Friday Message

What's Coming!

September 4, 2020

Ordinary Time

The third year of my theological studies was an internship. I lived and worked with a congregation away from my home and family for eight months. The minister at that church was my supervisor: a highly energetic, deeply spiritual, wickedly funny, and wise woman. I was, and still am, in complete awe of her. She passed on to me many lessons that have shaped the minister I am. One of these is that ministry is about holding things in balance. There is the balance of traditional and innovative worship, the balance of well-known and new hymns, the balance of conservative and progressive theology, and there is work/ life balance – keeping a healthy life apart from a robust church work. The understanding is that these things are not always equal but balance means that over time they even out.

So, maybe we generally sing a good mix of familiar and new hymns, but occasionally we might sing three hymns from More Voices and another time three from Voices United – not always equal but balanced.

This theory of balance has served me well over the years, in ministry and in my life away from the church, and I have shared it with the students I had the privilege of supervising.

I heard an interview the other day with Stacie Abrams. She is an American politician, lawyer and voting rights activist. In the conversation she referred to work/life Jenga. Do you know Jenga? It is a game where wooden puzzles pieces are stacked into a tower and the players take turns drawing out a piece and placing it on top while trying to avoid collapsing the whole thing.

The work/life Jenga analogy rings more true with me than balance these days. Stack it all up, reach in and do the thing that needs to be done, lose equilibrium and tumble, pick up all the pieces and stack them up again.

All of us are new at this pandemic life, and we are all trying our best to make our way through it in our own way. Finding balance may not be easy. Sometimes our tower is going to fall down. Having a sense of humour about it helps a lot.

Kathi

This Week at EMUC

UPDATE on WORSHIP SERVICES

At its August 25 meeting, the Leadership Circle decided that EMUC will continue to conduct Sunday services on the Zoom platform to the end of September. At this time there are too many unknowns, e.g., what will happen with the return to school and also the possibility of a second wave of the virus. The majority of the congregation is at a higher risk level being in vulnerable age and/or health groups. The safety of the congregation is the priority. The possibility of returning to the building for worship will be reassessed again at the September Leadership Circle meeting. Further information will be provided in the upcoming newsletter.

Sunday September 6:

10:00 a.m.: Online Worship and Communion led by Rev. Kathi

Please have some Bread/crackers and juice ready to celebrate Communion

Monday September 7:

7:00 p.m.: Bible Study via Zoom

Wednesday September 9:

6:45 p.m.: Prayer Service via Zoom

What's Coming!

Summer Office Hours:

Tina will be in the office on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

She can be at the church on an “as needed” basis on other days, but this needs to be arranged in advance with an email or with a message left with the office.

Reopening Committee

The EMUC COVID-19 Reopening Committee has been meeting regularly throughout the summer. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Peel has dropped, allowing the region to reopen more. The numbers are better, but COVID-19 continues to be found in the Peel community. We are watching to see if the regional and provincial reopenings and the upcoming start of school have an impact on the spread of COVID-19.

Zoom worship services will continue through September, offering us worship with our church community in the safest way. We can see each other on Zoom without masks, without hand sanitizer...without the risks that meeting in person would present. Remember that however we meet for worship, we are together as a church and faith community.

Visitors are now welcome in the sanctuary! By appointment only! Please call Tina Driscoll to make an appointment and get the details on protocols for visiting. Tina is at the office Tuesdays and Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

EMUC is also making progress on opening to renters, with limited numbers allowed in, protocols for entry/exit, mask-wearing, and physical distancing. Measures will be implemented to ensure that the space is properly cleaned.

The Leadership Circle will be meeting on September 15 and will discuss the COVID-19 reopening situation. We will update you again as things evolve. Stay healthy and stay safe!

Join TAGS – Another Way to Connect

Recently we launched EMUC’s TAGS community on Facebook. TAGS stands for “Talking About God Stuff”. This is a closed or private group on Facebook in which people can post or ‘discuss’ various topics each week. Only members of the group receive the posts and only members may post and participate in the discussion. The group is moderated by Rev. Kathi Phillips and administered on by Barb Jennings. Each week a question or topic for discussion will be posted by Rev. Kathi and received by the members. During the week you can add to the discussion by posting your thoughts, opinions or related stories. If you are familiar with our worship service, this is like the question Kathi poses during the service. The discussion posts will be monitored and answered each day.

Invitations to join the group will be sent to those in the congregation already on Facebook. Hopefully you will invite other friends to join the group to enlarge the conversation and the connection, both within the congregation and also reaching out to those in the community. If you are not on Facebook and would like to participate, it is easy to download the Facebook app (it’s free), set the privacy to the highest level i.e. friends, and then join the EMUC’s TAGS group. If you need help with this let us know.

Get involved! Participate!

Contact Information Request Coming Soon!

During recent work on updating the Historic Roll it became glaringly apparent that the church records are out-of-date and updated contact information for everyone is needed. Therefore, the Membership and Pastoral Care committee, working jointly with the Communications committee, will soon be emailing a short form to people on the congregational list who receive the Friday Message. We will be calling individuals where we have no email address. Kindly provide all information requested, even if it has not changed for a long time. This information is for church use only, and will be kept secure.

In addition, the Communications committee would like to create a current Congregational Directory. This would be an internal document for the congregation’s use only. There will be an option to be included (or excluded) in this directory.

We have set a deadline of Friday, September 25th for the return of all contact information. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with updating the church records.

Fundscrip Fundraising Gift Card Program is back in September!!

We are happy to announce that anyone interested in purchasing Fundscrip cards in September will be able to do so by following the procedures listed below;

1. Email Joanne Hines at twokids@rogers.com to receive an order form.

2. If you already have an order form, send an email to Joanne Hines with your order by Thursday, September 24.

3. Take the cheque or cash for your order amount and drop it off with Tina in the church office (Tina’s office hours are Tuesdays, and Fridays, but call ahead to be sure) or take your cheque or cash directly to Mike Ogilvie by Friday September 25

4. Your order will be placed on Sunday, September 27 and will arrive at the church office sometime on Thursday, October 1.

5. Arrange to pick up your order from the church office anytime after Thursday, October 1.

Thank you for your support of this fundraising project and please contact Joanne Hines if you have any further questions.

Deacon’s Cupboard Food Drive - The Fundscrip Way!

During this exceptional time, the Deacon’s Cupboard has been unable to provide food directly to its guests. Instead, they are distributing grocery store gift cards to those in need. If you would like to help them continue with that mission, please consider purchasing a Fundscrip card at the end of September (orders will be placed on Sunday September 27) and have it donated to the Deacon’s cupboard. Your donation tax receipt will be issued by St. Peters Erindale Anglican Church.

Simply email Joanne Hines at twokids@rogers.com by September 24 and make an order for a grocery card. Preferred denominations for the Deacon’s cupboard would be $25 or $50 cards. Take your cheque for the order to Tina at the church or to Mike Ogilivie. When the cards arrive, your designated donated cards will be given directly to the volunteers at the Deacons cupboard.

Thank you for your consideration in helping with this important mission.

Donations to EMUC

Some of you have asked how you can make donations to operations, mission and service, the benevolent fund, and the Deacon’s Cupboard. You can donate through Canada Helps by going to www.emuc.ca or by mailing a cheque to EMUC at 3010 The Collegeway, Mississauga, ON., L5L 4X9. Please mark the envelope "Attention Envelope Secretary".

Please note that Deacon's Cupboard would prefer to receive financial donations rather than actual food donations because the church remains closed so that managing food is difficult. The Cupboard is giving only vouchers to its guests. They are open only on Wednesdays and not on Monday evenings for the duration of the pandemic.

Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support.

EMUC Finance Committee

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