Elgin Portland United Church Council
The Young @ Heart breakfast club will meet this month on Thursday, the 15th of May at 9 am at the Junction Restaurant.
If you want to come, and all are welcome, let Clint or Ted know by noon the 14th of May so we can reserve spots for us……….Ted
The Bible Discussion Groups meet on Monday at 6:30 pm at Portland UC & Tuesday at 10:00 am in Elgin at the Guthrie House. All are welcome. Info: ccjimbarton@gmail.com or 613-328-4089.
June 1, 2025 – 10: 30 am
This area of the Region will be celebrating
the 100th Anniversary with a United Service,
being held at the Delta Fair Grounds (inside).
Plans are well under way.
The Choir met this week and there were 45 in attendance for this.
Bonus: – Meal is being provided through the generosity of the 8 individual churches who are participating in this celebration.
Bonus, bonus: Musical Entertainment following the service is being provided by Wright & Lowe.
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June 15, 2025 – 11:00 am
The whole of our Region is invited to attend the mass celebration at the EY Centre on Ottawa. Please plan to attend this event with more than 1,500 fellow believers planning to be there.
You can participate in various ways such as joining the choir, ushering, first aid responders.
Further information can be found on the EOORC Website eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com
See you there!
Devotional Reflection
May 3, 2025
How do you feel about darkness and light?
My son and I have been out scouring the second-hand shops for lighting fixtures that would be suitable for different projects he is working on. He has this philosophy that all lights, in the same area, should give off the same aura. So don’t mix clear with frosted, or amber with white, etc.
This week has also been inundated with other thoughts about light. Our liturgical reading is about the conversion of Saul. Once again bringing in the theme of light and darkness.
But I must go back even further. As you read this devotional, I am sure you will begin to exhibit feelings about this subject.
In my readings this week I was reminded of a very real truth – many people are afraid of the dark! How many evenings have you walked down a street, furtively looking back over your shoulder to see if you have someone following you? How many times have you sat by the bedside of your crying child, reassuring them
that their fear of the dark was unfounded. Or perhaps you have watched the shadows play across your ceiling as
the trees swayed in the breeze, during those dark nights when you could not sleep.
Have you even formed a negative opinion about a young person who dresses in ‘gothic’ black, supressing the urge to cross the street before you reach them?
It would seem that much of our reasoning has become linked with our culture and even our language. For instance, we have Devil’s Food cake, which is dark. And Angel Food Cake, which is white. We talk about a black mark on your reputation, about blackmail, or being on the blacklist. You receive coal in your stocking for Christmas if you have been naughty. Dark, dark, dark!
And if you switch your ponderings to the other side – we have white lies (really?), pristine white tablecloths, brides dressed in white, white-washed fences. We use white as symbolic of purity and goodness.
And even as I write, something more heinous comes to mind. Have we allowed racism to enter our lives through this same process? Dark vs. light? God, forbid!
There are more avenues to follow – more than one reflection can contain. But let’s take the opportunity to look more attentively at these two thoughts. Sunshine is bright, enjoyed, for a time. But night brings relief from the heat of the day. Night brings a time when we relax, enjoy being home with family. Nothing to fear. Darkness – given for our rest, for our renewal.
And what about this truth – we lived for nine months in darkness – protected, nurtured!
And so, as you move through your days, ponder these blessings. Take time to befriend the darkness. See where your thoughts lead you as you look into your life; the dark areas, hidden from view; how they were needed for a time, protected you, until you were ready to face the light. It is in the dark that seeds are planted and begin to germinate. Darkness, given for our benefit; to fortify.
And light, given to rejuvenate. Remembering always, Jesus is the light.
We need both dark and light – each given for a specific purpose. Can we cultivate that? Reflect on this – what if tattoos were etched in white? Would we see them differently?
Sometimes, our perceptions lead us astray, and sometimes to new truths.
It was in the darkness of three days that Saul was converted. If there had been no dark, the Light may not have been seen!
Enjoy the dark, enjoy the light. You have both and both can lead to wholesomeness.
You are blessed and loved.
Liz Church,
Director of Pastoral Care
Elgin/Portland Pastoral Charge
