We had our first open-to-all service in our new location at the Studio 9 Creative Hub! Hooray! What a fun Sunday it was with Barb and Neal sharing another beautiful Soul Food Sunday with us. I loved the music and the heartfelt message. The joy of it really touched my heart and brought more than one tear to my eye!
We’ll be back at Studio 9 every week as far as we can see. Eventually, of course, we’d like to get back into ownership of our own space; but for now, this fits our needs “to a T”. From the feedback I got, you loved the space and more importantly, you loved being back together. It occurred to me (and I heard the same from several of you) that I really didn’t realize how much I missed us being together until we were back together. I loved that each person took responsibility for their level of comfort, including use of masks, distancing and being respectful of each other in terms of the “hug comfort” level.
More good news: we’ve secured the whole of the school space going forward, which includes the auditorium, the industrial kitchen (thank you Val and Bronagh for being our inaugural coffee crew!), two big classrooms and the children’s playground, so we’ll have lots of room for Sunday afternoon classes, meetings, potlucks and whatever other good activities we might like to consider. I’d love it if any of you have ideas of what you might like to see.
Our Sunday Services are the front door to our Centre and many people arrive that way. Additionally, in the world of ‘church business’, there’s something called ‘side doors’. There are many activities that can be considered a side door for getting people interested and involved. These might be activities like groups dealing with loss, discussion groups on books of all kinds, an LGBTQ spirituality group, a writers’ group, yoga group, meditation group, weight loss group, business group, and more. The list is open and endless! So, if you have an interest in something listed here or something else that comes to you, and would like to gather people together to participate with you, please let me know at revgord@shaw.ca. We’ve got the space — let’s use it!
Being back in person also invites all of us back into the spiritual practice of service. I’m willing to bet there are those of you who have missed being able to participate and lend your energy and consciousness into the many activities required to “do church”! We are now actively looking for volunteers in many areas including: set up crew (contact Rev. Melody Bailey at revmel@shaw.ca or Rev. Barb Samuel at info@barbsamuel.com), offertory counters (contact Rev. Melody), kitchen crew, take down crew and more (contact Rev. Corinne Crockett at corinne_crockett@telus.net for these and others). Acts of service are an important spiritual practice that serves us as we serve others. Thank you.
Also a reminder that we’re collecting household items for a Ukrainian family that is being housed by two of our generous members. They can use kitchen items, towels, sheets, kids’ bikes and toys, patio furniture, and more. Please contact Rev. Corinne at corinne_crockett@telus.net for more info and to drop off any items you might have.
Blessings,
Dr. Deborah
If you missed yesterday’s Soul Food Sunday talk with Rev. Barb Samuel and Neal Klassen titled I Love Us, you can watch it and other past services on the CSLK YouTube channel.
MIND-FULL MOMENT
“By people getting together and celebrating this idea of togetherness, great things can happen.”
— Edward Enninful
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