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two Enews for you this week
There is much to convey. Website updates, gratitudes for our board (present, new and departing members) goodbyes to Hilde, hello to Greg, our regular weekly events, poetry and more. For my comfort and time management purposes and for your ease of reading we have broken this week's ENews in two. This one and another later tomorrow after I recover. :-) TONIGHT, my other passion SingYourJoy Young Adult Chorus, is performing at the Dave Dunnet Theatre in Oak Bay Highschool. For those of you planning on making the trek and don't have tickets, fear not, they are available at the door. Our 'house' numbers are coming together really well with our pre-sales, but there will be room for you. Gordon For more infomation visit:
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Sunday WorshipSunday, April 7, 10:15am Sunday Worship: Here we find ourselves venturing into this stretch of 50 days following Easter Sunday … a kind of welcome ‘in between time’ where we are afforded some spaciousness to absorb some of the miracle & mystery of the Risen Christ. This week we encounter the disciples — understandably frightened in the wake of Jesus’ crucifixion — seeking some sort of safety behind locked doors. And into their midst comes the Risen Jesus! Thomas has missed out on this first stunning appearance. But when Jesus re-appears especially for Thomas, we are invited to lean in close and join this courageous disciple as he reaches out to touch Jesus’ wounds … and then to wonder what touching into those and anyone’s wounds might mean for our lives. Scripture passage: John 20:19-31 For more infomation visit:
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“In praise of church musicians”
We at James Bay United are so very blessed by the passionate music leadership and magnificent voice of our Music Director, Jennifer Turner. In his essay, “In praise of church musicians”, Peter W. Marty expresses so well what we have come to experience in all that Jennifer brings to us: “Gifted church musicians know how to help people sing together. They’re genius at helping a congregation get ‘lost in wonder, love, and praise,’ to borrow Charles Wesley’s words, without simply getting lost. Week in and week out, these practitioners enlarge individual worlds, send chills up spines, and remind worshipers that singing is not an external option for our lives; it’s an internal component of being fully human.” Don’t forget to take an opportunity (or many!) to express your gratitude to Jennifer!
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Gratitude and Appreciationfrom Healing Pathway Ministry We appreciate the congregations prayers as we prepare for JBUC Healing Pathway Ministry to host next weekend April 12-14, 2024 - Phase 2 - Where Two or More Gather Workshop led by Howard Clark and Sharon Moon, Instructors coming from Ottawa, and Jannice Foreman from Victoria. Gratitude for all the many hands baking, helping with all the preparations including set up, billetting and participating in the Sunday Worship service on April 14, 2024. We will be celebrating being 1 years old as a HP Ministry at JBUC and look forward to see you at this light giving worship service. |
New in the library this weeka note from Aleksa The Late Jonathan Sacks, an Orthodox rabbi, says in his book Not in God’s name: Confronting Religious Violence: “If only we were to listen closely to the voice of the other, we would find that beneath the skin we are siblings*, members of the human family under the parenthood of God. When others become family* and conflict is transformed into conciliation, we have begun the journey to society – as-a-family -- and the redemptive drama can begin." This is an especially important book in these times, and therefore needs to be read critically. While Sacks criticizes the violent acts of radical fundamentalist Islamic leaders, he does not condemn the violence acts of ultra-right wing nationalist Jewish groups, especially in Israel’s West Bank. (ed.note - I would like to believe Rabbi Sacks would see things differently were he alive to watch what is going on in Gaza today.) Sacks believes passionately that if Judaism, Christianity, and Islam could overcome their “sibling rivalry”—which he dismantles in his interpretation of Genesis—these monotheistic religions could again offer a fruitful model of moral coherence in our postmodern world. *language changed to become more inclusive |