Dear Friends,

            Today is Christian Family Sunday, a day we set aside to honour our mothers and all who have been loving family to us. Jesus once said, “Whoever does the will of God is my mother and brother and sister.” (Mark 3:35) Even though family members sometimes hurt each other, overall we are better with them than without them. Healthy families love each other, help each other, and stick by each other no matter what we do. Families are where we find our home and, as the famous poet Robert Frost once said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”

            Our Church family is important too. Although we sometimes make mistakes and do and say things that we later regret, overall we are far better because we are part of our Church family than we would be without it. And just as our mothers are often the ones that keep the home fires burning in our individual homes, so there is one who keeps the fires burning in our Church home: our Church Secretary. The Church secretary is like the hub of a wheel. All good things revolve around the secretary’s well-organized, dependable, and caring center. Because the secretary is on the frontline and is the first person the public sees or talks to, the secretary has a powerful impact on those who enter our Church. In this sense, the secretary is not only the one who types and organizes the bulletins, looks after paying the bills and setting up room bookings and rentals; but is also often a welcoming and caring pastor to visitors or callers.

            Here at Siloam we have been incredibly blessed to have this important position filled so ably by Janet Gibb, who has ministered to us from the office of Church secretary for nearly twenty-five years. Janet’s excellent and caring service to our congregation and her dependability in all things are deeply appreciated by all of us at Siloam. Janet is the hub around which our ministry revolves. We are also very grateful to Shirley Gladwell for her cheerful and dedicated service, as she has assisted Janet in the office for the past thirteen years. It is an understatement to say that we are going to miss Janet and Shirley very much when they retire at the end of June.

            Because of this you are invited to join us for a special Retirement Party following our worship service on Sunday, June 17th in the multi-purpose room. Let us celebrate these two special women and the talents and gifts they have shared so generously with us for so many years. At this time a presentation will be made to Janet and Shirley. You are invited to contribute to this by leaving your gift of money in a clearly marked envelope on the collection plate. If you have questions, please contact Peggy Rivard at 519-433-7465. You may also reach Peggy at peggyrivard@hotmail.com.

            Please help us to show our profound thanks to these two wonderful ladies and wish them a long and very happy, healthy retirement.

Wishing you a blessed Christian Family Sunday,
Sincerely yours,
Rev. Sheila Macgregor,
Lead Minister and Minister of Worship & Pastoral Care

Follow my blog at http://bloggingwithsheila.wordpress.com

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The update on Gethsemane is that demolition is expected to begin within the next month and the ELUCO food cupboard will move for the interim to Rowntree United Church.  Construction of the new affordable housings units will begin in September.  There will be 25 units and ELUCO is being given a 50 year free lease in the building.

The  Welcome Wednesday luncheons that we support are drawing increasing numbers, the latest is that 77 people were served.  Many stay for the community time and fellowship afterward.

There are two upcoming Hospitality Dinners – May 26th and June 23rd.  Volunteer sign-up sheets are in the office.

The Outreach Lenten project raised $1,102.02 for the Daycare Center in Benomi in Africa.  Thus far $815.00 has been raised to send needy children to summer camp.  Of that amount $300.00 was contributed by the Rose Burrell ladies.

A couple of proposals were received from Conference to be sent to General Council for approval.  One proposal is to change the United Church crest to make it more inclusive.  The background colors would be white and red to represent white and native peoples, black for dark skinned people and yellow for Asians.  As well the Mohawk language would be included as it was with this group that the Methodist first had contact.

The second proposal was for funding of two new camps at the Pearce Williams Christian Center.  One would be a World Camp to give new generations a better understanding of how people live and work in developing countries.  The other would be a Farm Camp to teach individuals how to cultivate gardens and produce food for residents of Elgin County and the world.

There was a comprehensive report from Conference on the Israel/Palestine situation that the committee felt worthy of debate. The United Church committee was chaired by the former United Church Moderator, the Very Rev. David Giuliano who had extensive discussions with Palestinian, Israeli, Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities in Israel and the West Bank. They listened carefully to many points of view but did not shy away from arriving at their own conclusions.  To quote Rev. Giuliano ”Simply put, Israel is maintaining a harsh occupation that must end so peace can emerge.”

ANNUAL CHICKEN BARBEQUE
Saturday, June 9, 2012

Plan to Attend

Adults $15 Children $8
Check the sign-up sheets in the Narthex to see how you can help!

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