3255 Edgemont Blvd. North Vancouver, BC V7R 2P1

Ph: 604-980-6071 churchoffice@highlandsunited.org www.highlandsunited.org Rev. Will Sparks, Lead Minister

Highlights October 15, 2017

On this third Sunday

focusing on “Life that Really Is Life”, we celebrate

the qualities in life that cannot be taken away,

those things that really count.”

Albert Einstein once said “Not everything that can be

counted counts, and not everything that counts

can be counted.”

Highlands Upcoming Events and Programs

This list does not include rooms booked for outside rentals (Guides, AA, Alanon etc).

Highlands Event Calendar can be viewed on our web site at: www.highlandsunited.org

Sunday October 15 9:30 am Coffee/Tea in the Welcoming Space 10:00 am Sunday Worship Service, Sanctuary 11:45 am Re:Sound Rehearsal, Choir Room Monday, October 16 1:00 pm Prayer Shawl Ministry, Choir Room 7:00 pm Guitar for Fun, Fireside Room 7:00 pm Handsworth Prelude Concert, Sanctuary 7:30 pm Badminton, Gym Tuesday, October 17 9:30 am ESL/ELL Conversation Class, Room 201 9:30 am ESL/ELL Beginners Conversation Class, Rm 202 7:00 pm Handsworth Prelude Concert, Sanctuary 7:00 pm Eclipsing Empire: Faith Room Wednesday, October 18 7:30 am Men’s Breakfast, Eighties Restaurant 10:30 am Seniors Connection, Lower Hall 7:00 pm Handsworth Prelude Concert, Sanctuary Thursday, October 19 8:00 am Women’s Breakfast, Daisy Restaurant 9:30 am ESL/ELL Conversation Class, Room 201 9:30 am ESL/ELL Beginners Conversation Class, Room 202 12:30 pm ESL/ELL Speakers Group, Room 201 5:30 pm Thursday Dinner 6:00 pm Leadership Board Meeting, Faith Room 6:00 pm Genesis Too Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 6:15 pm Living the Questions, Faith Room 6:30 pm God’s Free Spirits Choir Rehearsal, Choir Room 8:00 pm Spirit Singers Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary Friday, October 20 10:00 am Fiddle Class, Faith Room 6:00 pm IGNITE, Sanctuary 7:00 pm IGNITE Dinner, Lower Hall 7:00 pm FUEL (Gr.4 & up) 8:00 pm Bible and Brew for Young Adults, Faith Room 8:00 pm Adult Ed/Living Faith with Will Sparks 8:00 pm Senior Youth Event Saturday, October 21 8:45 am Tai Chi, Gym 1:00 pm Saturday Lunch at North Shore Neighbourhood House Sunday October 22 9:30 am Coffee/Tea in the Welcoming Space 10:00 am Sunday Worship Service, Sanctuary 11:45 am Re:Sound Rehearsal, Choir Room 3:00 pm Marcus Mosley Benefit Concert, Sanctuary

STEWARDSHIP CONNECTION 2017

Our annual Stewardship Connection kicked off on Sunday, October

1st. In this time of new and

expanded ministries at Highlands,

you are invited to explore future

plans and consider your support

for the church’s work in the

coming year.

Please take time to read the “Life

that Really is Life – Live Freely”

stewardship brochure

on-line at

www.highlandsunited.org. Printed

copies are also available in the

Welcoming Space and in the

Church Office.

The amazing Upside Down

Lunch is coming up on Sunday

October 29th celebrating

Stewardship at Highlands in its

many forms. Everyone is invited

and you can even “eat dessert first.”

Sign-up at the Action Table today to

let us know you’ll be there and how

you can help out by bringing dessert,

setting up, decorating or cleaning up.

You can also use the easy on-line

signup at

www.highlandsunited.org

SOCK AND PONCHO APPEAL

FOR FIRST UNITED

There is an ongoing need for men’s and women’s

socks and for ponchos in the Downtown Eastside

community. First United Church offers a foot care

program and the clients receive a new pair of socks

after each treatment. As well, many homeless folks

appeal to First United daily for clean, dry socks.

Highlands Local Connections Committee is again

asking for your support in providing these needed

items. Each year we have exceeded our targeted 1000 pairs of socks.

You can participate by donating socks - men’s and women’s in any

colour and/or light weight vinyl ponchos or by donating money toward

the purchase of these items.

Members of the Local Connections committee will be at the Action

Table each Sunday until November 5th to receive and record your

donations (which will be included for tax purposes with your annual

statement). Contribution cheques can be made out to Highlands United

Church – please note “Sock and Poncho Appeal” on the memo line.

Thank you for considering this appeal.

Newcomers Gathering

Are you new to Highlands in the past year? Do you

know where the bunker is? How about the Flea Hive?

Did you know that Highlands was built on a potential

NSF cheque?

Come join Will, Sandi and a few special guests during

coffee time to meet other new folk, get the real story

of Highlands life and ministry, and learn everything

you wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

Membership at Highlands United Church

Sunday October 29th is a Membership Transfer Sunday. If you have

come to Highlands and would like to become a member, please call

Will at the office.

Flower Committee For many years Highlands United Church had a very dedicated group

of individuals who made sure that every Sunday and especially over the

festive seasons the church was decorated with flowers. The group has

been disbanded and we are in need of few new people willing to help

with this task.

It requires only a couple of hours a month either on a Friday or

Saturday to arrange a bouquet for the front of the church. There are

several very experienced and knowledgeable people in our church

community who are willing to act as consultants should we need

assistance. Please contact Linda Davidson at 604-986-4593 or

ldavidson33@shaw.ca if you would be willing to participate.

Update on our Newcomer Families

and Celtic Fundraiser at Highlands

From the North Shore United Refugee Response Team

Six months since arrival of our Newcomer families!

Both families are settled in Burnaby, near relatives. Children

returned to school in September and are enthusiastically engaged in

learning and playing catch up for lost years of education. The eldest

daughter in one family is attending Coquitlam College on a full

scholarship to re-sit her high school diploma and earn credits for

university entrance, with her sister likely to follow the same path. We

hope all of the other children will graduate from High School with

their peers, but it will take hard work and perseverance to make up

for 2+ years of lost schooling.

Parents are once more engaged in attending their own English

classes and are slowly becoming more confident in speaking short

simple sentences. As yet their English is inadequate for job

searching or taking courses to help secure better paid work.

Both families (along with the family being sponsored by West

Vancouver United and NSURR team volunteers) enjoyed an outing

to Fort Langley on September 9th. A great time was had by all and

friendships were born as the children interacted.

While budgets are healthy, we want to ensure that neither family is

burdened with their travel loan debt -- $10,000 each. Our finances

are several thousand dollars short.

So we are going to host a fundraiser at Highlands United Church on

November 4th at 6pm. The theme will be Celtic,

with performances by the Vancouver Fiddle Orchestra, the Docs n

Socs fun pipes and drums and the Black Bear Rebels Ceilidh band.

We also hope to arrange a Highland Dancer as well as an Irish

Dance display. A simple meal will be included and a Cash Bar.

Tickets are available from Highlands Church

Office. Hope to see you there!

Donations for Flea Market

Donations are now closed for the year, we will start taking donations

again on January 8th, 2018.

Thank you for your continued support!

Highlands Local Connections Outreach NEWS

As many of you know, our partners on the DTES & other areas on the

Lower Mainland are suffering with homelessness, hunger & the opioid

crisis & putting many frontline workers & volunteers under more stress

than ever before. Their budgets are thin & food costs are rising

continually, as winter weather is approaching. WISH Drop-In has had to

close its drop-in one day per week & close 1 ½ hours earlier each

morning. Their safety van does not go out one day per week & many

programs have been scaled back. They ask us all to dig deep for more

funding.

FIRST UNITED offers many programs to the DTES folks such as Foot

Care, Advocacy, Hospitality, Healing, Storage, Clinics, Seniors Drop-in,

spiritual sessions etc. An average of 9,200 meals are served per

month & 527 food bags are distributed throughout the year.

CAPILANO COMMUNITY SERVICE SOCIETY of the North Shore

offers programs for isolated seniors such as socials, medical rides,

telephone visits & shopping trips. Youth counsellors from C.C.S.S.

meet with youth at risk in 3 secondary schools & 2 elementary schools.

They offer counselling, discussions, music jam sessions & field trips in

the secondary schools & after-school programs & snacks in the 2

elementary schools.

Bus passes are needed at the LOOKOUT SHELTER NORTH SHORE

for clients to get to job interviews, medical appointments, etc. This

quarter HIGHLANDS UNITED has given $4300 to our partners in the

community as follows:

FIRST UNITED has received this quarter … $2400.

($2000 for programs and $400 for community meals)

WISH DROP-IN SOCIETY...$800.

CAPILANO COMMUNITY SERVICES...$1000.

LOOKOUT SHELTER NORTH SHORE...$100.

Total $4300 July-Sept. quarter

Thank you to Highlands members for your generosity and for reaching

out into our community, to those in need.

Highlands Book Circle

This drop-in book discussion group provides a

small group setting in which to get to know some

fellow congregational members in more depth

while sharing thoughts and reactions to both

current and classic novels.

We meet from 7:00pm to approximately 8:30pm.

Tuesday, October 24th: “Big Little Lies” (2014) by Liane

Moriarty

- 'a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers

and daughters, school-yard scandal, and the dangerous little lies

we tell ourselves just to survive'

- an annual Trivia Night fund-raiser at a primary school in

Australia ends in a riot.........and one dead parent

Tuesday, Nov. 28th: “Barometer Rising” (1941) by Hugh

MacLennan

- a romance set at the time of the Halifax Explosion of 1917

which the author survived when a ten-year-old boy

- an early attempt to define Canada for Canadians through a

national novel

Families with children & youth of all ages are invited to

come to a PARTY at Highlands on Sat, Oct. 28 at 4:00 pm.

Children, parents and grandparents are invited to wear

costumes (nothing too scary). We will have a spooky critter

presentation from Urban Safari Rescue Society, share a

traditional potluck dinner together, enjoy some games and

crafts and have our annual 'darkness to light' walk.

This is a fun and casual opportunity for families to get to

know each other. Please bring a main dish to share

(salads, veggies, casseroles, pizza, chili etc). Chips, dessert

and beverages provided. Please bring a portion size big

enough to feed your family plus a couple of extras!!

RSVP to Allie Keir at cyaya@highlandsunited.org.

All are welcome!!

Members of Highlands are invited to attend for FREE,

the orchestra’s dress rehearsal from 3:30-5 pm in the

Sanctuary on Wednesday, October 25th

COMMUNITY EVENTS

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Camp Fancy

Nov 4, Gambier

Island: Camp Fircom's

Annual Gala

Join with Camp Fircom on

Gambier Island on

Saturday, Nov 4th, 2017

for a wonderful day of fun

activities, auctions,

delicious food and

more! Since reopening,

this was their biggest year

of camp yet with 14

sessions of programming

on offer. Come celebrate the year's successes and raise funds to

support future campers. Be a part of the 'camp magic', get your

Cost $2500 US—inclusive including the cost of the flight.

Contact Eric for more information at eric@vanyaya.bc.ca

or by phone 604-290-2432.

OR contact Doris at dkizinna@bc.united-church.ca

or by phone at 604-341-2724