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Grace and Peace to You this day!

Rev. Gary Paterson hit the nail on the head this week when he named the challenge of this time: learning how to live with uncertainty!

  • “…not knowing when this will end, trying to imagine what it would be like to worship six feet apart, wearing masks…and not singing! How the experience of offering online worship includes incredible creativity….and massive frustration! Even the experts are having glitches. Many of us are trying to do 30 years of technological catch-up in 8 weeks!...Our Pacific Mountain Region General Meeting has been postponed until it is possible to meet together. And the General Council meeting has been postponed until 2022…So…here we are in uncertainty. How do you and I embrace uncertainty, unknowing, and the sense of vulnerability of this time? Another way to say it is ‘How can we live with faith…not fear…and not denial…?’”

I am sure I can’t be the only one who has had a meltdown recently…when one more new thing (aka “change”) was just one more new thing too many! Strangely, the “one more thing” was a call from my hairdresser, asking if I wanted to book one last appointment with her since she would be leaving the salon! This may not seem like a big thing…but it was…one more change… One more loss along with travel to see my family, walking the beaches of Tofino, being with people person-to-person…worshiping and singing together…etc.

And I realized that the change and loss we are all experiencing requires faith in a God who can hear us in all that…really hear us…no condemnation…and then help us out of the pit! That was my experience. Not a magic-wand-all-of-a-sudden-out-of-the-pit experience. But various, gentle reminders that expressed the Presence of God’s Love communicating, “I am here. Take my hand. I’ve got you.” These reminders came in nature, of course, and in inspiration, in humour, in a word of encouragement…in the presence of love offered by those near to me…and even by strangers.

My prayer is that we will live with faith and watch for the presence of the Holy Spirit to lift us up and remind us, in encounters, images, and experiences we can understand, that God - whose power at work in us is able to infinitely more than we can ask or imagine - is present even and especially in uncertain times.

Re-opening?

Your Como Lake Council has made the decision not to re-open to indoor worship or other indoor groups for the time being. The decision was made with the health of all of us in mind while also acknowledging the loss of in-person connection. This decision will be revisited at the beginning of September. With the BC Government and Pacific Mountain Regional protocols as a guide, small outdoor gatherings or short outdoor worship would be possibilities. From the phone-out this week, we should have an indication if there is interest in any of these outdoor gatherings.

Connection Team Call-out!

  • Our next phone-out to everyone on our contact list will begin in the next few days. We hope that you will take a few minutes to chat with one of our caring team when you get the call. We want to know how you are faring and we would like your feedback on our online worship, and the avenues we are taking for communicating with you, how effective they are, and what we might be missing…
  • For those we may inadvertently miss or are unable to contact or who live out of to the area, please know we do care. If you haven’t been called in the next 2 weeks, please take some time to email the church and let us know how you are doing, whether you find these weekly email updates and our online worship helpful, and leave a phone number if you would like us to call you.

We come to the end of our Easter Season with the Celebration of Pentecost…the day that the promised Holy Spirit swept through the gathered people like a wind and flame and the church came into being!

  • We invite you to wear the colours of fire – red, orange, yellow…this Sunday
  • And please bring some bread and beverage for Communion. This is another opportunity to experience something different…in the sharing in Communion from our homes. We hope you will sense the Holy Spirit moving among us!

NOTE: Next Sunday, June 7th, we will be taking a 1-Sunday pause from our own online worship. Please join in worship at an online service of your choice.

Thank-you!

Your Council and Finance Team are grateful for your continued financial support for this congregation and its ministries. Thanks to all those who continue to mail your cheques or give via pre-authorized remittance (PAR), eTransfer, credit card phone-in, and PayPal.

Communication, Website, Church Office, Phone, Email

Connecting in Prayer

…today I actually saw a butterfly in flight…

Grace, Peace, Wisdom…and unexpected Holy Spirit moments to you and yours.

~ Rev. Jan