June 25, 2006
God’s power makes the universe and sustains it, and God’s ongoing presence in our lives works for good and for peace. Because we have received God’s grace – a gift freely and abundantly given – how are we called to respond? How does our relationship with God help us discern the right use of wisdom and power?
Hymn Sing
A time of silent preparation—Lighting the Christ Candle
Come and find the quiet centre in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
Call to Worship (Responsive)
One: Come in from the storm!
All: Come, find rest from the trials that tire you.
One: Come, find strength to face the powers that frighten you.
All: We trust in God.
One: Come, seek wisdom to engage the foes who oppress you.
All: Come, seek courage to stand with those who struggle with injustice.
One: Come, proclaim that with God, nothing is hopeless.
All: Come, proclaim that God will show a better way.
One: Come and worship God.
God of faith and truth: in the face of storms and giants, frights and fears, you offer us grace, and the assurance that we are never alone. Help us always to be people of faithful courage, eager to worship and serve you in all times and places. Amen.
Hymn #229 “God of the Sparrow”
Conversation Time
Prayer of Transformation & Assurance of Pardon
God, when the moment of turmoil comes out of nowhere, you are the voice of calm, the touch that reassures. When the varied stresses of life combine to overwhelm us, you enable us to set our priorities and to get back on a steady course. When the encouragement of family and the support of friends fails us, you will give us confidence to search out other sources of help. When the storm hits home at our faith community, you will provide us with the endurance we need and the hope of better days ahead…(Silent Reflection)
Assurance of Pardon (One)
Comfort and sustain us in the midst of life’s storms. Empower us with the patience and the faithful pattern of Christ in the coming days. Thank God. We are released, we are free! Amen.
Biblical Notes
God Challenges the Israelites
Hymn #182 “Stay with Us through the Night”
Jesus Calms a Storm (Read from the New Revised Standard Version)
One: This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Hymn #625 “I Feel the Winds of God”
Offertory
Your work, O God, needs many hands to help you everywhere,
and some there are who cannot serve unless our gifts we share. Because we love you and your work, our offering now we make:
be pleased to use it as your own, we ask for Jesus sake.
Loving God, these offerings are our means of serving you. Bless these gifts and the time and the skills that go with them. Bless them in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
send us love, send us power, send us grace!
Hymn #639 “One More Step Along the World I Go”
Commissioning (One)
May the peace of God be your peace as you leave this church: the peace of God, which calls for insight, hard work, and endurance; the peace of God, which at the end of the day passes all understanding.
Choral Amen
#298 “When You Walk From Here”
When you walk from here, when you walk from here.
Walk with justice, walk with mercy, and with God’s humble care.
Postlude
The Life And Work Of The Congregation
This Week at Westminster (June 25 – July 1)
Sun. Christian Development 9:00 a.m. Lounge
Worship 10:25 a.m. Sanctuary
Next Week at Westminster (July 2 - 8)
Sun. Worship 10:00 a.m. Sanctuary
New Church Office Hours:
Tuesday through Friday: 9 – noon, 1 – 4:00.
Friendship Rosters: Please sign the Friendship Roster this morning. It is a helpful record of your worship presence and a way to share special concerns (ie. prayer requests, name tag requests, etc.).
If seeking membership within the congregation of Westminster, either through transfer or reaffirmation of faith, please speak with James.
Do you need time away to Rest and Reflect on life and on God? Register for an Adult Retreat at Canyon Church Camp Aug. 25 – 27. For details, see poster on the bulletin board.
Western Women’s Conference 2006 – @ Naramata Centre, B.C. Sept 29 – Oct 1. Conference cost: $315. For further information contact Naramata staff @ info@naramatacentre.net , 1-877-996-5751, ext 210 or by email at or visit their website: www.naramatacentre.net.
Banff Men’s Conference 2006 – Theme “Room for You in the household of God” – Oct. 13-15. Registration ($80) may be done online @ http://www.banffmen.org/registration.htm. Accommodations may be booked online as well.
We have a ministry opportunity for Sunday School teachers for the Fall. If you are interested, please contact Jane of Lesley Berg.
Celebrations This Week
Birthdays: Gordon Bruins, Taylor Croissant, MaryAnne Hayward, Marlo Martin, Sandra Oancia, John Robertson, Colleen Sherring, Margaret Shirkie, Mary Skjenna, Bonnie Spruyt, Jocelyn Walters
Anniversaries: Pete & Bea Hirsch, Morgan & Andrea Judge, Norman & Violet Rud, Hector & Vi Schneider, Ted & Kim Sherring, Brian & Shauna Kohls Walters
July Celebrations
Birthdays: Derrick Adams, Kamara Adams, Boyd Alcock, Shanon Armstrong, Aidan Barrett, Shannon Bergstreser, Kayhlee Blatz, Sydney Blatz, Ethan Campbell, Jackie Carlson, Mina Carlson, Irva Fleming, Laurel Gardner, Josie Hoffarth, Wilbur Lemon, Lydia Maier, Eileen Marchand, Glenn Marr, Trevor Nabe, Rylee Rattai, Florence Schafer, Hector Schneider, Angela Scoble, Dawn Skogen, Lenora Stein, Frank Yeast
Anniversaries: Boyd & Grace Alcock, Alex & Mary Becker, Stan & Pat Bohnet, Stuart & Theresa Hardiker, Sid & Maggie Harrison, Larry & Vera Henderson, Bert & Myra Hoogeveen, Scott & Tara Johnson, Wilbur & Grace Lemon, Bob & Vicki McCaig (40), Todd & Darlene O’Reilly, Albert & Violet Park, Bill & Lorraine Scott
August Celebrations
Birthdays: Ron Becker, Carol Bell, Debbie Bitz, Cheryl Carleton, Kali Carlson, Kate Cave(101), Clarke Croissant, Amanda Denning, Maude Dubeau, Pat Evans, James Farrell, Marj Geissler, Grayson Henderson, Marshall Henderson, Rose Hubbard, Hank Iwanicki, Scott Johnson, Stevie Lagran, Helen Lamb, Emilie LeClair, BJ Maddaford, Brittany Martinez,Bob McCaig, Mike McOuat, Sarah McOuat, Marion McNeill, Roz Medlicott, Bertha Mehrer, Eric Moll, Megan Moll, Elizabeth Ortega, Olive Pringle, Christina Rachinsky, Mary Robertson, Tim Sanders, Bonnie Schlinker, Jessica Schnell, Joyce Shannon, John Sidlick, Lauren Toogood, Jim Wallace, Kim White, Wendy Wolcoski, Hazel Yeast
Anniversaries: James Farrell & Jane Clarke, Albert & Tanya Hoffarth, Gary & Linda Kinvig, Vern & Beth Miner, Jim & Janice Neigum, Alvin & Danielle Paul, Randy & Weta Rachinsky, Kevin & Angela Scoble, Ken & Bonnie Spruyt, Jim & Thea Toogood, Jim & Grace Wallace, Wayne & Gina Ziegler
Flowers are placed in the Sanctuary this morning
in loving memory of
daughter, Bonnie Bruce
and
brother, Holden Crothers
by
Adair Prouty
South Alberta Presbytery
Your prayers this week are requested for Canyon Church Camp.
Sunday School Co-ordinator................................. Carol Henderson
Greeters, Ushers & Coffee Hosts................... Edythe Hewitt UCW
Nursery Coordinator.............................................. Tanya Hoffarth
Scripture Reader......................................................... Grace Roth
Elder-in-Charge......................................................... Ted Sherring
Next Week’s Readings from: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Psalm 130;
2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43
Spirit Connection
Renew your faith in television…
Tonight @ 6:30 p.m. on Vision TV
June 25—Topahdewin: The Gladys Cook Story: Part 2 - The story of this remarkable woman and her inspiring grace under pressure concludes. (R)
Stewardship Thought For Today
Hands tightly clutching our stuff
have to open to receive more of God’s gifts.
Board Summary – June 13, 2006
The Board met for its last meeting before September and reviewed the business before it. We regretfully accepted the resignation of Grace Lemon from the Board and discussed our process for welcoming new Board members. The Board shall meet in the summer only if a special need exists.
Alvin Cruickshank –Chair
SUMMER SERVICES
Worship time: 10:00 a.m.
July services will be held at Westminster
August services will be held at Fifth Avenue Memorial
As I was preparing for today’s message and wondering how I was going to tell you about my time in Montreal and how I was going to be able to make the scriptures relevant for today it all came together. The readings are really quite perfect to work along with my journey and hopefully yours.
The reading from 1 Samuel talks about Saul not thinking that David was good enough or experienced enough to take care of Goliath. Saul said to David : "you are too young and inexperienced" another translation says "You are just a boy," David goes on to say that he has had experience and is confident that he can do the task. Good for David!
The story from the gospel of Mark speaks about fear. Fear that we feel we are on our own and that our faith may not be strong enough to get us through the stormy times in our lives. Who will help us?
These two readings go hand in hand really. Good for David that he had the confidence to do what he said he could do with God’s help. He wasn’t discouraged by what Saul said to him. I don’t like that David was actually going to kill someone and he had faith that God was with him to do that. Like so many stories in the Hebrew Scriptures God was on the side of the winners of bloody battles. I doubt this story really even took place the way it is written.
I believe that the message for this story is to have faith in who we are and what we are going to do no matter how big or small the task, or how adequate or inadequate we feel about ourselves.
“You are just a boy says Saul”, How many times do we hear that said or how many times do we say that about ourselves? I am just a ……
I know I have said. I am just a Lay Pastoral Minister in Training. No, I’m not going to be ordained I’m just going to be a Lay Pastoral Minister. No, I just work part time. We really short change ourselves when we say things like that. The gifts we have come from God so we ought to be proud of those gifts. We are all equal, no one better than another, no one job more important than another.
It isn’t always easy to stand up for who we are and state what we believe. It takes courage to do that. To have courage is to be without fear. I have said before that fear will always be there walking along beside us. It is when we allow that fear to step in front of us and stop us, that fear wins.
When I began this journey of ministry with discernment in 2002, I feared the unknown. What lies ahead; will I be able to do the education? Will I really be able to fulfill the requirements of study?
I began to feel inadequate and fearful when the first pile of books arrived for the first residential event! This stack had to be read in four months. That wouldn’t have been a problem if I didn’t have to work as well. I felt too old to learn. I thought that everybody else taking the course was probably smarter than I was.
Once I got to Montreal I felt much better. It was wonderful to be in community with other people who are like minded and mostly feel the same inadequacies that I do. I saw God at work in my colleagues and the leaders of the program. We talked about our concerns of feeling less because we are not in the ordination program and why we feel like that. We had allowed our fears to stop us.
We did for each other what Jesus did for the disciples in the storm. We quieted the waves and the rain. We helped each other feel the calm. We reminded each other that God has called each one of us to this stream of ministry and that is where we will be used.
This year in Montreal was a bitter sweet experience. I am so relieved that my three years of residential time is over. I will not have two weeks of days where lectures begin at 8:30 in the morning and end at 9:00 p.m. for six days in a row. I will not have the stack of 8 or more books to read this January. I also will not have the safety and support of the women on the 9th floor of the dorm to talk to about my fears and doubts. I will miss their support every night before I go to sleep. They really helped calm the waters. We did that for each other. We affirmed the importance of all lives.
Along with all the people, of course, I will miss Montreal with all the great food and sites to see!
I trust that God has been at work in all the people in Montreal to equip me with the confidence to now stand before you and say that I am Lay Pastoral Minister in Training and that hopefully by this time next year I will be a Lay Pastoral Minister. I will not be ordained but I will not say I am just a Lay Pastoral Minister. I am a minister.
Our main topics in Montreal this year were history, theology and faith formation and education. We galloped through the history of the church and the scholars and forebears who tried to figure out what scripture says and why. As many diverse theologies existed then as they do now.
People who didn’t agree with the majority were called heretics. I may have fallen under that category if I had been around at that time. We learned about sin, atonement, the trinity to name only a few. The discussions on the ninth floor were extremely lively when we covered those topics. There were 11 women on the ninth floor and we had about 11 different theological views. The good thing is that we all agreed to disagree and that no one person was right or wrong. We decided that theology is a pretty personal thing and we arrive at our decisions from our learning and life experiences.
As ministers we have to be conscious of our congregations and how diverse theologies are within that community. I stand before you once a month and get to talk about my theology and how I have come to the place where I am. I trust that I don’t try to force what I believe on any of you. Sometimes when we hear something different we may think about or ask questions. You know me and questions, I love them! Feel free to ask me questions at any time. I may not have an answer but I can guarantee a good discussion.
The sessions on faith formation and education were great too. Faith formation and education are the new words for Christian education in the United Church.
I learned some new ways to lead meetings and different ways people learn and how different ages of children learn in different ways. Now I have to go over my notes to remember it all.
There were great discussions on the 9th floor about how we teach or lead meetings and we shared ideas that each of us have taken back to our churches. Again I received the support from others. The faces of God seen in my colleagues and sisters in faith.
I had to have a learning goal for theology and one for faith formation and education that were attainable in the two weeks. That, in itself, is a challenge.
I believe that some of the fears I had have been put to the side where they belong. I know that there will be more that will stop me in my tracks but I hope, that like David, I will forge ahead with the knowledge that God is ever with me and really there is nothing to fear but fear itself and allow myself to feel the calm that only comes from God.
When the waters get churning and the boat starts pitching I will remember the words of my friends and colleagues in Montreal who helped me calm the storms in the past and I know the support will always be there in one form or another.
I hope that I will continue to affirm your gifts, the gifts that you have been given and that you will not say that “You are just a … you fill in the blank”
I would like to close with these words, the author is unknown: “When we come to the edge of all the light we have and we just take a step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things: Either we will find something firm to stand on or we will be taught to fly.” Amen