Elgin Portland United Church Council
Announcements
Free Art Classes in the Portland Village – 6-12 yrs. Monday 4:30-6:30 at the Portland Restaurant & Pizzeria.
Visual Art Teacher – Darlene, call to book your spot 905-801-5060.
At the Elgin Municipal Complex, 1:30 pm, Sat Oct 25th. The Elgin and Area Heritage Society hosts a talk by Johanna Lemke, “Enemy Under Our Roof”, recounting her memories of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and her home.
Happy Birthday to Mark Bee. May you enjoy a totally awesome day.
Volunteers wanted. We will be making dough and filling for our tortieres on Monday, Nov. 17 at 10:00 am. Pies on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 9:00 am. More pies and pickups on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 1:30 pm. Please let Sheila or Connie know if you are able to help.
Bible Discussion Groups
Two meetings each week. Monday evening at Portland UC at 6:30 – 7:45 and Tuesday mornings at Guthrie House in Elgin (10 Perth St.) at 10:00-11:30. All are welcome to join in the friendly discussions and fellowship. For more information, contact Jim Barton at ccjimbarton@gmail.com or 613-329-4089.
Strengthening Connections Day
St. Paul’s United Church, Perth
November 1, 2025 – 9:30 – 4:00
The fall meeting of the Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council is going to look quite different this year.
During the region’s strategic planning process, it was decided that we should transform our fall meetings so that they reach more people, closer to home, to build connections and relationships with the wider church. All members, lay and ordered, are invited to join their regional council as we connect, discuss and remind ourselves that we are not alone in this ministry.
Instead of doing one meeting, we’re holding five of them on the same day at the same time, but in locations across the region. And the one closest to us is in Perth, Ontario.
Plan to join us. Registration is online at:
https://eoorc.ca/registration-for-local-gatherings-on-nov-1st/
BRING YOUR OWN BAG LUNCH
Any questions contact:
Liz Church – 902-441-5357
Devotional Reflection
October 18, 2025
There are moments in my life that an idea takes hold and it won’t leave until I work it through. This devotional is borne from one of those nagging images. LET’S SEE WHERE IT ENDS UP.
I have spent hours this past week looking at information about rocks, the differences in composition, how they were formed, the age of rocks, how stones are pieces of some other rock formation.
Growing up with the Atlantic Ocean on my doorstep, I had many rock collections. What could be more exciting than walking at the water’s edge and stooping down to pick up that shiny rock, filled with sparkling bits of minerals, racing home to search through the encyclopedia to identify my ‘precious stone’.
And in my school, there would always be a project – you know the one I mean – the egg carton rock collection – with each treasured rock identified. This of course was before the time of Amazon kits that could be bought, pre-labelled.
My fascination with rocks continued into my adult life. As I have mentioned before, I thoroughly enjoyed those years when I worked at my hobby of painting animals on rocks. Whenever the stresses of my employment seemed of titanic proportions, I would come home to my apartment, and closet myself away for hours, and work on that magnificent piece of nature’s beauty that I had scavenged from a beach. Stroke after vibrant stroke of the brush eased away my tension, as a charming, tiny creature came to life before me. A baby fox curled up at the base of a tree; a racoon family foraging for food; an eagle with sharp talons, searching the horizon. All those scenes from nature, captured in the brush strokes, and displayed before me, on my precious rocks.
My mindful meanderings this week have caused me to look afresh at a particular Bible verse. It is found in Luke 19:40. Jesus, our Saviour, is humbly riding into Jerusalem, on a donkey. There were crowds shouting ‘Hosanna! Hosanna!’
The noise of praises was deafening – at least that is what the Pharisees were saying , as they shouted at Jesus to tell the crowds to be silent. Jesus’ reply? “If these people were to stop praising, if they were silent? The very stones would cry out and declare praises to the Lord.”
For a moment, through my mind’s eye, I walk out to those rocks on the shoreline. I sit and listen as waves crash into them. I hear them singing their praises. I can hear them as they erode into new shapes over the years; I am drawn to those ‘ringing rocks’ as I strike a hammer against them, and their hidden sounds are released. ‘Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer!’
I will never stop praising the Lord! I am in that crowd of people, waving palm branches, singing “Hosanna! Hosanna!”
Join me in my thinking. That precious stone, sparkling with beauty, shining for all to see. God made this. Those abundance of maple trees, with all their autumn 
colours, causing us to be breathless on our trip into town; that beauty, God made, for us to enjoy.
Of course, now you must add your own imagination to the list, for God has provided you with many wonders to enjoy.
And your response? Praise Him!
You are blessed and loved.
Liz Church, Director of Pastoral Care
Elgin/Portland Pastoral Charge