Weekly Message: Remembrance Sunday

Dear members, adherents, friends, and family of Knox / St. Giles;

I hope this finds you well as November settles in around us. The days are shorter, the mornings are crisp, and there’s a particular kind of quiet that comes at this time of year – a season that invites us to slow down and pay attention.

This Sunday we gather at 10AM for Remembrance Sunday. Often our minds jump first to images of conflict, but the truer work of this day runs in the opposite direction. Perhaps what we’re really called to remember is peace – to hold it deliberately in our thoughts, to notice it, to give thanks for it, and to hear what it asks of us in return.

Peace is easy to take for granted precisely because it works quietly. When it’s present, we stop noticing it, the way we stop noticing good health or a solid roof over our heads. It shows up in ordinary things: children walking to school, neighbours chatting over the fence, a full grocery store. None of these things announce themselves as miracles, but for so much of the world, in so much of history, they would be. Remembering peace means taking these ordinary gifts as the extraordinary things they are, and giving thanks for the God who calls us to be people of peace.

Peace is not evenly distributed in our world, and a heart that remembers peace gratefully can’t help but ache for the places where it hasn’t yet arrived. This Sunday, we’ll remember our gratitude for the peaceful years we’ve been given and for everyone whose choices over generations made ordinary quiet possible. We’ll pray for all those affected by conflict today, the displaced and grieving, and those living with losses that never make the news. And we’ll resolve to be people who make peace wherever we can – in our homes, our workplaces, our neighbourhoods, and this congregation we’re building together.

Our regular rhythms continue through the week: Wednesday Bible study at 10:15AM and online at 7:00PM, and Thursday ministry at the Southern Building. As usual, the attached bulletin has this week’s announcements and details on everything coming up in the next few weeks.

Sincerely,
Kaiden 

Weekly Message: Looking Ahead

Dear members, adherents, friends, and family of Knox / St. Giles;

I hope you’ve all been keeping warm this week as we start to move into a new season. As the snow comes and goes, I think about how much it reflects this season for all of us – some things settling down, others shifting, and a rhythm we’re still learning to navigate as we adjust.

This coming Sunday we gather for worship, and are reminded that we’re part of something that stretches far beyond any single building or year. In our scripture readings for this week, we see Jesus challenging the religious leaders of his day, who teach one thing and live another. It invites us to ask ourselves what that looks like for us, paying attention to whether our words match our actions. 

That kind of reflection means humility, patience, and the courage to sit with discomfort. God doesn’t ask us for perfection, only honesty. It’s easier to point at the failures of people two thousand years ago than to examine our own shortcomings, but our other readings this week allow us to see what it means to be filled with strength, justice, and integrity. That’s the sort of work we have in front of us.

Winter often feels like an odd time to be starting something. The gardens are gone, yard work is packed away, and things above ground look unremarkable. But under the surface there’s still movement – roots holding fast, seeds waiting for spring, grubs curled up in the soil. Not much visible growth, but plenty happening quietly. Maybe that feels familiar to us, too; glad for what’s ahead but still grieving what’s behind. The slow business of becoming what we’re meant to be. 

Please see the attached bulletin for this week’s announcements. There are plenty of things happening this season, new and old, so feel free to reach out with any questions. Worship is Sunday at 10AM, and we hope to see you all there!

Sincerely,

Kaiden

Good afternoon lovers of God and lovers of neighbours,

It has been said that love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage… but scripture more accurately reports that obedience is what is to be paired with love.  Obedience and love go together like gears in a clock, like spokes on a wheel, or like a hand in a glove.  Whichever metaphor you choose, wrestling with obedience becomes unavoidable if we are to follow the command ‘to love’.

Many of us bristle when we hear encouragements to obey.  Canadian culture teaches that we are accountable to no one but ourselves.  Although we may have purported allegiances to countries, provinces, cities, or families, individual preferences and freedoms and autonomy are to be the highest values, and it is to them that we are to offer our ultimate fealty.  We are encouraged to choose how we wish to live with consideration for the needs of those around us as a distant second afterthought.  God does not even make it into the top ten list, falling well behind other loyalties to hockey practices, work, dinner plans, hikes, vacations, and comfort activities.   

And yet we all see the mess of the world around us when we refuse to humble ourselves to God and to others.  We see the harm that comes from not living into God’s will for our lives.  We see what happens when we do not obey the commands of God.

The invitation this week through the gospel of Matthew is to discern what our lives would look like if we really did make the command to love God and others our primary focus in life.  Would our daily rhythms change, or our daily tasks be different?  How would this affect you personally?

Please find attached to the email the bulletin for the week.  Note that for the month of November, there will be a Grief Group at 9:30 AM on Thursdays at the southern building.  Everyone is welcome, as – without exception – we are all wrestling with various griefs in each of our lives.  And taking time to honour our losses and our suffering matters.

For those who feel ready to step into deeper conversations with God for visioning our future as an amalgamated church, including naming of the new congregation and actively discerning and participating in tasks for amalgamation, please speak to Joy Augustin or myself to discuss how you can demonstrate your love of God and your love of neighbour in this way.  Perhaps you are called to serve on the Vision Task Force?

I pray you each stay warm as you prepare to worship on Sunday together.  It will be a pleasure to worship with you.  And may you each be blessed to hear and follow God’s plans for your life.

In warmth and peace,

Rev. Chandra Mannix