I wanted to say a brief word about our worship service last Sunday, before I'm about to blog about another one. Last Sunday, June 28th was our final "Alternative Worship Service" (A.W.E.)for now - we'll be taking a break from "theme" services for the summer. Alvin and Miri came up with the idea of playing Latino music one service - featuring mainly trumpet and piano with lots of percussion accompaniment.
In my theological training in the late 1980s we learned of the Latin American "Base Communities" - a revolutionary movement among Roman Catholics in Latin America that has its roots in Liberation Theology. "[This theology] emphasizes the Christian mission to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, particularly through political activism."[1]
I also had a resource book of prayers, worship pieces, poems and readings from all over the globe. And we have a great book of music called "Global Praise" Almost all the songs came from that book. However there were two familiar songs from Voices United, "When a Poor One" and "Santo Santo Santo". We were thrilled to add Victoria M. on hand drums to our band and Diane N. played guitar. Alex, Meaghan and I played percussion. As a postlude, Alvin and Miri ripped it up with improving to "Cantata Brasilia".
Some songs were rousing and great fun and others were slow and powerfully moving. Thanks to Lauren M, Alex B, Alvin B, and Meaghan G for taking part in the service. At the end, Kerry and I took part in a "Litany of Separation". I don't know what was more sad - learning about the struggles of our Christian brothers and sisters in Latin America or saying a final goodbye to Kerry.
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Saturday, July 4, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
July 2, 2009 ~ Canada Day reflections
Yesterday I spent the day at the Salmon Festival. I noticed a fair few Gilmore Parkers in the parade! John Yap was once again being driven by John Taggart in his awesome antique roadster. 
The Taggarts are new to our congregation in the last year. (Photo from 2008)
Bill McNulty was on the float with the Mayor and other city councillors and I managed to get in an energetic wave hello. Wayne Shelley was walking with the gang from Gilmore Gardens, as Elizabeth works there. I waved at the Gilmore Gardens bus, but didn't see anyone inside I recognized.
Brighouse United Church were walking behind a banner, and South Arm had a cool float that represented their Country Fair. I recognized a few people from the Richmond Food Bank who also walked behind their banner.
At the pancake breakfast and over at their booth, the 12th Richmond Scouts let out an enthusiastic "Hi Rev. Anna!" which was really fun to hear.
The only thing that kind of saddened me was that I only saw three people walking together with the banner that said "Homes for All". I shared that on Twitter this morning.
At the food fair we saw Carmen Palmer and her husband Michael Kooiman - who I'd never met in person - only "online" as we both blogged for the United Church of Canada's Emerging Spirit site.
All in all it was a fun day and beautiful weather - except for a rather cool wind. I was just thinking that maybe we should think about some sort of presence at the festival next year. Maybe a float, I dunno. Or a booth that "advertises" something like our divorce program or - if it turns out to be a hit - our musical theatre program. Well anyway...another year to think about it.
The Taggarts are new to our congregation in the last year. (Photo from 2008)Bill McNulty was on the float with the Mayor and other city councillors and I managed to get in an energetic wave hello. Wayne Shelley was walking with the gang from Gilmore Gardens, as Elizabeth works there. I waved at the Gilmore Gardens bus, but didn't see anyone inside I recognized.
Brighouse United Church were walking behind a banner, and South Arm had a cool float that represented their Country Fair. I recognized a few people from the Richmond Food Bank who also walked behind their banner.
At the pancake breakfast and over at their booth, the 12th Richmond Scouts let out an enthusiastic "Hi Rev. Anna!" which was really fun to hear.
The only thing that kind of saddened me was that I only saw three people walking together with the banner that said "Homes for All". I shared that on Twitter this morning.
At the food fair we saw Carmen Palmer and her husband Michael Kooiman - who I'd never met in person - only "online" as we both blogged for the United Church of Canada's Emerging Spirit site.
All in all it was a fun day and beautiful weather - except for a rather cool wind. I was just thinking that maybe we should think about some sort of presence at the festival next year. Maybe a float, I dunno. Or a booth that "advertises" something like our divorce program or - if it turns out to be a hit - our musical theatre program. Well anyway...another year to think about it.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Monday June 15, 2009
It was "Grad Sunday" yesterday as we "Celebrated the Classics". 
It was an interesting mix - of young people and old hymns! We had just one high school graduate this year, and there were two university grads present to receive some small, fun gifts, a card and a lovely sunflower. Kerry did a great job of reading the grad's statements about their accomplishments.
At 2 pm I held services at Gilmore Gardens which was just lovely. Thanks to Gwen, as always, for playing the piano. There were about 10 people at the service.
The last week has been crazy-busy for me since Kerry is winding down and Rev. Jennifer is away for the month of June.
Monday was the Retirees' Tea and we had a huge crowd including some new folks from Gilmore Gardens. The fabulous bakers made strawberry shortcake with whipped cream as well as tarts and other goodies.
We played a word game and had a Bible reading about "fruits." We also sang favorite hymns and celebrated birthdays with singing and giving gifts of jam, knitted slippers and beautiful keychains - all three made by our congregational members.
Monday night was Ministry Group and we heard of two exciting new ministries for children and youth. Two of our members will take kids, youth and young adults to enjoyable "physical" activities outside the church. Stay tuned for info about that soon. Rev. Jennifer, Miri and I will put on a program called "Act 4" for kids and teens grades 3-12. There will be lots of information on our website very soon. The community meal is going well and we will be getting an industrial microwave soon - it just needs to be picked up. We also have enough money in our "Vision Fund" funds to replace the stolen TV upstairs.
Tuesday night the Accountable Board met and minutes will be available online soon. I don't recall any major issues that were discussed and all committees and teams reported. The Council will meet in September for a weekend retreat in Whistler. The Accountable Board will also meet in September at its regular time.
Wednesday and Thursday flew by with seemingly one pastoral crisis after another. The community meal had its own crisis when the fish Karen ordered came in as "fish trim" instead of fillets. Luckily she had chicken strips in the freezer, and they were actually delicious. There were 120 or so people at the meal.
Friday I spent the whole day writing the promotional materials for "Act 4" - the new fall program. So that's why today is sort of an off-day. At the very least a blogging day!
It was an interesting mix - of young people and old hymns! We had just one high school graduate this year, and there were two university grads present to receive some small, fun gifts, a card and a lovely sunflower. Kerry did a great job of reading the grad's statements about their accomplishments. At 2 pm I held services at Gilmore Gardens which was just lovely. Thanks to Gwen, as always, for playing the piano. There were about 10 people at the service.
The last week has been crazy-busy for me since Kerry is winding down and Rev. Jennifer is away for the month of June.
Monday was the Retirees' Tea and we had a huge crowd including some new folks from Gilmore Gardens. The fabulous bakers made strawberry shortcake with whipped cream as well as tarts and other goodies.
We played a word game and had a Bible reading about "fruits." We also sang favorite hymns and celebrated birthdays with singing and giving gifts of jam, knitted slippers and beautiful keychains - all three made by our congregational members.
Monday night was Ministry Group and we heard of two exciting new ministries for children and youth. Two of our members will take kids, youth and young adults to enjoyable "physical" activities outside the church. Stay tuned for info about that soon. Rev. Jennifer, Miri and I will put on a program called "Act 4" for kids and teens grades 3-12. There will be lots of information on our website very soon. The community meal is going well and we will be getting an industrial microwave soon - it just needs to be picked up. We also have enough money in our "Vision Fund" funds to replace the stolen TV upstairs.
Tuesday night the Accountable Board met and minutes will be available online soon. I don't recall any major issues that were discussed and all committees and teams reported. The Council will meet in September for a weekend retreat in Whistler. The Accountable Board will also meet in September at its regular time.
Wednesday and Thursday flew by with seemingly one pastoral crisis after another. The community meal had its own crisis when the fish Karen ordered came in as "fish trim" instead of fillets. Luckily she had chicken strips in the freezer, and they were actually delicious. There were 120 or so people at the meal.
Friday I spent the whole day writing the promotional materials for "Act 4" - the new fall program. So that's why today is sort of an off-day. At the very least a blogging day!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
It was "Family Sunday" at church this morning and Kerry ran the last "Picnic Club" for toddlers and their parents. This has been a great ministry of Kerry's over the past 2 years and we've found that indeed the parents of toddlers have connected with one another well over snacks and juice in the hallway outside the Activity Room!
The crowd was smaller and quieter this week - a sort of "exhale" after the burst of excitement last Sunday on Pentecost. But many of us had a special surprise when we welcomed back the Jones family, beloved members who moved away five years ago to Montreal. Elisabeth Jones was called to a professor of history position at Union Theological College at McGill University. Her husband, Norman quickly learned French and off they went, much to the loss of our choir and our friendships. So it was wonderful to see them again today.
Alvin B. filled in for Kara as worship tech this morning, and Meaghan G. played the whistle and hand drums while I accompanied on guitar and played some other percussion. It will be nice to have Kara and Alvin back in their regular spots next week!
During the "Minute for Congregational Life" Chair of Council, Grant Smith, announced to the congregation that we will be renewing Rev. Jennifer Goddard-Sheppard's appointment as United Supply for a further 10 months at 80% time. This will allow the congregation to complete their JNAC and Search for our Ministry Personnel of the future. The JNAC will be formed and get to work by the fall.
I am thrilled to have Rev. Jennifer working together with me in a team ministry for the next year. We are going to do our best to share preaching, worship and children's ministry on Sunday mornings - by taking turns preaching through the seasons. That way, there can be some continuity in both preaching and children's ministry. We will also address youth ministry together with some new ideas. A few of Kerry's tasks will be given to Anne Marie, and some things Kerry did may fall through the cracks this year, but we are confident that Rev. Jennifer and my team ministry will cover over as many of those cracks as possible.
Rev. Jennifer is on holiday for the month of June and we plan to take the month of July to do our year-long planning. (Jen will only be 50% time in July and August). Stay tuned to see what we may cook up together to further the mission and our church fellowship!
Dorothy conducted "Hymn Sing" at Gilmore Gardens at 2 pm today. We hope to see many of the GG folks at our Retirees Tea tomorrow (2 pm).
The crowd was smaller and quieter this week - a sort of "exhale" after the burst of excitement last Sunday on Pentecost. But many of us had a special surprise when we welcomed back the Jones family, beloved members who moved away five years ago to Montreal. Elisabeth Jones was called to a professor of history position at Union Theological College at McGill University. Her husband, Norman quickly learned French and off they went, much to the loss of our choir and our friendships. So it was wonderful to see them again today.
Alvin B. filled in for Kara as worship tech this morning, and Meaghan G. played the whistle and hand drums while I accompanied on guitar and played some other percussion. It will be nice to have Kara and Alvin back in their regular spots next week!
During the "Minute for Congregational Life" Chair of Council, Grant Smith, announced to the congregation that we will be renewing Rev. Jennifer Goddard-Sheppard's appointment as United Supply for a further 10 months at 80% time. This will allow the congregation to complete their JNAC and Search for our Ministry Personnel of the future. The JNAC will be formed and get to work by the fall.
I am thrilled to have Rev. Jennifer working together with me in a team ministry for the next year. We are going to do our best to share preaching, worship and children's ministry on Sunday mornings - by taking turns preaching through the seasons. That way, there can be some continuity in both preaching and children's ministry. We will also address youth ministry together with some new ideas. A few of Kerry's tasks will be given to Anne Marie, and some things Kerry did may fall through the cracks this year, but we are confident that Rev. Jennifer and my team ministry will cover over as many of those cracks as possible.
Rev. Jennifer is on holiday for the month of June and we plan to take the month of July to do our year-long planning. (Jen will only be 50% time in July and August). Stay tuned to see what we may cook up together to further the mission and our church fellowship!
Dorothy conducted "Hymn Sing" at Gilmore Gardens at 2 pm today. We hope to see many of the GG folks at our Retirees Tea tomorrow (2 pm).
Friday, June 5, 2009
Pentecost Sunday, 2009
Last Sunday was a lively celebration of the third-highest high-holy day in the Christian year: Pentecost. Pictured here, the congregation waved colorful streamers every time they heard the word "Spirit". The sanctuary was all dressed in red (the only day of the church year when the colour is red) and the songs were upbeat and uplifting.
The congregation got so jazzed up there was even a burst of applause at the end of the sermon which I took as less about me, the preacher, and more that folks applauded agreement with the content of the sermon. It was about speaking the new language of a new generation - and reaching out in ways other than Sunday mornings.
Following worship we celebrated the birthday of one of our beloved members, Lisa, who has Down's syndrome. A pyramid of fancy cupcakes replaced the traditional birthday cake, and Lisa made a wish and blew out the candles with pride.
It's been a busy week with preparing for next Sunday, and figuring out some new systems which will need to be implemented once Kerry leaves. I only have two more weeks with Kerry!
Grant Smith, our Chair of Council, will make an announcement this coming Sunday, June 7th, about a new ministry personnel person for the interim time as our JNAC does its work over the next year.
The community meal was delicious on Thursday. We had roast chicken, herb new potatoes and a green and tomato salad. The greens were picked fresh that morning from the Richmond Sharing Farm and the tomatoes were donated by Origin Organics in Ladner - the largest organic farm in Canada.For dessert we had a scrumptious lemon cake.
Our meal numbers were down a bit this week in the heat. I noticed an absence of the homeless crowd. Wondered if they were just glad to be warm and dry somewhere tonight. We still had over 100 meal guests.
At choir practice, the choir was delighted by Tanya M and Cathy M who baked and brought us goodies and drinks "in appreciation of the choir's hard work and great music throughout the year." What a lovely ministry! The ministry of appreciation!
The choir is incredibly grateful!
This coming Sunday is Family Sunday. We'll have a mixture of new hymns and old - organ as well as piano, guitar and hand drums. Alvin B. is filling in for Kara, our multimedia tech. So we won't have his trumpet music or drum kit - but thanks to Alvin for doing this for us this week!
The sermon text is about the body of Christ (the church community) being "treasure" stored up in "clay jars" (meaning fragile, breakable)
Stay tuned for podcast sermons in the near future!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
June 4, 2009
I think my expectations of myself are too high. It paralyzes me sometimes. Take for instance, the reason I haven't blogged in 2 weeks. It's because I wanted to blog about BC Conference, and give you highlights and bits from Peter Short's theme addresses. But the file is still in the back of my car and I never feel like going out there when I feel like blogging.
I also wanted to talk about Pentecost, but give a link to my sermon and post a picture of people waving streamers. But to do that I'd have to both type my sermon and ask for permission to post the pics of all the people in them. So I haven't gotten around to either.
I have been busy on Twitter and Facebook, however. The church now has over 50 "friends". If you're on FB or would like to join, be sure to add Gilmore Park as a "friend". The updates are automatic from Twitter. But now you can see my Twitter updates (called "tweets") right here on the blog - right hand column. But if you want "theology on the go" then join Twitter and follow gilmorepark!
This week has been dedicated to picking Kerry's brain at great length! And preparing for the big "update everything" push in July once the evening meetings tone down. I look forward to having Rev. Jennifer back in July!
This coming Sunday is "Family Sunday" and I'm writing a sermon about how the church is often a disappointment to people ~ broken as we are when trying to model the kingdom of God. I want to write it without making people feel guilty or bad, but rather to express the Good News and the hope in it all. Wish me luck, and I hope to see you all on Sunday!
PS: those pics, the sermon, and the BC Conference highlights ARE COMING!!
I also wanted to talk about Pentecost, but give a link to my sermon and post a picture of people waving streamers. But to do that I'd have to both type my sermon and ask for permission to post the pics of all the people in them. So I haven't gotten around to either.
I have been busy on Twitter and Facebook, however. The church now has over 50 "friends". If you're on FB or would like to join, be sure to add Gilmore Park as a "friend". The updates are automatic from Twitter. But now you can see my Twitter updates (called "tweets") right here on the blog - right hand column. But if you want "theology on the go" then join Twitter and follow gilmorepark!
This week has been dedicated to picking Kerry's brain at great length! And preparing for the big "update everything" push in July once the evening meetings tone down. I look forward to having Rev. Jennifer back in July!
This coming Sunday is "Family Sunday" and I'm writing a sermon about how the church is often a disappointment to people ~ broken as we are when trying to model the kingdom of God. I want to write it without making people feel guilty or bad, but rather to express the Good News and the hope in it all. Wish me luck, and I hope to see you all on Sunday!
PS: those pics, the sermon, and the BC Conference highlights ARE COMING!!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
It's been a short week for us here, what with the holiday Monday and then all the Ministry Personnel are off to BC Conference Annual Meeting which begins today.
Last Sunday there was a good turnout of people in worship considering it was a long weekend. At the beginning of the service I had the whole congregation get up and walk through the memorial garden to see it in full bloom in the sunshine.
Many people did not know the garden existed! We came back in to the church singing "O when the saints go marching in" with Alvin improving jazz on the trumpet and Miri on piano. That kicked the service off and it was great fun.
Our chair of Council gave the Minute for Congregational Life, reassuring the congregation that Council and Board are working diligently to ensure that the work Kerry has done over the past 6 years will be continued. Following worship the Accountable Board (which includes Council) met and voted unanimously to offer an interim (1-year) position to an individual while the congregation does its work with the Joint Needs Assessment Committee (JNAC) and Search process. We are not yet sure if the individual will accept the position, so stay tuned over the next couple of weeks.
Tuesday I spent the whole afternoon (and I mean the WHOLE afternoon)at a presbytery executive meeting where we were dealing with one of two very large, sticky situations - one involving a congregation in an "unsatisfactory state" (A "333 Review") the other about a formal hearing that will take place involving a member of the clergy accused of sexual harassment/abuse. Very time-consuming and exhausting. I went home from the meeting having been assigned the task of writing up the letter to the congregation about our decision on the 333. That took my whole evening!
Wednesday was a day in the office for Rev. Jennifer, Kerry and myself doing administration and meeting together about all of the nuances of Kerry's job and how we can do our best to have things not fall through the cracks. That and cleaning up my desk, inbox and emails took the rest of the day.
I look forward to BC Conference meeting, as always - it is a time of meaningful connection with other clergy colleagues as well as great worship times, celebration of retirees' careers, joint grief over the memorials of clergy who've died, fabulous singing and interesting theme speakers. They work us to the point of death, mind you - we go until 9:30 pm and begin again the next day at 8:45. There are no scheduled coffee breaks throughout the day - it's nuts! On Sunday is the wonderful culmination - the "Celebration of Ministry" service where our candidates are ordained, commissioned and admitted. Our own Brenda Miller will be among those commissioned to the ministry of Education, Service and Pastoral Care, otherwise known as the "Diaconal" ministry. The service is over 2 hours long, but very uplifting.
Back at Gilmore Park, you will be led in an alternate and innovative worship experience known as "Celtic Worship". Here is one example of Celtic worship Enjoy!
I hope you all have a great time
Last Sunday there was a good turnout of people in worship considering it was a long weekend. At the beginning of the service I had the whole congregation get up and walk through the memorial garden to see it in full bloom in the sunshine.
Many people did not know the garden existed! We came back in to the church singing "O when the saints go marching in" with Alvin improving jazz on the trumpet and Miri on piano. That kicked the service off and it was great fun. Our chair of Council gave the Minute for Congregational Life, reassuring the congregation that Council and Board are working diligently to ensure that the work Kerry has done over the past 6 years will be continued. Following worship the Accountable Board (which includes Council) met and voted unanimously to offer an interim (1-year) position to an individual while the congregation does its work with the Joint Needs Assessment Committee (JNAC) and Search process. We are not yet sure if the individual will accept the position, so stay tuned over the next couple of weeks.
Tuesday I spent the whole afternoon (and I mean the WHOLE afternoon)at a presbytery executive meeting where we were dealing with one of two very large, sticky situations - one involving a congregation in an "unsatisfactory state" (A "333 Review") the other about a formal hearing that will take place involving a member of the clergy accused of sexual harassment/abuse. Very time-consuming and exhausting. I went home from the meeting having been assigned the task of writing up the letter to the congregation about our decision on the 333. That took my whole evening!
Wednesday was a day in the office for Rev. Jennifer, Kerry and myself doing administration and meeting together about all of the nuances of Kerry's job and how we can do our best to have things not fall through the cracks. That and cleaning up my desk, inbox and emails took the rest of the day.
I look forward to BC Conference meeting, as always - it is a time of meaningful connection with other clergy colleagues as well as great worship times, celebration of retirees' careers, joint grief over the memorials of clergy who've died, fabulous singing and interesting theme speakers. They work us to the point of death, mind you - we go until 9:30 pm and begin again the next day at 8:45. There are no scheduled coffee breaks throughout the day - it's nuts! On Sunday is the wonderful culmination - the "Celebration of Ministry" service where our candidates are ordained, commissioned and admitted. Our own Brenda Miller will be among those commissioned to the ministry of Education, Service and Pastoral Care, otherwise known as the "Diaconal" ministry. The service is over 2 hours long, but very uplifting.
Back at Gilmore Park, you will be led in an alternate and innovative worship experience known as "Celtic Worship". Here is one example of Celtic worship Enjoy!
I hope you all have a great time
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