Thank you: Franklyn Roy, Judy Langford, Alan Thurston, Martin Stewart, Patricia Callan, Joanne Keelan, Bev Tracey and Karen. And so many others working behind the scenes.

Yesterday on short notice these folks responded to the call to pack up the Thrift Shop temporarily and ready our space to help keep our unhoused neighbours warm during this bitter cold snap. The work was done swiftly and graciously as we, as a people of Christ heed our call. Matthew 25:31-40

Our JBUC TED talks are a real HIT these days at our Friday morning coffee time on ZOOM. Big thanks to Steve and Charlotte for getting us off to a GREAT start.  What a wonderful way to discover more about each other … our life experiences, our passions, what compels us. 

This week Karen Dickey and Gordon Miller will make a short presentation about everything that has been going in our church's social justice responses with the unhoused in our community. There is truly much too much to send in an email because so many of you are doing such a variety of amazing things and this is a good opportunity to keep the whole congregation informed. There will be ample time for questions and also just for visiting with each other. 

See you tomorrow morning at 10 am

Meeting Link

Meeting ID: 846 2128 5958
Passcode: 553780

To Dial in by phone:

Find your local number: 

Meeting ID: 846 2128 5958
Passcode: 553780

. . . I am a full-time student, but I also spend lots of time engaging in community work. Recently I started having conversations with Gordon and Karen about collaborating on community projects, and the ethnography felt like a perfect fit. I believe this offers an opportunity for us to learn from one another and engage in building respectful and reciprocal community relationships to address some major social inequalities. I am excited about the opportunity for me to get to know the James Bay United Church community more intimately, and to work together to foster positive social change."

Click on my video link and let's start this journey together. 

Casey

The folks who organize the national Moose Hide Campaign 2021 have extended an invitation to United Church of Canada people to join this day of action to end violence against women and children. 

Read the email from our United Church Regional Office here: 

Follow the link below to jump right into the variety of live streams.

Last week Charlotte shared with us how birds have taken hold of her heart and inspire her poetry.

Here is Pacific Wren by Charlotte Caron

The winter woods wet with green,
The trees, the ferns, the grasses.
The green so silent, so silent
That life seems to stop, giving time
To absorb all that quiet brings.
A silence so deep that wonder 
Opens a pathway to the fissure
Between this world and the next,
That holy space that tugs out
The dream of a world where
All is green and fresh. No red
Of fresh spilled blood of war.
No blue of bruised souls. No
Burning orange of searing pain.
Verdant green. Lavish plentitude.
A song escapes from the little
Pacific wren into the silent mystery.
Yes, there will be peace on earth.

Are you among those in our community who are ready, even eager, to look at the reality of white supremacy … how it has and is currently playing out in our society, and even closer to home in our own lives?  An opportunity is coming this Lent to dive in with others as we read White Fragility-why is it so hard for white people to talk about racism, and engage in honest conversation with each other.  To indicate your interest, and to help us schedule the best possible time for a series of conversations by zoom, please contact Karen Dickey today.