STRAWBERRY TEA

   

The strawberry tea on Saturday afternoon can be counted an all around success.   From the beautifully decorated hall to the plates of delicious food to the wonderful piano music, everything worked together to provide patrons with an excellent experience. 
     There were many visitors among the diners and I heard nothing but congratulatory remarks.  "I've never been to a church tea that was as lovely as this," commented a guest at my table.  "What an attractive space," said another.
     

The food was so plentiful and so tasty that many people asked for take-home containers.  They couldn't finish the amount on their plate, but they didn't want to abandon it either!


      

     

  The genealogy group came.

       The ladies took tea.
       

and the gentlemen too.

The production crew perfected their technique.

       We were privileged to have Elizabeth provide background music -- Some background!  She played Beethoven!

      I didn't get pictures of all the "behind the scenes" workers, but Darlene was in charge of the crew and brought some of her friends on board to help.  They did a terrific job.  

      Many thanks to the cooks, the bottle washers, the ticket takers, the launderers, the decorators, the advertisers, the servers and the tea pourers who combined to make the afternoon such a delight.  

   Oh yes, as well as providing a time of fun and fellowship and community, the strawberry tea was a fund-raiser for our youth who will take part in a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in March 2015. The final tally isn't in yet and there are still donations coming, but it would appear the tea raised approximately $1000.00 for that project.  Well done everybody!

  

One of the features that distinguishes SPPC is our music. We love to sing hymns.  No need to attend a special hymn-sing on a Friday night, just come to SPPC on Sunday morning and you'll hear such favourites as "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," "Amazing Grace," and "Holy, Holy, Holy."  Even though the choir is on holiday for the summer, you'll find singers scattered among the pews and a strong lead from the organ.

    Recently we sang "My Faith it is an Oaken Staff."   The words are by Thomas Lynch and the tune is from a Swiss melody.  For all that I've been singing in choir since I was ten years old, this lovely hymn, with its rollicking tune is not that familiar to me.  I wanted to know more so I asked for Dr. Cecil Kirk's notes.  Edna kindly gave me permission to share them on this blog.

My Faith it is an Oaken Staff

                                         notes by Dr. Cecil Kirk

Scripture reading:  Mark 6. 7 – 13

       Thomas Lynch began his career as a teacher but later became pastor of a Congregational church in London.  His preaching was not of the popular variety but he had the gift of making people think in a new and intimate way about spiritual matters.  He was a great lover of nature and found much of his inspiration to holiness in the beauty of God’s world around him.  This is reflected in the hymns he has left us.

            Analogy forms a great part of our Christian understanding.  We frequently use things that are familiar to us to help us understand things that are more difficult and especially things that are abstract.  What is faith?  Most of us have a hard time trying to express in words what is an essential element in the Christian life.  But we can use other yardsticks to get across our understanding.  Here it is likened to a traveller’s staff and a soldier’s sword.  And the Christian life is compared to a journey and a battle.  An age which used walking much more than we do, and which was not subjected to the increased horrors of modern warfare would readily recognize what was being said.

            Travellers of old frequently carried a sturdy oaken staff and that for a number of reasons.  It could be used to lean on when one grew weary.  It could be used as a weapon to ward off attackers, whether human or animal.  The Christian pilgrim has faith as a staff.  Our journey through life will bring us to different types of terrain.  Sometimes the going will be easy like the grassy sod, there will be other times when it will be like walking over flinty rock but, easy or difficult, we have a guide going on ahead of us and we have the staff of faith to lean on.

            The Christian is not only a pilgrim but also a soldier.  The Christian life is frequently likened to a war against sin and evil both within ourselves and in the world and the Christian must arm himself for battle.  As the pilgrim will not fear the road because faith is a staff, in the same way the soldier will not fear the battle because faith is a sword.  Armed with such a weapon the Christian warrior will be able to fend off and overcome falsehood and temptation.

            The hymn concludes with a prayer that God will impart his Spirit so that we may become more and more like him; that we will be given courage to face whatever life may bring us and patience to wait upon him for all our needs.  These are the things that have characterized the true saint of God in every age.

For more on the Thomas Lynch, click here

by Felicity Smith

   After much consideration, Maximillian, Diane, and I, Felicity, have decided to join with another local team to embark on a mission trip. This trip will take us to San Pedregal, located in the Dominican Republic during March of 2015. 

     In the past this group has helped to build homes for the most needy in their community, as well as other buildings used to serve their community. They also run an afternoon program for the children; allowing the team to make personal connections, while bringing some joy into all of the children’s day.

    During the next few months we will be doing a fair number of fundraisers, including, bake sales, a BBQ, a “variety talent night”, a Silent auction, a Strawberry Tea, and a Bridge Luncheon. With these fundraisers, we hope to include the community  that surrounds us our church, inviting them into our church home to participate in these events.

    We welcome you all to attend our first event on July 19th, a Strawberry tea. For information on this event and to purchase a ticket call the church office at 250 656-2241

    For more information on following events and the mission trip itself, feel free to talk to Max, Diane, or myself after the service any Sunday.

    Thank you all for your support as we embark on our journey of a life time.

Summer Vacation

Remember when the last day of school signalled the beginning of summer?  The days stretched out ahead of us, seemingly endless.  Freed from the routine of books and classes and homework and clubs and chores, the  sun-soaked days of summer beckoned us to unstructured play.  We'd lie on our backs and watch the clouds, black thunderheads racing across a lowering sky, or wisps of white drifting like thistledown.  When we got tired of clouds, we could roll over and study the amazing, hidden world that lives at the bottom of the grass.  So many bugs!

   We could spend a whole morning crawling through long grass, stalking "the enemy" while keeping our heads low.  Then we'd spend the afternoon hiding among the cornstalks and declaring loudly that we weren't dead because the slender cornstalk had stopped the bullet, or arrow, or laser beam or cannonball, depending on where our imaginations had taken us that day.
   The days were long, beginning in dew-wet grass and ending with a long twilight when the fireflies danced and June bugs batted against the screens.    A summer idyll, or idle.

    It turns out idleness is not just for kids.

  Forbes Magazine recently published an interview with  Andrew Smart, author of Autopilot: The Art & Science of Doing Nothing, in which he explains that all that multi-tasking,  so popular with modern CEO's, is actually detrimental to our mental health.   Those who study these kinds of things tell us that brain activity is measured by blood flow to the brain and the amount of oxygen the blood carries.  Scientists have learned that when the brain is engaged in a specific task, like solving a math problem, activity in certain brain regions is suppressed.  They have also found that those same regions, become super active when not focussed on a specific task.  Conclusion?  An idle brain is healthier, happier and more creative than its multi-tasking counterpart.

    I think that openness to creativity, to flashes of brilliance and unexpected insight, means we're more open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We've all been taught since childhood that "an idle mind is the devil's workshop," but what if the idle mind is tuned to God rather than the devil?  What if our imagination flies along God's pathways?  When we take time to stare at clouds or watch the waves on the beach, we make space for wonder, for awe, for messages to the heart.

    When we engage in study, as we should, we apply our mind to the task of learning, we follow guidelines laid out by others, we look up references, we write essays on topic, we might even take exams.  All useful means for growing in our Christian understanding.
     But when we set aside the distraction of study guides and theological treatises, we're available to the "still small voice," we're overwhelmed by the marvel of creation, we pray without words in a jubilation of thanksgiving.  
    The idle mind allows our spirit to soar with the birds, to dip and dive and ride the winds as God directs.
     Happy summer, everyone.  Enjoy your season of re-creation.

CONGREGATIONAL PICNIC

We had a beautiful day for the annual congregational picnic.  Lots of people came.  Some older, some younger.

 We all brought a picnic.  It seemed there was more food than we could eat.

  There were races.

   Some got wet.

 Some stayed dry.

Open wide for the popcorn toss!

On our list of gratitudes we can add a beautiful day, lovely company, and lots of laughter, all under God's blue sky.

Father's Day

     

by Alice Valdal

The newspaper in my home town decided to do a "memories of Dad" column for father's day and sent a request to my brother for a contribution.  Quick as a mouse click, he passed the request to me.  I didn't mind.  I loved my dad and I love words.  But the constraints of two inches of newsprint column required that I distil a lifetime of moments into one, quintessential thought.  In the end, I realized, my father's greatest gift to his children was our home.  No matter the time, no matter the day, no matter the circumstances we could always go home and be welcomed with joy and open arms.

    Then I remembered another story.  A young man from my home province, raised in a "good" family, made bad choices and ended up on the streets in Victoria.  He eventually found his way to the Open Door, a ministry for street people housed in my old church.  There he found a peanut butter sandwich, a compassionate friend and a good listener.  After a time, the young man cleaned himself up, recognized his errors and decided to go home.  The delighted pastor made the phone call, the good news for the young man's family, their lost son was found and ready to return to them.  But the family didn't care.  They would not come to get him, they would not send a ticket, they would not even talk with him on the telephone.

    When that story was related from the pulpit, the gasps around the congregation were audible.  A father not want his son back?  A mother who turned her back on her child?  Could any rejection be more painful?

    No wonder the Prodigal Son is one of the best known and best loved parables in the Bible.  We all long for home.  We all long for a love that doesn't measure the cost, for a father who opens his arms and his heart, who kills the fatted calf and throws a party to welcome back the one who wandered away.

     As a child, I took my family and my home for granted, believing everyone shared my experience.  I've learned since that I was wrong.  Not all homes are places of refuge and love.  Not all fathers are generous and kind. 
    On Father's Day, I thank God for my father, and I thank God that He is Father to us all.  A Father who never fails, who never turns away from a penitent child, a Father whose greatest joy is His children.

STUMP THE TEACHER

   The Bible Study groups that meet on Wednesday have completed our study of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

 It has been quite different from our usual style of study.  The sessions were presented in video form by Ann Voskamp, so Irwin got to be more of a student than the teacher.  The small group discussions were very open-ended, allowing participants to share personal experiences and relate them to the message of the study.  Since we had just completed a very rigorous examination of the Book of Revelation, the Voskamp study was a refreshing change of pace.
   

But, school is still in session.  This week we are going to play "Stump the teacher."  Irwin has invited us to submit passages of scripture we find particularly troubling, and he will prepare a one session study of those verses.  I've heard suggestions for the Book of Job -- too big for a one session study, but perhaps we'll do a segment.  Someone asked for the Book of James, but that too is too much for a one-off, but it may show up as a longer study after the summer break. The Syro-Phoenician Woman, as found in Matthew 15:21 -28 and Mark 7:24-30 has been put forward for discussion.  Isaiah 53 was mentioned.  

   You don't have to be attending the Bible studies previously to join in.  If you've got questions, now is a good time to ask.  Ever wonder why the Song of Solomon is in the Bible?  How about Proverbs 17:2?  
    We did this same kind of exercise last year, discussing the parable of the dishonest steward among other passages.  Later we did a short study on the Book of Jonah in response to a request.  
If you've ever wanted to try Bible Study but were afraid to sign up for a long commitment, here's your chance to try it out, no strings attached, for one session.  What a way to round out the school year!
    Bible Study meets Wednesdays at 9:30 am and at 7:00 pm at the church.  Coffee and goodies provided.  A Bible is the only study material needed and that is provided.