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AVONDALE UNITED CHURCH

SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN #12 ALL IN...Wherever our Faith Journey Takes Us… June 8, 2020

Dear Members and Friends of Avondale United Church Welcome to our weekly news bulletin, another example of Avondale’s efforts to help us all stay connected. It is prepared each week for sharing by email on Mondays. If you have information you wish to include please send to Yvonne Casey @ avondaleuc@wightman.ca by 11:00 a.m. Monday morning. LISTEN LIVE – Please join us this week at 10:00 a.m. via the listen live link on our website (www.avondaleunitedstratford.com) . We had 180 Listeners for the June 7th Service. Thank you to Brian Pearson for providing tech support. A FEW REMINDERS FROM OUR COUNCIL TEAM CHAIRS – we had a great, uplifting Team Chairs’ meeting on Sunday May 31st. We heard lots of great examples of how teams have adapted their work during this time. WOW! The ingenuity of our members is impressive! Stay tuned for a full report after the June Council meeting. NEXT COUNCIL MEETING – Tuesday, June 9, 2020 @ 7:30pm via ZOOM. Your Executive Team of council is meeting weekly to ensure oversight of all matters concerning Avondale during this time. This increased meeting schedule is to ensure we have the capacity to support timely decisions during a time of great change. We are closely monitoring provincial directives and public health updates in order to identify when and how we will transition to some level of in person activities. Wherever possible we are wanting to preserve major decisions for full council meetings. Your Executive Team of Avondale Council Terri Sparling, Chair Judy Hart, Vice Chair Beth Gleadall, Past Chair Lauren Francis, Secretary Eva May Gray, Treasurer Keith Reynolds, Ex Officio Hilda Emerson, Accessibility Officer

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Recently Moderator Richard Bott expressed his deep appreciation and thankfulness to everyone offering leadership at camps for “continuing to be the creative people you are, and for bringing the joy that is needed.”

In addition to our Avondale Listen Live Service on Sunday, June 14th Camp Bimini invites everyone to a special virtual camping service. You can join via their Camp Bimini YouTube Channel (starting June 14, 2020 @ 12:00 am). Camp Bimini has made the difficult decision to not offer their traditional on-site summer camp program for summer 2020. Avondale and our members have a long history of supporting camp life. If you are interested in making a financial gift to the camp please follow the instructions on their website at campbimini.ca.

GRATITUDE – Dan and the choir did a wonderful job on their first YouTube performance “Go Now in Peace”. Special thanks to Dan for mastering the new video editing software. We look forward to more special music. If you missed the choir performance you can find it at: https://youtu.be/FmTTQuVUuUE

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A Message from your Stewardship & Finance Team June 2020 For those who are interested in the finances of the church, we can report that at the end of 5 months - May 2020, Avondale spent $4,300 more than we have received. However had the Church not received $6,000 from the trustees in January and a further 20,000 recouped from an insurance claim and a further $1,800 in covid grants the deficit could have been in excess of $30,100. Over the past 6-8 weeks the S&F Team has been working with the United Church of Canada reviewing ways to mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic and to participate in any funding available under the governments pandemic plan. It has been confirmed, churches do not qualify for the $40,000 government loan but it appears we may qualify for the 75% wage subsidy for the month of April only. Also, in April to enable S&F to get a handle on our cash flow, your Church Council agreed to put on hold for one month the Regional Assessment and the monthly M&S donations that go to the United Church these have now been released and paid. Unfortunately, due to provincial social distancing rules all planned fund raising events and rentals have been cancelled or delayed. This has had a negative impact and will continue to impact our Church operations. At this point in time last year Avondale had reached 43% of its rental budget this year due to the Covid pandemic we are at 16% and fund raising events this year is 21% to budget this could mean a potential shortfall by year end. The Church Council and teams working with staff are controlling the expenses at 91.7% to budget and 89.7% to last year. Monthly PAR giving’s to the general account are for the most part covering expenses. However, we are estimating our operational deficits over the next 4 – 5 months could be in the range of $5 to $6,000 monthly. The bank balance is sufficient if monthly giving’s remain strong and your continuing financial support will assist with our ongoing operating costs and take us into the late summer - early fall. The property committee and the Trustees are working together so planned major repairs and renovations will continue to go forward and not impact our operational cash position. We continue to be grateful for your ongoing generous financial support. For those concerned about how to send support, Yvonne is still picking up the mail or if you prefer she can set you on PAR (the Pre-Authorized Remittance) and once the crisis is over and we return to worship you could come back off PAR. You might choose to remain on PAR to give the church some stability of income going forward, or you can click on the CanadaHelps donate button on our website. If you need information you can reach Yvonne by leaving a message at (519) 271-7946 or email at yvonne.avondaleuc@wightman.ca. Respectfully Submitted Bob Malcolmson, Chair S&F

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Photos submitted from Pentecost Sunday

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Thank You to the Staff of Avondale United Church

As we live day to day with the state of emergency restrictions, many of us have found inventive

ways to keep our lives as normal as possible. At Avondale UC, our staff - Rev. Keith Reynolds,

Rev. Kathi Urbasik-Hindley, Dan Van Winden, Yvonne Casey, Roger Steckly and Mike Hicks-

has done just that.

The work of the church goes on but, in many ways, that work looks very different and the work

hours, in some cases, have increased. We worship on Sundays thanks to Keith, Kathi, Dan and

the Tech Team but the church is closed. Keith cannot connect with individuals in person but

reaches out to the community through stories and YouTube messages (with Dan providing the

technical know how). Kathi provides pastoral care day and night but cannot meet with people

directly. Dan does not conduct choir practises but creates a YouTube video of the choir

members singing "together" and diligently prepares piano and organ music for Sunday services.

Yvonne has no office to work from but nevertheless continues to keep church business running

smoothly. Roger and Mike don't have the usual custodial jobs to perform but use their time to

deep clean our building. These are but a very few examples of the multitude of ways our staff

has risen to the challenge of keeping Avondale a vibrate presence in our lives. Our staff members

are true superheros in our eyes.

As Chair of the Ministry and Personnel Team, I would like to express, on behalf of the Avondale

family, our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to Keith, Kathi, Dan, Yvonne, Roger and Mike

for the tremendous job they do in keeping us connected to one another, in providing meaningful

worship and messages of hope that ground us and ensuring that the building that houses the

Avondale family is waiting to receive us when we can once again pass through its doors.

Thank you Keith, Kathi, Dan, Yvonne, Roger and Mike. Your hard work and dedication is

inspiring and a blessing to us all!!!!

From OUTREACH team to the members of Avondale Sunday, May 31st was supposed to be Lucy Gacheru’s annual visit to Avondale, but of course her 2020 tour to Canada and the U.S. was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. We are very hopeful that she’ll be able to visit us next year in late May. So that the congregation can learn more about HOPE, the Outreach team will be including an article in the church’s “Weekly News Bulletins” on the 4th week of June, July and August. This will be an excellent opportunity to share information: about the history of HOPE orphanage; about its founder & director Lucy Gacheru and the 300+ children who are being cared for at Hope Center.

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FALL FUNDRAISING EVENTS – thanks to all who met on June 3 to brainstorm some fundraising for the fall. Stay tuned for details on a number of exciting events! possible theme is “Staying strong; Being resilient” Classy Glass Lassie projects – Plans are in the works for stained glass items. In the coming weeks we hope to introduce you to our “Hope and New Beginnings line of products – themed with sunflowers, flowers and butterflies. NEW! – Rainbow heart suncatchers to mark Pride month; $20. To order email Terri @ terris@hpcentre.on.ca

Lunch & Learn– Tuesday, June 8th @ 11:00 a.m. This group will be meeting via zoom. Everyone welcome. If you wish to join this group, contact Rev. Keith keith.avondaleuc@wightman.ca for zoom details. The reading for Sunday June 14th is Matthew 9:35-10:8

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From Kathi’s Prayers of the People & the Lord’s Prayer shared on June 7, 2020

As Paul takes a moment to say a farewell to the people of The Way in Corinth, he uses words that lock into our hearts and bring us hope for the presence of the Holy, in all of the joy and struggle of our living. And so we pray: Holy One, as Paul says: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you, ” we ground our prayers this day in your Grace, your Love, and your Oneness with us. We pray for those in our community who are facing difficult times. We pray for those grieving any kind of loss, whether it is a loss of a loved one, a loss of health, or a loss of hope. We pray for all those who have died, who are beloved members of families and communities, near and far. May your presence bring comfort in the days to come. Healer, we pray for those in our community and communities the world over who are facing illness: those who have received new diagnoses, undergoing treatment, facing and recovering from surgery; those who struggle because of this pandemic, and those who are more at risk because of the strain on resources that this pandemic brings to our healthcare systems. We pray for: all those supported through the Avondale prayer chain and those supported through prayer chains around the world, and all those we hold in our hearts. We give thanks for all those whose work has allowed communities to carry on in safety and security, with all the necessities of life being met. We remember, with thanks, essential workers of all kinds, and we pray with thanks, for the dedication of healthcare and support workers in our hospitals and healthcare facilities, for the many agencies and all those who have a role in supporting vulnerable populations here, and around the world. Be with us as we practice restoration, as we pursue reconciliation, as we walk the long journey of rebuilding trust within the great family of human kind. Help us to commit to doing our best to make things right: to seek out moments when we lead and moments when we follow. As leaders rise to public awareness, in these days of justice-seeking and civil rights for black, indigenous, people of colour, and LGBTQ2+ communities, may we find our place in supporting and encouraging the efforts of the change-makers, and becoming change-makers within our spheres of influence. Let wisdom, thoughtfulness, science, and reason inform our problem-solving and decision-making; let truth silence lies and distortions; let love and compassion be our first response to quiet sentiments of discord and hate. We hear Desmond Tutu who said: “We depend on each other in order for us to be fully who we are.” So, Trinity of Grace, Love, and Presence: guide us into being most fully human in these days: bind our hearts together, and change us for Good. . . We pray, as Jesus did, saying: Our Father...