February 28th, 2019 NEWS FROM THE PEWS NEWS AND INSPIRATION FROM ST. ANDREW’S UNITED CHURCH, GEORGETOWN, ON Page 1 Sunday Mar. 3 Reader: Leslie Hoyle Greeters: Barb Munro and Pat Moore Ushers: Ralph Challice and Ginny Morecroft AV Operators: Nick Sprague and Graeme Thompson Counters: Bruce Munro and Ross Yahiro Announcements: Mission and Outreach Next week, Sunday Mar. 10 Reader: Mattie Spencer Greeters: June Longstreet and Joan Hunter Ushers: Gord and Mattie Spencer AV Operators: Alan Grundy and Graeme Thompson Counters: Ross Yahiro and Alex MacKenzie Announcements: Mission and Outreach Service this week at St. Andrew's March 3, 2019 Theme: Transfiguration This Sunday we will be celebrating the final week of the season of Epiphany, otherwise known as Transfiguration. Transfiguration occurs on the Sunday before the beginning of Lent. So what is transfiguration? About a week after Jesus plainly told His disciples that He would suffer, be killed, and be raised to life (Luke 9:22), He took Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. While praying, His personal appear- ance was changed into a glorified form, and his clothing became dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus about his death that would soon take place. Peter, not knowing what he was saying and being very fear- ful, offered to put up three shelters for them. Peter was expressing a wish to stay in that place. When a cloud enveloped them, a voice said, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen, whom I love; listen to him!” The cloud lifted, Moses and Elijah had disappeared, and Jesus was alone with His disciples who were still very much afraid. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after His resurrection. The purpose of the transfiguration of Christ was so that the “inner circle” of his disciples could gain a greater understanding of who Jesus was. Christ underwent a dramatic change in appearance in order that the disciples could behold Him in his glory. The disciples, who had only known him in his human body, now had a greater realization of the deity of Christ, though they could not fully comprehend it. That gave them the reassurance they needed after hearing the shocking news of his coming death. Those who witnessed the transfig- uration bore witness to it to the other disciples and to countless millions down through the centuries. Today, we hear the story told again and how it relates to us. To be transfigured is to be transformed. Through faith in Christ we are trans- formed. Through witnessing the incredible works of God, we see how faith changes lives. When we accept Christ into our lives, we are adopting the lifestyle and attitudes that Christ teaches. We turn away from an old way of life to a new way as revealed in Christ. In Christ we are accepted and blessed in our faith journey. Scripture Readings: Exodus 34:29-35 Mark 9:2-9 Reflection: God Changes Us!
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February 28th, 2019
NEWS FROM THE PEWS NEWS AND INSPIRATION FROM ST. ANDREW’S UNITED CHURCH, GEORGETOWN, ON
Page 1
Sunday Mar. 3
Reader:
Leslie Hoyle
Greeters:
Barb Munro and
Pat Moore
Ushers:
Ralph Challice and
Ginny Morecroft
AV Operators:
Nick Sprague and
Graeme Thompson
Counters:
Bruce Munro and
Ross Yahiro
Announcements:
Mission and
Outreach
Next week,
Sunday Mar. 10
Reader:
Mattie Spencer
Greeters:
June Longstreet and
Joan Hunter
Ushers:
Gord and Mattie
Spencer
AV Operators:
Alan Grundy and
Graeme Thompson
Counters:
Ross Yahiro and
Alex MacKenzie
Announcements:
Mission and
Outreach
Service this week at St. Andrew's
March 3, 2019
Theme: Transfiguration
This Sunday we will be celebrating the final week of the season of Epiphany, otherwise known as Transfiguration. Transfiguration occurs on the Sunday before the beginning of Lent.
So what is transfiguration?
About a week after Jesus plainly told His disciples that He would suffer, be killed, and be raised to life (Luke 9:22), He took Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. While praying, His personal appear-ance was changed into a glorified form, and his clothing became dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus about his death that would soon take place. Peter, not knowing what he was saying and being very fear-ful, offered to put up three shelters for them. Peter was expressing a wish to stay in that place. When a cloud enveloped them, a voice said, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen, whom I love; listen to him!” The cloud lifted, Moses and Elijah had disappeared, and Jesus was alone with His disciples who were still very much afraid. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after His resurrection.
The purpose of the transfiguration of Christ was so that the “inner circle” of his disciples could gain a greater understanding of who Jesus was.
Christ underwent a dramatic change in appearance in order that the disciples could behold Him in his glory. The disciples, who had only known him in his human body, now had a greater realization of the deity of Christ, though they could not fully comprehend it. That gave them the reassurance they needed after hearing the shocking news of his coming death. Those who witnessed the transfig-uration bore witness to it to the other disciples and to countless millions down through the centuries.
Today, we hear the story told again and how it relates to us. To be transfigured is to be transformed. Through faith in Christ we are trans-formed. Through witnessing the incredible works of God, we see how faith changes lives. When we accept Christ into our lives, we are adopting the lifestyle and attitudes that Christ teaches. We turn away from an old way of life to a new way as revealed in Christ. In Christ we are accepted and blessed in our faith journey.
Scripture Readings: Exodus 34:29-35
Mark 9:2-9
Reflection: God Changes Us!
News from the Pews Page 2
SPRING FEST 2019 AUCTION
SAVE THE DATE - SATURDAY, APRIL 27TH, 2019
PERSONAL DONATION ITEMS ARE NOW BEING GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED
Personal donations are very important to the success of the auction.
We would appreciate receiving your donations by Wednesday, April 17th to give us time to
catalog them before the auction.
Don’t forget for every Business Donation brought in, you will get a chance to win a bottle of
Upper Canada College’s delicious MAPLE SYRUP! Please make sure you sign the board in the
Fellowship room so we know who brought it in.
Thank you for your continued support
of our largest annual fundraiser!
The 2019 St. Andrew’s Auction Team
The next Spring Fest 2018 Planning meeting is
Monday, March 4th, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the Fellowship Room.
RevisedRevised
AFFIRMING PRESENTATION
This Sunday, March 3rd after the service, there will be a
presentation on Mental Health from the Affirming committee.
Hoping everyone will stay, listen and learn!
Thank you!
Contact is Tracey Bazso.
News from the Pews Page 3
HORSESHOE FALLS REGIONAL MEETING AT ST. ANDREW’S ON SATURDAY
- WE NEED YOUR HELP, PLEASE!
On Saturday March 2nd, St. Andrew’s church will be hosting the new Horseshoe Falls Regional Council. All day we will see Ministry Personnel and Lay representatives meeting here for worship, meetings and lunch.
We are looking for help as we host this meeting.
We will need people to:
greet at the door, set up tables and chairs throughout the building, direct traffic, help with lunch and refreshments, operate the sound systems and clean up. This will be an event for about 160 people. A Volunteer sign-up sheet has been posted.
Thank you for your support!
COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR (CNOY) 2019 WALK LAST SATURDAY
As the proud captain of The St. Andrew’s United Church Angel Team, I am thrilled to report on
the walk last Saturday for the Georgetown Bread Basket! We were very lucky with the weather
as it was a perfect evening for a walk (definintely NOT the coldest night of the year). A week
ago, 8 walkers had to drop out and I thought we were going to have a smaller team of around 10
this year. All of a sudden last Thursday and Friday we had 8 more walkers join us – thanks
mostly to Kimberley Floyd and her family who added 6 people to our team!
So we ended up with 18 walkers again this year which was one of the largest teams in
Georgetown! Thank you to the whole team - Joanne, Greg, Margo, Bill, Pat, Valerie, Carol,
Any youth in grades 7 and up are welcome to attend.
TOMORROW - March 1 Bigger is Better game @ church
Next Tuesday, March 5 - Shrove Tuesday Pancake supper
Other Events and Volunteer Opportunities.
Youth in High school can get volunteer hours for helping with any of the following:
Community Dinners at St. Andrew’s (third Friday of the month)
The Youth can help with the preparation, serving of food and cleaning up after the meal. All are
welcome to attend.
Next dinner is: Friday March 15th (5:30 to 7 PM)
Vacation Bible Camp
July 29th to August 2nd, 2019 - Monday to Friday 9 am to Noon
SENIOR YOUTH GROUP **** NEEDS YOUR HELP! ****
On Most Fridays our Youth group meets at the church for activities. We are in need of reliable adults who would be willing to assist Grant with the leader-ship and supervision. Some of these evenings will require driving to a location off site. If you can help that would be appreciated. Thank you to the people that have signed up so far!
A sign up list will be posted near the entrance to the church. 1. March 1 Bigger is Better game @ church
2. March 5 Shrove Tuesday Pancake supper
3. March 22 Stencil Night @ church
4. April 5-6 Sleepover @ church
5. April 12 Harry Potter Baking Night @ church
6. April 26 Minute to Win it Games @ church
7. May 4 Car Wash @ church
8. May 17 Movie Night after community dinner @ church
9. May 24 Campfire @ offsite Driver is needed
10. June 15 Wonderland trip Driver is needed
For more information please speak to Grant Williams
News from the Pews Page 5
Bread Basket Sunday this week, March 3rd
FOOD BANK DONATIONS would be greatly appreciated!
Bread Basket Sunday is the first Sunday of every month.
From Facebook, the most needed food items: large can or tetra juice (1 litre or more),
We are looking for a few more people to help out with the A/V (Audio/Video) role in the Sunday
Service and periodically special services (the people at the back!). It’s an easy way for High
School students to add to their volunteer hours. Training will be provided! If you can use a
mouse, you can do the Video portion and if you can push a button and slide levers back and
forth, you can do the Audio portion!
If interested, please contact the office or Bryan Scott! Thank you!
“RENTAL SPACE AVAILABLE”
St. Andrew’s United Church reaches out to the Community in many different ways.
Effective immediately we have space available for rent.
Please contact our Church Office to inquire about Rental Space for your Group, Organization or
Personal Needs. i.e. Reception, Workshop, Birthday Party, Anniversary Party, Dinner, Meeting
etc.
We have a fully equipped, certified Kitchen able to handle any type of event, with a Hall capacity
of 120 with tables and chairs or 170 with chairs only.
We offer competitive rates and a variety of rental space options.
“We may have what you are looking for. Give us a call for Rental Rates and Availability”.
FLOWERS IN THE SANCTUARY FOR SUNDAY SERVICES
If you would like to place flowers on the altar table for a Sunday service, in
memory of a loved one, to celebrate a special occasion or "just because",
please write your name on the schedule that is on the bulletin board across from
the office and/or email/phone Valerie Jordan [email protected] or phone
905-877-3291 or contact the church office.
News from the Pews Page 10
Community Unity Easter Basket Brigade Saturday, April 20th, 2019
Location: St. Andrew’s United Church (Thank you for your kindness)
Food drop off Dry/Canned/Boxes (Only) Dates: Thursday April 18th and Friday April 19th 12:00 – 4:00PM
Individual Churches to bring Hams/perishables on Saturday below
Schedule for Saturday April 20th, 2019 9:00 - 2:00 pm 9:00-11:30 AM - sort and pack
12:00 - 2:00 PM - deliver
“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18)
God in his mercy has provided us with his bounty, and likewise we can open our hearts and share this bounty with our Community. Each Community Congregation has been asked to pro-vide a portion of the Easter Feast, and to participate in the preparation and delivery of the Feast to our Halton Hills neighbours.
If anyone in your congregation has contacts into food companies or other contacts that can donate food in bulk and/or /funds to support our initiative, please let us know!
(Best case scenario is cans/dry goods ideally purchased in boxes making the stacking and distribution efficient, but of course we’ll accept any/all donations).
What we need is the following from your Church on Thursday April 18th/Friday April 19th 1:00 – 4:00PM
100 Bags of Sugar
50 Peanut Butter
15 Hams – each church will have “Ham Budget”, with your “Ham Offering” being a “$150.00 – 15 x $10.00 (Piller’s Hams were $10 each in last week’s flyer). Most churches have fridges/freezers so ideally the hams would be purchase by the congregation, stored at the respective church, and brought to St Andrew’s the morning of the event. We are also working to have Maple Lodge donate 200 chickens and await their positive response.
If you would like to donate, please use an envelope and drop it into the offering plate with “The Basket Brigade” written on it. It costs $100 per family basket but any amounts are helpful!
Fresh Veggies/Fruit
For this event we’ll be leveraging the Georgetown Bread Basket’s significant relations with the National Food Banks together with the GBB’s support from our community grocery stores and also have some connections that are hopefully going to assist.
Donations to Community Unity
Donations will be gratefully accepted to cover the costs of other vegetables/fruit/eggs that will need to be purchased. Donations may be made at the Community Unity website clicking on the Canada Helps “To Donate” Button”; a tax receipt will be instantly generated. It would be ideal to receive the donations prior to April 5th as it takes a week for the funds to be released to Com-munity Unity.
http://www.communityunityhaltonhills.com/
News from the Pews Page 11
Gift Cards
If anyone has spare food gift cards or would like to donate from any of the grocery stores in greater Georgetown, we will happily accept them.
Volunteers – overall, we need a collective minimum 50 volunteers
Fellowship is the beautiful underlaying gift of this event bringing together everyone wanting to make a difference (kids included!). Please have your volunteers email our Volunteer Coordinator Fer-nanda at [email protected] with their request to be a volunteer. Have them bring their family (teens for community hours), friends and co-workers to sort and pack bags for our families in need.
We’ll need some volunteers on Friday, April 19 – 8:00PM – 8:30 (St. Andrews has a community din-ner that evening – come for the dinner). During the dinner all the donated food will be displayed as a backdrop on the stage at St. Andrew’s. After the dinner we need our volunteer team to move the boxes onto the tables (they’ll already be up from the dinner) ready for the sorting and packing next day.
The big day is Saturday April 20th, 2019 9:00 - 2:00 pm. 9:00-11:30 AM - sort and pack. 12:00 - 2:00 PM – deliver. After the event we’ll also need a clean up team to break down the boxes and make sure St. Andrews’ is left sparkling.
Drivers
We’ll need 50 drivers. Have your volunteers reach out to me and we’ll coordinate them with one of our Team Leaders. They will need to bring their driver’s license and sign in at the Registration Desk. Each driver pair will deliver to 4-5 families, sorted by area.
Video/Social Media
Our resident Videographer will out and about recording the day but of course we welcome and en-courage all IPhone masters, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc to share our event. We want to cap-ture trucks being offloaded, people sorting food, packing bags, cars being packed, testimonials, smiling faces etc.
As an example, watch the 2016 23rd Annual Basket Brigade YouTube video https://youtu.be/VwkTzIjuF0M, the model upon which our Community Unity initiative is based on. Enjoy watching it, please send it out to others, and ask them to like it.
Other
Children’s books – if you have any new or gently used books in good condition, they’re perfect!
Toiletries – new soaps, body washes, body scrubs, toothbrushes, toothpastes, shampoos, con-ditioners
Communication Action Points (God needs you to ...)
Spread God’s Message about what we as a Christian Community are doing from the Pulpit – Announce the upcoming collection/purchasing of items, getting the congregation to volunteer, as this is a wonderful way to share God’s love with our neighbours.
Post the information that we will be forwarding on your website/Bulletin Board etc
If you have any other suggestions, please let us know as this is your “Community Unity” in action!
This is going to be a great event where we demonstrate the love of God and our love of our neigh-bour. Thank you so much for your help!
40 Days of Lenten Action to Live with Respect in Creation
(sent out from the Toronto United Church Council)
- Try this instead of giving up chocolate for lent As Lent approaches, consider inviting the members of your community of faith to participate in 40 Days of Lenten Action to Live with Respect in Creation. The actions provided (one for each day of Lent), are designed to help you reduce your personal carbon footprint, connect with the natural environment, and reflect on the challenge of climate change.
40 Days of Lenten Action to Live with Respect in Creation
Introduction
At this juncture in human history, climate change has become one of the most critical issues of our time. Recently, we have experienced powerful hurricanes, forest fires, deep freezes, and rec-ord breaking temperatures. Scientists from all over the world are giving us a warning
that we must change our ways. Pope Francis has stated, “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods; it represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”
Canada’s Citizens for Public Justice remind us that “Climate change is a matter of faith and jus-tice.” Our response to human induced climate change needs to be multifold. Here are two key di-mensions. First we are called upon “to live with respect in Creation.” We need to develop a clear awareness of our connectedness to the web of creation, a deep appreciation of its beauty and fra-gility, and an attitude of humility so that our children and grandchildren will still have a beautiful planet to live on. God has entrusted us to be faithful stewards of this planet.
We also need to honour the beauty of the earth by reducing our individual and communal im-pact on creation - our carbon footprint. This can be done in a multiplicity of ways just some of which are named in the actions for Lent we have assembled here. There are forty actions, one for each day of Lent, reflecting this dual approach. You do not need to follow them in numerical order and we encourage you to choose the order for yourself. Each action is marked
by a symbol indicating the type of action being put before you. For Sundays, and the final days of Holy Week there are reflective and prayerful actions as well. Almost all of the actions can be un-dertaken alone, but do consider doing this with a friend or in a group – encourage
each other along the way and compare! For centuries, Christians have undergone spiritual prac-tices during Lent to experience what Jesus has gone through in the desert to prepare for
his ministry. During this Lent, let us rise to the challenge of climate change one step at a time and join together in solidarity with other Christians and with others on our planet. Theologically, eco-nomically, and ecologically, let us walk gently upon the earth this Lenten season and may you discover profound appreciation and gratitude as you connect with God, our earth, your neigh-bours, and yourself!
Actions 1. Run the laundry washing machine on cold/cold setting and during off peak times. Of the total energy use and greenhousegas emissions produced by a single load of laundry, approximately 75% of it comes from warming the water itself. 2. Unplug electronics that are not in use. Many electronics draw power when off (it’s called “phantom power” and can account for up to 10% of a household’s energy use). Place electronics on a power strip and turn it off in between uses. 3. Drink tap water or install a water filter at home (e.g. Brita filter) instead of buying bottled water. Bottled water produces more than 1000 times more carbon emissions than tap water (mainly
News from the Pews Page 13
from packaging and transport) and creates unnecessary plastic waste. 4. Check the tire pressure on your car. Under inflated tires lower fuel efficiency. You can improve your gas mileage by 0.6% on average—up to 3% in some cases—by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. 5. Consider skipping the dryer when you wash your clothes. If you run the dryer 200 times per year you could save nearly half a ton of carbon emissions by hanging clothes to dry instead. 6. Are you separating your waste properly? Review your local guidelines and do a test check of your recycling and green bins. 7. When driving, obey the speed limit. Higher speeds use up more energy and are more dangerous. Most vehicles operate at the highest fuel efficiency when travelling between 50 and 80 km/h. Above this range, vehicles consume increasingly more fuel the faster they go. At 120 km/h, a vehicle uses about 20% more fuel than at 100 km/h. 8. Try a meatless Monday. Lowering meat consumption to within accepted health guidelines could reduce global food-related emissions by nearly a third by 2050. Widespread adoption of a vegetarian diet could cut emissions by 63%. 9. Turn down your thermostat by at least 1 degree. This can reduce your energy bill by 1-3%. Low-ering it by 5-10 degrees overnight can lead to even more significant savings of 10-15%. 10. Take a break from the TV and internet. Unplug your wifi, go for a walk, play a game, read a book. 11. Give up disposable cups and drinks in plastic bottles. Carry a travel mug and/or reusable water bottle. 12. Cut your shower time by two minutes – it will save nearly 20 litres of water PLUS the energy re-quired to heat it. 13. Carry your own non-plastic cutlery. Disposable cutlery and straws are among the worst plastic pollution culprits. Get in the habit of carrying your own cutlery with you and leaving a set in the car. 14. When buying clothes:
Choose second hand clothing, saving money and giving the clothes themselves a longer lease on life.
Choose natural fibres like organic cotton or wool. Synthetic fabrics create microfibre pollution when washed.
Invest in quality, minimizing the demand for cheap items that will end up in landfill. 15. Watch the video, “The Story of Stuff” https://tinyurl.com/youtube-storyofstuff. Then do an inventory of your closet. Are there items you wish you had not purchased? Why? What can you do differently? “The one who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.” Lao Tzu. 16. Examine your cleaning supplies. How many of them are environmentally friendly? Take a look at the Environmental Defence report on the toxic chemicals in conventional cleaning products: https://environmentaldefence.ca/report/fulldisclosure/ 17. When using the dishwasher, let your dishes air-dry. The heated drying cycle uses at least 15% more energy. 18. Look through your shopping cart and see where your food originates. Aim to buy more local and in-season produce and plan to visit a farmers’ market and chat with a local farmer. Check out what’s in season in Ontario with Food Down the Road’s helpful chart: https://tinyurl.com/seasonalavailability 19. Keep track of how much food waste you create. Eat leftovers and avoid wasting food. In Canada, $31 billion worth of food ends up in landfills or composters each year, much of it directly from supermarkets. France recently banned supermarkets from wasting food, requiring them to sign agreements with charities instead. Write your MP to urge similar action in Canada. To be continued next week...
News from the Pews Page 14
COMMUNITY
ONLINE BIBLE STUDY
Rev. Jean Leckie has an online Bible Study. This week:
How many families do you know who have fought over an inheritance? It seems like it is an
ancient and universal problem. What really do we gain by such a dispute? Check out Jesus'
response https://www.hluc.ca/bible-study2
Announcing a great Halton Hills EcoFilm 2019 line-up.
Mark your 2019 calendars for these screenings:
3) Wednesday, March 21st, 2019 - Blue
4) Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 - Growing Cities
5) Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - ground swell Rising
Season's pass - See 5 movies for $40 - Save $10 available until January 23rd
John Elliott Theatre,
9 Church St.
Georgetown
Tickets on site: $10 Adults and $5 Students
7:00 - 9:00 pm
www.haltonhills.ca/theatre
Presented by P.O.W.E.R. - Protect Our Water and Enveironmental Resources -
www.powerhalton.ca and the Town of Halton Hills
2019 ERIN ECO-FILM FESTIVAL
Creating Awareness. Inspiring Action!
All films are screened at the Erin Legion, 12 Dundas Street East, Erin.
There is ample parking outside the Legion building.
Doors open on film nights at 6:30 pm, and the program begins at 7:00.
Admission is FREE, although we do appreciate donations so we can continue to bring inspiring
eco-films to our community and support local environmental action!
More info: https://www.erinecofilmfest.ca/
3) Wednesday, March 20th, 2019 - Sharkwater Extinction
4) Wednesday, April 10th, 2019 - Modified: A foodlover's journey into GMO's
5) Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 - Living the Change
Humour Corner Sister Mary, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it a gas station was just a block away. She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her the only gas can he owned had been loaned out but she could wait until it was returned. Since the nun was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car. She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful she carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gas, and carried the full bedpan back to her car. As she was pouring the gas into her tank two men watched from across the street. One of them turned to the other and said, "If it starts, I'm turning Catholic!"