Sunday, September 15, 2024 The Third Sunday of Creation

 This weekend, September 14th and 15th has been named Days for migrant workers. Let us give thanks for their hard work and pray for their safety and security. 🙏🏽

This coming week has been named the week of prayer for Peace in Israel and Gaza. Let us pray for peace for our brothers and sisters there and everywhere. 🙏🏽🌍

Hymn     Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross #142VU

Scripture Lessons:      Proverbs 1:20-33

                                    Psalm 19 p.740-1VU

                                    Mark 8:27-38

Message

Prayer:  We offer you our praise and our worship, O God, knowing we do so under the shadow of the cross, sign of human shame and divine wisdom and love. Like Jesus, we would follow faithfully in your way; like Jesus, we would live to you and die to you. We are your people; we belong to you. We offer you our worship and our lives. May your name be glorified in the lives we live; in the love we share; and by Christ’s church, through Jesus the Christ, our Saviour and our Lord. Amen. ( a prayer adapted from the United Church of Christ’s Book of Worship.)

Hymn      When I Survey the Wondrous Cross #149VU

This Sunday’s services, September 15th will be Howick 9:30 and Ormstown 11:00. Next Sunday’s services, September 22nd will be the reverse: Ormstown 9:30 and Howick at 11:00. 

I have just received the notice of the Very Rev. Lois Wilson’s death. She was the first woman Moderator of the United Church as well as a long time minister in our church, as well as a former Senator in the Canadian Parliament. Well done, good and faithful servant! 

Howick’s Stewards will meet on Tuesday, September 17th at 7pm in the church hall. 

Howick UCW (Unit C) will meet for supper Wednesday, September 18th. 

St Paul’s Stewards will meet on Wednesday, September 18th in the hall at 7:30pm. 

Sunday, September 29th will be a combined service held in St Paul’s in Ormstown at 11:00. We will begin with a fellowship time at 10:30. 

Howick United Church will be trying out a new fundraiser: on October 6th following the 11:00 service, (noon) Benny and Co’s BBQ chicken will be available for eat-in or takeout. Prices will be $20 for adults (breast or leg) and $12 for children (nuggets). If eating in, a drink and a dessert will also be provided. Pre-orders will be necessary. Tickets and sign-up sheets are now available. 

Please keep in mind these community events:  the O-HO Quilt Show Friday, September 20th and Saturday, September 21st at the Ormstown Curling Club, 10 - 4:00. Entry $5.00, which includes the tea. Proceeds will support local charities. 

Alyson Champ’s art show, Etalements, as part of the LBA’s Fall Festival, beginning Friday, 4:00 in the new dining hall on the Ormstown Fairgrounds and continuing through the weekend. 

Riverfield Curling Club’s Homecoming Celebration, Saturday, October 12th marking its 200th anniversary. This will include a Scottish Lunch, games and exhibits in the afternoon and a BBQ in the evening. Tickets are available from RCC members, or from the website, at a cost of $10. 

Sunday, September 8, 2024 The Second Sunday of Creation

 

Hymn     O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing #326 VU

Scripture Lessons:       James 2:1-10, 14-17

                                     Psalm 125 p. 849VU

                                     Mark 7:24-37

Message

Prayer: Eternal God, you are the author of life; all living beings depend on you; you care for all the earth. We pray for our neighbours whose expressions of faith are different from ours; the longings of whose hearts we do not always comprehend. Teach us to know that you love all peoples; help us to respect  what we do not yet understand; and to rejoice in the words and acts of truth, beauty, and love wherever they may be found. Enable us to love others as you love, and to live with others in ways that build your gracious rule over all of life. We ask this in the name of him who gave himself for all, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (a prayer from With All God’s People, from the World Council of Churches.) 

Hymn       In Christ There is No East or West #606VU

This Sunday’s services are: 9:30 in Howick and 11:00 in Ormstown. Next Sunday will be the same. The next Sunday, September 22nd, the reverse. Sunday, September 29th will be a combined service in Ormstown, 11:00, with fellowship time beginning at 10:30. 

Good news! The work on the Faithful Footprints project, making our church in Ormstown more sustainable (both environmentally and economically) will be beginning this week. The oil furnaces and tanks will be removed from both the church and the hall and replaced with electric furnaces and heat pumps. We appreciate the funding provided by the church (up to $30,000!) but will also be hoping for additional donations to cover our $60,000 project. 

St Paul’s Session meeting was delayed to the Wednesday, September 11th at 7:30 in the hall. 

St Paul’s Stewards will meet on Wednesday, September 18th at 7:30 in the hall. 

Please keep in mind the O-HO Quilt Show taking place Friday, September 20th and Saturday September 21st from 10-4:00 in the Ormstown Curling Club. The cost to enter is $5, which includes the tea. Proceeds from this event will be used for local charities. 

Also keep in mind Alyson Champ’s show at the new Dining Hall in the Fairgrounds that will take place Friday, September 20th from 4:00. 

There will be a Flourishing Event with the Moderator, the Rt Rev. Carmen Lansdowne held Saturday, September 21st from 9:30-4:30 at Cedar Park United Church in Pointe Claire. If you are interested in attending, please let Barbara know and she will send you the link or help you to register. 

Riverfield Curling Club will be holding its Homecoming Celebration on Saturday, October 12th. This will include a Scottish Lunch, exhibits and games for kids and families in the afternoon, and a BBQ later in the day. Tickets for the lunch will cost $10 and are available from RCC members, from the website, or by calling 450-825-2577. 

Barbara will be printing a newsletter before the end of the month. If you have news to share, please let her know.