Place of Meeting

In the beginning ...

Toronto United Mennonite Church January 2015

Advent 2014 was an exceptionally rich time of pondering the meaning of Christ’s coming, putting

ourselves into the context of his arrival, and celebrating the joy of Advent. See inside for more.

Place of Meetingis the meaning of the Huron word

“toronton,” from which our city

gets its name. Fittingly, it can also

mean “plenty” or

“abundance.”

Place of Meeting is also the

monthly newsletter of Toronto

United Mennonite Church. May

you find plenty here to enjoy and

ponder. Opinions expressed are

those of the writers and not

necessarily of the congregation

as a whole.

Contributions of all kinds are enthusiastically received, throughthe mail folder in the lobby or at

dmartens@pathcom.com

Next issue:TUMC Annual Report!

Have you discovered the all-colour online version of Place of

Meeting, complete with liveweblinks? Check this month’s

issue out here: issuu.com/pomeditor/docs/

pom_jan_2015l

NOTE: New address for submissions:

dmartens4@ cogeco.ca

Editor: Doreen Martens

Scene around TUMC

Place of Meeting Page 2

Top: Of the thousands of hygiene kits shipped to places of need by Men-

nonite Central Committee every year, the 109 completed at TUMC may be

the only ones made by GERMS! This photo of our junior youth will be

shared by our recent guests, Doug and Naomi Enns, in Lebanon, where

Syrian refugees are making good use of such kits. Centre: the Star of

Bethlehem made an appearance section by section in a beautiful banner

this Advent. Above: Damaris Schmucker has the kids enthralled as she

tells part of the Christmas story on Dec. 7.

By Bob Tiessen

Since our last report the main step was to sign a

contract with Greening Homes to do the reno-

vation work on 6 Lark. We expect to have our

building permit from the city by the time this issue of

POM is distributed so work may have already started

as you read this. We are using a time-and-materials

approach for our contract so decisions on various is-

sues and their cost implications will develop as work

proceeds. For example, after the initial demolition

work we will know better how much electrical reme-

diation will be needed.

The building committee is very conscious of our con-

struction budget and Greening Homes is on board

with our needs in this area. The contractor has re-

duced their usual overhead fee for their work since

they support projects like ours.

A major piece of work before we could sign the con-

tract was finishing the design of 6 Lark. The building

committee has been working with Aurora House to

complete this work. We have had to deal with issues

such as zoning rules about how many unrelated per-

sons can live in a unit and what this means for items

like fire exits, separate heating and ventilation sys-

tems, and so on. One of our goals has been to avoid

an ‘institutional’ feel for the building.

Once this was finished, detailed design work on the

main church building was begun in earnest. Our ar-

chitect, Melana Janzen, provided a good design for us

to start with and many good ideas have come out of

the meetings held so far. The design of the new first

floor space, revamped lobby, meeting space, and ex-

ternal ramps and access points is complete. Basement

space and the redesign of the kitchen are mostly com-

plete and we will next turn to how we might redesign

the back yard of 6 Lark for greater use by TUMC.

We have a Committee of Adjustment hearing in mid-

February. This meeting is open to the public, so the

building committee will be hosting an open house for

the neighbourhood on Jan. 31 to explain our building

plans. We hope to address any concerns neighbours

might have before the Committee of Adjustment

hearing.

We have had our mortgage application approved by

Mennonite Foundation of Canada, in the amount of

$625,000. We will likely need that full amount to-

wards the end of 2015, when construction is planned

to be nearly complete. The amortization period is 20

years and we have a two-year interest rate of 3.25%.

There are no restrictions on prepayment and we ex-

pect to reduce that amount quickly in the first five

years with the amount pledged for the projects. The

finance team will need to plan carefully, since our

contractor invoices every week but we can only draw

funds from MFC once a month.

As of this writing, the year 2014 was not complete

and not all pledges for the year had been received,

but very substantial amounts had been donated and

we thank you for your generous financial support.

Now that the rate of activity has increased we expect

to have announcements in the weekly electronic bul-

letin as well as regular Kingdom Reports during the

Sunday service. Reports in POM will continue as

well.

The Building Committee, Calvin Dyck (treasurer),

Joel Gerber, Christy Langschmidt, Richard Ratzlaff

(chair) and Bob Tiessen (secretary), along with our

architect, Melana Janzen, welcome your comments.

Place of Meeting December 2014 page 3

Aurora House: An Update

Bob Tiessen, Mary Klein and Christy Langschmidt on

the porch at 6 Lark during September’s “It Takes a

Village” day. Renovations are imminent!

Tea and company

Place of Meeting page 4

TUMC women of all ages got

together for the annual Christmas

Tea on Dec. 6. Delicious food, tea,

carol singing and conversation

made for a relaxing pause in the

Advent season. Below, Pastor

Marilyn tells a wonderful children’s

story with a message for all.

Tea and company

Place of Meeting January 2015 page 5

One of the delights of the Christmas Tea is seeing three

generations of women in a single family sharing the

morning together, above.

Dora Alexander, above and left, enchanted everyone with

her stories of celebrating Christmas in the Bruderhof

community where she grew up, accompanied by a large

collection of charming figurines she has sculpted

illustrating that life.

Sing we now of Nowell

Place of Meeting page 6

We enjoyed a joyously musical Sunday

in the third week of Advent, including

the choir and a host of instrumentalists.

A delightful new addition was a junior

bell choir directed by Damaris

Schmucker, above.

During the walk-up offering, everyone

helped decorate the tree.

Sing we now of Nowell

Place of Meeting January 2015 page 7

During the service, we were

commanded by a Roman centurion

(Brad Lepp, below) to assemble in

Bethlehem to be registered that

evening.

The prophet (John Epp, below right),

speaking words of promise and

warning later in the service, soon

found himself arrested!

Creating Bethlehem

Place of Meeting page 8

In the few hours between the morning

service and the evening beginning of

registration, the TUMC sanctuary was

magically transformed into a Middle

Eastern marketplace on Dec. 14.

Largely constructed by the extended

Lepp, Thiessen and Alexander-Unger

families, our Bethlehem was replete

with the sounds, smells, flavours and

sights that one might imagine seeing in

the real Bethlehem 2000 years ago, in-

cluding a restful fountain and sheep

and goats that needed clever penning-

in to keep them from running amok!

Above, the sheep arrive. Below, Ani Unger-

Brandt sets out some of the wonderful hand-

made items for sale.

An evening in Bethlehem

Place of Meeting January 2015 page 9

First stop in Bethlehem: the moneychangers, to

trade your your loonies for shekels needed to

buy everything from lunch to doves for the tem-

ple offering. Shekels in hand, visitors proceed

through a ceremonial gateway (below) and,

hopefully soon after, through the bustling mar-

ket to the place of registration (below left).

An evening in Bethlehem

Place of Meeting page 10

Amid the honest labour of carpenters, craftmen

and food sellers, our Bethlehem is not without

conflict and vice. Roman soldiers demanding

proof of registration will haul off anyone who

couldn’t produce it promptly (above left). A dark

gambling den (left) lures the curious into games

of chance.

An evening in Bethlehem

Place of Meeting January 2015 page 11

So much to do in the market, from buying a tem-

ple offering or a pouch to carry your shekels in,

to watching a juggler, playing backgammon, even

enjoying handmade hummus, skewers of meat or

sausage and goat cheese on homemade

flatbread.

An evening in Bethlehem

Place of Meeting page 12

When in Rome ... or Rome’s empire ...

Efforts made by many to follow ancient

custom in their garb add to the fun of

this visit to Bethlehem, which for some

visitors includes a stop at the crowded

village inn to sip mint or spicy tea

while reclining on pillows.

An evening in Bethlehem

Place of Meeting January 2015 page 13

The palm reader is a popular stop, left, while

chickens, fish and goats keep things real. The

child-made “doves” in cages, while pretty,

thankfully make a cruelty-free

“sacrifice” at the temple.

An evening in Bethlehem

Place of Meeting page 14

Crowds circulate through the

marketplace as sounds of mooing

and bleating, and the occasional

chicken cluck, add to the din of

commerce. Below, a fountain

burbles and a mysterious woman

has her fortune told.

An evening in Bethlehem

Place of Meeting January 2015 page 15

The rabbi instructs a woman who has come

to the synagogue (right).

Meanwhile, in a different corner of Bethlehem, a little-

noticed drama is unfolding, as the innkeeper, already

run off his feet by the crowds coming into the city to

be taxed, is confronted by a young couple in dire

need. Despite his no-vacancy sign, he takes pity on

them and clears a path through the crowd to his

stable, a warm, dry place for the young woman about

to give birth. And word begins to circulate about this

child ...

O Holy Night

Place of Meeting page 16

With candlelight, word, works of art and song, we celebrated the advent of our Saviour with a beautiful Christmas Eve

Service of Lessons and Carols. Afterward, there were goodie bags for the young. a chance to wish each other a Merry

Christmas and, especially for for youth coming back to TUMC after some time away, a chance to reconnect.