ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rev. Elaine, Study Leave 

Rev. Elaine will be away on study leave from Monday, January 6th to Monday, January 20th.  Please call Rev. Elaine (613-240-9388) for Emergency Pastoral Care.

Facebook Prayer Time 

The Facebook prayer time resumes on Tuesday, February 4th at 10am.

Star Words – January 19th – February 23rd

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to God who is in heaven.”

On Jan 3rd an email was sent out with a “word generator: website linked, for you to click on to receive your “Star Word”. Each week during Epiphany I will offer some ways of deepening your interaction with your word, or a lens to view your word. You may of course journal the thoughts that arise, or if you wish to email me or call me to chat about your word and any thoughts that come with it.

January 19th Activity: 

What is the antonym for your word, noting that it is equally important to

understand the void that exists when your word is not present.

Food Cupboard volunteering in January 

GCUC volunteers help out at the Kanata Food Cupboard every six weeks. We’re on duty at the end of January – from Monday Jan 27th to Thursday Jan 30th. If you’ve helped before, please try to make some time to help out this time. If you’ve never done this before, and are interested, please contact me (Keith Allingham, keithfa@gmail.com) and I’ll answer your questions and help you get started. Even if you can only manage it once or twice a year, you’d still be helping out for a good cause!

Community, Coffee, and Chat – Fridays at 10am

The dog days of winter can be isolating. Bundle up and join us for Community, Coffee and Chat in the Lounge at 10am on Fridays. Invite a friend and if you bring some goodies to share, you are invited to share your recipes too!!

Healing Pathway In-person Sessions 

Healing Pathway has resumed our regular practice on Mondays.  Also, arrangements can be made to visit homes, hospitals, or hospices at any time.  Please contact Healingpathwaygcuc@gmail.com or Nancy Kerr at 613 402 2149 (call or text).

January Outreach - Diapers and Wet Wipes for Nelson House 

Nelson House is a 15-bed emergency shelter that offers a wide range of services designed to support and empower women and their children who wish to transition to a life free of violence. In addition to shelter clients, Nelson House supports women and children through their Transitional Support Program in the community. Their services and programs include 24-hour crisis assistance, individual and group-based counselling support, children and youth support programs, skills exchange programs, as well as legal, housing, and immigration support and advocacy. To support the clients of Nelson House, we will be collecting diapers and wet wipes. Please leave your donations in the Outreach Bin in the foyer by January 26.

Reach out and connect in Christ’s name

Members of the Pastoral Care Team continue to offer their care and spiritual compassion to those who request them on a confidential basis. We can now have visits within the protocols for COVID 19 and can also connect by phone, email, cards, and through prayers.Our contact person for January is Bev Armbruster 613-592-4155      You may leave a non-confidential voice message at the church office at 613-836-4756.

Earthub

We would like to thank you so much for all the support you have shown the Earthub initiativein the past and hope you continue to do so in the future. Unfortunately, effective immediately, we will no longer be collecting pill bottles. As posted on the Facebook page, this decision was not taken lightly nor was it taken without a lot of thought and soul searching: “ One of the most disappointing aspects of the program, aside from receiving dirty pill bottles, has been donors dropping off pill bottles in a volunteer bin without any monetary donation to cover the shipping costs. Sometimes, these drop-offs included hundreds of bottles and because the Earthub Bins are accessible at any time, we don't know who dropped off and when - it would be impossible for our volunteers to track this. You might have suggestions for how we could keep this program running—and trust us, we’ve considered many ideas over the years. In the past six months alone, we've invested countless hours brainstorming, reaching out to major companies and pharmacies for funding, participating in Zoom calls, applying for grants, and much more. We’ve exhausted every possible option to avoid making this decision”.

Please continue to support Earthub by donating the other items listed on the flyer. If you have any questions, please speak to Cathy Turner or Anne McEwen.

Book Club – Next meeting: Tuesday, February 4th at 7pm via Zoom 

The book “Mad Honey”by Jodi Picout will be discussed. The story follows 18-year-old Asher Fields in a case where he is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Lily Campanello. The story capture's the reader's attention by switching between the narrators in each chapter.

In the Community

Celebrate 30 years of music from the Kanata United Church pipe organ on January 26th at 3pm. See bulletin board for details.

NEWSLETTERS