Church News: December 2005 / January 2006

Last updated:  Thursday, August 18, 2011        50th Year        December 2005 / January 2006

18. December
4th Advent
Family Service 
English 11:00 AM
Mit Aufführung des Weihnachtsstückes und anschließendem Potluck-Lunch!
Pastor Stefan Wolf

24. December
Festive Christmas Eve Service
English + German 5:00 PM
mit Kirchenchor und Kinderbetreuung durch die Sonntagsschule
Pastor Stefan Wolf

Candlelight-Service - Gottesdienst zum Ausspannen
English + German 5.00 PM
With classical guitar music and pieces by J.S. Bach
Pastor Stefan Wolf

25. December
1. Weihnachtstag
Sing-Gottesdienst
English + German 5:00 PM
Pastor Stefan Wolf
 

31. December
New Year's Eve
German 5:00 PM
With the Celebration of Holy Communion
Pastor Stefan Wolf

01. January
New Year's Day
6:00 PM
Jazz-Church Service on the Year’s Watchword
Pastor Stefan Wolf

08. January
1st Sunday after Epiphany
English 9:45 AM
German 11:00 AM
With the Celebration of Holy Communion in both Services!
Pastor Stefan Wolf

15. January
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
English 9:45 AM
German 11:00 AM
Pastor Stefan Wolf

22. January
3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Englisch 9:45 AM
German 11:00 AM
Pastor Stefan Wolf

29. January
4th Sunday after Epiphany
Joint Service
English +
German 11:00 AM
followed by Lunch and the Film “Joshua”
Pastor Stefan Wolf
 

We express our thanks for all donations and for the active attendance of our Church Services, and cordially invite you to stay for a while after the Services for a cup of coffee!

Our Groups and Circles

The Literary Circle takes place again in the New Year on January 10th , 4:00 p.m. at the Parsonage.

The Ladies’ Group takes place on Wednesday, January 11th,  at 7.00 p.m. at the Church.

The Board of Directors  of  the Nursery meets on Tuesday, December 13th, and on January 10th, 6:.00 p.m. at the Church.

Confirmation Instruction takes place on Monday, January 9th and 23rd at 7:00 p.m. at the Parsonage.

The Church Council meets on Wednesday, December 14th at 7:00 p.m. at the Parsonage and on January 11th,  at  7:00 p.m. at the Church.

The Seniors’ Circle  meets on Tuesday, January 17th, at 11:00 a.m. at the Church.

The English Bible Discussion  Group  takes place on January 17th, at 7:30 p.m., at the Church.

The Visiting Service Circle meets on Sunday, January 22nd after the German Service, app. 12:00 o’clock at the Church.

The German Bible Discussion Group meets on Wednesday, January 25th,  at 1:30 p.m. at the Church.

Radio Dedication in German
every Sunday 9:30 a.m. Ciao Radio AM 530. Any donations for this program would be welcome - please indicate your envelopes  "for radio program".

Please plan ahead!

God says: I will not fail you or forsake you.
Joshua 1, 5

Devotion on the Watchword for 2006

Dear Congregation,
Joshua needs to be told this sentence by God. The task is enormous. It is not only that he is supposed to assume Moses’ succession, no; he must also lead the people of Israel into the “promised land”. The problem only is, that people already live there, who will most certainly not simply watch the Israelites, returning from their captivity in Egypt, settle there. And when one reads the first chapter of the Book of Joshua, one knows instantly, what the question of Joshua probably might have been: How shall I manage this? – You, probably,  ask yourself this question on a regular basis, too: How shall I manage ? – There is so much to be done before Christmas, difficult decisions are facing me. There is a change in my job. Health problems exist. An uncertain future, fear of tomorrow, of the coming year. How do I manage? – Make the effort and read in the Bible Joshua, chapter 1. What fascinates me with this conversation of Joshua with God is, that God says clearly in the beginning, what will happen and what Joshua’s task is: “Arise and go over this Jordan…” I believe that we, too, need this, that in a situation laden with fear, someone says: “Now do this, do something, don’t just sit around and give in to heavy thoughts!” Or: “This is what will happen, this is the diagnosis, this is the next step, this way you can face the problem at your work.” We know that idleness or brooding do not make things better. – When I sometimes stand before a huge mountain of work, I remember the saying: “Even the longest road begins with the first step.” The beginning, as a rule, is the most difficult thing. Once the first step is taken, then it will go on somehow. Something else I notice in the Book of Joshua, and I think, this is what can make the decisive difference also for us. There is the statement: “You are not alone…As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.”  - Thereby is the question of Joshua: Will I be able to assume the succession of Moses, am I qualified for this?, clearly answered. “You will manage,” God says. “and, indeed, not because you are exactly like Moses, or because you try to imitate him as accurately as possible, but because I am with you! “ Be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1, 9) – Do you not also think that it makes a huge difference to know, that, no matter what will happen, one is not alone. How great is the message of Christmas that God comes into this world, to be with us. God appears in this world, right among us, in all this wretchedness, and, if you will, also hopelessness of every day life. And although this child grows up, preaches, dies and is resurrected, God sends his Holy Spirit, his presence and closeness, so that we never again must be alone, always have access to him, our God, who makes himself so little that he fits into a manger, and yet he is so mighty as no one else. “I am with you always to the close of the age”, Jesus has said to his frightened friends. And Paul writes later, that there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love. – It was an eventful year 2005, with a truly beautiful anniversary. Looking back, one can only say, regarding the 50 years of our congregation: How good it is, that God gave this courage and assurance to those who founded the congregation. And time and again people in the congregation have asked themselves: How are we going to manage? How can we buy the church, how pay for it? How will the work continue, the nursery? How do we face the many problems of the people around us? In our personal life as in the life of the congregation, to this question: How will I manage? There is only one answer: With God’s help! In view of faith, the headline over your life corresponds with the verse for the year ahead of us, 2006: God says: I will not fail you or forsake you.
My Family and I wish you a contemplative Advent- and Christmas Season,
a good New Year’s Eve and a blessed New Year.
Your Pastor Stefan Wolf

Open House on October 29th –In Retrospect

On October 29^th, our Open House took place. We have experienced a very eventful day, starting with the opening of the brass band in front of the Church at 12:00 o’clock. We have opened the doors symbolically and invited everybody to take part in the event. In the rooms of the Church much food was offered. Goulash soup from Lein’s Delicatessen, a pasta dish from Mark Rinas (Muddy Duck), salad from Sam Lades, cakes from Mr. Wiegers H&R Sweets.  We have taken care of about 350 visitors during the afternoon. The Coffee from David Pritchard’s Birds and Beans was also appreciated – after all, nearly 30 litres of coffee were poured! In just two hours, we sold all the crèches from Brazil! There were also various things offered: Pages of postage stamps with the motif of our Church, books from the estate of Pastor Schwantes, our congregational cook book, greeting cards painted by Mrs. Jonuschies herself, a CD of our Church Choir. It was a constant coming and going. Outside the church the Day Care staff was busy with providing an interesting program for children. Also, people gathered in the nave of the Church, where one could hear an organ concert by Uwe Liefländer and Jazz music of the J. S. Jazz quintett. At the end of the afternoon, a reading of the well-known television moderator, Paula Todd, took place. These extraordinary life stories from her Book “A quiet Courage”, which she introduced, surely touched on many things that also happen in our lives. Certainly also thanks to the good weather this day was such a complete success. We have truly opened the doors wide and could greet people from the neighbourhood, who were quite astonished how beautiful our Church is. A few returned the next day for the joint Reformation Service.  And Jazz music in the Church?  - Someone said quite honestly that he was very sceptical beforehand, when he heard that a Jazz Band would play in the Church. But the result was: “It was wonderful. Thank you! It has brought back so many old memories!” – “When will we have an Open House again?” I have already been asked quite often. We shall see. It was certainly a day which we will keep in our memory for a long time, and has shown us once again, that people come to us, whenever we open our doors wide.

The numbers of this day: 370 visitors in the Church Service, 260 attended the following banquet, 53 helpers. What a Celebration! How gratefully we can look back on our anniversary day! The pictures of this day, which you can also admire on our Homepage in the Internet, speak for themselves. They show many content guests and congregational members, who, as far as we heard, have enjoyed the day to the fullest. Our Bishop, Michael Pryse, who has given the sermon in the Celebration Service, was very appreciative of the spirit of communion which can be felt in our congregation. In his sermon, he emphasized that it is a celebration of thanks. “We thank God for his presence in the past, but as Advent-people we are constantly on the look-out for God’s presence in our Church, in our district, in the world, whom God loves more than we will ever completely understand.” The church choir, the brass band of the congregation, which was supported by the “Brass Appeal”-Wind Ensemble, and the organ music gave the Service a dignified form. But also the joy of the children, who surprised us with a poem and a song, fitted quite naturally into the highpoint of this Church Service of the Year. We were also able to greet high-ranking visitors: besides our Bishop, whom we cannot thank enough for his visit and his sensitive sermon, we could count among our guests the German Consul General, Dr. Klaus Rupprecht, the member of Parliament Jean Augustine and the Secretary General of the Canadian Council of Churches, Karen Hamilton. Pastor Christoph Ernst traveled together with Mr. and Mrs. Lohmann from the Martin Luther Church in Ottawa, especially to spend this day with us. We received so many written greetings, which we could not read out during the meal. Among them are wishes from Pastor Reichel’s congregation from Brazil, greetings from the Bishop for External Affairs of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Rolf Koppe, from the Premier Dalton McGuinty and many others.  We will display them in the Church building and publish them in the book about the history of our Church. Many people were able to meet friends and acquaintances and watch a video presentation (later on even with music!). The food was very good. It was certainly the right thing to do to celebrate in such close proximity. One had the feeling that the day, when we also could honour merited congregational members for their 50 year membership, went by far too fast. All helpers deserve a thank you, all those who visited us and have taken part, and foremost God, who has so richly bestowed us with his presence and his blessing.  All of us certainly take away from these festivities many good memories and hopefully much energy for the congregational work into the future.

Come and experience two Church Services with a special atmosphere!

At 5:00 p.m., the traditional Christmas Eve Service takes place. To this Service we invitee especially also all families. During the Service, we offer the children an activity in the Sunday School. We will also take care that English-speaking visitors gain more from this joint Service and we will join in singing the traditional and well-known Christmas songs.  Whether big or small, ALL are cordially welcomed! As it is our tradition, the Church will be festively decorated. The church choir and the brass band will participate in this Service.

At 7:00 p.m., a Candlelight Service takes place in English, which invites to calmness and relaxation. In this hectic atmosphere of the Christmas Season, we will enjoy classical guitar music in the Church, lit by candles. However, the songs we are used to will not be missed.

We hope that, through two different offers this year, we can appeal to more people. We would like to point out that you please attend on time, especially the first Service. As at the Anniversary, we will take care that the Church Council members will arrange it so that the Church fills up from the front to the back. This helps to avoid commotion.

This year, the Church Service on First Christmas Day will be held in the afternoon at 5:00 p.m. So the families, who choose to celebrate Christmas according to Canadian tradition in the morning, can come to Singing Service. The joint Service puts the well-known songs from both traditions into its centre. The Church Choir will take part again. So we can let Christmas come to a musical close.

On New Year’s Day, we invite to a jazzy Prelude. With music and texts, a sermon on the watchword for the year, followed by a celebration to which we want to invite to the congregational rooms. This time, we want to start the New Year somewhat differently. The J.S Jazz quintett, which already played at the Open House, will “abduct” us with music into former times. We hope to have good attendance!

On January 29^th, we invite to a joint Service at 11:00 a.m., a lunch and a film, which we want to watch together and discuss afterwards. The film is “Joshua”, and focuses, as the novel of the same name by Joseph Girzone, on faith and peoples’ doubts in faith, in which we all recognize ourselves a little. The film has no age restrictions, is cheerful, serious, touching and inspiring. We take care of lunch and ask for donations to cover the costs.

The Foodbank of the Wesley Presbyterian Church, which we support with regular gifts, needs our help desperately. Please bring imperishable food items when you come to the Church Service, so that poor people can have enough to eat at Christmas. Put the food into the baskets set out in the entrance hall. THANK YOU!

From Friday till Sunday, February 3^rd to 5^th, a Bible Retreat for Adults takes place again at Camp Edgewood. Please register now already. We try to arrange car pools, and will, as usual, meet on Friday, around 4:00 p.m. at the retreat camp of the Lutheran Church, near Guelph. And on Sunday, after we jointly visit the Church Service and have lunch, we will return home.

The topic this year is: “A book with seven seals? – The Revelation of John.”

Mr. Stanley Balachorek

 Jesus says: I live and you will live also.
John 14, 19

All Dates at a Glance