Study

Water and Wine – January 23, 2022

January 23, 2022

Shortly before 10:30am our weekly service will be livestreamed on Zoom and YouTube.


Following the Anthem, those joining on Zoom will also share in Communion together. Bring bread (or something bread-like) and grape juice (or something else to drink) with you this morning.

Today we share communion live on Zoom as we hear the story of the Wedding at Cana. We’ll also share Psalm 36, and here the anthem Ave Verum Corpus.

Stories and Makers Nest

Our Stories and Makers Nest this week shares some of Jesus’ teaching. We will make a scroll using paper, markers, and a teabag.

Next Sunday
Then, on January 30 we will begin our Healing Series (the last Sunday of each month this winter and spring). This month we begin by reflecting on love, and will also have time to light candles for joys and sorrows.

YouTube Playlists
We have just updated our Small Spiritual Practices playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfuCu94bEGC5eCVktVqxmrnx1E_jmeTLc
Consider looking through the small spiritual practices Emily has shared over the last couple of years, and pass the video link on to someone you know who might be interested.

Other Playlists include…
Music Highlights: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfuCu94bEGC7_E9riqoJ9Bl_G5DGEy3vO
Worship Services: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfuCu94bEGC6BMZjDwoF1cBV9W2s1Nov1
The Stories and Makers Nest: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfuCu94bEGC5nx6z8eLSsJSn8qkphfxsw

Flourishing Ways – Healing Ourselves and the World – Spirit Alive

December 3, 2021
Photo by Lucy Burke

Saturday, December 11th at 10:30 a.m via Zoom

Walks through neighbourhood areas have become increasingly valuable to many of us in these pandemic times. Toronto’s network of ravine landscapes, and the various little brooks, creeks, streams, tributaries of the Don River which run through them, are easily found through parts of Leaside, East York, North York and beyond.

This view is from the forest trail running along the compassion-rich Glenvale institutional lands, looking North across the steep gulf of BurkeBrook Ravine, with its densely treed slopes, and gently flowing stream at the bottom, over to Sunnybrook Health Sciences.

A Climate Crisis/Solutions book discussed last week by the North Toronto Cluster included this observation: “Regeneration creates, builds, and heals. Regeneration is what life has always done; we are life, and that is our focus. It includes how we live and what we do – everywhere.”

There are so many little and big things contributing to regeneration and flourishing – to the flourishing of each of our lives, to the flourishing of the life of the forest and ravine, to the flourishing of compassionate health care systems.

Lucy Burke will lead us on an illustrated (zoom) ramble through nearby areas, and invite you to consider – What are some of the things you love, that quicken your heart, that enliven your spirit, that help you flourish, thrive, and heal? What are some of the things you notice which do this for others in the world? How well do you allow yourself to connect with, take in, and support, all the goodness around and about in our shared landscapes – natural and built?

The Song of Hannah – Sunday November 14th, 2021

November 14, 2021

Today’s service will be shared as a livestream on YouTube and Zoom as well as in-person, beginning with a prelude leading up to 10:30am. Registration is no longer required for in-person worship, but proof of vaccination must be shown each time.

Lectio Divina (“divine reading”) is a way of reading and reflecting on scripture slowly to pay attention to how it is speaking to our lives. Today we will practice Lectio Divina together, focusing on the story of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and particularly of the song she sings when she learns she is expecting (parts of which are later echoed by Mary’s song, the Magnificat). Our lectio divina will be accompanied by short piano mediations and an anthem “Holy is the True Light” by Harris. Our final hymn will be “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

Stories and Makers Nest

Today we continue with part 3 of the story of Moses – the Exodus. For the craft today you will need construction paper, scissors, tape, and markers.

Watch the Stories and Makers Nest at 9:55am on Zoom, or any time on YouTube.

Next Sunday
November 21st we mark Children’s Sunday with a service that will include a Junior Virtual Choir Project.

Worship will begin with a baptism live in the sanctuary. Since the parents have decided not to have their child online, the baptism will not be livestreamed.
The livestream will begin immediately following the baptism, at approximately 10:40am. On Zoom, there will be an additional opportunity for conversation. If you are attending on YouTube, you are welcome to linger over brunch a little longer. If you are attending in-person, you are invited to arrive a couple of minutes earlier to be sure you are seated by the service start.

Then, on November 28 we begin the season of Advent. We will be sharing more about Advent and Christmas soon, as we look forward to ways to worship together inside, outside, and online!

Spirit Alive – Quiet City

November 8, 2021

Next Spirit Alive Group
Saturday, November 13 at 10:30 am on Zoom

“Quiet City”

The city – our city – is a noisy, hectic and chaotic place. To drive anywhere in the city at almost any time of the day is to confront traffic jams, constructions delays, and reckless vehicles in too much of a hurry. The sidewalks in many areas are crowded with people rushing from one place to the next, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings and to other people. Even in a pandemic, we are often overwhelmed by the constant cacophony of our urban environment.

So – where do we go to find peace and quiet in the city? Not everyone can escape to a cottage or other place in the country, away from the city. In fact, most people in the city are confined to the city. So – it is important for a city to have quiet places – places that offer the possibility of spiritual refreshment and renewal. These places are sometimes difficult to discover – but they exist. One just needs to know where to find them.

Spirit Alive on Saturday morning, November 13, at 10:30 am. will discuss the quiet city – or more particularly, a quiet Toronto. Where do we go to find the Quiet City. Participants are requested to bring to the discussion two or three suggestions of places in the city where, in your view, it is possible to enjoy solace and experience a retreat from urban frenzy. David Phillips will lead this discussion on Zoom.