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Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

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Feeding the Soul

What is there to be thankful for?

Posted: October 15, 2020 | Filed Under: Feeding the Soul, News

It’s every year. Every year.  Every year the big family get togethers. Every year the kids come home from university or community college, and banks and stores and businesses for the most part take the day off. Every year there are favourite foods and second helpings and third helpings that you have to loosen your belt and lay down and take a nap. Every year.  Except this year.

   We celebrate Thanksgiving every year and in Canada we have been celebrating since 1921by an Act of Parliament. If you have a perpetual calendar and enough patience you could figure out the exact date when Thanksgiving would be celebrated for the next hundred years.

   So here we are,celebrating a national holiday,a day of overeating and television  watching and hikes and drives to take in the fall colours and catching up with the relatives. Here we are celebrating a national holiday, despite Covid-19, even in church. You have to wonder why.

   It’s not in the Bible. Jesus and his disciples didn’t sit around a long table and eat turkey and cranberry sauce every fall. It’s not part of the ancient tradition of the church, either.

   Thanksgiving is not a religious celebration. It’s a national holiday. You don’t see people going to church on July 1or Remembrance Day unless it falls on a Sunday. So why do we celebrate Thanksgiving in church?

   We are in church on Thanksgiving, in person or online, because a day set aside for giving thanks raises an inescapable question. To who, exactly, are we giving thanks? You give thanks to someone. We teach our children to be polite and respectful. We teach them to say “Please”, when they ask for something, and to say “Thank you” when they get it. Yet you can get a gift and use that gift and love that gift without ever saying, “Thank you.” Giving thanks isn’t about the gift. Giving thanks is about the giver. You say “Thank you” to someone. Saying “Thank you” acknowledges that there is another person involved. Giving thanks establishes a relationship. If we as a nation are giving thanks over this weekend, Covid or not, then somewhere wrapped up in all of it is the question of whom we are thanking.

   Now we Canadians don’t always acknowledge this but the first well­ known Thanksgiving celebration took place in Massachusetts among the Pilgrims in 1621,and there was no question whatsoever as to whom they were thanking. They were thanking God. It was a day and a feast set aside for the express purpose of thanking God. The colony was new and survival was anything but certain. Colonial settlements had collapsed or given up or just plain vanished. The colonists had learned to adapt to the climate of their new home. They were in good shape, with enough shelter and enough food to survive the harsh New England winter. The colonists were Puritans, a conservative group of Christian believers. God had clearly blessed them and they knew it. They had been taken care of and given gifts, so they gave thanks.

   But that was 1621. What about 1622? What is somewhat less well known is that there was no Thanksgiving celebration in 1622. The harvest was not so good the next year and so the colonists were going into the winter with more fear and much less security. The Puritans had concluded that God had not chosen to bless them that year and so a feast of Thanksgiving would not have been in order. To the Puritans, Thanksgiving was not an automatic celebration that happened every year in and year out no matter what. They gave thanks in times of plenty. They repented in times of want.

   But we are not the Puritans! Unlike the Puritans, we celebrate Thanksgiving annually. That in itself, raises another question. If we are thankful every year, right on schedule, then what is it we are giving thanks for? Not every year is a good year. Given Covid how would you rate 2020? Sometimes things are going great for ourselves, our loved ones, our country. Sometimes there is health and happiness everywhere you look. Sometimes there is peace and plenty. Sometimes, but not always.

   There are other times when serious matters like climate change, and racial injustice, and political strife, and most especially a pandemic called Covid-19 dominates our thoughts and our days and our headlines. These days are filled with worry and sickness for some, dysfunction and anxiety for others. Yet here we are in October and Thanksgiving still comes.

   So what is it that we are giving thanks for this year? Do we give thanks for our material blessings? Absolutely we should and absolutely we do, although good fortune comes and goes. Do we give thanks for the people that we love and that love us? Of course, we do, knowing well that families and friendships have good times and bad, that people come into our lives and people move out of our lives. Tragedy and heartache can come upon us at any time. We don’t know what will happen. Whoever foresaw this pandemic last October?

   And what makes us so certain that there will be something to give thanks for next October? Why do calendars come already printed in the confidence that there will be reason for gratitude next year? There is, in fact, a rather simple answer to that question. We schedule Thanksgiving every year because there is no doubt that there will be something to be thankful for every year.

   Dear friends in Christ, even in the midst of catastrophe, even in the midst of a pandemic, there are blessings. Is this just optimism? Is this nothing more than a perky, Pollyanna attitude?  A happy can-do attitude? No! We can say with certainty that we will always have blessings to count because we know what those blessings are. God loves us no matter what and God loves us most perfectly in Jesus Christ and that God cares for each of us to the core of our being. That was true last year and it’ll be true next year. All of us are God’s children. All of us.  Always there is mercy. Always there is life. God gives us purpose. God gives us a future. We are never alone. God gives us each other. God opens our eyes and opens our hearts and gives us the strength and the will to care for each other.

   Whether we have much or whether we have little these things don’t change. When our hearts are joyful and when our hearts are breaking, God always loves us. God never forsakes or forgets us. We are never abandoned. We are never alone.

   So, my friends, let us give thanks. Let us give thanks with our words or in the silence of our hearts. Let us give thanks with our time. Let us give thanks with our thoughts and our emotions and our love for our neighbour. Always,every year and every day and every minute,we have reason to give thanks.

   In the name of the God who loves us all. Amen.

Rev. Douglas Reble
Assistant to the Bishop

Friendship Gardens

Posted: September 17, 2020 | Filed Under: Feeding the Soul, News

This past summer the Congregational Council of St. John’s, Petawawa applied for, and received, a grant from Renfrew County to construct a Community Garden at St. John’s. The application was for 12 raised planter boxes, fence enclosed, located behind our church building. Our Property Committee has done a wonderful job this summer of constructing these gardens and the fencing – not a small task. Because of the lateness of the grant application, we planted 4 of the 12 boxes this summer.
   It is our intention to grow vegetables in these gardens in the coming years, and to donate them to our local food banks and others who may appreciate receiving fresh vegetables during growing season. We would also like to integrate the gardens into our Youth and Sunday School programs. At least a few of these planter boxes will be planted and cared for by our youth and Sunday School participants.
   On Sunday, September 6, we held our first service since March, an outdoor service. Here we blessed our Friendship Gardens and presented the first fruits of our gardens to a representative from the Petawawa Pantry Food Bank.

Welcome to our Newest Congregation

Posted: September 17, 2020 | Filed Under: Feeding the Soul, News

Peace Christian Church: A Lutheran Fellowship, of Chatham, Ontario, one of the newest congregations of the Eastern Synod, celebrated “Membership Sunday” on August 23. The outdoor Service at the home of Daniel Whittal and Rachel Schwarz allowed family groups to keep physical distance. Interim pastor Paul Sodtke presided over the celebration which received one youth and two adults by Affirmation of Baptism, and then invited the entire assembly to renew their commitment.

The Service was the culmination of a series of steps, in which the congregation became incorporated as a not-for-profit, applied for charitable status, adopted a constitution that was later approved by Synod Council, and was formally accepted as a congregation of the Eastern Synod. Confirmation instruction plus a series of online studies about the basics of Lutheranism were also part of the preparation.

Following the Service and lunch, the first official congregational meeting as an ELCIC congregation was convened. People who wished signed on as charter members, and a Church Council was elected. We are a small but enthusiastic group, and grateful for the support of the bishop and the Eastern Synod Council.

Preaching About Racism

Posted: July 6, 2020 | Filed Under: Feeding the Soul

For clergy/deacons/and other preachers:

Thursdays in August, beginning on the 6th, at 2pm.

“Preaching about Racism” by Carolyn Helsel (book study and discussion)

This moderated group discussion will focus specifically on the task of preaching about racism by using Carolyn Helsel’s book and other resources shared by the group.  There will be time each week to talk about our various contexts, to support one another in the work of dismantling racism in the church, and to share resources. 

It is the responsibility of the group participants to:

  1. Acquire Carolyn Helsel’s book
  2. Agree to a community covenant on best communication/interaction practices
  3. Do the work.  You agree to read the book and to participate in the discussions.

Still interested?  Contact Rebekah Swanson (pastor at First Lutheran in Vancouver, BC) for a copy of the community covenant and Zoom invitation

pastorrebekah@firstlutheranvancouver.com

Faith and Caring in a Time of COVID-19

Posted: March 1, 2020 | Filed Under: Feeding the Soul

Pictured here is Rev Dr. Peter Kuhnert at the Joy in the Journey Women’s Retreat held last year at Niagara on the Lake 

This year will mark my 30th anniversary of being an independent physician and my 15th year as a pastor and theologian. While I have had many and diverse experiences across both vocations, this is my first experience of life, providing health care, and helping people find meaning all in the midst of a pandemic. Like many of you, my experience has been marked by uncertainty, fear, isolation, boredom, anxiety, as well as busy-ness. It has also been marked by gratitude for my wife and daughters, my family, my co-workers, my faith community, and for my country that values a sustainable, affordable, comprehensive, and inclusive public health care system. I would like to share several reflections from this unprecedented time.

Read more →

Black History Month

Posted: February 13, 2020 | Filed Under: Feeding the Soul

*….”Black History Month is a time to remember and reflect on important people and events of the past-and the present-and to continue to work toward a better, fairer future.”

The commemoration of Black History Month dates back to 1926, when Harvard-educated African American historian, Carter G. Woodson, proposed setting aside a time devoted to honour the accomplishments of African Americans and, now, includes African Canadians and African descendants around the world. Originally, it was to heighten awareness of Black History in the U.S. For many, it is an opportunity to learn and acknowledge the contributions to the world by African descendants which is not often captured or taught in the annals of universal history.
Our feature this month is, Viola Desmond, businesswoman and civil rights activist in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her picture appears on the Canadian $10 banknote released on November 19, 2018. Read more about Viola Desmond at:
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/viola-desmond

**Other notable and famous Black Canadians include:

Willie Eldon O’Ree, CM ONB
(born October 15, 1935) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, known best for being the first black player in the National Hockey League. O’Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins. Often referred to as the “Jackie Robinson of ice hockey” due to breaking the black colour barrier in the sport, and has stated publicly that he had met Jackie Robinson twice in his younger years. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 2018.
Also in 2018, the NHL instituted the annual Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award in his honour, to “recognize the individual who has worked to make a positive impact on his or her community, culture or society to make people better through hockey.”

Ferguson Arthur “Fergie” Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox (1965–1983). Jenkins played the majority of his career for the Cubs.

Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, PC CC OOnt CD QC (January 21, 1922 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer who became the first black Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, the first black federal Cabinet Minister (serving as federal Minister of Labour) and the first black Chair of the Worker’s .

Michaëlle Jean PC CC CMM COM CD( born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who was the third Secretary-General of the Organisationinternationale and first Black Governor General of Canada.

The first black hockey team from St. Catharines, Ontario, the St. Catharines Orioles.

Notable Historic Black African-Americans Include:

Harriet Tubman (code name: “Moses”) born into slavery , was a famous abolitionist renowned for her exploits in guiding her fellow slaves to freedom in the north on the Underground Railroad.

George Washington Carver (January, 1864-January 5, 1943); born into slavery, taught at Tuskegee Institute and became one of the most prominent Agricultural scientists and inventors of his time.

Madam C. J. Walker (December 23, 1867-May 25, 1919); African-American entrepreneur, Philanthropist and political and social activist.

Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913-October 24, 2005); was a civil rights activist who refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968); the most important voice of the American civil rights movement. He was famous for using nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice, and he never got tired of trying to end segregation laws. He also did all he could to make people realize that “all men are created equal.” In 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was assassinated at the age of 39 years old.

submitted by Pat Lovell

* The Jazz Magazine newsletter
** Source- Wikipedia

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