Newsletter

News From The Pews - following are excerpts from recent newsletters.

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St. John's Annual General Meeting                                                           

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on February 28^th 2010 and a new 'church year' began.  The meeting approved a change in church governance from a 60 member "Official Board" to a 15 member "Church Council". 

Beginning in November 2009, on a motion from the "Executive Council" a review committee drafted a revised Plan of Organization.  Meetings were held providing opportunity for the opinions of all St. John's members and adherents to be expressed.  A large majority of opinions were adopted.  Approval from Presbytery was received on March 23rd, 2010.

Through the approval motion at the AGM, agreement was given to change the name "Ministries" to "Committees" for easier communication and understanding.

2008 Audit: For the first time in many years St. John's Financial Statements were audited by an outside licensed accountant firm.  This was requested by motion at the AGM on February 15th, 2009.  BDO Canada LLP, 169 Dufferin Street South in Alliston was selected as the auditor, and they found the records to be in good order.  The cost of this outside audit was $4,000.  BDO will also audit the 2009 Financial Statements as requested at the same meeting in February 2009.  Audits for 2010 and beyond will be at the discretion of Church Council, unless there is another interest to be considered.

Mission and Service:  Contributions for 2009 totalled $52,931 surpassing our goal by over $2,000.  The goal for 2010 is again $48,000 through the congregation, and $2,500 through UCW's Grace and Ella Bateson Units, total goal $50,500.

A fifth Intern application was approved at the AGM for the term September 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011.

Our present Intern, Lori Beth Sheffield-Bowles , whose Internship was completed on April 30th, 2010 has been employed by St. John's as a Student Supply, from May 1st to July 15th 2010.
 

Faith Formation and Christian Education Committee:

Organist and choir leader Kenneth Inkster is looking for more members for the choir.  Practices are held on Thursday evenings beginning at 8:00 pm, in the sanctuary.  No previous experience is necessary.

Bible Study is held in the Dermott Room every Thursday evening beginning at 7:00 pm and lasts about one hour.  All are welcome – knowledge of the bible is not a pre-requisite.

Fellowship Time 

Every Sunday after the regular service you are invited to spend time over coffee, tea or juice.  It is a fun way to meet new people and to meet again with people you know.  Thanks to all who have been Fellowship Time hosts and hostesses this past year.  The sign-up board to participate in set-up and serving, is in the hall outside the sanctuary, on the way to Shilton hall, or please call Nancy 434-9796.  All help is truly appreciated.

Youth Connecting with Other Churches

St. John’s Youth are beginning to organize and participate in events with youth from other churches. Youth from Trinity United, Rosemont, were invited to a bowling experience, Feb. 14. Youth Ministry, Northern Waters Presbytery, Kerrie Perry, organized an Iron Chef Challenge, March 5. Twenty youth from Rosemont, Beeton and St. John’s demonstrated their culinary prowess that completely wowed the judges.

Joint activities coming up in the spring and summer include: laser tag, Bruce Trail hiking, sharing of musical talents, and a summer canoe trip.

The Iron Chef Challenge     Lori Beth Sheffield-Bowles.

Congratulations to Kerri-Anne, Emilie, Mahlet and Greg of the St. John's Youth Group who took part in an Iron Chef Challenge.  Four teams from Trinity United in Beeton, Trinity United in Rosemont and St. John's took part.  Kerrie Perry, Youth Minister for Northern Waters Persbytery organized the event.  Upon researching the Biblical "secret ingredient" each team had to prepare a meal which included an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert, each featuring the secret ingredient.

A mad dash to the grocery store, with a budget of $50. to purchase the necessary groceries ensued.  Upon returning to Shilton Hall, the preparation and cooking began in earnest.  For 1-1/2 hours Shilton hall was buzzing with the activity of 20 young food connoisseurs and six supervising adults who watched in awe at the excellent teamwork.  At 8:15 p.m. each team presented their three course meals to the panel of expert judges.  Everyone enjoyed each other's delicious cooking and as the dinner concluded and the clean up began, the judges announced their decisions.  "The Fast and Furious" team from St. John's, led by head chef Kerri-Anne won first prize in the appetizer and main entree categories, and took first place overall.  Congratulations to all the Youth who participated.

Floor Hockey at St. John's

Part of the Ministry of St. John's is providing floor hockey for elementary and junior high school youth.  The second six week session began on March 23^rd with 14 youth aged 8-13 registered.  There is no cost to join.  The leadership team is made up of Lori Beth, James, Kerrie and Ruth.

It is a drop-in league with different teams each week.  The main rule is no contact and no rough play (no slap shots etc.)  Youth are able to burn off energy in a safe and supervised environment.  Comments from the youth and parents have all been positive: one parent said that their child's favourite night of the week is Tuesday.

Before floor hockey, another youth had behavioural problems in school.  After a couple of weeks in floor hockey the teacher asked the parents what had changed in the child's home life as the child was no longer acting up.  The only change had been the floor hockey.

Finance and Property Committee:

If you have read the 2009 Annual Report you will have noticed that St. John's is now operating on the plus side of zero.   However, we should be ever mindful of the rising costs for heat and hydro, the new HST coming into affect, employee salaries rising, and this older building becoming more expensive to maintain.  You can do your part to conserve energy by shutting off lights and turning down the thermostats before leaving meeting rooms.  The cost of hydro and heating for the church facilities averages $52. per day (more in the winter and less in the summer).  In the summer TURN UP,or turn off the air conditioner when using the church facilities.

Mission and Outreach's     "Lenten Project" for 2010 is:

LIFE Scholarship (Low Income Family in Ethiopia).

Tessema Bitew, a member of St. John's and an Accountant at Honda Manufacturing Company, spoke at the February 14th Sunday morning Service.  He told us about the LIFE project of which he is a member.

Tessema was born in Ethiopia and came to Canada in 1991.  On a return trip ten years later his eyes were opened to the reality of life there now.  Eighty percent of Ethiopians walk barefoot, drink dirty water from rivers, do not have access to modern transportation and do not have basic sanitation systems.  Health issues are even worse, exacerbated by HIV, malaria and TB.  Tessema wanted to help the young people of Ethiopia and wondered how he would go about doing that.  He thought that a mile starts with a single step so he decided he would start with Education.

Tessema joined forces with the LIFE scholarship program as it focuses on raising funds to support school projects.  There are no overhead costs as project management in Ethiopia is carried out by volunteers.

Prerequisites for Scholarship recipients include strong academic results, poverty stricken families, and 25% must be female.  The selection panel is made up of principals and teachers, with cooperation from the parents and students.  By support of $17 a month, or 55 cents a day you can help to enable a student from a low income family in Ethiopia to continue their high school education. Contributions to this LIFE fund may be made through your church envelope - make sure you mark the amount you have enclosed on the outside.  This project is active until the end of June 2010.

An Ethiopian Cultural Event was held on Saturday April 10, 2010.

 

Site 41 dump is not gone for good!!   by Mary Elizabeth, 435-7594

We only have one Earth – Ina Wood, Wyevale

Keeping groundwater COLD, CLEAR, free......

The United Church of Canada opposed Site 41 as a dumpsite and many members of United Churches within Simcoe County attended meetings and rallies to try to help stop the project.  On September 22  2009 Simcoe County Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of abandoning all plans for a dump at Site 41 – which sits atop the Alliston Aquifer.

HOWEVER...

the Certificate of Approval that allows Site 41 to be a landfill is still in place.  Simcoe County Council left the Certificate of Approval in place.  Bill 32 would have revoked the Certificate of Approval but it is consigned to oblivion with closing of the Ontario Legislature over Christmas and starting a new session in January.  The people who had worked so hard this fall and winter to persuade MPPs from all parties to get Bill 32 past second reading, are very disappointed by the hypocrisy of the County and of the Province of Ontario.

A meeting called “Spring into Action”, on March 20  2010 at Barrie Methodist Church, was well attended.  A highlight at the end of the meeting was listening to Keith Wood, a quiet-spoken 82 year-old man, a dairy farmer, who was arrested in the summer because of his presence at the entrance to Site 41.  It was inspiring to hear why this quiet man, who had significant heart problems prior to last summer, would become involved in the peaceful protest at Site 41.

More people from every township attending meetings now, would greatly help to create awareness of the issues in all communities.  A meeting was held on Sat., May 1.

Please check the St. John’s bulletin board for details about upcoming meetings.  A direct contact is Letty McNeil, telephone: 705-322-4993 or mcneil@netrover.com. or you can e-mail mrcinc@interlog.com to request regular e-mail updates.

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One of the ways Rev. Alf Dumont relaxes in his limited downtime is playing hockey. At a recent Three-On-Three hockey tournament at Centre Ice, $11,000. was raised for Multiple Sclerosis.

Men's Breakfast:

A Men's Breakfast was held on Thursday April 22nd in Shilton Hall beginning at 8:45 am. The Guest Speaker was Gary Ryan, CEO of Stevenson Memorial Hospital.  The next meeting will be September 23rd, 2010.

Guatemala Team 2010

The twelve members of the Guatemala Team for 2010 are working diligently to prepare for their build experience.  They will be leaving here on Saturday July 10^th and returning Wednesday July 21^st.  Several successful fund raising activities have already been organized, completed or are on-going.  These include: serving at the pancake supper; a bake sale; fair trade coffee sale, chocolate and tea sales every Sunday in Shilton Hall, and the "Buy a Block campaign" also available to purchase after the church service every Sunday in Shilton Hall.  During the spring and early summer many other events are planned: a music concert, dinner and silent auction, assisting at the Tottenham Blue Grass Festival and displaying a booth at the Alliston Home Show.  Please check the Sunday Church Bulletin for dates and times for the fundraising events.

Team members are: Jessica, Barbra-Anne, Alana, Tomas, Bradley, George, Katelyn, Danielle, Victoria and Dylan.   Leaders are John and Kathryn.

Membership Committee

A Seniors Tea will take place on Sunday April 18^th in Shilton Hall. The guest entertainer was the fabulous Bob Cook, vocalist and guitarist.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  Being a Senior Citicen is not a necessity to attend this exciting event.

The Little Luxuries Box can be found at the Kiosk in Shilton Hall every Sunday.  This box is to collect small sample size shampoos, moisturizers, hand soaps, etc. to be given to My Sister's Place, the women and children's shelter here in Alliston.

Joyce from the Membership Committee, and her husband Richard, returned four days ago from India where they have been working for the SCAW organization. SCAW stands for "Sleeping Children Around the World."

On Day 11, Richard wrote the following on the SCAW web site from India:

"We drove from Mumbai about three hours and covered about 90 kilometers.  We first went to a remote tribal school.  This was the first time a Canadian had visited the school.  The children were waiting patiently when we arrived.  After the distribution of 100 bedkits the boys entertained us with a walk on their hands and other acrobatic feats.  The girls sang and danced with candles.  This is a dormitory school where the students stay during the week and go home on the weekends.

The second distribution was nearby at the Saloni Farm.  It was a beautiful setting in the mango and teak tress.  Here we gave bedkits to the 325 children.  Some children were brought about 40 kilometers.  The Rotary members treated us to a farm lunch after the distribution.  Another successful day.

We have now delivered about 3600 bedkits to very needy children.  Thank you donors in Canada.

Stephen Ministry (SM by Lori Beth & Mary R

Stephen Ministry is a caring and confidential lay visiting ministry - one of the ways St. John's tries to care for our congregation.   Sometime in our lives we all need someone to listen and support: because of isolation or loneliness, because of illness or grief, because of job loss or divorce.  Stephen Ministers visit one-on-one with St. John's folks.  They usually go once a week and visit for about an hour.  Sometimes they visit regularly for a few weeks or they may continue for years.

Stephen Ministers are NOT counsellors or therapists - they are ordinary people who are good listeners and who are prepared to walk faithfully along side a person for as long as they are needed.  God is the cure giver.  Stephen Ministers do not tell anyone about the person they visit or what they have talked about.

Before they begin their visiting, Stephen Ministers are trained for 60 hours under the direction of our Stephen Leaders, Mary R, Pat and Sharon Ann. On Sunday March 5th, Helen, Eileen and Lori Beth were commissioned as Stephen Ministers.  They will be meeting twice a month for support and additional training with the whole Stephen Ministry group.  At these meetings, there will be continuing education about care giving.  Previously commissioned Care Givers are Gordon, Gertie, Yvonne and Alma.  A Care Giver is matched with a Care Receiver through Rev. Alf and the Leadership Team.

In addition to visiting as described above, we have recently undertaken an extension of Stephen Ministry which we call "occasional visiting".  Several of the Stephen Ministers visit from time to time with people who are ill or shut-in or the elderly in our congregation who cannot come to church..

Please feel free to contact Rev. Alf Dumont, 435-6732/2 or a Stephen Minister to set up a Care Receiver relationship.  They are here for you.

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Northern Waters Presbytery & Circles

by Rev. Kerrie Perry

"Behold I Do A New Thing!"

Greetings from the Northern Waters Presbytery office!  Northern Waters has so many exciting opportunities for you to become involved.  In this new structure, you do not have to be a presbytery representative in order to learn, discover, and share your gifts with the wider church.  The work of the Presbytery is accomplished through two Commissions;

1) Personnel and Congregational Support Commission which is comprised of several committees that look after Pastoral Relations, Education & Students and Pastoral Oversight.

2) The Governance Commission which includes the work of Property, Administration and Finance, Open Doors, Mission Support, and oversees the work of the Circles.

The Circles are an exciting new venture in presbytery structure and it is here that the vision of the presbytery is lived out.  Circles are comprised of a minimum of five members interested in a particular area of ministry.  Currently, our Circles include Communications, Peace and Justice, Making Disciples in the 21^st Century, Rural Church Issues, and Faith Formation.  Many of these have smaller groups within them such as UCW and Camping, or Mission and Service.  The Circles are the primary way you can be involved in the life of the church.  One of the innovative things about these circles is that they are continually changing.  They emerge, morph and transform according to the needs expressed by our presbytery and congregation members.  A Circle can exist for a defined term to accomplish a specific outcome or be an ongoing expression of the mission of Northern Waters Presbytery.

Any congregation member can sit on a Circle Meeting.  You do not need to be a presbytery representative nor do you need to attend the regular presbytery meetings . . . although you might want to!  Just contact Louise Hewson @ 1-800-446-4729 / 240 for information about the Circle meetings and how you can become involved.

Did you catch what I said there?  You know, how you might want to catch a presbytery meeting these days?  Presbytery meetings are no longer business and administratively focussed.  We gather as a community to worship together, to learn and to build relationships.  The majority of the former business/action oriented debates that dominated old structure presbytery meetings now happen at the commission levels, freeing presbyters and guests to worship together, to engage in learning events, workshops and panel discussions, and to spend time with other presbytery members.

The Northern Waters Presbytery office is located in the basement of St John’s United Church.  Come visit us!  See how the space has been transformed and discover how you can be a part of the exciting things happening in Northern Waters Presbytery.  We’d be glad to put a pot of tea on, sit down for a chat, and share a cookie with you.

A Presbytery meeting was to be held at St. Paul's United Church in Midland on Saturday, April 24^th. The Annual General Meeting is to be held at St. Paul's United Church in Orillia on the last weekend in May. The June meeting will be held in Westminster United Church in Orangeville on Tuesday, June 15^th. For information about the Circle meetings, contact Rev. Kerrie Perry, Program Minister @ 1-800-446-4729, ex. 241, or kperry@united-church.ca

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St. John's United Church Women

The UCW is comprised of an active group of workers whose contributions generously support the Mission & Service Fund, our own local church, and many community groups.  The women of the congregation are invited to participate in activities and meetings led by our two units, the Ella Bateson Unit which meets the second Wednesday of the month and the Grace Unit which meets on the third Monday.

We have now completed the reorganization of the kitchen.  New drawers have been installed to house the towels; these are located in the cupboard below the microwave.  Labels have been placed on the drawers and cupboards.  We hope that this will aid those using our facilities to locate and replace the materials they require.

St. John's UCW hosted the Northern Waters Presbyterial UCW Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 15th.. Registration began at 9:30 a.m. with the meeting starting at 10 a.m. and the featured guest speaker at 11. Lunch was at noon and available for $7.

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The Lions Club wishes to thank the congregation of St. John's for their generous contributions to the Christmas Hamper campaign. Hampers were delivered to 155 needy families.

Food Bank items are collected in baskets at all entrances the first Sunday of every month. St. John's is a very important and appreciated contributor to this necessary cause

The St. John's Book Club....

meets in the Dermott Room on the second Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m.  All are welcome to discuss the books with the Club whether you are a regular member or not.  The coming months selections are:

Monday April 12^th, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & Oliver Relin;

Monday May 10^th, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls;

Monday June 14^th, Has yet to be selected – please watch the church bulletin for further details.

 

May You See The Face Of Christ

In Everyone You Meet.

And May Everyone You Meet

See The Face Of Christ In You.

 

        For further information, please contact the church office.

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