December 20

Good evening and God bless you this Friday, December 20, 2024,

Only five more days until our Advent Journey brings us to Christmas.

We light the candle of love this week but our discussion in worship takes us back to hope.

To hope is to be vulnerable. When we hope, we open ourselves to the possibility of being disappointed. Kayla Craig in the devotionals of the Sanctified Art community reflects on how for those of us who bear scars from the hurt of this world, hope can feel scary—too risky, too unrealistic. Cynicism, she says, seems like a safer, more straightforward path. But cynicism doesn't change the world—hope does. Hope challenges us to declare, “It can be better,” and empowers us to make it so.

In our Scripture passages this week both Mary (Luke 1: 46 – 55) and Joseph (Matthew 1: 18 – 25) dare to hope.

Hope for them isn’t so much a feeling or a wish, rather it is what they do.

And I wonder, as we get ready for Christmas, HOW are you hoping this year?

There are a number of other services happening between now and Christmas and this evening at 7:00 pm is our longest night of the year,  or Blue Christmas, service. For any and all of us who have a hard time at Christmas, who are living with grief or loss, this is a service of candlelight and music, silence and Scripture, prayer and poetry. Afterwards you are welcome to stay for some cookies and friendship.

Grace and peace,

Karen

December 13

Good evening and God bless you as we approach this third Sunday in Advent!

This is our John the Baptist week! We spend time with him almost every year in Advent because of the important role he plays in preparing people for the coming of Jesus.
 
Repent he cries out, which means turn. Turn away from the things that separate you from God and God’s ways and turn back to those ways that reunite you with God. It is often not an easy message to hear but as I was contemplating it this week I came across the following poem by Ann Weems (Found in her book Kneeling in Bethlehem, copyright 1980, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA).
 
      Too often our answer to the darkness
                Is not running toward Bethlehem
                          But running away.
 
      We ought to know by now that we can’t see
                Where we are going in the dark.
 
       Running away is rampant…
                Separation is stylish:
                           Separation from mates, from friends, from self.
 
        Run and tranquilize,
                 Don’t talk about it,
                 Avoid.
 
        Run away and join the army
                Of those who have already run away.

        When are we going to learn that Christmas Peace
        Comes only when we turn and face the darkness?
 
        Only then will we be able to see
        the Light of the World.
 
Sometimes we might feel that the world’s problems are really too big for us to solve on our own but to those who asked John the Baptist what they should do he had simple advice: If you have two coats he says, give one to someone who has none.
Small ordinary things like this, are how the journey to the Kingdom begins. Start with doing the good that is yours to do. We can all be what Isaiah calls “repairers of the breach”.
 
Our readings this week include Isaiah 58: 9b – 12 and Luke 3: 1 – 16.
 
Looking forward to Sunday.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Karen
 
PS Did you know? That if you are looking for a copy of the congregational directory Vivian can send you an electronic one by email.
 

December 6

Good evening and God bless you this Friday,

Last week we began our journey through Advent talking about how God blessed Mary, an ordinary girl from a part of the world that people often thought little of, to carry and give birth to Jesus. It reminds us to consider how each one of us is blessed in this way, and invited to be part of bringing God’s love into the world.

As we consider that this week we are meeting up with two other women who like Mary found themselves on the Road to Bethlehem, Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi. Both women have just lost their husbands and while Naomi is from Bethlehem, Ruth who promises to go with her, will be a stranger there.

Kayla Craig in the Devotional from Sanctified Art writes about their journey and says this as she reflects on their story: As nights grow longer and the world seems to hush under the weight of winter, we often find ourselves cloistered and secluded as we wait for the world to thaw. But the season of Advent whispers an ancient truth: We were never meant to journey these paths alone.

Ruth’s choice to journey with Naomi, says Kayla, wasn’t merely about devotion. It was the formation of a new family built not on blood but on kinship, on the daring belief that our lives are better intertwined.

The sermon title this week is based on this observation: We can’t go alone.

Our readings are Ruth 1 and Ecclesiastes 4: 9 – 12.

Looking forward to seeing you then.

Grace and peace,

Karen

P.S. Did you know? Last Sunday, along with Aisling, Ian and Rev. Heather, members of our youth group baked cookies to be delivered to some of our homebound members

November 29

Good evening! And God bless you as we begin the season of Advent!

I love advent. Very often we are tempted to think about it as a time to get through and be ready for Christmas. Only 24 days left and so much to do we might think but Advent in truth is a season in and of itself. A season that if we keep it well is one of those times of the year when we are most deeply confronted with the depths of what it means to be human beings, living in relationship with God and each other in this world.

Advent is the start of the New Year for the church, a time when our endings and beginnings come together and with them, very often our hopes and fears, our successes and our failures, our joys and our sorrow, our faith and our doubt.
 
The readings in Advent speak to endings and beginnings as well.
This week we will be reading from Luke 1: 26 – 38 when the Angel Gabriel comes to Mary. Talk about endings and beginnings! She is going to have a child, one who will change the lives of all of us and make all things new. The words that are spoken to Mary in this time of endings and beginnings are words of God’s Blessing. She is not wealthy or powerful but she is Blessed. What do you think that word blessing means?

I have been wondering about that myself and the sermon title for this week is: You are a blessing!

And here is a question to begin our Advent journey and get ready for worship: what are the words and messages that have shaped you into who you are?

It is going to be a wonderful start to Advent at St. Andrew’s!
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the bazaar, worshipping and sharing communion on Sunday morning and gathering in the candlelit sanctuary Sunday evening for a meditative service for Advent.

In hope and peace,

Karen  

November 22

Good evening and God bless you this Friday!

As we look forward to worship this week a lot of my planning and perhaps yours has been looking ahead to next week. When we gather then it will be a whole new church year and we will be starting Advent, that season we are giving for getting ready to welcome the mystery of God coming to us in Jesus.

But that is next week!
And as much as we want to jump ahead, this week we are called to pay attention to the ending of the year just passed. Just as we might do with other “year ends” that we experience in our lives… things like end of the school year, end of the financial year, the day before our birthdays… we have an opportunity to reflect back on the things that really mattered so that we might look ahead with hope.
 
As we have journeyed with Jesus this year we have come to know him by many names.
 
With the prophets of advent we have called him Prince of Peace, Messiah, Wonderful counsellor, and Son of Man. Along with his disciples we have called on Jesus as teacher, healer, brother and Jesus himself has taught us to call him The Bread of life, Living Water, The light of the World.
 
There are many names by which we know and call Jesus but on this Sunday, as the year comes full circle and we attempt to capture the fullness of who he is for us, the name we use for Jesus today is King.
 
This, the final Sunday of the church year, is Christ the King Sunday and it recalls for us that the earliest confessions of the church is “Jesus is Lord”. Not Cesar or his governor (who shows up in one of our readings this week) but Jesus.

As far as church history goes, the celebration of Christ the King Sunday is relatively new. It began 99 years ago and was first instituted by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The First World War was still a recent memory and as dictators began to rise to power he felt called to reinforce the Lordship of Christ above all earthly powers and to remind the faithful that the nature of Jesus’ kingship is gained by his nature and his love and not seized by violence.

Our passages this week include both Jesus before Pontius Pilate in John 18 and 2 Samuel 23 as King David is dying and reflects on what Godly rule looks like. In the context of Christ the King Sunday and our reflections on the year gone by and hopes for the year to come, there is an invitation here to consider the kind of people we are called to be and become, and how our faith in and faithfulness to Jesus shapes the way we live.

See you on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

November 15

Good evening and God be with you as the weekend approaches,
 
I was so sorry to miss the service last week with the baptism, guest speaker and Service of Remembrance with new music written by Matthew and performed by the choir. Many thanks to the many of you involved and to Heather Pilkey and Reverend Heather Paton who led the service. Having had the opportunity to be part of the online community I must also say thank you to Ken Parlee and his team who do a fabulous job week after week to bring the service into our homes.
 
As I write I am feeling much better and planning to be in worship although with my mask on as Ottawa Public Health still asks that we do this when in public for ten days after testing positive for COVID.

We are going to be welcoming a guest speaker, Carragh, who is the Program Coordinator, Sexuality and Inclusion with the national office of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
 
Carragh’s sermon is based on 1 Samuel 1:4-20, 2:1-10 and Mark 13:1-8. Two passages where the temple Jerusalem and the promises and hopes of God figure large. Their sermon title is From Alienation to Divine Community.
 
Following worship Carragh will share a lunch and learn presentation about LGBTQI2+ inclusion in the church. The presentation will explore ways to define inclusion and the benefits of pursuing inclusion within churches and their communities. Carragh will also offer some advice for how congregations can become more inclusive of LGBTQI2+ people and their families.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Karen
 

November 8

Good evening and God bless you this Friday,

It is Remembrance Sunday this weekend and in worship we will be remembering and observing a time of silence for those who have died in wars.

At the end of this week when my words and perhaps yours have at times failed, this solemn communal silence observed together is a powerful moment.

I was trying to think of the words to describe this silence and then I realized that is not the point. We observe silence, we don’t explain it. Sometimes it just falls upon us, at others we enter it intentionally.

I wonder what the sacred moments of silence in your life have been? When did they come?

After the loss of a loved one?
At the birth of a child?

Kurt Vonnegut in his book Breakfast of Champions writes this:

“When I was a boy,… all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to (humankind).”

God’s word is offered to us in the Scriptures each week and for this Sunday they are Mark 1:9-13 where we hear of God’s love for us in baptism and Mark 12:28-34 where we remember that the greatest commandments are summed up in the love of God and neighbour.

I am so very glad that we are also celebrating the sacrament of Baptism this Sunday as well. It too is a wonderful sign of life and love for a community that hopes and remembers together in Christ.

See you then.

Grace and peace,

Karen

November 1

To all the saints!

I was reminded recently of how much I love the beginning of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. The first 6 verses read like this: 

 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishop  and deacons
 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 I thank my God for every remembrance of you,  always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ –
 
Just imagine what it was like for those who first received this letter? The Saints in Philippi for whom Paul gives thanks.

To be a saint is to be sanctified, made Holy, to serve God, because of the work of Christ among us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Who are the Saints? All of us, in every time and place who are united in Jesus Christ whether we are dead or alive.

Today, November 1st is All Saints Day and this weekend we will be celebrating All Saints Sunday.

This is a time to commemorate and give thanks (as Paul does in his letter that I quoted above), for the grace and work of God through ordinary people.

And it is a day when we remember and give thanks for the gifts and inspiration of those who have died, and who we continue in solidarity with through Jesus.

We will be reading from Isaiah  25: 6 – 9 and Revelation 21: 1 – 6, both passages which speak of the day when the promises of God will be fulfilled but I invite you to spend time with the opening of the letter to the church in Philippi as well knowing that as a letter to the saints it is a word for us today as well. May the Grace and peace of God that it offers be with us all, as we give thanks and pray for each other.

Grace and peace be with you.

Karen

And PS: don’t forget the clocks go back an hour on Sunday!

October 25

Good afternoon and Friday blessings!
 
Last week in worship Reverend Heather interviewed our guest preacher, Reverend Victor Kim, asking him three different questions, what was his favourite Bible Story, where does he feel closest to God and what does he love most about church? Such great questions, but before I could ask you them this week, Jesus interrupted with a question of his own. I found it in the middle of one of this weeks Scripture passages and it is this: What do you want me to do for you?
 
It is a question that Jesus asked a man named Bartimaeus and you can read all about it as you get ready for worship this week in Mark 10: 46 – 52.
 
Our other Scripture readings this week are Job 42: 1 – 6; 10 – 17.
 
After church this week we are trying something new. A pot luck lunch and the details for participating are found below.
 
Looking forward to worshipping together.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Karen
 

October 18

Good evening and Friday blessings!

As we get ready for worship this week it is Anniversary Sunday and we as a congregation are 196 years old! How awesome is that?

As I said during the Thanksgiving service, whether it is a good year or bad year, there are always things to be thankful for. As I give thanks for the life and work of St. Andrew’s this week I have been considering the ways and opportunities that the church has to bring and know joy.

We talked about this at the pastoral care meeting this week and it has stayed with me since. How joy comes through feelings of connection, of knowing we are loved, of loving in our turn, in the making and keeping of friends. Joy can come as well through the gift of meaningful work and the opportunity to make a difference in the world and the lives of others. It can find us when we take up the challenge of trying new things, learning new skills discovering new gifts. Joy is what we are made for and in the church family I give thanks for the unique ways we can know and be surprised by joy.

Our guest in the pulpit this week is Reverend Victor Kim who is the Principal Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC). I am excited that he has agreed to come celebrate with us and have invited him to stay after church for a lunch and learn. In his current position Victor has an interest in the stories of hope and possibility in the PCC. It is always good to remember that we are part of God’s larger church.

The sermon for Sunday is called Investing in Hope and is based on Jeremiah 32: 1 – 3a, 6 – 15 which is the story of the prophet Jeremiah buying a field in the midst of a siege.
 
Looking forward to worship.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Karen
 

October 12

Happy Thanksgiving!

At First Sunday last week we played a game of charades where two teams of youth wrote down ways we show our thanks for the opposing team to act out.  I was expecting they'd think of things like writing notes or calling someone on the phone.  To my delight, both teams came up with different 'giving back' examples: helping family, giving to others and sharing with those in need.  These were not the easiest things to act out but the ways they did it were very entertaining.  My goal was to get them thinking about how they show gratitude in their lives.  It helped me to see how they think about serving as a way of being thankful and I was reminded that we have very wise youth in our midst!   I thought that was a lovely testament to how they are being brought up in families, schools and a church where they are learning the value of giving as a practice of gratitude.  They clearly know that thanksgiving is not just about lip-service but showing our thanks with our lives.

In this same spirit of giving on this holiday weekend we are asking you to bring in your food donations to worship this Sunday.   During the offering we're inviting the children who are there to collect the food items in the pews around them and bring them to the front.  

This will be one of the interactive ways the children will engage in worship for our All Ages worship.  There will be no Sunday School this week and children are welcome to be their wiggly and wonderful selves for the entire service.  Activity kits will be handed out and I kindly ask for them to be returned at the end of the service. 

I wish you peace and presence as you go into this holiday weekend.  

Rev. Heather Paton

October 6

Good evening and Friday blessings!

It is World Communion Sunday this week and as Reverend Heather wrote in her weekly email to families with children, that means that this week we will be celebrating communion with people all around the world!  It is, Rev. Heather reminds us,  a special way to remember how we are joined together by the love of Jesus no matter how far apart we live, no matter how we practice this sacrament. This is especially meaningful as we think about the ongoing violence in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere in our troubled world. As we gather this week and share in this sacrament, we will be praying for peace. 

This is going to be a busy week.

After worship this week is the Walk in Support of the Centretown Emergency Food Centre, which is one of the ways we seek to be part of what God is doing to feed the world. All of you who are walking are invited to a pizza lunch beforehand. The walk itself begins this year at the Church of the Ascension in the Glebe instead of City Hall. If you still want to sign up or would like to support those of us walking you can do so through this link on the website https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/centretown-churches-social-action-committee/p2p/walk/team/st-andrews-striders.

On Wednesday night the Ukrainian Ambassador will be speaking in the sanctuary at 7:00pm. While the event is free you do need to register ahead of time on Eventbrite and the link for that is below.

This week we also start a new session of the Sanctuary Mental Health Course on Thursday (which is also World Mental Health Day). This is an eight week, in person, series that begins with a dinner at 6:00pm followed by a video and discussion that go to 8:30pm and is designed to help us understand and speak about mental health. Last June at its General Assembly the Presbyterian Church in Canada recognized the Sanctuary organization that developed this course with its E H Johnson Cutting Edge of Mission Award. I will be part of the leadership and there is still room to sign up if you are interested either through the website or by contacting me.

Our readings for the week come from the book of Job (1:1; 2: 1 – 10 and 19:13 – 21. The book of Job is one that explores the question of suffering but I am not the preacher this week, Reverend John Borthwick is and so I will leave the message to him. John currently works at the Ministry Forum at Knox College but before that he was the minister at St. Andrew’s Guelph for over 20 years which means that he was my minister when I was discerning call to ministry and I am very excited to be introducing him to St. Andrew’s Ottawa this weekend.

Grace and peace,

Karen
 

September 27

Good afternoon and God bless you this sunny Friday afternoon!

Looking forward to the weekend and it is Orange Shirt Sunday and the last in our month long Season of Creation Series.

This week as I continued to read John Philip Newel’s book, The Great Search, I enjoyed his writings on a Scottish woman called Nan Shepherd and her love affair with the mountains near her home. In her early life she had written that a day out on the mountain was about the achievement, the climb, the summit, but as she aged and spent more and more time on the mountain she came to enjoy it for its very presence.

I wonder about that. The difference between experiencing creation as something we exert effort in and over as opposed to part of the work of God that we are called to be in a relationship with.

Not just mountains and valleys, but all creation, all creatures, all the people we share the world with. It’s a good question as we get ready as well for Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30th.

Please, if you have orange, wear it to church on Sunday.

Our readings include Mark 16: 1 – 8 which is the story of the resurrection of Jesus. If you recall, last week we spoke about how in his death Jesus entered into all the things that we think separate us from God, each other and the world, sin and death and violence. We remembered how in doing this, in taking God’s presence into the very places and things we consider unlovely and unlovable they became loved and redeemed. The good news of that passage was that even when we had forsaken God, and the world appeared to be God forsaken, there was no such thing. Nothing can keep us from God’s love. The resurrection is the continuance of that story, and it assures us that even when we think we have come to an end, there is, with God, always a new beginning.

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

September 20

Good afternoon and Friday blessings,

As we continue to spend September Celebrating Creation, this week our readings all include references to the sky: Psalm 19: 1 – 6; Mark 15: 33 – 39 and Philippians 2: 14 – 18.

When we were in Exmoor this past summer, I was very excited to find out that where we were staying was located within a Dark Sky Reserve. These are places where light pollution is low and on a cloudless night the views of the stars are apparently magnificent. I say apparently because it was cloudy the night we were there and we didn’t see much but the longing remains.

In his new book, The Great Search, John Philip Newell talks about how it is not just our lungs and physical bodies that are damaged by our human cities and their imprint on the world. There is a soul deprivation he says. To not be able to see the stars is a deprivation of our inner world, a loss of wonder and thus a diminishing of the imagination and our ability to remember our origins and dream our way into new beginnings.

I have been thinking about this a great deal as I look at this week’s passages and think about many others as well. When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, that they were to shine like the stars in a night sky, what image did that evoke? Individual pinpoints of light that merge into great galaxies revealing the glory of their creator. 

I have seen photos, but I have not experienced it for myself.

Newell says we need to pay attention to our longings, that they might nurture action and ways within us.

Looking forward to worshipping with you on Sunday, whether you are online or in person, it is good to be part of God’s church together at St. Andrew’s.

I am also looking forward to the women’s guild event tomorrow and hope to see some of you there.

Grace and peace,

Karen

September 13

Good afternoon and Friday blessings!

Looking forward to Sunday and the Rally Day celebrations in both worship and our shared lunch together in the courtyard afterwards.

A few weeks ago I shared in my sermon Reverend Heather’s wisdom for young families with anxious children heading back to school: for them to stand with one foot in validation, acknowledging their anxiety, and the other foot in hope. And if you have been wondering what that looks like then this week’s service is for you, for this week we will be standing in hope. And if you are wondering what standing in hope looks like, this is a great weekend to experience it.

Tonight we have the Knitting Pilgrim Show in the sanctuary. This is a one man show featuring Kirk Dunn, an actor, writer, and internationally renowned knitter. Kirk is fascinated by the many ways in which knitting can bring people together and help them see eye to eye. In this multi-platform world, he uses original, out-of-the-box knitting and his unique perspective in a variety of ways: as visual art to create conversation around interfaith empathy. The show is open to all and a free will donation will be accepted.

So that show, tonight, is our first foray into hope for the weekend and our second journey will be in worship on Sunday.

Last June, you might remember, we commissioned Stacey, Nic and Afua, along with Reverend Heather, as they prepared to attend the Uplift Conference. This was hosted at Brock University in July by the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church with the theme being Audacious Hope. As we prayed for their going, we also promised to welcome them back, that they might share with us what they experienced at the conference, their learnings and hopes. This week we keep that promise in worship. Nic, Stacey and Afua have all agreed to speak in worship this week. I had so much fun with them as we planned and I am already filled with hope just from experiencing their excitement and conviction. Each one of them has prepared a different story to tell and they all have hope to share. What a great way to start the year!

We will also in worship be welcoming back the choir and the bell choir and we will be commissioning the Worship and Christian Education ministries of the church for the coming year.

Our Scriptures for the week include Psalm 139 and passages from the story of Esther and the book of Habakkuk.

In Hope,

Karen

September 6

Good afternoon and God bless you as this weekend approaches,
 
I am all packed up now and am just about to leave for the weekend retreat at Gracefield. I have been looking forward all week to the journey out of the city, up into the Gatineau hills and hoping to arrive at the lake just before the sun sets. It looks like it will be rainier than we planned and so have packed a puzzle and board game as well. There is something quite wonderful about being inside together watching and hearing the rain fall outside.
 
September is here now and as we continue in the season of creation our Scriptures for Sunday include Romans 8: 19 – 25 and Genesis 2: 4 – 9. The Genesis verse is one that reminds us that we are shaped of the dust of the earth with God’s own spirit to enliven us. It reminds me that when we read from Romans about creation groaning under its burdens we are part of creation and so we feel its pain. When the passage from Romans goes on to say that creation is waiting the children of God it has me thinking about how hope and waiting so often go together. As we continue to think about waiting and acting with creation, I wonder what that means for you? What stories can you tell about how important hope is when it comes to waiting and what has hopeful waiting looked like in your life?

It is shaping up to be a week full of opportunities to connect and learn at St. Andrew’s. It is going to be good to see so many of you again and catch up at all the events that are fast approaching now.
 
A week from today, Friday the 13th, we are welcoming Kirk Dunn for an evening showing of the Knitting Pilgrim. Kirk is an actor by profession and an elder at the church I served at in Toronto. The last time I saw the tapestries in person they were not yet done and were spread out in pieces in the church hall there as he shared with us how he was making them (the knitting alone is fantastic). Now complete, the three large tapestries are designed in the style of stained-glass windows, look at the commonalities and conflicts of the Abrahamic faiths—they took Kirk an amazing 15 years to knit! I am very excited about this show which Kirk has taken all over North America and Europe. Tell your friends, bring your family. Bring your own knitting! Contact Aisling Boomgaardt if you plan to attend, or would like to help (aisboom@hotmail.com). And for a sneak peak you can check out our website or his https://www.kirkdunn.com/.

I am off now for Gracefield, and will be back on Sunday morning for worship.

Grace and peace,

Karen

August 30

Good evening and Friday blessings!

This year in worship we are going to be celebrating September as a Season of Creation. This is something that congregations around the world of various denominations have been doing in recent years. The 2024 theme is to hope and act with creation and the Scriptures focus on texts where the Word of God is the impulse that summons forth creation, evokes praise from creation and stirs life in creation.

This week we will read from Genesis 1: 1 – 25 where the world is created out of God’s love and how the whole of creation is therefore a manifestation of God’s love. Our other reading is Romans 8:19 – 25 which tells us about the whole of creation waiting for the revelation of the children of God and groaning, as a Mother groaning as in childbirth.

I have been reading recently about eco-anxiety, the distress, the fear many of us, including our children, feel at times for the future of the earth and all its creations. It is not always easy reading but what I have been finding as well in my readings from the Scriptures and other places is hope.

I am looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

August 23

Good afternoon and God bless you as the weekend arrives!

I am looking forward to worshipping with you all again this Sunday and grateful to Rev. Tony Boonstra and everyone else who has helped lead the services while I took my vacation.

Hugh and I had a great time away but it is always good to be back in my own home and back at St. Andrew’s, which is my church home and family.  I am particularly glad for the many opportunities to reconnect and catch up in the coming weeks. This weekend there is the Pride celebrations downtown and then the Film Club has their opening this weekend and then the Men’s Fellowship gathering on Monday night. Looking a few weeks out there is also the Retreat at Gracefield the weekend after Labour Day and then Rally Sunday on September 15th.

The readings for this Sunday include Psalm 84 which has a beautiful emphasis on the home we find in God. It begins “how lovely is your dwelling place O Lord of Hosts” and then it says this “Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.” How evocative is that? The image of the bird drawing up as close as she can to make a home for her young in the house of God. It awakens in us a prayer for safety and home for all God’s children.

The other reading for the week, John 6: 56- 69 I find more provocative. With Tony you have been reading through much of John chapter 6 in worship and so you will remember that it begins with Jesus feeding 5000. Things are looking pretty impressive at that point, but as Jesus teaches, the crowd and his own disciples are very quickly confused and even offended so that by the time we get to this week’s passage there are only the 12 left. “Are you going to leave me too?” Jesus asks them.

I have been pondering the opposing images of these two readings for the past few days. The desire to draw near to God in the Psalm and those departing from Jesus in John.

Looking forward to worshipping together on Sunday.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

July 26

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

While Rev. Karen is taking a well earned vacation we welcome Rev. Tony Boonstra back to our pulpit. Rev. Tony is a long time friend of St. Andrew’s. For the past number of years, Tony has done interim ministry at St. Andrew’s in Stittsville, Paterson Memorial in Sarnia, Calvin Presbyterian in North Bay, St. Andrew’s in Carleton Place, and St. Andrew’s in Kingston. Most recently Tony served as Interim Minister for St. Giles.

This week Rev. Tony's sermon title is "Food and drink for the journey".  The readings are 2 Kings 4:42-44, Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:1-21 and Psalm 145:10-18.

Please also welcome Jennifer King who will be playing the music for the service while Matthew is out of town.

Enjoy a summer weekend in Ottawa with all the wonders that the season has to offer. If you enjoy sporting events the Olympics in Paris starts this weekend.  Go Canada!

Grace and peace,
Vivian

July 19

Good evening and God bless you this Friday!

As we get ready for Sunday there is a lot happening in our reading for the week, Mark 6: 30 – 56. Two weeks ago we read about Jesus sending the disciples out to minister in his name and now they are back. Jesus invites them to a quiet place to rest a while and you know what happens… the crowd follows.

I can only imagine the disciples reaction to that. Here they are ready to spend time with Jesus and they are surrounded once more by a crowd… And what does Jesus do? Well the gospel tells us that Jesus had compassion for the crowd.

And what is compassion? Well first of all, compassion in this reading is a verb, it is an action. Jesus is moved with compassion. Secondly, the Greek noun that the verb is derived from means inward parts, particularly the heart, the liver, the lungs and the kidneys. And so to be moved by compassion for another is to feel something deep within yourself that inclines you towards another. It gives rise I think to mercy as it inclines which is the nature of God in Psalm 23 which we will also be reading.

Compassion and mercy are sometimes overlooked and dismissed, seen as weakness and yet they are sometimes all the strength, the only strength, we truly need.

As we get ready for worship this week I wonder when and in who you have met this kind of compassion? Someone who has felt so deeply for you and offered mercy? This just might be God at work in your life!

Praise be to God.

Grace and peace,

Karen

July 12

What happens next?

Sometimes I find myself wondering this after I finish a really good book or at the end of a particularly gripping episode of one of my tv series?

I am so engrossed in the story, so captivated by the characters that I am just not ready for it to end, what happens next?

It is a question we might ask at other times as well, after birthday celebrations and graduations, and after funerals and crises. What happens next? This can’t be the end?

What happens next? And in the context of faith it is a theological question.

A few months ago I shared with the communicants class how Diana Butler Bass, in her book, “A People’s History of Christianity”, defines the church as what happens after Jesus. How awesome is that? That in some ways we, in our living, are called to be part of the answer when people ask, what happened after Jesus? After he died and rose and ascended to heaven, what happened next?

We are going to be looking at this question this week as we go back to the early days of the church and the Letter to the church at Ephesus, the letter to the Ephesians. Many scholars think that it was likely originally written as a sermon or message that followed a baptism. This is the act by which we leave behind our old life, and put on a new way of life, one that joins us to Jesus in his death and resurrection and joins us to each other as well. For many early Christians it meant leaving home and family behind. In Ephesus where there were at least four temples to the emperor, it meant making the bold declaration that Christ not Caesar is lord and the implications were life changing and the question of what happens next? What happens after we are baptized? What does putting on this new life in Christ look like? That is a recurrent theme in the letter to the Ephesians.

Looking forward to worship on Sunday!

Grace and peace,

Karen
 

July 5

Good afternoon and Friday blessings!

My week back at work began with a lovely photo from Stacey, Nic and Afua who are at the Uplift conference this week. I have been thinking of how we commissioned and sent them as I read about Jesus sending his disciples in the Gospel of Mark this week.

There are actually two stories in our reading for Sunday from Mark 6: 1 – 13. The first is an account of Jesus arriving in his hometown, the skeptical reception he receives and it ends saying that Jesus could do no deed of power there. The second account tells of him calling his twelve disciples and sending them out two by two with authority over unclean spirits.  He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics and he said to them “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” And this account concludes by saying, so they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

I have found myself going back and forth between these two accounts, one where Jesus has no power and the other where his disciples do. It is quite amazing.

I wonder it was like for the disciples to experience this themselves?

And I wonder what you think of it all?

See you Sunday!

Looking forward to that and to seeing others of you at the Visio Divina on Tuesday evening as well. It is really lovely to be in the sanctuary with the evening light and I am looking forward to meditating together on the stain glass windows and the passages of Scripture they recall.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

June 21

Good afternoon and Friday blessings,

As we look forward to the weekend, our Scripture for Sunday is Mark 4: 35 to 41, a passage often titled "Jesus calms the storm" which is how it ends. How it starts is with the storm raging, the disciples struggling and Jesus asleep in the boat.

“Wake up Jesus!” his disciples scream.

Have you ever wanted to do that?

Sometimes I have, but at other times I look at him with wonder, how is he at such peace in the midst of such turbulence? How do we find that kind of peace? How do you find it?

Looking forward to worshipping with you, whether you are on line or in person.

May the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen

June 14

“There is something quite miraculous about growth!”  

One of our elders said this at a Kirk Session meeting recently as we began our time together reading the passage we are reading in church this Sunday: Mark 4: 26 – 34.

There are two parables in this reading, the first is the story of the person who plants a seed and then would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow. The person does not know how. The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.

At this time of year, those among us who planted seeds back in February might be looking back in wonder at how things so small that they were hard to see are now blossoming into flowers or vegetables. It is amazing is it not? The enormous potential in a tiny seed?

The kingdom of God is like this says Jesus.

One minute you hardly notice it, the next it is hard to miss.

And I wonder, where you see it among us now? And where we might be surprised in the days to come?
What do you think?

We have a baptism this Sunday as well, I am looking forward to that. It reminds me of all the promises that come into the world with each child, each one of us.

And so as we get ready for worship I invite you to pray for Olivier who will be baptized on Sunday and for all the children of this world as well, that they might be held in love and grow into the fullness of who it is God has made them to be.

Let us pray for the newly born and very young, and those who care for them, that in their life they will be encouraged and supported, in their joys and concerns.  

Let us pray for school children on the verge of summer, that you would guard their laughter and their learning. Let us pray for those who are graduating, for their hopes and their anxieties as they look to next steps. We pray for their learning and their growth.
 
Let us pray for children who are living in places of war and violence and those who are struggling to overcome illness and disease and loss
 
Let us give you thanks that as we pray for our children and the children of the world, that we are all God’s children. And so let us pray for ourselves, grown up and adult children that we are, who still look for a hand to hold when we are afraid and a face that will light up in response to our joy.  
 
See you Sunday.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Karen
 

June 7

Good afternoon and God bless you this Friday!

This coming Sunday is a big one, full of celebration and followed by the congregational barbeque. And as we give thanks this week for the Sunday School teachers, the Christian Education volunteers and both the choir and the bell choirs, our Scripture passage is 1 Corinthians 12: 12 – 31:

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[b]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
 
We have a guest preacher this week and I am looking forward to introducing you to him, William Burr. A Masters of Divinity Student at Vancouver School of Theology, William is also a journalist. His sermon title this week is Everybody needs Somebody.

See you soon.

Grace and peace,

Karen
 

May 31

Good afternoon and God bless you this Friday!

Summer is fast approaching and with it we have lots to celebrate! This week we have new members joining the church as we share communion, next week we have our annual congregational picnic after a worship service of Thanksgiving for our Christian Education volunteers and the choirs of the church and the week after that we have a baptism.

Liturgically we call this time that began after Pentecost (two Sundays ago now) and that runs up to Advent (next December) ordinary time. And while we might be tempted to equate ordinary with “Blah”, that is hardly the case as we look around at all that is happening. What is better, one might ask, than an ordinary day? A time for action and contemplation, growth and reflection, sharing our celebrations and caring for each other in our griefs?

Our Scripture reading for worship this week is Romans 12, words which reflect on how the people and community that is formed by the Good news of Jesus Christ is called to live. As we get ready for worship this week and for living into this Ordinary Time of the Church Year, here is Eugene Peterson’s translation from the Message:

Place Your Life Before God

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

3 I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

May 24

Good afternoon and God bless you as this weekend approaches!

It is a busy one at St. Andrew’s as we get ready for Saturday’s Special Communion Service with afternoon tea, the first we have hosted since the fall of 2019. Held at 2:00 pm, this service is provided especially for those who are more homebound and have a harder time attending on a Sunday morning but all of you are invited. RSVPs are helpful for those planning the tea and you can still do that through the church email: office@standrewsottawa.ca.

The Scripture readings for both Saturday and Sunday are the same. Isaiah 6: 1 – 6 and John 3: 1 – 17. It is also both Trinity Sunday and Healing and Reconciliation Sunday. These go well together I think as they invite us to think about the relationship of love that exists within God’s own self and the relationships we are drawn into in that love.

And as I meditate on the passages I am particularly drawn to the opening of Isaiah 6: In the year that King Uzziah died…

As the prophet goes on to describe his experience of God’s presence in the sanctuary, I wonder why he begins like this? What was it like, the year that King Uzziah died? What do you think?

Looking forward to worshipping together soon.

Grace and peace,

Karen

May 10

Good afternoon and God bless you this Friday,

As we get ready for worship this weekend our Scripture passage is Acts 1: 1 – 11 which is the story of the Ascension of Jesus.

Forty days after Easter, after telling the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus ascends to heaven. As he disappears into the clouds the disciples are left staring up until two men in white robes appeared beside them saying  “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

And as their gaze came back to earth, I wonder what that was like?

Did everything look the same and yet totally different all at the same time?

Perhaps you have had an experience a bit like this. One that has shaped the way you understand the world in which you live?

I wonder if it was something like that for the disciples? How this same world now looks different because of their experience of Jesus’ ascension to heaven?

What do you think?

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

April 26

Good evening and blessings as this weekend approaches,

As we meet up with Jesus’ disciple Peter this week it reminds me of a story that I once read about Maya Angelou who says, when people tell her they are Christians, how taken aback she is.

“Already?” she responds.

Which reminds us all that the journey of following Jesus is not so much about arriving at a state or point of completion as it is about the journey of becoming.

Peter has come a long way when we arrive at Acts 10: 1 – 11, which is our reading this week. From fisherman, to follower of Jesus, to leader in the early church, time and again his life has changed as he follows Jesus and it is about to do so again as his very ideas of what is right and what is wrong when it comes to food are challenged. And it all makes a difference because what we will eat determines who we will eat with and Jesus has a mission for Peter…

Which reminds me… the Mission and Outreach committee is inviting anyone who is interested to join them for a lunch and learn after church on Sunday to discuss what projects we are doing and how we might discern what direction we take as we move into the future. What is your passion? Refugee Resettlement? Creation care? Food security?

See you all on Sunday.

Grace and peace,
Karen

April 19

Good afternoon and Friday blessings!

The rain continues today and  it calls to mind our Psalm for the week, Psalm 65 and verse 9 in particular.

You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.

And I wonder, in addition to the rain this week, what are the signs you are seeing of God’s care for the world?

And as Earth Day approaches we are all being invited to consider how to make our way to church in the most environmentally sustainable way we can this week.

We are also continuing to read from the book of Acts, this week from chapter 4. In verses 5 – 12 we hear part of one of Peter’s sermons as he shares the hope we have in Jesus. Then in verses 32 – 35 we see this hope embodied in the life of the early church community.

Grace and peace,

Karen

April 12

Good afternoon and God bless you this Friday!
 
As we get ready for worship now we are into the season of Easter and will be reading for the next few weeks from the Book of Acts.
 
As Diana Butler Bass says in her People’s History of Christianity, the church is what happens after Jesus. After he is resurrected and ascends to heaven, the Holy Spirit arrived, the church was born and given the task of witnessing to Jesus to the ends of the earth. As we reflect on that in our readings this week we are going to continue the journey we have been on with Jesus’ disciple Peter.

The power of the Spirit at work in Peter is something to behold. He has truly become a fisher of men, preaching a sermon on the day of Pentecost that drew 3000 people into the newborn church. Can you imagine? The whole thing is described in Acts 2: 1 – 41.

When we meet up with him in our passages for this week (Acts 2: 43 – Acts 3: 10) the life of the early church is described as one of continued learning, table fellowship, sharing what they had for the common good and prayer. It is a communal life that embodies that gospel, a community formed by the Spirit that produces wonders and signs.
 
And Peter, well just look at him now as, on the way to the temple on their way to pray, he and John encounter a lame man. The man asks for money and Peter has none but what he offers instead is the powerful healing that comes in Jesus’ name. Suddenly the man is leaping and walking and praising God and while everyone is looking at him, I am seeing Peter with new eyes. Just look at this man who was once so in need of raising up himself, now raising up others in the name of Christ.
 
This is the good news, that the power and love of God that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in ordinary human beings and the church!

And I wonder what stories you can tell about that?
 
Looking forward to worship on Sunday.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Karen
 
 
Scripture Reading: Acts 2: 43 – 47 and Acts 3: 1 – 10
 
 
I still remember the time, many years ago now, when a guest preacher, a missionary who described the hospitality she had received in so many places like this, “They were Christ to us, and we were Christ to them”.
 

April 5

Good afternoon and Friday blessings!
 
As we settle into the Easter Season our Scripture reading this week is John 21: 1 – 19. Peter and the other disciples have gone back to Galilee and have taken up their old jobs of fishing once more and in a scene that feels like we have already seen it, they are catching nothing. Then… Jesus shows up on the shoreline, tells them to let their nets down and where once there were no fish, now the boat almost capsizes with the size of the catch. And Peter… he gets out of the boat… we have seen this before too… and heads to shore where Jesus is waiting … beside a charcoal coal fire.
 
In a passage full of reminders of the past, this is perhaps the most poignant. For it was at a charcoal fire that Peter, after Jesus’ arrest, had denied knowing Jesus (just like Jesus said he would).
 
Perhaps you have had moments or days like this? When things that are happening around you now evoke memories of the past. Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we smile, sometimes we cry.

If I were Peter I would have felt shame and guilt. I would have found it hard to look at Jesus as he holds out his hand and invites Peter to breakfast: bread and fish… we have seen this before too…

For Peter this is what forgiveness and the restoration of trust and friendship tastes like, I am sure. And after the meal Jesus invites Peter to care for those Jesus loves.
 
“Follow me” says Jesus.
 
This is one of my favourite  “Peter passages”. In the coming weeks we are going to spend time reading from Acts and 1 Peter, discovering what happens next. How this fisherman from Galilee is transformed into one of the leaders of the early church (just like Jesus said he would). But that is next week.
 
This week as we reflect on this passage and the call to Follow Jesus we are going to be welcoming as well four young adults into membership at St. Andrew’s. They have been meeting with Reverend Heather, Aisling, myself and their mentors since the fall. Please come and share the celebration. There will be cake after worship and an opportunity to welcome them yourselves.
 
See you soon.

Grace and peace,
 
Karen

 
We believe in a God who shows up in our lives—
surprising and catching us off-guard in the best of ways.
We believe in a God who cares for God’s people—
a shepherd who longs for her sheep to be fed and tended.
We believe in a God who took on flesh—
a God whose love changed the world as we know it.
We believe that this here-and-now God invites us out of the boat,
calling ordinary people like Peter, like us, into a life of service and community.
And so we give our hearts. We give our whole hearts and nothing less. Amen.

“Prayer by Rev. Sarah Speed/A Sanctified Art LLC /Sanctifiedart.org”

March 28

Good afternoon and God bless you as the Easter weekend approaches,

I am looking forward to dinner and worship tonight as we remember Jesus’ final meal with his disciples and then share worship together in the sanctuary. Reverend Heather has put together a special service that continues to follow Jesus’ disciple Peter through the events of this day that we call Maundy Thursday.

Maundy is derived from the Latin word mandatum or commandment and in using this word we are remembering how Jesus, the night before he died, gave his disciples a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you.

It strikes me how much remembering we do at this time of year. Tonight we will share communion at dinner and remember how Jesus told us to do this to remember him. After that in our worship service this evening and again tomorrow morning we will remember how later that night Jesus was betrayed, arrested, denied and then condemned (John 13, 18 and 19).

This is the saddest story of our faith. But thanks be to God it is not the end. For this is the good news of Easter, that even death could not prevail against the love of God for us and Jesus rose again and returned to us.

On Sunday morning we will be reading from Luke’s gospel (Luke 24: 1 – 12) about how the women went to the tomb, and how finding the stone rolled away and the tomb empty, two men (angels?) appeared before them and said “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words…

Remember…

He is not dead, he is alive and he has gone ahead of us to Galilee.

Where is that you might ask?

Remember!

It is where Jesus healed the sick, preached good news to the poor, set free those who were imprisoned by spirits that kept them back from life. It is where he spoke peace into the storm and fed the hungry.

And this is where we will find him still…

Easter begins with the saddest story of our faith but it ends with the best news ever. That the love of God is so great that nothing in this world or the world to come, not even death itself, can keep God from us.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

March 22

Good evening and God bless you as the weekend arrives,

Holy week begins this week as we celebrate Palm and Passion Sunday. We remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, the crowd singing and shouting Hosanna, which means “save us” and as we do we will wave our own palms and sing. As the service progresses, we will remember what came next, the days that unfolded after that. This is the start of Jesus’ passion, the time is fast approaching when he will be handed over and crucified.

With all eyes on Jesus, I wonder what Peter is experiencing? We have been journeying with him all through Lent, from that moment when he put down his nets to follow Jesus. So much has happened and our Scriptures for this week leave us wondering, what was it like for him to be in the crowd? We are going to explore that on Sunday and then next Thursday and Friday (for the Maundy Thursday meal and service and the Good Friday morning service) we will hear more about Peter.

It is going to be a very full week indeed. Looking forward to the egg hunt tomorrow and then all the different worship services in the weeks to come. The details are below.

As you pray and get ready to sing Hosanna on Sunday, I wonder what is the salvation you are praying for?

Grace and peace,

Karen

March 8

Good evening,

Grace and Peace to you as we get ready for the weekend and worship this week.

In our Lenten Journey with the disciple Peter we are reaching a turning point. Jesus is about to leave the area around Galilee, setting his face towards Jerusalem and his crucifixion. Jesus’ remaining days are shorter now, how every word must matter.

It was in this context that Jesus, in our readings last week, asked his disciples who they say he is.

Simon Peter had replied, “the Messiah, the son of the living God!”

And Jesus? After this he had called him Peter, which means Rock and said that the church would be built on Peter.

This week’s readings pick up right after this as Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that he is going to Jerusalem, to suffer and be killed.

And Peter? He protests! This is not how it is meant to be!

And Jesus? His reply to Peter is harsher now, “get behind me Satan” he says and he calls Peter a stumbling block!  

And me? I am left pondering what that was like for Peter. One minute he is the Rock that Jesus is going to build the church on and in the next minute he is a stumbling block: a very different kind of Rock altogether.

To be honest, I have a lot of sympathy for Peter this week and his protest of suffering and death. I am sure we all do after the horribly violent murder in Barrhaven, the violence in Haiti, Gaza, Ukraine. This I know, we all know, is not how it is meant to be.

It will be good to be together, whether in person or online, to worship on Sunday. To pray and sing and hold fast to God’s love. Until then here, in advance, are some of the words for our Sunday Benediction written by the Reverend Sarah Speed:

And when the world falls apart,
may you hear God’s voice deep within,
saying, “Take heart, it is I, be not afraid.”
You are called.
You are blessed.
In both your ups and your downs,
you always belong to God.
Go now in peace.

Karen

March 1

Good afternoon and God bless you this Friday!
 
As we continue our Lenten theme of following Jesus through the experiences of his disciple Peter we come this week to Matthew 16: 13 – 20.  Jesus and his disciples are in Cesearia Philippi. This is a place that had been a religious centre for the Canaanite God Baal, then later the Greek God Pan and most recently a temple had been built here to Cesar Augustus.  

It is in this place, surrounded by a history of pagan worship and the power of emperors that Jesus asks his disciples: Who do the people say that I am?
Their answer is this: Some are saying Jesus is John the Baptist, others are saying he is Elijah or Jeremiah or another of the prophets.
 
And then Jesus asks: but who do you say that I am?
And it is Simon Peter who answers: You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.
 
It is a powerful confession of faith and as we wonder about our own faith and what we might say if Jesus asked us who we think he is, I was very taken by the words of Reverend Sarah Speed who writes for the Sanctified Art community and who is the author of many of the prayers we are using in worship this week.
 
She writes: “Many of us are hesitant to talk about our faith, but I think conviction matters. Do you believe in forgiveness? Do you believe love has the power to change lives? Do you think the world is in need of grace? If so, I want to know about it. Tell me what you believe. Ambiguity can lead to apathy, so tell me what you truly believe. That can have a ripple effect.”
 
Friends, belief is not the pre-requisite for following Jesus. This incredible statement, this conviction that Peter makes, comes after he has spent some time living with and following Jesus. And it is the same for us. We belong to God and when we find our belonging in God and in the community that bears Jesus’ name, when we find our place of belonging in each other and in the world God made, loves, and is at work to redeem, then our beliefs and convictions are shaped.
 
So instead of asking, as we get ready for worship and sharing communion together this week: who do you say that Jesus is? I am asking instead one of the questions that we contemplated in the Mental Health Workshop this past Wednesday: who has been God’s goodness for you in your life?
 
See you Sunday.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Karen

February 23

Good evening and God bless you as the weekend approaches!

Tomorrow it is going to be, if not the coldest night of the year, definitely the coldest night in a week when we set out to walk in support of the Ottawa Mission. There is a large team of St. Andreans participating this year, one that is made larger by the circle of support that is sponsoring them. Thank you for the difference you are making and the work you are contributing to. The Ottawa Mission works with people who are experiencing homelessness and poverty. Meals, shelter, and job training are among the services they provide.

On Sunday after worship don’t forget the Annual Meeting. It takes place after lunch which is after worship. Many thanks to the Hospitality team for feeding us and to Ken Parlee who will livestream the meeting.

In worship itself we will be continuing our Lenten Journey with the disciple Peter, coming to know Jesus through him and growing in faith together.

The passage for this week is one you might find familiar, Matthew 14:22 – 33. Peter and his companions are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, a storm rises up, and then Jesus appears, walking across the water to them. And Peter? Peter gets out of the boat to join Jesus! In all his years as a fisherman I don’t think it ever occurred to Peter to get out of his boat in the middle of a storm but when Jesus shows up, sometimes we find ourselves responding in new ways. It’s an interesting passage to contemplate as we come to our annual meeting and I wonder, as you reflect on this, what your stories of getting out of the boat are?

See you Sunday!

Grace and peace,
Karen

February 16

Good evening and blessings as the weekend approaches!

Lent began this week bringing with it the opportunity to revisit our understanding of our baptism and the vows we, or our parents, made at that time. Vows that begin by expressing the desire to turn from sin, or the ways that separate us from God so that we might turn to Jesus Christ. This is the turning of repentance and as we spend time with Jesus in worship this Lent we are going to be meeting him through the eyes of his disciple Peter in a series called Wandering Heart. The resources for it come from the Sanctified Art community and include materials for personal devotion, Bible Study through Visio Divina and some of the prayers we will use in worship. If you are part of the Facebook community and follow our congregation at St. Andrew’s there, the daily questions to ponder in your prayers and/or journalling are part of that. 

This week’s sermon is called Jesus sought me and it is based on the text from Luke 5: 1 – 11 where Jesus shows up at the shoreline where Peter and his brother are tending their nets. They have been out all night fishing, caught nothing and after Jesus uses their boat as his pulpit, preaching to the crowds on the shore, he invites them out into deeper waters and invites them to let their nets down.

Now they are fishermen, they know their trade, all night long they have been fishing and catching nothing and now this preacher shows up and asks them to let their nets down. What was he thinking? What did they think? I can only imagine.

And what do you think? When someone shows up out of the blue and tells you to do something that seems totally nonsensical. What do you say? “We already tried that? “Who do you think you are?” I wonder …

But this is the Gospel according to Luke that we are reading from and from the very beginning the insistence has been that with God all things are possible…

What happens next for Peter and his brother is pretty awesome and as we read about it together on Sunday I wonder what we will discover for our own journey this year!

Looking forward to that and also some of the things that are just about to start up or happen in the coming weeks.

If you have not yet signed up for the Coldest Night of the Year walk in support of the Ottawa Mission on February 24th, you can still join the walkers or support their walk through the website https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/cnoy-2024.  To learn more about the awesome work that the Ottawa Mission does to provide both immediate help and work towards longer term solutions for homelessness and poverty you can go here https://ottawamission.com/our-work/.

While you are on our website you can also sign up for the Visio Divina Bible Study that begins next Tuesday evening. They are meeting on Zoom each week to reflect on the Bible Story for the coming Sunday through a combination of both Scripture reading and reflection on art.

Also beginning this week is the Sanctuary Mental Health course on Wednesday nights and I sent out a longer email about that earlier in the week and more information is below.

And finally the Annual report is out and was sent by email and is up on the website. This ahead of the Annual Congregational Meeting next Sunday, February 25th. The financial statements for that will be shared early next week.

Grace and peace,

Karen

February 8

Good morning and a blessed Friday to you,

There is a lot to look forward to this weekend as Lent approaches with Worship Services on both Sunday and then Wednesday.

After Sunday worship this week we will be having a pancake lunch with sausages as well and the Women’s Guild has a mini-fundraiser with crafts and baked goods as well. Our Service that morning will be extra special as we welcome Karen Plater to the pulpit. I am looking forward to her message based on 2 Kings 4:1-7 and 2 Corinthians 8:1-15. It is called From a little bit of oil, using our gifts for God’s mission. Karen’s bio is below.

Next Wednesday, February 14th is both Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday. An interesting juxtaposition indeed as we contemplate the start of Lent and a celebration of love.

Devotional materials for Lent will be available beginning this Sunday and if you would like any mailed to you please let the office know.

Grace and peace,

Karen

February 2

Good evening and a Blessed Friday!

It is good to be back from Vancouver but it was also very good to be away.

Vancouver was a new city for me, I had never been there before and it was a very real pleasure to be the minister in residence at the Centre for Missional Leadership at St. Andrew’s Hall at the University of British Columbia. I was able to spend time reading in the library, resting and reflecting, that was their gift to me, but I was also blessed by the time I was invited to spend with the students for ministry. Many years have passed since I was last in seminary and the West Coast is a very different context from Toronto where I studied. Many of those I met with already have a lot of experience in ministry. I look with excitement to the plans God has for the church as I consider them.

One thing that I was particularly intrigued about is that early on in their studies the students have a course in evangelism. I sat in on it while I was there, took lots of notes, bought a couple of the prescribed textbooks and thoroughly enjoyed the discussion and perspectives. I find it coming back to me particularly as I look at this week’s Scripture reading from 1 Corinthians 9: 16 – 23.

The apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth about how he has become all things to all people. I find that a bit alarming on the face of it. I have three kids, and a husband (and 2 dogs) and sometimes we cannot even find a dinner we all agree we would like to eat when we gather. All things to all people… I don’t know. Sometimes I feel more affinity to the sign on the office next door to my doctoral supervisor’s office. It said “I can only please one person a day, and sorry, today’s not your day”.

Becoming All things to all people? Paul, I want to say, how is that possible.

Don’t you draw the line somewhere? How healthy can that be? Don’t you lose sight of who you are? Where are your boundaries?

And yet Paul asserts this is all for the sake of the Gospel. That this is how he stays true to being a servant of Christ!

Sound intriguing…?

For the sake of the Gospel!

I wonder what that means for us today?

See you Sunday!
It is going to be particularly awesome because this is also the week when we are going to be celebrating the new nursery and praying for the children and parents who will be welcomed there. There are photos on the website if you want to check it out in advance.

Many Blessings,

Karen

January 19

Good evening and Friday blessings,

As we look forward to Sunday the Scriptures are interesting in that they both have to do with the call of God and in one case those called (Jesus disciples in Mark 1: 14 – 20) immediately put down what they are doing to respond and in the other (Jonah chapter 3: 1 – 10) they had at first run in the opposite direction. Its an interesting juxtaposition.

But before you get too caught up in thinking about which one was better or which one you resonate with, just think about this: isn’t it amazing that God does call us? That God comes to us and speaks to us and invites us to be part of what Jesus is doing. God has a purpose and we are called to be part of it. A preaching professor put it to a class I was in once, the best reason any one of us has for doing what we are doing, is what God is doing in Jesus Christ!

So what does that mean? For you, for us together?

This is the season of epiphany, the time for paying attention to how God is made present among us. I am looking forward to the conversation.

Grace and peace,

Karen

January 12

Good afternoon and Friday blessings!

Another storm is on the way as we get ready for the weekend. Stay safe and by Sunday hopefully it will have passed and we will be together in worship.

In this season of Epiphany, when we celebrate the manifestation of God with us in Jesus, our Scriptures for the week include 1 Samuel 3: 1 – 20 and John 1: 43 – 51, both of which raise the question of discernment. As people of faith we believe that God is present and alive, active in our lives. When we speak of discernment what we are talking about is the ability to see God in the midst of our lives and align ourselves with what God is doing.

In the passage from 1 Samuel a young boy hears God speaking and it takes an elder man to tell him it is God. When the boy realizes this and hears, he in his turn has a message for the older man. Each one of them helps the other recognize and see what God is up to.

In the passage from John’s gospel one of the disciples of Jesus invites a friend to come and see, we have found the Messiah. His friend is at first incredulous, it makes no sense. Jesus of Nazareth? Can anything good come from Nazareth?

What do you think?

And as you get ready for worship this week I wonder who has shown Jesus to you? When have you felt yourselves caught up in what God is doing and how did you know that was what was happening?

Looking forward to Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

January 5

Good evening and Blessings as the New Year begins,

I am looking forward to being back in the pulpit at St. Andrew’s this week after our downtown Presbyterian Pulpit exchange last week.

The Scripture readings for the coming week include Genesis 1: 1 – 5, Psalm 29 and Mark 1: 1 – 11. The voice of God features prominently in all of these and as I listen for what God is saying this week I am struck by how creative and full of love that voice is as things are beginning.

The passage from Mark tells us about Jesus’ baptism, how during that the heavens were torn apart and the spirit of God descended on Jesus like a dove while a voice said to him “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased”.

One of the things I have kept for a long time now are the letters that my parents sent me when I first left home to go to University. They are so precious to me, for the assurance of love and the hopes they had for me as I headed out into the world on my own.

You are my child, the beloved, with you I am well pleased!

As, in the person of Jesus, God becomes human and takes up his ministry in this world, these are the very first words God speaks to Jesus. One thing to consider as we listen to this is how much these words would have sustained Jesus in all that followed. A second thing is to hear these words as ones that God speaks to each one of us as well.

You are my child, the beloved, with you I am well pleased!

And as the New Year begins, hold onto this! Let these be first words for you as well. Listen to them and rejoice.

Regardless of whatever resolutions you have made and are trying to keep, all the ways you are trying to be better, you are already the beloved of God and that is a most precious thing indeed.

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

December 22

How does a weary world rejoice?  

This has been a guiding question for us through our Advent Journey this year. It originates in a reflection on the Christmas Hymn, O Holy Night, the opening verse of which is this: 

O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining 
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth 
Long lay the world in sin and error pining 
'Til He appears and the soul felt its worth 
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices 
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn 
Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices! 
O night divine, O night when Christ was born 
O night, O Holy night, O night divine! 

I particularly love that line about the Soul feeling its worth and I wonder if that is what we might have been discovering through our Advent worship as we read through Luke chapter 1 this Advent.  

This week when we meet on Sunday morning it will be both the fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve and the sermon’s focus in answering how a weary world rejoices is this: “We sing stories of hope” and our Scriptures include the songs of both Mary (Luke 1: 46 – 55) and Zechariah (Luke 1: 67 – 80). This brings us to the end of Luke chapter one and I find myself marvelling on the way it begins with Zechariah’s silence and ends with his singing.  

As Advent gives way to Christmas we will begin to sing Christmas carols ourselves during the morning service on Sunday and then Sunday evening we will continue as we celebrate the mystery and good news that God has come to us in Jesus. Born into this world, there was no room for his pregnant mother, no room for a newborn child, he was born into a crowded and unlikely place. This is how God came and how God comes. Drawing the circle wide to include all kinds of unexpected guests and welcoming them in. There is room for everyone in this story of God coming into the world and it is good news of great joy!  
 
There are lots of opportunities to gather and sing songs of hope together this weekend, both in person and online.  

The Pageant this year is at 5:00 pm on Sunday Evening followed by a service of Candlelight and Carols with the Choir at ten pm. Monday morning, Christmas Day worship is at 10:30 am. The orders of service are attached.  

Looking forward to it all as I pray for you and for this world that Christ came into. That his presence might be made known and welcomed, that your soul may feel its worth.  

In hope, peace, love and joy, 

Karen 

  December 15

Good evening and a blessed Friday!

We are now about halfway through Advent and this Sunday as we light the candle of joy, as we continue with our theme “how does a weary world rejoice” we are going to be exploring how allowing ourselves to be amazed and to be an avenue to joy. 

In the Scriptures we meet up with Zechariah and Elizabeth just as their baby boy is born. Remember them? Nine months before the passage we read this week (Luke 1: 57 – 66) he had been told, by an angel, that this would happen but he had not believed it. He and his wife were too old to have a baby had been his reply to the angel and what happened next was silence. And that was nine months ago. Now his baby boy is born and he breaks his silence with a song. How awesome is that? From silence to song … and I love singing at Christmas don’t you?

And jumping ahead to next week, singing songs of hope is going to be our avenue for joy then and there will be lots of opportunities to sing. It is going to be Christmas Eve, and Sunday and so there will be our regular morning service at 10:30 am as well as two services in the evening. At 5:00 pm there is the pageant and carols service and later at 10:00 pm carols and lessons by candlelight with the choir.  And the next morning, December 25th we have our Christmas morning service at 10:30 am. I don’t know what your favourite carol is but at some point next weekend we will likely be singing it.

Another service in which we will have both silence and song is the Blue Christmas Service at 7:00 pm on December 20th.  As we approach the longest night of the year this service is one for coming together with each other and with God, acknowledging the pain and grief that some of us feel particularly at this time of year and offering hope to each other.

To come back to this coming Sunday’s service and preparing for it: I wonder what you have to sing about these days? If you haven’t given thought to that much lately stop and do so now. What are the things that are happening around you that are too good to keep silent about? Are you amazed? And that is your something to think about until Sunday when we worship together, online and in person.

Grace and peace,

Karen

December 8

Good evening, grace and peace be with you as the weekend arrives. 

This is the second week of Advent and in worship we will be lighting the candle of peace, listening to God’s word as it comes to us through Luke 1: 24 – 45 and Isaiah 40: 1 – 11 and continuing to ponder the question, how does a weary world rejoice?  

Last week Luke’s gospel told us about the Angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah, an elderly man and priest in the temple. The good news that the angel had for him was that Zechariah and his wife, who had grown old and long since given up hope of having a child, were about to have a son.  

This week the same Angel appears to a young girl Mary who is a cousin of Elizabeth and tells her that she too is going to have a child that will be the son of God. That is the first part of our reading from Luke. The second part sees Mary going to visit Elizabeth and it is from their encounter that the sermon title is taken: We find joy in connection.  

As you get ready for worship this week I wonder when that has happened for you? Perhaps it was a sense of deep connection with a friend, maybe with nature, perhaps with God? Perhaps it came with appreciation and pleasure? Whatever it was, you felt joy! And we are made for this. Spend time with those stories this week as you get ready for worship and see where it takes you.   

And speaking of connection! I am looking forward after worship this week to connecting with those of you who are coming to the congregational lunch. And then through the week there are many other opportunities for connection including the Music as Sanctuary concert on Tuesday at lunch, the Trivia night on Wednesday and the Women’s Guild on Friday.  

Check out the list of events below. 

Grace and peace, 

Karen  

December 1

Good evening and God bless you as we enter into the season of Advent!  

I love this season in the church year so much. Lighting the candles on the wreath each week, starting this Sunday with the candle of hope. It is such a small flame as we start, it looks so fragile on its own and yet over the coming weeks it will grow as from this first candle we light next the candle of peace, then the candle of joy, then love and then, on Christmas Eve, the Christ Candle. And it all begins with hope…  

I have been thinking about this as I prepare for worship this week. How important hope is.  

For the coming month we are going to be reading through the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel, starting, this Sunday, with Luke 1: 1 – 23.  

Have you ever been told a promise or a piece of news so good that you have found it hard to believe? That is the case with Zechariah in the Scriptures this week. He and his wife had long since given up the hope of ever having a child and so when an angel comes and tells them that it is about to happen he just cannot believe it.  

Have you ever been in a place like that?  

This week we are going to explore the beginning of the Good News that with God all things are possible and we are going to talk as well about how we are made for joy! I sometimes wonder if that is one of those things we have a hard time believing…  

We are going to be sharing communion in this service as well and I am looking very forward to worshipping together, whether you are in the sanctuary or worshipping on line: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). 

Grace and Peace, 

Karen 

PS if you are looking for a devotional for this season Reverend Heather has put some out in the hall and our own Advent Calendar with daily reflections from congregants at St. Andrew’s will launch on the website Sunday! 

 
 November 24

Good evening and a blessed Friday!  

Things are busy at St. Andrew’s with the Bazaar tomorrow and Advent beginning next week. It is a very full time indeed as we find ourselves approaching Christ the King Sunday this week. The readings for worship include Matthew 24: 31 – 46 and Ezekiel 34: 11 – 24, both of which have something important to say about who God is and what is important to God when it comes to how we care for each other.  

We are also going to be singing Sylvia Dunstan’s hymn, You Lord are both Lamb and Shepherd.  
The lyrics are below and as you read through them I wonder if there is a line in there that resonates with you in a particular way.  

See you Sunday (and maybe tomorrow as well). 

Grace and peace,  

Karen 

You, Lord, are both Lamb and Shepherd. 
You, Lord, are both prince and slave. 
You, peacemaker and swordbringer 
Of the way you took and gave. 
You the everlasting instant; 
You, whom we both scorn and crave. 

Clothed in light upon the mountain, 
Stripped of might upon the cross, 
Shining in eternal glory, 
Beggar’d by a soldier’s toss, 
You, the everlasting instant; 
You, who are both gift and cost. 

You, who walk each day beside us, 
Sit in power at God’s side. 
You, who preach a way that’s narrow, 
Have a love that reaches wide. 
You, the everlasting instant; 
You, who are our pilgrim guide. 

Worthy is our earthly Jesus! 
Worthy is our cosmic Christ! 
Worthy your defeat and vict’ry. 
Worthy still your peace and strife. 
You, the everlasting instant; 
You, who are our death and life. 
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. 
You, who are our death and our life. 

Words: Copyright G.I.A. Publications, 1991. 
Used with permission under ONE LICENSE #737520. All rights reserved 

November 17

Good evening and blessings to you on this Friday evening!

One of my highlights this week was a trip to Montreal on Wednesday morning to share worship with the students and faculty at Presbyterian College and then have lunch and talk about call to ministry. I was so nervous ahead of time. Preaching and talking about call and ministry, things that matter deeply, requires vulnerability in sharing and speaking and to do so with people I don’t know can be nerve wracking. It turned out well, despite my fears and doubts, the whole experience was life giving, affirming and inspiring. It is such a gift to be able to talk with others about God at work in the world and in our lives. It fuels my faith. And you know what: this kind of thing almost always does but it still took a certain amount of faith and courage to be vulnerable and share in a deeply meaningful way.

And I wonder if you have stories like this?

I ask that and share my own story as we come to the Scripture for this week: Matthew 25:14 – 30 which is often called the parable of the talents. Sometimes fear can hold us back, and yet we are called to live in witness to the hope we have in Jesus and his Kingdom.

What do you think?

My other outing for this week is on Sunday afternoon to the Multi-Faith Housing’s National Housing Day Celebration at City Hall which they are holding in advance of National Housing Day on November 20th. It is open to everyone at 3:00 pm and you are welcome to come too!

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace, Karen

November 10

Grace and peace be with you this Friday evening,

As I get ready for Sunday we have three Sundays left before Advent and I am returning to the parables from Matthew’s gospel, focusing in on Matthew 25. It is a heavy time in Jesus’ ministry, these are among his last teachings before he will be crucified. He has just left Jerusalem and the temple where he wept over the city: “how often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…” – Matthew 23: 37

Sometimes, when I have had a very hard day, or the news is very bad, like it is now, I remember these words when I pray. I imagine us like this, sheltered under the downy wings and held right up against the beating heart of the living God who would come between all of us and the darkness. Such is the love of God that weeps for this world.

As we listen to Jesus this week, he and his disciples have now gone on to the Mount of Olives and I can imagine him looking back at the city as he speaks. Our readings are Matthew 25: 1 – 13, the parable of the Bridesmaids and Psalm 84.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

November 3

Good evening and Friday blessings,  

As the weekend approaches it is good to be back in Ottawa and looking forward to worshipping together again after being away for study leave. It is also Remembrance Sunday and the weekend for setting your clocks back. 

Our guest in the pulpit is Reverend Dr. Steven Moore who is an ordained minister with the United Church of Canada. Many of you know him already as he worships with us regularly, his wife Debbie is in the choir.  

Reverend Moore served as a Padre with the CAF during the war in Bosnia (1993) and conducted doctoral research in Afghanistan (2006) resulting in the chaplain operational capability, Religious Leader Engagement (RLE), now Policy (Jan 2013) with the Royal Canadian Chaplain Service and Doctrine Note (July 2013) with the Canadian Army (CA). Rev. Moore has lectured at the United Nations Training School Ireland (Dublin: 2011-2014); participated with the Understand to Prevent initiative comprised of military and civilian researchers from 13 NATO and NATO-Partner nations (2015-2017); and is presently under contract to write Religious Leader Engagement Joint Doctrine for the Dept of National Defence. He has published Military Chaplains as Agents of Peace: Religious Leader Engagement in Conflict and Post-conflict Environments with Rowman and Littlefield (Lexington Books, 2013). His sermon this Sunday is entitled “Mercy, Truth, Justice and Peace: A Cry from the Public Square”. The Scriptures include Psalm 85: 1 – 13 and the reading from Isaiah 2 below.  

See you on Sunday. 

Grace and peace,  

Karen   

Isaiah 2: 2 – 4  

2 In days to come 
    the mountain of the Lord’s house 
shall be established as the highest of the mountains 
    and shall be raised above the hills; 
all the nations shall stream to it. 
3     Many peoples shall come and say, 
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 
    to the house of the God of Jacob, 
that he may teach us his ways 
    and that we may walk in his paths.” 
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction 
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
4 He shall judge between the nations 
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples; 
they shall beat their swords into plowshares 
    and their spears into pruning hooks; 
nation shall not lift up sword against nation; 
    neither shall they learn war any more. 

October 20

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

As we head into the weekend we are looking forward to celebrating Anniversaries. It is the 150th anniversary of the Women’s Guild and the 195th anniversary of St. Andrew’s as a congregation.

Anniversaries are a bit like birthdays I am thinking. Some of them more welcome than others and sometimes we can feel quite ambiguous about the end of one year and the beginning of a next. At their best, honest remembrances encourage and inspire us for the future and remind us that the current day is a gift. That is what I am pondering as we read from Matthew’s parables of the kingdom in chapter 13 this week.

As we read anew the parable of the mustard seed and the leaven my mind goes back to a conversation some of us had with Rev. Dr. Ross Lockhart when he was here about a month ago. There are many reasons why people do not attend church as they once did he conceded but in our time together he was more interested in asking us why we do come? Why church? How is it a blessing in your life today?

Those are the kind of things we want to hold onto and celebrate this Sunday and so if you have a moment to sit down and write to me I would love to hear from you. My email address is kd@standrewsottawa.ca . And I will share with you in the sermon on Sunday.

See you then.

Grace and peace,

Karen

October 13

Good afternoon and Friday blessings!  

The dog and I were out for a walk this morning that was so beautiful I had to pull out my camera over and over again. It was such a gift and as I ponder that I wonder what are some of the greatest gifts you have received recently?  

And I wonder as well if there was ever a time you were offered a gift and turned it down?  

This is what happens in our Scripture passage for this week, Matthew 22: 1 – 14. It’s the parable of the wedding banquet which we most often read about in Luke’s gospel (chapter 15). A man prepares a wedding feast and when it is time to begin many of the invited guests send their regrets. Both Matthew and Luke record that the host then sends out invitations to others who can come but in Matthew’s telling the consequences for those who don’t come are pretty horrific.  

Matthew’s is definitely “ the version we don’t always share” which is also the title of my sermon this Sunday. As I prepare a sermon from this passage this week I find myself looking very forward to next Wednesday evening and the Leading the Questions study group that begins then. It is a gift we offer each other when we are able to gather, share a meal and then dive deep into our faith together.  

 Grace and peace,  

Karen 

October 6

Good evening friends!  

I have just come in from a walk, the sun is shining, the trees are gorgeous, a beautiful end to the day and yet, I am reminded that things such as these, on their own, are not what makes thanksgiving possible. It is the presence of God with us that does that!  

So God bless you as this Thanksgiving weekend begins.  

We are joined for worship this week by Pastor Mark Juane and his wife Beth. Mark grew up at St. Andrews and as this is homecoming for him, we pray that it will be for others as well.  

He is going to be preaching on Jesus’ call to the disciples from Luke 5: 1 – 11. It starts with Jesus choosing Peter’s boat as a pulpit and when he has done teaching the crowds he asks Peter to push out into deeper waters. What happens next is pretty amazing and “Going Deeper” is the title of Pastor Mark’s sermon for us. It is also a theme we will be pursuing this year as we get deeper into the work of Revitalization.  

After worship there will be a lunch and learn opportunity to gather with Mark, his wife Beth and others to talk about the Scripture passage and the call to go deeper.  

Please pass on the invitation to come to friends and family!  
 

The worship bulletin is attached to this email and below you will find a list of the many things that are coming up in the church later this month including the Living the Questions discussion group, the reburial at Barrack Hill, a concert to support Ukrainian Refugees and MORE!  

God bless you and keep you, 

Karen 

 September 29

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!  

In the gospels, Jesus is asked 187 questions.  

He answers (maybe) 8 of them.  

He himself asks 307.  

Maybe faith isn’t about certainty,  but learning to ask – and sit in the complexity of – good questions.  

What do you think? I saw the above on Facebook this week and it resonated with me enormously. I will admit I haven’t gone and counted to make sure of its absolute accuracy but it speaks a truth in that Jesus very often replied to questions with questions or with stories that are rarely simple and instead invite us to go deeper and ask more.  

This fall we are going to be spending much of our time in worship contemplating the parables of Jesus that come to us late in the gospel of Matthew as the shadow of the cross is lengthening and stretching towards him. It is a critical time in the life of Jesus and his disciples and this week we meet up with them in the temple (Matthew 21: 23 – 32) and just a few days before his crucifixion. The authorities are asking Jesus what authority he has for the things he does and says and in return he tells them the story of a man with two sons…  

And I wonder why it starts like that? There are so many stories about men with two sons aren’t there? Stories about rivalries and reconciliations, expectations overturned… and I wonder how this story fits into those and why it is that Jesus tells it? Keep on listening and I wonder what other questions come up?  

As I look forward to spending time with the parables and the questions they raise this fall I am also looking forward to our next Wednesday evening study session which is called Living the Questions and comes with the invitation to dive more deeply into our understanding and faith. The first two evenings are October 18 and 25, then we will take a break for the All Saints Evening Service on November 1 and resume again for four more weeks on November 8, 15, 22 and 29. You are welcome to come share dinner each week at 6:00pm and the study will begin at 7:00pm. You can sign up by registering with the church office or through the website.  

Don’t forget that Sunday is also communion so if you are joining us from home by the YouTube link, prepare a cup of juice to drink and some bread to break.  

Sunday afternoon is also the Centretown Church’s walk for the Centretown Community Food Centre, many thanks to all who are walking and supporting the walk.  

Kindest regards, 

Karen 

 September 22

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!  

It is a beautiful day out there and I pray you are having an opportunity to enjoy it. As we get into the autumn we know how precious days like this are and how important it is to take time to enjoy the gifts of God.  

This Sunday we are going to be diving back into the parables of Jesus, those stories he tells that challenge the way we look at the world and understand it. This week’s is particularly challenging (Matthew 20: 1 – 16) as workers in a vineyard who are hired at the end of a day and do a few hours work are paid the same as those hired at the start if the day. What is that about do you think? What is Jesus’ invitation to us?  

As September 30th is National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, also sometimes called Orange Shirt day, you are invited to wear orange to church…  

Grace and peace. 

Karen 

 September 15

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

It is Rally Sunday this coming weekend and I am looking forward to welcoming Rev. Dr. Ross Lockhart back as our guest for this celebration once more. He was here about four years ago when he inspired and reminded us, that as the children head back to their schools, the church itself is called to be the School of Jesus. This Sunday his sermon title is “The Next Assignment” based on readings from Matthew 4: 18 – 22. Does that make you curious? It certainly has me wondering…

Ross has a passion for churches and their growth in sharing the love of God in Jesus in their community. He has published several books on the experiences of churches on the west coast and he will be staying after worship for our Rally Sunday picnic in the courtyard so you can talk to him then. Ross will also be here tomorrow afternoon for a discussion with some of the teams that are making plans for the coming year and if you are interested in joining that discussion let me know.

There are already some awesome things in the calendar for the coming weeks and you can find those in the bulletin for worship which is attached and to some extent the notes below this email.

Grace and peace,

Karen

September 8

Good evening and blessings as we head into the weekend!

It has been some time since I last wrote an email to you and a few weeks since I was last in worship. I do pray for you all and look forward to worshipping together again with some of you on Sunday. Others among us will be up at Gracefield with Reverend Heather, and I pray for you safe travels and a joy filled weekend together.

My sermon this week is called Awakenings and the Scripture passage that I will be focusing on is Romans 13: 8 – 14. In it there is a call to love each other and live well in relationship to each other, after which we are called to wake from our slumbers. The morning is coming. There is an urgency in this reading that we read more often at the start of Advent but as I read it as summer gives way to fall I am thinking about the way we see our own world and what we might find ourselves being called to wake up too? I am also thinking about the Barbie movie and if you are curious about how that connects… well, see you on Sunday!

Grace and peace,

Karen

August 18

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!  

Looking forward to worship and our last Sunday of the summer reading Genesis together.  

This week we arrive at the last chapter, catching up once more with Joseph and his brothers. Last week we left them in the process of reconciliation. Joseph who the other brothers had once harmed greatly, has been revealed to them as the powerful governor of Egypt, the one with the power to provide food and life in the midst of famine and accusation. Caught in the middle, between retributive justice and mercy, Joseph identifies with his brothers and reconciles with them. We might call this forgiveness and it is a powerful moment where what brings the brothers together is their common love for their father.  

Chapter 50 takes place years later. Joseph’s brothers and father have settled in Egypt. They have land and food and are taken care of but healing takes place and when their father dies the brothers wonder, what will Joseph do now? Did he hold fast to us and care for us for our father’s sake or for our own? What will he do now?  

And as we enter into this story of Joseph and his brothers for a final time we will also be hearing Jesus as he speaks to his own disciples many years later about forgiveness in Matthew 18.  

As you read through the rest of this email, this is a long one. Vivian and I are going to be away on vacation for the next two weeks and so the next email isn’t coming until September 8th! We have tried therefore to include as much as we can both in this email and the bulletins for the next three Sundays which are attached.  

 Many blessings.  

 Karen 

August 11

Good evening and a blessed Friday,

I pray that you are all well after the flooding and torrential rains of yesterday. If you have been affected and need help or want prayers please do be in touch.

…………..

In worship this week we are going to be skipping from Genesis 39 which we read last week all the way to Genesis 45 and so a brief summary of the events is as follows:

Joseph’s ability to interpret the dreams of his fellow prisoners brings him to the attention of the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt and who has been having strange dreams himself. Joseph tells the Pharaoh that the Pharaoh’s dreams are a warning. Some years of wonderful harvests are about to occur but they will be followed by drought and famine. The Pharaoh needs to prepare during the time of plenty so that he can take care of his people during the time of want that is to come.

Impressed by Joseph’s interpretation, the Pharaoh raises him to second in command and puts Joseph in charge of the storage of the grain and when the famine arrives, Egypt does not go hungry.

Dreams and the ability to interpret them are a gift from God and all of this is absolutely amazing. It reminds us and shows us that Joseph is part of a family, the descendants of Abraham, through whom God is at work to bless the world. And speaking of his family: although Joseph has not seen or heard from his brothers for years, not since they abandoned him to the pit and being sold into slavery, they are about to come back into his life.

The famine has reached them where they live and they have heard there is food in Egypt and off they go to see if they can procure some for themselves. They don’t recognize the man they approach as Joseph but he recognizes them.

And I wonder, what would you do if you were him?

Have you ever been in a situation like this?

Where you find yourself in a position to judge and offer mercy (or not) to those who have hurt you in the past?

OR maybe it has been the other way round. Someone you have hurt is now in a position to help you?

One of the things that Genesis reminds us is just how messy and full of conflict and crisis, tension and disruption life can be. How some of our greatest hurts come to us in our closest relationships and how our healing is often found in those same places.

Looking forward to worshipping together in person or online this weekend.

Grace and peace,

Karen

August 4

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday,

As we continue our reading from Genesis this week we get to find out what happens next with Joseph as he arrives in Egypt. And we will also be reading Psalm 40 and as I think about all of what is happening, both in the stories of Joseph and the life of the psalmist this is what I am thinking.

That sometimes we need to think about the direction we are going in life. The things that we consider success. The things that we are striving for. And the things we are waiting on.

Sometimes I wonder if the future we are longing for is in some way standing in the road of the things and opportunities God has put in front of us right here and right now.

What do you think?

On another note: Thank you to all of you for your prayers and care last week while my mom was ill and I was with her. It was encouraging and uplifting to be held in so much care. She is recovering now and back home and I am back in the church and looking forward to worshipping together on Sunday.

The discussion about Genesis that was to begin over lunch last Sunday will start this Sunday. As lunch will be provided it is helpful for planning purposes to know if you are planning to come and you can email the office if you are (office@standrewsottawa.ca). There is no cost for the lunch but a freewill offering would be appreciated.

Weekend blessings to you all.

Karen

July 21

Good morning and Happy Friday!

I have been wondering since last weeks service what you have done with your stones. For those of you in the sanctuary the invitation was to take one and either keep it with you as a reminder of God’s steadfast presence or to place as a visible reminder in a place where you had felt God come particularly close. For those of you at home, any stone will do. And for all of you, I have been praying that you do feel the blessing of God’s presence and Grace meeting you each day.
 
After the service one of you asked me what happens to Jacob next and that is what we are going to talk about this week in the service. Genesis 32: 22 – 31 is the passage and it details Jacob’s next meeting with God. As is the case with many of the stories in Genesis it concerns blessing and his desire for it.

For those of you who are curious about Genesis, and have questions about it and how it relates perhaps to the ministries of Jesus, then please plan to join me as you are able for a lunch and chat after worship from July 27th until August 20th. The details are in the bulletin attached and also outlined below. You can register either by phoning the church office or using the website registration form and know that you are welcome once or every week as you are here and able to do so.
 
May God grace and bless you this day.
 
Karen

July 14

When God shows up!  

I think this might have made a better sermon title this week than the one I originally prepared, but in any case.  

Good afternoon to you all and Friday blessings.  

In worship on Sunday, this is going to be our second week with Jacob.  

Before Jacob was born God spoke about the plans that God had for Jacob and that is the last time we heard from God.  

Since then Jacob has been wrestling and scheming to get ahead of his elder brother Esau. Jacob has taken Esau’s birthright and stolen their father’s blessing from him. These are things that Jacob desperately wanted but they have come to him at great price. His brother wants to kill him and so as we meet up with Jacob this week he is on the run. And it is here in Genesis 28: 10 – 22 that God shows up again.  

And what I am thinking and wondering about is this: God is always at work and always present. But why is it that it is only in this time and place, that God is made known to Jacob?  

And as I wonder about that I wonder how often we are aware of God at work around us and what we might learn from the Scriptures this week about seeing God anew.  

Looking forward to worshipping on Sunday.   

Grace and peace,  

Karen  

 July 7

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

As we continue reading through the book of Genesis one of the things I am noticing is just how often the stories it tells are about brothers and sisters and the rivalries that arise between them when one seems to be more favoured than the others. That is certainly the case with Adam’s two sons, Cain and Abel, who we will be talking about on Sunday.

A couple weeks ago I touched briefly on the story of Abraham’s two sons Isaac and Ishmael. The rivalry between their mothers, Sarah and Hagar, and the horrible way Hagar and her son Ishmael were treated and the way God intervened to care for them.

This week it is Isaac’s turn to have children. Jacob and Esau, twin boys are born and the rivalry between them is once more intense to the point of being destructive. It is a painful story and yet these are the descendants of Abraham, those who God has promised to bless so that through them the world might be blessed. Isn’t that something? That since the beginning God has been at work through ordinary human beings with all our frailties and faults. That we are part of the great story of God at work in the world?

Sometimes I find myself wondering about that and sometimes I find myself full of wonder about it as well.

And sometimes I wonder why the stories of siblings in Genesis are always so full of rivalry?

And being an eldest child myself, I sometimes wonder why it is always the younger child that seems to be so favoured?

And I wonder what you think when you read and hear these stories? What fills you with wonder and what are your questions?

See you Sunday!

Grace and peace,

Karen

June 23

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Looking forward to the worship service on Sunday and continuing our read through the book of Genesis. This week we are at Genesis 18:1-15 and 21:1-7, two passages in which Sarah, the wife of Abraham laughs. The first time it is with disbelief, as she scoffs at the promise that she, old and tired, could have a child. The second time it is with hope and joy as she holds her newborn son. Such a difference in those two moments of laughter.

I am just thrilled, laughing myself, as I realize that even as we read about Sarah’s baby, we are going to be having a baptism on Sunday as well. How awesome is that? To gather and welcome a baby girl into our church family and make our own promises to pray for her and nurture and encourage her and her parents.

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

June 16

Good evening and Happy Friday!

It is hard to believe that we are in the middle of June already and that summer is about to officially begin in the coming week. Many thanks to Althea and the crew who hosted last week’s picnic lunch after worship.
 
It is National Indigenous Peoples Day on Tuesday and we have Ed Bianchi joining us for worship on Sunday. Ed is recently retired from Kairos, an ecumenical organization of churches and religious organizations, who are committed to working together in faithful action for ecological justice and human rights. Ed’s 22 year career there included work with the Indigenous Rights Program. And before Kairos he was National Coordinator of the Aboriginal Rights Coalition (ARC), one of 10 ecumenical social justice coalitions that became part of KAIROS when it was formed in 2001. 
 
At both KAIROS and ARC, Ed worked with Indigenous peoples on education and advocacy initiatives towards the recognition and implementation of Indigenous peoples’ rights. In speaking with us on Sunday he is going to share some of his reflections coming out of his career as well as his hopes for the future. I am delighted that he has accepted and is coming.
 
The Scripture passages for this week are Psalm 139:1-18 and 2 Corinthians 4: 1–7.
 
And the music for this week includes Many and Great which is also sometimes called the Dakota Hymn. It has an interesting history and you can learn a bit about it and its writer at hymnary.org if you are interested. Other music in the service also reflects indigenous culture and history.
 
Looking forward to seeing you Sunday. 
 
Blessings,
 
Karen

June 9

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

I am looking very forward to worship on Sunday as we give thanks for our Sunday School teachers and Choir and then afterwards share a barbeque meal together out in the courtyard. 

Last week I began preaching from the book of Genesis and will continue that through the summer. Genesis means beginnings and a good understanding of the stories it imparts is helpful for reading the rest of the Scriptures. And I want to share with you now a story of how that happened for me this past week.

Last Sunday as we read Genesis 1 – 2:4a, I talked about how interrelated all of creation is, how we are made in relationship to all the world and how made in God’s image, we are called to care for the world and the life it holds, as God would. And as we shared communion I noted how bread and wine themselves are gifts of the earth. That just as they nurture our physical bodies, they nurture our spiritual body as well, drawing us back into the life shared with God and each other.

Then, Tuesday morning was Bible Study. We have been reading through Mark’s gospel all year and this week we arrived at the Last Supper, where Jesus instituted the meal we continue at communion. And I think because I had just been talking about the shared life it nurtures, not just with God but with each other, that I was suddenly aware in a new way how that too is what Jesus gives us in this meal. It also probably had something to do with a friend telling me how excited she is that her grown and adult kids are all coming home for a visit at the same time this summer and how much she is looking forward to them all sitting round her dining room table together again. And I could just imagine Jesus sitting round all our tables delighted not just that we are gathered to be with him, but that we are gathered together as well. This is a gift, it was there last week in the Scriptures from Genesis, and it helped me see the last supper in Mark’s gospel in a way I might otherwise not have as well.

Isn’t it amazing this meal that Jesus gave us? A means of communion that brings us not just his presence but each others as well. A table where we are reminded that each one of us is made for goodness and that the food we share is a gift as well. So now I am looking forward to our picnic on Sunday even more…

If the weather is bad or the air quality horrible, we will have the picnic inside not out. Either way let’s pray for and work towards the healing of this world we are a part of.

And as we continue to read from Genesis, I wonder where the readings will take us this week. They are Genesis 2:4b – 9 and Genesis 12: 1 – 9.

See you on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen
 

June 2

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!  

As we get ready for worship this week our passage from the Hebrew Scriptures is rather long but beautifully poetic. And … it is so very easy to find. Right at the start of your Bible, Genesis 1: 1 – 2:4a. The account of creation, full of life and possibilities for flourishing.  

As I read this passage this week, I find myself wondering what things you like to make, either now or in the past? Was it a dinner or a craft? A garden or a vehicle? A piece of art? What is the story you would tell about how it came to be? What was it for? Who was it for? Why did you make it? Was it a gift? And is there anything you would really like to make now?  

I would love to hear from you if you want to write and tell me. My email address is kd@standrewsottawa.ca (and don’t worry, I wouldn’t share it with anyone else without permission).  

I do pray you are keeping well and cool!  

We have communion this week which in its own way is a gift from creation that joins us to God in Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit to each other and all this world as well.  

You can participate in person or online. If you are at home and taking communion all you need is some bread or a cracker to break and a cup with something to drink.  

I will see some of you tomorrow for Doors Open. I am excited for that. It is four years since we last opened our doors to the community like this. Many thanks to the team who are assembling to welcome people as they come.  

Grace and peace,  

Karen 

May 26

It has been almost four weeks now since I last worshipped with you at St. Andrew’s and I am so looking forward to being back for this Sundays service of Pentecost! You can read about it in Acts 2:1 – 21.  

Pentecost!  

Like so many of the things that we learn about in the Bible, it is not easy to explain let alone describe what happened that first Pentecost almost 2000 years ago now.  

The followers of Jesus had been praying and waiting and then it happened… what exactly? We are not sure. It was like the rush of a violent wind filling the house, and tongues, as of fire rested on each of them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and then they were outside, in the streets and speaking to the people there, each in their own language. In our own day it would be like speaking to someone you encounter in the street, who you have never met before, addressing them fluently in their own tongue.  

It cannot be explained and it is even hard to describe what happened that first Pentecost and I suspect many of us find ourselves wondering, with some of those who were there: what does it mean?  

This is the birth of the church. Alive in the Holy Spirit! What does it mean?  

It will be good to be back among you this week for worship.

And as you get ready, I wonder what intrigues you about the story of Pentecost? What questions do you have? Is there a time in your life that was anything like this? When caught up in the power of the Spirit you found yourself reaching out beyond the boundaries you are accustomed to.  

And it is also Healing and Reconciliation Sunday which just might be a perfect fit for Pentecost.

Grace and peace,  

Karen

April 28th

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”- Psalm 23: 1 

Good evening and Friday blessings,  

May the peace of God be with you! 

This is going to be a very special Sunday for us at St. Andrew’s. We are, for the first time since the pandemic, receiving three new members in the congregation, an occasion for thanksgiving, for prayer and joy.  

The readings for this week include John 10: 1 – 15 and Psalm 23 and sometimes we call this Good Shepherd Sunday. Every year the lectionary gives us passages like this about three or four weeks after Easter. It reminds us, although we are not reading it this year, that when the resurrected Jesus appeared to Peter, he commanded him to feed and care for Jesus’ own sheep. “I am the good shepherd” Jesus says in the passage from John 10 and Peter, who has learned much about the love of the shepherd is now called to become one himself!  
 
When I was a student for the ministry, my second year placement was at St. Giles in Cambridge. The minister’s name was Penny and she collected sheep. Stuffed sheep, ceramic sheep, small sheep, big sheep, pictures of sheep… they adorned her office, each of them a gift from a member of the congregation that had learned pretty early on that she loved sheep. And on Good Shepherd Sunday they all came out. I am thinking about this as I think about the passages this Sunday and the gift of church.  

An email came out earlier today about our ongoing revitalization discussion and the conversation we will be having about mission, values and outreach after worship this coming Sunday. Hope to see you at that too.  

Grace and peace,  

Karen 

April 21st

“For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”

Good afternoon and Happy Friday,

This verse above is one of the ones we will hear in our readings this week (Isaiah 61:1-11, Mark 5:24b-34). It resonates with the beauty all around us this week as trees begin to bud and bulbs push up from the ground and it reminds us as we approach earth day that the world in its glory reveals the heart and hand of its Creator.

Our guest in worship this week is one I am very excited about: Rev. Dr. Sarah Travis, Assistant Professor of Preaching, Worship and Christian Ministry at Knox College, Toronto and Minister at Norval Presbyterian Church (which for Anne of Green Gables fans is one of the places where Lucy Maud Montgomery and her husband served… this last piece of trivia is my note, not Sarah’s by the way).

I have always enjoyed spending time with Sarah and hearing her preach but it was Heather Pilkey’s remarks at the Annual Meeting this year about the importance, in the coming year, of cultivating joy, not losing sight of it in the year ahead that prompted me to invite Sarah to be with us this spring. The importance of joy in cultivating resilience is important to Sarah and the work she is currently doing. She has published several books that are aimed at facilitating a conversation among Christians about topics that matter for the church today and is a 2023 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Teacher-Scholar Grant recipient, exploring how playful theologies can enhance the worship and self-identity. I am looking forward to being inspired by Sarah in worship and then hope many of you will accept the invitation to join us in the Currie Room afterwards for a Lunch and Learn and enjoy a conversation with Sarah about restoration and the church.

Sarah’s most recent books include:

• Unspeakable: Preaching and Trauma-Informed Theology (Cascade, 2021) and

• Unsettling Worship: Reforming Liturgy for Right Relations with Indigenous Communities (Cascade, to be released 2023).

Many thanks to everyone who is considering the challenge on this Earth Day to travel to church in a sustainable fashion, which might mean walking, biking, using public transit, or even car pooling! Please don’t forget to take a photo and share with Reverend Heather (CE@standrewsottawa.ca) how you care for God's good world.

See you on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

April 14th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!  

It is certainly a beautiful day with the promises of spring all around us. I have spent a lot of the week catching up on the pile of things I said I would do after Easter and am looking forward to the planning being done for the spring at St. Andrew’s.  

As we get ready to worship this week our Scripture passage for the week is John 20:19 – 31. It is evening of the first Easter and it tells us what happened after. After the good news of empty tomb on Easter Morning and Mary’s testimony that she had seen the Lord… at the end of the day we catch up with the disciples as evening falls, closed up behind a locked door and frightened. And the good news? The good news is that there is nowhere we can go, no amount of frightened hiding we can do that Jesus will not find us. Suddenly, he was there! In the middle of the room breathing his own spirit into them and sending them out into the world.  

It is one of my favourite passages in the Bible. So compelling and so full of the assurance of God’s love that can break down every barrier and separation we put between ourselves and others.  

We have a mission speaker this week as well. Esther Gurung our guest speaker who comes to us via Presbyterian World Service and Development (PWS&D). Esther is the Community Programmes Manager of International Nepal Fellowship-Nepal (INF) which has been partnering with PWS and D for many years in implementing the Comprehensive Intervention for Leprosy-Free Communities Project in the communities of Banke, Bardiya and neighbouring districts of Nepal. I am so glad that she is travelling in Canada and able to join us.  

Easter Blessings,  

Karen 

April 6th

Good afternoon and a blessed Thursday!

I pray this finds you warm and well after yesterday’s storm. If you need help reach out.

This is Holy Thursday!

Tonight we begin the services for this weekend with a community meal, sharing food together as Jesus himself did with those he loved the night before he died.

This was the meal that became for us what the church sometimes calls the ordinary means of grace. Through the simple and every day action of breaking of bread together and the sharing of a cup, Jesus gave us a way that we can continue to gather and experience him with us.

It is such a profound gift this meal. That Jesus shared and gave of himself even when he knew that those he was feeding would that very night betray him. It was forgiveness in advance. Such great and amazing love that embraces us in all our frailty and loves us through it.

After supper, 2000 years ago, Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn and went out into the garden where he prayed and was betrayed. This night we will go from St. Andrew’s Hall to the sanctuary at 7:30 pm. Here by candlelight and with music from the choir, we will read from the Gospels the story of Jesus’ betrayal and denial, his abandonment by his disciples. Slowly the candles will be extinguished until a single light, the Christ light, is left.

A reading for you at home this day might be John 13 – 17.

And a question to ponder: Jesus loved his disciples, washing their feet, sharing bread with them and a meal. What are the ordinary, and extraordinary, means by which you show love?

Good Friday

Tomorrow morning we gather again in the sanctuary to stand near the cross, keeping our watch, drawing close to God even when God seems so far away.

This is the saddest story of our faith. The story of betrayal and death, and yet up out of the ashes of our despair we come to listen and pray, believing that even as God was there hanging on the cross with Jesus, God is here with us now.

This is the heart of our Christian Faith, that there is nowhere we can go, not even death and suffering, that Christ will not go to seek us out.

On Good Friday, it is not yet Easter but even so the promise is still before us to seek its power. Worshipping together we hold fast to our hopes, and seek fullness of life in the midst of death.

In the afternoon at two o’clock our choir will be singing John Stainer’s Crucifixion with hymns and pieces for the congregation as well.

A reading for you at home this day would be Psalm 22 and Matthew 27.

And a question (or three) to ponder: Jesus asks, why have you forsaken me? What are you afraid of? What brings you peace when you are afraid? What helps you through times you feel alone and troubled?

Silent Saturday

A reading for you at home this day might be Lamentations 3: 1 – 9; 19 – 24.

And a question to ponder: What are you feeling right now? How (and maybe what) are you doing with those feelings?

Easter Sunday!

Early in the morning on the first day of the week!

The darkness is lifted. Christ is risen and we gather in the sanctuary at 8:00am for a simple service of readings and a couple hymns as we rejoice in the discovery of the empty tomb and Jesus, the gardener appears to Mary – John 20: 1 – 18.

The news is so good that Mary who went to the garden tomb alone and full of grief returns full of joy and ready to share and so do we! Come breakfast together at 9:00am and then return to the sanctuary at 10:30am to sing “Jesus Christ is risen today”.

The sermon title for this comes from the lesson from Matthew 28: 1 – 10: Out into the world looking for Jesus!

And that is our commission! We will have been and seen, after which we go and tell!

And a question to ponder: What stories of new life do you have to share?

Looking forward to worshipping together this weekend!

Grace and peace,

Karen

March 30th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!  

As we celebrate Palm Sunday this week we are at the start of Holy Week and the time for remembering and travelling again through the Passion of Jesus.  

The Latin root of passion connotes suffering but our current use of the word passion is tied to passionate and the things that we light our soul with. We talked about this at Bible Study on Wednesday evening. For Jesus his suffering was born of his great love for the world and as we gather once again to wave palm branches and welcome him, I wonder what you are passionate about? What are the things that God has woven a passion for into your life and your heart? Where do you find the wisdom to listen to that and the courage to act on them?  

It is going to be a busy weekend and I do look forward to seeing many of you in person.  

In addition to the Palm Sunday service there is also tomorrow’s egg hunt and activities at the church in the afternoon and this evenings Concert of the Passion at the church with music that was composed by Matthew Larkin and performed by the Caelis choir.  

Details of the other upcoming Holy Week Services are found below.  

God bless you and keep you.  

Karen  

March 24th
Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

It is so nice to have the sun shining as Spring arrives among us.

This week in worship we are going to be reading the story of Lazarus. You can find it in John chapter 11. It is another longish reading but such a wonderful story as Lazarus who was once dead is now alive. And as we get ready for worship I am thinking particularly about the part towards the end when Jesus calls the community to push the stone back and then help take the grave clothes off Lazarus.

I had not noticed that so much before, the role of all the people in this story. It seems particularly meaningful after last week’s reading. From John 9 we read about a man who had been born blind and was healed by Jesus and was then rejected by his community.

This week’s reading reminds us that even as Jesus raises people to new life they still need people who will nurture that new life in them.

This week please don’t forget to bring your gifts for the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. We gather these every week but it being the fourth Sunday of the month we will be dedicating them during worship and we also have Diana Mahaffey who is the director of the Food Centre joining us.

Weekend blessings and see you all soon,

Karen

March 17th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!  

I pray that this finds you well and warm as the rain melts away the snow and as we look forward to spring I thought I would share this poem with you by William Blake.  

Little Lamb who made thee  

         Dost thou know who made thee  

Gave thee life & bid thee feed.  

By the stream & o'er the mead; 

Gave thee clothing of delight, 

Softest clothing wooly bright; 

Gave thee such a tender voice, 

Making all the vales rejoice!  

         Little Lamb who made thee  

         Dost thou know who made thee  

         Little Lamb I'll tell thee, 

         Little Lamb I'll tell thee! 

He is called by thy name, 

For he calls himself a Lamb:  

He is meek & he is mild,  

He became a little child:  

I a child & thou a lamb,  

We are called by his name. 

         Little Lamb God bless thee.  

         Little Lamb God bless thee. 

It is a lovely poem and resonates with our readings for Sunday as well.  

The psalm for the day is Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd and the Scripture reading is John 9: 1 – 42, which tells the story of man who is born blind and what happens to him after Jesus gives him his sight. It is not what we might have thought and it is in John 10 and the verses immediately afterwards that Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd.  

God bless you as we get ready for the weekend.  

And as I started with a poem by an Englishman and on St. Patrick’s day, I think I will end with this one that is attributed to St. Patrick himself. 

Christ with me, 
Christ before me, 
Christ behind me, 
Christ in me, 
Christ beneath me, 
Christ above me, 
Christ on my right, 
Christ on my left, 
Christ when I lie down, 
Christ when I sit down, 
Christ when I arise, 
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, 
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, 
Christ in every eye that sees me, 
Christ in every ear that hears me. 

May it be so for all of us.  

 
Karen 

 March 10th

And good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Will you give me a drink?

What would you say if someone asked you that?

Where would you be? What would they be looking for?

Will you give me a drink is the question that is asked in our Scripture readings for this week (John 4: 5 – 42).

First Jesus asks this question of a woman he meets at a well and later on she asks it of him.

Will you give me a drink?

A simple question but one that can go quite deep, (perhaps that is why they are at a well)?

What do you think?

As we look forward to worship together on Sunday, I wonder what are the things that you are thirsty for?

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

March 3rd

Good evening and God bless you as the weekend begins!  

Our Scriptures this week talk about God’s invitation to new beginnings!  

Continuing with our Lenten journey of seeking and asking questions, and as we get ready for worship, I wonde…  

I wonder what stories you might tell of new beginnings? Times in your life when you have started over or begun again? What was the grace that met you there? What did you have to leave behind to make a new start? How do you think your life is different now because of the decisions made then? 

 
And if you are coming to the Women’s Breakfast, online at 9:00 am tomorrow, stories of new beginnings are the topic for the day….. If you wish to get the Zoom link and don’t have it yet do let me know.  

Our Scripture readings for this week include Psalm 121, John 3: 1 – 17 and Genesis 12: 1 – 4.  

We are going to be sharing communion as well this week and if you are worshipping from home online, have some bread or a cracker to break and eat with us along with a cup with juice or wine (we have both in the sanctuary) as well.  

God bless you and keep you this week!  

Karen 

February 24th

Teach us to number our days, 
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom - Psalm 90:12  

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!  
I pray that on this very cold day, as winter reminds us it is not over yet, that you are keeping warm and looking forward to the weekend.  

It is a very full one indeed starting tomorrow night with the Coldest Night of the Year walk in support of the Ottawa Mission. Thanks to everyone who has signed up to walk or support us. We have already surpassed our goal and are grateful for the help we can offer the Mission.  

Sunday after worship we have a light lunch planned followed by the Annual Congregational Meeting. It is being held in the sanctuary and also being livestreamed. The annual report is found on the website and along with financials and other documents, was also emailed to you earlier in the week. 

Reading through the annual report again from 2022 I continue to be grateful for the faith and love we share in Jesus and with each other and the world. As we start the meeting, at which we will discuss the revitalization project as well as the financials for the coming year, we pause to remember the saints departed in the past year and also to give thanks for all who contributed to the life and work of the congregation in 2022. Several of those in leadership who have completed their service are Richard Lauzon who has been the Chair of Temporal, Laura McGregor who has co-convened Christian Education and Colleen Ferris who convened Pastoral Care until earlier in the year. They all played an important part in shepherding us through the shutdowns and changes in ministry associated with the pandemic and I am grateful.  

Along with the annual meeting it is the first Sunday in Lent. I am going to be finishing up the sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount with readings from Matthew 7: 1 – 12; 14 – 29. During Worship Heather and I will also be introducing our theme for Lent this year Seeking: Honest questions for a deeper faith.  

As Lent begins this week please bring a non-perishable food item for the Food Centre, the donations are collected every week in the baskets by both church entrances. It being the fourth Sunday of the month we will be dedicating in worship our offering for the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. 

I am using for my devotional this year a resource written by Reverend Sarah Speed that focusses on the Scripture reading for the coming week and asks me to contemplate a single question each day. If you would like a copy let me know and I can forward it to you.  

On Ash Wednesday the questions was: at the end of your life, what do you want people to say about you?  

Yesterday was: Is there a spiritual practice that you would like to develop, if so, what and why?  

And today: are you using your time wisely?  

Each day there is a prayer to go with the question, and I will end this email with today’s. 

Taken together they are reminding me so far of how precious our days are, each one full of opportunity to be with God and part of what God is doing. I pray that my life is lived in gratitude for the gift it is and as we meet this weekend, I pray for us all that God will keep us in faith and joy.  

Karen 

February 3rd
Good evening and a blessed Friday!

I pray you are all warm and indoors.

It is so cold outside and as we journey through Scripture to Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, oh how much warmer it seems there! The Galilean hillside, the lilies blowing in the breeze, the birds overhead and a view out over the sea below where the fishermen are tending their nets…

And I look out my window at the snow and wonder about the Sermon on the Mount in our context. Last week we heard Jesus speak about the blessings of his Kingdom, the value God places in all people, particularly those who the world might give little value to at all.

In a few weeks we are going to be supporting the Coldest Night of the Year walk in support of the Ottawa Mission. As I think tonight might in reality be that coldest night I thought I would include their website in my email today. https://ottawamission.com/. They do such good work and the partnership of the community is important in that.

The Scriptures for Sunday include Matthew 5: 17 – 26, 43 – 48 and my sermon title is “it has been said…”. This is something Jesus says time and again in these passages as he invites people to think more deeply about it. It is at the heart of the way we live, what it means to follow in his ways, in his kingdom.

Keep warm and I will see you on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

January 27th

Good evening and a blessed Friday!

As we get ready for worship this week it is the fourth Sunday of January so please remember any gifts you wish to bring for the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. We collect every week for them but on the fourth Sunday we do dedicate them and ask God’s blessing when we bring the offering forward. If you wish to know more about them and their ministry their website is found at Centretown Emergency Food Centre (cefcottawa.org).

Our Scripture passages for the week are Psalm 1 and Matthew 5: 1 – 20 and I am starting a sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount that will carry us through to the end of February. If you want to read ahead this sermon of Jesus’ is found in Matthew 5 – 7. In it you will find Jesus' first instructions on the nature of discipleship, what it means to follow him. Sometimes it feels like a high calling, sometimes almost impossible but as one of my colleagues in ministry reminded me this week we do this with God’s help. We are not called to do this alone. It is a beautiful way of living that is laid out in these passages, one that reminds us that how things are now is not how they have to be. As Jesus says in Matthew 5:16 let your light shine!

God bless us and keep us all.

See you Sunday,

Karen

January 20th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

As we get ready for worship this week we are moving into the start of Jesus’ public ministry and his calling of the first Disciples.

One minute they were fishermen hauling nets for a living on the Sea of Galilee and the next they had put it all down to follow Jesus.

Why is that? How did that happen? What was going on?

Time and again when we read this passage I get this question and I am sure it was asked of those closest to them as well.

I wonder about the moments in all our lives when everything has changed. Something has happened and the next thing we know we are doing things differently. Sometimes in ways that extend love and service to others.

How did that happen? What was going on?

Looking forward to worship on Sunday. We have our own service in the sanctuary at 10:30 am and then at 4:00 pm we are hosting the service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Grace and peace,

Karen

January 13th

Good evening and a blessed Friday!

As the snow comes down it was a lot of fun and good exercise to be out with the dogs this morning. And when I let them out in the yard again at noon there was a large flock of small birds that rose up in a great swirl from one of the trees there. As I watched they flew a ways off and then came back and over the course of the next ten or so minutes moved from cedar tree to cedar tree in my yard and the neighbouring one. They were so tiny and at each tree they would rest for a few minutes, perhaps feeding, I couldn’t see, and then they would rise up in a great swirl again, into the blowing snow and on to the next tree. It was mesmerizing and I continue to wonder at their journey together through the snow this afternoon.

Travel I know is more difficult for all of us and I pray you are all safe and warm in the midst of this winter wonderland.

As we get ready for worship this week we are picking up right after the baptism of Jesus. We read about this last week, how Jesus was baptised by John in the river Jordan and as he came up out of the water the heavens broke open and the spirit descended like a dove as God spoke: “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”

It makes all the difference this kind of love and it brings with it a calling.

Jesus was barely dry when the Spirit took him out into the wilderness and with God’s love still ringing in his ears he was confronted by temptation.

We are going to talk about that this week: temptation!

See you Sunday and maybe before as well.

We have our online women’s breakfast at 9:00am tomorrow and if you still need the Zoom link let me know. We are going to talk about friendship, with God and with each other.

Grace and peace,     
                     
Karen

January 6th

The unqualified, totally delighted love of God!

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

This is Epiphany and as we get ready for worship this week and may the light of God’s love and words to Jesus at his own baptism be yours as well: “you are my Child, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

Such unqualified, delighted love makes all the difference in our lives.

It upholds us and keeps us.

When I was first went away from home to go to University my mother wrote me a letter, that I still have, in which she wrote that there was always home and love for me with her. And the thing about that letter was that it was offered so freely that it didn’t make me feel badly for leaving, nor did it make me want to go back home. Instead it empowered me to keep going, to make new friends, to forge my way, to grow up and become myself, because I believed and knew I was held in a love that would never give up on me.

Jesus’ baptism was like this on a grand scale. After he is baptised he doesn’t hang around waiting to hear God speak some more, instead he heads straight into the wilderness where he is tested and after which he begins his ministry.

“You are the beloved, with you I am well pleased” these words spoken by God to Jesus, come to us through him in our Baptism as well. Given how fantastically transformative the Good News of this message is, I wonder how you would go about showing someone the truth of these words?

And as we think about that I do want to invite you to consider the invitation to our workshops on Dementia that begin next Wednesday, January 11th. The first in a series of three, this one is designed to answer questions about the disease itself and help us understand it. The second and third workshops will talk more about the care of people with Dementia and how we might build Dementia friendly congregations and communities. The workshops are on Zoom at 7:00 pm. Everyone is welcome so please invite friends and anyone you know might be interested. There is more information on the website (http://www.standrewsottawa.ca/dementia-workshops) and you can register through this link or through the church office (office@standrewsottawa.ca) to get the Zoom link.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

December 30th

Good evening and a blessed Friday!

When we meet for worship on Sunday morning it will be a whole New Year and I have been thinking about that as I get ready for the service.

Our readings this week include Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 8 which says “for everything there is a time, and a season for every purpose under heaven”. The book of Ecclesiastes, alongside Job and Proverbs is one of the wisdom books of the Hebrew Scriptures and as we read from it this week we will also be reading about the Magi, or wise men in Matthew 2: 1 – 22.

As the New Year begins I think these readings come together quite well. One of the things you might want to consider is how after they had visited Jesus and were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went home by another route. I wonder what that might mean for us this year?

Whether you are at the church or online, I am looking forward to worshipping with you on Sunday and through this coming year.

Grace and peace,

Karen

December 23rd

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

Only two more days until Christmas! And I wonder how each of you is doing? What are you feeling and seeing as this season of Advent comes to an end? Are you excited? Tired? Do you feel ready? I wonder… and however you are feeling, wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I am praying and giving thanks for you.

For the last four weeks in worship we have been talking about how, from generation to generation, God works in and through human beings to accomplish God’s purposes and this came home to me in a very particular way last week with the dramatization of the birth of Jesus that we presented during worship and as I listened to the children rehearsing for the pageant tomorrow night.

I have said it before and I will say it again: one of the things I love about the pageant is the way it reminds us that there is a part for everyone in the story of God coming into the world in Jesus. And I am seeing it from a new angle this year, partly, I am sure because it is just so darn good to have an in person pageant again … one of the amazing things pageants do is help us see each other and our children in particular anew. Look at who is Mary this year! And who is the wise man! And who has the good humour to play Herod so well! And as you do, here is the invitation, to look even deeper and celebrate that each person, those up on the stage, those in the pews and everyone watching from home is part of God’s plan and purpose, what God is doing in the world. How awesome is that?

That has stayed with me through the week. And so has this, that each one of the characters in the Christmas story is far from home.

Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds and the wise men, they have all travelled a great distance and home is far away. The forces that bring them together are complicated and many. Divine guidance plays a role but so do government decisions about a census and the hospitality of an innkeeper. And at the heart of it is the one who has made the greatest journey of all and perhaps the only one in the whole story who is truly now at home.

Emmanuel, God with us. The Word made Flesh. Jesus.

I have been thinking about that as well as I give thanks this week. That no matter where we go, no matter what has happened to us or what we have done to make it happen, God is with us in Jesus.

What love is this? What worth each one of us has before our creator!

On the first Sunday of Advent, for the benediction, I shared with you these words written by the Sanctified Art team and as this season of waiting and learning to behold comes to a close let me say it once more:

“the work of God is always unfolding- and it does happen in us and through us. This Advent may you remember that you belong- to a story etched in the wrinkles of time, to the generations that have come before and will come after, to a love that will not let you go.”

God bless you and keep you.

Karen

PS: And yes, the services tomorrow night and Sunday morning will be livestreamed and can be accessed through the website.

The pageant is at 6:00pm and the service of Lessons and Carols with the choir is at 10:00pm, Sunday morning is at 10:30am.

December 16th

My soul magnifies the Lord!

These words are sung by Mary in our Scripture reading this week. She has heard from the angel that not only is she going to conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, but that her cousin Elizabeth, who is old beyond child bearing age is also pregnant. Mary heads out to see Elizabeth who greets her with joy, and who tells her that the child in her womb has leaped with joy in the presence of the child Mary is carrying.

It must have been quite a moment for Mary and in response she sings: My soul magnifies the Lord.

When we magnify something we make it more visible, more easily seen and as Mary sings of what it is that God is doing I come back to my conviction that this is a big part of what Advent is about. It is a time of revelation, of beholding what God is doing and about to do in Jesus Christ.

I am excited about our own singing this week. In worship and then afterwards. Last week we got warmed up for this singing Christmas Carols at the Congregational lunch. This week, after pageant rehearsal, at 2:00 pm we are going to go outside and carol by the Creche beside the church and then down to Sparks Street. Afterwards there will hot chocolate back at the church, thanks to Irene for that and thanks to Pat for leading our singing.

This week’s service is our last in Advent. The passages are from Luke 1: 39 to 56. We have been talking about the story of God’s love that comes to us down through the generations. And as we reflect on our Scripture for today, Mary is newly pregnant but in our time together we will be sharing the story of her baby’s birth and all those who became part of God’s story through him. It is an intergenerational service so the children’s time is a bit longer and the sermon a bit shorter and we have a mix of Advent hymns and Christmas carols to sing as well. I can’t wait.

And as we celebrate the gift that Jesus is and the gift of stories, it is also White Gift Sunday. Please bring a book wrapped in white paper for the library at Queen Mary Public School. A wish list of books can be found on the church website at http://www.standrewsottawa.ca/loving-our-neighbour.

Next week’s services include Blue Christmas on December 21 at 7:00pm and then the Christmas Eve Pageant at 6:00pm and Lessons and Carols Service at 10:00pm. Christmas Morning we have worship at 10:30am and fellowship afterwards.

It has truly been a wonderful Advent season. So good to have more people able to worship and attend events in person and what a blessing the youth and pastoral connectors have been serving up gifts for people who are more homebound.

God bless us and keep us all,

Karen

December 9th

“When Joseph woke up!” This is the expression that caught my attention in our Scripture readings for this week (Matthew 1: 18 – 25). When he went to sleep the night before he had been resolved to break it off with his fiancée Mary who was pregnant and not by him but in the night time he had a dream and through it heard God telling him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife for the child, a son, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and Joseph was to call him Jesus.

How things change. When he went to bed the night before Joseph had made what he thought was the right decision but when he awoke in the morning everything had changed. And not just for him, for us all.

Our theme for this week is we can make better choices. As we think about that and our overarching theme for Advent, from generation to generation, I wonder: what are the choices made by people who came before you, that have totally changed your circumstances and lives?

We were talking about this, and about Joseph, in Bible Study this week and a question that came up was this: why don’t we hear God as clearly when we have a decision to make?
What a great question. And as we thought about the answer some of what we considered was how God invites us in the story of Joseph to give thought to those who need us most when we make decisions, how do our decisions affect the lives of others? But we also looked at our other reading for the day.

Isaiah 35: 1 – 10 is a picture of God’s promises for the future. Life in the midst of a desert, water for the thirsty, sight for the blind… a way opening up … and this too I believe can shape our decisions and help us make better choices. What kind of future does our decision making contribute to?

As we bring all of this together we will have some guests in worship and a moment for mission for the Community Laundry Co-op and the Marco Depestre Foundation. These are two of the mission partners of the church and organizations that we are inviting contributions to in our Christmas appeal. You can find out more about them, and the Kenora Fellowship Centre, which we are also supporting in this appeal here Christmas Gift List — St. Andrew's Ottawa (standrewsottawa.ca).

Looking forward to worship on Sunday and to the congregational lunch right afterwards!

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

December 2nd

Good evening and a Blessed Friday!

Dear Friends,

This Sunday we light the candle of peace on our advent wreath and I am looking very forward not just to the Sunday morning worship but the Evening Service of Advent music and readings at 4:00 in the evening.

I was in the sanctuary for a short while last night listening to the choir rehearse. There is something very different about being there in the evening, the peacefulness of our sanctuary touches me in a very different way. And the awe and longing, the waiting and watching of the Advent music evoked a powerful presence indeed.

Our Scripture readings for the week come to us from Isaiah 11: 1 – 10 and Luke 1: 26 – 38. It will be like this each week in Advent as we continue to reflect on our theme of From Generation to Generation. There will be a reading from Isaiah and a reading from the Gospels as the story of Jesus’ coming among us unfolds. We read both these readings on Wednesday at the mid week service as well and at that service I focus on the Isaiah reading while on Sundays I will focus on the Gospel.

This Sunday’s passage therefore is the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Mary. The Sermon title is God comes to us in our fear. As we pursue that I wonder what you think the difference might be between the fear that the Angel refers to when they say to Mary “Fear Not” and the fear of the Lord that fills the earth in the Isaiah reading. What do you think?

It is communion as well this week.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen


November 25

Good evening and a Happy Friday!

As Advent begins I am looking very forward to this weekend at St. Andrew’s.

For the first time since before the pandemic we have the Scottish Tea and Christmas Bazaar! The Guild and volunteers have been busy all week decorating and transforming the halls to welcome you at 1:00 pm tomorrow! Looking very forward to adding to my collection of Christmas decorations that I buy each year and to spending time catching up with people as well. Remember that the Guild each year forwards most of the proceeds of the sales to local charities so that this is truly a celebration of being blessed to be a blessing.

And that is only Saturday!

On Sunday morning in worship as we light the candle of hope on our Advent Wreath we will also be ordaining and inducting new elders to the Kirk Session. You actually elected them back in 2020 but with the pandemic the opportunities to ordain them in person were delayed and I am looking doubly forward to this ordination.

The Scripture passages for the week (Isaiah 2: 1 – 5 and Matthew 1: 1 – 17) introduce us to our Advent Theme this year: from Generation to Generation. In the Matthew passage we read about the geneaology of Jesus beginning with Adam and coming down through the years to Joseph. Ever wondered about why it is Joseph, Jesus’ adopted dad, whose family tree is shared here? We will be talking about that as well as how in this lineage, the stories of each individual and generation are woven into the great tapestry of what God is doing in the world. And as we look at it, I wonder how we are called to be part of that story in our own day?

God bless you and keep you.

Karen

November 18th

Good afternoon and a Happy Friday!

“’There are two Jesus’!” A small child told me this once. “’There is a baby Jesus and Grown up Jesus’” she explained, provoking me to think anew about how we approach Christmas and the birth of the baby who is also our Sovereign Lord. Perhaps it is for this reason that the church gives us Christ the King Sunday which is what we celebrate this week. It is the end of the church year, the last Sunday before Advent and a time to reflect on who Christ is, ahead of the Season when we prepare ourselves to welcome him anew into this world and our lives.

Our Scripture texts for the week include Luke 23:33 – 43 which describes the crucifixion of Jesus and then we are also going to read from Colossians 1: 11 – 20. This is a passage that I just love to linger over and wonder through. It is so full, with words that speak of Christ’s completeness, of his creating, redeeming and sustaining love and work. “Jesus is the image of the invisible God” writes Paul and I find his words in this passage particularly compelling and beautiful and full of light.

As we get ready for Sunday I am curious as to how you will hear these words but I am also curious about how you would describe Jesus? Who is he to you? What does he accomplish in your life? What difference does he make in how you see the world? What would you say if you were asked about who he is to you?

Looking forward to Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

November 11th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday,

Earlier today I was downtown to watch the National Service at the War Memorial and that has stayed with me as I return to the Scriptures this afternoon, and read of war and destruction and the promises of God alive and at work in the midst of the most horrible things.

We are reading this week from Isaiah 65: 17 – 25 and Luke 21: 5 – 19 both of which remind me that Advent is coming. This is the season when we focus on the promises of God and God’s coming kingdom, when we remember Jesus’ first coming and anticipate his second.

Advent is only a few weeks away now and our theme this year is From Generation to Generation. I am excited not just for the Sunday Services but for the return as well of a Wednesday program which will begin on November 23rd and run for five Wednesdays until December 21st. From 8:30am until 9:00am each Wednesday we will once more be offering Visio Divina, a reflection on art and Scripture. This will be a Zoom gathering and then at 12:10pm we will have an in person noon hour service in the sanctuary. At 7:00pm we will be back on Zoom for Bible Study. The Bible Study will be four weeks not five because on the fifth Wednesday, December 21st, we will have our Longest Night or Blue Christmas Service in the Sanctuary. More details will be coming soon!

Grace and peace,

Karen

PS: Christmas Pageant rehearsals are starting this week! Thanks to Riley B. for his leadership in this and if you want more information about being involved please speak to him or Heather or myself. The pageant will be presented on Christmas Eve, Saturday December 24th at the 6:00 pm service.

November 4th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands – this is the word of God as it comes to us in Isaiah 49:16 and I cherish the image it provides.

Sometimes when I have something I need to remember I write it on the palm of my hand. Sometimes it is something that I need to pick up at the grocery store on the way home (like milk for my coffee in the morning). Sometimes it is a telephone number and sometimes it is the name of someone I want to check in on later. Whatever or whoever it is, it is important to me and I write it not on a piece of paper I might lose or in my daytimer that I might forget at the office but on my own hands so that it is ever before me (at least until I wash them!)

This comes to mind when in Isaiah God says: Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands! For the people of God who have come through war and exile this is good news of the very best kind: “I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

This is how God greets us as we gather for worship this coming Remembrance Sunday: God remembers too and God is with us.

During the service we will take time, as we do every year to name and remember before God the people from this congregation who died in the First and Second World Wars. We will keep silence together and we will pray.

Our guest in the pulpit is Captain (Navy) Reverend Bonita Mason, Chief of Staff, Director Chaplaincy Strategic Support, who will be offering the sermon “Taking our place within the continuum of time”. The Scripture passages for this are Isaiah 2: 1 – 4 and John 15: 9 – 17.

Captain Mason grew up in Pictou Nova Scotia and is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Her Bio, which is one of the attachments to this email, details her service since joining the military. She will be at coffee hour after the service as well.

See you on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

October 28th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

As we get ready for worship this week there are two upcoming services that I am excited to share with you.

There is our regular Sunday morning worship which this week is Reformation Sunday and there is our All Saints Service being held in the evening, at 6:00 pm on Tuesday November 1. In both of these we give thanks for the Grace of God.

In the Scriptures the word saint is used to address all Christian people collectively, in every time and place. And when we speak of All Saints we are talking about ordinary people who have walked with God throughout the ages, who have been sources of encouragement and holiness to us. An All Saints service is one of deep remembrance but it also one of encouragement and inspiration as we give thanks for the way God’s light is seen in ordinary human living.

Our readings for the All Saints service include Hebrews 12: 1 – 3 which speaks of the great cloud of witnesses that surround us. With the pastoral connectors this week we were remembering this week the people who we used to sit with in the pews and how sometimes in the sanctuary we still feel their presence with us. For some of us it is why we chose a special place to sit each week. In this season when we are able to gather together more comfortably after several years apart, many of us are particularly conscious of this and I am looking particularly forward to this very special evening service with the choir, Tuesday at 6:00pm.

This Sunday is Reformation Sunday a day that marks not just a point in history that changed the course of the church but also a theological approach to God. We are reformed and always reforming and as we reflect on the story of Zachaeus in Luke 19 we are going to be celebrating the grace of God, God’s life changing love.

Looking forward to worshipping together.

Grace and peace,

Karen

October 21st

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

I was laughing this morning at a cartoon someone sent me and some of you might find it funny as well.

I know that I often write about the text this Sunday and the cartoon showed someone in a pew looking at their phone asking “which text is she talking about?”

Sometimes a word used by one person can mean something totally different to another.

Our (Scriptural) text for this week is Luke 18: 9 – 14. Like the passage we read last week it is a parable. A story told by Jesus as an invitation to explore what is happening around them. It is also, like last week, about prayer. I have called my sermon “Whose attention are you seeking?” but it might also have been “whose attention are you getting?”

In addition to Sunday, I know I will see many of you as well tomorrow for the funeral of Béatrice Johnston. Thank you for your prayers for her family this week.

Grace and peace,

Karen

October 14th

Good afternoon and happy Friday! After the rain yesterday it is a beautiful day today and I am just about to head out for a walk to enjoy it.

Our Scriptures as we get ready for worship on Sunday include Genesis 32: 22 – 31 which is the story of Jacob’s wrestling with God and then Luke 18: 1 – 8 which tells the story of a persistent widow petitioning an unjust judge for justice. And it is the persistence with which both Jacob and the woman hang on to which is something I am thinking about as I get ready for worship.

We all have stories of persistence in people we admire. What story would you tell me if I asked you? And where do you see people persistently holding on for a blessing in the world this week?

It is definitely a busy weekend for us at the church. I am looking forward to seeing some of you tonight in the sanctuary for the presentation on Church and Culture by Rev. Dr. Bill Tenny-Brittian. It’s online and the link is below, if you cannot come in person then please tune in at 7 pm. Bill is a church consultant and has been engaged by the Kirk Session to work with us as we plan for the future at St. Andrew’s. He has already received lots of data and information about us and this weekend we get to meet each other and spend time in conversation and planning.

Today, Friday, the staff and some of our committees enjoyed meeting with Bill in the morning. He has been asking questions that are getting us thinking about what we are doing and why and he has lots of wisdom to share. Bill will be continuing to meet with members and committees through tomorrow and then attending worship on Sunday. On Sunday evening at 7 pm he will be making another presentation in the sanctuary with some of his key recommendations to us. Again the link to attend that is below but I hope many of you will be able to come in person and also plan to attend the dinner beforehand at 5 pm. You can still register to attend by emailing Vivian at office@standrewsottawa.ca.

Grace and peace,

Karen

October 7th

Good evening and a Blessed Friday!

Dear Friends, as I work on the sermon for this week I am wondering, when in your life you have been encouraged or helped by someone and it totally surprised you. Maybe it was someone who was junior to you at work, or younger than you in the family? Someone who did not have the skills you have or knowledge and yet, to your surprise, turned out to be the one who helped you through a great trouble, dilemma or problem?

And I ask because that is what happens in our Scripture passages for this Thanksgiving Sunday.

In Luke 17: 11- 19 we have the story of ten people with leprosy who are helped by Jesus and in 2 Kings we have the story of a powerful General who also has a terrible skin disease and who is directed towards a cure, not by the Kings he turns to for advice, but by the words of his servants.

It is a great reminder of how God works! Not always through those who seem most powerful.
This is good news for each of us, it encourages us to speak up and participate even when we feel that there are more powerful or wiser or smarter or richer people who can do so much more than we can. And it calls us as well to pay serious attention to the gifts that all people have to share.

What a great story for Thanksgiving as I am convinced that paying attention to God at work is the beginning of gratitude and I wonder, as you give thought to the question I started this email with, where do you now see God at work?

Looking forward to gathering with you, online and in the sanctuary to sing and praise this Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

September 30th

Dear Friends,

Increase our faith! This is the disciples request of Jesus in our Scripture passage for Sunday as they face the demands of discipleship including the call to a generous forgiveness. It is a request that resonates with me. In the wake of last week’s passage, which reminded me of a preaching professor who exhorted our class to be generous with the gospel, … as we mark Orange Shirt Day and the call it places on our lives…: “increase our faith” is a request that makes sense and yet Jesus’ answer is not what we expect. Rather than exhort us to greater faith or show us how to get better faith, Jesus tells those who would be his disciples that even with a tiny amount of faith they can do great things.

How awesome is that?

I wonder what stories you might tell of how faith, even a little faith, has made such a great difference in your living?

As we gather this week our readings are from Luke 17: 5 – 7 as well as Habakkuk 1: 1 – 4 and 2: 1 – 4. I am looking forward to reading those together on Sunday and then sharing communion together as well. It is World Communion Sunday and after worship we will be walking in support of the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. The link to sponsor the team or join it and walk is found here

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/centretown-churches-social-action-committee/p2p/WALK/team/st-andrews-striders/.

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

September 23rd

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

As I left the church at noon preparations were well underway in St. Andrew’s Hall for the first Rummage Sale in 3 years! How wonderful it is to begin gathering together again. The last few weeks have been great that way with the Gracefield Retreat, Rally Sunday and other visits that I have had with some of you in your homes. This time last year all this was our hope…

Our reading this week from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 32: 1 – 3a, 6 – 15) is like this. In the midst of war Jeremiah buys a field from his cousin, even as it is occupied by the enemy. For Jeremiah the greater truth and indeed his hope is the presence of God and the promises of God. His purchase of the field is his act of faith in God and the future. I find it a very inspiring story.

How does our hope in God shape our living?

And as you think about that, please, as we gather on Sunday, wear your orange! Next Friday, September 30th is Orange Shirt Day which is also the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Keeping it honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process. In the notes below you will find some details about how we are going to participate next Friday and ways you can be part of that. .
Also for next week, you will see in the notes below that it is World Communion Sunday.

Afterwards, and so appropriately after being fed at God’s table, we will be participating in the Walk for the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. Our team is the St. Andrew’s Striders. Please consider either signing up to walk with us or supporting the Centre.

Grace and peace,

Karen

September 16th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

It was so good to be back at St. Andrew’s last week. To spend time with many of you at Gracefield, reconnecting and catching up and then being in the sanctuary again for worship on Sunday. As I said in worship, it was good to be away and it is very good to be back.

This Sunday is Rally Sunday! It’s the start of the New Year for the Church School and the Choir so we will be commissioning those ministries as we all commit anew to our own faith journey as disciples and students of Jesus. Children bring your backpacks and we will be blessing them as well.

I am really excited about our guest in worship this week: The Reverend Dr. Robert (Bob) Faris who is the moderator of the 147th General Assembly. His sermon is titled “Who’s who?” and is based on Luke 15: 11 – 32. Reverend Faris currently serves as the Associate Minister of St. Andrew’s Church in Toronto and in his bio, (see below), you can read about his years in ministry and his interest in ecumenism. In recent years he was the co-convenor of the Rainbow Communion. Many thanks to our Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination committee who invited and is hosting him here.

Finally and wonderfully: Just like the Scripture passages last week, the Scripture passage this week ends with a party and so too does our worship service! The Christian Education team with help from the Women’s Guild and many others is hosting a corn roast and soup lunch in the courtyard and you are all invited.

Looking forward to seeing you Sunday!

Grace and peace,

Karen

PS: As the New Year gets up and running, if you are interested in being part of the welcoming team who greets people as they arrive for worship each week, or in being one of the Scripture readers for the coming year please let me know. I will be hosting an orientation meeting with some training and lunch later in the fall.

September 9th

It was good to be away and it is very good to be back!

Good evening and Happy Friday!

We are packing the car now for Gracefield where I am looking forward to seeing some of you and then I will be back for Sunday morning and will see many more of you! If you are watching the service online I would love to hear from you as well and know how you are doing. My email address is kd@standrewsottawa.ca

As we with the Nation and the Commonwealth mourn the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, I want to share with you a prayer provided by the Reverend Dr. Bob Faris who is the moderator of the General Assembly. It is printed below, we will pray it in worship on Sunday and Kaitlyn has posted it onto our website.

Eternal God, before you all generations rise up and fall away, and in your grace, you provide leaders to serve and comfort us with wisdom and dedication. We give thanks for the life, Christian witness and service of Queen Elizabeth, whose earthly life is now ended and who has entered into the joy and peace you have prepared through Jesus Christ. We pray for her family and those who will take up her duties and responsibilities. Send your Holy Spirit to comfort and give peace to all who mourn her death and the death of any loved one.
Amen.

The Scripture passages this week come from Luke 15: 1 – 10. There are two parables here about things that are lost and found and my sermon title is “Will you come to the party?” As you ponder the invitation, it comes with questions about God’s mercy, not just for us, but for all people.

Looking very forward to seeing you.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday June 24th

Good afternoon and a Happy Friday!

This is my last note to you for a while as on Monday I begin my ten weeks of Intermission. This is a period of time of Sabbath provided to ministers in the Presbyterian Church every five years that we might spend time connecting with the Holy in our Lives. I have a colleague lined up to provide spiritual accompaniment for reflection and prayer during this time but I have to say I have mixed feelings about this. I will certainly miss you all and be praying for you, please pray for me as well.

I have put a few notes below about the Revitalization project happening in October because that will be almost upon us when I get back and I hope you are marking your calendars to participate.

For this Sunday’s worship I am going to share some reflections on Sabbath keeping and holy rest as we read from Genesis 1:1 – 2:4 as well as Psalm 19.

I also hear there is ice cream after the service this week which is awesome. Ice cream, if you ever wondered, is one of my most favourite foods. Seriously.

Our last online coffee hour for a while is after church this Sunday as well at 12:30pm. Do let me know if you would like the link.

Grace and peace be with you all,

Karen

Revitalization

When October comes we will be welcoming a consultant, Rev. Dr. Bill Tenny-Brittian of Effective Church, to be with us for a weekend and to lead us in an exercise designed to revitalize our life and witness as a congregation. The Kirk Session engaged Bill over two years ago and then we had COVID so we are really excited that he is now coming.

During his time with us Bill will be meeting with the leadership of the church and its committees as well as the staff. There will be evening gatherings on Friday and Saturday with the congregation so that Bill can talk with us about church and future direction. He will attend worship on Sunday and present a summary presentation on Sunday evening with action items for moving ahead and growing as a congregation, in faith and number.

Your voice matters, we want to hear from you, so please put Friday, October 14 to Sunday, October 16 on your calendars and watch out for more details that will be coming before the end of this month.

Ahead of Bill’s visit we will be gathering information about the congregation and the neighbourhood and city we are located in. Some of you might already have been recruited to help with this and those of you who attend worship during the four weeks ahead of Bill’s visit will be asked to fill out a brief survey regarding your experience. The more times you come the more you fill it out!

But all that is in the fall and before that there is the summer.

Friday June 17th

Good evening and a Blessed Friday!

What have you to do with me? This is a question that is asked of Jesus by a demon possessed man in our Scripture reading for this coming Sunday.

What have you to do with me Jesus Son of the Most High God?
And as you ponder that question let me tell you what I talked about recently when I was asked for some of my favourite COVID memories of our church community.

It has been almost two and a half years now we have been living in pandemic. We have spent many hours in our homes and away from each other and as a church community we have worked hard to find ways to stay in touch by doing some things differently and doing some different things. Zoom has become part of that. So has the phone. (I don’t think I have spoken so much on the phone since I was in high school.)

I have been enjoying coffee hour very much the last few months being back in person but through the pandemic, coffee hour in Zoom was a very special hour in my week. There are about 30 households on the list of those who signed up to participate. Not everyone came every week but each time we gathered there was upwards of a dozen of us and while many of us didn’t know each other well at the start of the pandemic, that changed very quickly. We shared recipes and gardening tips, memories and hopes, books read and movies watched, and each week we prayed for each other and those we loved. I have to say that one of the moments that warmed my heart the most was when one of our members became quite ill and so many others reached out, with messages and gifts, support. If the coffee hour Zoom group had come into existence only for the care and love shown to that one person in that moment, that would have been entirely enough I think, but the truth is we were all there for each other through a difficult time. This was the spirit at work in us and through us.

Let’s go back to the question of the demon possessed man: what have you to do with me, Jesus son of the most High?

The answer: well, you know it I think? Jesus who has the power over all things, is here for all of us. Our concerns, our wellbeing is his. His healing is for us all.

On Sunday morning when we read this passage we will also be reading from Psalm 42 and from Galatians 3: 23 – 29. And we will be celebrating the gift of baptism through which we are all grafted into the body of Christ and made one with him and each other.

I love baptism.

It is going to be another wonderful Sunday at St. Andrew’s and I look forward worshipping together in person and online. I will be at in person coffee hour this week but at online coffee hour next week, June 26th.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday June 10th

Where do we go to find God? Or, where in the world does God seek us out?

Good afternoon and happy Friday!

Our reading for this Sunday, from Proverbs, is fascinating as it begins with Lady Wisdom standing up in the crossroads and gateways of a busy world, shouting and crying out for our attention. In the face of all the other voices and temptations calling to us, do we hear her?

As we worship together on this Trinity Sunday our other Scripture readings include Psalm 8 and John 16: 12 – 15.

It is also for us at St. Andrew’s, a Sunday for music appreciation. It is our last Sunday before the summer with the full choir and it is our very last Sunday with Lynn Boothroyd who has been the Bell Choir Director for sixteen years now.

It will be good to celebrate together.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday June 2nd

Church: other people, a worshipping community…

In her book Amazing Grace, a Vocabulary of Faith, Kathleen Norris writes that the worship or praise of God takes place not only when people gather on Sunday morning but when they gather to paint the house of an elderly member, or visit someone in hospital or console the bereaved, when children sing Christmas carols to the neighbourhood …if a church has life then its programs are not just activity but worship… and, Kathleen writes, that when she looks around the sanctuary, at the other people in the pews, she is sometimes reminded that what we are engaged in is something important, something that transcends our efforts at worship there, something that transcends herself.

I am thinking about that as we get ready to worship this week on Pentecost Sunday. Our readings from the book of Acts (Acts 2: 1 – 11) remind us that that the church was born like this, not worshipping and praying inside a building, but in that moment when the Spirit arrived and they were pushed outside beyond its walls…

As we come through two years of pandemic I suppose we have learned in a particular way what it means to be church outside of the building and as summer approaches and we are able to gather once more in person, I am excited about where the Spirit might be taking us now. It is good to be part of God’s church here at St. Andrew’s.

This coming Sunday we will be celebrating communion in the sanctuary. If you are worshipping from home you can get ready to participate by having some juice or wine to drink and a piece of bread or a cracker to break and eat.

After the service we will be having a congregational picnic outside. There are some tables in the courtyard but you can also bring a blanket or chair for yourself. There are more details in the notes below.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday May 27th

“I was standing there looking up the road for so long that I almost missed him when he came from another direction.”  

This happens sometimes in our lives doesn’t it?

The realization that we have been looking so long and so hard for one thing in one direction, that we totally miss it when it comes at us from another place.

I would suspect that we have all had moments like this in our own lives, when we have been so busy looking for one thing or looking in one direction, that we almost miss, or in some cases, totally miss out on something entirely meaningful that is right under our noses and that has the power to change our lives.

It is those moments that I think of when I open up the book of Acts and our Scripture readings for this week which include Acts 1: 1 – 11 and the story of Jesus’ ascension. We see his disciples with their gaze fixed on the heavens that Jesus has returned to until their attention is redirected to the world around them.

It has been a distressing time as we look out on God’s world this week. The school shooting in Texas, the ongoing war and for many of us the power outages and damage from last Saturday’s storm… our hearts ache, our feelings are complex, and some of us might be quite exhausted indeed.

In the midst of this it will be good to be back in worship together this Sunday. After two weeks away, I am feeling the need for this very much. To be surrounded by each other in prayer and worship, to see into people’s eyes and to hear each other’s voices. To be back together and directing our attention to one another and our community once more.

I know not everyone is ready to be back in person for worship but please do, reach out and be in touch. If you need anything or are looking for help, want to talk, share your prayer concerns, call your elder or send me a message. We really don’t want to miss each other and we do need to hear from each other.

God bless you and keep you, ​

Karen

Friday May 6th

This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day and Christian Family Sunday.

Our Scripture for the day include Psalm 23 and Acts 9: 36 – 43. In the passage from Acts Peter raises up a woman, called Dorcas or Tabitha, who has died. And interestingly she is the one woman in the whole of the Bible who is called disciple. She was much loved and she had loved well in her turn. At her death the widows who she had cared for showed up and showed Peter all the clothes she had made for them. A tangible blessing and expression of love towards women who had very little to call their own. For just as Peter would raise Tabitha, she had in her own way raised them up. Mothering love you could call this. Love for others that lifts them up and gives them life.

It is going to be Mother’s Day or Christian Family Sunday when we read this and in our prayers and remembrances, we will raise up all those whose mothering love has made all the difference for us.

See you Sunday,

(and Saturday too if you are going to be at the toy sale).

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday April 29th

Do you have a love for Jesus, a love for God’s people and a gift to share?

Years ago I did some training for a ministry program where these were the answers that were asked in recruiting would-be leaders.

Do you have a love for Jesus, a love for God’s people and a gift to share?

They come back to me as I read Jesus’s words to Peter in our passage for this Sunday:
Peter do you love me? He asks three times, just to be sure, and each time Peter answers Jesus calls on him to become part of the ministry of looking after those Jesus cares for.

Do you love me? Feed my sheep…

This is such a poignant passage as Peter meets up with Jesus who he has betrayed, encountering the fullness of Christ’s forgiveness, and, in that, finding his own calling as well.

Peter who has been a lost sheep himself, is promoted to Shepherd, and so it is with us.

Do you have a love for Jesus, a love for those he loves and a gift to share? Then you might have found your calling…

This week Mark Hamilton, the Managing Director of Gracefield is joining us for worship. He is new to the camp so we are going to invite him to share something of his own calling and vision for the camp as we explore together John 21: 1 – 19 and Psalm 8.

See you on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday April 22

Friday email April 22 

Good evening and Happy Friday! 

Today is earth day and looking forward to the weekend our Scripture passages include Psalm 150 which is a Psalm of Praise and Luke 24: 13 – 35 which tells of the risen Jesus’ appearance to the disciples on the Road to Emmaus. 

There are many things I love about the Emmaus Road story. 

One of them is how it invites us to consider the many ways that Christ might be with us even when we don’t see him. For the disciples that we meet up with in this passage Jesus arrives in the midst of their fear and assures them that the things they had most hoped for and then doubted were actually true. Jesus was the one who had come to redeem. 

In this Easter season this is the good news for us as well, that things we doubted were true. Death has been overturned. Forgiveness has been given. Christ is really with us.  

These are most important things, they are transformative and they invite us to live in new ways. 

Something else I love about the Emmaus Road story is the way that hospitality is part of the way Christ is revealed. And I wonder what stories you have in your life, either of being a stranger and invited in or being the one who did the inviting? 

As we ponder that I have an invitation for you. 

During the winter I hosted a number of conversations with some of the elders and members of temporal who were reading the book Fishing Tips. This was an opportunity to consider the journey of growth of a congregation in Calgary and how it might inform our path forward at St. Andrew’s. Those of us who met to chat enjoyed the opportunity to brainstorm in a small group with insights and observations from another community. 

We decided we would like to consider these kind of discussions and my invitation to you is join in if you like, the first is next Thursday, April 28th at 7 pm. 

Biblically our conversation is guided by Jesus who calls us friends and the invitation is to consider together how St. Andrew’s might grow as a circle of friends, both in our connections with each other and our connection with the wider community we find ourselves in. In our time together

• We will discuss some of the things we have been doing at St. Andrew’s during the pandemic to stay connected and think about how we might build on those as we emerge.

• We will explore who it is that we might be called to reach out to and how we might understand better the matters of heart and hope they have.

• And because it is always insightful to hear what other groups and communities are doing I am going to share some learning from a workshop I attended a year ago on the Art of Gathering: how communities come together.

I am really excited about this conversation, the brainstorming it invites, hearing what you have to share and where it might take us. How we might just meet Jesus along the way! 

Let me (kd@standrewsottawa.ca) know if you want to receive the Zoom link for the discussion and I will send you that along with a short document with things to think about as you prepare to join in.

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace, ​

Karen

Maundy Thursday April 14th

Good afternoon and blessings as this weekend begins.

Our readings today come Luke 22 which tell us about the last supper that Jesus shared with his disciples, followed by his betrayal and arrest.

How quickly everything is changing now. Palm Sunday with all the Hosannas and the cries of jubilation was only three days ago but since then people have been looking for ways to arrest Jesus and in today’s reading Judas Iscariot is now making plans to betray Jesus.

So as we read about Jesus and his disciples gathering it was with the fearful knowledge that out there in the darkness of the city there were people plotting against Jesus.

I wonder what that was like for the disciples: to go from excited faith and hope of Palm Sunday, to the uncertainty and fear of what might happen next. And I wonder if that has ever happened to you?

And as they sit down to go through the Passover rituals they had known since childhood I wonder what it was like when Jesus did something different. When he spoke to them about how much he had longed to share this meal with them and then broke bread to share and took a cup and offered it to them as well. “This is my body”, he said as he shared the bread, “do this in remembrance of me.” “This cup is the new covenant poured out for you.”

I wonder what that was like? To be held in love and fed by Jesus himself?

For over 2000 years now we, Jesus’ disciples, have been sharing this meal and as we do, he is with us, loving us and feeding us still.

Tonight in the sanctuary we have a service at 6:00 pm where we will share communion. From home you can participate through the church website. All you need is bread or a cracker to break and some juice or wine in a cup.

Tomorrow in the Good Friday service (at 10:30 am) of readings and music, we will be following Jesus out into the garden after the meal, remembering his arrest, betrayal, trial, crucifixion and death.
And Easter Sunday we gather at 8:00 am and then 10:30am to greet the risen Lord.

God bless you and keep you,
Karen

Readings for the rest of the weekend:

Friday April 15 Luke 23- Jesus’ trial before Pilate, his crucifixion and burial
Saturday April 16 Psalm 22 and Psalm 118
Sunday April 17 Luke 24: 1 – 12, 13 – 49 Easter Morning and Evening

Friday April 8th

Good evening and a Blessed Friday!

The Lord be with you!
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the way the crowds hailed him: “Hosanna” they cried out which means save us. And “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord”. This was their hope, that Jesus was the Messiah and that with his entry into the city things were about to change.

Because we will be reading from Luke’s gospel for much of next week, I was looking today at the events that took place just before Palm Sunday. There was the healing of the Blind Bartimaeus and the conversion of the tax collector Zacchaeus who in response to Jesus presence in his home gave back all the money he had cheated people out of four times over.

I truly believe that one of the primary places where God is at work is the human heart and looking at Zacchaeus, the change in him, I believe this in and of itself is a great miracle.

In worship this week we will be welcoming Jesus as the crowds did so many years ago. We will have palm branches for those of you in worship and we will be singing Hosanna. And I wonder as each of us does so, what is the precious gift of Jesus to each of us? What are the wonders that he has worked in your life as you put your trust and hope in him for salvation?

It is a day to praise Jesus to be sure but it is also the beginning of his passion. Our readings on Sunday come from Luke 19: 28 – 48 and they begin with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, they end with the chief priests and teachers of the law plotting his death.

For those of you who would like to read together through the rest of the week a proposed reading plan following the Gospel of Luke is below. From Monday to Friday I will send an email each day with a short prayer and reflection. There is also an activity that will be posted on the website tomorrow for families to follow the events of the week as it unfolds day by day.

Sunday April 10 Luke 19:28 – 48 Entry to Jerusalem
Monday April 11 Luke 19: 47 – 20:40 The ministry in Jerusalem
Tuesday April 12 Luke 20: 41 – 21: 4
Wednesday April 13 Luke 21: 5 – 38
Thursday April 14 Luke 22 – The last supper, Jesus’ betrayal and arrest
Friday April 15 Luke 23- Jesus’ trial before Pilate, his crucifixion and burial
Saturday April 16 Psalm 22 and Psalm 118
Sunday April 17 Luke 24: 1 – 12, 13 – 49 Easter Morning and Evening

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday April 1st

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

I am looking very forward to Sunday, to being in the sanctuary and worshipping together. Whether you are at home or in the church, I am praying for you and giving thanks for you.

This is our final week of Lent and I wonder as you enter worship this week if you might see something new on the communion table? For the last few weeks several of the women among us have been bringing different symbols to rest on it.

Three Sundays ago when we meditated on Jesus’ lament for Jerusalem and his desire to gather her people in safety, the way a hen gathers her chicks, the table was draped in a purple cloth. The next week, when we heard the parable of the gardener who pleaded for a fig tree that was not bearing fruit. Don’t destroy it he told its owner, and for the next year I will care for it and nurture it. That week stands with bare branches appeared on the table and the next week there were candles in their midst that were lit as we remember the joy filled love of God in the parable of the lost sons welcomed home. Love that is like a beacon of light, ready to guide and welcome us all home into the embrace of love no matter where we have been or what we have done or said.

What wondrous Grace we have been hearing about. Protecting, nurturing, welcoming and forgiving love that never lets us down or leaves us.

This week’s story also tells the story of this grace as what we call the Passion of Jesus begins. Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem and the people there have begun to plot his death in earnest. In John 12: 1 – 8 Jesus is sharing a meal in the home of his friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, when Mary does something that is so beautiful, so tender, so extravagant that it overpowers the room.

And as you read, I wonder, what you would do, if someone you loved that much was going to die and there was not much you could do about it?

See you Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday March 25th

Friday email March 25th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

As we get ready for Sunday our Scriptures (Luke 15: 1 – 3; 11 – 32) once again bring us face to face with the miracle of Grace. Undeserved, extravagant, surprising Grace.

I am not going to be with you this week as I will be home self-isolating but I will be attending over the livestream and with you in my prayers and heart. Many thanks in advance to the team of elders who will be leading worship in my stead.

I am particularly sorry not to be there to celebrate Heather Paton’s first service with us. Heather is our new CE Co-ordinator and she has written to the congregation as follows:

Hi Everyone!

I am so happy to begin working with you as the Christian Education Co-ordinator at St. Andrew's. I bring a passion for youth and children's ministry that encompasses a wide variety of experiences.  From summer camp counsellor to overseas mission volunteer, from minister in a small town to stay at home parent in a pandemic, I have seen the Holy Spirit do awesome things with the church.  I'm excited to be a part of what the Spirit is doing in this diverse and inclusive congregation.

My family and I have been attending St. Andrew's online worship and Sunday School for the past year and half since moving to Ottawa from Kingston.  You may have seen us leading VBS songs last summer or participating in pre-recorded parts of worship last year.  We have a two year old and five year old who love to play doctor with their stuffies and climb on things, especially their dad!  I met my husband Tim while he was studying at Western in London and I was the minister at Dorchester and South Nissouri congregations. Hiking and baking are the things I like to do for fun.  And I can't wait to go to Gracefield with you all in the fall!

I'd love to hear from you!  If you have things about you or your family that you'd like me to know, or hopes that you have for the next few months for Christian education, please get in touch.   I look forward to getting to know you and experiencing the love of Christ together in these changing times.    

ce@standrewsottawa.ca

Heather Paton

Friday March 18th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

Looking forward to worship this week. I find myself very taken with the passage from Luke 13: 1 – 9. Jesus tells the story of a fig tree that is producing no fruit and that is threatened with destruction until the person caring for it pleads for its life, that it be given more time, and during this time, the caretaker promises to tend and care for it.

A second chance and more than a second chance as the caretaker gives the tree attention, nurturing and encouraging it even as others would give up on it.

This I suspect is a grace we have all thirsted for in our own lives, a grace that Jesus gives to us and invites us to give to others.

As we gather to contemplate the parable of the fig tree and what it might mean for us this is also Sydney’s last Sunday with us and we will be giving thanks for her and praying for her when we meet.

This week the Sunday School will also be having its first in person gathering in over two years. Some details were shared on Wednesday and the Sunday School email will let you know more about how we do this. The virtual Sunday School at noon will still be running for those of you who are not yet ready to return to in person church.

And finally we have some very very good news. Yesterday Masanka Mubakayi and her two children arrived in Ottawa! We have been praying for them and getting ready to welcome them for several years. Now that part of their journey as refugees has come to an end and their new life in Canada begins. In a couple of weeks we will look very forward to introducing them to the congregation.

God bless us and keep us all,

Karen

Friday March 11th

Good evening and a Blessed Friday,

As we look forward to Sunday it will be the second anniversary of the Pandemic Measures in Ottawa. What a season this has been for us all and now we have the war in Ukraine and the devastating effects on the people there that are hurting us all. 

How fitting it is in the face of all this that the Scriptures this week speak of lament: Luke 13: 31 - 35. This is Jesus’ lament for Jerusalem, and his desire in the face of the enemy, Herod described as a fox, to gather Jerusalem up like a hen gather’s her chicks. Under her wing, safe up against her beating heart she holds her babies. How vulnerable and how fierce she is in the face of the fox, this little hen. Sometimes I fear she doesn’t stand a chance and yet … this is the mothering love of God for us all. The love of Jesus that would hold us close, and take root in our living. 

Our Psalm for the week, Psalm 27, speaks with the voice of the one who has taken shelter in God and who, when surrounded by much enmity, still believes that they will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 

We are going to talk about the practice of Lament in worship this week and how in it we find hope. 

I will be looking forward to seeing some of you in the sanctuary and worshipping with others among you through the livestreamed service.

God bless us and keep us all,

Karen ​

Friday March 4th

Good evening and Friday Blessings!

May the peace of God be with you.

The world has turned so often in the past few years. Pandemic, protests and now the war in Ukraine. There is much to pray for and much to consider as we enter into the season of Lent this year and I have included below a prayer from the Presbyterian Church and Canada for the people of Ukraine and for peace. It can also be found on our website along with details regarding how Presbyterian World Service and Development is responding to the humanitarian crisis that comes with this war and how we can help support it.

As Lent began on Wednesday this week it was wonderful to welcome people back to a noon hour service in the sanctuary. We prayed together, we sang and in my meditation on the Scriptures for the day I found myself comparing the work that Lent invites us into, to my kitchen table! Sometimes it becomes so cluttered with things, mail and projects and work brought home, that I can barely see clear to put a meal down on it. Sometimes I said, my life gets like that too. Cluttered with distractions and things, messes even, that take me away from that which is most life giving, that which feeds us all best, body, mind and soul.

In its beginnings, Lent was a season in the church where new Christians prepared for their baptism. For that moment when they went down into the water, being washed clean, dying to their old ways and then rising to the new Life that comes to us in Jesus Christ. It was a time of commitment to walking in Jesus’ ways in the community of the church that is together called to be his body in the world.

To this day many Christians embrace disciplines like fasting and giving of Alms, prayer and Scripture reading during Lent. These practices are good ones. They are ways of practicing love of God and love of neighbour. They are a means by which we make room within ourselves for what matters most, for the one who feeds us body, mind and soul.

It is going to be good to be worshipping in person again this coming Sunday and sharing in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

God bless us and keep us all,

Karen

We pray for safety and peace, comfort for those now in mourning, and humanitarian aid for all in need.

God of the Powers, and
Maker of all creation;

God of justice, and
Lover and Maker of peace,
we are distressed by the violence and the threats of violence and destruction in the world,
and especially by acts of war and brutality that people experience in Ukraine.

In solidarity with them, we pray for those
who are suffering and in danger,
who live in fear and anxiety,
who fear what tomorrow will bring,
who are anxious for their lives and the lives of those they love and care for, and
who mourn the dead.

We pray that
those with power over war
will lay down weapons, and that
those who have power to accomplish peace
will have wisdom and compassion.

God of Grace, the
Giver of Life, send your
Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
who is everywhere present and fills all things,
to sustain the hope of all those who seek justice and peace and
to inspire the leaders of nations to do what is right.

Glory to you, O God,
Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit,
now and forever;
in the strong name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we pray.
Amen.

Friday February 25th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

We are coming to the end of the Season of Epiphany this week as we read about the Transfiguration of Jesus in Luke 9: 28 – 36. Throughout Epiphany Sydney has been lighting a candle with the church school each week and we have been hearing stories that help us understand who Jesus is and how God’s kingdom is revealed and at work through him. The word Epiphany means revealing. Coming at the end of the season of Epiphany the transfiguration is part of this revealing.

As we meet up with the disciples and Jesus, Peter has just spoken aloud what they are all beginning to believe. That not only is Jesus a marvellous prophet but he is the Messiah, God’s anointed. All this is true but Peter and the disciples don’t yet know the fullness of what that means as Jesus begins to talk to them now about his coming death and resurrection. This is a hard teaching as he says that following him means that whoever would save their life must lose it and whoever loses their life for his sake will gain it. It doesn’t make sense.

Just as we are about to begin our journey towards Lent and the cross, Jesus and the disciples are about to begin their journey to Jerusalem and the crucifixion but first we have this moment of transfiguration. Glory on the top of the mountain. In some ways it is a foreshadowing of the coming of the Kingdom in all its fullness but the glory of God seen here is very clearly linked to the suffering of the world and indeed the suffering of Jesus.

As a moment in time the transfiguration is profound and full of mystery. It is also Good News of God’s presence in the midst of the world.

As we move into Lent we will be following Jesus and his disciples back down the mountain and into the world.

By now you will all have received or be receiving a devotional for your use at home. If it doesn’t arrive in the mail let Sydney know please and she will make sure you get one (sj@standrewsottawa.ca).

Wednesdays in Lent: Beginning this week, March 2nd

• Wednesdays at from 8:00 – 8:30 am on Zoom there is Visio Divina, an exploration of Scripture and art to begin the day

• Wednesdays at 12:10 during Lent we will be having a Mid-Week Service of Prayers and Sacred Music in the sanctuary. Covid safe protocols will be in place.

• Wednesday evenings from 7:00 – 8:30 pm the Wednesday evening studies continue. For the next three weeks we will be looking at three characters in search of the Resurrection and for the final three weeks our focus will be “Cross-Talk” as we explore the meaning of the cross in our daily living.

• This coming Wednesday at 6:00pm Sydney is hosting an Ash Wednesday intergenerational dinner event on Zoom as well.

For more details on all of these please check out the website: www.standrewsottawa.ca.

I am looking forward to seeing the photos of those of you who are walking in support of the Coldest Night of the Year for the Ottawa Mission tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who is walking and supporting the walk, we have now raised just over $4,300 which is just over 85% of our goal. If you wish to support the team you can access our fundraising page directly from the Coldest Night of the year Block on the church website.

I do look forward to seeing many of you on Zoom for the annual meeting on Sunday at 1:00 pm. The documents were sent out in a separate email and the annual report went out last week. To register for the Zoom link please be in touch with the office (office@standrewsottawa.ca).

Next week we are back to in person worship and our hour of worship moves to 10:30 am! It will be so good to have some of you in the sanctuary with us, I miss that so very much. We do continue to livestream as well.

And as I close this email for the week, below is a message and prayer for the Ukraine from the Presbyterian Church in Canada

Karen

The PCC is praying with our partners in Ukraine as they and all around them are faced with war, danger and uncertainty. We pray for safety and peace, comfort for those now in mourning, and humanitarian aid for all in need.

God of mercy and love,
we trust in your purposes
of peace for all people.
Guide the nations of the world into ways of peace, justice and truth,
and establish among them a spirit of unity and cooperation,
that all people in this world might have abundant life.
And especially we pray for peace in Ukraine and for the people there.
We remember before you those who
face danger in the defence of peace and order.
Watch over those whose lives are at risk,
comfort those who are anxious for themselves or loved ones.
Soften the passions in the hearts and minds of people
that keep alive the spirit of division and war,
and in your grace, restore peace within and between us;
in the name of the Prince of Peace,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

Friday February 18th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

I wonder if anyone else noticed how strangely bright it was last night with the snow fall reflecting back the streetlights, almost like morning was coming early. It happens sometimes with snow falls but last night it seemed particularly enchanting and it comes back to me this morning as I think about our message for this week.

Our Scripture passages this week are Psalm 37: 1 – 11 and Luke 6: 27 – 38. The Luke passage continues the teachings on discipleship that we began reading last week and points out that we are to love our enemies and not enter into judgement. And Psalm 37: 7 says “Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.” In the midst of the week we are having they are a sharp recall, for me, to the ways of Jesus and discipleship in his name. And so on Sunday we will be talking about this. Maybe at the women’s breakfast tomorrow morning as well since our topic of discussion is Valentine’s Day.

I continue to look forward and pray for March 6th when it is our plan to resume in person worship. It is also going to be a communion Sunday and beginning on that day the start time for worship will move to 10:30 am.

Many thanks this week to Laurie MacKenzie who has completed the work of editing together our annual report for 2021 so carefully and thoughtfully. And to Thomas Znotins for the attention and care given to the financial reports and updates he is providing as we move further into 2022 and towards our annual meeting. This will be happening on February 27th on Zoom at 1:00 pm. Please register to attend through the church office and we will send you the Zoom link.

God bless you and keep you all,

Karen

Friday February 11th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday! 

As we head into the weekend, we will be once more livestreaming from downtown and looking forward to the day when we can be together in person again. 

The Scripture readings from this Sunday include Jeremiah 17:5-10 and Luke 6:16-26 which are full of the language of blessing. 

In Jeremiah we read: “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of the drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.”  

As I look back on the past year, and even the last few weeks, it invites me to see anew and give thanks for those places, where in the midst of challenge, there is faith, where in the midst of sorrow, there is compassion, where in the midst of hunger, there are hands reaching out. There is a beauty in this. The gift of human beings, sustained by something deeper than they are and reaching out beyond themselves to serve. 

The blessings and woes described in Luke 6:16 - 26 are similar. Jesus in this passage is speaking to disciples who he will someday send out, in his name, to do his work. He is telling them how things are and how they will be, both within the kingdom of God and without. In all of this, his teaching is not so much a directive of what they should do, but rather an invitation to pay attention to others and reach out and serve. 

I do pray for you all. 

See you Sunday! 

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday February 4th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Inspired by God’s promise of abundant life, Presbyterian World Service & Development envisions a sustainable, compassionate and just world!

This coming Sunday is Presbyterian World Service and Development (PWS&D)Sunday and we are delighted to be hearing from Guy Smagghe, the Director, during the sermon on Sunday and he will be joining us for our online coffee hour this week, don’t forget to let the office or me know if you need the link (kd@standrewsottawa.ca).

The website where you can learn more about PWS&D is Home - Presbyterian World Service & Development.

The Scripture text that Guy has chosen is Mark 12: 28 – 34 in which Jesus is asked which commandment is first of all and he answers: ““The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;  you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

It is a poignant text not just for PWS and D Sunday because in the midst of the weeks disruptions it holds up our neighbour in front of us and calls us to love.

February is also Black History Month. With the protests being the focus of so much of the news let us not forget that. The link for Black History Ottawa programming for 2022 is found here:

www.blackhistoryottawa.org/copy-of-2021-black-history-month-pr

There are many excellent presentations and opportunities for discovering and celebrating the unique contributions of People who are Black to our history, our culture, our city and our neighbourhoods.

As we consider Jesus’ command to love God and neighbour, our second reading for the service this week is 1 Corinthians 13. I have copied it below, if there are words from Scripture that you would like to challenge yourself to memorize these are very good ones indeed

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love,

I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

And if I have prophetic powers,

and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,

and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,

but do not have love, I am nothing. 

If I give away all my possessions,

and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,[a] but do not have love,

I gain nothing.

 Love is patient; love is kind;

love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way;

it is not irritable or resentful;

 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.

 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 Love never ends.

But as for prophecies, they will come to an end;

as for tongues, they will cease;

as for knowledge, it will come to an end.

 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 

 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 

 When I was a child, I spoke like a child,

I thought like a child,

I reasoned like a child;

when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 

 For now we see in a mirror, dimly,

but then we will see face to face.

Now I know only in part;

then I will know fully,

even as I have been fully known. 

 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;

and the greatest of these is love.

I have said it before I know, but I will say I again, I heard this read through once when the name of Jesus was substituted wherever the word love is written. It made we want to know him and follow him all the more. It was an entirely transformative moment and I continue to seek to shape my life in the way of this teaching.

See you Sunday,

In His Love,

Karen

Friday January 28th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

It was the year that King Uzziah died… when his country, in grief, was mourning his passing even as they wondered what comes next… it was in that year that Isaiah “saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and lofty, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. The seraphim, angels, great winged creatures with six sets of wings, surrounded God’s throne, and hiding their own faces they sang Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts”.

Just imagine!

I suspect words alone are not enough to capture this experience of Isaiah in our passage from the Hebrew Scriptures (Isaiah 6:1 – 13), nor for the experience of Peter in the reading from Luke’s Gospel (Luke 5: 1 -11). The intrusion of the overwhelming presence of God into what we thought was an ordinary day, and with it the startling realization that this God, who is beyond our comprehension, has come so close… so personally close.

Just imagine as you read these passages… the overwhelming beauty of holiness that Isaiah experiences, the sheer abundance of deliverance given to Peter… can you see it?

It is one thing to believe in a Creating God and all powerful God, but to discover that God has come this close, inviting us into what God is doing …..

In both of them, Peter and Isaiah, and all of us as well perhaps, there is a stunning awareness of our own humanity, how small and unclean we feel in the presence of our God, whose own response is to reach out, cleanse us and lift us up.

In the year when King Uzziah died, when his country was in grief and all were wondering what comes next, it was in that year that Isaiah saw the angels surrounding God’s thrown and crying out Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. All the earth is full of God’s glory! Do you see it? Can you feel it?

And can you begin to hear you yourself echoing Isaiah’s response to God’s presence: “Here I am Lord!”

Looking forward to “seeing” you on Sunday! We will be livestreaming in the sanctuary at 10:00 am and I will be holding you in prayer there until the day when we are together again.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday January 21st

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

I pray you are all warm and well on this most chilly of days!

Getting ready for Sunday, our Scripture passages in worship are Psalm 19 which reminds us of how creation proclaims the Glory of God and how wonderful as well are God’s words. The Gospel reading for the day, Luke 4: 14 – 30 tells the story of how Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, arrives in his home town Nazareth and heads to the synagogue where he reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

After he finished reading, the Scripture tells us, he says “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”.

You will have to look up the Scriptures to know what it was he read because for now I want to invite you to think about the word “today”. It is not yesterday, it is not tomorrow, it is today, that is now full of possibility.

I wonder how often, particularly during this period of history, we spend our time remembering days gone by or looking to the days ahead … and as we do, what we might be given today that we are overlooking?

Today…

What is the grace that is given to you this day?

Would be glad to hear from you if you want to share, I am always glad to hear from you.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday January 14th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

I do pray that you are all warm and keeping well as I write.

January is often a quiet time in the church. It is not just the pandemic. I was sharing in a conversation earlier today, that I learned early on in my time in Ottawa just how easily the snow could get in the way of plans and so have come to see this as a month of hunkering down, withdrawing a bit and taking time to reflect and replenish. Of course that is sometimes easier said than done but I do pray that in these days you are able to find some of the blessings that come to us in the winter season. Time for reading, for phone calls, for writing in journals, cooking meals, taking time to care for yourselves body, mind and soul as the light begins to come back into the world.

If you are looking for new ways to connect there are a number of groups that meet on Zoom and there is always the phone as well. Who is that person you used to sit beside in church and chat with each week? How are they doing?

In the midst of all this our Scripture reading for this week comes to us from John 2: 1 – 11. It is the story of Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John. Right after he calls his first disciples he takes them to a wedding, a celebration of love. How awesome is that? And as the wine runs out, he invites the servants to fill six cisterns, large jugs, full of water and when the chief steward goes to taste it, it has turned into wine. There is something in this of the way Jesus works. Those moments when ordinary becomes extraordinary and we find ourselves in the presence of a greater glory than we might have imagined. And I wonder what those moments are for you in this winter season?

As we look forward to catching up there is the Women’s Breakfast gathering this week and the Men’s Fellowship gathering on January 31st. There is also the film group and book club. Details are below and for families with children there is also the weekly Church School gatherings.

As the Ecumenical Worship Service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is being postponed until June, I will during the week of January 18 to 25 lead a short service of Scriptural reflection and prayer each day on Zoom from 8:00am to 8:30am. The theme for this year’s studies and reflection were prepared by the Middle East Council of Churches based in Beirut, Lebanon and the theme is based on Matthew 2:2 “We saw the star in the East, and we came to worship him”.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday January 7th

Good afternoon and Happy New Year!

As we get ready for worship this week and begin a New Year together, we are remembering the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3: 15 – 21) as well as reading from Isaiah 43: 1 – 7 and Psalm 29. 

Sometimes I wonder why it was that Jesus decided to be baptised by John the Baptist? John wondered that too. 

It was a powerful moment, John for some time now had been welcoming people as they arrived at the banks of the River Jordan and inviting them to repent and be baptised and in doing so be made ready for the One who was to come. 

This word repent, which means to turn, is at the heart of our baptism too. The first two questions candidates for baptism, or their parents in the case of infants, are asked are: 

• Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin, renounce evil and its power in the world?

​

• Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Saviour, trusting in his grace and Love?

There is a “readiness” in this turning. Just as John’s baptism readied the people for Jesus and Jesus’ own baptism readied him for the beginning of his ministry, baptism readies us for the work of following him and indeed the next questions that are asked at a baptism have to do with just that. 

As we remember Jesus’ baptism and our own, as we give thought to the vows we or our parents took, we find ourselves this week at the turning of the year as well. The invitation it brings to let go of the past and lift our eyes to the future. 

The following Blessing comes from the Hay and Stardust,Copyright 2007 by Ruth Burgess. The author of this piece is Lynda Wright. 

A blessing as you journey into the New Year 

May your eyes be opened to the wonder of the daily miracles around you and your sense of mystery be deepened. 

May you be aware of the light that shines in the darkness, and that the darkness can never put out.

May you be blessed with companions on the journey, friends who will listen to you and encourage you with their presence.

May you learn to live with what is unsolved in your heart, daring to face the questions and holding them until, one day they find their answers.

May you find the still, quiet place inside yourself where you can know and experience the peace that passes understanding.

May love flow in you and through you to those who need your care. 

May you continue to dream dreams and to reach out into the future with a deeper understanding of God’s way for you, Amen.

As we livestream on Sunday morning, I will be seeing you in my heart and holding you in my prayers.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday December 24th

“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” – John 1:9 

Good morning and a blessed Friday to you all! 

Dear Friends, 

Things have changed a lot in the last few weeks. And while this is not the Christmas many of us were preparing for but it is Christmas all the same! 

I am filled with awe in the early hours of this morning as, with something that I hope resembles humility, I am filled with the realization that this is what Advent was preparing us for all along: “The true Light that is coming into the world.”  

I find myself drawn back to a quote I shared with you on that morning in late November when we lit the candle of hope on the Advent Wreath, that we are called not to curse the darkness but to light a candle. Sometimes I really need to listen to my own words! 

A couple of nights ago, I was out for a walk and it was dark. Sorrows filled my heart, discouragements, griefs and loss were my companions. Alone, and feeling lonely, I was tempted to cynicism and despair with a side order of bitterness … and then… very slowly I became more and more aware of the Christmas lights. 

Sparkling and colorful, light in the darkness, and oh so very beautiful. 

I have written many a sermon and devotional reflecting on all the many things that light is and does: guiding our feet, showing us the way, keeping us safe … but in this moment, suddenly I found myself gazing in sheer wonder, aware, as if for the first time, that light is in and of itself profoundly beautiful. 

In the prologue to John’s gospel, he speaks of this, that Jesus the true light, coming into the world, the beauty, truth and grace, the mercy and the loving kindness that emanates from God’s very self. 

This is the miracle of Christmas: that God comes to us in Jesus, pouring out God’s spirit upon us, inviting us to become new creatures… 

Can we take up the challenge? It sounds so hard, it makes no sense at times, and in fact it is almost offensive! I have spent too much of my life striving to get ahead, and Jesus wants me to start moving down the ladder? To be born again of the Spirit is the invitation he brings, to become a child of God! But what does that mean? It sounds like something I cannot control… But I cannot let the vision go. It challenges the reality in which I live, where else would I go now?

The True Light has come into the world.

In Jesus “The Word (of God) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” – John 1: 14 

Friends, none of us have ever seen God but we know God best in Jesus. And this I believe: there is a light in him that is so beautiful and compelling that it calls forth light in us. 

This evening let us each light a candle, draw near to the manger and let awe and wonder fill our lives anew as we gaze inside and behold the very son of God. 

May the Advent lights of hope, peace, love and joy continue to shine and guide your way.

And May the Light of Christ shine within your heart and your lives.

Merry Christmas, 
Karen

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Services for the coming days:

December 24th: The Christmas Eve services will be live-streamed at 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm. They can be accessed through the church website www.standrewsottawa.ca or directly through the YouTube channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gue26yyad0

Both services will be recorded and continue to be available through the website as well.

Between the two services this evening there is an online Zoom fellowship “coffee hour” scheduled for 9:00 pm. Email Rev Dimock (kd@standrewsottawa.ca) or the Church office if you are looking for the link. 

December 25th:  In order to give our technical team a much needed break, the service for Christmas day had not been planned to happen online. Pausing “in person” worship means therefore that there will not be a Christmas Day Service, but last year’s online Christmas pageant will be made available through the website for Christmas Day. Look for it at www.standrewsottawa.ca

Sunday, December 26th, Boxing Day: There will be a live-streamed 10:00 am service that you can access through the website. 

Sunday. January 2nd:  There will be live-streamed 10:00 am service with Reverend Bob Hill as our guest preacher.

Friday December 17th

Friday email December 17th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

As we journey through Advent this is our week to light the candle of love and as we do we hear from two prophets, Micah (Micah 5: 2 – 5) and Mary (Luke 1: 46 – 55). We don’t often describe Mary as a prophet but with her words this week, I am not sure what else we would call her.

The passage from Luke is one that I preach from almost every year and every year it feels like the first time. Who imagined this? Mary in our children’s Bibles, Mary in our stained glass windows, Mary in our Christmas cards… so gentle and mild and yet from her come these words whose words have been banned as “too revolutionary” in some parts of the world. It still takes my breath away.

Perhaps I am still trying to come to terms with this aspect of Mary, perhaps we all are. There is something about her… the way we consider her… that makes me wonder when I hear her words this week: who else we are overlooking when it comes to looking for God coming our way.

As we gather this week, we are doing so mindful of the increase in COVID-19 infections in our city. Our sanctuary currently is set up to accommodate the physical distancing of at least 6 feet between people and in terms of capacity we keep well within the 50% limits that were set today by Ottawa Public Health. With the elders I continue to pay attention to new announcements and guidelines as they arise. We do thank you for your part in wearing your masks and decreasing the number of contacts you have by refraining from fellowship in the church. We continue to livestream all our services for those who are not able to attend or those of you not comfortable with in person worship right now.

If anything changes in our arrangements for worship, the announcements of that would come your way first of all through email and also the church website.

I do pray that even as the physical distance between us is important to keep, you will stay in touch in other ways. Phone calls and emails: to each other, to your elder and to me. Let us know how you are doing. I pray for you all.

Tomorrow morning is the last women’s breakfast gathering of the year. It is on Zoom and for any of you who are not currently on the list of those participating but curious to join in let me know and I will make sure you get it. Tomorrow our topic is “what was the best gift you ever gave”?

Details for the Christmas services are below.

God bless us and keep us all,

Karen

Christmas Services at St. Andrew's:

Please register in advance. Full COVID protocol in effect.

Blue Christmas Service: Tuesday, December 21 at 7:00pm by Zoom. Contact the Church office office@standrewsottawa.ca or Colleen G. colleen.gushue@yahoo.ca to register.

Christmas Eve Services: Friday, December 24 at 7:00pm and 10:00pm.

Christmas Day Service: Saturday, December 25 at 10:00am.

Sunday, December 26: Regular Sunday service at 10:00am.

Friday December 10th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

This is White Gift Sunday coming up this week as our Service begins with the lighting of the candle of Joy on our Advent Wreath!

There is something very joyful about giving! And the invitation at White Gift Sunday is to contribute the gift of books for the library at Queen Mary Public School. There is a write up with more information about this yearly tradition on the website along with a wish list of books from the school. http://www.standrewsottawa.ca/whitegiftsunday

The Scriptures for the week include Isaiah 12: 2 – 6, Philippians 4: 4 – 7 and Luke 3: 7 – 14, where John the Baptist speaks to us from the banks of the Jordan River: if you have two coats then give one away! It certainly raises the question that is voiced in the sermon title this week: How much is enough?

Looking very forward to worshipping together, whether you are at home or in the sanctuary.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday December 3rd

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

And welcome to God’s Table!

This week as we continue our Advent journey, lighting the candle of peace, we are going to be sharing in communion together as well! I can hardly wait!

The last time we shared communion together in the sanctuary was March 1st 2020! That is 21 months ago!

Welcome back my friends! Welcome home to God’s table!

The Scriptures this week include a marvellously poetic celebration of God’s provision. Isaiah 35: 1 – 10 is the promise of homecoming, God’s promise of restoration to those in exile. Luke 1: 68 – 79 is the song of Zechariah upon the birth of his son John.

He sings:

76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
    the dawn from on high will break upon[h] us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

In the context of communion, as we make room for everyone at the table, one way to think of peace is the joy of realizing that none of us have to fight for our place at the table. We all belong here! And that is another kind of peace in and of itself isn’t it?

Looking forward to Sunday.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

If you are joining us from home, make sure to have some bread to break and eat as well as a cup with juice or wine.

Friday November 26th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

The snow is starting as I write and I pray you are all warm and well inside this evening. I really do pray this as I read our Scripture passage for this week: Matthew 25: 1 – 13.

This is one of several parables that Jesus told to his disciples on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem, just ahead of his arrest.

It is a story that has many names depending on Bible translation and commentary you are reading. Some call it the parable of the foolish bridesmaids and others call it the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Those are common but others have been known to branch out and call it the parable of the woefully late bridegroom and I saw it referred to in another place this week as the parable of the Closed Door.

This intrigues me since, as my hermeneutics professor at Knox warned, titles lend an awful lot to the interpretation that follows.

One of the most insightful comments I read on this passage this week came from Amy Jill Levine who writes in her books Short Stories by Jesus that if the only conclusion we draw from this parable is be prepared, then Jesus has wasted his time.

This… I thought, and then I wrote it in big letters in the margin of the book: This!

As we enter Advent we are beginning a season that is often seen as one of preparing and being prepared. For many of us that means housecleaning, shopping, card writing, the offer of hospitality and the generous giving of gifts. These are not bad things but they are not what we are preparing for.

And in any case I now find myself wondering just how much, being prepared, is what Jesus is calling us into.

If you know me you know I am always intrigued by parables.

Shall I remind you that the very word itself comes from two in Greek, the verb “balo” which is to throw and then there is “para” a preposition which means alongside.

As I sit alongside this parable that Jesus has thrown us this week, I find myself wondering about all those girls… and the closed door… and whether it is cold …

And then there are Jesus’ final words as he concludes the parable to wonder about as well… keep awake he says…

What are we being called to wake up or keep awake for this year? This advent season …

My title for the sermon this week is opening the door to hope, but I wonder what you would call this parable. Always glad to hear from you if you want to share.

Looking forward to worshipping Jesus together on Sunday. In the sanctuary and in our homes, he is Emmanuel, God with us.

In Christ, Karen

Friday email November 19th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday! 

This Sunday is Christ the King, the last Sunday in the Christian Year. Just like New Year’s Eve is for many, it is a time of transition between a year gone by and a year ahead. And in the church, that transition is particularly marked by reflecting on the rule of Christ in our lives. As we move into Advent next week, this week’s worship reminds us that the Jesus we welcome is more than a baby, he is a sovereign Lord. 

Our reading this week speaks to that and is a passage that we are more accustomed to hearing on Christmas Eve. I think I read it almost every year on December 24th and sometimes on December 25th as well. But despite this I don’t think I have ever preached on it on its own. This week I am and learning lots about 8th century Israel and the new possibilities these words offered both then and now. 

2 [b] The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
    on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
    and the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His authority shall grow continually,
    and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
    He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

As one commentary that I read this week put it, when things are difficult, and times uncertain, one thing we learn and are reminded in this passage is that we are called not to curse thedarkness but to light a candle.

See you all on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen ​

 
Friday November 12th email

Good evening and a Blessed Friday! 

As we look forward to this coming week please look at the boxes below as our Advent plans are beginning to unfold and the start of our Advent Wednesday evening discussion is only 12 days away! My goodness! 

We are reading this week from the prophet Amos (Amos 1: 1 – 2, 5: 18 – 27). 

This takes us back to the 8th century BCE and the northern Kingdom of Israel. It is a time of prosperity and security. Things are looking good for those in power and for those who have wealth. If you ask them they might see this as the blessing of God, and it is clear from what Amos says to them that they certainly think that the coming of God among them will be blessing and light, good things!

This is what they think but the message that Amos has to share with them says otherwise. 

The coming day of the Lord is not what they expect at all. It will be darkness not light. 

In the earlier chapters Amos has critiqued the wastefulness of the lives of the rich and how for those on the other end of the social and economic sphere, what little they have for their lives is taken from them.  As a result of this, he tells the people, their worship, the offerings, even their songs are not pleasing to God. They have neglected the covenant that God entered into with them through Moses. They are not showing love of neighbour or love of God. Their religion is bordering on pagan. 

It is a difficult sermon for Amos to preach but I can imagine it is even harder to hear. 

Looking around all seems well and yet, the people of God are on the brink of failure. 

What will they do? 

What will we do? 

Looking forward to the discussion.

Grace and peace, ​

Karen

 
Friday November 5th email

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday to you all!

Looking forward to this Sunday, please do remember to turn your clocks back an hour otherwise you will be an hour early for our Remembrance Sunday Service at 10:00 am.

This year, as we do every year, we will read out and remember the names of St. Andrew’s War Dead. You can find out more about them here, on our church website: http://www.standrewsottawa.ca/canada-150-lives-remembered

During the service we are going to be joined for Children’s Time by Able Seaman (retired) Alex Polowin. Alex joined the navy during the Second World War when he was just 17 years old. Today he is 97 and speaks often to young people in the schools. This week he is going to talk about prayer in his words to us.

As part of our remembrance we will also be keeping two minutes of silence and our Scriptures for the week tell us of a time when God was found in the silence 1 Kings 19: 1 – 18.

God bless you and may God keep us all,

Karen

Friday October 29th

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday! 

Looking forward to this weekend and our All Saints Service this Sunday in Worship. This is a service for remembering those who have gone ahead of us into God’s rest and to consider our own solidarity with the saints in every time and every place who have called Jesus Lord. A service that gives added dimension to our understanding of what it means to be church. 

It is one of the wonders of our lives, that God, the one to whom the whole earth and all that is in it belongs (as our Psalm for the day, Psalm 24 reminds us) calls each one of us into the work God is doing. Through the power of the Holy Spirit the grace and work of God continues in the lives of ordinary imperfect people. This is what it means to be called a saint. When Paul, in the New Testament addresses the church in his various letters he does so sending his greetings to all the saints in Rome and in Corinth and in Philippi. Today he would greet us, who are called to be saints in the time and place where God has put us! Pretty amazing isn’t it? 

In our Scripture reading we will be turning to 1 Kings 5: 1 – 5; 8: 1 – 13. These chapters and verses describe the building of the temple in Jerusalem and the placing of the Ark of the Covenant within it. We have spoken about the Ark for several weeks now. That box in which the people of God kept the ten commandments, the staff of Aaron and a jar of Manna. Unlike what you might have seen in movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the ark itself does not contain power and it is not magical. It is instead a deeply holy symbol of God’s faithfulness and presence with the people as they have travelled through history.

As we read and remember this week we are also going to be welcoming a special guest, Patrick O’Shaughnessy. You will remember him from this summer, when he very kindly crafted and gifted to us a new stone cross for our garden after the original one was taken. This is our opportunity to thank him in person and give thanks for his generosity.

See you Sunday, all you who are called to be saints at Saint Andrew’s! 

Grace and peace, 

Karen
Friday October 22nd email

Good afternoon and Happy Friday! 

As we look forward to Sunday we are going to be celebrating Reformation Day, and yes we are doing this a week early this year.

More than a date in history that references the beginning of the Protestant Churches, the Reformation is a reminder of our understanding of the church as Reformed and always Reforming, in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Our text for the day, 1 Samuel 16: 1 -12 speaks of these things as well. With an emphasis on God’s Spirit and the actions of a prophet who speaks God’s word, it tells of the prophet Samuel’s trip to Bethlehem as he searches out God’s new King for Israel. 

As he is led, by God, to Jesse’s house, Samuel encounters each of Jesse’s first seven sons, and each one is rejected by God. It is not until the eighth and youngest son, David, appears that God agrees that this one is the one. And so Samuel anoints David as the next king of Israel. 

As we along with Jesse and his family, wonder about God’s choice of this last son over and above his elder brothers, we are told that God “does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” But then we are not told what it is that God sees in David. What is it about his inner person? But then perhaps the invitation is to consider our own inner person, and the prayer of the Psalm for the day (Psalm 51) as well. 

Create in me a new Heart, O God, and put a right Spirit within me. 

As is our custom on Reformation Sunday we will be gifting a Bible to our grade four students. Some of them will join us in person and others from home by the livestream and they will be having their Bibles delivered to them. As you pray this week please keep them in your prayers.

That God may bless them and keep us all, ​

Karen

Friday October 15th Email

Good evening and a blessed Friday! 

This week is Anniversary Sunday at St. Andrew’s. We are officially now 193 years old! 

For our Scripture reading we are going to be looking at 1 Samuel chapter 3 and the calling or summoning of God to a young boy called Samuel. Samuel is asleep in the sanctuary when the summons arrives and one of the things this passage invites us to consider is the role of Eli, the older priest who helps him understand God’s word to him. It is certainly one of the things that makes this a good text for an Anniversary Sunday as we consider the generations of St. Andreans, who have stewarded and passed on to those that came after them, an understanding of God’s call to be a witness of Christian Hope in the heart of Ottawa. 

Another thing that is mentioned in the text that Sydney and I are going to talk about in worship is the Ark of the Covenant which is located in the sanctuary and near to Samuel as he sleeps. Its presence highlights the importance of the sanctuary as a place that stands for God’s covenant relationship with God’s people which is something else to remember on Anniversary Sunday. And as we look around our own sanctuary Sydney and I are going to be talking about what you would find, if you looked inside the Ark of the Covenant! 

As we think about our life and witness as a congregation we are going to be focussing as well on the work of Refugee Resettlement which has been an important part of our ministry now for many years at St. Andrew’s. We have a new family we are getting ready to welcome, perhaps very soon now, and we will be speaking as well about what that welcome might look like and inviting you to be part of it. 

So Happy Anniversary! 

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday October 8th Email

Good evening and happy Friday! 

I pray this finds you looking forward to Thanksgiving Weekend and enjoying the beautiful weather today! 

It is an exciting weekend for us at the church, as we will be celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism. The first since the pandemic began! I love baptisms! The newness of life, the gathering together of loved ones, the trust placed in God for the years ahead… it is one of those moments that recalls to me God’s love for us all and for the church. 

Our Scripture which is Exodus 16 takes us back about 3500 years to the Israelites, newly free and wandering in the wilderness. Food and water are a real concern and looking around they see nothing! And then God provides! Quail for meat in the evening and the bread of heaven, manna, in the morning. It’s a bit of a long story and we will get into it more on Sunday morning but for now I want to point out to you how the chapter ends. 

The Israelites put some of the manna in a jar to keep. It’s a reminder of God’s faithfulness and presence, the gift of bread given and the life that made possible. They are safe. Looking around now the wilderness is not empty at all. It is full of God. 

And I wonder if you have a manna jar in your life? Something that you hold onto, a tangible reminder of God and God’s love at work in your life, that encourages and brings hope? 

I will look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday.

Happy Thanksgiving, 

Karen

Friday Email October 1st

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Looking forward to this weekend. Our Scripture readings include Psalm 8, which evokes the wonder of who we are in the midst of God’s creation as well as Exodus 3: 1 – 15 which describes God’s appearance to Moses in the burning bush as God calls Moses to be part of what God is doing to set his people free.

As God begins to speak to Moses, God introduces God’s self as the God of your father, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. These men have been dead perhaps 400 years by now but in mentioning them God remembers and recalls the history of Moses’ people and the covenant God has entered into with them.

As we remember this relationship ourselves, this Sunday is World Communion Sunday. While we have returned to in person worship in the sanctuary we have not yet returned to in person communion and so your opportunities to participate will be online and at home as we have been doing since the pandemic began.

At 11:30 am on Sunday there will be an opportunity to participate in communion together on Zoom. To receive the link for that please contact the church office (office@standrewsottawa.ca) or myself (kd@standrewsottawa.ca).

There will also be a pre-recorded and short service of communion, recorded in the sanctuary, and posted to YouTube for you to follow along at home as well. I would suggest participating in the livestreamed service on Sunday morning or watching the recording of it first.

In both situations, you will want to have bread or a cracker of some sort on hand to break and a glass of wine or juice to drink from. It being World Communion Sunday I can imagine the different kinds of bread being broken around the world today and if you would like to send a photo of your own set up at home communion, I would be really glad to see it and we can share them at a future communion service.

One of the things we do remember and give thanks for at communion is that God feeds us. And as we reflect on God’s calling to be part of what God is at work to do in the world, this Sunday we will be walking, along with other churches from Centretown, to support the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. This year we are walking in memory of Rob Robertson as well. Rob was a big champion of the Food Centre and our participation in this walk in the past. Due to the pandemic, the walk is virtual. If you would like to register for the walk or to sponsor those who are the link can be found here: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/centretown-churches-social-action-committee/p2p/Walk/#teams

Now something to think about as we get ready for Sunday: as God begins to speak to Moses, God reveals God’s self as the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. At the end of our passage God gives Moses God’s own name which translates to mean I am who I am. What do you think that means?

Looking forward to Sunday.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

Thursday next week is Orange Shirt day (September 30th), a day that is now set apart in our nation to remember the Indian Residential Schools and the calling for Truth and Reconciliation.

This past week I attended a webinar where Reverend Margaret Mullin was one of the speakers. Margaret is the minister at Place of Hope Presbyterian Church, located in the North End of Winnipeg, many of her congregants are Indigenous and living in poverty. Some of us met them and Margaret when we were in Winnipeg two years ago and I am always blessed to hear her speak and share the wisdom she has. I will always remember her words to us two years ago, not to get mired down in the guilt as we heard survivors share their stories, but to feel a Godly Sorrow and do something about it!

Margaret in her remarks this week said that she does not know what to say when asked what a faithful response looks like when it comes to how we might respond to a history of 500 years of colonization and intergenerational trauma. She doesn’t know but God does know and that she says is our hope.

Margaret quoted the Apostle Paul who reminds us in 2 Corinthians that we are given this ministry of reconciliation. It is not just a suggestion, Margaret reminds us, it is our calling. We are called to be reconciled to God through confession and repentance, to be reconciled to others through confession and reparation and we are called in all of this to be the righteousness of God to others. The only way to do that she says is through obedience. She remembers that she is called by God to reconciliation between Indigenous People and non-Indigenous People, between Indigenous People and the church and between Indigenous people and society. That is a high calling given the trauma, the overwhelming experience of harm that leaves people unable to cope, that we heard about from others in the webinar. It is relational work and sometimes there is no relationship there yet. The session was recorded and once I have the link I will share it with you all.

So when you come to church on Sunday, please wear your orange shirt if you have one, or something orange as a tangible symbol of our commitment.

Our readings this week come from Genesis and the cycle of stories that concern the patriarch Jacob and his relationships, and particularly his relationships with his brother Esau and God. It is certainly a story of trauma and reconciliation and for this week we will be reading from Genesis 28: 10 – 17 as well as Psalm 124. In the Genesis reading we are in the middle of a difficult time in Jacob’s life where he is running for his life from his brother who wants to kill him. A terrible story for his family and so I particularly resonate as well with the start of the Psalm which reads If it had not been the Lord who was on our side…

In the afternoon on Sunday, weather permitting, I am looking forward to Apple Picking. If you are going to attend that please do let Sydney know.

And the following Sunday, please don’t forget to sign up to walk in support of the Centretown Emergency Food Centre and in Remembrance of Rob Robertson or to support those who do. The link can be found here https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/centretown-churches-social-action-committee/p2p/Walk/team/st-andrews-rob-robertson-walkers/.

See you Sunday!

Grace and peace,

Karen

September 17th Email

Good evening and a blessed Friday to you all!

Looking forward to Sunday morning and worshipping together, whether you are joining online or in the sanctuary. However you feel most comfortable participating, you are most welcome.

This week we will be welcoming Matthew Larkin who officially began working at St. Andrew’s this past Wednesday. Matthew’s title is Custodian of Music, welcome Matthew!

Our readings for the week come from Mark 9: 30 – 37 and then James 3: 13 – 4:3, 7 – 8. The passage from Mark is one in which Jesus encourages children to come to him and the passage from James reflects on the continuing process that conversion is. Becoming a follower of Jesus takes a lifetime and his exhortation to draw near to God that God might draw near to us is an invitation not unlike the one of Jesus in Mark’s gospel.

These are good passages for this week as it will be Rally Sunday as we gather, and during the service we will be praying for the Church School and teachers as well as the other Christian Education programming as the New Year begins. This continues to be primarily online with an eye to an eventual return to in person events when we are ready.

A separate email regarding the Church School went out yesterday but I want to draw your attention as well to what is available and coming soon in Christian Education for those of us who are grown up children of God.

The Tuesday morning Bible Study will be reading from the Book of Acts this year and begins its twice a month meetings (First and third Tuesdays of the month) at 10:30am this coming week, September 21st on Zoom. Email either the church office or myself to get the link.

Wednesday evening study group will meet at 7:00 pm from October 3rd to November 10th, inclusive to chat about selected chapters of Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard. There are more details below.

The book club and film discussion group are also meeting again online now that September is here and more information for that can be found on the website as well as this weekly email.

And finally, the Reading the Bible in a Year group has just begun the New Testament which makes this an excellent point at which to join us. It will take 16 weeks to read the whole way through. I send out a reading plan for each week along with some commentary and then host a monthly Zoom meeting where we share questions and insights.

I do continue to pray for the day when we are able to do all this in person but for now, other than the worship services, all other programming is online. It keeps us connected and it is one of the ways we care for each other.

Looking very forward to the weekend.

Grace and peace,

Karen

September 10th email

Good morning and Happy Friday! 

Back from vacation and looking forward to worshipping together again on Sunday morning. 

The Scriptures for this week include Psalm 19 and James 3: 1 – 12 which cautions us about our words and how we use them. 

I still vividly remember a Sunday School lesson based on this lesson from James when my own children were young. One of the elders of the church squeezed some toothpaste out of its tube onto a toothbrush and then invited the kids to try and put toothpaste back in the tube. Talk about a challenge!  What ensued was messy, funny and in the end very telling. Toothpaste smeared all over the place and not a bit of it back in the tube at all. 

Words are like that the elder told the children. Once you speak them, they are out of your mouth and you cannot take them back. Be careful! Not sure if the children remember it but I certainly do. 

Words can build up and words can tear down. 

There are words that have been spoken to me that continue to encourage me years later. And words that when I remember them, continue to hurt or make me cringe. And there are words I have spoken as well of which this is true. Things I have said that I am glad I said. And things I have regretted. And yet I continue to speak. We cannot be silent. 

It will be good to gather together on Sunday and for other activities coming up soon as well. 

Online coffee hour will resume the Sunday after Rally Sunday and the Tuesday Bible Study, which will be reading from the Book of Acts, begins meeting (on Zoom) on September 21st at 10:30 am. The Reading the Bible in a Year Group is soon to make the move from the Old Testament to the New and if anyone wants to join in on this adventure of reading Scripture together for the fall let me know. I will send you the weekly readings and the Zoom invite to the monthly gatherings which will resume later this month. 

See you Sunday.

Grace and Peace, 

Karen 

PS: In case you are wondering, I won’t be bringing any toothpaste to the church on Sunday to challenge you!

Friday August 20 Email

Good afternoon and Happy Friday! 

And what a week it has been with online Vacation Bible School (VBS). Many thanks to Sydney and all the volunteers who led crafts, told Bible stories, sang songs, prayed and had fun with the children. What a  difference you all make! 

This year there was a combination of different activities with different ways to participate. There were interactive gatherings on Zoom, videos that could be watched at home to do the crafts and as the week came to an end, a wonderful out of doors gathering this afternoon. If you are following us on Facebook you can still find some of the videos on the St. Andrew’s page. 

So thank you again Sydney, Mary, Heather, Jeanie, Jide, Aisling, Heather, Lucy, Alan, Laurie, James, Janet, Peter, Joshua, Lynne, Miriam, Jacob, Kethy, Johanna, Beulah, Heather, Tim and Sana. And thanks to all of you who have been holding VBS in your prayers this week. Nurturing the faith of our children through VBS and the Sunday School programs, this is one of the ways we continue to keep the vows we make at their baptism. 

As we look to our own faith journey, we continue this week with our readings from the book of Job (chapter 38: 1 – 7, 34 – 41 and chapter 42: 1 – 6, 10 – 17).

Last week we talked about the struggle Job and his friends were engaged in, as they tried to make meaning of what was happening to Job, the loss of his livelihood, his family, his health. His suffering was very great and I described them as caught up in an almost futile effort to make all three of the following statements fit in a single box:

• God is good

• God is all powerful

• Job is innocent and doesn’t deserve the suffering he has

While any two of these might go together, the struggle to force all three into a box ended up causing a lot of pain. 

For the friends they came to the point of trying to convince Job he must have done something wrong. And Job, for his part there was either something wrong with how God was acting or something wrong with himself. In the end Job wants nothing more than to plead his case before God. 

In this week’s readings God answers Job… kind of… instead of giving answers God provides more questions. And then something happens in Job and he moves on with his life. 

And it is an ending that is just as hard to understand sometimes as the beginning or the middle. 

It doesn’t make it easy to preach I can tell you. I like to have a tidy ending, a place that I know I am going to end up even as I begin. But Job, like life, is really not like that. Even when it seems there is a tidy ending, there are really just more questions. And as hard as it makes preaching, it seems so very real to me. 

If there is one thing about the book of Job that keeps me coming back it is probably its very ability to invite us into pondering meaning and life, God and justice even as it provides no easy resolution. It is so real isn’t it? Job doesn’t resolve easily, it always leaves me with questions but it also provides me with insights and wonder and awe. It begs of me to consider what a redeemer is and how we live again fully even in the midst of suffering. 

I do look forward to seeing you on Sunday! Don’t forget to register if you are coming in person and if you are staying at home please stay in touch! 

Grace and Peace,

Karen​

Friday Email August 13

Good evening and a blessed Friday to you all!

Looking forward to Sunday once more, particularly after last week’s service. It was so good to have some of you in the sanctuary again and to have the livestreaming working so well for those of you who continue to worship from home. We have been working towards this for some time and I am very grateful to Ken Parlee and my husband Hugh who made the livestreaming happen.

Vivian is away this week and if you are looking to pre-register to attend the service in person, Noral Rebin has kindly agreed to take the registrations. His email is noral.rebin@cibc.ca.

In the service we will be continuing to read from the book of Job. Last week we left off with Job and his friends sitting together in silence. His suffering was so great, he had lost all he had to natural disasters and the violence of enemy attack, and now his health was gone as well. His friends did not know what to say and for seven days they sat with him.

Seven days. That is a long time. It is the time between last week’s service and this weeks. Can you imagine?

What is going on inside of Job’s head and his heart? A week ago he had refused to curse God and said to his wife, do we receive the good from God only and not the bad?

But what is happening to him is very bad and for seven days he has no words.

When he finally breaks his silence in Job 3 it is to curse the day he was born. To wish he was dead. Hard words to hear for sure but some would suggest that in the discourses that follow Job is now beginning to look for hope. One thing for sure is that he has broken silence and is now reaching out to both God and his friends as he speaks.

Human beings are meaning makers and for many of us it is when we find meaning in our suffering that we can begin to find hope again. It does take time. Harold Kushner in his book about Job, shares that after the death of his own son, it was two years before he could move beyond the extreme pain of what he was feeling and begin to search for meaning.

The dialogues that follow, back and forth between Job and his friends are certainly difficult and painful ones. As they seek to make meaning of all that is going on his friends are sure Job must have done something to deserve this. Or maybe his children did wrong. At one point Job points out all this is only adding to his suffering and he looks for and demands an answer from God regarding all that is happening. This is where we will pick up on Sunday with Job 19:23-27a and Job 23:1-9, 16-17.

As we read and reflect I do ask for your prayers and compassion for people who are suffering, those you know and those you do not. I have been praying this week as I watch the news coming in from Afghanistan. Over the years, in the church, we have supported the work of Presbyterian World Service and Development in promoting programs for maternal and child health in Afghanistan. Let us continue to hold them in our prayers, for their safety in these days.

God bless us and keep us.

In Jesus’ name,

Friday Email August 6

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

Looking very forward to worship on Sunday, especially so as I will be seeing some of you in person!

For the next three weeks we will be reading from the book of Job. Too often we refer to the patience of Job but in reality this book is more about the struggle to understand what is going on when bad things happen. Harold Kushner in his book When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person writes:

“There is one place in the Bible where serious theological conversation about the nature and thought process of God does take place, prompted by the conflict between the human wish to see the world as a moral sphere where people get what they deserve, where everything happens for a reason, and the inescapable reality that ours is a world where good people suffer for no apparent reason. The book of Job is a full-length argument about whether the misfortunes that befall ostensibly good people come to them from the hand of God. If we want to believe that ours is a moral world, the scene of justice and fairness, we need to confront the arguments in what is probably the most challenging book in the entire Bible: The book of Job” – page 14.

During the services I will also provide a narrative that helps us see each passage in the context of the book as a whole.

See you Sunday!

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday Email July 23

Rejoice in the Lord always! And again I say Rejoice!

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!
This coming Sunday we are going to be reading from Paul’s letter to the church at Phillipi (Philippians 4: 4 – 13) and hearing from him the command to Rejoice in the Lord always.

At St. Andrew’s part of how we do that, week in and week out, is through the gift of music. In all the things we do, so often it is the music that draws us near to God. This week will be our last with Tom Annand playing the organ as our music director. After 29 years he is moving on to the next stage of his career, and while we will miss him dearly we do wish him well.

For 29 years he has been part of our weekly worship. So often for me in those services there has been a moment in the music when my soul has been stirred. I am not alone in that. Tom has touched our lives and our worship with goodness, lifting us up and awakening us to God’s own presence with us.

What a big part of our lives, as a congregation and as individuals, Tom has been. In addition to regular worship services he has been present for so many of our most precious moments, baptisms, weddings and funerals. Our Christmases and Easters have been blessed by him. It is hard to think of St. Andrew’s without him, not simply for the beauty of the music he creates and inspires but the care and compassion he has offered to so many.

Thank God for Tom.

Grace and Peace

Karen

Friday Email July 2nd

Good Evening and a Blessed Friday!

As we look forward to the weekend our Scripture passage for Sunday comes to us from Mark 5: 21 – 43. This is the story of Jesus on his way to heal the daughter of Jairus when he is interrupted by a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years.

As it happens there are any number of people pressing in on Jesus. They are following him, wanting to see what he will do, can he heal Jairus’ daughter they are wondering and then, then Jesus stops everything to pay attention to a woman in the crowd who reaches out to touch him and in doing so is healed of her illness.

The way this passage unfolds the stories of the two women, Jairus’ daughter and the women who had been bleeding become intertwined for all time. We never remember one without the other. They go together. Reflecting on that this week, I was particularly struck by the words of Art Ross in one of my commentaries. As he spoke about how these stories are welded together, he put it like this “Mark tells disjointed stories of people drawn to Jesus. One story stumbles on top of another… The Jairus story is interrupted by a haemorrhaging woman. Jesus encounters human crisis upon crisis. Mark is describing life in the church, is he not?”

Good question!

As we are drawn towards Jesus and into the community that gathers in his name, do our stories not stumble into each other? Does one crisis not interrupt the other as we all come together?

I remember leading children’s time in the sanctuary once, where as part of the activity we all stood in a circle and then imagining Jesus in the middle began to walk towards him. It wasn’t long before we were bumping into each other, some of the children giggling, others frustrated… and that is the point!

If you, like me believe that Christianity is a communal faith, that as we are joined to Christ in our baptism we are also joined to each other and indeed to all who call Jesus Lord, then then we are certainly going to, time and time again, stumble into each other in both our laughter and our tears.

As we thank God and pray for the church, let us this week pray that as our stories are interrupted by the needs of others, that as we find ourselves stumbling into each other, even as we all seek to follow Jesus, that we will take heart at the message of faith that this story contains.

There is always something new to see when we encounter Jesus and I wonder, what or who you are seeing this week?

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday Email June 25th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

Heading into the weekend I am looking forward to having a number of our youth participate in the service this Sunday. Our theme for the day is going to be “a legacy and a future” as I continue to think about what it means to live in Ordinary times.

Together, those participating in the service will be remembering with us past members of the congregation. Many of them might have been seen as ordinary members of the church in their own day but each of them also either accomplished extraordinary things or inspired others to do so.

As we remember we will be lifting up our prayers for ourselves, our country and our world today.

The text for the week comes to us from 2 Corinthians 8: 7 – 15. It is usually seen as a text for a stewardship sermon as Paul exhorts the church in Corinth to continue to give towards the needs of the saints in Jerusalem. They have been keen to do this in the past and he encourages them to continue to do so, reminding them of what we might call the economy of God: the good News of Christ, who though he was rich became poor for our sakes. Giving of himself for the salvation of others.

It is a good text as we consider our own legacy and future in that it reminds us that faithful living is born out of gratitude for the generosity of God towards us, and shapes itself to live with a generosity of love and mercy towards others.

In keeping with our theme of legacy and hope, Sydney is also going to lead us in celebrating those in our congregation who have graduated this year. From Kindergarten through high school, College and University, it has been an extraordinary year and we are glad to celebrate their accomplishments and encourage all our young people with prayer. We do pray for and look forward to the way God is at work and will continue to work in them.

Looking forward to worship.

Grace and peace,

Karen

Friday June 18th Email

Good evening and a blessed Friday to you all!

10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
    and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. – Isaiah 55:10

I was thinking of this verse as the rain came down today. How good this soaking is for the earth and all that grows in it, and how Isaiah compares it to the word of God. It is not our passage for this week but it is a good one to consider as it reminds us that God is at work, still speaking and still accomplishing God’s purposes.

I know I have told you this before but when I was at Knox College, one of our first assignments in my sacraments class was to write a reflection paper on the question of “what is God’s purpose in creating the world?” The next week the question was something like “and how is the church part of that?” These are good questions and time and again I come back to them.

For Sunday this week we are going to be welcoming the Reverend Mary Fontaine, Director of Hummingbird Ministries, which is an ecumenical ministry that reaches people through healing circles, performing arts and annual events. It is one of nine Indigenous ministries that the Presbyterian Church in Canada is involved with.

Reverend Mary Fontaine is herself Nehiyaw from the Mistawasis Nehiyawak in Saskatchewan. Her name Amo-piyesis (Ahmo-Pee-yay-cease) means Hummingbird and was given to her by an Arapahoo elder. She graduated from the Vancouver School of Theology in 2003 and founded Hummingbird Ministries in 2005. She was ordained in May 2008 at the Mistawasis Presbyterian Church, Sask. and installed as Director of Hummingbird Ministries at the Tsawwassen First Nation, B.C. in June 2008. Mary has a married daughter and two grandchildren. In 2020 – 2021 she was one of the nominees for Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCC.

Looking very forward to welcoming her in worship on Sunday.

Grace and peace,

Karen

P.S: Please note that the women’s breakfast which had originally been scheduled for tomorrow was moved to next week.

Friday June 11th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

As we look forward to the weekend we are going to be giving thanks this week for the Church School teachers and their commitment this past year. Appropriate that as we do this we are also reading the Parable of the Mustard Seed from Mark’s gospel (Mark 4: 26 – 34).

Church School teachers make a big difference in children’s lives and I say this, because so very often when I ask older adults about their experience of church as a child, they tell me about their Sunday School teachers…

They are amazing people, Church School teachers.

No matter what type of week they, or the children have had, the teachers are there on Sunday morning ready to greet the children and welcome them in. They wipe tears, they clean up messes, they listen to questions that they may or may not be able to answer, and then they share the stories of Jesus. Sometimes, back when we were meeting in person, they might hand out juice and cookies, settling hungry tummies until church is over and teaching the children to pray, giving thanks for food and praying for people who are hungry.

Through the years, our Church School teachers are one of the ways by which our children come to know and trust that God loves them…because the Church School teachers who greet them each week believe this with all their heart.

I used to teach Church School and I cannot tell you how wonderful it was years later, at Canada Youth in 2012, to hear a group of teenagers yell my name and turn around and see the kids I taught when they were only three or four, now almost grown up! Church School teachers pray for the children of our church school, they delight in their growth, and are glad to celebrate their milestones.

Through the pandemic we have a very faithful group of Church School teachers who have continued to gather with the children of St. Andrew’s on Zoom each week and tell stories, build crafts and pray together. As many of our children speak French as a first language they have introduced a bilingual Sunday once a month this year, expanding the welcome we offer and helping the children feel more at home. Together with our children, they give active witness to the truth that while our building is closed, we the church are not!

Did I mention we are talking about the Mustard Seed in worship this week? Elsewhere in the Bible it says that you only need faith the size of a Mustard Seed to move mountains. This week we learn that Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed … so very small and tiny, you can barely see it… and yet…how big the plant it produces can grow to be, big enough to provide shade and nurture for so many birds.

The Kingdom of God is like this. It is known in things that might seem small but that over time make an extraordinary difference.

As you join me in celebrating and giving thanks for those who faithfully tend the faith of our young people and children, I wonder what you remember of your Sunday School experiences?

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday June 6th

Friday email June 6th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

I was reminded this week that when we worship together on Sunday, June 6th, it will be the anniversary of D-Day. The Channel Crossing and Normandy Landings that took place on this day in 1944 occurred in stormy weather that was far from ideal, an image that comes back to me this week as I reflect on our Scripture passage from Mark 4: 35 – 41.

Jesus and his disciples are crossing over when it happens: All day long Jesus has been teaching about his Kingdom in a series of parables and as evening comes they begin a journey across the Sea of Galilee. In the context of all that is going on it is a journey with a very liminal feel to and as they find themselves between one day and the next, between the Jewish side of the lake and the gentile, between what they know and what they don’t, and then it happens, a storm arises.

Perhaps it would have been better if they had waited to make the journey? Or if they had never set out on it at all… but consider this… while the safest place for a fishing boat is the beach, that is not what the boat is made for and the same goes for followers of Jesus.

There are many storms in the world today and following Jesus is never a guarantee that we will avoid them. In fact it seems almost guaranteed that we will find ourselves in them.

I am looking forward to exploring this passage together on Sunday and more than that, praying together for the world in which we live.

One of the things I want to ask you to pray for is Masanka Mubikayi and family. This is the mother and two teenage children who we are in the process of sponsoring as refugees. Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, they are now in Uganda and have been waiting for the day when they can make their journey here and begin to build a new home among us. The pandemic put a halt to the process for a while but we are now hopeful that they might arrive sometime in the coming fall. As we pray for them and their well being, we also have the work of getting ready to welcome them. This includes fundraising the amounts needed for their support in the first year, gathering up the supplies to build them a home and equip the children for school and building on the small team already in place to welcome and support them during their first year here. If you are interested in being on the team, please reach out to Nathalie, our Refugee Co-ordinator through the church office. There will soon be on our website as well an introduction to the family and the various ways you can help.

And as you say your prayers, can you pray as well please for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada which is meeting this week.

And for the children whose remains were discovered at the Residential School site in Kamloops just a week ago now, along with all those for whom this discovery has reawakened trauma and indeed for our entire country, as we remember Murray Sinclair’s words at the TRC: this is not an Aboriginal Issue, it is a Canadian one. Tomorrow night, Saturday June 5th there will be an interfaith Vigil at the Human Rights Monument at Lisgar and Elgin. Along with Reverend Jim Pot, minister at Knox, and other local leaders, I have been part of planning for this and will be there. As it is an in person event please wear a mask and be mindful about physical distancing.

There are many storms in the world this week for sure and I pray that in their midst we might hear the words of Jesus, the peace he speaks that guards us body, mind and soul that we might be messengers of his peace to others.

Grace and Peace be with you,

Karen

Friday May 28

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

As the church organizes itself around events that celebrate the life of Jesus, Pentecost, which we celebrated last week, celebrates the arrival of the Holy Spirit. And just as Jesus himself was conceived by the power of this Spirit, so too is the church at Pentecost. In the power of the Holy Spirit, ordinary people, were formed into a community that is called to be Christ’s own body in the world today.

One way to think of the Holy Spirit is as God in us.

This season we are in now, between Pentecost and Advent is one of the longest in the church year. It is a time for reflecting on and celebrating the work of the Spirit in us and continues to Advent, a time we call ordinary time.

And by ordinary we don’t mean blah or mundane or inconsequential. But ordinary as in “what is better than an ordinary day?”

An ordinary day gives us time to do and catch up on small tasks, it gives us a moment to take a nap, to clean our basement and all kinds of other messes too. The season following Pentecost is both long and ordinary and if we were in the church I would be wearing a green stole, because it is very much a time for growth as we reflect on how to live under the guidance of God’s spirit.

Traditionally, one thing we do in this time is focus on the mission of the church to the world.

Last week we had healing and reconciliation Sunday and this week we are joining together with members of the Depestre Family to remember and celebrate our congregational partnership with the Marco Depestre Foundation which provides development and relief work in Haiti. Our Scripture passage for the week is John 15: 1 – 17 and our theme is one vine, many branches.

Looking forward to worship.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday May 21st Email

Friday email May 21

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Heading into the long weekend, Sunday this week is both Pentecost and Healing and Reconciliation Sunday. Our passages for the week include Acts 2: 1 – 21 which is the story of the birth of the church through the power of the Holy Spirit and Ezekiel 37: 1 – 14. This is a passage that takes us back to the days of Exile. When the people of God were defeated, driven out of their own land and feeling dried up and hopeless. In those days God revealed to Ezekiel a vision of a valley of dry bones and asked Ezekiel to prophesy to them and to the wind. As the bones were knit back together and flesh restored to them, so too was the breath of life and this, says God, is what God will do for God’s people.

As I think about all this, I am realizing for the first time something about Ezekiel. Before he went into exile he was a priest in the temple like his father before him. He had served the very institution that was now torn to the ground and yet… yet here he is, in exile, with a new vocation, a prophet, speaking hope to his people when they needed it most. It is not unlike the vision we see of Peter in the Acts passage. The disciple who had doubted and even denied Jesus, now raised up in the power of the Spirit and preaching.

It is amazing how God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, works through ordinary people to bring hope.

In worship this Sunday we do have some special music planned for Healing and Reconciliation Sunday and I am looking forward to that tremendously as well.

If someone in your household is graduating this year, from Kindergarten, Elementary School, Junior High, High School, Cegep, College, University or anything else, can you please let the office know so that we can send our congratulations as well. Thanks so much.

Grace and Peace

Karen

Friday May 14th Email

Good morning and Happy Friday!

Reverend Karen Dimock on vacation this week and we are looking forward to welcoming Alex Fels back as our leader in worship this week. Alex is currently serving as a pastoral intern at an Anglican church in Oxford, England.

Karen will be returning to work on Thursday May 20th and if you have any pastoral concerns or questions in the meantime please contact the church office, emails and phones are checked regularly (613-232-9042; office@standrewsottawa.ca).

Friday May 7th Email

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

As we look forward to the weekend I pray you are well.

In the service this week we will be reading from John 15: 9 – 17. This passage shares with us some of Jesus final words to his disciples the night before he died, instructing them to abide in his love and love each other as he has loved them.

The word abide is a lovely one. Not used very often it can be full of meaning as we ponder it this week.

Abide can mean:

Stay with

Continue

Dwell

Last

Be faithful

And in this reading we have before us, when Jesus says Abide in my love he means all of this.

As we continue to reflect on the fullness of the life we find in Jesus, a life that draws us into the very love of God. We have several special guests this week.

As Sydney is on vacation the MacKenzie-Milner family will be leading Children’s time this week with a very special story for Mother’s Day.

Later in the service, in a Moment for Mission, we will be joined by Diana Mahaffy who is the new manager of the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. Diana will be sharing with us some of the current work of the Food Centre as well as the vision they are developing for its future.

See you on Sunday! Not in person I know, but until that day comes, you are ever before me in my prayers, that God may bless us and keep us all.

Karen

Friday April 30 Email

April showers bring May flowers!

Good afternoon and Happy Friday! I pray you are warm and dry and looking forward to the weekend as you read this.

As we get ready for worship this week we are going to be reading once more from the book of Acts which describes the witness of the early church, from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria and the ends of the Earth. And all this in the power of the Holy Spirit …

Our reading for the week comes from Acts 8: 26 – 40 and describes the encounter between Philip and an Ethiopian. Philip is one of the first of the early church to begin to witness outside of Jerusalem. And while we are going to be talking on Sunday about an encounter he has with an Ethiopian, today I am reflecting on how it all begins. With the Holy Spirit urging Philip to leave Samaria and set out on the road to Gaza. And that is it… so Philip goes.

When I set out on a journey I usually have a lot more to go on and go with. Google maps, a destination, a person I am to look for, and usually a reservation for the night and a recommended place to stop for a meal. Philip has none of that, just the Spirit sending him off … and he taking first one step and then the next, finds his calling and all the rest of it as he goes.

Journeys in the Bible are like this. And very often, as is the case in this story, they are just as much about what you leave behind, as anything else. For with God in the lead, we are about to be taken not just to new places, but new understandings, new faith and a new community.

Looking forward to worshipping together on Sunday.

Grace and Peace, from my home to yours,

Karen

Friday email April 23

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

I do pray you are enjoying the sunshine and hope that comes with spring! It looks like the squirrels have left me with about two thirds of the tulip bulbs I planted last fall. And … they have even, perhaps, left me a crocus I never planted at all, perhaps in compensation for the bulbs they dined on this winter!

Christ is risen is the good news we recall during this season of Easter and I have been reminded again, several times this week, of the women, that first Easter morning, who went looking to anoint a dead body and were greeted with an empty tomb. He is not here, the messenger they met there announced, he has gone ahead of you to Galilee.

During the past week there are moments when I have had to ask myself what I am looking for as I read the news, pick up the phone, offer my prayers: a dead body to anoint or the presence and person of Jesus Christ who has promised to be wherever I go (even if that is only to the next room). The difference between the latter and former of these two things is the discovery of hope.

Yesterday I woke up only to see snow on the rooftops as I looked out my bedroom window and this, for the second day in a row. Oh my goodness, I almost wept. When will winter end? But by the time I got downstairs and outside with the dogs, the beauty of the sun on the snow, the bright green of the newly emerging lilies dusted by white, reminded me that winter just doesn’t end when spring begins. There is a transition, a bit of back and forth as the old season yields to the new and the hope it brings.

In this season when we are struggling through a third stay at home order, just when the vaccines started rolling out and spring arrived, it is hard. I have had a good cry on more days than one when I recall those who are in hospital alone, children who are struggling with online school, parents spent with the effort, all of us missing hugging our loved ones. A good cry is a big part of being human but so is a good laugh and the tension between both of these reminds me of the beauty of life itself, that we can feel so deeply for one another and the world.

In all of this, from the contrast between snow on the rooftops to the bulbs emerging from the ground, from sobs of pain to bursting with laughter, I am trying to pause and remind myself, over and over again that the tomb is not empty. That we are Easter people, called not to memorialize a dead Saviour but to look instead for the living hope that his presence offers.

This is what Easter Joy is. It comes to us even in and sometimes particularly through times of suffering and pain and hardship. There is often a surprise in it because it is the joy that sometimes comes just when we had found ourselves overwhelmed

It can be like the bulbs coming up in the garden, even as they are dusted by the snow this week. Speaking deep into our souls of the life to come and a beauty and hope that we are not to forget.

We are in a time of transition. This pandemic (to mix my metaphors) has become a marathon and the closer to the end, sometimes the harder it feels. Our resources feel spent. But hope abounds. Real hope. For while Easter doesn’t wipe away the reality of the hardships we are going through, it does alter the way we see it.

Our guest this week, Jennifer Henry, in her sermon speaks about Easter as a journey and about companionship in hope. Based on Luke 24: 13 – 35 it is called “Hearts burning within us”.

It has been some years since Jennifer last preached at St. Andrew’s and I was delighted, when in addition to being the speaker for tomorrow’s Women’s Retreat, she agreed to join us for worship as well on Sunday.

Looking forward to this weekend.

May the love of God,

The compassion of Christ

And the Power of the Holy Spirit be with us all,

Karen

Friday April 16th Email

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

This coming Sunday our Scripture passage is one that I particularly enjoy for what it shows us that Peter is doing (Acts 3: 1 – 10).

Remember Peter?

There is a particular story from Luke 5 that I remember when I read this story in Acts 3.

Back on the day he first met Jesus.

It was after a night of fishing and catching nothing.

Jesus had arrived on the scene, and after using Peter’s boat to teach the crowds, had then invited Peter to push his boat into deep waters and had him let down his nets.

“Lord”, Peter had protested, “We have fished all night… “

But he did what Jesus asked and when he let the nets down they came up full.

And Peter… even as the others in the boat were scrambling to bring in the fish… Peter overwhelmed at the fullness and grace in that moment had fallen on his knees.

“Get away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man”. That was all Peter could say to Jesus. Somehow his own limits had all risen up in front of him. And yet Jesus …

Jesus had held out his hand to him then inviting him to come and follow.

“Come I will make you fishers of men” Jesus said.

And that is what we see here isn’t it?

That same Peter now holding out his hand and raising up others.

How awesome is that?
This the power of the risen Jesus alive and at work in Peter and in us.

Looking forward to worshipping together on Sunday.

Blessings,

Karen

Friday April 9th Email

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday!

Last week during Holy Week and Easter we witnessed the marvelous power of God at work in the resurrection of Jesus. This week we begin to discover how that power continues to be at work in the lives of the first disciples and the community that formed around them.

Our first reading is from John 20: 19 – 31 which describes the arrival of Jesus in the midst of the disciples that first Easter evening and again the following week. The Scripture tells us that they were afraid, it was getting dark out and they had locked the doors to keep themselves safe and then Jesus had suddenly appeared in their midst and breathing the Holy Spirit into them, offered them his peace.

I have been thinking about that moment quite often this week. Last year around this time the women’s gathering hosted Dr. Angela Schmidt on a Saturday morning to talk to us about living with anxiety and uncertainty. Among the different techniques she introduced us to for grounding ourselves was deep breathing. Take a deep breath in, hold it for the count of five and then release it slowly, feeling your body relax as you do. Then repeat. It is a technique that has been shown to lower blood pressure and calm people caught up in the midst of anxiety.

There is a peacefulness that comes with such breathing and as I think about it I wonder if it gives us some sense of what the disciples would have felt, body, mind and soul, when they breathed in God’s own Spirit that first Easter evening. Cutting through the uncertainty and fear, the peace that Jesus imparted to them was the very power of God, a love that would carry them beyond the walls and out into the world to share it with others.

Our other readings for the week include Psalm 133 and Acts 4: 5 – 12 which describes the common life of the early church community.

See you Sunday!

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday April 2nd Email

Good Friday, April 2nd – Mark 15: 1 – 39

He was tried before Pilate and the soliders mocked him

He was crucified and the crowd mocked him

He died and a single Roman Solider saw him for who he was

The failure of almost everyone to see Jesus as God’s own son is there for all to see

The failure to recognize God’s grace in human form

And yet he died for us all …

And was faithful to the end.

He did not abandon us

He would rather die than stop loving us

Is this what the solider saw that morning?

What do you see?

Today’s readings take us through the events of Jesus trail, crucifixion and burial. We watch and pray and we wait

Christ has suffered and died

This is Good Friday

A reading from Psalm 22, including words that Jesus called on in his suffering

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
    and by night, but find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were saved;
    in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm, and not human;
    scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me;
    they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8 “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
    let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
    you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast from my birth,
    and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls encircle me,
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth[a] is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs are all around me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
    O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my life[c] from the power of the dog!
21     Save me from the mouth of the lion!

From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
    stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor
    the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
    but heard when I cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
    May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    and I shall live for him
30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and[m] proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
    saying that he has done it.

Readings for the rest of the week

• Holy Saturday, April 3rd – Mark 15: 42 – 47

• Easter Sunday, April 4th – Mark 16
  

God bless you

Karen

Friday March 26th Email

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday,

“He heals the sick!”

“He makes the lame walk and the blind see!”

“He casts out demons!”

“He has even raised the dead! Who would have thought that could happen…” “And get this: He plays with the children and He eats with sinners”

“Not only that but he tells people their sins are forgiven!?”

“And he talks about a new kingdom too… the kingdom of God!”

“He MUST be the Messiah, the promised One!”

This is some of what the people were saying about Jesus! So just imagine how excited they were when he arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. “Hosanna” they cried out which means save us. And “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord”. And they paved his way with their coats and palm branches.

This coming Sunday in worship we are going to be joining the Palm Parade as it welcomes Jesus and something to think about as we get ready for that is Jesus’ own question to the disciples back at the start of their journey to Jerusalem and at the beginning of our journey into Lent.

“Who do you say that I am?” he asked them.

On Sunday we will be hearing from disciples who love Jesus and put their hope in him, the beauty, truth and grace of God that entered Jerusalem 2000 years ago and that continues to come to us today.

We have two Scripture readings this week, Mark 1: 1 – 11 which describes the Palm Parade and Philippians 2: 5 – 11 which tells us something more about who Jesus is and reminds us that with the events that are about to transpire, this is the week in Christian Calendar when tables are turned, literally and figuratively, day in and day out! Ordinary truths we thought we knew (like the dead staying dead) are challenged and the extraordinary ways of God shine through. But there is a journey to get there and below you will find a reading plan taken from Mark’s gospel to guide us as we journey through this week together. Beginning Monday I will send out a short reflection and prayer by email that will also be available on the church website.

* Palm Sunday, March 28 - Mark 11: 1 – 11

* Monday March 29 – Mark 11: 12 – 22

* Tuesday March 30 – Mark 11: 27 – 12: 43

* Wednesday March 31 – Mark 13: 1 - 14: 11

* Maundy Thursday, April 1st- Mark 14: 22 – 71

* Good Friday, April 2nd – Mark 15: 1 – 39

* Holy Saturday, April 3rd – Mark 15: 42 – 47

* Easter Sunday, April 4th – Mark 16

God bless you and keep you, Karen

Friday March 19th Email

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday to you all!

The sun is shining as I write and with the promise of warmer temperatures, I anticipate that this coming weekend will be a beautiful one. I love these early days of spring, the search for the first hint of green in the grass, tiny shoots emerging from the ground, neighbours emerging from their homes and all of us waiting for the first buds to appear on the trees... small but true signs of life just beginning to emerge. These are creations own witness to the glory of God our creator who can call light out of darkness, joy out of sorrow and life out of death.

This saving love of God is the same hope that comes to us on this fifth Sunday of Lent as well.

Since 1979 the United Nations has called for March 21st to be recognized as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The date was chosen as March 21st as this day in 1960 police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid "pass laws".

Our guest in worship this week is Dr. Allyson Carr, Associate Secretary of the Justice Ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. She will be preaching from Psalm 51 which is a psalm that King David wrote after the events that are described in our other text for the week, 2 Samuel 12: 1 – 10. It is a difficult story but from it Allyson helps us find grace and hope for our living.

Something else to look forward to this weekend is our Saturday morning monthly Women’s Breakfast Gathering. Since we cannot gather in person to share a potluck breakfast, we have been gathering on Zoom and sharing our stories. March being International Women’s Month, we are invited to share stories of women of faith in the Bible and our Lives who have encouraged us in our living. For the Zoom link please contact the church office.

And Saturday afternoon there is Kids Church also.

Sunday morning there is Sunday School at 11:00am and coffee hour at noon. All of these take place on Zoom, contact Sydney (sj@standrewsottawa.ca) for children’s ministry Zoom links and the church office (office@standrewsottawa.ca) to participate in coffee hour.

It is going to be a beautiful weekend indeed!

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday March 12th Email

Friday email March 12, 2021

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

As we get ready for worship this week, it is now a year since we entered into the first lockdown of the Pandemic. Who would have imagined the year we have just had? Our prayers have changed, our ways of interacting have too and on Sunday Sydney and I will be offering the following prayer. It was written by Traci Smith (used by permission www.traci-smith.co) that you might follow along at home on Sunday and use it as well for your own prayers this week.

A Prayer Marking One Year of Pandemic Life, for All Ages (Unison)

God you are with us all the time. All the time you are with us.

Today we remember. We remember how things used to be. We remember how many things we have gone through. We remember things we missed and people we lost.

Today we hope. We hope for healing. We hope for vaccines. We hope for wisdom.

Today we share. We share smiles with one another. We share our joys and our sorrows. We share our dreams for the future.

God you are with us, all the time. All the time, you are with us. Be with us as we remember, hope and share. Amen.

As we look forward with hope, we will be continuing our Lenten exploration of Covenant. This week’s readings are from Jeremiah 31: 31 – 34 as well as from John 12: 20 – 33 and as you get ready to worship I invite you to reflect on what it means to make the journey from your head to your heart.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday March 5th Email

I am the Lord your God who…

So begins our Scripture reading for this week with God, who spoke all creation into being in the beginning, now speaking a new community into being.

Good morning and Happy Friday!

As you get ready for worship this week I wonder what God is saying when God addresses you like this? I am the Lord your God who…

In the book of Exodus these words are a reminder that God who made the world is not just the one who spoke the world into being, but the One who listened to the cries of God’s people in slavery. God saved them, led them into the wilderness and there protected and defended them. This is the grace of God and as God enters into covenant with them now it is a covenant with a nation. A people who are called to be a Holy Priesthood (you can read about that in Exodus 19) making God’s presence in their midst known to those around them.

We will be reading together on Sunday from both Exodus 20: 1 – 17, otherwise known as the Ten Commandments and 1 Corinthians 1: 18 – 25. Both texts invite reflection on how we live well together and in the presence of God, not to earn anything but as our response to what we have freely received.

This being the first Sunday in March we will be celebrating as well this Sunday the Sacrament of Holy Communion. There are two ways to participate in this. One is by Zoom at 11:00 am on Sunday morning. To receive the link to join that service please contact the church office. The second means by which to participate is a short service of communion celebrated and recorded in the sanctuary that will be made available via YouTube so that you can watch and participate from home that way.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday February 26th Email

Friday email February 26

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

Looking forward to worship on Sunday and the annual meeting to follow, our Scriptural passages include Mark 8: 31 – 38 and Genesis 17: 1 – 7, 15 – 16. Both passages involve calls to follow God and live in relationship with God, and both challenge our understanding of what is possible when we do.

One of my favourite spots for checking out material for children in worship is Caroline Brown’s worshipping with children website. For this weeks’ lessons she shares a story book I hadn’t heard of before but is now on my list to check out called Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, by Mo Willems. Edwina is a happy and very loving dinosaur who bakes cookies for everyone. Most people love her but one of the characters in the book knows that dinosaurs went extinct a long time ago and tries to persuade everyone else that Edwina is extinct as well. No one believes him except Edwina the dinosaur, who apparently hears him out, says he is right but that she simply doesn’t care… and she goes on baking cookies.

This kind of story reminds us what faith is. Living into a reality and relationship that is almost seemingly impossible. What a great story for Lent and the journey of faith it invites us into… don’t you think?

As you get ready for worship, I wonder what stories you might tell of the impossible realities you have discovered or encountered.

God bless you all as you journey this week.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday February 19th Email

Good evening and a Blessed Friday!

As part of my Lenten readings this year, I have just begun reading Living His Story (by Hannah Steele, copyright 2020, published by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge). The forward to the book is written by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and I want to share with you what he writes about the Christian Story. “It requires us,” he says, “to step into an unbelievable account- a wild tale of a virgin birth, miracles, healing and resurrection from the dead. It invites us to believe in a totally new world; one where God has stepped in and shown us a new way to live, a whole new framework. It is a big step to take because it challenges the realities we thought we knew – that we are on our own, that life is finite and even that the dead stay dead.” And it is a story that we are invited not just to read but to participate in. As we begin Lent, I had a great appreciation for the way he writes this.

At St. Andrew’s this year during Lent we are we are going to be talking about the promises of God, the covenants that God enters into with us. Promises matter. When a promise is made to us and we trust it, we shape our hopes around it and we live expectantly into it. But this week as we get ready for worship I invite you to think not just about promises made to you, but promises you have made yourself. What has keeping them meant? For the relationship you have with the person the promise is made to? Were your own desires or ways limited by honoring the promise? Are you glad for the promises you have made and have you ever not been glad? What is it like to make and keep a promise?

Our text this week is Genesis 9: 8 – 17 which is the story of the everlasting Promise God makes to Noah and all the world following the Great Flood. As we begin Lent with its forty days and forty nights, there is certainly some resonance with the story of the Flood which was also that long. But when we see God at the end of the flood making promises to us… everlasting promises… well, I just have to wonder what kind of journey we are beginning… what kind of realities might we find challenged… and I wonder what the promise God makes to Noah reveals to us about that!

I do pray for you all through this season. The Christian Education mailed out devotionals to every household for Lent along with a note from Sydney and me. If you haven’t received yours yet then please let us know and we will make sure you get yours.

A few words about this weekend. Tomorrow is our Coldest Night of the Year Walk in support of the Ottawa Mission. Thank you for all the support. If you still want to join the walk or support those doing it, there is a link on the website for that (www.standrewsottawa.ca).

And for next weekend: on Saturday, February 27 at 9:30am all St. Andreans are invited to participate in an Open discussion on Anti-Black racism. This discussion follows the October 3, 2020, event where all Black St. Andreans were invited to share with each other and several leaders in the church their lived experiences as Black Canadians. Next Saturday morning will be educational in nature with guest speaker, Dr. Helen Ofosu, as well as a facilitated discussion for gathering and discerning next steps. To receive the Zoom link to participate please contact the church office.

And also next weekend: On Sunday, February 28 at 1:00 pm on Zoom we will be having our Annual Congregational Meeting. The annual report was sent by email earlier this week and is available online. An email for accessing the financials will be sent out on Monday of this week.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday February 12th Email

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday to you all,

This coming week is Transfiguration Sunday. The passage in Mark 9: 2 – 9 describes this event and as you read and prepare, I wonder when in your life, your eyes have been opened and you have come to see someone differently? Become aware that your own understanding of who they are is limited? That I think is what is beginning to happen for the disciples around this time in their life with Jesus. They are beginning to believe he is the Messiah, God’s promised one, and he is trying to tell them how very soon he is going to be going to Jerusalem where he will be killed and then rise again.

It is a good passage to contemplate as we begin Lent in the coming week and I want to share with you some of the things that are coming up with that.

Tuesday mornings during Lent, and beginning this coming week actually, the day before Lent begins, Sydney and I will be leading a morning prayer time from 8:00 – 8:30 am. The pattern for prayer we will be using is called Visio Divina and it involves meditation on art and Scripture. Please let the church office know if you would like the Zoom link to join.

For your personal devotions and journey in Lent watch the mailbox! The Christian Education team has sent out materials for adults and children and if you don’t get yours soon then please let us know. For the children there will also be a special, interactive Lenten garden to explore going up on the website next week. Wednesday communion services continue as well, midweek at noon for the most part but in the coming week it will be at 12:15pm and that is always a special time in my Lenten Journey. And in March we will be starting a Wednesday evening series called the Walk, exploring together five practices for Christian Living.

This Lent, we will also be participating again, as a congregation, in the Coldest Night of the Year Walk in support of the Ottawa Mission. Last year there were over 20 of us who did this together and many more of you who supported us. This year we will need to be walking on our own but the walk and the Mission need our support as much as ever. To join the team or support it please go online at www.cnoy.org/home and search for Rob Sheffield who is our team captain or go to our website www.standrewsottawa.ca and click on the Coldest Night of the Year box there.

God bless you and keep you all,

Karen

Friday February 5th Email

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Hope you are all warm and well.

It has been a busy week of study and learning. The Job Bible Study continued its Tuesday morning gatherings with a fascinating discussion about the experience of God’s silence and there were two new gatherings for discussion and learning as well.

Last Sunday the group that is reading the Bible together this year had the first of our monthly meetings on Zoom, sharing questions and encouraging each other. It is never too late to join in this endeavor. The readings are always in the weekly email and I post a message each week on the website.

Another first this past week was the Wednesday evening study series for February, Black History month. Looking forward to next week and the speakers we will be welcoming! Again there is information about each week posted to the website and suggested documentaries or material for preparation in between.

I am looking forward to even more learning in this weeks worship service as we have a special guest joining us to lead Worship. The first Sunday in February is traditionally PWS and D (Presbyterian World Service and Development) Sunday. Rev. Theresa McDonald-Lee, who is co-Director of Camp Kintail which is a Presbyterian Camp on the shores of Lake Huron and she also serves on the Presbyterian World Service & Development committee, will be our guest. Her sermon “Hungry and Thirsty” is based on  Matthew 25:31-45 and Psalm 100.

Don’t forget to sign up for coffee hour on Zoom afterwards for fellowship and discussion and as always there is Sunday School at 11:15 am. Sydney can send you the link for that if you don’t have it.

God bless you and keep you.

Karen

Friday January 29th Email

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

The sun is bright but oh how cold it is out of doors right now! I do pray you are all keeping warm and well this day.

Last week in worship we spent time with Jesus as he called his first disciples inviting them to turn from the life they knew to a new life, following him and becoming his disciples.

This week we jump ahead about forty or more years to the early days of the Church in Corinth and Paul’s letter to those who were learning how to be Jesus’s disciples there. Our Scripture passage (1 Corinthians 8: 1 – 13) picks up about half way through that letter as Paul addresses one of the arguments that is happening in the church. Different factions it appears are each holding to what they are sure is right and true. In defending their position, right and true as it may be, Paul warns them, they are alienating others and indeed becoming a stumbling block for their participation in the life of faith.

Knowledge puffs up, Paul writes, but love builds up.

Later on he puts it like this:

 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,[a] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends – (1 Corinthians 13: 1 – 8 a)

Love is the greatest gift of all says Paul and it is a gift we know best in Jesus Christ and the way he lived.

Something to think about as Valentine’s Day approaches perhaps?

God bless you and keep you.

Karen

Friday January 22nd Email

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

I pray this finds you well and warm. As we move through this current stay at home order my prayers are with you all, for encouragement and well being.

Many thanks to Roland De Vries and Sydney for taking the service last week while I was off for a week, it is good to be back and getting ready for worship together again.

This week our Scripture readings come from Jonah 3: 1 – 5, 10 and Mark 1: 14 - 20. In Jonah, the prophet issues a call to the City of Ninevah to repent. To the prophet’s surprise and likely chagrin, they do. In Mark’s gospel we come to the very early days of Jesus’ ministry where he finds his first disciples, fishermen on the sea of Galilee and calls to them to follow him and he will make them fishers of men. To, what must have been the surprise of all their family, perhaps even themselves, they do. They go and they know not where.

Down through the centuries we have puzzled over this call that invites people to leave everything and turn to follow in new ways. It often makes little sense until it happens to us ourselves.

We all have moments in our lives when a voice intrudes into our being and says something that makes all the difference in what comes next for us. Sometimes it is a passage in Scripture. Sometimes it is an experience of creation that breaks into our consciousness and lifts up beyond ourselves. Sometimes it is the voice of a mentor or family member who speaks an invitation or encouragement to go explore new paths that help us grow into who we were made to be, more and more into the likeness of Christ who we follow. These are the good moments. But sometimes the voice that intrudes is a not so kind voice, one that speaks from within or without, one that utters a criticism that strikes to the bone and we are diminished ever after.

Sometimes the voice that intrudes in our lives is God at work and sometimes it is not. I believe we need to learn to know the difference for our sake and for the sake of others because sometimes we are called, like Jonah was, to speak God’s voice for them.

So as we look forward to worship on Sunday I wonder, can you tell me about a time when you experienced such a calling? When you, in response to a call from God, even if you did not know it as God at the time, found yourself turning from the path you were on and taking up a new journey. And even if others around you were not doing so, even if it meant walking into uncertainty, you went… and I wonder, where did it take you?

Glad to hear from you if you want to share those stories but I invite you to take time at the very least and treasure them for yourselves: evidence of God at work in your life, God’s invitation and dream for you.

God bless you and keep you.

Karen

Friday January 8th Email

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

The sun is shining and as I look out over the snow covered world I am reminded of a verse that came up at Bible Study this week. God rains on the good and the bad, the just and the unjust, we were reminded. Looking around this week I am sure the same can be said for snow! Blanketing the earth in beauty and transforming it so that it reflects the light and all who see cry “Glory”. I look out my window at the snow, and find that this is my prayer for all the world this week: Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down!

Of course these are not my words but those of the prophet Isaiah (64: 1), giving voice to the cry of the people of God in difficult times: Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down!

Be with us, transform us, redeem us, bless us, speak to us, save us… Cover us with your Spirit and bless us with your Word.

As we come together on Sunday we are going to be reflecting on the Spirit and Voice of God which we hear in our passages for the week: Genesis 1: 1 – 5, Psalm 29 and Mark 1: 4 – 11.

For those of you who are joining together to read the Bible this year, Sunday is the day for beginning and our first reading is Genesis 1: 1 – 3 and Psalm 1.

God bless you all,

Karen

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

The sun is shining and as I look out over the snow covered world I am reminded of a verse that came up at Bible Study this week. God rains on the good and the bad, the just and the unjust, we were reminded. Looking around this week I am sure the same can be said for snow! Blanketing the earth in beauty and transforming it so that it reflects the light and all who see cry “Glory”. I look out my window at the snow, and find that this is my prayer for all the world this week: Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down!

Of course these are not my words but those of the prophet Isaiah (64: 1), giving voice to the cry of the people of God in difficult times: Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down!

Be with us, transform us, redeem us, bless us, speak to us, save us… Cover us with your Spirit and bless us with your Word.

As we come together on Sunday we are going to be reflecting on the Spirit and Voice of God which we hear in our passages for the week: Genesis 1: 1 – 5, Psalm 29 and Mark 1: 4 – 11.

For those of you who are joining together to read the Bible this year, Sunday is the day for beginning and our first reading is Genesis 1: 1 – 3 and Psalm 1.

God bless you all,

Karen

December 31 Happy New Year!

Good afternoon and Happy New Year!

I pray this finds you well. That you have had a good, if quiet, Christmas and that you are approaching the New Year with renewed faith and hope.

Getting ready for Sunday worship, this is the last Sunday of the Christmas Season and we are going to be reading the texts for Epiphany, a season that is all about the manifestation of God in Jesus Christ. Our text for the week is Matthew 2: 1 – 15.

Fred Craddock, a well known preacher, once said that at Epiphany the whisper heard in Bethlehem becomes a shout heard around the world.

In the first chapter of his Gospel, Matthew had focussed on Jesus’ roots among the Hebrew people. He traced them back to Abraham and David and the story of God at work to bless the world through the people know as Israel. Now in chapter two he describes the arrival of the Magi, visitors from afar, and with them comes the whole world! And what a world!

Like it is today, in Jesus’ time there were rulers hungry for power, ruthless and corrupt. There was darkness and fear… but there were also people of faith. People of integrity and righteousness. People like Joseph and people like the magi. People who pay attention, who look more closely at things as they present themselves, who listen deeply for truth, who discover God’s word for them in what is going on and who change their ways and direction that they might follow.

Matthew chapter 2: There are two scenes in this chapter that stand in contrast to each other. The moment when the wise men arrive in Jerusalem and meet Herod who calls himself King of the Jews. And that moment when they arrive in Bethlehem and discover Jesus: a small baby. They worship and they offer gifts and then they are warned by God in a dream to go home another way. Sometimes I wonder what they experienced when they found the baby Jesus? How they knew to believe in their dream? What kind of listening and looking and paying attention, what kind of mindfulness did that take?

New Years is often a season for making new resolutions. For many of us they don’t last long and that is likely due to many things including perhaps a lack of mindfulness on our part, a lack of insight into how we ourselves, in the ways we cling to, are part of the obstacle to the change we seek. Almost any change we seek in our own lives will require a change in our own ways.

The arrival of the New Year is not a magic wand. But it is, like every day that it will bring, a new opportunity and that comes by the grace of God with the strength to start anew. To pay attention, to listen deeply, to look closely not just at the longing of our own hearts but for the manifestation of God among us and the ways of life and love, laughter and hope, reconciliation and peace that Jesus offers.

Thank you for the journey we have been on together in this past year.

May God bless us and keep us all as the New Year begins.

Karen

Christmas email December 23rd

Good afternoon and Merry Christmas!

As we get ready this year I came across the following in one of my devotions this week. It is from a letter written to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, by his fiancée when he was in jail in 1943, accused in crimes against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Government. She writes:

“And now Christmas is coming and you won’t be there. We shall be apart, yes, but very close together. My thoughts will come to you and accompany you. We shall sing Peace on earth and pray together but we shall sing Glory to God on High even louder. That is what I pray for you and for all of us, that the saviour may throw open the gates of heaven for us at darkest night on Christmas Eve, so that we can be joyful in spite of everything.”

I found myself crying as I read it this year. Truly, there is a light in Jesus Christ that shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.

I am going to miss being in the sanctuary on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I do miss seeing you all and am grateful for calls and Zoom, email and cards in the real mail. Know that I am praying for you, for a good Christmas. I pray for your loved ones as well and particularly your family and friends from whom you are separated this year. I pray for our mission partners and the very vulnerable people they serve here in Canada and abroad. I pray for the Masanka family in the refugee camp in Uganda.

In this year when our own travel is restricted, we give thanks for the one who does make the journey, the greatest journey of all, from heaven to earth to be with us. Whether it is distance or pandemic, illness or death that separate us, we can be confident of our eventual reunion, because of the gift of the child in the manger. In him we see the beauty truth and grace of God with us, now and forever.

Worship this week includes:

* December 24th from 3 pm onwards, the Christmas Eve Service of Pageant and Carols

* December 25th from 9:15 am onwards, the Christmas Morning Service

* December 27th from 9:15 onwards Sunday morning worship

All of these can be found at http://www.standrewsottawa.ca/sermon-recordings and if you missed the Blue Christmas Service on December 21st you can find it there as well. All Advent and Christmas services and other material will remain available on the website until January 6th.

Merry Christmas to you all,

Karen

Friday email December 18th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Our journey through Advent is almost near to done. Only one more Sunday and when we meet for worship this week we will be lighting the Candle of Love in our sanctuary and our own homes.

Our Scripture reading for the week is the first chapter of Matthew which begins with Jesus’ family tree. During one of the discussions I had with people about this passage this week I was asked a question which I have been asked before. And it is this: why is it Joseph’s family tree not Mary’s that we are looking at when we open up the Greek Testament and begin to read from Matthew? God after all was Jesus’ real father, not Joseph.

It is not the first time people have wondered about this for sure and the answer I have for you this week is this: family is not always about biology.

We will talk a bit more about that on Sunday but as you get ready for worship here is something else of the good news that our passage for this week conveys: This is a family tree that we are part of as well and every day we wake up in the middle of it!

Looking forward to Sunday and then past that into next week as well.

The Blue Christmas Service on Monday, the Christmas pageant on Christmas Eve and the Christmas Day service as well.

God bless you,

Karen

Friday email December 11

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

I pray this finds you warm and well.

Our texts for this coming Sunday cover the entire second chapter of Luke: from the census that brings Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, to the angels proclaiming his birth as Good News of Great Joy to the shepherds in the fields in Bethlehem and then the trip to the temple when Jesus is 40 days old.

A lot happens in this chapter and the word that stands out more than any other as I read this chapter this year is “sign”. I hadn’t noticed it before, which is ironic I suppose, but I hadn’t really paid attention before now to the way signs keep showing up all through the first two chapters of Luke. The chapters that have brought us through the first three weeks of Advent this year.

Two weeks ago we read about the priest Zechariah. When he was told by the angel Gabriel that he and his wife, both elderly, would have a baby demanded a sign.

Last week ago we read how when the young girl Mary was told by the same angel Gabriel that she was favoured by God, that she was going to have a baby who would be the son of God, she was given a sign. Her cousin Elizabeth who was thought to be well past the age of having children, was pregnant.

This week it is the shepherds that the angel delivers a message to. Showing up in the dark fields outside of Bethlehem the angel proclaims Good News of great Joy for all people, that in Bethlehem has been born for them a saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign says the angel: you will find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

And later, well later in the temple an old man named Simeon calls Jesus a sign as well.

So as we get ready for worship this week, here is an invitation for your consideration: what does this sign mean, what is it pointing to? And as you consider that… is there anything you see now that you didn’t before?

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday email December 4

As we look forward to worship this Sunday we will be lighting the candle of peace in the sanctuary and in our homes. It is a gift to be treasured, a flame to be tended as we await the coming of Jesus again this year.

Our Scriptures come to us from the Gospel of Luke chapter 1 again. Last week we learned about the Angel Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah and the song he sang later when his son was born. This week it is Mary’s turn. She is probably something of an ordinary girl when the angel arrives in her home, startling her with the news that God has favoured her and that she need not be afraid. She is going to have a child, it will be conceived by the Holy Spirit and she will call him Jesus. And when she wonders at the seeming impossibility of this the angel reminds her that nothing is impossible with God. The Good News that the angel brings to her, that God is with her makes all the difference in this I believe because life for Mary is about to take a gigantic turn.

Later in the service we are going to hear the song Mary, now pregnant, sings a while later when she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age and is expecting a special child too. John the Baptist who will go before Jesus to prepare the way for him. When Mary greets her the child in Elizabeth’s womb jumps for joy and as Elizabeth tells this to Mary, Mary bursts out in her own song. This one we often call the magnificat because it begins with these words: My soul magnifies the Lord… When we magnify something we lift it up and make its image bigger. Mary sings of the great things that God is doing so that others might see as well. She speaks of the coming justice of God as if it was happening right now which is in and of itself an invitation to go look for it…

And as we do we will be joined, via Video presentation, by Yvonne Bearbull, who is the director of the Kenora Fellowship Centre, which is an indigenous ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. It is one of the places that those of us on the Healing and Reconciliation Trip in 2019 visited and we sent them gifts of support last Christmas. This year we are inviting support for them during our annual December and Christmas appeal and I am so glad we are able to have Yvonne join us during worship.

Looking forward to worship.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

Friday email November 27

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

As I get ready for the Sunday worship this week I have two services I am looking forward to. The first is our regular Sunday morning service that you can find on Sunday morning on the website www.standrewsottawa.ca . The other is at 4:30 pm on Zoom (email the church office office@standrewsottawa.ca if you would like the link) when the youth who were in the communicants class will be joining the church. A wonderful way to celebrate the gift of hope that comes to us on the first Sunday of Advent which is also the first Sunday of a New Year in the life of the church.

On Sunday morning we are going to be talking about time and what time it is. There are lots of ways to describe time: lunch time, break time, time to go shopping… for sports enthusiasts there is the excitement of overtime and for teachers waiting for reports there the frustration of things coming in past their time… for those who are waiting it might be time for justice… and for others time for a break… I am sure you can expand the list if you give it some thought…

This week in the church we are going to be paying attention to time and what it means to find ourselves in Advent time! The Scripture reading we have is from Luke 1: 57 – 79 but to explore its message I think we also need to go back to earlier in the chapter, Luke 1: 5 – 8 and see what time it was then …

During the service we are going to be lighting the first candle on our Advent Wreath and if you would like to do that at home as you watch then have a candle ready (and if you want to have a whole wreath ready to light at home then you can check out the workshop Sydney is offering tomorrow to make one).

In addition to the worship service we have some special Advent activities that you will find on the website after Sunday.

Scrolling down the homepage you will find a block with a picture of a living room with a fireplace. Clicking on that will take you to an interactive page that will be updated each week with stories and activities related to advent for children.

There will also be an advent calendar block for the older children of God among us. Clicking on this each day in advent will take you to a Bible Verse, short prayer and link to a daily surprise put together by a team that includes Reverend Karen and the pastoral care connectors.

As we begin our Advent Journey this year: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13, NIV).

Karen

Friday email November 20th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Advent is just around the corner, (can you believe it?) and that makes this coming Sunday, Christ the King Sunday. And as Advent marks the beginning of a new year in the church, it is also the end of the year gone by. Many of you have commented recently on how glad they will be to leave this year behind but before we do… let’s look at the Scriptures for this week and the message they bring, Ezekiel 34 and Psalm 95.

Both passages present us with the image of God as a shepherd God. They recall to us that Jesus himself is often called our Good Shepherd and remind us that this is how he is portrayed in some of the very earliest pieces of Christian Art. He takes as good care of us as a shepherd does his sheep.

On this Sunday as we think of Christ as King the image of Shepherd tells us much about the kind of King Jesus is.

He is always with us. Whether things go well or not, seeking us out, bringing us home to God.

Looking forward to Sunday and worship as well as the gathering tomorrow morning with the Honourable Jean Augustine and the gathering on Sunday afternoon with Dr. Tori Smit who will be speaking to us about faith formation with children in the home. If you would still like to receive the Zoom link to join in these events please contact the church office (office@standrewsottawa.ca).

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday email November 13th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

Looking forward to worship on Sunday when we are going to be welcoming the Reverend Dr. Blair Bertrand as our preacher. He is going to be sharing a message with us that is based on Hebrews 7 and the sermon is titled: “Who are you from?”

Some of you will remember Blair. At one point he was the youth minister at Westminster Presbyterian Church where he worked with Reverend Mac Shields. One of his activities during that time was to lead worship services for the Youth in the Presbytery. That was back before he went to seminary (four years at Princeton), got ordained as a minister in the PCC, did a PhD in youth ministry (again at Princeton), led a congregation in B.C. and then, most recently, took a call to serve as a missionary in Malawi. This is his present posting and while he was recalled to Canada during the COVID-10 pandemic he continues to serve Zomba Theological College (ZTC) and Theological Education by Extension Malawi (TEEM), an organization dedicated to grassroots theological education. He continues this work from his home office in Barrhaven with plans to return to Malawi for short stints over the next few years. We will be welcoming Blair again at the end of the month when he speaks at the Men’s Fellowship gathering (Monday, November 30th – St. Andrew’s Day – at 7:00 pm). 

We do have a couple of speakers lined up for next weekend as well that I also want to share with you:

The Women’s Breakfast gathering welcomes everyone to come on Saturday, November 21st at 10:00 am when we will be joined by the Honourable Jean Augustine. The theme for our gatherings this past month has been Finding the blessing in our differences and the Honourable Augustine will be answering some questions we have put together for her related to this theme. Some things to know about the Honourable as we welcome her: Jean Augustine made history as the first Black Woman elected to Canada’s Parliament and her legislative successes there include the historic Black History Month Motion; and the ground-breaking Famous Five Motion, which authorized the first and still the only statues on Parliament Hill depicting women - - other than Queen Elizabeth. I can tell you personally that she is an amazing women to speak with, full of energy and compassion and I hope many of you will be able to join us in welcoming her.

On November 22nd a good friend and colleague of mine, Dr. Tori Smit who is the regional minister for Faith Formation in the Synod next door to ours is going to be offering a workshop on Faith Formation at Home for Parents and Grandparents. It is a timely topic during COVID when we are home more than ever but it has relevance beyond that as well as parents and grandparents are among the most significant influencers for children in their faith. Tori herself was educated at Ewart College and has served as a Diaconal Minister in both the PCC and the PCUSA. She received her doctorate degree from Columbia Seminary in Atlanta Georgia. During our time with her Dr. Smit, will be sharing key practices for parents and grandparents to consider as they seek to pass their faith on to their children and grandchildren. We will during our time together take time to reflect and share together opportunities we have to celebrate faith at home and also discuss some of the challenging situations we might be experiencing as we seek to pass our faith on to the next generation.

Speaking of passing the faith on to the next generation: Mark your calendars for the youth confirmation class joining the church on November 29th. The details for this and other events coming up in the following weeks are listed below. All of them will be offered on Zoom and you can receive the link to connect from the church office office@standrewsottawa.ca.

See you soon!

God bless you and keep you,

Karen 

Friday email November 7th

How great is the love of the father, that we should be called the children of God! This is who we are – 1 John 3: 1a (NRSV)

 Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

 One of the things that has been going through my mind as we move towards Remembrance Sunday this year is just how much the pandemic has reminded me of the importance of remembrance.

 In these days when we do not see people the way we once did, when we feel isolated from those we love most as well as those we were used to spending our daily lives with, all it takes is a phone call, an email, a note, a package at the door and the joy of being remembered sweeps over us. We feel a bit more human, a bit more cherished as the truth that we matter to each other sinks in.

 As we take time this  coming weekend as a congregation and then next Wednesday as a nation to remember those who gave their lives in the wars, let us remember just how much they matter. Brothers, uncles, sisters, aunts, fathers, neighbours… members of this congregation. They gave everything and we remember.

 Our Scriptures this week include Psalm 78 and Thessalonians 4:13 – 18. The psalm in particular reminds us of the importance of remembering with our children, but both are passages that remind us of both the importance of our own remembrance as well as the hope we have in God’s remembrance of us. We matter so much to God that God’s own son gave his life as well. We are not forgotten and those who have died are not forgotten either.

 Looking forward to worshipping and remembering together on Sunday

God bless you and keep you, 

Karen

Friday email October 30th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

God bless you as we head into this weekend that is both Halloween on Saturday and All Saints on Sunday!

I do have to thank Sydney whose lessons from a pumpkin brought home to me in new ways the Scripture passage for the day with its injunction to let your light shine before others (Matthew 5: 1 – 16). Check out children’s time this week and you will see what I am talking about!

This in many ways is about what it means to be a Saint: To be an ordinary every day person through whom God is working to make a light shine in the world. On All Saints Sunday we particularly remember those who have gone before us and have now entered into the presence of God. We still miss them in our living and this year in particular it seems important to remember them together. To remember the ways their lives have touched ours and all the goodness that came into the world through them. To be inspired anew by their faith and faithfulness and take from it a light for our own living that we in turn can pass on to others.

God bless you all as we move into the weekend.

You are all invited as well to Sunday coffee hour which we continue to hold most weeks at noon on Zoom. It is a chance to gather and share and this week perhaps we will spend some time talking about the saints who have touched our lives with light. If you let the church office (office@standrewsottawa.ca) know you want to attend, we will send you the link to join in. There is also Sunday School on Sunday at 11:15am and the church office can put you in touch with Koko and Sydney to get the link for that as well.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

P.S. Thank you to everyone who did take up my invitation last week to send me a note about verses in Scripture or a Bible Story that is particularly meaningful to you. Still happy to receive them if you have not yet got round to it. You don’t need to send a lot of explanation either. Just glad to have the verses and I will put them together for the newsletter.

Friday email October 23rd

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday to you all!

As we head into worship this weekend we are taking a step away from the parables in Matthew and moving into a season where each of the next three Sundays brings with it its own theme of Remembrance.

This coming weekend is Reformation Sunday. A time when we remember not only our own denominational roots in the history of the Reformation but our calling as a church to be reformed and always reforming. The passage for this week comes to us from the book of Jeremiah 31: 31 – 34 and a time when the people of God were in exile. Torn from their home, the land that God had given them, away from the temple much around them was strange and uncertain, frightening. And their discovery in that time, a discovery that gave rise to new traditions and ways of being God’s people, was that home is where God is and that even in this strange place God was with them.

We are going to talk on Sunday about the gift of God’s grace and love that meets us where we are and how we in the church might remember that in our own ministry to each other and to God’s world. Sydney is going to talk about that in children’s time as we get ready to present Bible’s to our grade four students. We will remember that one of the gifts of the Reformation was delivery of the Bible in people’s own language and how awesome that was.

Usually we invite the grade four students up to the front of the sanctuary to receive their Bibles on Reformation Sunday but this year we will be doing things differently. Sydney and Koko, who is our church School Superintendent, will make a presentation in worship and then the Bibles will be delivered to the children at home. This sharing of Bibles with our grade four students as well as when we celebrate Baptism, is one of the ways that we at St. Andrew’s continue to keep the promises we make at Baptism to encourage our children in faith.

As we build on this encouragement, I ask you to take some time to consider your own Bible and the verses you find yourself turning to most often or a story in the Bible that encourages you well. If we were in church together I would give everyone a piece of coloured paper on Sunday and ask you to write your verse or story down along with a few words or a sentence about why it matters to you and then create a beautiful bulletin board of encouragement to share. In this time, could you please email it to me as well and I will create a collection of encouragement for inclusion in our next newsletter.

Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers.

And thank God for the grace that works through each of you.

In Christ’s Service,

Karen

P.S . If you are wondering about the next two Sundays, On November 1st we will be celebrating All Saints Sunday and November 8th is Remembrance Sunday.

Friday email October 16th

Good afternoon and a Blessed Friday!

It’s a trap! A trick question we face as we look to the Scripture passage for this coming Sunday. In Matthew 22: 15 – 20 we continue, as we have for some weeks now, to spend time with Jesus in the Jerusalem temple in the days leading up to his crucifixion.

As the religious leaders question Jesus’ authority he in his turn has, through the telling of parables, questioned their true faithfulness to God and God’s ways in the world. Now they come with a new question, a trick and a trap question couched in phony piety: Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?

Depending on his answer Jesus is going to come out of this indicting himself as either a traitor to Rome or a traitor to his people who are more than opposed to the tax.

Gotcha!

Or so the Herodians and Pharisees think…

On Sunday we are going to talk about how Jesus answers this question and what it ends up saying about those who ask it and perhaps about us as well!

God bless you all,

Karen

Friday email October 9th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

As we head into the Thanksgiving weekend I know it is a different Thanksgiving for many of us. We are fewer at our tables and missing the usual gathering with friends and loved ones but we know that this is one of the ways we love each other this year and I do give thanks for every one of you! And as you look out on the beauty of the world, the autumn colours and splendour, know that you too are beautiful in God’s sight.

There are a number of events coming up in the church that are listed below this note from me. Please take time to read through them. They include a workshop for caregivers during COVID that is being offered by the pastoral care team and a fundraising effort selling frozen berries to support the Refugee Fund.

One of our prayers at St. Andrew’s this year is that in the New Year we will be able to welcome the Masanka family to Canada. A mother and two teenagers, they are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and currently living in a Refugee Camp in Uganda. The world wide pandemic makes estimating a date for their arrival uncertain but as we pray for the day when the pandemic has passed and our own thanksgiving tables and celebrations are larger again, when we can gather once more with a larger group of family and friends, let us pray for the day when the Masankas are with us too.

The Scripture passage for this week is a Matthew 22: 1 – 14 and my sermon title is “We are excited, and you are invited.” Like the parables of the previous few weeks it is a challenging one but as Amy Jill Levine in her book on parables says, there is power in disturbing stories and each and everyone of Jesus’ Parables is an invitation to us to the ways of his kingdom. As you read and get ready don’t forget to look at what is happening as Jesus tells this parable. Where is he? Who is he talking to? What is going on? We will talk about it on Sunday in the sermon

Our other passages for this week are Psalm 65 which is a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving for the bounty of the earth and Philippians 4: 4 – 7 which will be our blessing and benediction.

Let me finish this email with that as well and these words from the Apostle Paul to the Church at Philippi, God’s word to us today. 4 Rejoice[a] in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.[b] 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Happy Thanksgiving. Grace and peace

Karen

Friday email October 2nd

Good afternoon and a blessed Friday to you all!

The days are getting a bit chillier but what a beautiful season to get outside and walk. My daily walks with the dog are getting longer. We didn’t spot any herons this week but the Canada Geese are now back in the local pond. Looking forward to walking on Sunday this weekend in particular as I will be part of the St. Andrew’s All Saints team walking in support of the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. We have now surpassed our fundraising goal and more support keeps coming in! Thank you everyone who is helping out with this. The pandemic has been very hard on many of our neighbours in Centretown and this money will be put to good use indeed. If you still wish to support us you can do this by going to http://centretownchurches.org/walk/ and following the links there you can sign up to both join the walk and support the St. Andrew’s team.

Getting ready for this weekend the Scripture passages are include Matthew 21: 33 – 46. It is another parable of Jesus that he told in the temple just days before his death. I am very much enjoying the opportunity on Wednesday evenings to read the Sunday passages with those of you who show up to Bible Study and this week we had a wonderful conversation about vineyards and landlords and so many of the other things this parable raised. We agreed that in many ways it is one of those stories Jesus told that held up a mirror, inviting us to examine our ways. If you read ahead getting ready for worship, our question to you would be what are you seeing here that might be an invitation to change our own ways?

This week is also World Communion Sunday. Due to our COVID precautions we will not be sharing communion in the sanctuary but we will be sharing online in two ways. One is a pre-recorded YouTube service that you can access through our website and the other is by Zoom. Details to participate in the online communion service this weekend are found below and if you wish to join in and share communion by Zoom let the church office know and we will send you the link.

God bless you and keep you.

Grace and Peace,

Karen

P.S. If you think you might want to join in with the Wednesday evening discussions of the Scripture text for the upcoming Sunday please let me or the office know and we will send you the link to join in.

Friday email September 25th

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!

A beautiful weekend ahead and looking to Sunday our Scripture passage is another parable from Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew 21:23 – 32 which Jesus introduces with the words “What do you think?” And as you read ahead and prepare I do wonder what you think!

This weekend is also our 192nd anniversary as a congregation. When we are all able to be back together again the Memorials committee promises that there will be cake. For now you will have to provide your own and enjoy it at home but with or without cake we have a lot to give thanks for at St. Andrew’s as we continue to live out our Christian witness and hope in Jesus Christ.

Next week, September 30th is Orange Shirt Day across Canada. A time to remember the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools and grow in our learning and understanding. The orange shirt remembers the story of Phyllis Webstad who arrived at the Mission school one year with a shiny orange shirt, a gift from her grandma. When she got to the school however it was taken from her and she never got it back and as she tells the story she writes, “ I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The color orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared.” Wearing an orange shirt is one way that we across the country and in different churches can remember the truth that Every Child Matters and commit ourselves to living that out. While Orange Shirt Day is next Wednesday you are welcome to wear Orange on Sunday if you are coming to church or watching from home. Send me a picture please. It would be good to see you all and feel that we are wearing our orange shirts together.

God bless you and keep you,

Karen

Friday email September 18th

Greetings and Happy Friday!

It is a beautiful fall day! I had an extra walk with the dog this morning and as we explored a new (to us this summer) path beside one of the streams in our neighbourhood, a blue heron rose up out of the water and flew along the path ahead of us. It caught my breathe and stopped the dog as well. Grace is always amazing, and almost always surprising as well, transforming an ordinary moment into something a whole lot more.

Our Scripture passage is another one of Jesus’ parables from Matthew’s gospel. Matthew 20: 1 – 16 tells the story of a landowner who hires some labourers in the morning, some at noon, some mid-afternoon and some in the evening and then pays them all a full days wage. There is more than a bit of grumbling from those that put in a full days work, that they got the same as the one who worked for such a small part of the day but there is grace in this story, and as always, it is amazing.

Looking forward to Sunday and it is also Rally Sunday. Hopefully all the children between 3 and 12 years old have received their surprise in the mail from Sydney. If not let her know please, sj@standrewsottawa.ca.

The prayer for children’s time is one of the inserts for this weeks bulletin that is attached to this email so that you can have it with you for worship. We will be praying for the children and teachers heading back to school this year and for the teachers and leaders in our Christian Education program and our music ministries and choirs as well. Things look a lot different as this year begins but the call to prayer remains.

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Worshipping together in the sanctuary and at home.

Blessings

Karen

Coming this week by zoom (contact office@standrewsottawa.ca to register and the link to join in the conversation will be sent to you)

• Coffee hour Sunday May 3rd from 12 – 12:45 pm

• Bible Study Wednesday April 29th from 2:15 to 3:30, we are beginning a series exploring Apocalyptic Literature

• Messiah Discussion Group: Watch episode 8 of the Netflix series the Messiah and join us from 7 to 8:30 pm for discussion

Kid’s Create Change: Do you love to draw? Are you great with a camera? Do you and your friends like to make up stories? PWS&D (Presbyterian World Service and Development) wants to hear from you!

From now until July 31, 2020, we are accepting submissions of short stories, drawings and other creations by kids from across Canada, inspired by the stories of people embracing abundant life with help from PWS&D. Those stories and more instruction for participating in the challenge can be found at this link: https://presbyterian.ca/pwsd/2020/03/26/kids-create-change/. You’ll receive a prize, and your story, artwork or other creation could appear on our website or in future resources.

Living with uncertainty: A morning gathering for women of the congregation and their friends and family on. Saturday, May 9th from 10-11:30 ~ VIA ZOOM

Hosted by Reverend Karen and the Christian Education team, our speaker for the morning is Dr. Angela Schmidt. She is a registered psychotherapist who currently serves as Director of Experiential & Innovative Learning and Assistant Professor of Leadership at Knox College. The morning will include time for interactive Q & A. We

pray it will provide a time together for spiritual and practical support as we cope and live through the upheaval that COVID-19 has brought. To register please contact the church office: office@standrews.ca or sign up using the link on the website. We will send you the Zoom link several days before the event. Need a quick Zoom tutorial ahead of participating? Let us know and we can provide this. Looking forward to seeing you, hope you can make it!

Coming this week by Zoom (contact office@standrewsottawa.ca to register and the link to join in the conversation will be sent to you)

• Coffee hour: Sunday April 26th from 12:00 to 12:45 pm

• Men’s Fellowship: April 27th at 7:00 pm

• Bible Study: Wednesday April 29th from 2:15pm to 3:30pm (We are finishing up John’s gospel this week and moving on to a study of Revelation beginning May 6th)

• Messiah Discussion Group: Watch episode 8 of the Netflix series the Messiah and join us from 7:00pm to 8:30 pm for discussion

Kid’s Create Change: Do you love to draw? Are you great with a camera? Do you and your friends like to make up stories?

PWS&D (Presbyterian World Service and Development) wants to hear from you! From now until July 31, 2020, we are accepting submissions of short stories, drawings and other creations by kids from across Canada, inspired by the stories of people embracing abundant life with help from PWS&D. Those stories are found in the attached document called story links and you can find out more about participating in the challenge at this link: https://presbyterian.ca/pwsd/2020/03/26/kids-create-change/. You’ll receive a prize, and your story, artwork or other creation could appear on our website or in future resources.

Living with uncertainty: A morning gathering for women of the congregation and their friends and family on. Saturday, May 9th from 10:00am-11:30m via Zoom.

Hosted by Reverend Karen and the Christian Education team, our speaker for the morning is Dr. Angela Schmidt. She is a registered psychotherapist who currently serves as Director of Experiential & Innovative Learning and Assistant Professor of Leadership at Knox College. The morning will include time for interactive Q & A. We pray it will provide a time together for spiritual and practical support as we cope and live through the upheaval that COVID-19 has brought. To register please contact the church office: office@standrews.ca or sign up using the link on the website. We will send you the Zoom link several days before the event. Need a quick Zoom tutorial ahead of participating? Let us know and we can provide this. Looking forward to seeing you, hope you can make it!