Communiqué
2023 Issue 1
Epiphany - Ordinary Time
Black History Month

February is Black History Month – a time to honour the contributions and struggles of peoples of African descent. This article is from the United Church of Canada newsletter:

The murder of George Floyd had a profound effect on Jonisha Lewinson, a college student and member of North Bramalea United Church. “Although I had experienced racism, I hadn’t been interested in exploring it, but after what happened to George Floyd, I wanted to get involved,” she says. “I decided I wanted to not just have a quiet voice but an active voice in making information about anti-racism available to people.”

Shortly after she made that internal commitment, a friend told Lewison that the United Church was inviting young people to apply to the Young Black Scholarship Program project, part of the church’s commitment to the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent. Each of the participants was tasked to research and report on various aspects of Black experiences in Canadian churches and received a scholarship supported through your Mission and Service gifts for their work.

From there, the idea for an app-based curriculum that would inspire teens ages 12–18 to become anti-racist was born.

Jonisha landed the contract to develop the curriculum for the app and is currently one of four young adults leading the project. Through the app, teens learn about topics like the history of racism in Canada, white privilege, and how to get involved in anti-racism work. Each of the units includes audio, video, and chat features. Called ar4yt (short for “Anti-Racism for Youth Training”), the app launched January 1, 2023, and will be freely available on Google Play and the App Store.

“I’ve never written a curriculum before, so there was a lot of research. It was a big learning experience, not just in creating the curriculum but learning about how racism affects different people in Canada other than myself,” reflects Jonisha.

What does she hope young people will take from the experience with the app?

“Part of dismantling racism means having conversations on a smaller scale with friends and family. That means just as much as being part of huge organizations. I hope that young people engaging with the app realize that making change is not as difficult as it seems,” she says.

Your generosity through Mission & Service supports the leadership of young adults like Jonisha who are actively using their talent and skill to change our world for the better. 

Thank you! 
Kathi
From the Chair of the Leadership Circle
Happy New Year! I want to start the new year by thanking everyone for their steadfast support of EMUC. Financially, donations were higher than budget in December and, spoiler alert, we have done much better than budget for the 2022 year. We have also successfully reopened the church. Our Christmas service was well attended even though the weather was not good. Many came to our other event Sundays such as the picnic and the memorial garden dedication. Most of the social groups are off of the dreaded Zoom and back in church. All of this is due to your help and support, so again, thank you.

This year we are ambitiously moving forward. We are now officially an Affirming Congregation. The Affirm service was both emotional and energizing. We received many positive comments from all the visitors. A new Affirm team will be formed to continue the affirming work of being radically welcoming.

Inspire will kick off the year with a Café Sunday to hear what everyone has to say and to generate new ideas. I am sure there will be too many projects to tackle at once, so we will pick several to work on this year.   

All of the Focus Circle Groups have goals for 2023 to help us achieve our strategic direction of being a thriving and growing church. Among the many projects we are looking to do is to bring back some live music concerts, to reach out to families with children, to expand our social media, and to have a pastoral care visiting team.  

It promises to be an exciting year. Let’s do it!

Kathy Andres
Chair, Leadership Circle
Transitions
Our thoughts and prayers are sent to Hermine Bingham who is grieving the passing of her sister, Enid Mitchell.


On January 20, the congregation acknowledged Lynda Appleby for all the contributions she has made to EMUC.  Lynda has moved to Ottawa and will be missed by many.  Thank you, Lynda and come back to visit soon!

Thanks
Thanks to:

  • Sandy Hayes and Member Development and Care for organizing and hosting the Christmas Tea
  • Joanne Hines and Theresa Moore who provided music and led carol singing at the Christmas Tea
  • Sylvia Arnold and Worship Committee for decorating the church and organizing Christmas services
  • Joanne Hines, Sandy Hayes, Debbie Sturgeon, Lynda Appleby, Karen Colwell, and Rebecca Hines for leading the education, preparation, and planning of the Affirming project
  • All those who brought food for the Christmas Tea and/or the Affirming Celebration
  • Sue Ogilvie and Jennifer Allan for the new Affirming wall hangings
  • Karen Colwell and Cindy Young for designing the Affirming Service bulletin
  • Karen Colwell and Terry French for taking photos at the Affirmng Service
  • All those who read scripture in December and January
  • Our generous congregation for their extra givings to EMUC at Christmas

Thank you from Finance

When you see the 2022 financial statements you will note that givings were very close to budget. This is partly due to the great response to Special Christmas Offerings. We were over our budget of $11K by $440.Thank you for your ongoing support.

Finance Committee
Life at EMUC
Ho Ho Ho!

The beloved traditional Christmas Tea has returned!! On Sunday, December 11 nearly fifty people attended in person and about twenty-five attended on Zoom the first Christmas Tea since 2019. It was a very merry event, featuring the special musical debut of two of EMUC’s very own, offering a spirited ukulele duet of Christmas carols. Joanne Hines and Theresa Morris entertained and led everyone through a rousing sing-a-long of many of our favourite songs (with the help of an amazing song booklet created by Tina Driscoll). Afterwards Theresa continued sharing her musical talents by offering a piano accompaniment to even more carols. The fun also included a witty, somewhat challenging Christmas game, and more than enough goodies and hot apple cider to remind us that we were once again able to do more than Christmas cookie boxes of the previous two seasons. A good time was had by all!

Thank you to the Membership and Pastoral Care committee for hosting this wonderful event, to Joanne and Theresa for sharing their musical gifts, and to all the many people who helped in so many ways: preparing food, setting up, cleaning up…and most of all, attending!

Submitted by Sandy Hayes
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
Affirming Celebration

They told us we needed to celebrate, so celebrate we did!! On Sunday, January 29, EMUC held a very special celebration service to recognize and lift up our new Affirming Ministry status. It was the final step in the Affirming process laid out by Affirm United. With over 100 people present, live and on Zoom, banners were dedicated, flags were flown, guests were welcomed, and a lovely reception followed.

The highlights of the beautiful service, written by Rev. Kathi, included a presentation from Rev. Joanne Hedge, a guest sermon presented by Rev. Etienne LeSage, and the beautiful music of the Singing Out chamber choir.

So many people worked behind the scenes to make this event such a joyous occasion. To all those who volunteered, moved tables and chairs, took photos, brought food, sent emails, designed bulletins, created slide shows, and made phone calls to inquire how they could help, we thank you. It truly took a village, and this community of faith stepped up to make sure our guests were welcomed and fed. The Affirm working group is so grateful to have completed this part of the journey with you. And now we begin our work to continue living in the belief that all are welcome in this place!
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award

On January 6, 2023, Kathi Phillips was awarded The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award by Iqra Khalid, our federal member of parliament. The award states “Thank you for your years of service to the residents of Mississauga-Erin Mills and the Erin Mills United Church for your ongoing commitment to empower and support communities in our great city. This award is a testament to your hard work. I wish you the very best in your future endeavors.” It is on display in her office. 

This was a proud moment for our Kathi. To be acknowledged for her service to the community of Erin Mills and our church.

Along with the award, she was presented with The Canadian Platinum Jubilee emblem pin designed by Cathy Bursey-Sabourin. The design is meant to celebrate and commemorate the event. In the centre you find the Royal Cypher of her Majesty, The Queen EIIR. It is to mark this significant anniversary of her reign. The 70 is in white, alluding to the rare and precious metal platinum. The outer portion is a ring of seven maple leaves with seven pearls to mark seven decades of reign. The red and white are our national colours. The royal crown appears on the top. 

We are truly blessed as Rev. Kathi works continuously as our faith leader and in doing outreach in the surrounding community. 
Saying Goodbye to Old Faithful

So, I am sitting at a light when a huge flatbed truck stopped beside me, loaded three deep of stripped car frames. Then I wondered if this load was being delivered to a metal recycler. My next thought was what about the rest of my car when I say goodbye to it? The winter edition 2022 of CAA’s magazine had the answer and statistics too. 

Apparently it is estimated 1.6 million vehicles are taken off the road annually in Canada. The articles explained what happens next with the most common options. 

Some vehicles are donated to charity either in working or non-working order and the parts are sold. A tax receipt is given for each vehicle’s value. However, the majority of vehicles end up in scrap metal yards or auto recyclers. There is a difference – with some overlapping – between the two types of businesses. A scrap metal yard is only interested in recovering and selling the metal. Auto recyclers work to recover and sell valuable parts as well as the raw metal. An auto recycler removes the oil, fuel, airbags, tires, and batteries to make the vehicle less polluted when they arrive at the landfill. The average price a recycler will offer is between $500 to $1,000 depending on age of the item and where in Canada the transaction is occurring. 

Once stripped the shell is crushed and sent to a shredder. The article described a massive shredder with spinning metal teeth that can chew up and spit out a car in fist-sized chunks in 30 seconds. Then the chunks are melted down and remanufactured into something new. 

On average 85 percent of a vehicle’s weight can be recycled or reused. The other 15 percent – usually plastic, glass and foam – is sent to a landfill. This is roughly 408 million kilos sent to landfills. The bulk of that is the many types of plastic. Research is ongoing, trying to reach the target of fully recycling the vehicle by 2030.

Recycling the resource intensive batteries of EV electric vehicles is also being researched. We do know battery recyclers already exist and researchers are working on a variety of ways to use old batteries when a vehicle is handed off. 

Here are a few suggestions to recycle your ride instead of using it as a trade in.   

The Kidney Foundation uses the money gleaned from old cars towards research, education, organ donations, and patient services. Kidneycar.ca

Carheaven allows you to donate to a charity of your choice; i.e., Red Cross, Canadian Cancer, etc. carheaven.ca 

Carsformentalhealth donates the funds to support mental health services and programs at CAMH. carsformentalhealth.ca

Submitted by Mary Anna Williams
Upcoming Events
Did Someone Say Another Café Sunday…Let’s Hear More

We find ourselves in a moment of both opportunity and necessity. If there is something that keeps many United Church folks up at night, it is the plight of shrinking participants in many churches. Churches must continuously address this issue if they are to preserve and strengthen the future of churches including our beloved EMUC. There are many books, articles, and lectures on how to promote congregational growth. But most of them come down to the collective effort of congregations who, like us, believe in the importance of having a community where people can gather, worship together, break bread, and enjoy friendships. For almost three years, EMUC has approached congregational growth by implementing a model called Inspire. Inspire is not so much the committee of four people, but the idea that with congregational involvement we can come up with ways to promote our church and our church life to our community and those around us. We do this work while keeping true to our core values; spiritual living, helping others, openness to all, and connection and friendship. We have accomplished a lot! We now have a state-of-the-art virtual platform for church services, meetings, and social activities. We have also launched many new and innovative projects and initiatives including our little lending library, thanking our essential health care workers, and of course, who can forget Vax to the Max, our effort to help others have access to vaccines, and our blood donor program. Then there is our most recent exciting celebration of becoming an Affirming congregation.

We have started something great, and we need to continue. But how?

On February 19 we will be hosting a Café Sunday. Following our usual church service, you are invited to stay for a bite to eat, followed by some creative thinking and generating ideas of what our next initiatives will be. There will be five to six tables, each one hosted by a focus circle. Others in the congregation will be asked to join a focus circle of their choice. Each group will spend time thinking about ideas. The sky’s the limit: if we can dream it, we can create it. There are very few restrictions on what an Inspire idea is. The only ask is that we think of ideas that can involve the community. Following Café Sunday, each table will arrange to meet again to develop their great idea. It is not mandatory that participants remain involved, but there is strength and enjoyment in working together! Support will be provided to each group by the Leadership Circle and the Inspire committee. We have started a great flame, so let’s keep it burning. Is your calendar marked for February 19? Mine is.😊

With appreciation, Cathy Kiteley on behalf of the Inspire team: Patti King, Doreen Sims, Heather Bunting, and Kathi Philips (advisor)
 
February 21 at 5:30 p.m. – Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
 
March 5 after the service – Annual Congregational Meeting to approve the 2023 budget