Dear Saint Luke’s family and friends,
It seems every Sunday, the Spirit blesses us at Saint Luke’s in curious unexpected ways.
A sampling from today:
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A young man arrived at the door an hour early and asked if he could join us for the worship service today. I told him that he was certainly welcome but that the service wasn’t beginning for a while. He asked if he could wait and I brought him into the chapel. In conversation, I learned that he was Buddhist and had a deep interest in religions. He somehow happened upon Saint Luke’s this Sunday morning even though it’s some distance from where he lives. A little while later I noticed him meditating in his pew softly playing Eastern music on his phone. A bit later, I saw that he had unobtrusively joined the choir practice. When it came time for the anthem in the service, the other members of our small choir encouraged him to join them upfront; - He wasn’t the only person to join the choir today for the first time. A man who has been coming regularly for the past few weeks brought a friend along with him today. As the choir members were moving from their pews up to the chancel for the anthem, his friend spontaneously stood up and joined them. She was a good singer and was able to sight-read the music. The two of them stayed afterwards to help make sandwiches for today’s Out of the Cold meal program;
- A refugee from Angola had been coming to church every Sunday last year when he was living in a shelter in our neighbourhood. But we hadn’t seen him for quite a few months. He appeared at the door this morning. I was delighted to see and greet him and learned that he had found accommodation in Scarborough and that’s why he hadn’t been to Saint Luke’s recently. He also has gotten a job. He wanted to come back to Saint Luke’s today and he brought a friend with him;
- For the past three weeks, we’ve been joined by a number of men who are staying in a substance use recovery centre nearby. Who comes varies from week to week as some are discharged from the centre and others come for the first time invited by their friends. Unfortunately, they aren’t able to stay for the lunch that we have after the service because their centre restricts them – they can’t be out for more than an hour at a time. Each of these past three Sundays, at least one of the men have asked for a Bible and are very grateful when we can give them one;
- a young woman who has come periodically appeared again this morning. In a chat after the service, I learned that she has been going around each Sunday exploring church after church. She’s fascinated at how much variation there is among the churches she’s visited. She commented quietly, “there’s something rather different about Saint Luke’s. I see how the building is crumbling but despite that you folks are involved in so much to help people in the community.” She herself helped out after the service with the preparation of sandwiches for the Out of the Cold meal program.
Today’s volunteer crew who made sandwiches after church for the Out of the Cold meal program included both longtime members and new members and were joined by our minister Rev. Alexa Gilmour
Next Sunday, January 26th, our guest preacher will be longtime friend of Saint Luke’s, Rev. Michael Blair, General Secretary of the General Council of The United Church of Canada.
Please include in your prayers, the following members and friends of Saint Luke’s who are experiencing challenges:
- Friends of Maelyne’s: John, Sherry and her mother Rosemary
- Olga and Henrietta
- Miriam and Cornelio
- Marilyn
- Jane and Malcolm
- Darlene
- Judi and Johnny
- Sandy
- Fenya’s Oma
- Prayer request brought by Aidan for the families of 14-year-old Jeffrey and 18-year-old Redjan shot by the Philippine Military this week (more info on the website of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines. Saint Luke’s is the home of ICHRP’s Toronto Chapter): https://ichrp.net/investigate-military-killing-of-two-youths-in-masbate/
Blessings to you all,
David G. Hallman, Chair,
Church Council,
Saint Luke’s United Church
