2024-11-30 Weekly E-News


Elgin Portland United Church Council

Bible Discussion Groups

Read, discuss, and learn the Bible. All are welcome to come and join a Bible Discussion Group in Elgin or Portland. For info contact Jim at ccjimbarton@gmail.com or 613-328-4089.

Annual Community Christmas Celebration with Rideau Lakes & Westport Community Christmas Choir Sunday, December 1st @ 2:30 p.m. Knox Presbyterian Church, Westport.

 Portland Council meeting on December 3rd @ 7 p.m.

The Official Board is called to meet via Zoom at 7pm Tuesday, December 10th. Agenda and Zoom link will be sent on Dec 8th.

The UCW Christmas Lunch will be held at The Cove at 1:00 pm Tuesday, December 10.  All are welcome.  Please confirm your attendance to Connie at 613-220-7914 or portlandparadise55@gmail.com before December 6th.  Car pools will leave the church at 12:30.

The Young @Heart Breakfast Club meets in December on Thursday the 19th at 9 am at the Junction Restaurant. We looked at the 26th, but that is Boxing Day Many regulars are busy that day with family, so we have gone with the 19th. All are welcome but let Ted or Clint know by noon Wednesday the 18th if you are coming so we can reserve our spot. See you there………Ted

Thank you to all contributors and bidders who made this year’s EUC on-line auction another super success. Response was terrific and results are being tabulated.  Both EUC and the Coalition of Angels appreciate your support. Thank you.

Thank you to all who supported the Rob Lutes live concert at EUC, Friday Nov 29th, sponsored by The Tipped Ship.

Happy birthday wishes to Anna Greenhorn, who will celebrate her 95th birthday on December 4th! She is finally leaving twenty-nine behind for this milestone event!  We invite you to join in the celebration at the Delta Old Town Hall on Sunday, December 8th from 1-3 p.m. *(Please note the change of date and time) Best wishes only, please.

Advance notice JAN 25, 2025 our Canadian Women in Song troupe plays the Joshua Bates Centre, Athens. Get your tickets early. joshuabatescentre.com

Elgin United Church &   Portland United Church

 

 

 

Devotional Reflection

November 30, 2024

Anticipation, preparation, celebration. Three marvellous words to describe what is happening for millions of people around the world, even as I write.

I remember so clearly the arrival of the Simpson-Sears and Eaton’s catalogues. With many other children around in our house, the toy sections of these revered publications were well ear-marked. Your desires for Christmas could run rampant in your head as you perused each page. Hour after hour was spent poring over the pages, by each child.

My clever mother listened intently. And on Christmas morning we would have a facsimile of our desires under the tree. Name brands meant little to us. With genuine gratitude, we would say thank-you; the littlest ones still in awe with the wonder of how ‘Santa’ knew.

I cannot help but make a comparison of these memories to what the ‘Real’ story of Christmas must have looked like.

The anticipation for a young girl and her husband. Did it feel celebratory? Travelling on a donkey, for almost 90 miles (145 km). How would you feel – nine months pregnant, on the back of a donkey, or trudging over the rough roads by foot? At least a week of this! Is it any wonder that this baby just wanted freedom, to see what all the commotion was about?

The anticipation is quickly over-shadowed as the scramble for a place to stay became the priority – any place!

Mary and Joseph, who both had a vision of having a son, born to be King! With still limited understanding, I am sure their anxiety level must have been heightened as they discovered lodging after lodging to be filled with other travellers.

A dirty, smelly feeding trough? Are you kidding me? Is there anyone around to help? Perhaps the Innkeeper’s wife? Certainly, not a doctor. And you can bet your life that no men would be allowed. The only good thing is that, being born in a stable, the swaddling cloths may have been close at hand – after all, newborn sheep were sometimes wrapped up to keep them safe, warm, to protect them, especially if they were to be the sacrificial lamb of Passover.

Well, I must stop now. But I think you get the picture. The anticipation, preparation and celebration of today resembles nothing of what the real Christmas story represents.

The catalogues of former years have disappeared. Box stores are crowded with people who are stressed; the pressure to buy the newest gadgets is overwhelming.

As you anticipate, prepare, and celebrate this joyous season of the year may you have opportunity to reflect on the true meaning.

You are loved. You are blessed.

Liz Church, Director of Pastoral Care Elgin/Portland Pastoral Charge