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Holy Week at St. Paul’s United Church
Leave a CommentBy any measure, Holy Week is a marathon of worship. Five worship services in four days, taking you on an emotional roller coaster that leads from the solemnity of Maundy Thursday to the grief and pain of Good Friday to the jubilation of Easter morning.
Many people wonder what the point of attending all of these services is when we already know the story of Holy Week, especially when so many of them make us sad and uncomfortable.
Holy Week, including Easter, is the most important time in the Christian year and the truth is that it should make us uncomfortable. When we go straight from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the jubilation of Easter we miss the profound nature of God’s actions during this time and the opportunity to enter into the story ourselves.
The Easter story is one where God turns failure and death into a triumph of life. The journey from the upper room to the cross to the empty tomb reflect our own faith journey, showing us our failings, our betrayal, our pain and that God can bring resurrection out of death and pain. So what are the services during Holy Week and what is each one about?
Maundy Thursday
This service remembers the final meal that Jesus ate with his friends, the institution of the Lord’s Supper and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples (we wash hands). It ends with the betrayal by Judas. The sanctuary is stripped it’s hanging and accessories and we leave in silence. This service starts at 7 pm at St. Paul’s.
Good Friday
This service remembers the arrest, trial and death of Jesus. The service this year includes Scripture, symbols, sounds, readings and poetry. It takes us to the moment when it seems that all is lost and that death has won. This service starts at 11 am at St. Timothy’s Presbyterian.
Easter Vigil
This is a newer service for St. Paul’s and takes place on Saturday night. In this service we keep vigil at the tomb, waiting for the resurrection. People are invited to come up to a half hour before the service starts to keep vigil in silence in the darkened sanctuary. The service starts in darks, candles are then lit and the first part of the service is done by candle light. As we read the Easter Gospel the lights come on and we proclaim the resurrection. This takes place on Saturday at St. Paul’s. The doors are open from 8:30 pm and the service starts at 9 pm.
Easter Sunrise
This service takes place at the lake at sunrise on Easter morning. It happens at this time to remember the women who went to Jesus tomb at sunrise to anoint his body and found the tomb empty. Led by Karen Strong it takes place at 6:15 am at McClarnan Road and Lake Driveway East.
Easter 10:30
A service of celebration, this is the final service of Holy Week. The community gathers to proclaim and celebrate the resurrection with joy. It takes place at St. Paul’s at 10:30 am on Easter morning.
Why I Joined the Choir
Leave a CommentAs a young girl, I sang in our church choir and school choirs as well as took piano lessons and theory. My family used to host choir practice in our home until our church was built in 1962. My mother and sister sang in the choir as well, so we were a musical family. I have always loved musical theatre and appreciated the work that went into the various productions.
When I joined St. Paul’s in 1980 I enjoyed the musical talents of Alan and Sheena Hunter and the senior choir. The Musical Evening in May was always a highlight of the church year for me. The four part harmony that was offered each Sunday made each hymn richer and fuller in meaning. I always wanted to be a part of a community of singers but I got sidetracked by committee work and other commitments to our church.
Rolly Grant used to ask me when I was going to join the choir, and my response was always the same. I told him I would consider joining the choir when I retired from teaching. Well, it will be ten years in June since I retired, but I must admit it took me a few years to get up my courage.
The choir works very hard to present the hymns and anthems each week and it is an amazing range of music. Add to that the special music for holidays and we have a wide variety of music to learn. Some of the selections bring me to tears, they are so beautiful.
You will want to join us on April 14th when we present Come to the Cross and Remember as part of the Palm Sunday service.
Lois works extremely hard to prepare us for each presentation and she is a genius in selecting our music. I admire her dedication and work ethic so much. I have enjoyed the journey so far and look forward to the years ahead.
Submitted by Linda Westendorp
Sing and Rejoice 2019
Leave a CommentA number of St. Paul’s United Church Senior Choir members had an enjoyable day together on Saturday February 9th when they attended the Sing & Rejoice! 2019 choral workshop hosted by Pickering Village United Church.
SPUC Senior Choir Sopranos Sharon, Dorothy, Cathy and Carole, Altos Pam and Cath, Bass Brad and Director of Music Lois along with choristers from across Durham Region and beyond participated in a “wonderful day of music-making, socializing, learning and performing”.
Conductor, Composer and Clinician Mark Ruhnke, who has over 30 years experience in the fields of music education, sacred music, private teaching and theatre led the participants through morning and afternoon sessions.
A welcome lunch break offered a chance for everyone to rest and recharge.
Brad was impressed by the number of people in attendance and especially appreciated the opportunity to sing with other basses.
Cath enjoyed the different choral works introduced to those attending and said she welcomes the chance for the SPUC Choir to perform them at St. Paul’s.
All agreed that it was a worthwhile outing and Lois has already started introducing some of the techniques learned at the workshop into the SPUC Senior Choir’s weekly practices.
The SPUC Senior Choir practices every Thursday evening and Sunday morning and is always welcoming new members.
If you are interested in joining the Choir please contact Lois at lcraigbflat@gmail.com.
Please visit the calendar page to see upcoming SPUC Senior Choir presentations including the March 3rd presentation of the Caribbean Mass.
Sabbatical Update – 4
Leave a CommentHello again! It’s been a while since my last post and I’ve a fair bit of news.
My last entry finished as I was heading north from Durham to spend a week on retreat in Northumberland. That retreat took place at Nether Springs, the Mother House of the Northumbria Community. The Northumbria is a new monastic community in the Celtic Christian tradition. It has members living all over the world, both married and single, who live out the community’s rule of life in their daily lives in the community. Some members choose to spend time as part of the House Team at the mother house, helping to host retreats and living the monastic rhythm there.
My retreat there has been the highlight of my sabbatical time so far. The time for prayer, contemplation and study was invaluable and I’m doing my best to live out the rhythm of life that I learned there in my daily life. The hospitality was also amazing. On my first evening, as my fellow retreatants and I were being given an orientation to the house, we were welcomed with the words “you are God’s invited guests.” What a great way to great people. I felt very at home.
After my week at Nether Springs I spent four days in Manchester, exploring the city. It was a neat opportunity to learn about the industrial history of Britain and how it impacted average people. While I was in Manchester I also spent some time in discernment and realized that the time was coming to return to Canada, sooner than I had planned. I had seen nearly all that I wanted to see, and really desired to spend time resting and studying at home and having Christmas with my family.
So I made arrangements to spend a week visiting Exeter and Bath, a day in London, and then return to Canada.
Exeter was an amazing city. It’s very walkable and there’s a lot to see and do. The two highlights were discovering an exhibition of photographs of Canadian soliders from WWI in Exeter at the local museum and attending Sunday worship with a Quaker congregation.
Quakers practice silent worship. They gather in silence and wait on the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit moves a person to speak they do so, and if not the hour passes in silence. I was worried that the service would feel long or that I would get bored but there is something very profound about gathering that way.
Being a Jane Austen fan a visit to Bath was a necessity. I visited the Jane Austen Centre and the Bath Costume Museum, but I also went to the Roman Baths and was surprised by how interesting I found them.
Fancy a dip in the Roman Baths?
Finally, after my time in Exeter I went to London, visiting the Globe Theatre, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of London. I was delighted to discover that the Museum of London is near the sight where John Wesley had his conversion experience and was moved to begin the work that would eventually see the foundation of Methodism and our own United Church.
Marking the spot of John Wesley’s conversion.
I flew home on December 1st after a wonderful two months away.
Since then I’ve been studying, engaging in prayer and reflection and giving my apartment some much needed attention. It feels delightful to feel like my living space is in some kind of order.
Although I’m back in Canada, I have no doubt there are still more adventures in store for me.
Till Next Time
Rev. Cordelia
Sabbatical Update – 3
Leave a CommentHello from Durham! This is the fourth city I’ve visited since my last blog, and I’m quite enjoying seeing the original Durham. I started this leg of my trip further south though.
On November 1st I traveled from Dundee to Peterborough, arriving around supper time. After supper and a good night’s sleep I was ready to go exploring.
My first stop was Peterborough Cathedral. It was absolutely magnificent. Construction started in 1118 and took 120 years. It’s incredible to think of the the faith and dedication it took to complete such a project. The Cathedral life was part of a monastery and as wandered around I thought of the centuries of people who had lived and worked and prayed there. The stories those walls could tell. I spent some time in prayer there before moving on to explore more of the city.
My next stop was the Peterborough Museum. There was an exhibit of of some of the treasures of the Cathedral that were no longer kept in Peterborough. This included a beautifully illuminated Book of Psalms. Again, the hours of work that went into creating such a thing and the centuries of people who read it was profoundly moving.
The next day I went to Ely to attend a conference and it was a highlight of my trip so far. The conference I was a attending was the Anglican National Fresh Expressions Conference and the theme for the day was Blended. The Fresh Expressions movement is about finding non-traditional ways of being the church, reaching those who are are interested in faith but for whom traditional worship isn’t a good fit. Fresh Expressions exists in Canada but it isn’t as wide spread and hasn’t been around as long.
I had a great time learning about Fresh Expressions, how they work and what they look like as well as engaging in the conference theme. The theme, Blended, looked at how traditional worshiping congregations and Fresh Expressions can work with each other and why both are important parts of the Christian landscape. Typically of me I bought a couple of books so I could read more on the subject. I spent two more days in the area, one of which I spent visiting Cambridge before coming North again to visit Durham.
The two highlights here were Durham Cathedral and Beamish Museum.
Durham Cathedral is the burial site for the Venerable Bede and St. Cuthbert. These two men were major figures in early Christianity in the North. Durham Cathedral and these tombs are one of England’s pilgrimage sites. To stand before those tombs and pray in the Cathedral was a very moving experience.
Naturally I had to visit a museum and Beamish Living History Museum was a great place to visit. I spent three and a half hours there and still didn’t see everything. It’s hard to pick a favourite thing here but there were some lovely animals to see and I got to dress up and have my photo taken at the photographer’s studio. Since it was so near Remembrance Day I was able to learn about how the First World War affected the families in the area. It was incredibly moving and made the Remembrance Day Ceremony the next day incredibly poignant.
I’m off now on a weeks retreat with the Northumbria Community and I look forward to updating you again before too long.
Until next time.
Rev. Cordelia
P.S. I’m afraid you’re getting this a week after I wrote it. I didn’t manage to send it before my retreat and there wasn’t internet at the retreat centre.
Helping you Live Healthier at Home
Leave a CommentAre you or is someone you know requiring a bit more assistance to live healthier at home? There are a number of services available to provide that assistance but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start.
Central East LHIN Home and Community Care Coordinators help people find their way through Ontario’s health care system, understand their options and get the highest quality care possible. They help people across their life spans from school children who have special health needs to seniors who need health services at home or access to a long-term care home.
Care Coordinators support patients to receive the care they need when they need it. They provide information, direct access to qualified care providers and many comprehensive services to help people come home from the hospital sooner or live healthier at home longer.
Please click on LHIN Report to Community – Fall 18 – AODA to download a newsletter from the Central East Local Health Integration Network (Central East LHIN) to learn more about the services available to you, your family and your neighbours or visit the LHIN’s Home and Community Care website at http://healthcareathome.ca/centraleast/en
Sabbatical Update – 2
Leave a CommentGreetings from Peterborough! I arrived in the city and England late this afternoon after a wonderful time in Scotland.
In Sabbatical Update 1 I was in Edinburgh on my way to Aberdeen. I finished up my time in Edinburgh by worshiping at Balerno Parish Kirk, the Presbyterian congregation in the community where I was staying. They were a wonderfully warm congregation who made me feel so welcome. I was sorry I didn’t get to spend more time with them.
My next stop was Dundee and a few days visit with Katie Cronin-Wood’s Aunt Rachel and Uncle Geoff. They are lovely people and I was so glad to get to know them. They showed me the countryside, including St. Andrew’s, Kellie Castle and a village called Crail, which has a traditional harbour. I also went to the new Victoria and Albert Museum Dundee with Rachel. It’s only been open a month and is right on the river.
I also wandered the village of Broughty Ferry where Rachel and Geoff live and visited their local castle which is now a museum. The library in Broughty Ferry was preparing for their 90th anniversary and I enjoyed helping put together display boards of the library’s history. When not otherwise occupied I curled up with the greyhounds Jake, Rita and Louis.
My next stop was Aberdeen, known as the Granite city. I had a lovely little apartment not far from the city centre called Muriel’s Place. The owners named it after their grandmother who used to own it. I was in Aberdeen for about a week and spent a good bit of time wandering about and exploring. My two favourite things were the Aberdeen Maritime Museum and the David Welch Winter Garden.
The museum was pretty comprehensive, tracing the history of the harbour right up to the present day and also had displays on the history and archaeology of the city.
The garden was a large complex of greenhouses set in Duthie Park with plants from all over the world. It was absolutely beautiful. I worshiped on Sunday at the Kirk of St. Nicholas Uniting, a massive old church downtown which has a combined Presbyterian and United Reformed congregation.
My time in Scotland ended with a return to Dundee and a visit with Rachel and Geoff to Arbroath Abbey. It is here that a united kingdom of Scotland was born. It was incredible to learn about the history of the place and then to walk through the ruins and imagine all the people who worshipped there over the years.
I’ve now been on Sabbatical for a month and travelling for three weeks and I’ve reached the point in the last few days where I feel relaxed. I hadn’t expected unwinding to take quite so long but it feels wonderful now that it’s happened. I have a conference coming up in a few days and I’ll be exploring the area around Peterborough as well before moving on again. No doubt my next update will come after a few more adventures.
Until then you all remain in my prayers,
Cordelia
The Meaning of White Gift Sunday
Leave a CommentThe tradition of White Gift Sunday has its roots in a small Methodist church in Ohio in 1904. What began as a humble way to reflect on the love and devotion of the giver and not the value of the gift has grown into today’s white gift services in many churches across several denominations.
The story is told that a minister’s wife initiated the idea to solve the problem of inequity of gifts given at the Sunday School Christmas party. Instead of focusing on receiving gifts, the focus shifted to bringing gifts to Jesus that could in turn be shared with people around the world who did not have much. All the gifts would come wrapped in plain white paper, so that no one would know which was an expensive gift and which was a more modest one. No one would feel ashamed of their gift and everyone would share in the joy of giving to others.
Saint David’s observes White Gift Sunday with a child-centred service that takes place during the season of Advent. In keeping with the spirit of the first White Gift service, all those attending bring a gift for the Christmas Exchange operated in cooperation with the Rothesay Fire Department or a donation to the food bank wrapped in white paper.
This, or something very much like this, is why White Gift Sunday started at St Paul’s.
On December 2nd, please bring a gift if you are able, wrapped in white paper or a white bag, for a child, youth, man or woman. The gifts will be distributed to the local shelters before Christmas. This is one way we can show God’s love and our caring commitment to the people of our community.
Respectfully submitted by Helen Dowse, Chair, Mission and Service Committee
Update – December 4, 2018 – White Gift wrap-up
What a great response. I’m surprised every year by the amount of gifts that are donated. Nice gifts, gifts you’d like to find under the tree. We were able to fill 10 boxes with clothing, toiletries, toys and books. They will be delivered to local shelters this week. We also filled one box for the Salvation Army Food Bank and handed in some monetary gifts, which will also go to the Food Bank. Thank you again for all your support this year, and a very Blessed Christmas to you all.
Helen Dowse, chair of Mission and Service
