This Week's News and Updates
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We commemorated the Royal Wedding weekend by the wearing of many hats to celebrate! We also ate together at our monthly Meet, Greet and Eat with pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes (and other side dishes) AND our Annual Cheesecake Bake-Off. This year's winners: 1st Place - Angie L., 2nd Place - Larry, 3rd Place - Lisa O. Congrats to all the contestants!
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This Week's Wednesday Gathering - 7pm
Join us for drumming at this Wednesday's gathering! Drumming incorporates the four elements of breath, tone, intentionality and community. As Cynthia Bourgeault says, "these serve as sacred tools to explore the mystery of creation (and the Creator) with something other than our minds!"
There are no special skills needed and we have plenty of drums and other percussion instruments for everyone! After drumming, we will head to the social hall for snacks and conversation.
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Human First - by Rev. David Wynn
I have always loved the Psalms…I think because they are fraught with the full range of emotion and human experience. Somehow reading them…well singing them…Psalm means “song”, helps me to feel less alone in this human predicament of life.
The Psalms cry out with lamentations like “Depressed and angry even in my prayer, and furious at the life that is mine, I cried, do not be silent, God, but speak and act on my behalf.” I know that place of rage and the need to know that God is with me and cares that I am suffering. “Hear my cry of pain, O God. Hear me as I make this deep lament. Save me from my surrounding foes, for I am full of fear and dread.” The Psalmist helps me feel stuff and affirms my right to those feelings.
Spirituality is “heady” business…but that only gets us so far. Poet Kathleen Norris says it this way… The psalms demand engagement, they ask you to read them with your whole self, praying, as St. Benedict says, “in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices.” [2] . . . You come to the Bible’s great “book of praises” through all the moods and conditions of life, and while you may feel like hell, you sing anyway. To your surprise, you find that the psalms do not deny your true feelings but allow you to reflect on them. . . . In expressing all the complexities and contradictions of human experience, the psalms act as good psychologists. They defeat our tendency to try to be holy without being human first.
Ugh, I don’t want to be human first…I want to skip on over to the “holy” part. But the Psalms remind me that we are created human for good reasons that we stumble across from time to time…and they teach that my humanity does not exclude my holiness…they dance together.
“The stable patterns of Your ways give joy and fill the heart with good, bringing light to eyes that now can see.” Come and see with us on Sunday!
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We are living in a fast-paced ever-changing world that favours individualism, materialism, classism, racism, ableism, and all the -isms that give power to some over others thus allowing situations of injustice and oppression. We might be victims ourselves or we might be close to others around us who are suffering from oppression.
We ask: where are you God? When will your kin-dom come? In our tiredness and desolation, we might feel tempted to sit and wait for God to do all the work.
It is not easy to have conversations about our culture, race, identity, feelings, perceptions, and many other issues. However, hearing these stories, even the ones we might not agree with, are opportunities for growth; Let us put our differences aside to work together and to let God work through us.
Let us embrace our diversity, joining together in our common fight for social justice. It is in our struggles and our discomfort, in our pain and our hurt that we can draw on the power of our community, our commonality in our mission, and the certainty that, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can make a difference and be the "change we want to see in the world."
Let us be God's instruments in proclaiming to a world that needs healing the liberating gospel of God's unconditional love for all.
Prayer submitted by Rev. Carmen LLanos, Pastor of Hispanic Ministries and Interfaith Dialogue at MCC Toronto.
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From the Coalition for Aging LGBT
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Upcoming Workshops - From Judy Hudson
This summer, I am offering classes in how to create Mesmerizing Mosaic Tiles (June 16 and July 21) and Magical Underwater World (June 23 and July 28). I use a lot of clay to create 3D mixed media artwork and many people have asked me about my techniques and methods.
All four classes are from 9-4, held at the social hall at Agape'. All materials and lunch are included AND provided in the registration fee.
Classes are limited to 15 people
. If you follow the link, you'll find the registration forms for each class. Hope to see you there!
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Calendar of Events
- Wed, May 23 - 7pm Wednesday Gathering
- Thu, May 24 - 6:30pm Grief Support Group
- Sun, May 27 - 10:30am Worship Service
- Mon, May 28 - 6pm Worship Team Mtg
- Wed, May 30 - 7pm Wednesday Gathering
- Thu, May 31 - 6:30pm Grief Support Group
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- May 03 - Judy Hudson
- May 04 - April Nash
- May 07 - Mark Vega
- May 16 - Helen Smith
- May 23 - Teresa Mallott
- May 29 - Candy Davidson
- May 31 - Tyler Spence
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Call to Worship
- Ringing the Tibetan Bowl -
Rev. David Wynn
Morning Meditation
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Rev. David Wynn
Song of Intention
- "Oceans" -
Community
Words of Welcome -
Rev. David Wynn
Time of Greeting -
Community
Time With Our Children -
Trish Ashton
Response - "This Little Light of Mine" -
Community
Song of Preparation - "In the Secret" -
Community
Scripture Reading - Psalm 29 - Evelyn Brown
Song of Response - "In the Secret" -
Community
Time of Teaching - "Human First" -
Rev. David Wynn
Centering Song - "Healing Rain" -
Community
Community Prayer -
Evelyn Brown
Prayer Response - "Healing Rain" -
Community
A Time of Offering -
Cassy Batts
Celebration of Holy Communion -
Rev. Robert Myers
Song of Sending Forth - "I Am" -
Community
The Sending Forth -
Rev. David Wynn
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