I often receive direction and wisdom from my parents and grandparents. Every year they took us to Vincent Massey Park in Ottawa to celebrate and worship as a congregation of Westboro United Church in a public way at this very gazebo. As a youth musician in the church, I remember working with Rev. Gordon Cann, to plan a service that included Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens. I played guitar and thought we were very hip and groovy. At 16, I was moving all the sound equipment and instruments to the park miles from my home - with the help of my grandmothers '63 Belair - and setting up in the early hours (for a teenager) to be ready for the congregation when they arrived. At the time I didn't give any thought to what an inconvenience and how disquieting it might have been for some of the congregation to worship outside in a different location. No alternative service was offered in our regular sanctuary and while we helped people with rides to drive across the city, I am sure there was grumbling, but I didn't hear it. For the most part we showed up. And really, that is all Christ asks us to do.
Gordon Miller
Communication and Neighbourhood Engagement
This Hymn also comes to mind ...
#522 from Voices United
Author: Carol Rose Ikeler (b. 1920)
1 The Church is wherever God's people are praising,
knowing they're wanted and loved by their Lord.
The Church is wherever Christ's followers are trying
to live and to share out the good news of God.
2 The Church is wherever God's people are loving,
where all are forgiven and start once again,
where all are accepted, whatever their background,
whatever their past and whatever their pain.
3 The Church is wherever God's people are seeking
to reach out and touch folk wherever they are --
conveying the Gospel, its joy and its comfort,
to challenge, refresh, and excite and inspire.
