Calvary Compass – June 24, 2025 - Calvary United Church, www.calvaryuc.ca

Dear Friends of Calvary,

Summer has officially arrived according to the weather and the calendar. This summer, there will be 4 editions of the Compass. - July 8th, July 22nd, August 6th, and August 26th. The weekly newsletter will re-start on September 9th. Therefore, there will not be a Compass next Tuesday.

For July and August, the Church Office will be open on Tuesdays - Thursdays from 9:00 am - 12 Noon and closed in the afternoons. It will be closed on Mondays and Fridays. This will start next week (June 30th) – although due to Canada Day, the office will only be open Wednesday and Thursday. Also Kim Knowles will be taking vacation in August so for those weeks Nancy Hind will be checking messages and the mail. Notice of those weeks will be in the Compass when they are happening.

We welcome Denise Jung back as our Music Director on July 6th. Many thanks to James Hibbard who filled in for Denise while she was on maternity leave. We appreciate him sharing his great musical talent with us once again, although the choir is looking forward to his return to the back row!

Rev. Kerry will be taking some vacation time in August and will also be going to Calgary for the United Church's General Council Meeting in August as one of the Commissioners.

Heather and Sheina Meatherall will be attending the United Church's General Council Meeting in Calgary as youth delegates. We congratulate them for being chosen.

As mentioned in the previous edition of the Compass. there will be no Sunday School until September. There will be paper activities to do at the back of the sanctuary for any children who attend our worship services this summer.

Worship Services are all live-streamed:

June 29 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcnmPAeKEuw

July 6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCtrYYBdjcE

July 13 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oPukSSrjgI

NOTE: The same links will work to view the recorded service, in case you are unable to watch the live-stream.

Recorded service June 22nd - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JaTTiG9aH0

Thank you to Ken McLagan for always being upstairs making sure our live-stream works and that people at home can see it. Thank you also to those that help with the live-stream - Tim Lindsay, Praise Soewu, Mary Margaret Farrow and Heather Meatherall. Thank you also to Kim Knowles who, in collaboration with Rev. Kerry, makes sure that the PowerPoint is ready for Ken on Sunday mornings.

To the Calvary Congregation,

We are so appreciative of your concerted effort to celebrate the birth of our daughter, and for your generous donations towards the purchase of Isla's car seat, diapers, wipes, a book, hair ties and several gift cards. You prepared food and drinks, set up the room, washed dishes, and none of this went unnoticed. Thank you all so much.

Sincerely,

Peter and Denise

A Happy Coincidence!

On Sunday, the choir was surprised that all of the women had decided to wear something black and white. And this was without even talking to each other before-hand! Now the question remains, what will they wear this Sunday?!

SHARED MINISTRY COORDINATING TEAM UPDATE

The Shared Ministry has been up and running for almost a month now, and I hope that things are going well for everyone. All of us are adjusting to the various changes and each Community of Faith has its own unique challenges and style, as well.

The Shared Ministry Coordinating Team has been set up to help us all navigate our shared ministry trial. It is composed of the three Ministers and two others from each Community of Faith. The Ministers continue to meet weekly and the whole group meets monthly.

Our ministers report that they are beginning to feel ‘at home’ in each of the churches, which is exactly what we’d hoped for! An added blessing of the shared ministry team was noted by Rev. Michelle. When she needed to take some time off on short notice in May, Rev. Kerry and Rev. Rob were able to fill in for her and cover Council meetings, for example. Teamwork can provide relief and security.

One of the major tasks for the Coordinating Team, as this trial proceeds, will be to assess how things are going, and to ‘fine tune’ processes as we go. There will no doubt be some bumps and we aim to deal with them quickly as they arise.

We will make use of some formal evaluation strategies, as time goes on. It will also be most helpful to us to hear your thoughts and concerns as they arise. Please contact your representatives with any feedback.

Your Coordinating Team Representatives are:

Kris Goodman

Bill Butt

Members of the Shared Ministry Coordinating Team will take turns updating you about the Team’s activities.

CHAMPION

We will be having our end of the year lunch this Wednesday (June 25th) for those who already signed up for it. During the summer, we will be gathering every two weeks for cards, games and conversation on Wednesday afternoons. The first summer gathering will be Wednesday, July 9th. Remember to bring your water bottle as there will be no prepared snacks or drinks.

PRIDE PARADE

Mark your calendars and join in the parade!

London’s Pride Parade – July 20th, noon – 3pm.

Starting at Western Fairgrounds, we will walk or ride to Victoria Park with the other United Churches.

Please let Rev. Kerry know by July 17th if you are joining the Calvary group.

Meetings this Week:

* CHAMPION - Wednesday - 1:00 - 1:30 pm

* Bible Study - Thursday - 11:00 am - 12 Noon via Zoom

BIBLE STUDY

Scripture Readings: Galatians 5: 13 -25;

Psalm for the Week:

Psalm 77: 13 -15 from the Message (paraphrase) translation

O God! Your way is holy!

No god is great like God!

You're the God who makes things happen;

you showed everyone what you can do --

you pulled your people out of the worst kind of trouble,

rescued the children of Jacob and Joseph.

Prayer for the Week:

God of wonder and glory,

you do not demand perfection from us,

only honesty as we stand in your presence.

We often have trouble seeing the truth about ourselves.

Continue to call us to return to your ways of

love, mercy and peace. May it always be so. Amen.

Prayer focus for the week: We pray for those who have major life changes taking place in their lives.