There’s Nothing Wrong with Baby Boomers 

In almost every conversation about the future of the church – whether it is Erin Mills United, the United Church of Canada, or the Christian church worldwide – someone will sigh, “If we only had more children.” And I’d like to ask, “What’s wrong with Baby Boomers?"

According to the 2021 census, there are over 9 million Baby Boomers in Canada. Those who are the 60- to 79-year-olds of 2024, are still the largest cohort of all the age groups.



They are used to having a major impact on the culture, economy, education, recreation, politics, and living arrangements of their society. Many are retired, but their influence is not retiring! 

Is the church thinking about them? They expect to be seen and valued. They want new ways to serve that use their experiences to reach their peers and connect with other generations. They can be mentors; they can teach; they can follow; they can lead. They’ve got years ahead of them!

The generations born before them (the Greatest Generation – those born 1901-1924 and the Silent Generation, born 1925-1945) are already living so much longer than previous generations that they are stretching everyone’s expectations of what it means to be old. What can our church do to help them keep on growing physically, mentally, and spiritually? What new discipleship opportunities can be created to meet the varied needs? What is working at our church? What needs to be refined or dropped? What can we do to support their life situation now?

I love the opportunities for intergenerational learning in worship, study, and fellowship settings where everyone can contribute something and learn from one another. I want our church to help everyone understand that aging is not a disease but an experience that starts at birth.

Sure, children are great; all the Gen X, Y, Z, and Alpha’s are great. But we also have a wonderful gift in our older members and potential members that we might be overlooking.

Blessings, Kathi

As usual, there is the hustle-bustle of Christmas and New Year, a small respite (too small), and then the activity starts again. And so it is with EMUC. Our normal activities and groups are in full swing, Inspire is coming up with new ideas, and our Affirming Committee is planning new activities. We are also seeing new people trying out our church.

These are all signs that we are progressing in our strategic direction of becoming a thriving and growing church. The Leadership Circle is focusing on what activities we do and combining this with being intentional on the ways in which we promote and describe ourselves to the outside community. Our consultant, Banyon and Finch Creative Communications, provided us with a questionnaire consisting of 32 questions which examined virtually every aspect of our church including our relationship with our community. In January the Leadership Circle had a retreat where we consolidated our answers to provide a succinct yet accurate picture of who we are. We are now anxiously awaiting the insights from our consultant. Regardless of what comes from the consultant, the exercise gave us a greater awareness of what we represent and what we hold dear.

I am looking forward to another year of moving ahead. I hope you are too.

Kathy Andres 

Chair of the Leadership Circle

Thanks

Thanks to:

• All who read and participated in December and January services
• All who volunteered to host coffee on Sunday mornings
• Terry French who has helped get the new men’s group together
• Kathy Andres for hosting the Leadership Circle retreat at her home
• Lorraine Moore and Rev. Kathi for organizing the Drop-in Coffee days
• All those who made unsolicited donations to replace the projector damaged in December. The replacement cost was totally covered.
• The Lance Smith Music Fund for sponsoring JAMME, the group from the Etobicoke School of the Arts who performed at the December 10,2023 service
• Peter Kiteley, Gary Hines and Tim Hayes for putting up and taking down the stable for Christmas
• The worship committee for decorating the sanctuary and Karen Colwell for boxing up the decorations after Christmas
• Cindy Young for cleaning up the tapers for use on Christmas Eve
• Karen Colwell for organizing the Advent Candle readers
• Kai Marks and Mary Anna Williams for donating poinsettias to help decorate the sanctuary for Christmas

Circle of Friends

Circle of Friends continues to meet on Zoom on the second Wednesday of the month. We had a very interesting speaker for our December meeting. Sue Harper talked to us about her journey as an author and about her latest series of children’s guides to museums in BC. Although we are far away from B.C., her description of the articles in many of the museums spoke to our history as a nation. Her third book, to be published in May, will hopefully include much more representation from our Indigenous Peoples.

As a small group, we are looking to include more speakers for our meetings. We have come up with a few good possibilities, so watch your Friday message for our upcoming meetings.

Patti King, LC Vice Chair

Fire Safety 

As you might have noticed, numbers have appeared over most of our doors, both inside and outside. This was facilitated by our dedicated office manager, Tina. Tina has been in contact with both fire and police about the safety of our building and those who make use of our building on a daily basis. The numbers help identify fire exits as well as acting as markers for police if they should have to approach our building in an unwanted person situation. We are still missing door #6 which will be put up when I return from vacation. A fire drill will be held in the spring when weather is more favourable. 



Patti King, LC Vice Chair

Visit to the MN Mosque

On January 14, EMUC was invited for tea and an information session at the MN Mosque. About 10 people attended. As with the previous visit, we were warmly received and after an explanation of Islamic tenets, questions were taken. We hope to invite their members in the future for a similar event. We are all part of a community of faith.

Lorraine Moore, Community Life FCL

Drop-in Coffee Event Grows

We have hosted this event on the last Tuesday of the month since September. Members of the congregation have attended, however Community participation was elusive. In January, things changed!

On Jan 30, we hosted 28 people for coffee and conversation. About half were from the community and half from EMUC. Good conversation, coffee, and goodies were enjoyed by folks from Sheridan UC, St. Stephen’s on the Hill UC, and representatives from the MN Mosque.



 Thanks to Lorraine Moore, Sylvia Arnold, and Rev. Kathi for organizing the event. Plan to attend in February, on the last Tuesday, i.e., Feb 27.

Lorraine Moore, Community Life FCL

EMUC Service and Activity Guide

EMUC’s strategic direction is to be a thriving and growing church and our vision to be a Spirit-filled congregation: diverse, inclusive, and engaged with the community and creation. To this end, EMUC has many programs and events that we hope will engage you and others. We invite you to be a part of this thriving community.



The link below takes you to a Service and Activity Guide for January to March 2024. It lists opportunities to connect with others through various activities at EMUC during the first quarter of 2024. It is a resource to be shared with family and friends. Post the upcoming dates of interest to you in your calendars or print/save the document for quick reference.

Barb Jennings, Communication Committee Chair