please note: direct email links on this online version of the Newsletter have been removed. All charitable organizations have been targeted by spambots lately, and removing the direct email links in online documents is one way to combat that!

The scripture for Sunday’s Worship service, 10 AM at Ralph Connor Memorial United Church, is Luke 10: 1-17, click here~. Worship services are also recorded and posted by suppertime Sunday, at YouTube link here~.

Adapted from a prayer from 2012, by Carol Penner https://carolpenner.typepad.com/leadinginworship/2012/06/canada-day-prayer.html

Thank you, God, for this piece of the world, 

We have been invited to participate in the DOORS OPEN, one of the many activities sponsored by the CANMORE MUSEUM as part of this year’s CANMORE HERITAGE FESTIVAL from Thursday, July 21 through Sunday, July 24, 2022. DOORS OPEN invites the public inside Canmore’s most fascinating buildings. 

We will need a total of 12 volunteers over the two days. Please send a quick email to ian.schofield<AT>scholaw<DOT>ca indicating the day(s) and time slot(s) that you are available. An orientation meeting will be held in the week prior to the event. We are preparing Story Boards and reprinting our multicoloured history brochure that will help tell our stories to our visitors.

PSaidath, a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, is one of the Asian Rural Institute’s most recent graduates. With skills she developed at the agricultural school, she plans to initiate community cooperatives to pass on the skills she learned–skills developed with help from partners of Mission and Service.

Thank you for supporting programs like the Asian Rural Institute that inspire extraordinary community leaders like Saidath to make a difference. Your generosity truly does matter.

Our Council has established an ad hoc Working Group to plan for a vote after the service on October 2^nd. They will arrange a number of opportunities for you to explore and probe the amalgamation in detail. More about that is coming. 

If you are coming to Canmore from elsewhere: paid parking machines have been mounted throughout the downtown area, or you can use the Blinkay app (which is the same app that is used used in Banff) which may be downloaded to your phone from Google Play or Apple's App store. See https://canmore.ca/projects/transportation-projects/paid-parking-fare-free-transit for information about free parking areas outside the "downtown" zone. 

Canmore residents, please register your vehicle at  https://canmore.ca/projects/transportation-projects/paid-parking-fare-free-transit/canmore-resident-parking-permits. This page has lots of information about the paid parking system. 

When you park downtown (street or lot), you must "start" a parking session at the machine or on the Blinkay app. This is the case whether you are utilizing the free 3 hour parking provided by the Canmore resident permit, or if you have come to Canmore from elsewhere and are paying for parking. 

ALPINE VOICES THRESHOLD CHOIR - Currently Zooming the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 7:30 pm. Please contact Jan Tissandier for choir details, (jan<DOT>tissandier<AT>gmail<DOT>com).

CHOIR – Our Choir is on summer break. 

CYAN - Outdoor Yoga classes every Wednesday, at Riverside Park from 7-8 pm, by donation. If the weather turns sour, check https://www.facebook.com/canmorecyan for updates! 

EVENSONG – Resuming around Fall Equinox in September.

PRAYER SHAWL – We are pleased to have the prayer shawl knitters in-person in Gordon Hall on the 2nd Friday of the month @ 1 pm. Contact Jeannette Aishford (jaishford<AT>yahoo<DOT>ca) if you need a warm hug or know of someone that does!

RCMUC PRAYER CIRCLE – The Wednesday/Friday Healing Pathway Prayer Circle is now on summer break. 

RUNDLE THRIFT SHOP, BANFF –  Regular store-open hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 2:00 to 5:00 PM, and Wednesday and Friday from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. The Thrift Shop is in the basement of the Church, and the street-level access door is on Banff Avenue. If you would like to volunteer, contact office<AT>rundleunited<DOT>ca

UKULELE – The Ukulele group hosted by The Kennedy's, has ended for the summer.

Now, am I a one-armed bandit??

Whatever else capitalism may be, it is first and foremost a system for producing as much private wealth as possible by squandering as much as possible of humanity’s common inheritance of the goods of creation. But Christ condemned not only an unhealthy preoccupation with riches, but the getting and keeping of riches as such. The most obvious example of this, found in all three synoptic Gospels, is the story of the rich young ruler, and of Christ’s remark about the camel and the needle’s eye. Christians are no longer at liberty to imagine or desire any social or political or economic order other than the koinonia of the early church, no other communal morality than the anarchy of Christian love. Click here~.

Canada’s trust divide is growing, and that could spell bad news for the future. Social relationships can fall apart in times of crisis. Generalized social trust is trust in people we don’t know. Canadians were among the world’s most trusting people prior to the pandemic; as evidenced by our response to the truck occupation in Feb ‘22 and the make-up of the Supreme Court of Canada. But have we remained trustful during, and now after, the pandemic? Click here~.

For many of us, the thing that was most horrific on January 6, 2021, was seeing a sign that said “Jesus saves” in the same mob that had a noose for the vice president of the United States. Many people have wondered, as they look at this and other expressions of religion used for cultural or political purposes: Where does this come from, and how do we answer it? Click here~.

Are Google’s algorithms hostile to religion?? Blake Lemoine is an engineer at Google who argues that the culture there is systematically biased against religious believers, and, more seriously, that its algorithms are biased that way, too. Click here~.

2SLGBT people are reclaiming their faith and redefining their relationship with spirituality. Some faith groups that seem to be progressive in their allyship, need to do more than just talk; they need to demonstrate inclusion through their actions and not just say the 'right' thing, declares Mitchell Anderson, lead minister at St. Paul's United Church in Saskatoon. He says faith leaders must demonstrate true allyship with their actions. Click here~. Providing educational links and notices of stretching-comfort-level events was the proposition with which I approached Rev. Greg shortly after RCMUC became an Affirming congregation. He did more than just talk about inclusion; he walked the talk and allowed me to offer this unconventional Web, for expanding our world-view. I am grateful he took a chance then, and every week since, as he demonstrates Christian values by being such a welcoming minister. This is how we change.

Our own perspectives are evolving as we become more diverse: Immigrants to Canada tend to be more supportive of Indigenous Peoples and reconciliation than other Canadians. Click here~.

A local, visual indication of change can be found at ArtsPlace: Îyârhe Nakoda Youth is a new display in the HUB Gallery, June 21 - July 25. Stoney Nakoda youth honour their ancestors and their connection to this sacred land through art in this exhibition. By listening to the stories of Indigenous Elders, the youth learn important stories of Mini Thni, Treaty 7 Territory and its place on Turtle Island. This presentation will also showcase the beautiful artwork and stories created during the Stoney Nakoda Heroes project of 2019 by students at Exshaw School.

Incoming: office<AT>ralphconnor<DOT>ca

Outgoing: ralphconnormemorial<AT>gmail<DOT>com