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:

standrewsoffice@cogeco.ca 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:

standrewsoffice@cogeco.ca

Secretary Hours:

Tuesdays and Wednesdays:

9:00 am - 1:00 pm

Thursdays: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Minister Hours:

Monday - Thursday

Grant Williams:

standrewsminister@cogeco.ca

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-

fice@stjohnsuc.ca

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