Ralph Connor Memorial United Church
Weekly
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Friday, August 27, 2021
by Thursday at 11:00 AM
We will have a simplified Newsletter for the summer, with fresh content each week ~ please refer to the June 25th Newsletter click here~.
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OUTDOOR WORSHIP
~THIS SUNDAY~
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Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 11:00 AM (note time!!)
at the Millennium Park Ball Diamond
Our service will focus on GRATITUDE and God’s good gifts. The focus scripture is James 1: 17-27 click here~. Our guest musician is Aurora Borin!
Bring a lawn chair, a water bottle, and dress for the elements! We hope to have our Church greeting cards available for sale, as well as information about “Orange Shirt Day” at the end of September. We also have a box of Ruth Oltmann's books, "Ruthie's Trails: A Lifetime of Adventure" for free give-away. Some of you may know Ruth from the trails of K-Country!
We realize that not everyone will have the same comfort level at gathering, and hope to provide a respectful environment for all, regardless of comfort level. We will have masks and hand sanitizer available, but in an outdoor environment are not requiring either of these. For those who would like “a little more distance” from their neighbours, we suggest setting up your chair more in the 2nd base/centre field direction, while those who don’t mind being closer together could set up closer to the 3rd base line. (Ah, the joys of being on a ball diamond! – GW)
Please note that the September 5th Worship service will be online only; on Sept 12 we are planning to be outdoors again at the Diamond!
Helpers still needed for Aug 29 Outdoor Service
THANK YOU to everyone who helped out on August 15th, when 43 of us gathered for outdoor worship. Many of the folks who helped on August 15th are not available on the 29th when we will be at the Ball Diamond once again, so we will need a fresh crop of volunteers: in particular, a set-up crew (including someone to take tables, banner etc from RCMUC to the diamond, and additional helpers for the "glory job" of raking up and disposing of the elk droppings prior to service time!). If you can help, please contact Greg, [email protected]
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At the beginning of August, RCMUC Council had revisited our COVID Guidelines for building usage. The new briefer version is posted here~.
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$ ""A message from the Stewards $
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“Gratitude” Sundays
Thank you to the staff and volunteers for all of their work throughout the “COVID times.”
While we have not been able to be together in person, donations have allowed us to continue with YouTube Worship services, Pastoral Care, Property work, CYAN, and our other missions.
We are grateful to have the opportunity to gather together on Sundays August 15 and 29 in the ball diamond.
If you haven’t had an opportunity to donate, since we have not been able to “pass the plate” for the past 17 months, we will have a dropbox at the entrance to the ball diamond.
There you can deposit cash, cheques or envelopes.
Or if you prefer, use the “Donate Now” button on the websites: for Ralph Connor, please go to http://ralphconnor.ca/giving/
or for Rundle, http://rundleunited.ca/donate/.
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For several weeks, our Friday newsletter has featured calls of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We will resume this practice in the fall, and in the meantime would like to announce the following initiative... |
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Join the Orange Shirt Day Team
Ralph Connor is operating a booth each Sunday afternoon in September. The purpose is to interest people in Orange Shirt Day on September 30th. A variety of materials will be available to entice them to learn more about Residential Schools and Indigenous History. A virtual clip board has two drawbacks ……
How do you learn more and sign up without a magic pen or someone to talk to after church? Just call, text or email Mary Shearer [email protected] 403-609-0690. The Sunday afternoons are: Sep. 5, 12, 19 and 26. Thanks to seven volunteers we just have 7 spots remaining. Book now!
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Donations for Banff Rundle Thrift Shop
If anyone from RCMUC would like to donate items to the Rundle United Thrift Shop, please contact Carole Rowe [email protected] or Sim Stroes-Gascoyne [email protected] and they will receive the items at their homes or even collect from your home and then deliver to Rundle.
Clothing, housewares, and small electrical appliances are all welcome but no furniture. Currently the Thrift Shop has a good supply of books.
The summer hot ticket items have been towels of all sizes, shorts, casserole dishes and jewellery.
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We have two prayer groups at RCMUC: The Healing Pathway Prayer which meets on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Tuesday's “Morning Prayer” group.
We request that the person gives consent to have their name mentioned in prayer as privacy/confidentiality is of utmost importance. We also would appreciate knowing when the situation changes and we can release them from our prayers or update the prayer to a changing need.
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On a rainy Tuesday night, CYAN had its monthly Young Adults Pasta Night on August 17. As per our current COVID guidelines, supper was cooked and served up indoors then eaten outdoors. Forty meals were served! Thanks to everyone who helped and to the many local businesses who donated ingredients. It’s so good to have this connection between RCMUC and the Young Adults of our community!! |
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Pastoral Care Committee Benevolent Fundraiser |
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Thank you photographers for submitting many beautiful images! The first 5 images have been selected and sent to print.
The balance of the "Members Only Trial" packets will be available for purchase at the August 29 outdoor service. Bring your $10 cash and go home with 5 notecards. Proceeds to Benevolent Fund. If you miss out we will accept orders and print more of this first series.
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The September 2021 issue of Broadview has a couple of items about some of the things we have learned about "being Church" during the pandemic. The article entitled "Essential Services", pp. 20-25 interviews a number of Church leaders including our own Rev Shannon Mang! Also available online at https://broadview.org/are-churches-essential-services/
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Mark your calendars - we are planning a Canmore "Earth Jam" the weekend of Sep 24-25. Check greenexodus.ca for details! |
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Our gratitude to Robin Slater for offering the following feature in our weekly Newsletter, as part of our efforts to be a more broadly inclusive, and affirming, Community of Faith.
ROBIN'S WEB
CONNECTING DIVERSITY
We’ve been learning and thinking all summer, now is the time for action as we gear up for September. Volunteer, protest (peacefully), and use your purchase-buying-power to support justice. We can tackle tough issues with the Creator’s help, especially as now we are more cognizant of our shortcomings. And, always with prayer.
The Most Rev. Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Archbishop in the Anglican Church of Canada, shared a prayer that was used at every gathering of the “Remembering the Children” church leaders tour, gatherings that took place before the time of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. These words still speak today...click here~.
To think that we now have a Governor General who speaks two Canadian languages and only one of them is “official”. I had goose bumps listening to the installation of the First Indigenous/Northern GG. I cringed when Mary Simon expressed gratitude to the Queen but appreciated her comments on “renewed sense of possibility…and hope. Reconciliation is getting to know one another; it equals a way of life.”
The graces and societal sins we inherit are complex and felt extra acutely these days; it’s easy to become paralyzed navigating minefields we didn’t create. "How does one become a positive agent of change for a problem that is not just personal, but interpersonal, cultural, and structural?" David Bailey shares five pillars that he’s come to see as foundational for all those institutions and communities that desire to say yes to the decades-long call of reconciliation on God’s terms: Recognize that reconciliation is spiritual formation; Practice increasing your cultural intelligence; Learn the many different narratives your community holds; Participate in cross-cultural collaboration; Engage in reconciling culture-making. "Being grounded in spiritual formation and hopeful imagination in a collaborative community is the foundation to creating a future worth fighting for." Click here~.
Rituals create community by translating our love into action. Emotions such as love and gratitude are not just feelings in response to events – things that happen to us – but possibilities for action. Click here~.
Religions for Peace USA held a webinar on July 22, 2021, about the moral and spiritual responsibilities for addressing racial injustice through reparations. The recording is below. To learn more about reparations, a list of online educational resources from religious communities is available at [email protected] in the July 23, 2021 issue. Click here~.
Addressing the root causes of racial injustice in America is fundamental to achieving lasting change. Bryan Stevenson has dedicated his life to doing just that. As a leading civil rights lawyer, Stevenson made his name saving dozens of wrongfully convicted inmates from execution through his Equal Justice Initiative. He speaks with Walter Isaacson about solutions, from a change in the culture of policing to an embrace of truth and reconciliation. YouTube link here~.
How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time: Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on black Americans who have committed the crimes of ... eating, walking or generally "living while black." In this profound, thought-provoking and often hilarious talk, he reveals the power of language to change stories of trauma into stories of healing. Click here~.
The ‘Native Land’ Map helps you recognize which Indigenous Territory you live on, around the world. The creators strive to map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages using visuals that go beyond colonial thinking and then changes, challenges, and improves the manner in which viewers see the history of their countries and peoples. “We hope to strengthen the spiritual bonds that people have with the land, its people, and its meaning by providing educational resources to inform the way that people speak about colonialism and indigeneity, and to encourage territory awareness in everyday speech and action. Click here~.
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Ralph Connor Memorial
United Church (RCMUC)
CONTACTS
Administration: Trish Campney
Trish is on vacation from August 27-September 20, though friendly volunteers will fill in when they can
Minister: Rev. Greg Wooley
Music Director: Tanya Sullivan
Tanya is on holidays for the month of August,
Rundle's Aurora Borin is stepping in, and Dave Somerville at the Aug 15 outdoor service - thank you talented musicians
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Please also note: if you are sending letter mail to RCMUC, please include “Box 8901” in the address to make things easier for the folks at Canada Post.
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Rundle Memorial
United Church (RMUC) Contacts
The mail, email and phone messages will be picked up regularly.
Administration: Nancy Murray
Mailing address: P.O. Box 1086
Street address: 102 Banff Ave
Banff, Alberta, Canada T1L 1B1
RMUC Website: http://rundleunited.ca/
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Ralph Connor Memorial United Church
Mailing address: P.O. Box 8901
Street Address: 617 Main Street
Canmore, Alberta, T1W 2B1
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