May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!
This morning at bible study, we had a conversation about gender-based violence. I'm not quite sure how we landed there - our bible study conversations are often quite wide-reaching - but I suspect that we were talking about who has the power in groups and organizations to make decisions or to influence others as decisions are being made collectively. (We're reading the stories of King David right now, and are coming across stories of people who abuse their power.)
I told the group that it was very appropriate for us to be having this conversation right now, as we are in the middle of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. This is a United Nations Initiative that is marked around the world, and it begins on November 25 (The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and ends on December 10 (Human Rights Day). This year's theme is "Every 10 Minutes a Woman is Killed #NoExcuse" (For some facts and figures, you can check out the UNWomen website by clicking here.)
Those of you who live in Grand Bay Westfield may have noticed that the floodlights on the trees at the Veteran's Peace Park are currently purple - this is to mark the 16 Days of Activism (purple is usually the colour associated with ending gender-based violence). And here in Canada, the National Day for Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women falls in the middle of the 16 Days of Activism on December 6, the anniversary of the date when 14 women were murdered at L'Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989.
Whenever I am reflecting on something going on in the world - whether a specific news story or a more general topic - I always ask the questions:
Why should we, as the church, care about this story/issue?
Is God trying to tell us anything through this story/issue?
How might God be calling us to act, related to this story/issue?
When it comes to gender-based violence, these are relatively easy questions to answer. We need to care about the issue, because God cares about the issue. All people of every gender along the gender spectrum (female, male, non-binary, gender fluid, agender etc), cis-gender and transgender alike, are equally precious and loved by God. And whenever one of God's beautiful and beloved children is harmed, God weeps. And we, as the church, weep too.
And how might God be calling us to act? I think that whenever we are faced with a tragedy like gender-based violence, we are first called to lament. We are called to lament the harms done to specific people, and we are called to lament that the systems in our world are set up to enable (if not promote) gender-based violence. We are called to cry and to rage and to grieve.
And then when we come out the other side of lament - once we have poured our hearts out to God (who weeps alongside us), then we are called to act. This action may look like a prayer that the world might be transformed so that people of every gender are safe and empowered to be fully themselves. This action may look like doing the small things that are within our power to do in order to change the world to be more in line with how God wants the world to be aligned. Because together, all of our small actions can add up to a big actions.
Our service on Friday evening will be a service of lament and prayer for the world to change.
I'm going to end this reflection where I started - at bible study and the stories of the kings of Ancient Israel. Because one thing that we, as a group, have seen, reading these stories, is that whenever the leaders keep God at the heart of who they are and what they do, things tend to go well. It's only when they forget this and try to turn themselves into gods, that things go off the rails.
So from whatever perspective you are reading this - remember that you are God's beloved child; remember that God is working in you, by the Holy Spirit, giving you the strength and courage to do things that you wouldn't otherwise be able to do; and remember that God will always comfort you when you need comforting and shake you up when things need shaking up!
In terms of announcements this week, the December busyness continues!
Worship on Sunday will be at 9:15 at Long Reach and 11:15 at Westfield and on Facebook Live. This week, our Advent series continues and "Mary" will tell us about the visit from the angel, telling her that she had been chosen to bear God's child (Luke 1:26-38). Long Reach's service will include the Christmas Pageant (Westfield's pageant will be the following Sunday) - thank you Tatum for agreeing to coordinate a pageant again this year!
Advent Socials (Westfield Only) - a reminder to families with a last name between M and P (inclusive) that you are invited to bring "eats and sweets" to share with the congregation after worship this week! (And thank you to Session members for the set-up and clean-up!)
National Day for Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women - as noted in my reflection above above, we will be having a service on Friday evening at 7pm at Long Reach United Church. Gender-Based Violence isn't "just a women's issue" and everyone is invited to attend this service.
UCW Bake Sale - this is coming up on Saturday morning from 9-12 in the St. Giles Room at Westfield United Church. (Though the experience of our experts say to come early, as they are likely to be sold out before noon!)
White Gifts - the boxes in each of our churches will be out for two more weeks, collecting our gifts for Hestia House, Coverdale, and Avenue B; and then our Church in the World committee will deliver the gifts to those organizations. If you need a reminder of their wish-lists, you can access it by clicking here.
Christmas Families - The deadline is fast approaching to make grocery gift card donations to our Christmas Families! This coming Sunday (Dec. 8) is the last week for Westfield and Long Reach; with Summerville having an extra week (Dec. 15). At Westfield, give the cards to Judy Sheaves or put them in the offering plate (well marked); at Long Reach, give them to Anne Titus; at Summerville, give them to Bette Ashley.
Tree Ornaments (Westfield Only) - when our Decorating Elves were putting up the tree yesterday, Dave Sheaves offered to cut out a few more ornaments if you wanted to have one on the church tree in memory of a loved one. The cost to do this is $20 (all money going to support the church). If you would like one, then you can get in touch with Dave and Judy (or send me a message and I'll pass it along to them).
Looking Ahead:
Wed. Dec. 11 - Bible Study (with potluck lunch), 10am
Wed. Dec. 11 - UCW Christmas Communion Service, 7pm
Thurs. Dec. 12 - Westfield United Church Choir Concert, 7pm
Tues. Dec. 17 - Asking the Big Questions, 4:30pm (This month's big question will be "Why bother with Christmas?")
And I believe that is it for this week. So much going on this month!
For a closing thought, I want to share a couple of my favourite pieces of music at this time of year (and I know that I have probably shared these with you in other years as well; but Advent and Christmas only come around once a year!). The first is Ben Caplan's stunning version of "O Holy Night" - to me, this version of the song sings hope on a gut level - the sort of hope that is only possible when everything is hopeless. You can listen by clicking here. (And for a fun Easter Egg hunt while you watch this one - the video was filmed at Fort Massey United Church in Halifax - can you spot the visual clues that this is a United Church building?)
The other song is Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma performing "The Wexford Carol" - to me, this haunting arrangement allows the words and story to shine through. (And from a musical perspective, I just love how the layers of the accompaniment build throughout the song.) You can listen by clicking here.
Blessings to you and yours, today and always!
Kate.
Rev. Kate Jones
Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
(506) 757-2201 (office)
(506) 343-1307 (mobile)
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)
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