth.ca/2021/03/take-ten-day-26-by-rev-barb-jardine-daily-lenten-contemplative-prayer/
Day 27
http://westworth.ca/2021/03/take-ten-day-27-by-rev-barb-jardine-daily-lenten-contemplative-prayer/
- WEST BROADWAY COMMUNITY MINISTRY
Lunches:
The Outreach Team is purchasing meatballs, sauce, buns, fruit and cookies for the staff and volunteers at WBCM to serve the guests at lunchtime on Thursday, March 18. We are grateful to all of you who continue to support this vital ministry. Cheques may be sent to the Westworth office with the memo line indicating “WBCM lunches”.
Emergency Pantry:
Thank you for your continuing support for the folks in the West Broadway area. Cheques to Westworth with “WBCM Pantry” on the memo line are gratefully received!
- THE ENVIRONMENT
Marion M. is taking on the Outreach Team’s environmental justice work while Amanda Davis is on leave from our team. We are so grateful to Amanda for the stellar work she did with the congregation. The Outreach Team is busy brainstorming to identify strategies for keeping you informed about Christian concerns about and responses to the current environmental crisis. Stay tuned for further developments!
Earth Hour
Earth Hour will happen this year on March 27 at 8:30 pm. Its purpose is to celebrate creation while committing to compassionate action for its well-being. We are all encouraged to turn out our lights for one hour. While the lights are out, consider spending that hour outside looking at the evening sky! Mother nature has been putting on spectacular displays of aurora borealis for us. Here are a couple of links with ideas about how to observe Earth Hour:
An opportunity to meditate on creation: https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/earth-hour
Five ways to get involved in Earth Hour: https://latest.earthhour.org/5-ways-you-can-get-involved-in-earth-hour-2021
And finally, a prayer posted by the United Church of Canada: https://united-church.ca/prayers/help-reawaken-our-love-creation
Creating God,
You have called us to be in loving relations with all the Earth,
living with respect in creation,
choosing love and seeking justice at all times.
Instead, humankind has acted in hateful ways,
exploiting natural resources,
choosing power and seeking wealth in the present over future abundance.
We need your help to fight for a better future!
Help to reawaken our love for Creation,
that is so magnificent that we, with all our creativity and knowledge,
could never articulate it;
and so passionate that we, with the personal price and communal cost,
would still fight for it.
Help to deepen our relationships and love for each other:
Affirming the wisdom of youth strikers,
so that we are not discouraged by empty platitudes and naysayers; and
Growing our community of allies,
so that we can create a sustainable and faithful response to the imminent climate crisis.
For the sake of your majestic creation, and
For the love of all our relations.
Help us to fight for a better future.
Amen.
YARN REQUEST
Andrea F. has been knitting scarves and most go to various inner city groups like Main Street Project, West Broadway and St. Matthews and others she been putting away for upcoming (dependant upon re-opening) church sales. She is just about yarn. Does anybody have any leftovers they might be clearing out? If so, please make arrangements with Tammy in the office to drop them off for her. Any and all would be appreciated!
2021 STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN RESULTS
There were 261 Stewardship packages mailed to our church families for the 2021 Stewardship Campaign. As a result, there are 126 families donating monthly on PAR which represents 48% of our families. Of the 135 families not on PAR, 28 families responded to the Stewardship Campaign by making a pledge to be honoured during the year.
We recognize that the past year has been different and difficult. If your circumstances have changed and you are now able to participate in our Stewardship Campaign, we would gratefully accept your pledge. You can do so by contacting Tammy at the church office at 204-489-6974, Ext 20.
Full information on ways to give and the annual budget is on the Westworth website www.westworth.ca. Thank you for supporting the 2021 Stewardship Campaign and the Mission of Westworth United Church.
Finance Committee
