Here we are now into spring. We are looking forward to what’s known as Holy Week in the Christian tradition with next Sunday being Palm Sunday, and coming up are Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This is also the season for Ramadan and Passover. In this we see the One Infinite Creative Presence and Power shining through all of these spiritual paths in unique and powerful ways. This is an auspicious time of year, and it seems the trajectory of our spiritual community is fitting right into this time of newness, rebirth and opportunity.
I’m over the moon delighted to let you know that we’ve found a new Sunday rental location! It’s in Kelowna; it has an auditorium and a kitchen; it has extra rooms for children and a playground area; and it’s all within a progressive creative arts school which is very aligned with the values of our teaching. It’s called Studio 9 Creative Hub. I love that the Centers for Spiritual Living theme for the month of April is Creativity, so that feels very auspicious as well. I really feel like the stars and minds have lined up in perfection for our community right now!
So important in our search for a new location to replace our beloved Peace Centre classroom, office and studio space, has been the requirement for maintaining our online presence. I’m happy to say that Studio 9 Creative Hub comes equipped with lights, microphones, cameras and livestream capabilities.
The kitchen will allow those of us attending in person to have coffee and tea together after service.
This feels so good on so many levels, and it feels like a fresh restart for our community, which is perfect now that the pandemic seems to be waning.
Our plan is to have a semi-dry run next Sunday (April 10th). We want to ensure the best quality we can, so our plan is to invite our leadership to attend. We will have a practice run first so that we can offer our best to the greater community going forward. We will be livestreaming on Facebook Live in our endeavour to make sure everything works. Then, we’ll be at Studio 9 both in person and on Facebook live each and every week with the exception of Easter (April 17th).
Before we found Studio 9, we had booked our Easter Service (again, perfectly synchronistic timing as our Centre is being reborn) at the Rotary Centre for the Arts. All mandates will be lifted by then, so we look forward to seeing everyone there either in person or virtually on April 17th. All things being equal, our first “everyone is welcome” service at Studio 9 will be on April 24th and then weekly after that.
Finally, I want to give a special note of gratitude. This has been a very busy time in terms of packing up our Peace Centre with 22 years’ worth of treasures gathered over time. There have been books, paintings, files, cassettes, CDs, sound and music equipment, tables, chairs and furniture to move, plus many runs to the dump as we’ve cleaned and purged. There have also been many trips to our new storage locker as we’ve decided for now to store our stuff as we fully engage in our new Studio 9 space.
There have been a couple of volunteers who have been stellar in our moving process. First and foremost, the best volunteer ever is Dr. Kenn. He’s been there regularly, packing, toting and driving. I couldn’t have done it without him. Thank you. The other person I’d like to mention is Jean Elmer. She helped so much with recycling, donating, hefting and toting. I am so grateful that she is housing our Centre’s beloved book library until we find our next permanent home. Thanks to the other helpers as well, but those two were above and beyond. Thank you so very much!
Blessings to all as we definitely spring forward!
Dr. Deborah
If you missed yesterday’s Sunday Celebration with Rev. Jeanette Vinek’s talk titled Dawn of a New Day, you can watch it on Facebook. See other past services on the CSLK YouTube channel.
MIND-FULL MOMENT
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
— Seneca
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Congratulations! It sounds like your Centre is making the most of Springtime and it's amazing energy of renewal and growth. Looking forward to seeing your new location and for joining you in person if/when we can. ~Kathy