Friendship with Creation

On Sunday our Southpoint family went All Out… which we do about five times a year; that is, not meeting at the Sunnyside church building, but exploring our relationship to God, our selves, each other and Creation in a new way.

Some of us headed to Oliver, BC, to chop veggies for 100-person bags of dehydrated soups that will save lives in the next year.

Some of us met at the Semiahmoo Fish Hatchery where Rev. Janice Young led a lovely, thoughtful service that included a 20-minute ramble in the forest to consider how it might be that while we love creation, creation itself might love us back?

She shared this story early on, and it felt like one that you would enjoy, too. We are unable to pinpoint the original source, but Terry Hershey seems to have made it popular in his book The Power of Pause: Becoming More by Doing Less.

“Every day after school, the young son of a well-known Rabbi would enter his house, place his backpack on the dining room table, leave the house through the back door and head into the woods behind the house.

At first, the Rabbi gave little thought to his son’s ritual. Until it continued, for days, and then for weeks. Every day, out into the woods for almost a half hour.

The Rabbi grew concerned.

“My son,” he asked one day. “I notice that every day you leave our home to spend time in the woods. What is it you are doing there?”

“Oh papa,” the son replied. “There is no need to worry. I go into the woods to pray. It is in the woods that I can talk to God.”

“Oh,” the Rabbi said, clearly relieved. “But you should know, as the son of a Rabbi, that God is the same everywhere.”

“Yes, papa. I know that God is the same everywhere. But, I am not.”

Sun Aug 4
Markku Kostamo
Friendship and the Myth of Self-Sufficiency
Gal 5:1,13-15

Sun Aug 11
Janice Young
Friendship, Sameness, and Difference: “Found Family”
1 Cor 11:17 f

Sun Aug 18
Carolyn Gerber
Friendship Across Generations
2 Tim 1:1-14

Sun Aug 25 Wild Church at Kingfisher Farm
No Service in the Sunnyside building

New to Southpoint?

At Southpoint, it all begins with God’s love. Just as a plant grows, it receives sunshine, so we grow as we receive God’s love. At Southpoint, we are growing in our capacity to love God, ourselves, one another, and Creation.

We seek to be a community of grace that is intentional yet organic, spacious yet authentic, grace-filled yet accountable. * We are fully welcoming. *

We encourage relationships rather than run programs, yet we recognize the importance of intentionality and structure as we nurture life together.

As a community, we seek to put our love in action. We value helping out on Sunday mornings, sharing food, and showing up in hard times. We keep our church life simple so folk have time to build relationships with family, friends, and neighbours. We encourage folk to serve in tangible ways within the wider community. We rent space rather than own a building, allowing us to do more with less, supporting missions at home and abroad.

Curious to know more?

These six slides express what motivates our ministry (best viewed on a monitor). Here’s the bio of our Pastor, Rev. Anne Baxter Smith.

If you’d like to really peek inside, sign up for our weekly Southpoint News (scroll to brown footer at bottom of page). The Southpoint News is a MailChimp distributed email—you can unsubscribe anytime and will not be added to our contacts list. Email us at office@southpoint.ca. Website: southpoint.ca.