Mid-Week Message - July 24

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

In worship, we have an opportunity each week to share our "God Sightings" - times when we have been especially aware of God's presence, or times when we have noticed God working in the world - and for the past couple of weeks, our God Sightings at the Westfield service have included Ida's Cupboard. People have shared stories of other churches and other communities taking the idea and adapting it to their own space, allowing hungry people to be able to access food in more locations. And then there has been the story of rebuilding the physical cupboard at Westfield.

When the original cupboard was built, we had no idea how well-used it was going to be, and the frequency of the door opening and closing (likely combined with a couple of New Brunswick winters) have taken their toll.  A huge thank you to Doug Thorne for constructing that original cupboard out of re-claimed materials at the church - your work has been a blessing to our community.

And now a volunteer organization through Home Depot ("Team Depot") is building a new, sturdier, cupboard that will hopefully see us through many more winters!

It truly does take a whole community coming together to make God's work happen. This ministry wouldn't be the success that it is without people like Doug and now Team Depot coming together to build the cupboard. It wouldn't be the success that it is without the people in Grand Bay-Westfield (and beyond) generously sharing what they are able. It wouldn't be the success that it is without the church offering a small bit of land for the cupboard. It wouldn't be the success that it is without the Church in the World Committee and Board of Stewards having a vision for it.

One person doesn't make up the church - it is all of us together, each sharing of ourselves, that is the church. Together, we truly are the body of Christ.

(The new cupboard is being installed today, so make sure that you swing by to see it in the next couple of days!)

I have a handful of announcements this week:

• Worship on Sunday will be at 9:15 at Summerville (outside, weather permitting, so bring your lawn chair!) and 11:15 at Westfield and on Facebook Live. The movie tie-in for this Sunday will be Turtles All the Way Down, a 2024 movie based on the novel by John Green; and the scripture tie-in is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. (If you haven't seen the movie yet, it is available for streaming on Crave, or you can read about it by clicking here.)

• Tuesday Night Movies are continuing, each week at 7pm in the parlour at Westfield United Church. If you aren't able to make it on Tuesday evenings but still want to watch the movies we are tying in to Sunday worship, the schedule for the upcoming weeks will be:

  
  

  Tuesday July 30 (for Sunday Aug. 4): Toy Story 3

  
  

  Tuesday Aug. 6 (for Sunday Aug. 11): Frozen

  
  

  Tuesday Aug. 13 (for Sunday Aug. 18): Pride

• Wild Worship - Two Rivers Pastoral Charge will be joining together with the Anglican Parish of Kingston to hold a Wild Worship service! The format will be a hike followed by a short outdoor worship service led by Rev. Douglas Painter and me (Rev. Kate Jones). This service is suitable for all ages, and everyone is invited!

  
  

  When: Thursday August 1, 7:00pm

  
  

  Where: Seadog Cove Nature Preserve (33 Summerville Rd, Summerville), meet at the trail entrance.

  
  

  Bring: Water bottle, bug spray, walking poles (if you like to use them), and clothing appropriate for the weather.

  
  

  To view the poster, you can click here.

• Affirming Churches Pride Service - Saint John's Pride Week is coming up soon, and the Affirming Churches of the Saint John Area are holding a shared Pride service on Sunday August 11 at 10am at Harmony United Church as part of the week's celebrations.  Everyone is invited to attend this service, in-person or virtually. For more details, you can view the poster by clicking here. (And Two Rivers, as you may have guessed from the movie titles above, is planning a pride-themed worship service the following week on August 18!)

• Saint John Pride Parade - as we did last year, we will be joining with the other Affirming Churches to walk in the Saint John Pride Parade on Saturday August 17. Because of construction going on uptown, the parade route will be different this year - we will be mustering at the Smythe Street Parking Lot (33-49 Smythe Street) between 1:15 and 1:50, and the parade route will go from Smythe up Union, and along Water Street to the Area 506 Container Village. If you haven't walked in the parade in previous years, it is an event that is full of good energy and excitement. With everything going on in the world at the moment, the parade theme this year is "Unapologetically Proud" and the parade marshall will be Gail Costello representing the parents opposing the changes to Bill 713. This is an opportunity to wear all of your brightly coloured and rainbow clothing and accessories, and carry signs reminding the world that all people, of every sexual orientation and gender identity, are beloved and perfectly created in God's image.

And I think that's all for this week. A slightly longer set of announcements than in the past couple of weeks!

For a closing thought this week, most of you probably know that when there is space on the back of the bulletin, I often send Elaine a poem or a cartoon related to the theme of the service to print there. This coming Sunday, there is going to be a poem, and as I was looking for one that would be appropriate, I came across another one that touched my heart but was a bit too long (even with Elaine's cut-and-paste skills to make long things fit) for the space available.  If you want to read "Blessing that Opens Its Heart to You" by Jan Richardson, you can find it 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)

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)