Mid-Week Message - April 30

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!

I'm writing this e-mail in my office at Westfield following Eldon's funeral this afternoon. It was good to see so many people out from all three of our churches (as well as from the wider community) to celebrate someone who was such an integral part of our community of faith.  Thank you to all of you - those of you who came to celebrate Eldie and those of you who helped, either as greeters or in the background - I know that I've said it before, but I think that our church might church at its best at funerals, loving our friends and neighbours in their time of grief.

This week is National Volunteer Week - a week when we celebrate and say thank you to all of the people who volunteer their time for organizations and groups out in the world. So many places in the world depend on volunteers.

I know that many of you reading this message volunteer your time, not just for the church but in countless organizations out in the community.

That being said, I'm not sure how I feel about that word, "volunteer" when it comes to the church.  I think that I prefer the word "discipleship."  The work that we do as the church is more than the volunteer work that we do for other organizations - it is what we do as part of the Body of Christ.  The church only functions when all of the members of the body share the gifts and talents we have been given.  Without the electricians and plumbers sharing their time and skills to keep the buildings working; without the singers lending their voices to the choir, without the strong readers stepping up to share scripture and the Minute for Mission, without the sandwich makers making sandwiches for Romero House - without all of this, there wouldn't be a church.

So, on this National Volunteer Week, I thank you.  Thank you for the time and skills that you offer to the whole Body of Christ that is the church.  Thank you for saying "yes" to this life of discipleship, serving each other and the world as we answer Jesus's call to "Follow me."

The Moderator of the United Church of Canada, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, adds her thank you too. You can watch her thank-you video by clicking here.

Moving on to announcements this week:

• Worship on Sunday will be at 9:15 at Summerville and 11:15 at Westfield and on Facebook Live.  This week, we'll be reading another one of Jesus's post-Easter appearances to his disciples - this time it is their picnic on the beach, where three times Jesus tells Peter, "Feed my sheep." If you want to read it ahead of time, it is John 21:1-19.

• Westfield Garden Clean-Up - a clean-up work party is happening at the church this Saturday, May 3, at 10:30am. The plan is to tackle the harvest garden, the prayer garden, and the surrounding lawns. Please bring any rakes, spades, trowels, gloves that you may want to use. And remember that many hands make light work! (To see the Facebook Event for this clean-up, you can click here.)

• Paper Shredding Event - it has been in the bulletin for a couple of weeks, but Westfield United Church is having a paper shredding fundraiser. If you are like me, you probably have bags (or boxes!) of papers that need to be shredded, but my home shredder will only work for a couple of minutes before it overheats and I need to wait for it to cool down before I can continue. We are going to have an industrial shredder in the parking lot of Westfield United Church on May 24 from 9am - 1pm and anyone can bring their items to be shredded. (Apparently there is even a screen on the outside of the truck so you can watch your items going into the chopper!) We'll also have volunteers on site if you need help getting your bags or boxes from your car. A sponsor has come forward to cover the full cost of the shredder rental (thank you to local realtor, Paige Danaher, for this!), so all money raised will go to the church. For all the details about what can go through the shredder and what can't, you can access the poster by clicking here.

• Ida's Memorial Walk - This will be our third year walking at Sea Dog Cove Nature Preserve in Summerville in memory of Ida MacPherson. This year's date is Saturday June 7 at 10am. For all of the details, you can access the poster by clicking here.

• Some dates in May to watch:

  Asking the Big Questions - Tues. May 20, 4:30-6

  Session - Wed. May 21, 6:30 (at Summerville)

  Official Board - Wed. May 21, 7:30 (at Summerville) - you are probably going to be hearing from Stacey soon, looking for reports!

• Study Leave - I know that I was just on vacation last week, but I'm going to be away again next week on Study Leave (May 5-11) - Diana Butler Bass is going to be speaking in Halifax! This means that next week, there will be no bible study (we'll gather again on May 14), and no mid-week message. For any pastoral emergencies next week, you can call Margaret Stackhouse at 506-xxx-xxxx and she'll connect you with the minister who is covering for me.

Thank You Corner - this week's thank-you goes to Gwen Quigley and Sarah Quigley, our intrepid Sunday School Teachers and Youth Leaders at Long Reach United Church. Last Saturday night, they had 16 youth at the church for a sleepover, and they then participated in worship at Long Reach (and welcomed another 4 kids to Sunday School who weren't part of the sleep-over). Thank you to both of you for sharing your faith with our younger members, and for making church such a fun place for them to be. (And if you happen to be at Long Reach in the next couple of weeks, have a look at the new artwork they created for the window in the River Room. I'll try to get a picture up on the Two Rivers Facebook Page soon.)

And for a closing thought this week, let me link you to one of Diana Butler Bass's recent posts (since that is who I am going to hear next week) - this one is related to eco-theology. You can read it by clicking here. I don't know what topic she is going to be speaking about next week, but I do know that no matter the topic, I will want to have a notebook with me so that I can hold on to her thoughts!

And with that, blessings to you and yours, today and always!

Kate.

Rev. Kate Jones

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge

(506) 757-2201 (office)

(506) 343-1307 (mobile)

www.tworiverspastoralcharge.com

Pronouns:  she/her/hers

"Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: "You must love your neighbour as you love yourself."

(Matthew 22:36-39)