Sewing machines and knitting needles have been working overtime in Elmvale, Ontario. The members of the church’s Women’s Missionary Society and the Elmvale Craft Group have been working faithfully during this pandemic to create hundreds of much-needed items for their local hospital, for those experiencing homelessness, and for many others whose lives have been affected dramatically in Canada, the Dominican Republic and Honduras these last few months.
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As we move through Eastertide, we begin to anticipate Pentecost as the amazing conclusion to this season. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was breathed into the disciples and they launched themselves out of the room they were closed up in and into the streets of Jerusalem, filled with energy and a story to tell. On fire (not literally), they spoke to those crowded in the marketplaces of Jerusalem in every language of the world, and all the people understood them. And what they heard from the disciples was the story of Jesus; his life, his death and his resurrection. And the Spirit didn’t stop with the disciples, the breath of God blew through all of those who listened and believed that day, just as the Holy Spirit has continued to blow through the church in every age and in every place since then. Pentecost is a great day in the church: it’s our birthday – so let’s celebrate!
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Many curriculum publishers are graciously offering free curricula and resources for churches and families to take advantage of during this time when we’re all learning from home. Some are even developing special resources that shift teaching from a classroom leader to everyone in the family exploring and learning together. What follows is a curated list of some wonderful offerings that are theologically Presbyterian and Reformed and place the educational emphasis on family conversation and wondering together. Enjoy exploring some of these great offerings for your church and family.
(more…)Marjorie Thompson, in Family: The Forming Center, says that “rituals are embodied ways of celebrating God’s presence in the midst of ordinary life.” Life doesn’t feel very ordinary these days, and the idea of celebrating communion in our homes instead in our church home with our church family feels just little bit strange. We wonder if we should hold off celebrating communion until we can gather in our churches once again. I wonder if these unusual days invite us to come to the table now more than ever before. We need to remember that God is with us and will not abandon us. Through the ordinary stuff of bread and wine we need to taste and see that the Lord is good.
And so we offer to you a communion service for celebration in your homes. It comes out of a request that John-Peter and I film a short, intergenerational communion service for Morningside-High Park Presbyterian Church for Easter Sunday morning. We filmed it in our home with Alex Fensham and Holly Boyne, also members at MHP, who live in an apartment in our home. So please, feel free to use it at anytime throughout our time away from our church homes.
Easter blessings, John-Peter and Tori
Friends and colleagues in the synod,
A week or so ago we had an email from a colleague who jokingly said he never thought he would give up church for Lent. Likewise, yesterday a friend said that after all the years of feeling that going to the Good Friday service was hard, she realized that not going was going to be even harder. It is difficult to know how to respond in these days.
When everything else has been stripped away, even going to church itself, we are still left with the enormity and wonder of the resurrection. Recall that the resurrection did not happen in a church building and that the first witnesses were three frightened women. In many ways our story this year is their story, or the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus; Jesus revealing himself by walking alongside us and identifying himself in the breaking of bread.
This Easter season we are grateful for you. We are grateful that in the midst of uncertainty and fear that you continue to lead with courage and faith. We are thankful for church leaders, ordained and lay, who are serving their communities in countless ways. We are praying for you and for your churches, for health and safety, but especially for a profound sense of wonder at the love that enfolds us in the resurrection of Jesus.
May you and yours be touched profoundly this Easter by the simple and wonderful truth of our faith,
Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again.
May our risen Lord bless and sustain you,
With gratitude,
John-Peter & Tori Smit
Families with children, join Crash and Zucchini for a special Chapodcast celebrating the joyful parade of Palm Sunday. Gather together your coats, a green wavy thing, and some paper and a marker and then open the attached video link to hear the wonder-filled story, sing out your loud Hosannas, and offer your prayers to God with all of your worries and thanksgiving.
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I’ve been collecting a number of links to great websites/blogs/articles over the past couple of weeks that I think represent some of the best we can be doing, following or gaining insight from as we practice social distancing and stay home in our efforts to flatten the curve. I had hoped I could weave them into an article along the way, but for one reason or another, they never quite fit the article themes I was working on. I don’t want them to be lost in the shuffle, so I’m posting them all here in the hope that one or two might also resonant with you.
(more…)Thank you to Reuben, Katherine, Ben and Dan for gifting us all with your Camp at Home week of fun and caring chapel services. It has been wonderful to be included in your re-making of a cancelled church event into an online experience for families at home. Thank you so much!
(more…)Oops, I posted this Chapodcast on Tuesday by mistake, and it really should have been posted this Thursday. I’ve corrected the Tuesday post, and Thursday’s video is now in its rightful place in the weekly line-up. If you viewed this Chapodcast earlier this week, you will need to head back to Tuesday’s post to see a new chapel today. If not, enjoy today’s Chapodcast. I’m sorry for the mix-up. As with everyone, I’m learning more about technology these days than I ever thought I’d need to.
(more…)Welcome back to our morning Chapodcast from Nassagaweya PC, where we get to dance and sing and enjoy the wonderful reminder to “Be Still.”
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