2023-10-14 Weekly E-News


Elgin United Church

Happy Birthday to Bert Petro.  May his special day be even more special than imaginable.

Elgin United Church Sunday School starts this Sunday October 15th.

SOLD OUT – The Canadian Women in Song Concert is SOLD OUT.  Awesome.

Crafters & Vendors Market Today October 14th @ 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 300 Hartsgravel Rd, Elgin. 23 vendors to choose from.

Advance notice of a Gentle Persuasive Approaches (GPA) in Dementia Care education session hosted by Elgin United Pastoral Care Group from 1-4pm Sunday, November 19th at the Elgin Municipal Complex. All are welcome. More information will be shared closer to the event.

YAH Breakfast Club.  This months meeting will be at the Junction restaurant as usual at 9 am on Thursday the 26th of October. We will try and keep these on the last Thursday of the month.  Final information will be out next week so keep looking and we are looking forward to seeing you.

Elgin United Church Council

Portland United Church

Portland Chit Chat is open on Thursday mornings from 10:00 until noon downstairs.  Come and enjoy a coffee or tea and visit with your neighbours.

Special Request for Theatre Props

Does anyone have a pair (or two) of old hockey skates – 60’s era – a young boy’s size and an older youth?  These are just to be carried.

Perhaps they are still hanging from a nail in your basement!  (The play closes December 3.)  Thank you! Contact Norma Cummings 613-359-0151 or nccummings@hotmail.com

Portland Chit Chat is open on Thursday mornings from 10:00 until noon downstairs. Come and enjoy a coffee or tea and visit with your neighbours.

Portland Council Meeting October 18th.

Portland United Church Council

Devotional Thought, October 14, 2023

Just when you think you have seen it all, another surprise awaits you. This week was amazing. Most mornings I rise early. But this week I was out driving my car as the sun was waking up. And she was showing off her magnificent ingenuity. It wasn’t enough that she provided a bright, beautiful fireball in the eastern sky, or that she painted the sky with dazzling hues of reds, blues, and sky-blue pinks. Oh no! There was more.

As I drove south on Highway 15, the corn fields, that are normally a brilliant amber, took on the spectacular colours of red. Not just any red; they were ablaze with the most exquisite, crimson red, you could imagine. And the colour continued, through the fields and into the trees beyond. There was an ethereal beauty spread out before me – like I was glancing into another world.

I wanted to stop and drink it in. But on that morning, there was no need. As I continued to drive, each field was bathed in the glory of the shining sun. And as I continued, it changed – from that crimson, flaming glow to a softer cardinal, and then into the soft pastel of rose – no less striking, just as stunning.

And I was reminded of a song I had heard, by LeAnn Rimes. She talked about the ‘Cosmic Engineer’. And on that morning, I was given a glimpse of all that has been given to each of us. There is never a time that the One who created us wants any less for us – only the most stunning, incredible life.

This Cosmic Engineer, whom I call God, my Creator, has far surpassed anything I could imagine, when He told me He loved me. I know I have complained to Him, I have walked away from Him, I have struggled to live separately from Him.

And then, when I least expect it, He bursts back into my face, and laughs, as He says: ‘Try to ignore this! – Not a chance!’ And I am in awe! All that I have, all that I am, and all I can be, all that is me – I am  His handiwork. Blessed Creator – alive in the world and alive in me.

Be blessed and refreshed this day.

Liz Church

Director of Pastoral Care

Elgin/Portland Pastoral Charge