General
My Latest Project – a Crokinole Board.
One of the projects I worked on this summer was a Crokinole Board. You might be familiar with Crokinole as it is a game thought to be invented in Canada in the 1800’s. The World Championship Crokinole Games are held every year in Tavistock Ontario. If you are not familiar with the game but would like to know more, please consult my friends at ChatGPT or Wikipedia. The playing surface is a circle 26 inches in diameter. On it are…
How He Found God
This was found in a scrapbook given to me by Nancy Green, compiled by her mother and grandmother. Nancy thought I might find something useful and interesting in it to share with everyone. Here is an example of how music can sometimes do what mere words can’t. More than a hundred years ago, a young man in England, who belonged to a pious family but was himself far from God, was to find God by strange means. He had…
A First-time Observer’s Experience at General Assembly
It’s hard to use a single adjective to describe the General Assembly for a young observer. While it was a very valuable and eye-opening experience to see how the church operated, admittedly it was also quite dry and confusing at times. I’m very grateful that a pastor helped get me registered as an observer and that GA was close enough this year for me to attend. What I enjoyed the most were: getting a better understanding of our church as…
Welcome Dr. Glen DeLine
On June 8, our new organist/choir director, Dr. Glen DeLine, began his leadership of the musical portion of our worship services. He comes to us with a wealth of experience and has many ideas on how to improve and expand our choir. Welcome, Glen, and we all look forward to musical expertise which will, no doubt, enhance our worship every Sunday. Attention all bell ringers! Glen is starting a new Bell Ringers Choir. Anyone of any age can join. No…
One Bible Prayer to Help You Get Through Doubt
Bob Hostetler When your faith is flagging, these eight words can reconnect you with God. Do you wish you had more faith? Less doubt? If you’re anything like me, you have my sympathy. In those moments of doubt your faith may flee, you may question nearly everything and feel as if you’re holding onto faith by a thread. And that’s exactly when prayer can seem harder than usual. We might wish for some kind of treatment or trick that will…
The Mouse Story
by Helen Jamieson (An article submitted to the January 2007 issue of Graceviews by our dear departed, fondly remembered friend and fellow congregant Helen Jamieson. I thought it especially appropriate given the times we live in.) A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. “What food might this contain?” wondered the mouse. He was devastated to discover that it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the barnyard, the mouse proclaimed…
Going To Church
Adapted from an article by Theodore Roosevelt, Ladies Home Journal, 1917. Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919) was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. 1. In this … world, a churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at their religious needs, is a community on the rapid downgrade. 2. Church work and church attendance mean the cultivation of the habit of feeling some responsibility for others… 3. There are enough holidays for most of…
PCC Renewal: My Story – Rachel Chen
God draws people to Himself in many ways; for me, He used YouTube, among many other things. My parents immigrated to Canada from China in 1999, and I was born the year after. Being new immigrants with the desire to integrate better into Canadian society and seeing the United Church helping the poor, they decided to join. We moved frequently as my dad sought better employment, and we shifted to attending Chinese Baptist churches. I could tell church people were…