Mission

Fourth Sunday of Lent – Healing Series: Forgiveness – March 27, 2022

March 31, 2022

At 10:30am join us in-person, on Zoom, or on YouTube for our weekly Sunday morning worship.

This Sunday we continue our monthly Healing Series, with the theme Forgiveness. We will hear scripture about the importance of forgiveness, and take time to share a Prayer of Confession and Words of Assurance. As we think about forgiveness, we’ll also take several moments – including the Call to Worship and the Words of Assurance to engage our bodies and our breath.

Our music will include the hymn If I Have Been the Source of Pain, as well as the well-loved Spirit, Open My Heart. We also look forward to our solo Great Is Thy Faithfulness and anthem Lead Us Home. We will also hear the recently written Litany for Ukraine sung as a prayer response after lighting candles.

Looking Ahead
On Sunday, April 3 we welcome Cheryl Stenson as our worship leader, while Emily is away on study leave. Cheryl has been a member of Glebe Road United Church since getting married there in 1996. She began at Glebe serving coffee and tea in fellowship hour, became secretary of the board, then Clerk of Session, and then Chair of the Board for many years. Her greatest joy at Glebe has been singing in the choir and the yearly musical events. Cheryl took the Licensed Lay Worship Leader (LLWL) course with the United Church of Canada, receiving her license in December 2021. Cheryl’s service theme is “Saying YES to God.”

A Message from the COVID-19 Response Team

March 20, 2022

The Covid response team held its final meeting on Thursday, March 17 – just over two years after it was first formed by Council. We know that many people in our congregation are in different places with covid. Some are ready for no restrictions, others wish restrictions would ease out more gradually, while others still remain very cautious. As a community of faith we are invited to care for one another, and to make our physical space as welcoming to everyone as possible at the same time that we recognize we are entering a new phase of this pandemic.

NEW SUNDAY MARCH 20TH:
Singing during worship begins
Distancing encouraged but no longer required – we will have a distancing section
Signing in no longer required

Continued guidance:
Vaccination and boosting encouraged
Distancing encouraged
Please worship from home if you feel unwell
We encourage individual responsibility: do what is needed to feel safe

Masking Update:
Masking required in the building until April 4th (2 weeks after March Break ends)
Masking required for worship and singing indoors until April 27th (when all mask requirements are lifted)
Once requirements are lifted, masks are strongly recommended

Church Building Hours:
The church building will be open from 9-11am on Tuesdays and Fridays
Once our internet is more reliable, we will increase the hours

Here is a little more on what it will be like attending worship in-person in the coming weeks:

When you arrive, you will not need to show proof of vaccination or sign in when you enter – but please remember to don your mask before stepping into the building. You can choose to hang up your coat or to keep it with you – we will continue to try to keep some windows open to increase air circulation.

For those who want to continue distancing, you will see a section of the sanctuary has pews with ribbons marking off every other pew. If you sit in this section, you will signal that you would like to continue distancing and will not have to repeat this to anyone. If you have been looking forward to sitting near friends, please sit in pews that do not have ribbons marking off every other pew.

During our worship service, you are invited to stand (as you are able) and sing for our hymns.

Following the service, you are invited to move around and chat with people in the pews while remaining masked, or to exit and chat outside the church, with or without masks.

A note for choir members and those who look forward to hearing our choir in person: our choir is also looking forward to returning to church. At present, choir members are invited to sit with the congregation for hymns, and then after the Easter anthems are recorded, the choir will begin rehearsing for live congregational singing in mid-April.

Thank You for your support!

Any questions? Please ask Emily Gordon if you would like more details about the decisions of the final Covid response team meeting.

Third Sunday of Lent – Nurturing Spirituality March 20, 2022

March 24, 2022

At 9:15am on Sunday, you are invited to In the Wild: a time for spirituality in nature for all ages on the church lawn, as we think about the theme “Rhythms” and mark the Spring Equinox.

At 10:30am join us in-person, on Zoom, or on YouTube for our weekly Sunday morning worship.

This Sunday we explore the theme “Nurturing Spirituality” as we think about how we care for ourselves and others, recognizing the goodness of God in the goodness of life.

Our hymns, readings, and other music are filled with nature. We will hear a scripture passage about a fig tree, listen to the anthem Highland Cathedral with words about the presence of God in nature, and sing the hymns As the Sun with Longer Journey and Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery. Speaking of singing, if you’d like to prepare to sing our Introit this Lent in-person (or online), you can learn it along with Matt and our leads here:

Looking Ahead
On Sunday, March 27 we mark the fourth Sunday during the season of Lent with the next in our Healing Series, as we think about Forgiveness.

Second Sunday of Lent – March 13, 2022

March 20, 2022

For our second Sunday during the season of Lent, our theme is Shared Stories. The service will include parts of the service Black Experiences in Canadian Churches (originally planned for February but postponed due to tech challenges). We will also remember that it is PIE Sunday, light a candle marking two years since the start of the pandemic, and share a prayer “The Burden of War.”

Our music includes If Ye Love Me by Thomas Tallis, with pandemic words written in March 2020, a solo Come to Me by Dan Forrest, and the hymn In Christ, There is No East or West.

If you are worshiping online, join us on Zoom following the service for a time of conversation.

Looking Ahead
On Sunday, March 20, the third Sunday during the season of Lent, we will reflect on the beauty of nature and the simple goodness of life. Our music will include bagpipes, and other choices in memory of Bryan Pyper.