Fare Thee Well

    The beginning of summer signalled a couple of good-byes at SPPC.  The first was the Men's Breakfast.  The second was a farewell to one of our founding members.


    

       June 30 marked the last Men’s Breakfast, in the current format. 

Eight of us came to celebrate the final breakfast hosted by Bill Stuart, who has looked after this mission of our church for the past 17 years.  Roy Napier thanked Bill, on behalf of the group, for his dedication over these many years.  Bill, in turn, thanked Al Ljunggren for looking after the money side, as Treasurer, for the entire 24 years since the breakfasts first began.

We still hope the breakfasts will continue, in some form, after the summer holidays.   by Brian Lawrence
                                               *****

     Along with eleven others, Phyllis Lindsay is a founding member of SPPC.  In 1983 this dedicated group, called St. Andrew's North at the time, were constituted a congregation and began meeting in the Sidney area.  They used schools, community halls, other churches and the Masonic Lodge as meeting places, before the present church was constructed in 1990.  Phyllis remembers the day the shovels went into the ground as a highlight of her life.  As well as being a founding member, she has served on various committees and is an elder of long-standing.  SPPC would not be what it is today without Phyllis.  Now, for family reasons, she and her son, Chris, are moving from the peninsula -- Phyllis to northern B.C. and Chris to Saskatoon.  

  
  To mark our appreciation for Phyllis and for Chris, we had a party.  Scottish tradition is important in the Lindsay family, so this little man came along.

Of course, we started with a meal, wonderfully prepared by a staff of volunteers.  Roast beef, ham, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots and bumbleberry pie for dessert.

Then we adjourned to the sanctuary, where we sang some of Phyllis' favourite hymns and a few Scottish ballads.


  There were many words of appreciation, good wishes for the future and the sadness of farewell -- and a couple of gifts.  The first, for a smile, was an electric wind shield scraper. Phyllis is going north!  On a more serious note, a watercolour, painted by our own Bill Richer, will travel with Phyllis as a reminder of SPPC and the peninsula.  The painting portrays the view from Dunsmuir Lodge out over the Saanich Inlet.

     We tried to give Phyllis the last word, -- she reminisced about the early days of the congregation and the people who built it -- but the final amen went to the choir who sang an Irish Blessing for Phyllis and Chris. 


 It's hard to say good-bye, but we wish them God speed and many blessings.

Men's Breakfast

The Men's Breaakfast is one of the oldest fellowship programs at SPPC.  It was begun at least twenty-four years ago, while the congregation was meeting in space rented from the Seventh Day Adventist Church.  It fell under the auspices of "Congregational Life," a committee of Session with the mandate to promote fellowship within the congregation. 

     At the time there was a very active ladies group, but nothing specifically for men.  Since it's a well-known fact that men like to eat, a Men's Breakfast seemed the perfect solution.   The number of men attending averages 15 a month, although a personal invitation will induce more men to give the gathering a try.

   Bill Stewart, pictured here, is the third convenor of the program.  He's been cooking breakfast at the church on the last Saturday of the month for years.  He keeps the menu simple, does the shopping and keeps the coffee hot.  He also oversees the clean up, where everyone pitches in.  George Allen is faithful with the dishwasher.  The men I interviewed took pains to point out that the kitchen is cleaner when they leave than when they come in.  Since I have no evidence to the contrary, I took their word for it.

   As well as breakfast and comradeship, the men have enjoyed guest speakers ranging from football players discussing religion in professional sport to police officers presenting defensive driving techniques, particularly for seniors.

   

   Bill is stepping down from his position.  He says that after many years in a job, people become stale.  It's time for a fresh approach, but he is as committed as ever to the need for the Men's Breakfast and similar programs.  For some members of our congregation, this is their only social network.  It provides that vital human connection so necessary in a society where many are lonely and isolated.  Even members of the congregation who can no longer attend Sunday services, are able to attend Men's Breakfast, since Bill and others arrange to pick them up and take them home.

 

      Romans 12;13 reminds us to show hospitality.  Thanks Bill, for all your years of invitation and service and showing forth hospitality.