May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!
In this first week of July, I hope that you are all easing well into summer! I had a good vacation - one week of deck construction with my father, one week on PEI, and one week of relaxing at home!
It is good to have down-time - sabbath time, if we were to take a theological perspective. If you read the first creation story in the bible (Genesis 1:1 - 2:4), we are created in God's image, which means that we were created to have regular sabbath time. We weren't created to work or be on call or to be doing 24/7. We can't be fully human in the way that God wants us to be without sabbath time - whether that sabbath time happens on Sunday morning or another time in the week.
And so my wish for you is that you find some time to rest and to simply BE - be in God's presence, be with your loved ones, be fully present to yourself - over the months ahead.
I have a couple of announcements to pass along this week:
Flower Services - each year we set aside a worship service at each of our churches to remember and celebrate the lives of the people in our churches and in our communities who have died in the past year. Our flower services this year will be: Long Reach - Sunday July 10, 11am Westfield - Sunday July 17, 11:15am Bayswater-Summerville - Sunday July 17, 4pm If you want to see the poster, you can click here - please feel free to share this with anyone who may be interested in attending.
At Westfield this Sunday, there will be pulpit supply (since I'm not able to be two places at the same time!). Kathy Roy will be leading the service at 11:15 at it will be livestreamed on Facebook.
Movie Nights - I didn't have a chance to organize our Church Family Movie Nights before I went on vacation, but I know that they have been much enjoyed in previous years. We will get going again next week - I'll plan to announce next week's movie on Sunday! We will gather on Wednesdays at 7pm in the parlour at Westfield throughout July and August to watch a different movie each week - everyone is welcome to attend!
Thank you to all of the organizers of the Strawberry Non-Social that was held on Monday at Westfield United, and to everyone who volunteered to help. And thank you to everyone who supported it by buying tickets! (I love helping in the parking lot at these drive-through dinners, since I get to chat with everyone who comes through in their car.)
Looking ahead to the fall, The Church of the Resurrection in Grand Bay is going to be holding a Bowling Party Fundraiser for the Sunrise Play Park. Teams of 6 come together to bowl on Saturday September 24 from 6-9pm. Each team member pays $20 to cover the cost of the bowling and of food; and each team member fundraises $100 (or more), for which a tax receipt will be issued. I have agreed to put together a Two Rivers Pastoral Charge team, so I am looking for 5 people to join me for a fun night of bowling! If you are interested, let me know and I will get you a pledge sheet. Several of us put together a team last time they did this fundraiser (?2019?) and we had a blast!
And I think that is it for today.
For a closing thought this week, one of my favourite writers, Kate Bowler, is sending out a summer blessing series that she is calling "Joyfully Mediocre" - you can click here to read one of her blessings (and if you want to receive them by e-mail, there is a link at the bottom of the post that you can click).
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)