Cheerful Meetings

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

I attended four very different "meetings" at church this week. The first, on Wednesday was Bible Study, the second, on Thursday, was a district lunch for parishioners on Joan and Janet's elders list, the third, on Thursday was choir practice, while the fourth, on Sunday was the much delayed Annual Congregational meeting. 

The Wednesday and Thursday meetings were marked by much laughter. I know, not everyone associates laughter with Bible Study, but at SPPC we've thrown out the "dour Presbyterian" label. Listening to, learning from, and sharing a laugh with each other is a hallmark of our study, whatever the topic. We have two more sessions on the Letter of James, if you want to come along on a Wednesday.

The Thursday lunch included lots of food, conversation and more laughter.  There was plenty of head scratching as well. We were given a gardening quiz with 20 questions. The highest score was 12. 

 We did much better on the general knowledge questions with answers like Albert Einstein, Pamela Anderson, J. F. Kennedy and Walt Disney.  (You had to be there.😕)

Since the lunch had been originally scheduled for Christmas, we all got presents, one for Christmas and one for spring. 

 

Thank you Joan and Janet.

Also on Thursday, the choir met. We're a small but dedicated band, who find joy in making music together. Practices are not as efficient as they might be because they are punctuated with much laughter. We sing praise to God with cheerful hearts.

The Sunday meeting was the Annual Congregational Meeting. Those with a long history in the church often groan at the mention of the ACM. Admittedly, they can be tedious. But we zipped through the business portion with alacrity. Voted yes on Session's recommendations and said thank you to dozens of people who  helped out at SPPC during 2022. There was even a laugh as we discussed the financial review.

Mary Poppins sang "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."

The Bible says: Psalm 126:2: “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’”

In every moment of our lives, we witness to Christ's love for us. Let us reflect His love with joy.

School's Out

School's out for the Wednesday Morning Bible Study group, but, unlike your children and grandchildren, we are not skipping down the path and yelling "freedom!"

After twenty weeks, through snowstorms, Lent, Easter, potluck dinners, and a very short heat wave, this group has studied Romans from 1:1 to 16:27.  Through the writings of Paul we have experienced elation, anger, sorrow, joy and enlightenment.

We've been challenged to examine our relationship with God, with Jesus, with our church, with our enemies and with our friends.

We've learned to dig deep into scripture, examine every word, every phrase.  We've learned that even a list of names carries a wealth of information. 

We've learned from each other and about each other.  We've shared tears and laughter (a lot of laughter) and coffee and cookies.

We've been blessed with marvellous teachers.  Edna, always gracious, willing and insightful has shared her dedication and knowledge.  Irwin, has brought his years of study, his keen mind and his love of learning.  He has made dry texts come alive, has opened our eyes to the riches of scripture and brought the lessons home to today.

   The truth is, the Bible Study group has had such a good time going to school, we don't want it to end.  So for the next couple of  Wednesdays, we'll wean ourselves away gradually by doing some one-off discussions on  some shorter scriptures.

    This is a great opportunity for anyone who cannot commit to a longer study to come and experience a Wonderful Wednesday.

Alice Valdal is a keen member of the Wednesday Morning Bible Study group.  She is also blog mistress for this site and welcomes contributions for future posts.  To contact her, email avaldal@shaw.ca