Weekly Announcements
Happy Birthday to Mike Gordanier and Jack Gill, may your special day by super enjoyable. Happy Birthday.
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Chamber Music in the Park. Sunday Aug 23rd from 2-4pm listen to the Beverley Trio perform Bach and other classical masters at Heritage Park, 3 Halladay St. Elgin. Hosted by the EAHS, free-will donations to support the RDHS music program.
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Please keep Brenda Smith’s daughter Lori and their family in your prayers for her success and recovery from chemo treatments she is taking.
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As of August 17 we have a new cleaner for Portland United Church. Thanks to Bill Wright for taking on these duties. We want to give a huge ” thank you” to Annette Clarke for doing such a marvelous job taking care of our church the last several years.
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Don’t forget to mark your events on our calendar by the sink in the Friendship Room so we all know when the church is booked!
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MUSIC LOVERS take note:
“Handbells speak what cannot be expressed…”
Portland United Church which owns a 3-octave set of handbells & chimes is presently seeking a director for this community choir.
While a large selection of secular & religious music is available there is also a budget for acquiring new music.
For further information please contact Katy 613 929-9351 or Jane 613 272-2524; or email office@eppc-ucc.com
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The Young @ Heart Breakfast Club meets Thursday the 27th of August at 9:am at the Junction restaurant. All are welcome. If you are coming let Clint or Ted know by noon the 26th so we can reserve a spot for you. ………Ted
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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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Devotional Reflection August 21, 2026
Is it just me or does it seem the long-awaited summer passed far too quickly. Wasn’t it yesterday we were complaining about the cold? Was it not just last week we were making a list of all the places we might visit, the to-do list kept growing, and the expected visitors would be arriving?
Obviously, it wasn’t yesterday – yet, my list is still far too long to finish before autumn. And I am tired. I try to analyze this feeling.
My granddaughter has returned to her home and my apartment feels empty. For six weeks we enjoyed each other’s company – and the busyness that comes with a 13-year-old.
There was so much to fit in and believe me when I say, we were busy!
Try as I might, I’m still confounded by the passage of time and that incomplete list of chores that need doing.
But I give myself permission to sit for a bit and stare at a blank page. And I see before me a profound truth – When I have nothing left to give, I am actually in the perfect position to experience the reality of God’s grace.
I can be mopey about this truth or I can take it and soar – I am in the perfect position to grasp the inexhaustible reservoir of God’s power.
The question that attracts my attention is this: Why do I feel such compulsion, to keep going, to keep striving? And the answer comes back: ’There are people hurting in the world out there, they need you, they need me, they need Christ!’
How beautiful is that – He is the one who pours into us so that we can pour into others.
As you look at the days ahead, and the to-do list still to be accomplished, remind yourself that in God’s time you will do far more than you can imagine.
So, sit back, relax, take in these days of summer that are ahead and be blessed by all that is in store for you.
When you wake up tomorrow and you are talking with your Creator give Him thanks for what the day will bring.
You are loved. You are blessed.
Liz Church, Director of Pastoral Care
Elgin/Portland Pastoral Charge
