Sermons

North Toronto Adult Study Groups

November 9, 2018


Adult Study Groups

The United Churches of North Toronto have teamed up to offer a year-round program of adult education. We invite everyone, whether they attend church or not, to explore spirituality with us by attending!

Our offerings this year kickoff with a workshop entitled “The Art of the Sacred,” where class members will both explore the Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer, and experiment with writing their own. Two book-club groups will follow. First off we’ll read Marcus Borg’s last book, Convictions; How I learned What Matters Most, and that will be followed by reading Phillip Newell’s The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings. Our final offering will be a class entitled “Constantly Becoming.” This group will explore Christianity’s beliefs about things like prayer, worship, the sacraments, confession and forgiveness from a theologically progressive point of view.

Times, places, and group leaders–the ministers at each of these churches–are listed below.  All are welcome to join this network of study!

Date: Tuesday Tuesday, September 11 – Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Who: Cynthia O’Connell, Minister
When & Where: 7 pm at Glebe Road United Church, 20 Glebe Road East.
Description: “The Art of the Sacred: Exploration of Prayers and the Psalms through Creative Art”.

Date: Wednesday, November 7, 2018 to Wednesday, December 12, 2018 
Who: Dr. John Suk
When & Where: 7 pm at Lawrence Park Community Church, 2180 Bayview Ave.
Description: Book study of Marcus Borg’s Convictions: How I learned What Matters Most.

Date: Tuesday, January 15, 2019 to Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Who: Rev. Emily Gordon
When and Where: 7 pm at Leaside United Church, 822 Millwood Road.
Description: Book study of John Phillip Newell’s The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings.

Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2019 to Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Who: Rev. Dr. Paul Hutchinson, ESG
When & Where: 7 pm at Eglinton St. George United, 35 Lytton Blvd.
Description: “Constantly Becoming”. An examination of prayer, worship, sacraments, sin and forgiveness from a Progressive Perspective.

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This Sunday – Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

August 27, 2018

Reel Life 2018
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

This Sunday one of our VAMs (Voluntary Associate Minister) James Lepard will be leading the service. He will be talking about Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. As James notes, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the third movie in the Jurassic park series and as in the other two films, the third continues to raise ethical questions about humanities ability to reshape the world’s ecosystem. This Sunday we’ll compare the themes of Jurassic park fallen kingdom with the biblical narrative of Genesis 1.”

Of course, you don’t have to view any of the movies to join us for Reel Life 2018 this summer – it’s all about exploring themes and our faith, not about specific characters or plots. We’ll always watch a trailer on Sunday, so everyone has a glimpse of the film. And there will be popcorn, of course! We’ll also sing hymns and light candles as we share our joys and sorrows.

See you Sunday!

This Sunday: James Lepard & Superheroes

August 20, 2018

From now to the September long weekend our theme will be Reel Life 2018. We’ll explore some of the blockbusters of the year, and ask how they speak to our popular culture, and even our faith. Does Reel Life have anything to do with Real Life?

This Sunday August 19th at 10:30am, one of our VAMs (Voluntary Associate Minister) James Lepard will be leading the service. He will be talking about The Incredibles 2, which continues the conversation about the popularity of superheroes we began last week, while looking at family, gender roles and how we view laws and the authority of government.

Of course, you don’t have to view any of the movies to join us for Reel Life 2018 this summer – it’s all about exploring themes and our faith, not about specific characters or plots. We’ll always watch a trailer on Sunday, so everyone has a glimpse of the film. And there will be popcorn, of course! We’ll also sing hymns and light candles as we share our joys and sorrows.

See you this Sunday!

A Week as a Minister by: Emily Gordon

August 24, 2018
Ever wonder …

“What does Emily do in between Sundays?”  Well here you go in her words what last week looked like at Leaside United:

In ministry, there is rarely a “typical” week, but I thought I might occasionally share a particular week, as a glimpse into the activities that I and others in our church take part in outside of Sunday morning worship. I hope you find it interesting. (Oh, and every day there are lots of emails too…)

 

Monday:

  • Usually my day off, this week I made an exception to perform a wedding.

Tuesday:

  • Three meetings, two related to Missional Development prioritizing (now all six teams have met with Warren McDougall), and a final one with the architects. Also, an informal meeting with our Council Chair, Tom Carter. They were all productive conversations, but a long day.
  • Over lunch I watched trailers for Black Panther, to choose what we’ll see Sunday.

Wednesday:

  • Emailing our pulpit supply while on vacation, and sending out information about popcorn makers and technical setup to those helping out.
  • Pastoral care phone calls.
  • Over lunch, met the new minister at Manor Road, Rev. Roberta Howey and discussed possibly including their congregation in our fall book group on Lillian Daniel’s Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong To.
  • Editing a fall guide to “Worship and Nurturing Spirituality” groups and opportunities.
  • Preparation for the council meeting, particularly my reflections on General Council 43, and attending the Council meeting in the evening.
  • Beginning a Weekday Wonderings post on Ready Player One.

Thursday:

  • Writing and (since Alison is on vacation) sending out the weekly email.
  • Preparing and leading a worship service at The Millwood Retirement Residence at 921 Millwood Rd. (different churches in the area take turns leading this monthly service for residents).
  • Buying a cable to connect the computer and projector.
  • Meeting with someone who came to our church for compassionate assistance.
  • Meeting James Lepard, our new VAM (Voluntary Associate Minister), about worship leadership over the next two weeks while I am away.
  • Finishing the Weekday Wonderings post on Ready Player One.

Friday:

  • Watching Black Panther and preparing discussion questions for Saturday.
  • Preparing reflection for Sunday worship.
  • Preparing a fall worship plan for meeting with Emily Pollock (Youth and Children’s Program Assistant) Sunday, coordinating worship with the children’s program.

Saturday:

  • Setting up and leading our movie and discussion afternoon on Black Panther.