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FROM THE MINISTER’S DESK
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 146, “Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” The past few weeks have certainly been a time of change and transition for my husband, Chris, and I as we packed up our home in midtown Toronto and found a place to live here in Unionville. The words of the Psalmist couldn’t be more true: God has surely been our help and our hope in every step of the journey and we have felt his hand upon our lives. This is a big time of transition in the life of Central United Church as well! I feel so much happiness in the knowledge that God will continue to be our help and our hope as we move forward as a community of faith.
Times of transition can bring anxiety, and I’ll be talking about anxiety this Sunday morning as we reflect on the story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath. When anxiety threatens our sense of peace, the Psalmist reminds us to fix our minds on the unfailing help and hope of the Lord God Almighty. As we sing in the song, Oceans by Hillsong: “You’ve never failed and you won’t start now.” God has faithfully led this congregation for about a century and a half! I have every confidence that He will continue to do so now, and I look forward to meeting all of you over the coming weeks, and to settling into our shared life and ministry here in Unionville.
SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP 10:00 A.M.
Central United Church welcomes you to join our Worship Service Sunday mornings at 10:00 am. In worship we proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour; God’s word is read and preached, sacraments celebrated, faith sung and prayers offered.
Sunday services are also livestreamed (and recorded) through the Church website or you can join here. A copy of the bulletin for this Sunday’s Service is attached here.
This Sunday’s Scripture readings are Mark 12:41-44 and1 Kings 17:8-16. You can also find a daily scripture message at the top of our website.
WEEKLY PRAYER MEETING &
TIME OF FELLOWSHIP
You are welcome to join the Thursday prayer meeting tonight at 7:00 PM for a time of prayer and fellowship. The meeting is held using Zoom technology.
Here are the details for those who wish to participate:
Access to Join from your PC, Tablet or Smartphone:
Copy this address into your web browser https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81293996881 or click here.
Quick access by phone:
1. Call: 647 374-4685
2. When prompted press: 812 9399 6881 #
3. Then when prompted again press: # to enter the call
FINANCE COMMITTEE UPDATE
Preliminary October Offerings results show a shortfall of $5000 versus Budget. This adds to the September YTD Offerings Deficit of $12,000. What this means is that we now need offerings in November and December of $74,000, just under 30% of our $253,000 annual offerings budget.
We all know what we need to do. Thanks in advance for your support as we move to close our budget gap, enabling Central United to provide the staff, programs and support necessary “To Grow in Christ and to Help Others Grow with Us.”
OCTOBER FOOD DRIVE
“Help Families in Need”
Please join us in donating to the ongoing Food Drive at Central United which ends this Sunday, November 10th.
Every little donation helps and is greatly appreciated. All items collected will be donated to our local food bank. Thank you all for your support and for giving to those in need!
UCW Meeting
The UCW November Meeting is being held Tuesday, November 12th at 12:30 pm. Please plan to attend and enjoy a time of fellowship and worship. Refreshments are served. All ladies welcome.
SAMARITAN’S PURSE – Christmas Shoebox
Our Samaritan’s Purse initiative, one of our Christmas Outreach events is in full swing. You can participate by packaging a shoebox yourself or if you’d prefer Samaritan’s Purse to pack a box for you, you can do so with a $44.00 donation, just visit their website here. They also ask for a $12.00 donation per box which is applied towards collection, processing and international shipping.
The initiative runs for six weeks, ending on Sunday, November 17th. Shoeboxes, brochures and shopping lists are now available for pick up Sundays after church service or during the week. The church office is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
Let’s support this great initiative again this year to bring joy to a needy child. What a wonderful way to share Jesus’ love.
MARKHAM PRAYER BREAKFAST
Friday, Nov. 22, 2024 – 7:00 am
Angus Glen Golf Course
Tickets are still available for the Markham Prayer Breakfast and if you’d like to attend, your seat needs to be reserved soon! The Markham Prayer Breakfast is a time for fellowship, worship and prayer over a delicious breakfast. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Peter Chu, General/Trauma Surgeon at Sunnybrook Hospital and Adjunct Professor at Tyndale Seminary, and the topic of his presentation is “Lessons of Faith, learned over 30 years of surgery in Toronto and Africa.” Since 1998, Dr. Chu and his family have served annually as volunteers at a hospital in Niger and are members at The Peoples Church.
Our Church’s 2 tables are filled, tickets are still available and can be purchased online, www.markhamprayerbreakfast.ca and note Central United Church on the order form to be seated close to the Central United Church tables.
SOUP LUNCH
Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024
Your Small Groups committee will host a Soup Lunch in the Main Hall on Sunday, November 24th right after worship service. Everyone is welcome to join us as we celebrate the beginning of Advent! (If you can make a crockpot of soup, please sign up at the bulletin board.)
BOOK CLUB
Calling all book lovers – people of all ages! Everyone is invited to join Central United Church’s Book Club every 4th Wednesday of the month from 10-11:30am. We meet both in person & virtually. Good company, great books, compelling conversation & yummy treats!
Upcoming: Wednesday, Nov. 27th – The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl!
Kindly message Helen at gratsos2002@yahoo.ca for details!
SAVE THE DATE
CHRISTMAS CAROLING & HOT CHOCOLATE
Saturday, Dec. 4th at 6:00 pm
Central will be part of this year’s Unionville Main Street Olde Time Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 14th at 6:00 pm. Members of the choir and anyone interested can join in walking down Main Street in the Parade, singing carols.
After the Parade at around 7:30 pm , Central will open its doors and invite the community in to join us for a Christmas Carols Sing-a-long & sip some Hot Chocolate. Last year, 300+ people joined us!
It takes many people to help and we invite you to contribute and be a part of this festive evening! Please save the date, and sign up to serve the community here.
PASTORAL CARE
Should you become aware of any illness, bereavement, hospitalization, etc., among people of our church, please notify the church office as soon as possible.
If you would like a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Diaz at the church office 905-474-0183 or by email ldiaz@centralunitedchurch.com.
STAY CONNECTED…..
We want to help you stay connected so if you happen to be wondering “who’s doing what” in terms of duties, the list for this week is below….
November 10th 2024
LAY WORSHIP LEADER: Lindsay Duffield
MUSIC: Sarah Wyse
POWER POINT: Alan Heighway
GREETER: Linaire Armstrong
WORSHIP HOST: Linda Patterson
COFFEE HOUR: Outreach
SUNDAY SCHOOL: Sharon Gayman Laird
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