St. Marys Presbyterian Church
P.O. Box 247,147 Widder Street East,
St. Marys, Ontario N4X 1B1
(519)284-2620;(519)284-0367 (fax) stmaryspreschurch@on.aibn.com
Connect to Presbyterian Church in Canada
Search Update!
Your search committee is continuing their work, preparing for upcoming interviews and evaluating candidates as applications are submitted. There is a busy spring ahead. Please keep us in your prayers as we strive forward to search for our new minister.
Bible Study
with Rev. Tubb
Reverend Tubb invites you to join him for Bible Studies on
the following Wednesdays
March 10 & 24
in the Lounge
from 10:00—11:30 a.m.
Subjects to be covered are found in Matthew’s Gospel
March 10, The Evil Farmers
Matthew 21:33-46
March 24, Plans for Betrayal
Matthew 26:1-16
Joy of Easter
Broadcast Taping
Thursday, March 11, 6:00
All welcome and
encouraged to attend.
A series of Lenten noon hour services of worship sponsored by the Ministerial Association will be held each Wednesday at St. Marys United Church beginning February 24 and continuing through March 31. Each service will be followed by lunch. Rev. Tubb has been asked to lead the service on March 10. Everyone welcome to attend any and all services.
Curling & Games
Night
Saturday, March 20, 2010
7:00 pm to ??ZZZ
at
St. Marys Curling Club
Experienced or rookie alike
Everyone is welcome to come & give it a try
And if curling is not your sport, we have games in the lounge, while you laugh at the curlers
Curlers: Bring running shoes for curling or borrow curling shoes and we have some brooms available
Everyone: Bring games, jokes and munchies for later
Join in our fun night for laughter and a good time
Sign up - don’t miss out!!!!!!
Guess Who's Coming
for Dinner
Saturday, April 17, 2010
We’re in the planning stages & need “Host Families” to sign up!
You can decide the menu and how many people you can accommodate in your home. The menu can be as simple as a sandwich, nobody knows the menu ... and nobody knows“Who’s Coming for Dinner”.
Once we have our host families, we will sell tickets to go on our mystery dinner and enjoy each other’s company for approximately an hour or so. Dessert will be served at the church basement when everyone is finished!
Contact Karen by phone at 519-349-2707 or email karenr@quadro.net
Regular Office hours
Monday to Friday
8:05 to 12:45 (or later)
Breakfast at Damen’s!!!!
Watch the chimes for new speakers, fellowship, food and fun.
Next feedings - March 27, and
April 24, 8:00 a.m.—Damen’s
Next speaker announced in the chimes. Come along and dig in!
Easter Worship Opportunities:
March 5 2:00 p.m.
World Day of Prayer Service
at Holy Name of Mary
March 7 10:30 a.m.
Third Sunday in Lent
March 11 6:00 p.m. Joy of Easter Music
March 14 10:30 a.m. Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 21 10:30 a.m. Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 28 10:30 a.m. Palm Sunday Worship
April 1 7:00 p.m. Maundy Thursday Worship
April 2 10:00 a.m. Good Friday Worship
followed by Hot Cross Buns
April 4 8:00 a.m. Easter Sunrise Service & Breakfast
10:30 a.m. Easter Celebration Service
Save the Planet
--Go Green!!!
or in our case Go Blue!!!
Totes are still available for purchase. Please contact the office or Karen Richardson.
Totes are $2.00 each!!!
The GrapeVine
St. Marys Presbyterian Church Newsletter
March / April 2010
Minister’s Message
Dear Parishioners,
Congratulations! I understand you finished last year with a ‘balanced’ balance sheet!
Rev. Merv Tubb continues to give great pastoral leadership! Praise God!
The Search Committee plods onward in its work. Give thanks – without worrying about any details yet!
You are called now to gather for the annual meeting, where you will chart your part of the course of the church’s life for 2010.
Count your opportunities and your blessings. Rejoice!
Then leave the rest to God, who will not fail you!
And pray without ceasing!
Rev. Dr. Hugh Jones
Interim Moderator
Hugh
UNDERSTANDING THE GOOD BOOK
The Bible is indeed the Word of the Lord, not only because it contains direct quotes from Him, but also because its writing was inspired by the Lord. His word has been passed on to us through a collection of the telling of historical events, stories and parables. I recently had a discussion with someone about how much of the Bible are we to take literally. I honestly admitted that I really don’t know. I did say that if you try to take everything the entire Bible says literally, you would likely go crazy, because there are just too many contradictions. Some things that are recorded in the Old Testament, which were of extreme importance to the people at that time, become irrelevant in the New Testament. Things like sacrificing birds & animals, circumcision, and various other rituals. However, there are other things, such as the Ten Commandments, that maintain their significance. How are we to choose what is still important and what isn’t?
The New Testament is not all cut and dried either. Even the four Gospels, which basically tell the same story, have many differences. Every writer puts their own twist on how they tell things. That’s why there are some parts of the story that appear in one version of the Gospel, but not another. If Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, who all walked side by side with Jesus himself, came up with slightly different interpretations of what happened during Jesus’ time, then there’s no way we are expected to come up with all the same interpretations either. Maybe that’s why God inspired those four men to write slightly different versions… to teach us that we are individuals who see things differently and have varying ideas about what is important, and that it’s OK to be like that.
There are many stories in the Bible that are hard to explain. Just ask any Sunday School teacher who has tried to get kids to grasp the idea of Noah and the ark, of Jonah living inside a big fish, or three men walking into a fire and being perfectly safe. When pressed for an answer about whether or not these stories actually happened, I would admit that they did seem rather fantastical but that I knew God had the power to make these things happen if he chose to. And then there’s always the question about whom did Cain and Abel marry if they and their parents were the only people on Earth. There must have been someone else hanging around outside the Garden. Unfortunately for Sunday School teachers, if there were other people around, the author of Genesis didn’t think that detail was important enough to include. And then there are books like Leviticus and Numbers that are filled with so many details that it causes the reader to get bogged down to the point that you skip most of it. It would be nice if there were a happy medium of details among the authors of the Bible.
Perhaps therein lies the answer. We have to find our own happy medium. We can’t get too hung up on details or fretting about what to take literally. What is important, and this is also what I’d tell my Sunday school kids, is that we get the message God intended us to get from that story, be it fact or fiction. Understanding the message and then using that knowledge in our lives, is what really matters.
One thing I am quite certain of is that God never intended the Bible to be something that people bickered over. He knows that we are all a little different and therefore couldn’t possibly interpret it the same way. To me, the Bible is not always black and white. Very often it is grey, and is supposed to be. There are lots of people who will disagree with me on this, but that’s all right. Like I said, we are not all the same. If two people have a different view of the Bible, it doesn’t mean one is right and one is wrong, or one is more of a Christian than the other. Matching everyone’s opinion of the Bible is not nearly as important as studying it, learning from it, and applying God’s word to our everyday life as we need it. If we use the Bible for our own personal journey, and allow others to do the same, respecting that our journeys will be very different, then it is more likely that the Good Book will be used in the way God intended.
Yours in Christ,
Val Thomson
Do Barbers Exist?
A man went into a barbershop to have his hair cut and beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: “I don’t believe that God exists.”
“Why do you say that?” asked the customer.
“Well you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people?” Would there be abandoned children? If God exists, there would neither suffering nor pain! I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all these things.”
The customer thought for a moment but didn't’ respond because he didn’t want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber: “You know what? Barbers do not exist.”
“How can you say that?” asked the surprised barber. “I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!” “No! the customer explained. “Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty, long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside”
“Ah, but barbers do exist! That’s what happens when people do not come to me.” “
“Exactly!” affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! That’s what happens when people do not go to Him and don’t look to Him for help. That’s why there is so much pain and suffering in the world.”
Submitted by Doris Webb
From the Choir Loft
January and February have been rather different for me. I was on tour with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir to Vancouver. This was part of the “Cultural Olympics” which preceded the Games. We performed the Symphony 8 by Gustav Mahler and setting of the Requiem Mass by two French composers, Gabriel Faure and Maurice Durufle. It was an enriching experience for me.
Later on I went on a Caribbean cruise with members of the Smale family. We had last traveled together in 2005 and it was good to be able to go again. Sincere thanks go to the Session and congregation for allowing me to take time away from my work. A huge thanks to Ann Bryan who played on Sundays and to Paula Ortelli for taking the Thursday rehearsal.
Our “Joy of Easter” broadcast will be taped on Thursday March 11. We are grateful for the continued support of Rogers TV and producer Rich Rathwell. I also sincerely thank all participants from our congregation and a special thanks to Kris Skjellerup for her technical assistance.
We look forward to our Easter week services and look forward to the concert by the “Men of Praise” from Woodstock.
I appreciated the help of several folk who participated in the choir for extra activities last year. I look forward to working with them (and others too) in the coming weeks.
May we continue to offer God our highest praise.
Blessings,
Brian Emery
YOUTH GROUP
The high school kids have recently returned from an amazing weekend in Niagara Falls with hundreds of other youth from Ontario. The weekend focused on worship led by a band called Nine 0 Five. We had a guest speaker from California, Mike Foster and he talked about being hooked on faith and how we can live our lives as Jesus taught us. We had some free time to tour around Niagara Falls as well.
The grade school youth have been meeting bi-weekly. We have a great group of about 15 kids that come out and participate in a variety of activities.
The K-4 group meet monthly and we have about 8 kids that come out regularly. We focus on a vacation bible school type program and a few high school kids earn community service hours by helping out.
The youth group is also continuing to run the college link program where we send out care packages to the post secondary kids in our community!
Monday, March 1 from 6:30-7:30pm K-4 Activity Night
Friday and Saturday, March 12-13 Youth Retreat at St Marys Presbyterian Church
Saturday March 27-High school breakfast club-9am at Sunset diner
Tuesday March 30-Activity Night for kids grades5-8 at the church from 7-9pm
Sunday April 11-Kids are helping with ushering during the church service
Monday April 12-Activity night for K-4 from 6:30-7:30pm
Tuesday April 13/Tuesday April 27, 7-9pm--ITAV-volunteer needed. Share a talent that you have with the youth in our church.
Saturday April 24 high school breakfast club at Sunset diner 9am.
Financial Report as at Jan 31, 2010
Year Year to Annual
to date date Budget Budget (Proposed)
Support of our Church 10,866. 12,450. 162,000.
Specials 20. 250. 3,000.
Building 405. 500. 6,000.
Presbyterians Sharing 835. 917. 11,000.
P.W.S.&D.* 346. 375. 4,500.
Mission 415. 292. 3,500.
*Presbyterian World Service & Development