Friday Message

What's Coming!

November 6, 2020

Ordinary Time

Waiting has been a common theme this year. We waited and watched as COVID-19 first came to our attention, as it moved across the globe and made its way into our country, our provinces, our communities. When our leaders responded to the threat, we waited during the initial shut down, wondering how long we would be isolated from family, and from school, work, and church. We waited as we watched the number of cases climb and wane and then climb even higher. Now we wait for news of a vaccine. And this week we wait for results from the American election.

God’s people know something about waiting. In just a few weeks, we will enter into the season called Advent. Just before Christmas, Advent is the symbolic time that we wait in hope that God will once again be among us in new forms, new expressions, new birth.

Waiting is terrible. It is uncomfortable. It feels like we are wandering in the wilderness. It is an in-between space that leaves us anxious, unclear, ungrounded, suspended in time that seems to move at a snail’s pace. It leaves us with nothing to do but be, to simply exist in hopeful anticipation that something is going to happen for our good, while we also battle the very real fear that what happens might lead to our demise. Waiting is terrible.

But waiting is also wonderful. It’s a fertile time when we consider what might be born; we focus on a future based on what really matters - connection, community, and love. We watch what happens around us with hopeful anticipation that God is once again opening our broken world to new possibilities for healing.

We are not the first people to live in a broken world that feels like it is teetering on the edge of hell. All of our sacred scriptures from every world religion tell stories of pain and loss generating movements of new prophets who preach messages of hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and generosity. These are the fruits of the Spirit. When you hear them, take heart and be reminded that God has always been with us and always will be.

Now we wait, watch and hope.

Blessings, Kathi

This Week at EMUC

UPDATE on WORSHIP SERVICES

At its October 20th meeting, the Leadership Circle decided that EMUC will continue to conduct Sunday services on the Zoom platform until the end of November. There are still many unknowns regarding the return to school, a second wave of the virus, and the flu season. We have seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases recently. The safety of the congregation is the priority. The possibility of returning to the building for worship will be reassessed again at the November 17th Leadership Circle meeting.

Sunday November 8:

10:00 a.m.: Online Remembrance Day Worship led by Rev. Kathi

Monday November 9:

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

Wednesday November 11:

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

What's Coming!

Office Hours:

For the month of November, Tina will be taking vacation days on Mondays. Her office hours will be Tuesday 12:30-4:00pm; Thursday and Friday 9:30am-1:30pm. If you need access to the church outside of these hours, please contact the office for an appointment. Tina continues to divide her time between working from home, and from the church.

Last Fundscrip order of the Year!!

The end of November is the last chance to order personal shopping cards before Christmas.

Please see below for instructions and timelines for this month's order.

How can we help our Deacon’s Cupboard this Christmas?

There are 2 ways for you to participate in helping the Deacon’s cupboard;

1. Donate Fundscrip cards to the regular operation.

These will be grocery cards that guests can use to purchase food. Due to the pandemic, the Deacon’s Cupboard has been distributing grocery store cards because it is unable to provide food directly to its guests. For this program, cards in multiples of $25.00 are most helpful.

2. Donate to a special “Christmas project”.

This project will still assist guests at the Deacon’s cupboard. Special gift cards will be placed in a greeting card that will be handed out at Christmas.

These cards may be for Tim’s or Dollarama or any other Fundscrip cards you wish to donate. The denominations will be small amounts, just to provide something extra to the guests during this special time of year.

Orders for both personal use and donations will be placed on Sunday, November 29.

Simply email Joanne Hines at twokids@rogers.com by Thursday, November 26 and make an order or a donation.

Take your cheque to Tina, at the church or to Mike Ogilvie directly. When the cards arrive, designated donated cards will be sent directly to the Deacon’s Cupboard and personal cards can be picked up at the church office.

Moving Forward on Becoming Affirming

As some of you may remember, EMUC was beginning a journey to look at the process of becoming an Affirming congregation within the United Church of Canada (UCC). Announcements and invitations were made to join an information night back in March… and then the world shut down. An announcement in the Friday message in May and the Communiqué then went out and the information evening moved to an online format. A few folks joined in on May 26 to hear about the process. From there, a small working group was formed, and we have continued to meet virtually to look at the requirements for the Affirming process.

Although so much of the work will need to be continued with face to face discussions and in person workshops in the future, we are excited to share some of our work with you. We hope to hear feedback from as many people as possible.

The Open Hearts UCC resource we are using is available for anyone to check out online. It defines Affirming ministries as “congregations within the United Church that publicly declare their commitment to inclusion and justice for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Affirming Ministries seek to go beyond issues of gender diversity and sexual orientation to work for justice and inclusion for all people.”

In the coming weeks, you will be asked to think about a few questions around the idea of EMUC becoming affirming.

Please watch for these upcoming announcements and help us gather your feedback.

We look forward to taking this journey together,

Joanne Hines

Karen Colwell

Sandy Hayes

Rebecca Hines

Deb Sturgeon

Amnesty International Write for Rights

Every year, leading up to International Human Rights Day on December 10, Amnesty International organizes Write for Rights Events. They identify people and communities at risk of human rights abuses worldwide and join them in solidarity to seek justice.

In 2019 the Interfaith Peace and Justice Committee organized an event and we wrote letters and signed petitions in solidarity with young people on the front-lines of human rights challenges. This year we are not organizing an in-person event, but are asking you to be pro-active and visit the Amnesty International Write-a-thon Website at www.writeathon.ca. On this site you will meet the ten individuals who have been identified for this year’s event; for example, you will meet Melike and Orzgur, Turkish university students who are being persecuted for celebrating LGBTQI+ rights; Jani Silva, a young Columbian woman risking her life to protect the environment; three young men, who cannot be identified because of their age, who are imprisoned in Malta for protesting torture. The list goes on. You will have the opportunity to write to government officials, send cards or letters to the individuals, sign online petitions, or support them on social media. The resource section offers sample letters and instructions on how to address the various officials.

Please take the time to visit www.writeathon.ca read through the cases, choose one that resonates with you, and write a letter.

If you have any questions, contact Debby Sturgeon (sturgs4@rogers.com).

Stewardship Minute

M&S and UCC Assessment

Each year, on a monthly basis, EMUC remits congregational givings for the Mission and Service Fund to the United Church of Canada. These donations are usually made through our envelopes and PAR and are specifically marked for M&S. This year we have projected givings of 22.5 thousand dollars. These funds help UCC fund outreach projects both in Canada and around the world. They are not used for administration at the head office. In addition, M&S conducts special campaigns as they did for relief in Haiti and more recently the COVID-19 appeal to help the vulnerable in needy countries.

Since the recent reorganization, we also send an annual assessment to the United Church of Canada. Our assessment comes directly from your EMUC givings. In 2020 our assessment is $9,100 which we included in our operating budget. These funds are used to finance the administrative expenses of head and regional offices and the programming they provide.

The bottom line is that when you give to M&S your givings are being used for mission work.

Zatoun Olive Oil in Time of COVID

Zatoun is grateful for the many years that faith groups have sold Zatoun in their congregations and at fairs. COVID-19 and lockdowns have put a stop to that for now. Zatoun buyers can still enjoy their favourite fair trade olive oil via online order and shipped direct to home.

Now available in ½ case (6 bottles) for home delivery

order: www.zatoun.com contact: 1-866-294-9729 ~ info@zatoun.com

Zatoun makes a prized gift for any occasion. It will be remembered.

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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