A Blessings and Peace

Are you having di"culty getting into the Christmas spirit this year? I’ve heard several comments from many that this is so. For some it is simply the lack of snow that makes it hard to believe Christmas is almost here. Christmas just isn’t Christmas without that white stuff gently falling - allowing holiday opportunities for tobogganing, skating and skiing with family and friends. Perhaps it is all the political turmoil in our country that challenges our Christmas spirit. For others, the lack of Christmas spirit has a much more serious source. It lies in the predicament that people are experiencing as a result of the worldwide economic crisis. This crisis has forced many families to take a hard look at where cut backs can be made in order to reduce financial stress. It has caused others to live with little hope or joy. Some look ahead and see only darkness and pain.... Read More...

Why We Believe In The Bear Chief?

I still remember my first (and only) UFO sighting.

A young lad I was, and “it” happened when I was driving down a residential street late one evening.

Some peculiar lights caught my eye, and before I even knew what was going on, I had stopped my car, jumped out, and started flagging any traffic around me to stop and do the same. I was successful in stopping a large dude on a motorcycle to whom I proudly announced: LOOK, a UFO !!!! Read More...

Some Eccentric Scientists - Setting the Record Straight!

“What I like about scientists,” said John Wilmott, Minister of supply 1945-47 in the United Kingdom Government, “ is that they are a team so that one need not know their names.” It is perhaps from public statements of this kind that the public gets the predominant impression of the scientist as a colorless, odorless, passionless pioneer who works continually and unemotionally in the far off corner of some dreary and aseptic laboratory. Scientists are different but not different from each other. Scientists can communicate but only to each other. Scientists may be necessary to society but often seem not to be part of that public.... Read More...

The Richtiks in China

After years of being encouraged by Roy Halstead to visit China Jim and I booked an Intrepid tour for three weeks in April. This tour company out of Australia assumes that you want an inexpensive tour of up to 12 similarly adventurous people plus a guide.

Our young Chinese guide had renamed himself Harry, which he considered to be a power name. Harry informed us that we were to learn three Chinese words a day but, in practice, it was he who spent the time refining his English which was already good.... Read More...

Fields of verdant wheat and lovely yellow mustard contrast with dusty arid plains with only a few hardy shrubs. Over much of both there teems living creatures, both human and animals, goats sheep and cows.

An image that symbolizes India for me is a slender woman in a brilliant green Sari leading a herd of goats with 4 before and 5 behind across a diagonal path through a field of wheat or some other green growth. On her head she carries a large bundle of firewood consisting of cuttings of bushes and the like. This woman is likely headed for her home, probably a hovel, out of my sight. Now, she is not poor, for she has her goats. She is probably married and may be mid-ranged in the society of the village, I guess. Not poor, compared to those who carry all their possessions on their person, and sleep on the street or in alleyways of the village foraging amongst the garbage of the better-off. To my mind she represents the beauty, the mystique and the dire poverty as well as the determined nature of ordinary people... Read More...

In Love with Adultery?

I am confused.

Work through this with me: The Bible says: God is love (1 John 4:8). The Bible says: Love is not jealous (1 Corinthians 13:4). The Bible says: God’s name is jealous and this God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14).

See my conundrum?

The above is a classic example of proof-texting. And proof-texting is the shameless slapping together of verses with absolutely no regard for context in order to make the Bible say what you want it to say (or in this case, to make it say what you probably wouldn’t want it to say). It is what televangelists like Jack Van Impe do in order to explain “world events” and in the process become fabulously wealthy (memo to self&hellip.... Read More...

The Centre for Christian Studies - a national theological school of the United Church of Canada, that is located at Woodsworth House, 60 Maryland Street - has been preparing women and men for ministry for over 100 years. Its predecessors were established to provide theological education and training for women back in the late 1800s at a time when ministry opportunities were opening up to women in the form of missionary and deaconess work. From today’s perspective it seems quite unremarkable for women to be ministers and in leadership positions in the church. However when these schools were opened, the thought of women doing any kind of public ministry was considered to be quite a radical thing.... Read More...

In 1964 Ross Yarnell of Winnipeg, a lawyer, and Shelagh McCulley of St. James, a school teacher, became Mr. & Mrs. Yarnell. They gave birth to and raised three children: Jennifer, now a Social worker in Victoria, Patrick, now an Environmental manager for Parks Canada and Derek, now a Director with an Advertising Agency in Toronto. Ross has been a member of Westminster since 1948 and Shelagh since 1967... Read More...

Last year, the moderator said United Churches should concentrate less on physical plant and more on helping others in our community and internationally. How well are we doing in helping others who don’t sit in our pews? Not badly, it would seem. Westminster has had a good reputation for outreach and that reputation is continuing – despite the need to set aside funds for leaky roofs. A good place to start an examination of our work is the Outreach Committee, chaired by Pat Miles. Its proposed budget for this year tells an interesting story.... Read More...

A Christmas Message from Robert Campbell

If there is a word that sums up December, it must surely be “preparations.” By now, our preparations for Christmas are in full fl ight. Trees and lights have gone up, decorations have been hung, poinsettias are being purchased, baking being churned out, malls being thronged, cards and gifts being mailed or delivered, donations being made, travel plans being fi nalized, lists being composed, and, in organized households, lists being ticked off.... Read More...

Sermon by Dr. James Christie

For the last several years I have contributed on a regular basis to a feature in the Ottawa Citizen which appears every Saturday and, which, I am told is a widely read feature of the newspaper. It is contributed to by 3 or 4 Christians of various stripes, by a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh. But is has the ghastly title of “Ask The Religion Experts”. Every week a question is posed to the religion experts and we have till Tuesday Noon to prepare a 300 word response. And I live in fear that the day will come when I stand before the Mercy Seat and find the Almighty staring down on me intoning the question,” So, you thought you were an expert did you?” But even more, the question that I dread hearing is the one that proceeds from the Divine Lips and it is this,” Just what part of ‘Love your neighbor’ do you not understand?”.... Read More...

Thoughts on the Dilemma of the Decade

There are two meanings to the word dilemma. The first is a situation requiring a decision between two equal and often equally undesirable alternatives. The second is a problem seemingly incapable of present solution. It is in the latter sense that I will interpret the word. There is one significant area where policy decisions on a national scale will have to be made in Canada in the near future. This is climate change, and the specific question, is global warming fact or fiction and, if fact, what should be done?... Read More...

A policy on sabbaticals for ministers has been adopted by the General Council Executive of the United Church and came into effect in 2006. It defines a sabbatical as “a period of at least three consecutive months intentionally set aside by Ministry Personnel in pastoral relationships as an occasion for reflection, recreation, and revitalization, unencumbered by their usual and customary responsibilities, and yet still receiving their usual remuneration and benefits. Sabbatical finds expression in study, rest, spiritual retreat, and prayer.”... Read More...

Westminster Housing Society - Reshaping a Neighbourhood

One of the significant achievements of Westminster Church was the creation in 1993 of Westminster Co-Op (that lovely four-story building at 145 Maryland) followed by Westminster Housing Society, which constructed and owns the townhouse units just a short distance north. Westminster Housing Society went on to become a major developer in the West Broadway area, building new duplexes and rehabilitating older houses in the area for the benefit of low income tenants.... Read More...

This is a fable based, in part, on sketchy memories of a misspent childhood.

Ms. Magnan, my first Sunday School teacher, was a stocky woman with a grey wig that, moments of duress, marched down her forehead. She was the absolute monarch of a tiny, stifling room behind the choir loft of my first church (not Westminster).

Our teacher was a literalist. The words of the Bible had to be taken literally; they were not to be interpreted. She was also a fundamentalist – a literalist who claims his or her religion is the only one worthy of respect.... Read More...

An Easter Message from Rev. Robert Campbell

There is really no getting around the fact that we experience Easter differently than the folk who were present for the first Easter. For us, it is a day of observance, a time to remember what we have re- ceived. For them, it was a day filled with shock and awe, a time that changed their lives spectacularly and irrevocably. Read More...

We have once again entered the season of Lent. Lent has been described as a symbolic retracing of Christ’s journey to the cross. On that walk he endured suffering, betrayal and rejection. In our times, the lonely, hungry, and persecuted still walk Christ’s journey. Prisoners of conscience in bleak prisons, the poverty stricken, and those who have lost loved ones are just a few of the many who walk Christ’s walk each day.... Read More...

Matters of Justice & Personal Worth

(Val gave this article from Westminster’s pulpit on Sunday, January 28/07. The Editor believes it needed a wider circula- tion.) When I first went town to work with our partner organization in Guatemala, I already knew that the indigenous Mayan women of that country have low self-esteem. What I discovered is that they don’t just have low self-esteem. They have no sense of self whatsoever. They cannot even think of themselves as individuals outside of their husbands and children.... Read More...

As we embark on a New Year, I am reminded of an incident that occurred during this past Christmas Season. As I entered a Grocery Store with my son, I was asked if I would be willing to donate a few dollars in support of a cause. I politely said “no” to the person, and then moved on. My son asked me why I didn’t give any money considering that the cause was wor- thy (and the cause was worthy). My response to him was, I just can’t help every cause out there. I can’t.... Read More...

When I was a boy, my thoughts at this time of year were almost exclusively focused on what I was going to get, or at least hoped to get, for Christmas. Now that I am a middle-aged man, my thoughts in early December focus on what carols I’ll get to sing, or hear sung, throughout the Christmas season. As I look outside and see the snow falling, I am reminded that Christmas and the season of gift giving are fast approaching. For many of us, conversations these days revolve around the gifts we are planning to give to family members and friends... Read More...

A Life In Medicine

Thomas Edward Cuddy (Ted to us) was recently recognized for a lifetime achievement by The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Manitoba. He served on their Board for 32 years. While involved in the Board work he also served on the Scientific and Scientific Review Committees of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba and Canada and spent time on the national Board. These activities were, of course, all as a volunteer.... Read More...

Harold Luross: A Brief look at A Long Life

In the late 1800’s a Norwegian farmer named Luraas emigrated with his family from Norway to the town of Sisseton, South Dakota, just south of the Red River Valley.

The story goes that they found the climate too cold for their livestock and the farm failed. They then headed north in 1905 to Atwater, Saskatchewan where they broke the land, settled in and became Canadians the same year Saskatchewan became a Canadian province.... Read More...

The Boylings have been in Westminster Church long enough, (since November,1969) that theirs are familiar faces to most people in the congregation. Phyllis has served in our choir from 1969 to 2004 (she actually started church choir singing at age 7 in a church in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan). Sid, who frequently reads the morning scriptures in our services, has served on the Worship Committee and for a number of years was responsible for recruiting and organizing the ushers and greeters in the narthex, a job, he says, which was a great happiness for him.... Read More...

80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED CHURCH

We have just passed our eightieth anniversary as a Canadian denomination. There are a few of our members who were born before the union officially took place, but hardly any of them will be old enough to remember the event. And none will remember in a personal way the declared intentions of what the entity was that the unionists were working to create. In this brief article I want to draw attention to a decision that was made very early on in the negotiations between the three uniting denominations about what the name of the “new” church was going to be called. Its name was to be the United Church of Canada.... Read More...

A LOOK-BACK TO AIDEN CONKLIN and HIS FAMILY

Does the name Aidan Conklin ring a bell? For many Westminster parishioners, the answer is likely yes. The more difficult question for those who grew up in the western end of Winnipeg is, ‘What kind of bell?’... Read More...

The editor of this worthy journal asked me to write a column on this quote from American minister Annie Dillard: “Whenever the church disengages from the culture, the culture always wins.” I said I’d be delighted to write for the newsletter. Only one problem: What did the quote mean? Did Ms. Dillard mean that the church needs more guitar- picking, sandal-shod ministers who talk earnestly about Jesus saving baby lambs?... Read More...

On the second Sunday in Advent, our gospel lesson was the beginning of the first chapter of Mark. What is immediately apparent to any reader is that there is no Christmas in this gospel. Jesus makes his first appearance as a fully grown man and we are immediately drawn into his ministry.... Read More...

He’s the tall gentleman with white hair, a ready smile, the far-off breath of Ireland in his speech; who sits on the south side of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. We gave out copies of his book, “Tales and Tales” a collection of his essays as prizes at last year’s Westminster Golf Extravaganza.... Read More...

113th ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY, November 6 at 10:30 AM.

On Anniversary Sunday, we will be pleased to welcome as our guest preacher, the Rev. Dr. Thomas H. Troeger who this year became J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor of Christian Communication at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. His primary task at Yale is to teach homiletics, or the theology and art of preaching.... Read More...

WELCOME JOAN JARVIS

A message from Joan…

An image that always speaks to me with regard to ministry and our lives is that of a weaving. I cherish the beauty of differing strands of wool, the textures bumpy, smooth, soft, rough, weak and strong. We can easily visualize the various threads in vibrant colours, or soft gentle hues, woven into patterns that come together to form something creative.... Read More...

Welcome to new member Andrea Tiwari, who was a member of the Teen Confirmation class, and was confirmed at Westminster on Sunday, May 15th. Andreais in Grade 9 at Garden City Collegiate. She enjoys traveling, taking pictures, and playing volleyball. Three of Andrea’s hopes for the future are to attend university in another city, see the Seven Wonders of the World, and be successful in life.... Read More...

For the past few months, eight teens have been exploring their faith in Westminster’s teen confirmation class. Led by Robert Campbell, Katherine Abra, and Teresa Rydberg, the group met on three Friday evenings, and on one Sunday afternoon, to prepare themselves for renewal of their Baptismal vows, to become members of the Church. This renewal and confirmation event will take place Sunday, May 15th. The group also participated in community service at International HOPE and Winnipeg Harvest, lead the worship component of the Christian Education Committee’s Getting Ready for Easter event, and visited a church of another Christian denomination. Below, a short biography of each new member.... Read More...

WHO ARE THE BATS?

They’ve been with us burrowing about in mountains of donations since 1995. People like Audrey Beaudry, Jo Brown, Marg Bulloch, Ken Clark, Gladys Comeault, Doreen Dagdick, Beth Derraugh, and Eleanor Dines. People we have sat with on Sunday mornings like Larry and Sylvia Elder, Eileen and Charlie Fred, Elaine Finnbogason, Shirley Fowler, Marj Harvey, Arlene Hintsa, Lynn and Lawrence Heise, Effie Isford, Norma and Bruce Linney, Keith and Ann Love.... Read More...

The debate over same-sex marriage is missing the point. Opponents of same-sex marriage say it will give marriage a mighty whomp and drop it to the canvas. But they are overlooking this fact: Marriage is already on the ropes. You can't blame gays and lesbians for that. Heterosexuals have done dandy job of pounding marriage. "Societies can have civilized marriage or civilized divorce," he says. "Our society opted for civilized divorce, and we have been living with the consequences ever since." Dr. Phil McGraw (I love Dr. Phil because he's smart and not namby-pamby) has a different point of view. He says "we're worse at being married than almost anything we do." Read More...