THE SUNDAY NEWS
MARCH 2, 2008
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ELORA BETHANY PASTORAL
CHARGE The United Church of
Canada PO Box 737, Elora,
ON N0B 1S0 — 519.846.0122 www.elorabethanyuc.org elorabethanyuc@bellnet.ca
Office Hours: Rev. Greg Smith-Young is usually in the
office on weekday mornings. Secretary Judy McMullan
is in the office Thursdays & Fridays from 9:30 to 4:00. |
Worship
Theme for Lent
Prodigal
Sons and Bitter Brothers . . .
and the Saviour Who Welcomes Us All
Exploring
one of Jesus’ best-loved Stories
Jesus was often
criticized for spending time with the wrong sort of people. How did he respond
to his critics? He told stories, including the one we commonly call “The
Parable of the Prodigal Son.” Stories have a way of getting through the
defences we put up. Jesus uses his stories to change us, moving us deeper into
the wonders of God. How might Jesus use it to move us?
February 10:
The Prodigal Son
February 17:
The Bitter Brother
February 24:
The Forgiving Father
March 2:
Finding Ourselves in the Story
March 9:
Celebrate with Me
March 16:
The Welcoming Saviour (Palm/Passion Sunday)
There will be no Elora Junior
Choir rehearsal today. The next rehearsal for Junior Choir will be after
worship next Sunday, March 9th.
Singers from Elora or Bethany are invited to join in the
choir of the next worship event of The
Stand on April 19th at Central Pentecostal. It involves 4 rehearsals:
Apr. 5th (8:30 am – noon), Apr 9th evening, Apr 12th
morning, Apr 19th morning rehearsal and evening concert. It is all
contemporary music. If interested, please talk to Louise Elder (846-2643).
Elora Nursery Do you love babies and preschoolers? Our
nursery is now available during Children’s Worship time. Speak with Barb if you
would like to help with caring for these youngest members of our church family.
Laptop Computer Needed The Grade 6-8 Children’s Worship group needs a
laptop to edit their videos and photos. Needed every Sunday for about a 2 month
span. Contact Marilyn Abraham (787-0096) if you can
help with this need.
Women's World Day of Prayer service will be held this year on Friday
March 7th at 7:00 p.m. at Community of Christ Church in Elora (at the corner of
James St. and Price St.). This year's worship material has
been prepared by women from Guyana.
Elora’s
annual Fish Fry dinner will be held
on March 22, Holy Saturday, this year. It will be at the church, as it was last
year. Tickets are on sale now at the office.
Billets for the
Bethany still needs one Steward and one Presbytery
Rep. Elora has one more opening
on Council and one on Presbytery. If you are interested in
participating in the life of the church this way, or would like to suggest
someone, please speak to Greg.
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Elora-Bethany
Leadership Team for 2007 |
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Bethany Board Denise Beckham (elder) Georgina Cowbrough (elder) Robert McMillan (elder) Bev McMorris (elder) Nancy Watson (elder) Bruce Weech (elder) Gloria Bird (steward) Randy Flewelling (steward) Dennis Forsyth (steward) Gary Hall (steward) Diane Heaton (steward) |
Elora Council Gerrie Ainley (Member at
large) Arlene Callaghan
(Presbytery rep) Curt Hammond (Chair) Gail Hyndman (Finance) Phil Irish (Worship) Marg Markvart (Member at large) Chris McCracken (Christian Education) Marg Riddell (Member at large) Nancy Van Veen (Outreach) Phyllis Waind (UCW rep) Amy Weaver (Ministry & Personnel) |
Ministry & Personnel Mark Beckham (B) Sheila Calvert (E) Gary Hall (B) Diane Heaton (B) Shirley Moore (E) Tom Skimson (E) Amy Weaver (E) |
Events This Week – March 2 to 9 |
Today:
6:00 pm High School Youth – The Gathering
Monday: 7:30 pm Elora
Worship Planning Team
Thursday: 7:00
pm Elora Cantata choir rehearsal
8:15
pm Praise Team
Friday: 7:00
pm Women’s World Day of Prayer
Service at Community of Christ Church
Sunday: after
worship Elora Junior Choir
rehearsal
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Coming Up |
Tuesday, March 11 7:30 pm Elora Council
Wednesday, March 12 8:00 pm Bethany
UCW – roll call: donation for Food Bank
Good Friday, Mar 21 Youth Eventz in Hamilton
Holy Saturday, Mar 22 Fish Fry Supper at Elora
Easter Sunday, Mar 23 7:00 am Sunrise Service in Bissell Park
9:20 am Bethany Easter Service
11:00 am Elora Easter Service
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In the Community |
Drivers wanted Do
you have: a caring concern and respect for your fellow neighbour? a valid driver’s licence and insurance? a reliable
vehicle? free time during the day? 25
years of age or older? the willingness to drive
fellow community members to necessary appointments in the
Camp Ganadaoweh
Bowl-A-thon will be on Saturday April 19th at
1:30 pm at the Waterloo Lanes, 14 Princess St. W. in Waterloo. Teams are needed
by March 15th. Call 519-632-7559 to get your pledge sheets and
register your team.
Getting
to Know How M&S Helps Children
This is a story about how the Mission
and Service Fund is helping people who have very difficult lives.
About
six years ago, a country called East Timor separated from the country of
Indonesia. Since then, there have been problems with the government, fighting
and crime. Thousands of people are leaving the city, looking for safe places in
the countryside. Families have to live crowded together in tent camps. Not only
is it hard to get tents and food for all the people in these camps, but the
children are also missing out on their education and everyone suffers from
being worried and sad all the time. To make things worse, in May 2006 a huge
fight broke out between two warring groups in the capital city, Dili, and now many people live in fear and danger.
The
United Church is partners with an organization in East Timor called Yasona. Yasona receives money
from our Mission and Service Fund. A group of women from the island of Atauro came to Yasona with an idea
for how to use the dolls they made for a living. Yasona
introduced the women to organizations that could use the dolls as a part of
trauma counselling for the people living in the tent
camps. The children loved the brightly coloured cloth
dolls and playing with the dolls helped them talk about what they were going
through. The organizations also bought many dolls as Christmas presents for the
children. With Yasona’s help, 300 dolls were ordered
and delivered to little boys and girls.
United
Church partner Yasona looks at all the problems that
happened because of the May 2006 crisis. They are happy with the success of the
doll project because it helped the women’s group from Atauro
make money for their families, while also helping the children in the tent
camps deal with their traumatic situation. This is one way our M&S Fund
gifts are at work far away.
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Elora Bethany www.elorabethanyuc.org The United Church of Canada National Office www.united-church.ca Hamilton Conference Office www.hamconf.org Waterloo Presbytery www.sentex.net/~watpres Camp Ganadaoweh www.ganadaoweh.ca United Observer Magazine www.ucobserver.org Five Oaks
Conference and Education Centre www.fiveoaks.on.ca |