Southpoint News March 16, 2018

Let Longing Lead Us into Prayers of Confession

Our journey through Lent is more than halfway over. What has it been like for you to reflect on the revelation of Divine Love in Jesus? Have you collected your swatch of cloth each week and savoured the prayers? Or perhaps they have gotten lost on the journey home or are buried at the bottom of a handbag. Often we begin Lent with great intentions and then lose momentum as the days drag on. I am sure Jesus felt the same inertia as he sat in the desert, waiting for his days of hunger and thirst to end. Perhaps this grappling with our own humanity – our distractedness, our thirsts and longings, our return to familiar sins and distortions – is all part of the vulnerability of Lent. If you are not yet who you long to be, you are in good company. Let’s pause as a community and let this longing lead us into prayers of confession. With utmost patience, God holds us in our lostness and fills us with a hunger to come home:

In your mercy, forgive what we have been,

renew what we are, and shape what we shall be,

so that we may delight in the pattern of your life and rest in the abundance of your love,

In Christ’s name, Amen.

Pastor Anne Smith

Good Friday 
Drop-in Contemplative Experience 30 March, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm at Kingfisher Farm, 512 172 Street. This Lent we have been focused on the theme “Love Unveiled”. We will have created stations of the cross and  space for you to reflect personally on what happens when Love is Crucified and Hate is Unveiled. Space for reflection includes stations of the Cross scattered through the woods of Kingfisher Farm as well as quiet space in the Shiloh Shelter. Walking with Jesus through the intensity of Holy Week deepens the marvel of Easter Morning. Appropriate for all ages, including young children.

New Community Engagement Facilitator!
Angela Neufeld has accepted the role as Community Engagement Facilitator. Her role will include coordinating the volunteer schedule, supervising our Sunday kids groups, overseeing the planning of intergenerational church events, and collaborating on the worship during liturgical seasons. All of this with a keen eye to including those who could be on the margins – children/youth/elderly and newcomers. What most excites Angela about this position In her words, “I am looking forward to helping us continue to deepen our practice of being an intergenerational church. I look forward to conversations with you that spark our imaginations about how we can live into this well. I am keen to be able to give more energy to involving more people in our Sunday morning worship times: children and adults alike. I have a heart for individuals having an opportunity to express themselves creatively so that we as a congregation are drawn into knowing the mystery of God in new ways. Creating space for people to share their gifts with the congregation is energizing to me.”  We welcome Angela into this role.

Love Unveiled: A Lenten Calendar
Sunday the 18th, March: John 12: 20-33, Love Draws, Roxy Humphrey speaking, at  Sunnyside church building, 10:00 am

Sunday the 25th, March:  Palm Sunday – All In! John 12: 12-16, Love Approaches, at Sunnyside church building, 10:00 am.  Our ALL IN will be followed by a short congregational meeting and a celebratory POT LUCK! Please bring a bountiful supply of your favourite food to share!

Friday the 30th, March: G ood Friday, Hate Unveiled. Drop-in Contemplative Time at Kingfisher Farm, 10 am – 1 pm 512 172 Street, Surrey

Sunday the 1st, April:  Easter, Love Unveiled, at Sunnyside church building, 10:00 am