Pulpit Exchange

 

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

On Sunday we welcomed The Rev. Joan Scandrett to our pulpit. She is an Anglican priest, ordained in 1996 and retired since 2014. During her active ministry she worked in rural settings, usually multi-point charges and often shared with the United Church of Canada. Since retired she has worked as an interim chaplain at Luther Court, done pulpit supply at Lutheran Church of the Cross, and was chaplain/manager of the James Bay United Thrift Shop. She is married to Daniel Fournier, the priest of St. Luke's Cedar Hill. Currently she is the Stated Supply Minister at Trinity Presbyterian in Victoria. Obviously she has an ecumenical bent.

On Sunday, the Rev. Scandrett did pulpit exchange with Rev. Irwin, who is the interim moderator for Trinity.

Lots of titles and terms here to confuse us. What is the difference between an interim moderator and an interim minister? What is a "stated supply?" Why does it matter?

I searched out a few answers.

An interim moderator is the link between a congregation and the presbytery. He moderates session meetings for the congregation and facilitates the process for calling a new minister. The interim moderator is accountable to presbytery.

An interim minister is responsible for weekly worship, but also enters into a covenant with the congregation for specified goals and an agreed upon timeline with the presbytery and session for accomplishing those goals. The interim minister operates under the supervision of the interim moderator.

A stated supply is an ordained person, appointed for a specific period of time, who provides worship leadership. The stated supply may perform other pastoral duties as determined by the session and the presbytery. The stated supply also works under the supervision of the interim moderator.

If this all sounds very legalistic, it's because the Presbyterian Church in Canada is a national denomination. As such, the whole denomination cares for all its congregations. Churches like Trinity or SPPC are not individual entities left to flourish or flounder on their own.  We are one big family with relatives spread out from coast to coast. When needed, we can call on that family for support, prayer, consolation and encouragement. 

We often laugh about how many committees are necessary to operate a Presbyterian church, but it's nice to know that all those committees are linking arms to provide a framework where congregations and individuals can live out their calling to love the Lord and serve our neighbours. 

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Reminders:

• Vintage Fashion Show and Tea this Thursday, Feb. 29, 1:00 pm at SPPC. (The fashions are vintage. The tea is fresh. )

• World Day of Prayer service on Friday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Elizabeth’s in Sidney, 10030 Third Street.

As we think about our congregations and the Christian church worldwide, listen to this hymn. It is not one we've sung in our congregation, but maybe we should. 

 Filled with the Spirit's Power

Heads Up

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

After all the excitement of the Christmas season, mid-week activities at SPPC slowed down in January. However, a glance at the church calendar shows activities are ramping up.

• Bible Study: (or Book Study) continues on Wed. with our third session on Larry Crabb's The Safest Place on Earth. This is not your mother's Bible Study! The topics addressed are not easily slotted into topics and the discussion can go anywhere -- and often does. One of the aims of Crabb's discourse is to encourage spiritual community. Although we aren't following a prescribed route to get there, our small group discussions are examples of how that community might develop. There are still copies of the book available if you'd like to join in the process.
  
  
  
• On Thursday of this week, at 10:00 am SPPC hosts Friendship Coffee. This is another not-so-small group where folks from within the congregation and those from without join together to share conversation, laughter, and sympathy over a cup of coffee or a pot of tea. There is no cost, no dress-code, and no age barriers. All are welcome to come -- meet a friend, bring a friend, and make a friend.

• World Day of Prayer is at the beginning of March, but on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 1:00 pm, Anyone wishing to sing is invited to a choir rehearsal St. Elizabeth's, 10030 3rd Street, in Sidney. If you sing in a church choir, or wish you sang in a church choir, this is an opportunity to join with others and lift your voice in praise of our Maker.

On Thursday, February 29 at 1:00 p.m. SPPC will host a Vintage Fashion Showcase and Tea: Spring Fashions from 1860 to 1980. A limited number of tickets are available at $20 a piece. The tea will be prepared in house. The fashions and life music are supplied and modelled by Vintage Fashion Showcase.

• As mentioned above, the World Day of Prayer will be celebrated on Friday, March 1 at St. Elizabeth's in Sidney.

• Finally, for those who are looking further ahead in their calendar, The Vancouver Island Presbyterian Women’s Retreat takes place April 26-28 at Camp Imadene on Mesachie Lake. Contact the church office 250 656-2241 for more information.

Busy days ahead. I didn't even mention that Easter is early this year. Let us enjoy the opportunities for fun and fellowship at SPPC, but let us never forget that Christ is at the centre of our life together.

 

Is our Worship Holy?

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

On Wednesday, we resume our study of the book, The Safest Place on Earth, by Larry Crabb. I've been doing my homework.

One of the topics that Crabb returns to again and again is worship. He believes that humans have a natural yearning to worship, but that yearning is often unfulfilled. So, I got to thinking about my own worship experiences. I've had decades of attending Sunday morning church services, so my list of special moments is long. I've whittled it down to a few and looked for common threads.

• In my youth, I was fortunate to attend church camp in the summer. We had a natural amphitheatre formed by rock ledges a few minutes' walk from the main lodge. That became our "chapel." Someone tacked a cross-member onto a tree and we had a living cross. Chapel was held every day and rule was, that as we rounded the corner of the lodge, we fell silent. By the time we arrived in the designated place we'd had several minutes of quiet to contemplate, and prepare ourselves to come into the presence of God.

A Heart for Heroes

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

We first put up a lighted heart on the outside of our church building in 2021. It was our way of saying thank you to the health care workers and others who carried on while the rest of the world shut down for COVID. Now that society is back up and running more or less as normal, we've put put the heart back up.

The symbol can be interrpetted in more than one way. Some will see it as a nod to Valentine's Day. After all, February is full of hearts and flowers for that reason. 

Still, COVID is rampant in the community, - both our church secretary and our minister had it after Christmas and there are currently 196 people in Victoria hospitals with COVID-19, 7 of them in ICU. On top of that, our health care workers are at a breaking point. Every day we hear new stories about the failures in our health system. Emergency wards are overflowing. Walk-in clinics have closed. Anywhere from 17% to 20% of Capital Region residents do not have a family doctor, and those who do, have difficulty getting an appointment.

Clearly our health care workers -- doctors, nurses, EMTs, cooks, cleaners, homecare workers, -- are all eunning as fast as they can just to stay in one place. Many are leaving the profession due to burn out. So, even though the Times-Colonist is no longer printing a red heart for us to hang in the window, at SPPC our lights say thank you to all medical staff.

The other half of our February light display is the word 'Peace.' Again, there is more than one way to consider the sentiment. With war top of the news, we can consider the word a plea for the end of fighting -- in Ukraine, in the Middle East, in Africa. 

For those of us with memories of the '60's, we can see the word as a greeting and a wish for harmony among us all. Remember flower power? So, we could consider that SPPC is saying hello to our neighbours in a gentle way.

Peace is also at the heart of our faith. From the beginning, even before His birth, the Messiah promised peace.

Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Jesus Himself, when speaking to the disciples about His coming death, promised them peace, not as the world thinks of peace, but the peace of God. 

John 14:27 

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 The letters of Paul to the early churches, churches which faced persecution, promised peace.

Philippians 4: 6-7

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

A greeting and a blessing from SPPC.

Pull Up a Chair

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

Last week Friendship Coffee held their first post-Christmas get-together at SPPC. Since the snow had mostly melted and the rain had eased up a bit there was a good turnout. Around thirty people pulled up a chair and chatted with their friends over a cup of coffee and a goodie. We always have goodies at Saanich Peninsula Presbyterian Church!

Apart from Sunday morning worship, Friendship Coffee may be the oldest, continuously running program at the church. The cornerstone of our building was laid in 1990, making the structure, 34 years old. Friendship Coffee has been running for twenty-nine of those years -- a testament to the deep desire for community among our members and friends of the congregation. 

The "pull up a chair" reference made me think of our upcoming Bible Study. Larry Crabb's first chapter talks of people sitting in a row of chairs not talking or even looking at each other--an odd sort of isolation in the midst of company. His suggestion is that we turn our chairs and begin a conversation. If you ever feel that kind of isolation, I invite you to attend any of the functions at SPPC. Friendship Coffee or Bible Study are good places to start.

The new Bible Study session begins this Wed. Jan. 31, at 10:00 am and 7:00 pm. 

Choir practice is on Thursday at 7:00 pm. New members always welcome. 

Looking ahead there is a vintage fashion show and tea on February 29 (leap day), at 2:00 pm. There will be scones.

Please join us for any of these events, and, of course, worship at 10:00 am on Sundays, followed by coffee hour for any who want to enjoy a chat. We are a very friendly and hospitable congregation. 

Building Gratitude

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

In every thing, give thanks.  I Thess. 5:18

Two snow days this week. Lots of reasons to grumble and fret. Or, we can follow Paul's advice and give thanks.

Here's my list. 

• Thank you God for unscheduled time
• Thank you God for unread books
• Thank you God for snow plough operators that work around the clock
• Thank you God for a carrier who delivered my daily newspaper through the bad weather
• Thank you God for this amazing creation that includes the beauty of snow

My list could be longer but you get the idea. 

I'd like to elaborate on the "time and books" ones. 

My "to be read" pile is always in danger of toppling over, so I've made real progress on getting it under control this past week. One of the books at the top of the stack was Larry Crabbe's The Safest Place on Earth, the text for our up-coming Bible Study. There is lots to learn from this book but one of the main takeaways is that we all long for spiritual community. I've been pondering on that idea.

Ever notice that when you focus on one idea, you see manifestations of it everywhere?  Psychologists try to explain the phenomenon as the Baader-Meinhof Phenonemon.You can read a complicated version of the theory here. 

Or, perhaps, I am being Spirit led. 

My Christmas wish list always includes books. The volumes that show up under my tree open new doors I might never have discovered on my own. 

Some reads are light (cats and a coffee shop, thank you Jerusha) but the concept of meaningful relationships is central to the story. 

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan was a one-day read yet it was a profoundly moving story. A man, Bill Furlong, in 1985 Ireland, has come from very disadvantaged beginnings yet made a good life for himself. He discovers a suffering child. If he helps her, he puts at risk the life he has built -- business, wife, daughters. This moral dilemma only arises because Bill has explored his relationships at a spiritual level.

. . ."We should not be too quick to censure the weaker brethren . . .because it is not necessarily their fault that they are weak. We must support them. We must offer them our hand. We must allow them to lean upon our shoulder as we make our way through life. If the hand on your shoulder is that of one of the weaker brethren, then do not brush it away, but allow it to remain there until you reach the other side." -- From a Far and Lovely Country, by Alexander McCall Smith.

When I read that paragraph it seemed to echo the thesis presented by Larry Crabbe, about building spiritual communities.

From The Sound of Life's Unspeakable Beauty, by Martin Schleske, translated by Janet Gesme. "A violin-maker does not accidentally happen upon marvellous tone-wood. Our search for treasured timber became a metaphor for the pursuit of something deeper and more meaningful. If the sound of a good violin requires travelling . . . difficult paths and putting in . . . arduous effort, how could the sound of our lives demand less? Did not God give us a longing heart so that we would search for him?"

Another author echoing the central theme of our upcoming Bible Study. (First session is Jan. 31, 2024, 10:00 am.) All are welcome to join this community.

The Friendship Coffee coming up this week on Thursday, is an opportunity to build community. Thanks to those who make it possible.

As the snow melts, my unscheduled time shrinks, but I hope I have made good use of the gift God sent.  

The Best Laid Plans

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

Well, that week did not go according to plan. To begin, Rev Irwin caught COVID-19 so the planned session meeting had to be postponed. The church secretary is ill, so the planned distribution of Bible Study materials did not happen. Bad weather on Thursday forced the cancellation of the planned choir practice. I'm sure cancelled ferries and power outages upset the plans for thousands of people across the South Island over the past few days.

At this point I was going to reference Robbie Burns and his mouse, but Rev. Irwin already used that allusion in his weekly letter to the congregation.

Instead, I'll point you to The Best Laid Plans, by Terry Fallis, a funny book about Canadian politics. (I know, oxymoron) It's a bit dated now but it will keep you laughing out loud while you rebook your missed appointments and wait for the weather to warm up.

It would seem that a good part of planning for the future is to develop a contingency plan, too.

In the case of SSPC, we were fortunate that Ruth McCowan was available to fill in in the pulpit on Sunday. We have often called on Ruth for pulpit supply and are grateful for her presence and her thoughtful leadership, both at SPPC and throughout the Presbyterian Church on Vancouver Island.

Our talented music director, Larry Skaggs, covered the "choir anthem" slot in the service with a cello solo, which made our visiting minister very happy. As I used to tell my junior choir "there are no mistakes, just unplanned harmonies."

There are still two weeks before our first Bible Study session of the new term, so no need to panic about the study materials just yet. 

Our last Bible Study session on Proverbs was entitled "Planning the Future." One verse in particular could be applied to this past week.

In his heart a man plans his course
but the Lord determines his steps.  Proverbs 16:9 MEV

Scripture abounds in assurances that God is in charge. Like this oft-quoted verse from Jeremiah.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11

The call to worship on Sunday morning included the line

Before we were born, God knew us.
God knit us together in the womb.

Even as I murmur against the forced revision of my schedule, I'm seeing a pattern here.  

We don't like it when our plans are upset. We get grumpy. We might even yell at God for sending a snowstorm when we wanted to travel. If you are stuck at home this week, why not dwell on the words, "plans to give you hope and a future." Our schemes are for the immediate time. God's plans are far beyond our understanding and our timing, but they are for our good. As followers of Christ, we can live confidently with that promise.

Here are ancient words set to century's old music, assuring us of God's ultimate care. Thou Knowest Lord, the Secrets of Our Hearts.