Such richness flowing
through the branches of summer and into

the body, carried inward on the five
rivers! Disorder and astonishment

This week we will be worshipping “in the style of Taizé.

In the south of Burgundy, France is a small village called Taizé. This village is home to a monastic community devoted to prayer and reconciliation, founded in the 1940s by Brother Roger. The community is made up of brothers from all the continents and major denominations who gather together three times a day, seven days a week, throughout the year to pray (whether there are 7000 young people present or only twenty brothers).

While many people make pilgrimages to Taizé to experience the community and prayer life, most experience Taizé through the ways that community comes to us, namely by the characteristics it has contributed to Christian worship practices.

Music: Jennifer Turner
Readers: Owen McCooey and Janice Langley
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1: 18-20
Lighting the Christ Candle: Mahima Sylvester
Meditation: Cheryl Macpherson
Bulletin

Join us on Sunday, June 9th, after coffee time, for some sweet and savoury snacks, community-building chat, and some tweaking of the beautiful painted doors from last year. The doors worked hard in last year’s parade, dancing down the streets of Victoria, helping viewers know who we are and what we are about at James Bay United. Opening Doors to God’s Love, declaring our inclusivity across the board to everyone. Now the doors need just a bit of tidying, handles strengthened, and a few other bits.

Mark your calendars for the Victoria Pride Parade: Sunday, July 7th. Walk with us in the parade right from the start (more details to follow) or join us after a shortened Sunday service that morning.

Your trumpet firebrand Lachlan Craven—recently returned from completing studies in Holland—brings together an all-star quintet to celebrate the classic sound of jazz great Dexter Gordon!

Partners and co-hosts from across the region invite you to join us to honour National Indigenous Peoples Day on Friday, June 21, 2024. We are grateful to gather on the traditional lands of the Lekwungen-speaking Peoples, the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, for this annual celebration.

Enjoy Indigenous heritage, culture, food, and music with online learning, workshops, activities, and opportunities for connection.

Everyone is welcome, and admission is free.

In her 2024 public message (above), Moderator Carmen Lansdowne calls to fiercely celebrate the great diversity that God loved into being, and to centre the lived experience of those made marginal by cis-gendered hetero-normativity. This year that celebration is more important than ever. Across the globe—but also here at home—homophobia and transphobia are on the rise. 2SLGBTQIA+ people and communities are feeling and experiencing heightened risk. May we be deep, bold, and daring in our rainbow witness everywhere.

The James Bay Community Chorus has ended its season and will return on Wednesday, September 11th.

Look out for our new registration form on the website in July.