Week of April 11 – 17, 2021.

Our God of Wide, Spacious Places

People take refuge in
the shadow of your wings.
They feast on
the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from
your river of delights

– Psalm 36

I love Psalm 36. Its words unravels a false image of God that shows up from time to time in my head: a God with small hands and a stingy heart. A God who doles out what is needed, but not in abundance, and never with delight.

In Psalm 36, God is both sheltering and lavish. God offers refuge—you will not be harmed here—and generous provision, you will be fed abundantly here. God’s hospitality is generous, trustworthy, hospitality. In God’s household, your needs are met with joy and your vulnerability is protected. To be securely attached to a God who is safe, just, good, loving, faithful, and abundant is to drink from a fountain of life and have our vision restored.

We each carry false images of God around in our head. These “Mr. Potato Head Gods” are constructed from church teachings, life experience, snippets of the Bible, and family faces. Often this is unconscious and we are oblivious to the Mr. Potato Head God within us—images sometimes small and impotent, sometimes truly harmful.

God is a God of freedom, who refuses to be contained by our false images. God is continually calling us out of our tight, cramped houses of faith and into wide, spacious places where we can breathe deeply of God’s goodness and feast on God’s lovingkindness.

Our images of God shape everything: our prayers, our worship, our ethics, our lifestyle choices, whom we welcome, whom we exclude.

 

Anne’s Sabbatical Plan

Dear church family,

I want to thank you for making it possible for me to go on sabbatical. This Sunday will be my last with you until September. My two weeks of study leave are from April 17th to the end of April. During that time I will not be involved in any “present tense ministry” but rather will make preparation for my return in the fall and pursue subjects of personal interest to me. My official sabbatical begins on May 1st and continues for four months, with a return date of September 1st.

Know that the Leadership Team, the Sabbatical Coordination team, our administrators, Angela and myself – have all been working very hard to make sure everything is well organized for my absence. We have a well-oiled four-month plan in place complete with liturgies, themes, speakers, kids’ curriculum, a rhythm of indoor and outdoor church, a Pastoral Care Team, etc. My hope and prayer is that things will run very smoothly without requiring heroics on anyone’s part.

Covid has simplified my expectations. I am relishing the thought of unstructured time when I can follow the impulse of the Spirit and the curiosities within my mind and heart. I am looking forward to hanging with my family, taking some adventures with “Matilda Jane”, our new-to-us ’06 Dodge Sprinter van, and living a bit more of an embodied life.

I am curious as to what my withdrawal symptoms will be like? I try hard not to shape my identity around what I do, whom I serve, or how much I please/perform, but it is a hazard of the job and worth a detox now and then. Sunday morning zooms have lifted my spirits during covid. I will miss seeing your faces, and you will be with me in my heart:)

I hope to be off screens as MUCH as possible! However, I’ll try to post on my instagram account now and then: anne_baxter is my account name, Anne Baxter Smith is my user name.

Again, my whole being thanks you!!

– Anne

 

TOGETHER @SOUTHPOINT 

EASTER SEASON WORSHIP

Zoom Sunday service at 10:00 am.

You may like to have a candle at hand to light during the service, and the elements of Communion ready for that portion of our worship.

God’s Heart for Creation
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.
– Psalm 24:1

During this Easter season we are exploring our relationship to the Creator and Creation in ways that you will (hopefully) find both delightful and thought provoking. Our exploration will happen through our hands and feet and senses as we go on wonder walks and as we participate in Good Seed Sunday at A Rocha and Kingfisher Farm. Our exploration will also happen through our minds as we consider Scripture passages in sermons given by Rick Faw and Leah Kostamo.

Time to play in the rich soil of creation and the rich soil of Scripture!

Apr 18   Zoom Church
Speaker: Rick Faw
The Story of God’s Creation, Part 1
Ps 104:10-17a, 24-28

Apr 25   Good Seed Sunday
Activities at A Rocha and at Kingfisher
Deepening Our Participation in Creation

May 2   Zoom Church
Speaker: Rick Faw
The Story of God’s Creation, Part 2
Col. 1:15-20

May 9   Wonder Walks
Download Guide prepared by Leah Kostamo

May 16   Zoom Church
Speaker: Leah Kostamo
Jesus the Outdoorsman
Matt 6:25-33

May 23   Outdoor Church begins!
Playfully Engaging the Spirit in our Imaginations
Pentecost special liturgy

 

Alerts Regarding Outdoor Church

Please be assured that the Southpoint Leadership Team is monitoring BC’s current province-wide restrictions (here) so that our ‘Outdoor Religious and Worship Services’ follow the guidelines properly.

In the event that Good Seed Sunday or Outdoor Church needs to be cancelled (for Covid reasons, or due to inclement weather!) you will receive an email on Sunday morning by 8:30 am fromKarin (office@southpoint.ca)  to alert you! Thanks for glancing at your emails and the Southpoint News to keep us all facing the same way!

 

CALENDAR ITEMS 

Got a question? Contact Katie (email)
Instagram: thechurchatSouthpoint

Order of the Phoenix
Zooms 6:00-7:00 pm
Tuesdays, April 7, 21

Fellowship of the Rings
Zooms 6:30-7:30 pm
Tuesday, April 14, 28

Roots
Hike, at 11:00 am
Saturday, April 24
Location TBD
Bring yer masks!

Zoom chat, 8:00 pm
Friday, April 30
Topic: Prayer

 

CARE

Pastoral Care Team

If you’re needing to talk or to pray, or would like support while you figure out what you need(!), our Pastoral Care Team is here for you.

A team member fills this role for two weeks before passing the torch to the next team member. The Southpoint News shows the name and contact details of our ‘active’ pastoral care person.

Current Pastoral Care Person
Until Fri, April 16 please contact
Anne Smith (778-878-4352, email).

From Sun, April 18 to Sat, May 1 please contact Anne Hartnell (email).

 

Southpoint Gathering Groups
These are designed also to show care and be neighbourly – let your group facilitators know that you’re limping a little. Let’s lift each other up.

Prayer Circles 
Wednesdays at Noon, by Zoom
If you would like to join in, please contact Karin (office@southpoint.ca).

Prayer Chain
If you have a confidential prayer need, please contact John Hardy (email).

 

SUPPORTING SOUTHPOINT

Thank you for considering your giving while we are not meeting in person. Possible means of giving include:

Pre-authorized debit (monthly or one-time) with our linked form. Cost to Southpoint is $0.50.

Paypal to the The Church at Southpoint. Cost is 3% of the donation. No Paypal account is required, only a credit card.

Charitable Impact Foundation.
Cost is 2.8% of the donation.