The Spirit's Calling

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

Last week we heard an appeal from the pulpit for helpers with the Blue Bus Ministry. A few days later, I received a newsletter from the Blue Bus. I took these two reminders as a nudge to write about the big Blue Bus again. It has featured on this blog numerous times, but ministry is never a one-and-done event.

The Blue Bus is a mobile ministry serving Indigenous youth on the Saanich Peninsula and in the Cowichan Valley. Its director, Rick Wismer, has frequently visited SPPC (with his big blue bus) and spoken from our pulpit. 

For many years SPPC has supported this ministry with cookies and snacks and financial donations. The appeal this time is for able-bodied helpers. We can supply "snack grannies" but not many in our congregation are up for a game of soccer. So, if you, or anyone you know, has the energy, the muscle, the lung capacity, and flexible joints, you are encouraged to get in touch. 

The newsletter included some heartwarming stories of the Blue Bus making a difference in the lives of youth and elders. It also put out a request for garden implements. These tools will allow youth to help out their neighbours on "serve" days. Anyone downsizing from a house to an apartment might have serviceable rakes, hoes, shovels, and shears. To donate, you can contact Rick of drop them off at SPPC and we'll see to it that they find a new home.

To read the entire newsletter, click this link.

For the past several weeks, Rev. Irwin has been including "homework" -- or, as he likes to call them, "invitations" at the end of his sermons. In some ways, this practice is a bit like an altar call but instead of congregants coming forward to testify within the sanctuary, we are asked to take the message out to the world, into our families and our community. 

On Mother's Day the first invitation asked us to "choose one person outside these walls--a neighbour, a colleague, a family member--and pray for them by name, every day this week . . ."

I'll admit, I took the invitation casually, but a name popped into my mind that surprised me--a family member but not someone I'm particularly close to--but I took the sermon to heart and have prayed for this man all week. I don't know if my prayers have affected his life,--this is where the third invitation comes in, ". . .trust the One who finishes what He starts" -- but they have touched mine. 

Thanks to Rev. Irwin for his specific invitations. I encourage all of us to take them to heart and respond.

Rick and the Blue Bus

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

This Sunday, Rev. Irwin was away. He's doing dishes at Camp Imodene. In his stead, we welcomed Rick Wismer to the pulpit. He's been here before and brings his big Blue Bus with him, along with boundless enthusiasm for the work he does with Youth for Christ Mobile Outreach.

I first posted about Rick and his bus on this blog in 2014, https://saanichpeninsulapc.blogspot.com/2014/05/blue-bus-ministry.html. Back then he was all excited about the "new" blue bus. The one his ministry started with was an old double-decker with a funky paint job and an iffy suspension. 

By the next year, the Youth for Christ Mobile Ministry, (that's the official name) had a fancy new bus. It is sleek, reliable, roomy and Blue!  

Back in 2014 the "Refuge" bus was intended to provide a safe and wholesome alternative to youth hanging out on street corners and parking lots. Now, it serves Indigenous youth, offering snacks, games and gentle mentoring. You can find their website here for more details.

One of their changes in their ministry is the "cultural jam."  I think of a jam session as a gathering involving jazz musicians and a lot of improvisation. In this case, the jam session is an opportunity for youth to learn the songs and dances of their culture as passed down from the elders. The intergenerational nature of these gatherings provides some challenges -- the Blue Bus ministry is focussed on youth -- but Rick and his team are dedicated to listening to the Holy Spirit. Right now these jams are highly attended -- 160 at a Tseycum event last month -- and that presents opportunities.

The ministry is still dedicated to their after school program, and youth are still eager to attend. They just need to find a time slot that works for everyone.

SPPC has been a long-time supporter of the Blue Bus especially as a provider of cookies, snack and dollars. We also have members of the congregation, Norma, Pam and Joan, to name a few who are dedicated volunteers. While these material offerings are most welcome, what Rick and his team crave are our prayers. His sermon on Sunday encouraged us to listen for God's direction in our lives. The best way to listen, is to pray.

Thanks Rick, for filling the pulpit on Sunday morning, and for your dedication to ministry, and for sharing your love of Jesus. 

The Party Continues

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

more diners than singers

The party started in mid-June and it just went on and on. 

Thursday the choir celebrated the end of term with a very short rehearsal (we only needed to polish one anthem) and then a lovely dinner at Zanzibar Cafe. We ate well!

Sunday we celebrated big-time. First off, we honoured our grads -- two from high school, one from university and one with a post-grad degree. Talk about life-long learning. Congratulations to Will and Quinn and Sarah and Rebekah and Diane. We even got a bonus with Pressley also celebrating her graduation from high school. 

It was Blue Bus Sunday too. Thanks so much to Rick Wismer and his dedication to that ministry. Follow this link for background on the blue bus. Rick shared some good news with the congregation. One of the Reserves that had been on his route had dropped out of the ministry several years ago. They have now asked him to return because he made a difference to the kids. Tales like that keep Rick and his helpers "on the road."

working the grills

As though Sunday wasn't full enough, we also recognized the volunteers in our church. Since that is just about everyone, I won't name names. Suffice it to say that our congregation could not exist without volunteers. Everyone -- from Session to choir, from kitchen to grounds, from pastoral visitors to cleaners -- is a volunteer. 

At a time when all organizations struggle to find helpers -- who will organize kids' sporting events, or community suppers, or meals-on-wheels without volunteers -- our congregation is blessed with many willing hands and stalwart hearts. We're a bit short on strong backs but where there's a will . . .

Table setter-uppers

Instead of our usual coffee hour, we kept the party going with a BBQ. The weather cooperated and we enjoyed sunshine, cloud, gentle breezes and balmy temperatures. 

Gifts for the grads and a special hug from daughter to mother

seconds anyone?

Happy Summer to All. 

Back to the Blue Bus

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

On Sunday, SPPC hosted the Mobile Outreach of Youth for Christ in Greater Victoria, otherwise known as The Blue Bus. This ministry serves kids and teens on the Esquimalt, Quw’utsun, Tsawout, and Tseycum First Nations and has received support from our congregation for years. That support often takes the form of cookies and snacks for the after school programs, -- and prayer, always. 

Kurt Friesen has succeeded Rick Wismer ad the program director (and driver) of the Blue Bus. He delivered the sermon on Sunday morning and answered questions during a lunch put on by our Missions Committee, and on the bus. 

No matter which committee at the church puts on a lunch,  our congregation always responds well to the offer of food! 

Learn more about the blue bus ministry here

💂💂💂💂💂💂💂💂💂💂💂💂💂💂💂

Get out your fascinator and your best British recipe for the "street party" in our parking lot on Saturday. Officialdom in Canada has largely ignored this milestone in Queen Elizabeth II's reign so SPPC has stepped into the breach with a celebration for her Majesty. It's a street party, not a tea party, so no need for your best bib and tucker but we encourage red, white and blue. Bring a plate of finger food to share (British recipes encouraged) and come on down. The party starts at 3:00 pm and is strictly come-and-go so set your own timetable. All are welcome. We hope the whole neighbourhood will take advantage of the occasion.

There will be music but no speeches. 

We hope for good weather, but will meet inside the church if the wind and rain are lashing -- of course, that's just good English weather, right? 

Watch her coronation

BLUE BUS MINISTRY

   

 We had a busy time at church this Sunday.  It was youth Sunday, in a way.  Members of the Sunday School read the call to worship, Scripture and took up the collection.  They also hosted a hamburger lunch after service.  The reason for the lunch was a presentation by Rick Wismer, of Youth for Christ ministry.
      Rick has visited our congregation before to say thank you for the support SPPC gives his ministry and to bring us up to date on what's happening with the bus. 

      When the bus first appears in Sidney, it was an old double-decker painted blue with the words "Refuge Bus" painted on the side.  It was parked in an area well-known as a hang-out for at-risk youth.  Over time, the mission and work of this ministry has changed but it's still a bus and it's still blue -- or, at least, it will be blue.
       That was Rick's big news.  They have a new bus.

 One that can seat 54 passengers, travel over the Malahat, ride the ferry and drive up into the interior.  A great improvement over the last bus which was a bit shaky and wore out the drivers because it had no power steering.  The new bus was purchased second hand and is now undergoing a refit, including installation of a television, wi-fi, and, of course, a blue paint job.
        Currently the bus serves mostly First Nations, where they are welcomed by children and adults alike.  The kids love to play games, eat snacks, unload their troubles, listen to "God Talk" and do crafts.  It's kind of like church camp, but it happens in a bus, one day a week, after school.  
         SPPC has long been a supporter of the ministry.  We are a big contributor of snacks -- fruit, veggies and cookies.  Rick told us the first question when kids come aboard the bus is, "Did you bring snacks?"
        The Blue Bus (the name Refuge bus has vanished from use) is one of those ministries our congregation undertakes that we hear about only now and again but is perhaps one of our most valuable.  Like donations to the Sidney Food Bank, and services at Saanich Peninsula Hospital, the Blue Bus is a short line in the budget, but it is constant.  Constancy, reliability, persistence.  These are marks of the faithful.
         Years ago I attended a funeral where a nephew of the deceased told us of his aunt's importance in his life.  The man's mother had died when he was only a child.  He lived in a nice house, had a kind father and never lacked for food or clothing or help with his homework.  What he lacked was a mother.  His aunt made it her personal mission to come to his home once a week, on Thursdays.  That day she would bake cookies, mend socks, cook a good dinner and be there when the children came home from school.  It was that "being there" every Thursday, without fail, that remained in the man's heart for the rest of his life.  He wouldn't have cared if she'd given them pickles and rice to eat, the cookies were a bonus.  What counted for him was her reliability and her presence -- every Thursday, without fail, for as long as the family needed her.
        Sometimes we may wonder if our work is worthwhile, if it's noticed, if anyone cares -- the answer is yes.  If we are faithful, constant, reliable and present, we make a difference.
         Thanks Rick for your presence among us and on the Blue Bus.