Something Different

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

I won a rosette at the Saanich Fair for "something different" in the preserves section. The entry involved zucchini.😀

Something Different at SPPC this week carries no prize winning ribbon. Our secretary had the misfortune to break her arm and has been missing in action for a couple of weeks. So, if you arrive at SPPC on a weekday morning, you'll see "something different." Volunteers are taking turns covering the office hours and doing our best to be helpful to Rev. Irwin and the congregation.

Until you sit in her chair, you may not know just how much the operation of our building and congregation relies on the accumulated  knowledge our secretary. I spent most of Monday asking "where is . . .? "who is . . .? what is. . .?" I now know some answers but I've only scratched the surface.

We miss the usual smiling face in the office and pray our secretary will have a quick and complete recovery.

Something that is not different at the church is the Sunshine Lunch. This past Monday saw the crew serve up the first meal of the Fall term, and what a meal it was. Look at this beautiful and tasty dessert.

The Molloy Hall is a multi-purpose room so making it into an intimate dining room is hard work, but the crew did a wonderful job of creating an attractive visiting space.   

Love the duck watering cans

 

Every table had a centre bouquet to complete the festive air. 

The whole meal was a treat -- just as good as a restaurant --

 and the "help" was terrific.

Speaking of the help, not only did they prepare and serve the meal, they joined the diners at the table so each guest had a personalized experience.    

 

 

 Except for one, the folks at this table were too engrossed in their food to smile for the camera.

The Sunshine Lunch is one of the most long-standing ministries at SPPC. It was designed to fill a need, providing fellowship and nourishment to folks who mostly dined alone. When the first coordinator retired, another picked up the reins. Newcomers have joined the group, both as guests and as volunteers in the kitchen. 

The next Sunshine Lunch is scheduled for October 26 and will have a Thanksgiving theme.  Sign up sheets will be available Oct. 4. Seating is limited, so get your name down early. SPPC welcomes the neighbourhood to our fellowship. You don't have to belong to the congregation to enjoy the Sunshine lunch. If you live alone and would like company and a good meal, call the office (250 656-2241) and add your name to the guest list. 

🎼🎼🎼

If you want to feed your spirit, there is a musical program on offer this Saturday, by the Die Mahler group, including Larry, our  organist. All are welcome.

The Power of a Word

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

September has arrived like a mighty rush of wind. The church calendar is filling up. Fall chores are calling for attention. Clubs, sports teams, organizations -- are all gearing up and calling for volunteers. Somebody asked me about Christmas just last week! There is a sense of rush and hurry and deadlines hovering in every conversation.

So, when I read these words, "I had to flip the narrative from ‘I have to’ to ‘I get to’" it gave me pause. Such a small word. Such life-changing power.

 "I have to" is filled with anxiety, pressure, resentment, irritation, frowns, and impatience. It disrupts conversation, short-changes relationships. It replaces the beauty of sun-rise with the strident scream of an alarm clock. "I have to" is a destroyer. 

"I get to," rejoices in the daily tasks, thrives on accomplishment, bestows happiness. When "I get to," friends and family are drawn closer, work becomes a pleasure, moments are filled with wonder and gratitude at the expanse of what I get to do. 

"I have to" chases me into the garden with the clock ticking as I harvest the onions before the rain. I work furiously, with a scowling face. "I get to," lets me harvest the onions while filled with awe at the bounty of nature. I'm reminded of all the blessings in my life. The onions are pulled and set to dry in the same length of time it takes me when "I have to" but a smile replaces the scowl.

The Bible is full of verses reminding us to rejoice in the Lord, most notably 1Thess 5: 16 . But there are many other examples, Phil.4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always" was written from a prison cell. The Book of Psalms resounds with hymns of joy. Ps 118 This is the day that the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Ps. 100, Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Ps. 95, Sing for joy.

There is no shortage of Biblical references reminding us to be thankful but sometimes "Sunday" words get lost on Tuesday. Flipping "I have to" to "I get to," is less graceful, but it works.

If you are looking at your calendar and your to-do list and feeling overwhelmed, try thinking, "wow, I get to. . ."

New Term

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

We marked the end of summer with a hymn-packed worship service and a hot dog lunch. Now we mark the beginning of the fall term with a celebration of the Lord's Supper. Two Sundays only a week apart, but two very different seasons.

Labour Day marks the beginning of the new school year, and in many households, the beginning of a new season of learning and activities. SPPC is no different. Now that the Saanich Fair is over, it's time to settle into a routine. Choir practice starts again this week. Session meets on Wednesday. The Study group  begins next week. Sunday School activities recommence. The autumn Sunshine Lunch is upcoming. 

Some may feel regret that summer is over, and yearn for the long, unstructured days of heat and sunshine. Others will welcome the return to routine and order as the days get shorter and the temperatures drop. 

How fitting that we bridge the two seasons at the Communion Table, a place for remembrance, fellowship, thanksgiving and proclaiming Christ. A favourite communion hymn begins with the words "Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face" and concludes with "feast after feast thus comes and passes by,/Yet passing points to that glad feast above."

Season after season, we can gather at the Lord's table, sure of our welcome, secure in Christ's forgiving love, knowing our souls are fed. Sunday concluded Rev. Irwin's sermon series on Psalms of Ascent. The pilgrim has arrived. The feast that Christ prepared awaits.

Take, eat, in remembrance of Me.

Fifth Sunday Voices

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

August 30 was a fifth Sunday in the month of August, so, as per our new protocol, we made it different. The previous fifth Sunday, in May, we expanded our "prayers of the people" format. This month, we expanded the music, that is, we sang nine hymns instead of four, and added a sung blessing. Prayers were shortened and the sermon was a mini-version.

Because the choir is still on holiday, Rev. Irwin got to practice his song-leading skills. 

 

He assured me that the next time we did this, he'd make certain the choir was in attendance. 😄

We finished off the service with a hot-dog lunch, instead of the usual coffee hour after service.

Session decided to hold the lunch inside instead of setting up in the parking lot. Given the change in the weather that was a very good idea!

The lunch included a make-you-own-sundae option, and here is Peter, putting that option to good use.

There was a larger than usual turn out for the service so all the spare hot dogs were quickly added to the grill. Fortunately, the salad makers had made generous portions so no one went hungry.

 

As they used to say in my small town paper "a good time was had by all."

Many thanks to the CML group for spearheading this event and to the many hands to turned to for preparing and cooking and cleaning up afterward. 

Faithfulness

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

The Crack in the Wall -- A St. Faithful's Story         by Tom Kennar

Our clerk of session loaned me a book last week. She thought I might enjoy it, but she should know by now that even the most casual suggestion is grist for the blog!

The author of the book is a priest of many years standing in the Church of England, currently vicar at the parish of Havant. In the fictional world he creates, the church, St. Faithful's, is in the parish of Havnot. 

The characters are the archetypes found in much fiction concerning churches. There is the organist who believes J.S. Bach is the only composer necessary, the sharp-tongued administrator, the ditsy youth leader (always covered in glitter), the gloomy verger who is most concerned with the preservation and the winding of the tower clock, an overly enthusiastic flower arranger, and a newish curate trying to find her place in the faith, a "floppy-haired" guitarist, and an up-to-date church leader who has no room for doubt.

Finally, we meet the vicar, a kindly, wise man of faith struggling with loyalty to his congregation and "progress."

The story kicks off with a letter from the diocese directing St. Faithful's to hold a "Strategic Reshaping Conversation" with the neighbouring church, St. Paddy's.

Not surprisingly, angst follows. Will the vicar retire or move or stay, or be pushed out? Who will wind the clock? The organist and the guitarist battle over "improvisation" with key changes vs printed music that holds to the "rules" of Bach.

It is a dilemma familiar to mainstream churches everywhere, who struggle with declining attendance, budget deficits, and fewer able bodies. Amalgamation is often on the agenda.

At SPPC we are not about to receive a directive from the powers-that-be, but we would dearly love to expand our ministry in the neighbourhood. That is what the CML group is all about. You can read Pam's excellent post about it here.

One of their initiatives is the fifth Sunday worship format. There are only four a year so it seems like a good time to dial it up a bit on Sunday morning. We've already had one Sunday where "prayers of the people" were different.

This coming Sunday, Aug. 30 is another fifth Sunday and we're going to turn the worship hour into a musical hour. There will be prayers and a sermon (very short) but mostly we'll be singing favourite hymns of the congregation. If you love to sing, this is your week, and a chance to bring your singing friends too. I understand there will be hotdogs during the coffee hour. 

  

I won't tell you the end of the St. Faithful's story -- you can ask Janet to borrow her book, or get your own from a bookstore, but there are some statements worth quoting.

Our story is not that we are perfect, or modern, or ancient. Our story is that we belong to one another.

We do not worship wood, or music, or methods. We worship the God who became flesh.

St. Faithful's … had not silenced disagreement It had chosen to love louder. 

At this [Communion] table there is room

Ed. Note: The author made the point that an "altar" is for sacrifice. A table is where people are fed. 

There are several books in the St. Faithful's series as well as a facebook page for Canon Tom Kennar, if you want to explore his ideas more fully.

Happy reading. See you next Sunday, with your voices ready to sing to the Lord.

More Claim to Fame

 The link to this week's live-streamed service is here.

Dr. Erik Routley

Last week's post was about the writer of the text for "Work for the Night is Coming." This week we delve into the life and SPPC connection of composer and arranger, Dr. Erik Routley.

The maiden name of our Clerk of Session was Routley, and her mother maintained that they were related to the hymn writer. Although he has not been definitively placed on the family tree, we'll opt for "Mom said," and claim him as a connection of SPPC.

Dr. Erik Routley was a famous British Congregational minister, composer, and scholar of church music. We know him best at SPPC as the man who harmonized "Slane," the Irish tune we use for  "Be Thou My Vision," a perennial favourite with Presbyterians in Canada. 

Slane is an old Irish folk tune that became a hymn tune when it was arranged by David Evans, and used in the Church Hymnary published in 1927. The tune is named for a hill in County Meath, Ireland, where St. Patrick lit an Easter fire, in defiance of the fifth century pagan king, Leogaire. Following this act of faithful witness, St. Patrick received unlimited freedom to preach the gospel in Ireland. Four hundred years later, the name of the hill, Slane, became a beloved hymn tune in a Protestant church.

If Dr. Routley had written nothing else, he would have had a place on our "famous relatives" chart as SPPC, but his body of work is immense. He was the leading hymnologist of the 20th century. He produced more than forty books on the history, theology and music of hymns and carols. He wrote more than a hundred hymn tunes, numerous texts and edited or co-edited fifteen hymnals. In our Book of Praise, his name appears beside eight hymns either as composer or arranger.

He was a prominent player in the Dunblane consultations, credited with setting off the "hymn explosion" of the 1960's. He also edited the Bulletin of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for 27 years. 

Born in Brighton, England, where his father was mayor, Routley delighted in the significance of his Hallowe'en birthdate in 1917. It was exactly 400 years (give or take given adjustments to the calendar) to the day from when Martin Luther nailed his 40 theses to the church door at Wittenburg. Despite his many degrees and honours, Routley was most proud of that connection to the Reformation. 

He credited his parents, Nonconformists, for sending him to Anglican boarding schools where liturgy took precedence over sermons. He wrote that he enjoyed "the kind of worship in which youngsters could really participate, and by the age of fourteen I had become an Anglican snob. I was enjoying the aesthetics of the church more than its dogma. The Anglicans were winning.”

Despite his affinity for Anglican liturgy and his dislike of the long, Nonconformist sermons of his youth, -- particularly the "peculiar sounds" the ministers made when praying in public. “They had one voice for talking to God and another for talking to me. I was thankful that I wasn’t God” -- he became a leading member in the Congregational Church in England and Wales.

He moved to Princeton, New Jersey in 1975 as Professor of Church Music, carrying on with the work he had begun so many years before in England. One of his biographers credits him with "halting the dreary practice of singing "Amen" at the end of each hymn sung in American Churches."

Dr. Routley died in 1982 but his work and influence remain significant factors in church music today. He loved his work and he loved the Lord. The opening line of his 1972 hymn provides a fitting epitaph. "new songs of celebration render to him who has great wonders done."

Thanks to Janet for sharing her connection to Dr. Routley with SPPC.

Famous Friends

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here

Pursuing my love of hymnody, I learned recently that one of our newer congregants has a famous, hymn-writing relative. 

Anna Louisa Walker is the author of that old gospel hymn, "Work for the Night is Coming." She is also the great, great aunt of Grace, fellow-worshipper at SPPC. 

Walker was born on 23 June 1836 in Staffordshire, England. Around 1853 the family moved to Pointe-Lévy, (Quebec) in what was then Lower Canada. In 1858, the family relocated to Sarnia, Canada West, (present day Ontario.) Soon after their arrival in Sarnia, Anna Louisa founded a private girl's school with her sisters Frances and Isabella. Sadly, the school only operated for a few years before it closed upon the deaths of Frances

and Isabella. 

When she was still a teenager, Anna Louisa wrote poetry, published in local newspapers and then as a collection, "Leaves from the Backwoods" printed in Montreal by John Lovel in 1861. She returned to England with her parents in 1864. 

Shortly afterward, her parents died and she joined the household of her cousin, Margaret Oliphant, as a housekeeper-companion. Oliphant was a writer and recommended Anna Louisa's work to her own publishers. 

In 1873, Walker's debut novel, A Canadian Heroine, was published, followed by four more novels and a collection of Plays for Children. 

In 1884, Walker married Harry Coghill and settled in Staffordshire. She continued to write adding another novel to her opus, and a volume of poetry titled Oak and Maple: English and Canadian verses, published under her married name, Mrs. H. Coghill.

"The Night Cometh," was taken from "Leaves from the Backwoods" and set to music by Ira D. Sankey, and published as the hymn, "Work for the Night is Coming." As the poems had been published anonymously, Anna Louisa received no accreditation, the lyrics being wrongly attributed to Sidney Dyer. Upon hearing the hymn sung at a Temperance meeting, she recognized it as her own work and tracked down the source. Thereafter, printings of the hymn rightly recognized her as the author.

By happy coincidence I learned of Grace's connection to the author of "Work for the Night is Coming," in the same season as Dr. Cecil Kirk recommended this hymn. To be precise, in his unpublished  work on hymns he chose Aug. 8 as the appropriate day for this song.

As a farm kid I am very familiar with the urgency to bring in a crop before a storm hits, so work for the night is coming just seems like regular life, but the poem is actually a long metaphor. As Dr. Kirk explained, "the Christian is a workman who must be engaged in the heavenly Father's business. We are sent out like labourers into the harvest field and we are required to work for Him, rather we are given the privilege of working for Him. . . .Our life is compared to a day's work as we toil on the Master's service.

". . . The time will come when we are no longer able to work. . .  Darkness comes on and the time for labour is ended.  There is always the temptation, as we grow older, to believe that that time has come much earlier than it really has. No matter how old we may be, there is still some service we can render the Lord. Anna Louisa knew personally a lady over one hundred years old, who still carried on a valuable telephone ministry . . . in her congregation."

We often learn things at funerals that we wish we'd known while the deceased still walked among us. I'm really glad to learn about Grace's connection of "Work for the Night is Coming," while she can still answer questions about her famous relative.