October 27, 2022
Hello everyone,
It has been a chaotic week. But sometimes great things come out of chaos. Sometimes new life and new possibilities are born out of confusion and frenzy. That’s my experience this week.
A meeting with CTV last Friday began the chaos. I had requested the meeting because of the many pre-emptions in the worship services scheduled this fall. We had been trying to address the concerns about the pre-emptions with St. Peters by some creative planning that included switching TV Sundays and planning for a joint service between St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s on November 6.
However, that joint service has now been postponed to a time when we have more ability to prepare and focus on the development of the relationship between the two congregations.
We were able to postpone that joint service because CTV responded to our concerns about pre-empted services very creatively. The result is as follows
On Sunday December 4 and December 18 our services will be taped as usual between 10 am and 11 am. Then at 11 am they will be broadcast on CTV2 London. This is great news because those on both Rogers and Bell who receive CTV Kitchener also receive CTV2 London. So please help to spread the word. CTV2 London is channel 9 on Rogers and channel 1202 on the Bell network. On those two Sundays people can watch on tv beginning at 11 am on CTV2 London.
So the service on November 6 will not be a joint service. Instead, we will have our regular service here at St. Andrew’s. It will also be the Remembrance Day Sunday.
This Sunday is also Anniversary Sunday – 2022 marks 168 years since Presbyterians started worship in downtown Kitchener (Berlin at the time). The year was 1854. The congregation was constituted the following year, in 1855. The inaugural worship service of the new congregation was led by the minister from Doon Presbyterian Church at the time.
On top of that, we have a congregational meeting on Sunday immediately after the service. It will be in the sanctuary, but you can also connect via Zoom using the invitation at the end of this email. Originally the meeting was going to hear 2 reports – one from the church consultant on governance (the way we make decisions) and two from the Roy Street Task force outlining a possible legendary mission, for the congregation supporting and working with adults with special needs. The church consultant is not available this Sunday, so we will have only one report to deal with – the Roy Street Task Force Report. Bob Fewster, convenor, will lead that report. The session will call another congregational meeting at another time to hear the governance report.
Hopefully this is clear for everyone. It is all good news. It means we can connect with our CTV congregation in December. It means we can focus more clearly on the Roy Street Task Force report giving it the time necessary. It also means we can focus on the governance report at another time, giving it more time as well. So out of chaos comes new possibilities. I think there is a lesson to be learned in all of this. Sometimes its hard to go through the chaos. Sometimes it feels like going through a storm, but then, in the grace of God, the skies clear and the way forward is seen. Join us to celebrate the constancy of God’s love in our anniversary service this Sunday morning. God journeys with us in chaos, pointing the way.
Take good care all of you
Marty