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January 29 , 2023 - Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

1/27/2023

Office Hours for January 30 to February 5, 2023
Norma => Mon & Wed => noon to 5pm
Tues & Thurs – 9am to 2pm
Eli => Eli will be working Sunday to Thursday this week. They will be taking some Fridays off as Study leave this winter to do an online course on adaptive leadership. They are happy to discuss both the course itself and the impact on working days.

Please let Eli know if there is anyone you think they should call or visit.
Eli is trying to get to know members of the congregation and they would love to meet with you in your homes, their office, or a favourite coffee shop. They are hoping to meet with a few people each week.
Are you interested in exploring faith questions? Sign-up sheet available on the table at the back of the sanctuary. Sessions will be some time after church on Sundays

Greetings
Sunday, January 29, 2023 – Fourth after Epiphany
Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts folks – winter is coming back.
This week we get to have a lot of fun looking at Jesus’ teachings together with the wisdom of our children as we examine the beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12. Maybe you memorized these sayings as a child, maybe you had to go look up the funny churchy word I just used – hey, maybe both.

The Sermon on the Mount is where Jesus lays out his vision, his platform if you will for his challenging and renewing way to see the world. The nine beatitudes (blessing statements) start off this message – and they go against conventional wisdom in his day and ours.

Jesus says we are blessed when we spiritually poor – in fact, two groups of people in these blessing statements – spiritually poor and the persecuted - belong to the kingdom of heaven (or the kingdom of heaven belongs to them).

The meek will inherit the earth – not the mighty, not the highest bidder from the most powerful corporation, but the meek.

Not only does God’s vision of the world challenge ideas like “might makes right” but also ideas about being religious enough. God blesses us when we feel the least holy, when we are at the end of our ropes (as the Message version of the Bible says.

Jesus’ teachings are not created newly by him for this sermon. We can see the same spirit in the passage from Micah – What does God require of us but to hunger and thirst for justice (righteousness), to love mercy, and to walk humbly.

Our intergenerational exercise will give you the opportunity to choose up to three of the beatitudes and talk about it with some guiding questions with whoever comes to your table – kids, teens, adults, or elders.
You will get a ‘Passport’ where you can add your beatitudes and your responses to them. This exercise will replace the children’s time and the sermon. The church will be set up with nine tables, one for each beatitude.

Most of all, have fun and connect deeply. That is what we are about as a church – deeper connections.

(Rev) Eli Carter-Morgan (they/them)
Spirit West United Church
Proud to share the land through Treaty 6

Faith Exploration - Explore big questions – What do we mean when we say God, Who was/is Jesus and how does he matter? What is the Bible and how should it influence us? What are your big questions? The Study Group open to anyone wherever you are on your faith journey. This can lead to Confirmation or Re-Affirmation of faith. Sign-up sheets are available at the back of the sanctuary or contact the office (spiritw@telus.net, 780-481-1406),

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Annual Congregational Budget Meeting – Feb 26 after the worship service
Annual Congregational Meeting – Mar 12 after the worship service

LEADERS FOR Jan 29

Hospitality Team – Ludlow – Diane, Norma, Bruce & Carol
Scripture Reader – Colleen F
Projectionist – Norma B

LEADERS FOR Feb 5

Hospitality Team – Doyle – Daphne & Don, Tony
Scripture Reader – Diane L
Projectionist – Norma B

WOMEN’S GROUP LUNCH AND ANNUAL MEETING TBD
The annual Women’s Group Valentine Lunch and AGM is being planned now. More information will be coming soon!

CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS – Feb 26 and Mar 12
There will be a Congregational Budget Meeting following the Service on Sun, Feb 26. At this time we will review and approve the 2023 budget for Spirit West. Then there will be a Congregation Meeting following the Service on Sun, Mar 12 to review, through the Annual Reports, the mission and ministry of the Spirit West in 2022. We will also make such decisions as will determine our vision for the Congregation in 2023. You attendance and input at both these meetings is greatly desired.

BOTTLES FOR THE MORTGAGE - The bottle collection has been ongoing through the pandemic. Since 2019 to date you have contributed a total of $1,946.85 towards paying down the mortgage. Thanks for your continued support.

I NEED A GOOD HOME
The ficus (weeping fig) tree in our lounge is not doing well. It doesn’t get enough sunlight there. The tree is over 5” tall. If you are able to give it a good home, please feel free to come and take it.

YouTube Videos Worship Services – January 29 – also, in person worship service
To watch online, you will need to go to YouTube and google “Spirit West United Church”. This action will bring you to the Spirit West United Church YouTube page.

SPIRIT WEST PRAYER CHAIN
Prayer is important. We know that people face challenges and difficulties and we cannot forget them. Our Prayer Chain continues to be active. If you have a prayer request, please send it to spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. These requests will be shared regularly with the prayer chain and may form part of the Prayers of the People in our Sunday Worship.
Please remember to have people removed from the prayer chain if the prayers are no longer needed.

YOUR BOTTLES FOR THE CHURCH
You may have bottles piling up for recycling. You can bring them to the church (or you can call for pick up). If you want to bring your bottles (and any other recyclable beverage containers) in during our office hours and put them directly in the Bottle Shed (by the garage), give us a call, and we can have the shed open for you. All money raised from the return of bottles goes towards paying down the principal and interest on our mortgage.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

We can accept donations by eTransfer. The contact name for the eTransfer is Spirit West United Church, and the email address is spiritw@telus.net . If you include a security question with your eTransfer, please notify Norma at the church office by phone or email of the answer.
And remember that if you are not on PAR(Pre-Authorized Remittance) or even if you are , you can mail in cheques to the church office (Spirit West United Church, 7003 – 199 St. NW Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8, include your envelope number if you have one.)
You can drop off your offering/donation in the offering plate just inside the front doors or place it in the mailbox.
You can also donate online by checking out the online donation option on our website spiritwest.org and click on the Donate tab in the navigation bar.

SPIRIT WEST ONLINE!
Website: www.spiritwest.org
Facebook: Spirit West United Church and Friends of Spirit West Outreach
Instagram: spiritwestyeg
YouTube: Spirt West United Church, Edmonton

Thank you,
Norma Balcombe
Office Administrator
Spirit West United Church
7003 - 199st.NW Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8
phone:     (780) 481-1406
email:     spiritw@telus.net
website: www.spiritwest.org

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January 22, 2023 Third Sunday after Epiphany

1/19/2023

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Office Hours for January 22 to 29, 2023
Norma => Mon & Wed => noon to 5pm (on vacation Mon, Jan 23)
Tues & Thurs – 9am to 2pm
Eli => Eli will be working Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday this week. They will be taking some Fridays off as Study leave this winter to do an online course on adaptive leadership. They are happy to discuss both the course itself and the impact on working days.

Please let Eli know if there is anyone you think they should call or visit.
Eli is trying to get to know members of the congregation and they would love to meet with you in your homes, their office, or a favourite coffee shop. They are hoping to meet with a few people each week.
Are you interested in exploring faith questions? Sign-up sheet available on the table at the back of the sanctuary.

Greetings

Sunday, January 22, 2023 – Third after Epiphany
Happy Thursday everyone!

Bonnie and I had a great time taking part in a Zoom call out of Toronto with people in churches across Canada talking about how to bring our congregations back to the place of being vital parts of our neighbourhoods.   Some questions that arose for me include:

What role can we play in the communities of West Edmonton?
Who might our partners be?
              Some I thought of include –   YMCA,
Lois Hole Library,
West Henday Promenade Library
Community Associations
West Edmonton Mall
              Who else can you think of?

For the first time since I started here last summer, I’ve included a psalm as they are presented at the back of Voices United. Psalm 27 with a repeating chorus about God being our saving help, we shall not be afraid.

The gospel lesson this week is where Jesus calls Simon, Andrew, James and John to be “fishers of people”. They will stop fishing for the benefit of the occupying Roman army, and start fishing for God’s Kin-dom.

Stories written in the Bible are often more like reading a play than reading a novel. We are given only the barest bones of information with a few lines of dialogue and are left to imagine the rest. Matthew 4: 12-23

1)Jesus returns from the wilderness where he was tempted by the accuser.
2)Jesus hears that John the Baptist is in prison by the Romans.
3)Jesus withdraws to the northern rural area of Galilea, and moves from his hometown of Nazareth to the fishing village of Capernaum.
4) Jesus starts teaching (as John the Baptist had taught) that the Kingdom of God is at hand (within you all , amongst you, between you)
5) Jesus walks up along the beach, calls for the disciples to fish for people, they leave their nets and follow.

Reading this passage of scripture certainly leaves me with more questions than answers, and I hope it does the same for you.

Right now, I am thinking about the water out of which we, as Jesus’ followers, are fishing people from. I think that water could be a story. We are told the story, from the first ads we heard on the radio, TV, or on our parent’s cell phones that it is our purpose in life to buy stuff. Not that we buy stuff to achieve a purpose, but we exist to acquire more things. In order to achieve this goal, we need to do well in school, extra-curricular activities, etc.

What if God has a better story for us? What if we are being pulled, terrified, from the waters we’ve always known to a purpose that has nothing to do with what we can buy, and the comfort and security that comes from having the resources to choose to isolate ourselves from people who are different into a world where our purpose is to build a community where everyone feels wanted and surrounded by enough resources that we are able to be bold and face our fears?   What if we have been afraid of all the wrong things all along?

Following Jesus is far from safe – Jesus was executed by the state, and so were Andrew and Simon (Peter) – both crucified upside-down according to tradition, James and John both beheaded. Why are we following these gentlemen?   Because God’s dream is worth it. They could have died in fishing accidents because Rome kept their profit margins were so tight they couldn’t focus on safety. They could have died of diseases made worse by the poverty that came from their resources being extracted to support the great Roman ‘Peace’ that came at the end of the sword. Instead, they lived fully following Jesus, and died because they threatened the status quo that suggested the ordinary way people were living wasn’t God’s dream for us. – The Kin-dom of Heaven in amongst us. We can live a better way. Thanks be to God.

(Rev) Eli Carter-Morgan (they/them)
Spirit West United Church
Proud to share the land through Treaty 6

Faith Exploration - Explore big questions – What do we mean when we say God, Who was/is Jesus and how does he matter? What is the Bible and how should it influence us? What are your big questions? The Study Group open to anyone wherever you are on your faith journey. This can lead to Confirmation or Re-Affirmation of faith. Sign-up sheets are available at the back of the sanctuary or contact the office (spiritw@telus.net, 780-481-1406),

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Men’s Breakfast – Sat, Jan 21
Board Meeting - &pm, Wed, Jan 25 via ZOOM
Annual Congregational Budget Meeting – Feb 12 after the worship service
Annual Congregational Meeting – Feb 26 after the worship service

LEADERS FOR JAN 22

Hospitality Team – Hemmerling – Georgina, Doreen, Rhea, Glenna
Scripture Reader – Bob Hoy
Projectionist – Bruce Corbett

MEN’S BREAKFAST, 8:30 am, Sat, Jan 21
Gather with other men of the congregation in the Lower Hall for fellowship and a breakfast of pancakes, sausages and eggs. Come a few minutes early and help cook if you would like. All men welcome!

WOMEN’S GROUP LUNCH AND ANNUAL MEETING TBD
The annual Women’s Group Valentine Lunch and AGM is being planned now. More information will be coming soon!

CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS – Feb 12 and Feb 26
There will be a Congregational Budget Meeting following the Service on Sun, Feb 12. At this time we will review and approve the 2023 budget for Spirit West. Then there will be a Congregation Meeting following the Service on Sun, Feb 26 to review, through the Annual Reports, the mission and ministry of the Spirit West in 2022. We will also make such decisions as will determine our vision for the Congregation in 2023. You attendance and input at both these meetings is greatly desired

I NEED A GOOD HOME
The ficus (weeping fig) tree in our lounge is not doing well. It doesn’t get enough sunlight there. The tree is over 5” tall. If you are able to give it a good home, please feel free to come and take it.

YouTube Videos Worship Services – January 22 – also, in person worship service
To watch online, you will need to go to YouTube and google “Spirit West United Church”. This action will bring you to the Spirit West United Church YouTube page.

SPIRIT WEST PRAYER CHAIN
Prayer is important. We know that people face challenges and difficulties and we cannot forget them. Our Prayer Chain continues to be active. If you have a prayer request, please send it to spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. These requests will be shared regularly with the prayer chain and may form part of the Prayers of the People in our Sunday Worship.
Please remember to have people removed from the prayer chain if the prayers are no longer needed.

YOUR BOTTLES FOR THE CHURCH
You may have bottles piling up for recycling. You can bring them to the church (or you can call for pick up). If you want to bring your bottles (and any other recyclable beverage containers) in during our office hours and put them directly in the Bottle Shed (by the garage), give us a call, and we can have the shed open for you. All money raised from the return of bottles goes towards paying down the principal and interest on our mortgage.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

We can accept donations by eTransfer. The contact name for the eTransfer is Spirit West United Church, and the email address is spiritw@telus.net . If you include a security question with your eTransfer, please notify Norma at the church office by phone or email of the answer.
And remember that if you are not on PAR(Pre-Authorized Remittance) or even if you are , you can mail in cheques to the church office (Spirit West United Church, 7003 – 199 St. NW Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8, include your envelope number if you have one.)
You can drop off your offering/donation in the offering plate just inside the front doors or place it in the mailbox.
You can also donate online by checking out the online donation option on our website spiritwest.org and click on the Donate tab in the navigation bar.

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January 8, 2023 - Epiphany

1/5/2023

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Office Hours for January 8 to 14, 2023

Norma => Mon & Wed => noon to 5pm

Tues & Thurs – 9am to 2pm

Eli will be working Wednesday to Sunday this week
Eli is trying to get to know members of the congregation and they would love to meet with you in your homes, their office, or a favourite coffee shop. They are hoping to meet with a few people each week

Greetings

Sunday, January 8, 2023 - Epiphany

Blessed Epiphany!

What are your great ideas for the New Year? Tomorrow is the feast of Epiphany, when we celebrate the visit of the Magi, and imagine Jesus as the light of the world from whom all light gets its beginning. Are there places in your life where you need the light to shine more brightly?

This Sunday, we remember Jesus’ baptism, in whom all our baptisms have their beginning. Part of this service can include splashing us with water while encouraging us to “remember our baptism”. (For the unbaptised, anticipate your baptism). Like many of you, I cannot remember my baptism because I was 3 months old at the time, but remembering our baptism is really about reclaiming our baptism.

For those of us who were baptised when we were too young to make our own choices, we follow in the tradition of people in the Bible who were baptised “with their whole household”. Following Jesus isn’t only an individual choice, it’s a choice we make for our families to raise them as we follow in Jesus’ way together.

When we become old enough to make our own decisions (at least 12 in our tradition – I want participants in confirmation class to be able to really argue and disagree, and debate), we can choose to claim the faith as our own. If we were not baptised, we are baptised at this time. If we were baptised, we re-affirm the faith of our baptism.

When we are baptised as ‘adults’ (12 or older) or confirmed, we become “full members” of the church – allowing us to vote at all meetings on all matters, serve on the board and take on other responsibilities.

What does profession of faith mean to you? Surely it is more than being ‘allowed to vote’ about hiring a new minister, or adopting a mission statement.

This Sunday, we hear the story of Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3: 13-17) , and how Jesus and John have a debate about whether or not Jesus even SHOULD be baptised. We also hear some words of the prophet Isaiah. (Isaiah 42:1-9) This servant of the Lord would represent not only the one who came in Isaiah’s own day, and would come to modern Jews to mean the whole nation of Israel. Since New Testament times, Christians have seen Jesus reflected in this text. I believe it also describes who Christians, as a community are called to be.

We are called to bring equity to the nations, to protect the bent reed, bring fresh insight to the complacent, freedom to the captives. To me, that is the duty of our baptism – the task we claimed when we were confirmed, or when we had our own children baptised. Blessed Be.

We will also have communion on Sunday, so if you will be joining us via YouTube, please have your own communion elements (bread and some fruit of the vine as you prefer it). We continue with rice crackers and grapes in the sanctuary.

If you are interested in re-examining the big questions of faith either for interest’s sake or to be confirmed or to publicly re-affirm your faith, please let Eli know. I am intending to run a class/group study at a time that is suitable for people who work or go to school, so please let me know what evening or weekend times would work for you. The class is open to anyone who wants to examine these questions, again or for the first time.

If there is enough interest for a separate teen confirmation class, I will offer the opportunity for separate and together time. A quick look at our baptism book does suggest that we have quite a few people who were baptised as children and are now at an age to make this decision for themselves. If you know some of them, they may be your grandchildren, you can plant the seed and tell them more information is coming. I will attempt to reach out to those born 2005-2010.

(Rev) Eli Carter-Morgan (they/them)
Spirit West United Church
Proud to share the land through Treaty 6

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Men’s Breakfast – Sat, Jan 21

LEADERS for January 8, 2023

Scripture Reader – Sheila Hoy
Projectionist – Norma Balcombe
Hospitality Team – Callas – Bill & Carol, Gerry & Sue

TAX RECEIPTS – the 2022 tax receipts will be prepared soon. If you have any receipts from 2022 for which you want a “gift in kind” donation to be reflected on your tax receipts, please get them to us asap.

MEN’S BREAKFAST, 8:30 am, Sat, Jan 21
Gather with other men of the congregation in the Lower Hall for fellowship and a breakfast of pancakes, sausages and eggs. Come a few minutes early and help cook if you would like. All men welcome!

YouTube Videos Worship Services – January 8 – also, in person worship service
To watch online, you will need to go to YouTube and google “Spirit West United Church”. This action will bring you to the Spirit West United Church YouTube page.

SPIRIT WEST PRAYER CHAIN
Prayer is important. We know that people face challenges and difficulties and we cannot forget them. Our Prayer Chain continues to be active. If you have a prayer request, please send it to spiritwest.prayerchain@gmail.com. These requests will be shared regularly with the prayer chain and may form part of the Prayers of the People in our Sunday Worship.
Please remember to have people removed from the prayer chain if the prayers are no longer needed.

YOUR BOTTLES FOR THE CHURCH
You may have bottles piling up for recycling. You can bring them to the church (or you can call for pick up). If you want to bring your bottles (and any other recyclable beverage containers) in during our office hours and put them directly in the Bottle Shed (by the garage), give us a call, and we can have the shed open for you. All money raised from the return of bottles goes towards paying down the principal and interest on our mortgage.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

We can accept donations by eTransfer. The contact name for the eTransfer is Spirit West United Church, and the email address is spiritw@telus.net . If you include a security question with your eTransfer, please notify Norma at the church office by phone or email of the answer.
And remember that if you are not on PAR(Pre-Authorized Remittance) or even if you are , you can mail in cheques to the church office (Spirit West United Church, 7003 – 199 St. NW Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8, include your envelope number if you have one.)
You can drop off your offering/donation in the offering plate just inside the front doors or place it in the mailbox.
You can also donate online by checking out the online donation option on our website spiritwest.org and click on the Donate tab in the navigation bar.

SPIRIT WEST ONLINE!
Website: www.spiritwest.org
Facebook: Spirit West United Church and Friends of Spirit West Outreach
Instagram: spiritwestyeg
YouTube: Spirt West United Church, Edmonton

Thank you,

Norma Balcombe
Office Administrator
Spirit West United Church
7003 - 199st.NW Edmonton, AB T5T 3A8
phone: (780) 481-1406
email: spiritw@telus.net
website: www.spiritwest.org

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January 29 , 2023 - Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

January 22, 2023 Third Sunday after Epiphany

January 8, 2023 - Epiphany

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