Pembina Parish Advent Newsletter

Dec. 2018

Dear Friends,

One of my favourite hymns is “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Christina Rosetti. Its words

“earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone” echo what many of us experience at this time of

year: cold, darkness and barrenness. Yet this is also the season when lights begin to shine in

the night and warmth is felt in community as our preparations for Christmas begin.

Within the church we are entering the season of Advent, that holy time of waiting, long-

ing and expectation as we move towards the celebration of Christ’s birth. These four

weeks offer us an opportunity to grow deeper in our faith and be reflective about our rela-

tionships with God, others, and the world. Each Sunday as another candle is lit on our

Advent wreath we watch as the light grows around us, remembering God’s gifts of hope,

peace, joy and love. Despite the busyness of this season, we are invited to take moments of

quiet, of rest and reflection to prepare for the coming of Christ into the world.

My hope and prayer for you in this Advent season is that you will be able to find some

moments of calm and peace to help prepare you to receive the gift of Christ’s birth. As we

move closer to the wonderful news of the Divine coming to us in human form as “Emmanuel,”

God-with-us, may the light in your life and heart continue to grow, bringing you to the full-

ness of Christmas joy and love.

Blessings to each of you on your Advent journey,

Rev. Cathie

Book Club

The book club meets once a month in members’ homes. The books are available at the

Morden Library. New members are always welcome, join us every month or just now and

then. If you would like to receive information about upcoming reads please contact Sue

Nelson 204-822-6357 sue.nelson@mymts.net

January 24 -Annabel Kathleen Winter

February 28 – Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine – Gail Honeyman

March 28 – The Chilbury Ladies Choir – Jennifer Ryan

April 25 – Crow Lake – Mary Lawson

May 23 – Educated- Tara Westover

Outreach Interest Group

Soup and Dessert

Mark your calendars for the next soup and dessert lunch Friday January 18 11:30-1pm. Thank you to everyone

who has supplied desserts, helped prepare, serve and clean up. Your support is very much appreciated.

Donations made so far this year

Mission and Service $991.00 Donate Love (Jan & June food for their food pantry) $249.92 Sponsored NFB film “Birth of a Family” $200.00 Raised funds for the Local church at Mother’s Day Brunch $751.25 Total $2,192.17 Donations will be made to other local groups including: Genesis House $500.00 BTHC spiritual care $500.00 Morden Christmas Cheer Board $500.00 Local church costs for Caring and Sharing $1,000.00

Local pastoral care $300.00 Chance 2 Grow $250.00

Morden Parent and Child Resource $250.00 Cookie Walk Friday Dec 7, 2:30-5pm 2 Doz. $8.00, 4 Doz. $15.00 Choose from a selection of Christmas cookies and dainties. Come for coffee and sample cookies too. Please donate cookies for the sale. Sign up sheet in the Narthex.

Please have your Cookies at the church by noon Dec 7 and let us know what kind they are.

Blue Christmas Service

Sunday, Dec. 16th at 7:00 p.m.

St. Paul’s

Although Christmas is a time of celebration for many people, it can be difficult for

those who are experiencing loss, grief or other struggles during this time. Sometimes

life’s realities – the knocks and hardships of the past year, or the grief and pain we’ve

been through can take some of the joy out of the Christmas season.

The “Blue Christmas” service is a quiet, reflective service for those who may be

feeling down at this time of year. Through music, candles, prayer and Scripture we

will reflect on God’s presence with us in suffering and look to the promise God brings

us at Christmas. We hope you will join us for this special service as we acknowledge

both the sadness and hope of this season.

Please consider inviting someone you know who might want or need this ser-

vice to come with you.

Pembina Parish Statement of Profit & Loss

Pembina Parish Finances

The Financial Statement is inclusive of the financial activity of the Parish for the first 10 months of the 2018. The highlights are as follows:

1. Congregation givings are $ 22,673 (12%) below what was projected as required to finance the Parish’s work.

2. We had budgeted having two ministers starting in July, but given this position hasn’t yet been filled we have a surplus in wages ($24,004) and moving expenses ($8,000). The result of the reduction in Parish expenses has more than offset the decrease in projected givings, which should result in us having a surplus at December 31st.

3. We are prayerful that the Stewardship campaign will make up the shortfall in giv-ings to usual levels and that we will end the year with a large surplus, positioning us well as we contemplate future building expenses at St. Pauls and the hiring of a Congregational Designated Minister.

Actual to

Oct31, 2018

Budget to

Oct.31,2018

Variance

Income

Givings $165,671 $188344 -$22,673

Fund Raising 9,889 7,000 2,889

Other 14,623 16,592 -1,969

Total Income $190,183 $211,936 -$21,753

Expenses

Salaries $86,203 $110,207 -$24,004

Administration 23,336 31,814 -8,478

St. Paul’s Bldg Expenses 37,176 39,286 -2,111

Zion Calvin Bldg Ex-

penses

6,811 7,910 -1,099

Interest Groups 3,975 18,108 -14,133

Total Expenses $157,499 $207,324 -$49,825

Net Surplus (-loss) $432,684 $4,611 $28,072

Affirming Church Committee Report

While Affirming Ministries are committed to action on issues of sexual orientation

and gender identity, they are first and foremost justice-seeking communities.

They are continually growing and learning their witness to Gods inclusive love.

Why become and Affirming Ministry you ask when we are already welcoming to

everyone?

1. Because Jesus ministry included all who were excluded for any reason such as

race, age income, and disability for example.

2. Because LGBTQ+2S Community faces specific and deliberate rejection and

shaming in places of worship, The United Church of Canada included.

3. Because we need to be out, public and proud to be fully present to our commu-

nities in all their diversity and struggles.

Canada began the Affirming Ministry Program in 2000 and encourages its minis-

tries to participate

Affirming Ministry Interest group we will continue to meet, visit other Affirming

Churches, invite speakers and work towards becoming an Affirming Ministry.

Submitted by

Maureen Irvine and Deb Hamilton

Congregational Designate Minister (CDM) Search

I am pleased to let you know that our request to have a CDM work in

Pembina Parish was passed at the Presbytery meeting Nov.17th.2018.

With that completed we will now begin the search process

I would like to thank, Sue Nelson, Karen Ching, Maureen Irvine and

Hugh Lumgair for all their work and time they put into both docu-

ments for Ministry staff.

If you have questions please speak to Edith Lovatt.

Thanks

Edith Lovatt

Poinsettia Ministry

We invite you to share in our Christmas Poinsettia Ministry at Pembina Parish.

Each year we send Poinsettias to the folk that have lost a loved one and those in

the congregation who are homebound. If you would like to contribute financially

to this ministry, please use a specially designated envelope (available at the

church). We would also be glad if you were able to help with their delivery on

Sunday December 16th after the service at St. Paul’s. If you are interested, there

will be a sign up sheet on the bulletin board at St. Paul’s.

Notes from the Leadership Team

As the season of Advent and the beginning of the church year approaches, I find myself reflecting on our strengths as the people of Pembina Parish, where we have been on our journey so far, and where we are going as we move forward into 2019 and beyond. I believe that we have a strong connection as a community of faith, and that we are striving to care for and support one another and our larger com-munity. I believe that, together we are working toward living out our Mission as it is currently stated: ‘To be a living celebration of God, as the body of Christ, serving the community and the world.’ This takes team work and ongoing commitment from all of us to share our abilities, talents, and skills: to contribute in some way, large or small to the life and work of the Parish. In early September, the Leadership Team along with Sue Nelson and Maureen Ir-vine met to begin a review of our Mission Statement, our Values, and our Vision for the future. In order to broaden our thinking about how to look at who we are, what matters to us, what are our values, what do we want to work at becoming in the future, we agreed to do a book study on ‘Fishing Tips’ How Curiousity Transformed a Community of Faith written by Rev. Dr. John Pentland of Hillhurst United Church in Calgary. John Pentland uses an ancient bible story for inspiration and reflects on how Hillhurst United said ‘Yes” to throwing their nets on the other side of con-vention. Our group members described their impressions of the book as exciting, empowering, good, heavy, lots to take in, encouraging – lots of work – does not just happen, it takes time, emerging, not one person can make changes – group effort, good book to pass on to others, engagingly written, stories very real with a good connection to Jesus and theology. To sum up we really liked this book! It is a good read. It is educational and it challenged our thinking. We recommend it, and our 4 meetings and 8 hours of discussions were beneficial. We are now revisiting the materials we have gathered from the work done over the past few years in Pembina Parish, as already mentioned in the fall newsletter in-cluding the last external review through the Pastoral Oversight Visit (2016), and the valuable input we have had from our members through our congregational meet-ings, Coffee Group Discussions, Pizza Nights, and our ‘EDGE’ Identity Mission Needs Analysis Survey [IMNA Survey] (2017, 2018). We are reviewing again what you have said regarding: Our Mission: Where are we now? Why do we exist? What is our purpose? Our Vision: Where are we going? Where is God leading us? What do we want to

become in the future? What are the possibilities? Our Values: What matters to us? What are our core values/beliefs that guide our

behaviour and relationships?

And we will ask ourselves…How are our buildings contributing to our carrying out of our Mission, and how will we plan for our buildings to contribute to realizing our Vision in the future? We will be looking again for your ideas on our Mission, Vision, and Values, in the New Year because these documents need to be realistic and relevant and reflective of what matters to all of us. They need to be ‘catchy, and easy to remember’. And we need to keep them in mind in all that we do. John Pentland recommends this kind of exercise be done about every 5 years, and that it should not be rushed. It takes time to name ourselves and make a statement about what we stand for. As well, this fall the Leadership Team has had 3 regular meetings to address our ongoing responsibilities. Here are a few highlights. In September, because there were no applications for the advertised Ordained Min-istry Position, we met with Ministry Search Committee representatives, Edith Lovatt, Karen Ching, and Hugh Lumgair to discuss options for the next steps in this search. The Leadership team recommended that an alternative search begin for a Congregational Designated Minister (CDM) as defined within the Congrega-tional Designated Minister Policy and Procedures of the United Church of Canada where a CDM is defined as: “A baptized lay person employed by a pastoral charge in a specified ministry posi-tion designated by the presbytery as accountable to the governing body of the pas-toral charge.This category does not include persons serving as candidate supply, intern supply, student intern, or student supply.” The search committee representatives attending our meeting agreed, along with Sue Nelson to continue their work, and to follow the CDM procedure in order to redevelop the position description according to our needs, with a focus on sup-porting young families. This position description was then sent to the Presbytery Pastoral Relations Committee for review and further direction. The first direction advised the committee to rework the position description to emphasize the fact that the work of the CDM was under the supervision of our on staff ordained minister. The search committee completed this revision and returned it to the Presbytery Pastoral Relations Committee, and on November 25, Edith Lovatt announced that this revision had been passed. This means that we can begin the next steps of our search. In October we welcomed Bruce Lyng as the new M & P representative for the Lead-ership Team. At this time we would like to thank our previous alternating M & P Reps, Karen Ching and Cathy Lone, for their contributions to our meetings, and who have taken on new responsibilities with M & P. Louise Gardiner volunteered to take over the position as Liaison to Property and Grounds and reported that the concrete at the entrance had been installed, the windows in the roof of the narthex repaired with the siding left to finish, (this has since been completed) and the park-ing lot lines repainted.

We applauded Lori Willcocks for her Co-Op Fundraiser, which raised over $3100. We completed the review and revision of our Use of Space Agreement Policy with input from the Finance Interest Group. Laurie Wiebe, our Office Administrator at-tended a workshop on the Accessibility for Manitobans Act which dictates that we comply with the Accessibility Standard for Customer Service, and that we have a policy in place by November 1, 2018. Laurie provided support to the Leadership Team in drafting our new policy using the information she received at the work-shop. Our new Accessible Customer Service Policy was approved at our Novem-ber Meeting and demonstrates our intent to comply with this legislation. It states that our policies, practices, and measures reflect the dignity, independence, inte-gration, and equal opportunity for people with disabilities and addresses: Meeting communication needs, accommodating use of assistive devices, welcom-ing support persons, allowing service animals, maintaining accessibility features, letting the public know when and why an accessibility feature is unavailable, wel-coming and responding promptly to feedback, providing the required training to employees and volunteers. We identified there were areas for improvement to be considered for example, automatic doors at the entrance, which has already been investigated by our Capital Planning Committee but has not been approved to date. We discussed the possibly a doorbell in the interim. Bruce Lyng provided an over-view of an on line building code for accessible washrooms, and advised that we would need to make some modifications to improve access, if we undergo any con-struction projects in the future. We acknowledged the fact that, developer, Sam Berg’s construction project had begun on the west side of St. Paul’s and that he has been in communication with us through Laurie Wiebe and Glenn Dyck. The new building will be approximately 15 feet from our property line, and the company will landscape up to the church to ensure drainage and aesthetics are consistent. We received two information bulletins about the new Region 5 Transmission Com-mission pertaining to the new United Church of Canada Regional Structure. At the end of December 2018, Presbytery and General Council become the Transition Commission. We will become Region 5 comprised of 166 communities of faith in Manitoba and North Western Ontario. The first Regional meeting will be June 13 – 16 2019. We can elect 4 lay persons to attend in addition to ministry personnel. We applauded the success of the delicious Fall Supper Fundraiser organized by Lesley Andrew and her Interest Group and supported by many volunteers. There were 300 tickets sold and 56 take out meals delivered. There was $5000. in ticket sales. Expenses were approximately $1000. Leslie Bezte submitted a request to form the Young Families, Young Person Inter-est Group which was approved. She kicked off the group’s activities by organizing and hosting an intergenerational games night November 23rd. It was fun. All who attended had a good time playing games, snacking, and visiting. Leslie is also working with her Sunday School Class to give ‘The Pit’ a facelift with a little paint,

and different furniture. Denis Titchkosky has added some wainscoting to one of the walls. The energetic and capable duo of Bruce Shewfelt and Earl Gardiner provided an update from the Property Discernment Interest Group at the November 25th Wor-ship Service. Following a lively and reflective worship service with a theme of gen-erosity (regarding sharing of our time, talent, and treasure) woven through it, we enjoyed a celebratory thank you luncheon hosted by the Stewardship Team, and led by Rev. Cathie Waldie. The Leadership Team Liaisons to the Interest Groups are currently connecting with representatives from the groups to discuss their plans for the next calendar year, whether they have any concerns, and to ask them if they have any needs to con-tinue their work, including financial needs to take into considerationn when pre-paring the 2019 budget. There is much to be grateful for in Pembina Parish! Respectfully submitted by Marlene Holewka, Chairperson On behalf of The Pembina Parish Leadership Team, Leslie Bezte, Louise Gardiner, Deb Hamilton, Margot Craig, Bruce Lyng, M&P and Rev. Cathie Waldie November 25, 2018

Darlingford Craft Sale

The Annual Darlingford Craft Sale was

held Nov. 17 in the Daringford

Hall,.Karen and Bev Wilson organize

this event every year with the pro-

ceeds from the table rentals going to

the Pembina Parish. The Darlingford

UCW sold a delicious lunch and the

Sunday school sold Popcorn Balls,

Birdseed muffins, Fudge and Candy

Cane decorations to fund their yearly

projects.

This year they made $158.56 towards a

charity they pick and research.

Pictures Top Left Karen Ching & Bev

Wilson

Top Right The Bruce Girls,& Alyssa

Tickner

Bottom left setting up

Bottom right Ella Griffin and Alyssa

Tickner

At the Stewardship Thank You Luncheon on Nov. 25, 2018, Rev. Cathie Waldie asked you to

discuss: What Matters to You? (At church/in the community) Here’s what you said…

Internal Coming to church on Sunday AM

Meeting congregation and worshiping together

Continuing generosity

Friendship and vegetables and ski trails

Sharing x 4 – Outreach we do x 2

Fellowship x 4

Sunday School x 4

Children – Programs for young people

Church family x 3

Community – known for support x 3

St. Paul’s Choir x 3

Worship x 3

Spirituality x 2

Affirming x 2 - welcoming all – Really!

Music x 2

Outreach Group x 2

Inclusiveness – Huge area x 2

Food x 2 – hospitality

Interest Groups

Stewardship and Finance Committee

Pastoral Care

Caring and Sharing

Discernment and Building Repairs

Young families

New members

Outreach

Open communion and acceptance of all

Place that welcomes everyone

Gathering facility

Friendship – Interactivity with others

Support for youth and seniors

Aging gracefully – (hula hoop) - Stay Active for Life S.A.F.E.

Continual communication within church

Ministry

Christian Education

Attendance – somehow develop the habit of attending church

Study Groups

Be who we are – United Church – in spite of community

Community Outreach Feeding our community Christmas Day Ecumenical Meal, Tabor Home,

Sharing in both our community and wider community, Caring: local and global, Outreach:

local and global,Relevant in community, Involved with community

Thanks for your feedback!

Pembina Parish Discernment Committee Update

Seasons Greetings. Your Discernment Committee has been progressing along our

established path:

1. Determine the right size building for future needs and assess possible use of our extra space.

2. Explore community and commercial lease and space sharing opportunities.

3. Develop a detailed evaluation on the future repair needs and costs of St. Pauls building.

To this end we have completed the following steps:

Right Sizing

a. Interview of approximately 27 user groups of the St. Pauls facilities.

b. Analysis that we can “downsize” our space by 30% if we have a multi-purpose Sanctuary.

c. Asked our congregants the question -- Would you support the Committee continuing to research the concept of having

a sanctuary used as a multi-use space? Results were:

i. 88% of respondents indicated “yes” to this question.

ii. We took note of concerns of those whom answered “no” to this question.

d. Hired an architect to help with “space” planning and to develop drawings to communicate our vision of how we can

“downsize”.

Community Consultation

e. Interviewed potential outside partners regarding their needs and interest in our space for lease.

i. Over 6 outside religious denominations were consulted.

ii. Several outside community groups were consulted.

Capital Planning

f. Repaired the front entrance sidewalk, to remove safety issues.

g. Repaired deteriorated windows and siding on the Narthex sun-catch (exterior repairs) to prevent water damage.

h. Assessed major roof repair requirements, through a contract with MJ Roofing.

i. MJ Roofing recommended the roofing over the CEU should be replaced as soon as practical at a cost approaching

$100,000 (varies with extent of damage).

ii. MJ Roofing has recommended maintenance to the Narthex roof. We have agreed to complete that maintenance

Spring, 2019. Roofing replacement will be required in the next 5 years at a cost approaching $75,000 (varies

with any damage).

iii. MJ Roofing has not recommended immediate repairs to the Sanctuary roof, but it will need upgrade within 10

years.

i. Ongoing consideration to accessibility issues including our entrance and the bathrooms.

j. Planned input to the right size committee on costs.

Going forward we will have a draft report available to the leadership and congregation in January

2019. The report will be available for review and comments up to the Annual Meeting of Pembina

Parish at which point we will ask the congregation for their discernment on the way forward.

Respectfully Submitted - Bruce Shewfelt and Earl Gardiner, Co-Chairs of Discernment Committee

Advent and Christmas schedule of services and events

Sunday, December 2nd - First Sunday of Advent.

Communion will be celebrated

at both Zion-Calvin and St. Paul’s.

Friday, December 7th Cookie Walk in the CEU at St. Paul’s 2:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 9th - Second Sunday of Advent.

White Gift Sunday.

The sacrament of baptism will be celebrated at Zion-Calvin.

Blessing of prayer shawls at St. Paul’s.

Tuesday, December 11th Sunday Schools travel to St. Matthew’s Maryland Community

Ministry to help set up the Christmas Store.

Sunday, December 16th Third Sunday of Advent.

The Sunday School will lead worship at both Zion-Calvin and

St. Paul’s.

Delivery of Poinsettias

Blue Christmas service – 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s.

Thursday, December 20th Christmas Carolling ( Meet in St.Pauls Parking Lot 5:40)

Sunday, December 23r Fourth Sunday of Advent.

Worship services at both Zion-Calvin and St. Paul’s

Regular Sunday school St. Pauls

Monday, December 24th Christmas Eve services: Zion-Calvin at 6:30 p.m.

St. Paul’s at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 30th Joint worship service between Zion-Calvin and St. Paul’s

At 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s.

Sharing and singing of favourite Christmas carols.

No Sunday School.

Please bring leftover Christmas dainties

to share at coffee-time following the service.

Sunday January 6th Regular Sunday school St. Pauls