A Day Apart with Barrie Presbyterial
Report on Synodical Annual Meeting and WMS Council Meeting
Our synodical president, Joy Randall, has written a letter to all groups letting us know about the events and decisions of the 2015 Synodical Annual Meeting and the Biennial National Council Meeting of the WMS held this spring. This letter was circulated to all presbyterials for their distribution to all the groups in their bounds. If you did not receive the letter, or wish to reread the letter, it has been attached to this blog posting.
Also, included in this blog posting is the booklet of reports to the Synodical Annual Meeting so you can read about the work of the groups and presbyterials of the synodical and see the wonderful things that so many are doing.
Click here to see Joy’s letter re the Synodical and Council meetings
Click here to see the Annual booklet of reports for the 2015 Annual Synodical meeting
Be Strong – Be Courageous: A study on Joshua 1:1-9
The Presbyterial of Kingston met recently and considered the theme “Be Strong – Be Courageous” in mission and in bible study. The following is a short study on the passage from which the presbyterial found their theme. Take some time to reflect on the passage itself. What words and phrases leap off of the page for you? What questions do you have about the circumstances of Joshua’s call to lead the people of Israel into the promised land? What are the challenges ahead of him? What will be the key to his success?
Then go ahead and read the brief commentary following the passage and consider the questions that follow.
You will then be invited to pray using one or more of the prayer practices included. Each practice invites us into contemplation and consideration of the our own need for strength and courage and the needs of those around us and throughout the world.
Click here to download the Joshua study
Click here to download a map of the world to use with the Joshua study
Are You Looking For Something to Read?
Have a look through this reading list prepared for the 2015 annual meeting of the WMS Synodical of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda. You will find some great children’s reading books, some key Christian education texts for church leaders to consider, and some wonderful addition options if your group is looking for some additional study materials. I hope you will find something for yourself and something for a leader in your church community to enjoy and grow with. Happy reading!
A letter from our Synodical President, Joy Randall, to all WMS groups and presbyterials
Dear Presbyterials, WMS Groups & Friends of WMS,
During preparations for our April synodical annual meeting and at recent executive meetings, we were made aware of concerns expressed by individuals and groups for a better understanding of today’s WMS. This letter is to let you know that we ‘are listening’ to you.
We want you to be open and share your ideas and suggestions. Please continue to do this. As an executive, we will discuss what is needed to improve our organization. We will strive to think of new ways to keep the information lines open. We will work with you towards making necessary changes to keep WMS a vital organization, both meaningful and rewarding for all.
We are most appreciative of the faithful commitment and dedication of our members to the WMS, its purpose and goals. God has been working through us both locally, nationally and internationally over the past 100 years. We have met many challenges through the years, and we honour those who overcame them as they worked together to further God’s mission.
Today, our challenges are different and our approach may need to be different as well. We know that our groups are getting smaller. Some have ceased being WMS groups, but still contribute in other ways. Our members are getting older and are worried that they can not meet these challenges. We understand and hear what you are saying. We see the different needs facing us today, both locally and throughout the world.
We realize that it is difficult for some groups and presbyterials to fulfill their financial objectives. There are more demands on us today. It worries us when we see so many people and countries having difficulties. Our hearts ache for them, and we want to give more. We want you to know that we are thankful for what each person, group and presbyterial gives. We know that God blesses the gift and giver and we are thankful for all that you are able to do to help others.
We think of the past, and feel that we still should meet as we always have. Today there are changes in our world and in our Society, and the reality is that change in our groups is needed. Our groups are smaller and less able to find enough people to take on the responsibilities of officers. We realize this. Do we really need them all? It depends on the makeup of your group. We wish to stress that it is not necessary to have all the officers that we used to have. Each
group or presbyterial should decide what works best for it. We should stress that in order for presbyterials and the synodical to keep in touch and be able to communicate better, there should be a contact person.
At a recent meeting with Tori Smit, Regional Minister for Faith Formation for our synod, we discussed various models that presbyterials or groups might consider for executive positions and functions. They should be appropriate to your size and ability to fill these positions. Our deepest desire is to feel energized by the fellowship and study that your group provides. We hope that you would not feel burdened by an obligation to fill numerous positions that may no longer meet your group’s individual needs.
Remember, whichever way you choose, a contact person is needed. Then we are able to keep in touch and keep the communication lines open.
If your presbyterial or groups are feeling anxious about officers, or other aspect of functioning well, please feel free to contact the executive, Tori Smit, or myself. We would be delighted to lend you a hand. We can see what best fits your needs and make some suggestions.
We will continue to keep you in our prayers and will help in anyway that we can.
May God continue to bless us and keep us faithful to our purpose and mission. Please do keep in touch with us often and let us know how we can help you. We want to keep the communication lines open.
Sincerely,
Joy Randall,
President of WMS CNOB Synodical
Phone 904 372 6075
Email rrandall@eagle.ca
PS I will be away in Taiwan to attend the 150 Anniversary of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan from March 30 – April 11th, 2015. Look forward to seeing many of you at Synodical and if you have any questions will be happy to talk with you at that time.
Spiritual Practices Inspired by the Jewishness of Jesus
Spiritual practices and disciplines have gained a lot of attention in the mainline church over these last few years. Many are rediscovering the spiritual practices of an earlier church and in testing out these practices people are discovering through the ritual of disciplined prayer, reading of scripture and meditation they are able to experience God in new and meaning-filled ways. In this workshop/ experience we will go back further than the early or medieval Christian Church and rediscover some of the spiritual practices of our Jewish heritage.
Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren F. Winner has inspired this exploration of Jewish spiritual practices. Following her conversion to Christianity from Orthodox Judaism, Winner found herself missing the richness of the traditional spiritual practices of her Jewish heritage. She wrote Mudhouse Sabbath to reconsider these meaning-filled practices through a Christian lens inviting readers to transform the way the view the world and God. Practices of Sabbath Keeping, Hospitality, Mourning, and Fasting are among the eleven practices explored in her book.
In this workshop I have selected five of the spiritual practices she considers in her book. Each practice can be explored through a learning centre as an individual or as a group. Each spiritual practice is considered through handouts outlining background information, questions for reflection and/or discussion, and detailed instructions for an activity which has been designed to invite participants to ‘test out’ the practice before leaving the centre and moving on to consider another practice. Participants can explore as many or as few practices as they wish, taking all the time they need to experience the practice as fully as needed to repeat it at home. Multiple copies of the files can be photocopied for participants to take them home and reinforce the practice as they wish.
You will find five individual attachments included, one per centre. In each attachment you will find a supply list for the centre, a sheet of condensed background information, a sheet of questions for individuals to reflect upon or the group to discuss, and instructions for the activity(ies) that go with that practice. Choose to use all the centres,or explore one each time you gather.
I hope that you will find new ways of worshiping and glorifying God through these practices.
Click here for Fitting Food file
2015 Service of Installation for WMS Officers
Each spring WMS groups, presbyterials and synodical install newly elected officers into executive positions of the Women’s Missionary Society for the upcoming season. At annual meetings across the synodical officers are installed through special services that ask both the executive officers and the WMS members to together make a covenant with God for the work and witness ahead of them. Each year this installation service reminds us that the work that we do is not our own, but is God’s. In this service of installation for 2015 you will find the keynote text for the April Annual meeting of Synodical, Mark 4:26-29, used to remind us all that while we work for the kingdom of God, it is God that is the one that brings life to this garden, who grows this garden, and brings it to harvest. Please feel free to use this service of installation with your group, presbyterial or synodical as you commit to this season ahead.
Click here for the 2015 Service of Installation for WMS Officers
Good Friday Dramatic Reading
Thank you to Rev. Stephen Dunkin of Graceview Presbyterian Church in Toronto for sharing this Good Friday service of worship. Through the stories of some of the people who were there we gain a fresh perspective on the thoughts and feelings of those who loved and those who witnessed the events of the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus. Please feel free to use and/or adapt this script to your congregations setting and needs.
Click Here for the Good Friday Dramatic Reading
A Garden of Devotion, Conversation and Reflection for Lent and Easter: 2015
The special seasons of preparation for the church offer congregations the opportunity to support families in the developing and maintaining of good practices for faithful devotion as families at home. Parents are very clear that they believe that they ought to be the primary teachers of faith to their children, but often struggle with how they might do that. Parents want to share their faith with their children, but they often simply don’t know how to do it. Research also affirms that children learn faith best from their parents. So, the best thing that the church can do for our children is support and resource their parents in the ways and means of passing on their faith with those they love so much.
Here is one resource that congregations can give to families to help them do just that.
What follows is a Lenten and Easter Family Devotional Booklet that is written for families to use daily; sharing scripture, prayers, conversation and activities while also sharing their family meal. It begins on Ash Wednesday (February 18. 2015) and goes through to EasterSunday (April 5, 2015). It invites families to engage with the lectionary readings of 2015 through short readings of scripture and/or age appropriate bible stories from The Bible in 365 Stories by Lion Publishing (this is a great children’s bible story book to recommend to families to use with primary school children). In addition to the readings and open ended conversations focused on ‘wondering’, the booklet includes each family making a simple and small tabletop garden that will grow and evolve over the six weeks of Lent, with new symbols occasionally being added and fun activities to do over their time together that tangibly express the ideas they experience together. Clear instructions to make this garden are included in the booklet.
To help families get started and learn how to use the booklet, your congregation might want to set aside some time just before Lent begins to start these gardens as a part of a larger Lent Event. Getting together as a church family while learning about Lent is a wonderful way of comfortably sharing the importance of faithful family conversation and resourcing families with the tools they need to get started. The garden is inexpensive to make and would take about 20 minutes to plant. A congregational Lent Event might include other activities such as sharing a meal together, playing some games, introducing the themes and meaning of Lent through a trivia game, the planting of the tabletop gardens in household groups, and then the important step of practicing daily family devotions by using the first day’s devotion as your closing worship together.
There are a few extra items mentioned in the booklet (kazoos, little animals, silk butterflies etc.) that families will use at home to continue re-creating their gardens over the weeks of Lent. Churches may want to send home a goodie bag with each family filled with these items so they will be encouraged to stick with their devotions and maintaining of their garden at home. These items are clearly noted in the booklet.
Finally the booklet file is in pdf format and has been written so that you can print out the 12 pages of the booklet, photocopy the pages front to back (page 2 on the back of page 1; page 4 on the back of page 3; etc), collate the pages, and then fold in half and staple it together down the middle to form a booklet. For this reason, when you open the file it will appear out of order. It isn’t. Have a go, photocopy it, assemble it, and the dates will all be in the right places. I promise!
I hope you and your family enjoy this opportunity to grow together over this wonderful season of Lent as we prepare for the wondrous glory that Easter brings.