Friday May 27^th , 2022

Dear First Friends:

OUR BANNER IS UP!

Some inspirational words I found for Climate Justice….

“The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.”  - Ernest Hemingway

“All things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man.  The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.”  – Chief Seattle

“Twenty-five years ago, people could be excused for not knowing much or doing much about climate change.  Today we have no excuse.” – Desmond Tutu

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” – Native American Proverb

“God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.” – Genesis 2:15 (The Message)

Joanne

A congregational meeting is called for May 29th @ 2:00 PM via Zoom for approval of the Church Profile, Living faith Story and Minister's position description for submission to the Western Ontaro Waterways Region, so that we might proceed to search for a new minister.

Details and documentation will appear as they become available at the button link below

Sunday May 29^th, 2022 - Rev. Harry Disher

At 10:30 am – Theme ‘A New Sense of Community’

To join the service please CLICK HERE

 At 2:00 pm – Congregational Meeting via Zoom

Seeking congregational approval of the Living Faith Story, Position Description for a new minister, church profile and the announcement of the Search Committee for a new minister.

To join the Congregational Meeting please CLICK HERE

Clivk on the button below for more information

Please check out the Convergence ministry website – www.convergenceus.org for the following online opportunities:

“A Conversation with Jim Wallis” – a columnist for Sojourners magazine and social activist.

Digital Ministry Summit – June 27^th to July 1^st, 2022.

Please also check out the six-week course entitled “Christianity in Process – Joining God in World Solidarity” with John B. Cobb and Tripp Fuller – exploring process theology.  This course begins June 2022.  https://cobb.institute/learning-lab/christianity-in-process

Blessings,

Harry

This is the last week that we will be collecting items for the Food Drive.  Waterloo Regional Foodbank really needs our donations. Containers will be left in the Narthex to collect your gifts of non-perishable food. Cash donations can be sent to the church office or made directly to the Foodbank - click on the button below 

 We really need to be consistent in the weeding, watering, and thinning of plants in order to have a productive garden. Last year was our year to learn what to do and not to do. With that experience, let’s make it really happen this year! We will have the sign-up sheet at the church on Sunday. Join the fun! Contact Marilyn Gerriets at 1(902) 318-9375 for more information.

Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley C. Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement.

There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men.

Click Below for more information

BOARD REPORT

May's online Zoom board meeting was called to Order at 7:00 pm. The Chair welcomed everyone then asked Rose Ann Vita for her last opening reflection and prayer with us.  The Chair on behalf of the Board wished her well in her retirement and move back to the USA.

Rose Ann based her reflection on a passage from the week’s lectionary reading John 13: 32-35, First’s Mission Statement, her Transition Team Survey answers and her minister’s report for this month. She closed with a prayer and the hymn from YouTube “Till we meet again”. 

Click Below to read the rest of the report!

As many of you may know, May 15, 2022, was my last worship service with you, followed by two weeks of vacation. I begin retirement after almost 23 years as an ordained minister, 18 years in books publishing, plus a variety of other employment adventures.

Please click below to read the rest of Rose Ann's thank-you message

Broadview Magazine (previously the Observer): It’s time to renew or start your subscription.  Get 8 issues of the award winning United Church Broadview for just $25.  Please contact the office by phone or email if you would like to subscribe.  Cheques should be made payable to First United Church, with “Broadview” on the memo line. Deadline is Monday, May 30th .

Our next meeting will be a Picnic in Waterloo Park at 11:30 am on Thursday June 9^th.  We will meet at the gazebo – please use the Westmount Road entrance to the park (next to the ambulance depot). 

In the event of rain, we will meet at 11:30 via Zoom. Check your email for the Zoom link.

Look forward to seeing everyone and enjoying a picnic together in the park.

Edith Coyle

We’ll be talking about articles in the current issue of  Broadview Magazine

For more information contact Walt at waltbrooker@gmail.com 

Click below for connection information

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They are all needed for two of our Outreach Projects - our LITTLE LIBRARIES and ON THE FENCE. The best part of all - They all bring smiles to faces of folks who donate and folks who receive!

The big bins under the bench at the back church entrance will stay there to receive your generous donations. Many thanks! You can also drop them in the bin on our front porch at my home.

Lynne Blake-Dickson

We will be hosting Artisans at First at First United again this year on Saturday, October 15^th, 2022 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

This is a market of handcrafted items, no commercially-prepared items.

Vendor spaces come in a range of sizes/prices.  We welcome a wide range of items.

If you wish to have a space to sell your creations, or if you know someone who wishes to have a space, please contact Joan Westcott at handatfirst@gmail.com

As COVID gradually eases, the 47th Annual Interfaith Community Breakfast is shifting its time (to 8:30 a.m.) and place (to The Kitchener Market) on Wed. June 1/22, with a unique rain or shine (indoor or outdoor) gathering on the theme of “Creating a Place to Call Home”. It will feature a delicious selection of foods from the Kitchener Market vendors, brief prayers and perspectives on the theme, with proceeds donated to various initiatives related to affordable housing in Waterloo Region. There is not an on-line option to join this gathering

On the button below is the link for Tickets. You need to slide the ‘bar’ in the right side margin down to complete the various cells of your registration, and Eventbrite will send you your ticket. You need to buy your ticket by May 25th.

Shanti, Shalom, Peace, Salaam, among other salutations. John Lougheed

The invasion of Ukraine is costing precious lives and creating a humanitarian crisis as people flee to safety. The United Nations reports that a growing number of over a million people, displaced from their homes, are seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. Many have lost friends, loved ones, and property; struggle to meet their basic needs, and face an uncertain future.

United Church Mission & Service partners are responding to the rapidly unfolding crisis.

You can help. Right now, people urgently need shelter, clean water, food, and medical attention.

Please show your support by making a gift today - Click below for how to donate.

WAYS TO DONATE TO FIRST UNITED

You can get your offering to the church office in several ways:

  You can use PAR, or

  E transfer to firstunitedchurch@rogers.com, or

  Website donation to www.firstunitedchurch.ca, or

  Send a cheque to First United Church, 16 William St. West, Waterloo ON N2L1J3, or

  Drop a cheque into the mailbox located at the Entrance on William St. side.

**Just a reminder- credit card companies have a fee of around 3-5%. If you wish the church to get the full amount, then please add that % to your contribution. **

At the end of April we have received $2,916.00 from Easter envelopes.

THANK YOU for your generosity. The two organizations (Supportive Housing of Waterloo and Community Justice Initiatives) will each receive half of the funds collected.

Again, many thanks!!

Nancy Lennox

The Friday Letter will continue but will not be produced every Friday. It will be produced every two weeks. In the table below are the dates for the Friday Letter. We are also including the dates when we would like to receive articles for these letters.

NOTE:   For the Friday Letter on June 10, 2022 please send all articles to Joanne MacPhail : macphail@golden.net. by end of day Tuesday Hune 7, 2022