Weekly Announcements
The Young @ Heart Breakfast Club meets again Thursday the 27th of August at 9 am at the Junction restaurant.
Because we hit Stoodley’s last month so I asked around and most didn’t care but the two that did wanted the Junction. Let Clint or Ted know by Wednesday the 26th if you are coming. See you there …..Ted
Bible Discussion Groups
Meetings will resume on Monday, September 14th and Tuesday the 15th following our summer break. We plan to explore the Bible book of Revelation. Study books will be provided. All are welcome to join this study; no prior Bible knowledge is required. If you would like to attend contact Jim Barton 613-328-4089 or ccjimbarton@gmail.com. Meetings are held Monday evenings in Portland 6:30 – 7:45 and in Elgin at 10am on Tuesdays.
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Eleanor Glenn will be our guest speaker August 9th, 2026
*Proud mother of 2 sons, 4 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren
*Retired principal since 2005,* 2027 will mark her 20th year of performances of her one woman International play,
The Servant At The Supper.
* She moved from Smiths Falls to Portland in 2010 and has performed her play twice at Portland United Church,
between 2010 and 2013. In 2014 she moved back to Smiths Falls where she still resides.
*She also wrote her first of her 10 self-published books while in Portland.
Entitled The Shoe In The Garden, in 2012 the book was one of 30 chosen to be a finalist from hundreds of North American entries selected by the US company, Hayhouse Publishers, in their best new fictional author competition.
The book centered around the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812.
*Her most successful book, How Love Continues: Recognizing The Afterlife has been in print since 2018
& the 5th Anniversary Edition published in 2023.
* The book has brought comfort and hope to hundreds of readers dealing with grief and has never been out of print in its current 8 year history.
*Now she joyfully accepts God’s calling as a Lay Worship Leader with the United Church of Canada.
*Beginning in July and currently into September, 2026, she is leading services in 7 churches:
Toledo, Burridge, Westport, Newboro, Elgin, Portland,
Trinity United in Smiths Falls.
eleanorglenn.ca
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Devotional Reflection August 7, 2026
I don’t often use the elevator in my building. I live on the second floor and I enter the building from the side door. The stairs leading up to my apartment are right there. So, it is an easy walk.
As it happens, this week I was carrying a heavier load than usual and the convenience of the elevator was indeed a blessing.
As I stepped in to the elevator I was reminded how old it is. A bit antiquated for sure, but still running smoothly. There is a key to unlock the door, a key to turn it on, a key to turn it off again, so that others will be able to use it.
As I stood there, waiting to arrive on my floor, I began to think about the intricate details of this piece of machinery.
An elevator only functions safely when its parts align with absolute precision. If a cable is off by a few millimeters, or the counterweight is miscalculated, the entire system fails.
Elevators do not guess their path. They run on perfectly straight steel guide rails. A tiny bend in the rail causes a violent shake.
There is a counterweight that perfectly balances the car. If the balance is off, the motor strains and shuts down.
I was mesmerized as I stood looking down between the crack of the door and the elevator car. The miniscule space reminded me of how exact this elevator continues to work on a daily basis.
Our particular elevator serves us well. It even stops correctly so that when we open the door, it is level with the floor – no tripping hazard for us!
There are many people who fear an elevator. They cannot see its inner workings. They have no idea whether a cable has been set a bit off to the side. Or they are nervous in case a cable should break, or that they might get stuck in the elevator should the power go out!
And I began to draw a parallel between our lives and an elevator.
Do you ever give thought to the way you live – spiritual precision I will call it. What about aligning your daily habits and thoughts with those of the Lord?
Do you feel spiritually stable? There is verse in Proverbs 4, that says: ‘Watch your step. Stick to the path and be safe. Don’t sidetrack; pull back your foot from danger.’
This thinking draws me in deeper. Can I partially align my daily life with Christ? Not really. That is like saying an elevator cable is ‘mostly’ strong. Or that we can settle for being ‘mostly’ good!
There is no doubt that we have all gone this way at some point in our life, settling for the mostly good choices. But God calls us to follow Him with integrity.
This week we will be blessed with a guest speaker at our church: Eleanor Glenn. She will talk about integrity. I am sure she may make reference to being aligned – the same person you are in darkness as you are in the light.
We have been given the Holy Spirit and God has provided His guidebook – His guide rails. When we try drifting, our spiritual lives lose their smooth peace and a grinding against what is right begins to happen.
Reliance on God provides the perfect balance and we no longer need fear – we become focused on the focal point – Christ.
You are blessed.
Liz Church, Director of Pastoral Care
Elgin/Portland Pastoral Charge
