Elgin United Church
We don’t always hear of our members and community celebrations; therefore, I am taking a holistic approach and sending best wishes to anyone who is celebrating a birthday, anniversary or special occasion this week.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who may be experiencing troubles. You are not alone.
Elgin welcomes Jaime Burt to our worship service this Sunday. Jaime, an accomplished flutist, is offering “Ashokan Farewell” & “Danny Boy” during the Ministry of Music.
Stay tuned for details of our Beef BBQ, September 24th. As part of our “Community Committed, Community Strong” initiative, we are partnering with the Rideau Lakes Swans to bring you this scrumptious meal.
The Elgin and Area Heritage Society is hosting Music in the Park featuring the Beverley Trio at Heritage Park, beside the Red Brick School, 2-4pm, Sunday August 28th.
Elgin United Church Council
Portland United Church
Norma Wrightly will be leading our service this week.
Rev. Doug Powell will be leading our service next week.
Best Wishes for a speedy recovery to Jane Pickard.
We are offering coffee/tea after church with paper cups with the option to move outside. We’ll continue as long as everyone is comfortable. Remember that some of our congregation prefers to wear a mask and we need to be respectful of their choice.
We welcome John Wanless former minister of music at Trinity United in Smiths Falls for at least 3 of the 4 Sundays.
Elgin/Portland United Church – Confirmation classes will be held Sunday evenings beginning August 7th at 7 pm for any youth interested in exploring their faith and relationship with God, and what it means to be a part of the Church. For more information, please contact Pauline French at 613-331-6876 or p_wfrench@yahoo.ca.
Mary’s Merry Minstrels concert was a great success. All proceeds are going to the Flex Fund at Country Roads Medical Centre.
A special congratulations to our friends Ken and Mary Baer of MacDonald Island in Portland and Corning New York who celebrated their 61st Anniversary on August 13th! Best wishes from your Canadian friends!
Some may recall the Timpson family from a few years ago. Reverend Steve Timpson was the Anglican Church Priest in Portland for many years and his brother, Reverend David Timpson, was a United Church Minister who served in Delta and Toledo. As well, Reverend David Timpson helped the EPPC journey toward our Vision and Mission statements a number of years ago. Reverend David Timpson has recently been diagnosed with ALS. His family is preparing to make renovations to accommodate his changing needs and are asking for our support. Please keep their family in your prayers and consider making a special offering that Council can then direct to the family for renovations. You can either make a special e-transfer to donateportlandunitedchurch@kingston.net and place a note in the message section indicating Reverend Timpson’s name or mark your envelope with a special donation. Throughout his journey, may God’s peace be evident.
Portland United Church Council
The Beverley Trio to Perform at Music in the Park
On Sunday, August 28th, 2022, the Elgin and Area Heritage Society is delighted to be able to bring the Beverley Trio to an open air concert in Elgin’s Heritage Park. This group, already known in the Delta/Lyndhurst area for their “Bach on the Beverley” concerts, is a highly talented trio of professional musicians and music educators. Tom Heinze, oboist, Gayle Morgan Klaber, cellist, and Harold Levin on viola have enjoyed overlapping careers as members of the Bach Festival Orchestra of Scranton, Pennsylvania and as colleagues at Marywood University, also located in Scranton.
Gayle Morgan Klaber Cello |
Harold Levin Viola |
Tom Heinze Oboe/Oboe d’amore |
Each summer, the threesome, whose friendships have deepened over their many years working together, treat themselves to a working holiday on Lower Beverley Lake. To emphasize the site’s significance to them, Tom Heinze, their spokesperson, remarks “that our choice of name is a testimony to our love of Lower Beverley Lake.
The audience that attends this concert will experience not only The Beverley Trio’s love for the works of J.S. Bach, but also their equally passionate appreciation for compositions across the musical spectrum highlighting such other masters as Haydn, Beethoven, and three of Bach’s sons.
Those who have had the opportunity to attend one of the Beverley Trio’s concerts, comment on their unique, warm and informative style of program delivery. Tom Heinze, speaking of their process, comments: “We engage with the audience on an informal basis and provide suggestions for directed listening that, we hope, will give the listeners a more complete experience than the more “stuffed shirt” concerts we often need to perform during the chamber music series we find ourselves presenting during the fall and winter. We hope that our listeners leave with a complete experience which allows them to relate to the musical masters as “down to earth” people who happen to have had great gifts as musicians.”
The Elgin and Area Heritage Society invites all to Heritage Park, Elgin on Sunday, August 28, 2022. Admission is free. Bring your own chair and sit back, relax and enjoy this musical gem. The performance begins at 2:00 p.m. Should we have rain, we will move inside to the Red Brick School.
Devotional Thought – August 20, 2022
Sometimes the smallest statement uttered can lead to many thoughts. That was my experience this week. I was reading a book given me by a friend: Becoming Fully Human by Joan Chittister. One statement in her book reads: ‘The abiding Presence of God is a universal revelation!’ And I couldn’t shake it.
I got to thinking, exactly what does this mean? Simply put – God making Himself known. The removing of a veil so that something can be seen. Then the question arises: How? Or Why?
Now most of you understand what I’m about to say next. The more I researched this topic, the more complicated it became and the more I knew I didn’t understand. Using my trusty synonym-based way of learning, I looked up meanings for revelation. And understanding began to come. Take the test with me: Disclosure; Declaration; Utterance; Announcement; Acknowledgement; Admission.
I can take any one of those words that describe revelation, apply it spiritually to my life and, voilà! It leads back to the first statement made – The abiding Presence of God is a universal revelation.
Now I will try and simplify these truths and it will help guide you in your spiritual walk. How many times over the years have you tried to explain why you are a Christian? Is that a scary train of thought? Are you comfortable with sharing your personal experience of God in your life? How do you see the church growing?
I don’t believe that any of these thoughts come easy to us. We believe that Jesus is part of our life. So here is a little guideline that I use when I want to share my experience of Christ in my life.
- Personal experience – What God has done for me! How I’ve been changed!
- Miracles – How I have seen God at work in the lives of others and myself!
- The knowledge that Christ came to give me eternal life!
- The Word of God – through these writings I receive strength, hope and a better way of living.
- Presence of Holy Spirit – the promise of guidance, comfort, never being alone!
As a challenge to each of us this week, take time and focus on God and His revelation to us – search the Scripture, allow God to speak to you through His Word, pray for guidance as you share with others, plant a seed of hope. And your life will be enriched as you journey along, travelling with God and being amazed at all that you have been given.
Blessings, peace and love to each of you,
Liz Church -Pastoral Care Director
Elgin/Portland Pastoral Charge