NEWS FROM THE PEWS March 6, 2014
Sunday,
March 9
Reader:
Graeme Thompson
Greeters:
Lorne and Susan
Campbell
Ushers:
Lorne and Kathy
MacLeod
Counter:
Pat Moore
AV operators:
Howard Beitz
Graeme Thompson
Announcements:
Mission/Outreach
Next week,
March 16
Reader:
Graeme Thompson
Greeters:
Brian and Nancy
Heinmiller
Ushers:
Gord and Mattie
Spencer
Counter:
Ross Yahiro
AV operators:
Heather Curtin
Announcements:
Mission/Outreach
WORSHIP THIS WEEKEND March 9, 2014, 10:00 am
The Story, Chapter 21:
Rebuilding the Walls
News from the Pews is the electronic news-
letter of St. Andrew's United Church,
Georgetown, Ontario, produced every
Thursday.
If you would like to publicize an event,
please send it in the body of an e-mail (not
as an attachment) to:
[email protected] by Wednesday
night.
For further information, contact our secre-
tary, Heather Curtin, or our Minister, Rev.
Grant Williams, at 905-877-4482.
Contact us:
Website: www.standrewsuc.ca
Church Secretary/Office:
Secretary Hours:
Tuesdays and Wednesdays:
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Thursdays: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Minister Hours:
Monday - Thursday
Grant Williams:
This week we continue with The Story program in Chapter 21, the last chapter in the Old Testament. It is hard to believe that we are now two-thirds the way through The Story pro-gram. Chapter 21 studies the leader-ship of the Priest Ezra and King of Persia’s Cup Bearer, Nehemiah. In this chapter we find the Israelites set-tling back into Jerusalem after their years of Exile in Babylon. The Tem-ple is rebuilt and now the people of Israel are rebuilding the walls around the city to offer protection. This chapter is a rebuilding chapter. It involves three ways of rebuilding. First, the rebuilding of the Temple that was destroyed before the exile, second, the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, and third, the rebuilding of their relationship with God. Throughout the Old Testament God has been making attempts to con-
vince the people to come back to God and build a meaningful relation-ship with him. This chapter focuses on how we can turn our lives back towards God. One way we can do this is by directing our faith towards Christ in the sacrament of Holy Com-munion which will be served this week in worship as we enter into the season of Lent.
This week’s readings are:
Nehemiah 2: 1-20
Sermon:
The End of an Era and the Beginning of
Something New!
News and Inspiration from
St. Andrew’s United Church, Georgetown, ON
LENT 1
Page 2 NEWS FROM THE PEWS
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER Please join us for an evening on: 'Women in Egypt'
and their current crisis in the Christian Churches.
(Islam has been the official state religion since
1980; Muslims are 88 % of the population and
12% are Christian).
Theme: "Streams in the Desert', written by the
women of Egypt.
Friday, March 7th, 2014 at 7:30 pm. St. Albans the
Martyr Anglican Church, 537 Main Street, Glen
Williams. Followed by desserts and refreshments.
Please RSVP to Carole Howard.
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING MARCH 9
At the Annual General Meeting held on February
2, 2014, a motion was proposed to change the
quorum for Board (of Directors) meetings from
seven members to six. This motion had to be de-
ferred to comply with the rules for amendments to
the Church Constitution. As a result, a Congrega-
tional meeting will be scheduled for this Sunday,
March 9, immediately after the worship service to
present, discuss and vote upon the motion to up-
date Section 3.1g of our Church Constitution with
the following: “Quorum for Board Meetings shall be
a minimum of half of the voting members plus one
(6 members).”
For this motion to pass, a two-thirds majority of
voters present is required.
CIRCLE OF
FRIENDS Come and join us for
fellowship and re-
freshments. Our
next meeting is
Friday, March 14,
from 9:30 - 11:30am.
BAPTISM If you or your child wishes to be baptized at St.
Andrew’s please contact Grant Williams to find
out more information. Our next baptism date is
Mach 23rd.
UCW MEETING Wednesday, March
12th at 1:30 pm.
We are getting to-
gether for a time of
fellowship and a cup
of tea or coffee. All
ladies are welcome
to come and join us.
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend.
Don't forget to turn your
clocks ahead one hour
when you go to bed
Saturday night!
LIVING THE QUESTIONS
Living the Questions will meet again as usual on
the second Monday of the month, which will be
the 10th of March this month, in the Fellowship
Room at 10:00 AM. We will continue our study
with the program called “Painting the Stars” which
celebrates the communion of science and faith
and explores the promise of evolutionary Christian
spirituality. All are welcome and no previous con-
nection with the group is required. Contact Greg
Howard if you’re new to the group.
PLEASE NOTE: Next week Rev. Grant Williams will be away on
personal leave using accumulated days off be-
tween March 9 and March 15th. He will be leading
worship on March 16th. In the case of Pastoral
Emergencies please call Rev. Ross Leckie.
Page 3 March 6, 2014
KAIROS WORKSHOP
Saturday, March 22, from 9:30 am until noon,
Kairos will be presenting a workshop called
"Indigenous Rights 101" in the church hall.
There will be group participation time with
question and answer sessions. Admission is by
donation. Please contact Jackie Gray if you
would like to attend, or for more information.
STAYING CONNECTED TO ST. ANDREW'S ONLINE!
St. Andrew’s has a Facebook site at:
www.facebook.com/StAndrewsUnitedGeorgetown. On the site you will find news about upcom-
ing events, pictures, videos and daily devotionals. Please “like” our site! Check it out!
You can also follow us on twitter @SaintAndrewsUC to read late breaking news.
Our Website at www.standrewsuc.ca includes lots of information about St. Andrew’s programs,
events and ministries. Also posted are HD videos of the Sunday sermons. Look under the Me-
dia tab and chick on sermons.
BIBLE STUDY GROUPS Our weekly Bible study groups continue on Thurs-
days at 10:00 am with Rev Grant Williams and
Tuesdays at 7:00 pm with Rev Jean Leckie. We
are following “The Story” lessons each week.
Come and join us for some lively discussion on
the bible. Anyone is welcome to join. No experi-
ence is necessary.
FINANCE TEAM The finance team is recruiting new members! I
have found being a part of the finance team to be
a great way to be more directly involved with our
church & community and has provided an oppor-
tunity to get to know people more closely. If you
are interested in joining our team, please reach
out to me for to learn more about the finance
group, roles + responsibilities. The finance group
has a 90 minute meeting the 3rd Wednesday of
the month from September - June. If interested,
please contact Pat Moore.
MEN'S
BREAKFAST
The next Men's
Breakfast will be on
Sat. March 15 at
8:00 a.m. in the
gym.
FAMILY NEWS We extend our prayers and condolences to Bryan and Stephanie Scott and their family.
Bryan Scott’s father Dick passed away this week in London and the funeral arrangements
have been made. Please see this link for details:
http://smithfuneralhome.ca/obituaries/item/41536-richard-dick-scott.html
May God Surround them with love and support.
Page 5 NEWS FROM THE PEWS
By the time you read this Bruce will be in Calgary.
We hope the trip went well and he is adjusting to
the really cold weather. We will all miss you and
know you will keep in touch.
On Sunday we welcomed Madeline Ann Marr,
daughter of Charlotte and Bradley Marr, for initia-
tion into the body of Christ through baptism. She
was such a good baby and slept through the whole
service.
Shrove Tuesday is over but the taste of the deli-
cious pancakes and maple syrup lingers on. Thanks
to all the young people who pitched in to help. You
did a great job.
With Ash Wednesday we entered the season of
Lent which to me has always been the beginning of
the Easter time.
FLORENCE’S FORUM
COMMUNITY
Speaking of time - remember to set your clocks
ahead for Daylight Savings Time. Don’t want you
being late for church!
It is so hard to believe, as I look out at the snow
and feel the deep cold, that Spring is only 3 weeks
away. I heard someone say on Sunday that their
crocuses are coming up. They are either brave or
foolish. The weather report is that this cold will be
around for a few more weeks. Bah! Humbug!
We are being asked to stay a few minutes after
Church on Sunday to discuss and vote on a motion
to update our Church Constitution.
Well, the Good Lord willin’, I’ll see you on Sunday.
Share the warmth of love.
Florence
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY Every summer we hire a University or College student for a 17-week position as a Summer Maintenance As-
sistant at the Norval Outdoor School. The pay is $13.25/hour for 40 hours a week. Over 17 weeks, that is
over $9000, with the possibility of another $500+ through the Ontario Government Summer Jobs Subsidy.
This is a great job for someone active and fit who likes to spend time outdoors. If interested, please contact
Bill Elgie for full job description and application information. Deadline: Friday, March 7, 2014.
BENEFIT CONCERT SERIES St. John's United Church is hosting a series of concerts to raise funds for their 175th Anniversary Renovation
Project.
Sunday, March 23, 2:30 pm - Katherine Wheatly, St. John's Choir
Sunday, May 4, 2:30 pm - Adi Braun, David Restivo, Linda Ippolito
Sunday, November 2, 2:30 pm - Chris Dawes
Tickets are $20 each, or all three for $50. Contact St. John's for more information at 905-877-2531 or of-
See poster on bulletin board for more details.
GRANT’S WORLD
This week has been a week filled with blessings and an unexpected event. On Sunday we celebrated and said good bye to Rev Bruce Clendening. Bruce is currently head-ing out to Calgary to start a new position as a Nursing Home Chap-lain. We give thanks to Bruce, Sheena and Sharena for all their contributions to our St. Andrew’s faith family. We wish them well as they begin a new life out west. Many thanks to Merna for putting together a video of the Clendening family to remember them by. Thank you to those who came and sup-ported Bruce on his final day with us. We will miss Bruce, Sheena and Sharena. On Tuesday we held our annual Pancake Supper led by our young people. It will be a Shrove Tuesday to remember! The dinner was going
really well until there was a chok-ing emergency. After the Emer-gency services were called Tom was rushed to the hospital and I am happy to report that he is now doing just fine. It was a very close call for him, but we give thanks to God for answered prayers and for the support of all who helped in the emergency. Last night was the start of the Lenten Season. We held an Ash Wednesday service jointly with St. John’s United Church. In the ser-vice we offered an opportunity for people to let go of something and bring to the front a symbol that was meaningful to them. This type of service helps us to refocus our relationship on Jesus Christ. Just a note about next week: Sunday March 16th. The worship service will be a lively one as we
will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. We will be having the Brantford Trio of musicians come and lead us in some music. Some of you may re-member this group have played for the past two years at the St. Pat-rick’s Day Bash. Unfortunately the St. Patrick’s Day dinner had to be cancelled this year, but the Brant-ford group still wanted to come. I hope you will come for this exciting service. Feel free to wear your best St. Patrick’s Day attire. Blessings to you and see you on Sunday. Grant
OUR CHURCH VISIONOUR CHURCH VISION
With God’s Help we will:With God’s Help we will: develop Spiritual and personal growth through Christian faith and fellowshipdevelop Spiritual and personal growth through Christian faith and fellowship
welcome and encourage new ideaswelcome and encourage new ideas
encourage outreach programsencourage outreach programs
offer programs for all ages and stages in lifeoffer programs for all ages and stages in life
foster personal growth and friendship through Small Groups ministriesfoster personal growth and friendship through Small Groups ministries
be more visible in our communitybe more visible in our community
Page 6
Tuesday, March 11
7:00 pm Bible Study
Thursday, March 13
10:00 am Bible Study
7:00 pm Choir practice
Friday, March 14
9:30 am Gord’s Guitar Group
9:30-11:30am Circle of Friends
7 - 9 pm Youth Group
Saturday, March 15
8:00 am Men’s breakfast - gym
Sunday, March 16
10:00 am Worship: The Story Chapter 22
Week-at-a-Glance
Thursday, March 6
7:00 pm Choir practice
Friday, March 7
9:30 am Gord’s Guitar Group
7 - 9pm Youth Group
Sunday, March 9
10:00 am Worship: The Story Chapter 21
Monday, March 10
10:00 am Living the Questions
7:00 pm Outreach meeting
7:00 pm Auction meeting