Life of the Church: Joy’s and Concerns (July 2024)
Here is what our members had to share with us this month. To learn more about this please go here.
To share something with us, please send an email to: prayers@mcdunited.com
July News
Reflections by Rev. Joanne Anquist, As I look out my window today, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and some bird who must live on my roof is busy building something. After a few cooler days with gray skies, I welcome this burst of Summer! Continue reading on website.
Notice of Passing: Charlie Marshall: It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Charlie Marshall on June 30th at the age of 84. You can see his candle memorial here.
Back to School Gift Card Challenge: Summer and back to school can be an expensive time of year which is why our Gift Card Group is challenging you to use gift cards for some of this spending. Not only will you be entered to win a Tim Horton’s gift card but you can help raise some money for the church. Continue reading on website.
Come cheer Karina On! Join Karina at the Stampede Round Up Raw Powerlifting competition, Saturday, July 13, 2024, starting at 11:00 am at One For All Fitness South East, 6125, 11 ST SE (7 minutes from McDougall Church). Karina will be challenging a National record for Strict Curl and Military Press, as well as doing the Bench Rep challenge. Come out and cheer her on! A Stampede BBQ will follow, open to all. See more news like by visiting our Life of the Church post.
Reflections by Rev. Joanne Anquist - July 12: I love peonies. Big bold flowers that smell delicious and look marvelous. When Dave and I lived in Toronto, we had a peony bush that flowered twice in the summer – once early Spring, once closer to Fall. Continue reading on website.
Volunteer Shout Out! I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who came forward to help me in the kitchen on Sunday (July 7). It was a larger undertaking than I thought it would be. Your kindness and generosity of food was greatly appreciated. There were lessons learned by me for sure.
A reminder that all the work done is by volunteers so please be kind. We are blessed as a congregation to have the Ministers that we do and the helpers. Marilyn BNotice of Passing: Diana Purves: It is with sadness that we announce the passing of long time member Diana Purves on the evening of July 8th, 2024. Visit Diana’s candle memorial here.
Soup’s On Sunday Update: Save the date for August 4th as that will be our next Soup’s on Sunday. The menu will be chicken vegetable soup and/or hearty vegetable soup. Both are gluten free. We will have ice cream sundaes for dessert. We are looking for cooks to help out on August 1st, you can sign up on our website. After the last Soup's on Sunday, we had a little bit of soup and blueberry crisp left-over. It is now available for sale on our website. Continue reading on website.
Refugee Update: We are excited to excited to tell you that Mahmoud’s wife’s two brother’s their wives and 16 month old baby boy arrived in Canada from Palestine last week. They came thru the federal government program that allowed permanent residents and Canadian citizens to apply to have immediate family members in the West Bank and Gaza come to Canada for three years. Mahmoud and Rozan applied for them to come in January. They are still waiting for her sister and elderly parents to get their visas to join them.
Reflections by Rev. Joanne Anquist: This past week, I did a stupid thing. We have a fifth wheel that we use to camp with, but last year we sold our truck so we can’t pull it anymore (we’re gonna get around to selling the fifth wheel some day!) . But I still love camping – not the tent and mattress on the ground kind of camping, but the nice bed, stove and fridge, toilet in your unit kind of camping! Continue reading on website.
Soup’s On Sunday Update: Quick update that Soup’s on Sunday has been cancelled for August 4. We are hoping to be back in September. Thank you so much for your support, we were able to sell out the leftover soup in record time! We still have some of the blueberry crisp available for $5 each (individual serving size). Continue reading on website.
Pride Parade: We would like to show our PRIDE as an affirming community and have a group of walkers for the Pride Parade on September 1. Meeting time and location still to be determined. The parade kicks off at 11 am and the route will run along 9th Ave, starting at 4th St SE to 5 St SW.
If you are interested please speak with Rev. Joanne Anquist.Indigenous Ecological Restoration Gardens Tour at Mount Royal University - Pictures from the event: On Wednesday, July 24th some McDougall congregation members braved the heat and smoke to do an Indigenous Ecological Restoration Gardens Tour at Mount Royal University. Khatija Westbrook, PhD, PT, CAT (C) is an Associate Professor and guided the tour. Continue reading on website.
Prayers regarding the Fires: Holy One, as we sift through the images of the destruction – businesses burned, homes lost, people’s lives upended, we pray for all those whose lives have been ripped apart. May they be wrapped in compassion as they grieve. May they find rest in the middle of this great weariness. May they cultivate resilience in the whirlwind of this tragedy. We pray for our governments and the people in our province as we seek to find assistance for all those who have been displaced. May we pull together as a community of care, as we all live in this precarious world, and the only way through this is together. We pray for firefighters and first responders. Their dedication is the best of humanity. May they continue in strength and wisdom as they work to contain the fires. We lament the destruction to our forests and the wildlife. These ever more frequent wildfires remind us that we are vulnerable to the whims of nature and also stewards of this great resource. May we move forward with wisdom as we strive to understand how to best care for our fragile planet. Walk with us through these difficult days. Amen
This list will continue to be updated as they are provided. Make sure you send in your news!
See what happened in June here.
