Mid-Week Message - July 16

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

I was at a Zoom meeting yesterday morning, and as part of the opening devotions, we were invited to consider different birds and how they might be images of or metaphors for the church.  (Thank you, Rev. Elizabeth! I'm asking for forgiveness rather than permission for borrowing your idea to riff on.)

Think of a heron that carries both extreme grace when you watch it fly or land on the water, and at the same time carries a not-objectively-beautiful voice when it calls - beauty and brokenness intermingled. Think of a flock of seagulls gathered together to natter and chat, then they all go their own way to do their own thing.  Think of an eagle or an osprey who is uniquely gifted for the task that they have been given to do - spotting a fish from high above and then diving into the river with precision to catch it.

All of these images might describe the church.  We (collectively and individually) carry beauty and brokenness intermingled.  We come together and then move apart.  We are (collectively and individually) gifted for the tasks we are called to do.

The image that came to my mind during that meeting yesterday was of a murmeration of starlings.  (Click here for a video if you aren't sure what a murmeration is.) It is mysterious - how do the birds do this without ever colliding?  It is beautiful.  It is ever-changing.  And even though with my head I know that the murmeration is made up of thousands of individual birds, when I stand back and watch it, it seems like just one thing.  (Maybe a bit like the Trinity? Always three and always one.)

Which reminds me so much of the church.  We are many, but we work together as one.  We are beautiful and never static, always changing.  And if it were possible to step back and look at The Church from a distance, it would probably seem pretty mysterious - how do all of these people all know what to do, and how are they possibly able to do it together?  (Here is where theology can have an answer for us - it is the Holy Spirit working in all of the people who make up the church - gifting us, inspiring us, and leading us! But in the end, even the Holy Spirit is mysterious.)

What about you?  Do you have an image of birds (or from other creatures, or from anywhere in creation) that describes the church?  What is the image (bird, animal, or otherwise), and why is it like the church for you?

And moving from birds to announcements this week:

• Worship on Sunday will be our two remaining Flower Services (and just like last week, the schedule is a little bit wonky).  11:15 at Westfield and on Facebook Live (that's the regular schedule), and then at 2:00pm at Long Reach.  At these services, we will have a chance to remember people in our community and in our lives who have died, and we will build a bouquet of memories together.

• As I mentioned last week, our Summer Sermon Series kicks off with the Flower Services - this year, our summer theme is "Wait?! What?! That's in the bible???" and for our reading at the flower service, we have a little bit of love poetry - two sections from the Song of Solomon (chapter 2 verses 8-17, and then chapter 8 verses 6-7).

• Summer Movie Nights - we have started gathering every Tuesday at 7pm in the parlour at Westfield United Church to watch movies through the summer.  (Last night, we also had a great conversation after the movie about all of the theological themes in The Truman Show - I eventually had to kick the group out of the parlour because I needed to get home!) Next Tuesday, we will be watching Flow - an animated film without any dialogue about a cat trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world (which sounds weird, but I've only heard rave reviews of it - it also won both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Animated Film earlier this year). You can click here to read more about it.

• Reader / Greeter lists - thank you to Elaine for compiling these (and to everyone who has agreed to read and/or greet).  The July-December schedules have now been printed out - they are available at the back of the church at Westfield and at Summerville, and they will be at Long Reach before Sunday! If you are occasionally a reader and/or greeter, please pick up a copy so you know when your turn is coming up; and remember that if you aren't able to read/greet on your date, please make arrangements for someone to take your place. (And if you let Elaine know of any changes in advance, she will make sure that the names are correct in the bulletin.)

• Pride Worship Service - last week, I issued a "save the date" for the Saint John Pride Parade (Saturday August 16, in case you missed last week's email); and this week I'm excited to announce that the three Affirming Pastoral Charges in the Saint John area (Two Rivers Pastoral Charge - that's us!, Harmony United Church, and Quispamsis United Church) are going to be collaborating to host a Pride Worship Service as part of the official Saint John Pride Week events!  This year's service is going to be hosted at Quispamsis United at 10am on Sunday August 17. (Harmony hosted last year, so I suspect that it might be our turn to host next year.) And so, similarly to when we worshipped at SJHS last month (but with better parking options), we won't be holding worship in any of our buildings that week, and instead you are encouraged to carpool to Quispamsis United. (You can even make a day of it, and plan to go for brunch or lunch afterwards with your carpool buddies!) The leadership will be coming from all three pastoral charges; and stay tuned for an announcement about our guest preachers - they will be familiar to many of you!
  

Thank You Corner - this week's thank you goes out to the Westfield UCW and Friends for another successful drive-through dinner.  Thank you to everyone who worked at the church on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week, hulling strawberries and peeling potatoes. Thank you to everyone who was part of the efficient serving crew on Thursday afternoon. Thank you to everyone who came by afterwards to help with the clean-up. Just like that murmeration of starlings, these dinners only happen through the involvement of many!

And for a closing thought this week, I've been on a bit of a Leonard Cohen kick recently (after visiting my father who is also a fan; and also because of a continuing education opportunity coming up this fall), so here is one of the songs that has been on my summer playlist - "Born in Chains" - you can click here to listen. To me, this song has the feel of a Psalm, written some 3000 years after the psalms we have in the bible.

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)