Pitter by Pat
“When they entered the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary. So they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” ~Matthew 2:11
These precious things were traditional gifts to honour a king or deity in the ancient world: gold as a precious metal, frankincense as perfume or incense, and myrrh as anointing oil. I wonder what we would replace these gifts with, if we were to offer a gift of reverence to someone extraordinary in today’s world? When I asked myself this question, the following story came to mind.
A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."~Author Unknown
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 reminds us that there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
The holiday season is one of sacredness, family, memories, celebration, festivity, merriment and gift giving. It is the gift giving that creates a dilemma for so many of us; a dilemma that I think comes from a community where we have so much abundance, that gift giving becomes overwhelming. It isn’t so much of “keeping up with the Jones’” as it is feeling a need to have what society expects us to possess, thereby keeping up with the demands of this chaotic world. I believe that gift giving has changed from a simple gift of love to gifts of excess.
Have we come to underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around? I remember Christmas as I was growing up, not about the gifts we received - the one special gift from Santa and a stocking – but about the smells of cabbage rolls cooking, turkey with Ukrainian mushroom gravy, fried cabbage and Mom’s amazing shortbread cookies for dessert. Actually, there were a lot of desserts! And I remember laughing. Lots of noise and laughter! These are the gifts I inherited from my youth. These are the gifts I will keep with me forever.
What will I replace gold and myrrh and frankincense with when I give a gift of reverence to those I love this year? I will make sure Santa knows where we live, because the tradition of opening his present and digging through Santa’s stocking to gleefully find tiny treasures remains grounded in our Christmas morning. I will make sure there are smells of dinner cooking, Mom’s shortbreads to devour, sounds of music playing, board games for us to play without getting caught at cheating, and moments of quiet to give thanks for all that we have. And lots of hugs.
It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving. I will replace the wise men’s gifts with the gift of memories to cherish forever. For it is in giving that we receive, and I will receive the only gift that has been important; love from my family and friends. I pray that you will be as lucky as I will be this Christmas season.
May the spirit of Christmas guide you in all you do this holiday season.
Blessings always, Pastor Patricia
Easiest – Ever Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti (Prep: 10 min Total: 58 min)
2 cups flour 2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt 1 1/2 cups Cranberry Almond Crunch cereal
½ cup butter, softened 3 squares white chocolate, chopped
¾ cup sugar 4 squares semi-sweet chocolate, melted
Preheat oven to 325F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well after each addition. Add cereal and chopped white chocolate to dough; stir until well blended. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into 14x2-inch log with lightly floured hands; place on greased baking sheet.
Bake 30 min. or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet. Place on cutting board; cool 5 min. Using a serrated knife, diagonally cut each log into 12 slices; place upright on baking sheet, ½ inch apart. Bake an additional 15 to 18 min. or until slightly dried. Remove from baking sheet. Cool on wire racks.
Dip in or drizzle with melted chocolate. Let stand until set. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature. Makes 2 dozen or 24 servings, 1 biscotti (38g) each.
Hi Everyone
As you know, St. James is a teaching church, and as such I continue on with my DLM courses. I thought I would share with you the expectations of the upcoming January course in Saskatoon. The full assignment document is 50 pages, and I am willing to share it with anyone who would like to have a clearer picture of this session’s goals and expectations.
I’d like to thank Lynda Winson, Ross Wallace and Bonnie Moffat for being my continuing student support team at St. James! I’ll also say thank you to everyone who provides me with feedback and encouragement as I continue to serve this church.
Patricia
Designated Lay Ministry Diploma Program St. Andrew’s College
January 12 – 23, 2015 Theme: Leading in Community
Due Dates Table
Assignment / Due Date / Page NumberLeadership & Conflict Inventories / November 21, 2014 / 9
Reflection Paper on Leadership / November 28, 2014 / 6-7
Book Review / December 15, 2014 / 7-9
Peer Group Presentation pre-circle work
A. Definition exercise
B. Evangelist research paper / A. December 8, 2014
B. January 5, 2015 / 9-11
Article Review & Reflection (on Leadership) / January 6, 2015 / 6
Learning Goals (pre-circle) / January 8, 2015 / 11-12 & Appendices 1&2
Learning Goals revision (in-circle) / January 15, 2015 / 14
Peer Group Panels/Presentations / January 20, 2015 / 14-15
Reading Discussions / See circle agenda / 15
Book Review discussion and short presentations / January 16-17, 2015 / 15
Major Post-Circle Proposal / February 3, 2015 / 17 & Appendices 4 & 6
Peer Group Panel Reflection Papers (2) / February 12, 2015 / 16-17
Reading Discussion with Education Supervisor / February 27, 2015 / 16
Major Post-Circle Project / April 15, 2015 / 17-18 & Appendix 5
Congregational Life Team
Worship Arts:
Listed below are a few special services we would like to highlight. A full list of Advent services is included on the front cover of the newsletter.
Sunday, November 30th begins our first introduction to the “Tree of Remembrance”. Our church family will come together to rememberloved ones who have died, and add ornaments with their names to the Tree of Remembrance. Bring an ornament that honours your loved one in a special way. You will find everything else you need at the front of the church. Write their name with the gold pen onto a white piece of ribbon, tie the ribbon to your decoration, and then find the perfect spot to hang the decoration on the tree. Fill in the sheet of paper that acknowledges the ornament so that their name can be added to next week’s list of loved ones. This can be done every week until December 21st. It will be the most beautiful tree our church has ever had, because it will be decorated with love. The Tree of Remembrance provides families with a time to acknowledge and remember loved ones who are no longer with them. Coming together in community not only honours those who have died, but supports those who remember them.
A special service will be held on Tuesday, December 9th at 7 pm at St. James United Church. This is a Community Wide “Hope for the Holidays” service.
The magic of the holidays is often missing for those suffering grief and loss. Bright lights with the sounds of music do not always lift heavy hearts. If you are experiencing the loneliness and sadness of loss, you are not alone. Please join us for a service honouring and remembering our losses in an atmosphere of faith, hope and love, where prayers, music and messages will comfort and uplift you. Come, so that you can leave with your spirit renewed.
You are invited to bring a memento or symbol of your loss to place on the altar. Candles will be available if you don’t have a memento.
Please call the church office at 705-436-5225 to register.
Innispirit Christmas Concert – Sunday, December 7th at 2 pm - Churchill United Church
The 3rd Annual Innispirit Concert is shaping up nicely. This year our host is Churchill United and they look forward to greeting as many as possible. Besides the combined choir of Gilford, Lefroy, Stroud and Churchill singers, you can expect to have fiddlers, vocal performers, a harpist and 2 prominent Innisfil story readers. You receive all of this, for just a volunteer donation to Christmas For Kids or the Innisfil Food Bank. Remember that extra parking is available at Churchill Community Centre. This afternoon event is guaranteed to lift your spirits...a must for the advent season! Light refreshments to be served after the performance.
Christian Development - Children and Youth:
We started off the school year with our Sundae Sunday luncheon on September 7th with a profit of $152 being raised to fund a shopping trip to Foodland in October. We received a warm welcome and assistance from Foodland as the Sunday school children purchased groceries for the Innisfil Food Bank. With an additional donation of groceries from Foodland, we were able to provide over $200 worth of groceries for the Thanksgiving food drive.
In October, we had a workshop and made several keychain crosses sold at the church bazaar. A profit of $52.00 will be donated to a charity of the children’s choosing.
The children and youth participated in the annual Children’s Sunday service on November 16th under the guidance of Linda Winson.
Rehearsals are underway for our upcoming Christmas pageant on Sunday, December 21st entitled “The First Silent Night”.
We are currently running two age groups of Sunday school classes and welcome anyone who would like to teach a class or two at any time. Please speak to any of the teachers if you are interested.
The Nursery is up and running in the Noah’s Ark room downstairs. Thank you to those who donated items to equip our room for children infant to two years of age. Thank you also to Eleanor Kurchak for her generous donation to purchase items to make it a safe and welcoming area.
Mission and Outreach:
The work of the United Church of Canada, across the country and around the world, is funded by the Mission and Service Fund. Members and supporters know that it takes money to put their faith into action. In the M&S Fund they combine their gifts so that the work of the church can be done effectively.Thank you one and all for your continuous and generous support throughout 2014. St. James had set a 2014 covenant goal of $15,000.00 and we are drawing very near to that number. As of November 1st, your contributions by weekly donations, UCW fundraising, Sunday school loonies & tooniesand contributions monthly to our injured, but undaunted, MS. Piggy, have already raised $11,285.61. These monies will be carefully used to support ongoing ministries and sustain trusted partnerships for the healing of the world, specifically:
· 97 global partners in 25 countries acting for peace and justice
· community and justice work across Canada, with 75 community ministries and 39 chaplaincies
· theological education ministry support at 6 theological schools and 3 education centres
· faith formation and leadership support, including over 100 outreach programs for youth
· grants for 86 congregations in 37 presbyteries
· leadership in our Conference and 12 other Conferences
Accept our heartfelt appreciation for your generosity. Your gifts are a sign of compassion, build community and offer hope.
Looking ahead to December 31st, there are several unfinished projects still being worked on that need your support, namely:
1. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank Fall appeal, which is a Christian response to dissipate/end world hunger, is encouraging us that it’s never too late to tuck a few extra dollars into their specifically designated envelopes and drop them into the collection plate along with our weekly offerings.