Mid-Week Message - June 5

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

As I mentioned in last week’s e-mail, I spent the weekend in Charlottetown attending the annual meeting of Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council. All of the clergy from the Region (NB, PEI, and part of the Gaspé), along with lay delegates from each congregation were in attendance (ideally – real life sometimes gets in the way and not everyone is able to make it every year).  Over the weekend, we worshipped together, we shared meals together, we heard from speakers and attended workshops, and we carried out the business of the church.

Joan Small (Long Reach) and Bette Ashley (Bayswater-Summerville) were also there representing Two Rivers, and I know that they will be sharing their report with our congregations and the Official Board; but here are a couple of highlights from my perspective:

• Worshipping together with several hundred people, singing songs of our faith and joining our hearts together in prayer.

• Witnessing the ordination of 4 Ordained Ministers and the commissioning of one Diaconal Minister on Sunday morning.

• Reconnecting with colleagues who are also friends – the conversations; the hugs; the sharing of our joys and our burdens (and three much-too-late nights spent solving the problems of the church and the world over snacks and our beverages of choice).

• Being elected as one of 15 Commissioners from our Region to the next General Council in 2025. General Council is the national decision-making body of the United Church of Canada – it meets every 3 years, and next year’s meeting will be held in Calgary. Even before I was in ministry, I was a church geek who would rush home from work to turn on the General Council Livestream for as long as they have been livestreaming the proceedings (2009 in Kelowna was the first year that they had the technology), so I’m very excited that I now have a chance to attend in-person!

• Watching Rev. Elizabeth (well-known to most people in our Pastoral Charge) very ably chair the meeting as our Region’s President; installing our new President, Susan LeMaistre (from Winsloe, PEI) on Sunday morning, and choosing our President Elect, Hugh Ellis (from Bathurst, NB).

 The church is the people, and there is something wonderful about gathering as The Church, from all of our different backgrounds and locations, so that we can worship God together and plan for how we are going to carry out God’s mission together in our corner of the world.

(And if you would like to see pictures from the weekend, you can find them on the Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Facebook Page by clicking here.)

In terms of announcements for our little corner of the church:

• Worship on Sunday will be at Long Reach at 9:15 and at Westfield and on FB Live at 11:15. Sunday School will be offered at both churches during the service. June 10 will mark the 99th Anniversary of The United Church of Canada, and so we will be joining together with churches from coast to coast this week as we share common prayers, hymns, and scriptures. This week marks the kick-off for the centenary year of celebration of The United Church of Canada, and we will be looking back at our past and looking forward to what God’s dream for the church might be. For those of you who like to read ahead, the scripture will be John 12:20-28.

• I am going to be away for 3 weeks in June (2 weeks of vacation and 1 week of study leave) – June 10-30, inclusive. Yes, I know that it feels like I just got back from my sabbatical, but because I started my call here at Two Rivers on July 1, 2018, I need to use up this year’s vacation and study leave before June 30! If there are any pastoral emergencies while I am away, you can contact Margaret Stackhouse at 506-721-4307 and she will connect you with the minster who is covering for me. (During my study leave, I’m going to be presenting at a Lucy Maud Montgomery conference at UPEI – if you want to unleash my not-so-secret geeky side, feel free to ask me about my paper!)

• Thank you to everyone who helped to paint signs for the garden at Westfield United Church last Sunday after worship!

• In a related announcement, there is going to be a Grand Opening of the Harvest Garden on Monday June 24 at 6:30pm. This will be an opportunity to thank individuals and businesses who have contributed to this garden, as well as to celebrate what this garden will offer to our community. Everyone is invited to attend (and there will be tea, coffee, and goodies)!

• Westfield United Church is having another Strawberry Drive-Through Dinner on Thursday July 11. Tickets are $15 and must be purchased in advance from the Grand Bay Home Hardware. The meal will include a cold plate dinner with ham and salads, along with strawberry shortcake for dessert. (I don’t know about you, but I love days in the summer when I don’t have to turn on my stove at home!) For a copy of the poster with all the details, click here.

• Finally, an invitation to a wedding! Amber Graham (a choir member at Westfield United Church and a member of our Two Rivers Session) and Gordon Bonham are getting married on Saturday July 6 at 3pm at Westfield United Church. They would like you all to know that you are invited to the ceremony to witness their vows to each other and to celebrate love and family with them.

 And I think that is it for announcements this week!  There won’t be a mid-week message again until the first week of July when I’m back from my vacation and study leave.

For a closing thought this week, I want to share the song that our choir sang on Sunday morning at the closing worship for the Regional meeting. The theme for the whole meeting was “Daring to Dream; Faith in Action” – I’m not going to tell you what the song was, you’ll have to click here to find out! (But I’ll give you a hint – this song popped into my head several weeks ago when I found out what the theme of the weekend was going to be.) I've shared a link to the lyric video, so feel free to sing along!

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)