News and Views

Email comments, questions, suggestions to
ware605040@gmail.com

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The Coming Week

Sunday Dec 29, no Sunday gathering this week.

Tuesday Dec 31, No Discussion Group at Wares' this week.

Our change-for-change offerings have provided $750 for each of the Guelph and Centre Wellington foodbanks. Well done, everyone.

Have a delightful New Year, everyone.

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Future Events

Jan 5, Communion , place to be announced,

Ed presiding

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The Foyer
Marion suggested that I (Dennis) should share my Christmas thought with you. Here it is.

Dorothy told me over breakfast on Christmas day that when she fed the fish she wished them Merry Christmas. As for me, I never look at the aquarium. Merry Fishmas doesn't spring to mind.

Dorothy is my better half. She has enough empathy for both of us, projecting consciousness and agency and feelings in improbable places. As a child, she would kiss a pig. Good for her. Even I get some of that. She gets it back.

And that is the spirit of Christmas,
that the world and all its children
get some love
and give some love. 

Merry Lovemas.

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Useful Links

Community of Christ World Headquarters

Canada East Mission

Herald House Worship Resources

Daily Bread

Toronto Centre Place

Brian Carwana: ReligionsGeek

Encounter World Religions

World Accord

Children's Foundation of Guelph and Wellington

Suzuki Early Childhood Music Classes

Merry Christmas

As Christmas nears, is your pace of living ramping up or slowing down?

This is our first “out of the building” Christmas season. And as a congregation we have worked really hard to support the needy in our community. We rightly celebrated exceeding our goal for Adopt-a-Family. We’re imagining some happy Christmases because of our efforts. We’re working on our quarterly donations to the community food banks. We’ve got ideas for our continuing support in the new year.

We’ve celebrated this Advent season “on the road.” To us this has meant four different locations and what amounted to a “Have wreath; will travel” Advent. Which meant bringing fresh greens and carrying the purple and pink candles with us as well as the songs and stories that helped us focus on the meaning of the season. Each location was blessed with a good spirit and the sense of sacred space.

But now we’re looking forward to a bit of a slow-down. After our carol service this week we’ll step back from planning and prepping and general “church work.” Our group is small and we’ve been intentional about pacing ourselves.

We wish everyone a Blessed Christmas season, whatever that might mean. For some it will be sad; may you find comfort in good memories. For some will be hectic; may you find genuine joy in your gatherings. For some it may be lonely; may you be comforted by the true Spirit of Christmas.

Merry Christmas from the Guelph Elora Community of Christ!

The Story Continues

It occurred to me today that there’s a lot of moving around, uncertainty, looking for space in the Christmas story. First, of course, there’s Joseph and Mary, travelling from their home to Bethlehem. They’ve got to find a place to stay, The town is crowded with other travelers and they’re really kind of desperate when they settle down in that stable. But it works. The baby Jesus shows up right on time, Mary wraps him up in the blankets she’s brought with her and lays him in the manger. Phew! They settle down to sleep.

But the story goes on, The angel appears to some shepherds out in the fields. Why them? The story teller wants to let us know that the story is bigger then we thought at first. It’s bigger than that little family, snuggled down for a well-earned rest in that stable. So the shepherds get the message. And they go looking for this very important baby who has been born. They’ve got some clues, but they don’t really know where to go and they go searching.

We’re on the move again. We have choices. Our little group will move out of the nice cozy chapel we’ve been borrowing. Maybe we need a star so you can follow us to this home or that one.

But wait! We’ve got something better than a star. We’ve got the Internet! Please, please, please check your e-mail or look at this website because we’ll always tell you where we are. We’ll put the word out as soon as we know where we’ll be. This week it will be Marden’s community room. Easy access, plenty of parking, midway between our north and south members. Call if you need a ride or help with directions.

Follow the star and know that you’ll find Jesus in the centre of the circle that gathers in this new space just as surely as he has been in every place we’ve gathered before.

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A Prophetic People

Here’s a question:

What does it really mean to be a prophetic people?

Is it possible to use the Bible as a guide for daily living?

What are the core scriptures that Community of Christ lives by?

When everything changes what remains eternal?

In what way are we “exiles” in our own land? How should we read Jeremiah 29 (plant gardens, marry and give in marriage, for in their fortune lies your fortune)?

Yes, but…

It’s Tuesday morning at the Warehouse and our little group is deep in exploring some problem of theology, or philosophy, or ethics, or ecology. We’ve got the alarm clock so we won’t go over time. We meet from 10:30 til noon. We must use a clock or we’d invariably go over time. Each one of those questions above was good for one or two or more weeks of deep discussion. We look at what used to be called “basic beliefs” and we’ve dug into proclamations about Jesus and Scripture.

One inevitable phrase is “Yes, but…” because we’re not afraid to look at a topic from a different perspective. We’ll test a premise against an enduring principle. We look at a question in a way we’ve never thought of before and chew on it for a long time.

We started our discussion group as a way to stay connected through the summer. It’s December now and we’re still going. Not everyone comes every time. But everyone is welcome when they can. Our group of six or seven or eight is pretty consistent. The conversation about “serious” topics scratches that itch for those who still want a deeper dive than our short worship times or our community projects permit.

There you have it. One more facet of the new Guelph/Elora congregation.

The Call to Notice

When our congregation moved out of our building one thing we vowed to do. Since we were no longer meeting the Holy Spirit inside our church building, we would have to pay attention, to notice those times and places the Holy Spirit was at work outside. We pledged to do that. Of course we’d always known the Holy Spirit didn’t belong to us inside those sacred walls, but we acknowledged that sometimes we might have acted that way. So we told each other we’d have to watch and listen carefully. We felt a call to Notice!

Since then, oh my, where to start!

I talked with the man who came to trim the trees in the park near me. Long story short…he was an accountant who felt he needed a new job. Something that got him outside, something that contributed to caring for the earth. He went back to school and now he felt like he was helping restore the balance the planet needs to care for itself. He didn’t use the words “sacredness of creation” but it was clearly one of his enduring principles too.

Barb is the woman who runs the community team of volunteers working out of the portable in the neighbourhood school. The team feeds the families nearby who need some extra help. They plant a garden and accept extras from round about and deliver produce and food to those who can’t get out. They’re busy at Christmas matching up those of us who’ve got extra with those who need gifts to give to grandchildren; they run a “store” where kids without money can shop for presents to give siblings, parents, whoever. And more. They do so much more. Barb is in a wheelchair and can’t get around much but she has ideas and energy to spare, and to share with neighbours who can and will do the work.

I never drop in without thinking about “the blessings of community”

Now those are just two little stories among the dozens of stories our group has shared since we’ve been actively responding to the Call to Notice!

You’ll find it won’t take long of noticing that you’ll hear the next call – the call to pitch in!

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What You Can Do

What you can do when you can’t do anything

Our town, like so many others these days, is in the midst of some very tough times. This has been an especially hard week. We’ve been doing what we can to support the food banks and the Adopt-a-Family. We’ve donated socks and winter coats and we’ve got plans for Janu-wear-y (more later) but it’s not enough.

Some days it feels as if it’s never enough as we bear the burdens of the unhoused and drug poisonings and expulsions. Those feel like problems that are just too big for our small group.

But here’s the thing. The thing we can do when there’s nothing else we can do. We talk to a neighbour, or we’re at the hairdresser, or we’re just passing the time of day in the grocery store and someone refers to “those awful people.” Maybe they speak of some way they deserve punishment or that they’re feeling afraid to go downtown because they’re there.

Well, here’s your call to action. You must remind your neighbour that those people are also our neighbours who’ve fallen on hard times and need our help, not our scorn. No one chooses to live on the street and they would be elsewhere if they could. They’re trying to support each other as best they can. And even if they are frightening they are someone’s child, or sister, or cousin you’ve lost track of.

If you can give to the folks at Hope House or Friend of Downtown Neighbours you can be grateful that someone is helping. If you get a chance to change the conversation so the political leaders lean a different way, please do so.

When there is nothing else you can do, that is what you can do. You can change the conversation to one that is more compassionate. And if yours is the only kind word spoken make sure it doesn’t go unsaid.

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Healing River of the Spirit

Here’s the hymn we didn’t sing on Sunday (technical difficulties)

This prayer for all those touched by war, and for us who search for our right response was written by hymn writer, Ruth Duck. She is an ordained minister, a theologian and retired professor of worship. She has written more than 150 hymns, many included in our hymnal.

“Healing River of the Spirit” # 232 CCS

Healing river of the Spirit, bathe the wounds that living brings.
Plunge our pain, our sin, our sadness, deep beneath your sacred springs.
Weary from the restless searching that has lured us from your side,
We discover in your presence peace the world cannot provide.

Wellspring of the healing spirit, stream that flows to bring release,
As we gain our selves, our senses, may our lives reflect your peace.
Grateful for the flood that heals us, may your church reflect your grace;
As we meet both friend and stranger, may we see our Saviour’s face.

Living stream that heals the nations, make us channels of your power.
As the world is torn by conflict, wars are raging at this hour.
Saving Spirit move among us, guide our winding human course,
Til we find our way together flowing homeward to our Source.

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In Our Circle

Our circle thinks about many things. We talk about many things. We often need to set an alarm to make sure we stop talking and go home.

As a congregation we participated in different ways in the most recent CEM conference: some attended in person, more watched on YouTube or Zoom. On Sunday we gathered for a potluck brunch at Sharon and Daniel’s Elora home. The food was wonderful and plentiful. The conversation around the table ranged far and wide as we discussed the conference and our own future as a forming and evolving group. We worshipped together watching Beyond the Walls. (we’re grateful for this ministry and we especially appreciate the BTW choir,)

The world has shifted since that conversation but one thing has Not changed. There are many. many vulnerable people in our neighbourhoods. We never gather without talking about them and about how we can help them.

Our mission projects are so important to us. Our support for the food insecure, for refugee families, for needy children and their fearful or struggling parents will continue. Just now we’re focusing on Adopt a Family as a way to help families celebrate Christmas. But this is just one small thing in the grand scheme of caring for the most vulnerable among us. Our conversation will continue.

We urge all who have been blessed to bless others. It’s the least we can do.

Gather Round

You’ve probably noticed our congregation has made some changes. Unless you’re gathering with us you’ll most likely think the major change is our departure from our building. And, of course, that’s a big one. But the longer we work on figuring out our new identity, the more things we notice that are pretty much NOT about a building at all.

One such transformation began with the pandemic. (We share that with lots of people, for sure.) When we returned after many weeks of being locked out of our space we found our numbers had declined, but we were so happy to be back together that we re-arranged our chairs into a semi circle. Rows with front and back just felt wrong. It wasn’t long before that semi circle evolved into a full circle. We wanted to see those beloved faces, masks and all.

Our sharing time got longer and longer as we talked about ways we were noticing the Holy Spirit in our lives, in our community. We talked about joys and concerns. There were always plenty of both.

As new folks joined us we’d scooch our chairs out and expand the circle. We got to be excellent scoochers. Nobody was left out of our circle.

Our first visit to the Arbor Trails chapel was lovely. We were welcomed into a beautiful comfortable space. Except one thing felt odd: the chairs were arranged in rows with a podium and microphone at one end of the room. We carried on – for that one day. Next time we got there early and arranged the chairs into a circle.

It seems we’ve transformed into a “round church.” We shouldn’t have been surprised. The Temple and the Auditorium are round. As campers we’ve been gathering round the campfire for generations. Our practice of shared leadership works best in a circle, not in a hierarchy. Our demographic of mostly older folks feels normal as the grandparent reading a story to a collection of little ones gathered round.

When we gather in a home the circle fits best. Even in the park or at the Arboretum those chairs shape up in the round. It’s the shape of a community, a community of joy, hope, love and peace.
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Music Excursion

 Hey, guess what? The foyer moved this week. It’s what happens when you’re in “nomad mode.” You can do excursions. And what a great day it was for an excursion!

A few of us went to visit one of our congregation’s most favourite projects. We’ve been sponsoring a program for early childhood music education at the Guelph Youth Music Centre. As longtime supporters of Guelph Children’s Foundation food programs it occurred to us that families that struggle to afford breakfast and meet summer food needs for sure don’t have extra money for music lessons.

Ours is a group with a long musical history, many gifted musicians, singers and instrumentalists from ‘way back. We also have a firm belief that we’re “called according to our gifts.” And we are very much aware of the many, many benefits music brings into the lives of children and of families. All this led to our decision to establish a music bursary to give some of our neighbour families the chance to experience some of those benefits. Families can apply through the Children’s Foundation or directly with the GYMC (Guelph Youth Music Centre).

Sunday we had the opportunity to see a demonstration class with three little ones, their moms and GYMC’s amazing teacher. As one of us said “Carmen is a star!”

What fun we had. And it was such a joy to experience the rhythms, the singing, the dancing, the story telling, the drums and the xylophone. We got to be the beaming grandmas and grandpas receiving smiles and waves and general glee in the room.

We’ve been invited back. If you missed it, you really must try to come. Maybe next time we’ll bring our instruments and play for the children.

If you agree that this is an amazing project we’d love to direct your donations to this Music Program. We’re more committed than ever to continue our support to this community of JOY.

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Prayer Shawl Ministry

 I once heard of a gentleman who wore through his prayer shawl and his daughter had to mend it. I’m not sure just how one wears out a prayer shawl, but apparently this is a true story.

There are lots of prayer shawl stories. You might even call them “testimonies.” It’s one of the things the makers of prayer shawls do: they share testimonies they hear from the recipients of prayer shawls they’ve given away. (We’re careful about privacy so no names here.)

Prayer shawl ministry has been part of our congregation for years now. It all began when Pat was visiting with Barb and they had the idea of making prayer shawls for people who were sick, or sad, or facing some struggle in their life that an actual warm hug just might help. So they found some patterns and started to knit or crochet. Each time they’d work on a shawl, they’d think about a person who might receive it; they might pray or just imagine the warm hug that person needed. It would represent God’s love for them. And that healing spirit was doubled by a special prayer by the group or the congregation.

Pretty soon they set up a Facebook page. You can still find “Prayer-filled Stitches” if you like. More yarn workers joined up. A group of them met in Guelph but others from farther away wanted to join, so they began to meet on Zoom – long before the rest of us found it during the pandemic.

Shawls have been hand delivered by someone in the network, or mailed miles away. Donations began to come in to cover postage. Folks donate yarn or money to purchase it. Our congregation added prayer shawl ministry to our budget to cover any shortfall. This is one ministry we never want to abandon.

Today’s Foyer chat was about the blessing felt by the makers of all those shawls. It never fails; while they’re working to bless someone else they can’t help but feel that warm hug themselves. They’re still meeting every month to share testimonies and build community. One more of those communities of joy, hope, love and peace.

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A reminder from Dorothy:
This holiday season is filled with joy and excitement for us but not for many. So far 1700 families have asked The Children’s Foundation of Guelph Wellington for help to give their children gifts and to buy much needed food for the holiday season. Please help us to raise at least $3000.00 by Dec 1st for Adopt- a -Family. This is the special Christmas fund by The Children’s Foundation of Guelph Wellington. Let’s make this a good Christmas for some families! Make a cheque out to Community of Christ and on the memo line write Adopt-a-Family. Bring your cheque to a worship service or mail to our Financial Officer, Sharon.

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Give Thanks

An eccentric opinion from Dennis's blog: Give Thanks for Bad News

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Climate Change

Dennis reporting:
At our meeting October 1, with the help of Stassi Cramm in a Zoom archive, we made like Jeremiah and took a prophetic look at how we are responding to the climate change emergency. Here are some links.
At the Crossroads: Igniting Faith and Justice in a Time of Change: Stassi Cramm, The Climate Colloquy, September 2024
Community of Christ Climate Emergency Statement Update

We hear bad news and good. Dorothy and I attended the Tuesday afternoon Seniors for Climate Action Now gathering at the City Hall: great speakers and even some great music urging us to be engaged individually and collectively in working for a better future. My showers are down to two minutes, and I shave in cold water. Next step maybe a water heater that uses a heat pump rather than natural gas. We continue to chill the ears of politicians who can't think past the next election. Make a plan and make a difference.

Check back next week. Marion will pass along more talk in The Foyer.

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Politics

This week we talked about politics in the foyer. This ought not surprise you as in our great global democratic experiment, "politics" is the way we organize ourselves to get things done. Most of us inside this conversation actually learned the basics of democracy at church!

Our church has always been run as a democracy. We call it a "theocratic democracy" because we hope for and rely on the presence of the Holy Spirit to inspire our decisions and our directions. But the actual ins and outs of how we run our congregations (and mission centres, and even World Church) are democratic principles. We offer up our suggestions about what to do by way of motions. Then we talk about alternatives or we defend our preferences -- some might call this "debate"; we usually just call is "discussion."

And finally we vote. Or we don't. Sometimes we agree to wait and vote another day if we're not ready to make a final decision. Or the debate revealed some deeper divisions that the Holy Spirit suggested we needed to work on some more before we decide.

Next Sunday our little group will hold our regular fall business meeting. I don't expect a big crowd, just the regular group that has been coming together once or twice a week since we last voted on anything. We've long since decided that our group works best when we let a team figure out together what we'll be doing. So we'll vote for our leadership team. We'll name a pastor of record, because that's required in Community of Christ congregations. We have a financial officer and a secretary to keep us in line and keep us legitimate. Because we've also long agreed that we want the association with our denomination, our global faith community.

I learned many years ago as an active child, youth, young adult, adult in various church organizations that if you want a job in your group, you can probably have it. Folks aren't clamoring to be elected anything. And there won't be much opposition, unless you're suggesting something really, really controversial. (Then the passionate electors may indeed show up eager to participate.)

Mostly we're gentle with each other. We talk about what's really important to us: how to make our community a better place for all who live here. We're trying to live as the prophet Jeremiah urged the exiles in Babylon to do: work to make your city prosper for when it prospers, you too will prosper. (Jeremiah 29)

We're blessed to have resources and the imagination to use those resources in ways that serve the children in our community. We feel guided by the Holy Spirit and we're willing and able to use democratic principles to get things done. If you come along to our business meeting, you'll see how we do it.

See you next week in the Foyer.

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Change For Change

Do you remember the Change for Change jar? I'm not sure where the practice got started but I can think of half a dozen, or more, congregations with these jars. The concept was brilliant! Somebody realized that by pooling our small amounts of money we would eventually accumulate enough to make a real difference. We could make “a change” and most everybody had a little bit of “change” to drop in a jar.

Everybody liked the idea. Sunday morning was a good time to unload those heavy coins we'd acquired during the week. Kids could save up their change; or scrounge from dad or grandpa's pocket. There was a willing group of small people ready to gather change on their way to the jar so the older folks didn't even have to get up.

We used the funds to support the school breakfast program run by the Guelph Children's Foundation. We donated enough over the years that we earned a place on their honour role. You can check us out on >> their website <<. When Elora joined us they brought along their Change for Change jar and we added World Accord as recipients.

By now we had begun to support the Food Bank, so we added the Fergus locatioin. We had a big barrel where you could donate your Cheerios or spagetti sauce. Every month we had pounds and pounds of food to drop off.

And then things changed.

Oh not the needs we'd been giving to. They're still there and bigger than ever. More kids need more breakfasts. They also need food for the weekend and the summer holidays. So those places have expanded their programs.

Our attendance dropped off; folks use plastic and no longer have coins weighing them down. We responded by putting our causes directly into our budget. We could see the ever-growing need and we didn't want to abandon our neighbours as times got tougher.

So here's where we are today. We did bring our jar with us when we left our building behind. But the best way you can support our hungry neighbours is with a donation directly to the congregational budget. We don't have hydro or snow plowing or grass cutting, but we DO have budget obligations to meet.

One of our top priorities is still Change for Change, direct support to our community. If you're able you can send a cheque to Sharon or by e-transfer. You can mark your gift Change for Change, or Local Budget and you can be sure your donation goes straight to good causes and you'll get your tax receipt just when you need it.

See you next week in The Foyer.

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The Foyer

Our congregation loves to talk. Some years ago some very insightful leader established the practice of snacks in the foyer after church every Sunday. Kids loved it. They wriggled through and around the legs of the grown-ups to refill their plates, maybe their pockets, with cookies, crackers, sometimes even grapes and strawberries.
Those legs of those grown-ups were parts of pairs or triads or even fours and fives of folks in deep conversation. Oh they were probably also balancing a compostible plate of cheese or chips, but mostly they were focusing on some deep theological point, or considering that hot political issue, or celebrating the latest accomplishment of a talented grandchild. We've got bunches of them! We loved it when one or more of those kids joined a conversation circle. And they did!

When the pandemic put us all into face masks and cautioned us to avoid breathing each others' air we lost so much. Our journey took a new direction as numbers declined. We were forced to get serious about just how we would ensure a viable future for our congregation. Hard decisions sent us into a new future. Some of us have been calling that future a “nomadic” one. (More about that in future posts.)

But today, I'm introducing a new Foyer. You may need to go get yourself a cookie or a handful of chips to read this. In any case, at the end of the offical news and announcements, down here at the bottom, you'll find the conversation that we love so much. One thing that didn't change when we became Community of Christ: we'll always be “Chatter-day saints.”

I hope you'll enjoy these notes about what we're up to or proposed projects, what we've been learning, news (gossip) about our super-achieving grandchildren, Whatever we used to chat about in the Foyer. I'll meet you here next week. You'll always be welcome to join in