Posted by: Dana Wilson-Li in worship, web updates on
Jan 3, 2010
Gretta's meditation from today, Sunday January 3, 2010, is now up on
warmplace.ca and
westhillpodcast.ca respectively. And don't forget, you can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. If you have iTunes installed, go to the iTunes store online and search for West Hill United Church.
Posted by: Gretta Vosper in worship, thoughts, spirituality, religion, progressive, people, gretta, fundraising, current events, community news, church news on
Sep 24, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m., at the church
West Hill United has, for the last several years, been at the forefront of what we call the “progressive movement” within the church. What we had come to know about Christianity from courses we'd taken, books we’d read, conversations we’d shared, thinking we’d done, and experiences we’d had had moved us to a place where what we did and said in an ordinary Sunday service no longer reflected our understandings. We chose not to do nothing about this; rather, we began a journey toward creating the non-exclusive spiritual community for which we are now known across Canada and around the world.
The journey continues to be exhilarating. The relationships we nurture, the lives we touch; the music, songs, prayers, and hope we release into the world; the community we continue to build are all life-giving facets of this engaging work. We’re passionate about it and that passion shows in what we do and in the responses to it, both positive and negative.
Already, people across Canada, in the United States and the United Kingdom, in Sri Lanka, Australia, France, Nepal, and Brazil, have contacted us to express their gratitude for what we are doing. Others, for years to come, will share in the benefits of our willingness to risk being on the bleeding edge of change and setting a course that they might follow.
We find, however, that as a single, small community of faith, on our own and without significant changes, we can no longer sustain this considerable, and, we feel, essential work of transforming Christianity. As a committed band of hardworking, visionary people, we have borne the burden of this work and paid its costs up front. Our recent donor losses, realized as a result of our work, have placed us in a highly critical financial position; we are very close to reaching the depletion of our resources.
This morning, I shared with the congregation the news that, with current revenue trends continuing and with additional expenditure scrimping, we can expect to keep our doors open for a limited number of months. Our surplus funds will support us until the end of May, 2010. At that point, we will begin to use our overdraft, secured by $20,000 in Canada Savings Bonds. Those funds will be depleted at the end of August, 2010 at which time the bonds would need to be cashed in and turned over to the bank which holds them. We could no longer pay staffing, mortgage, or building costs.
What does this mean? Clearly, it means that we must make some major changes or find some significant donors who can support us through this difficult part of the journey to the place of strength we know is possible. Clearly, it means we need to examine all our options and determine which are viable, desirable, acceptable. Our meeting on Saturday will be a first step in determining what those options are: what we want to do, what we must do, and what we can do.
If you are at all able, please join us at the church on Saturday the 26th at 1:00 to help strengthen the foundations of this new Christianity we represent. We will endeavor to have childcare available; please let us know if you require it. If you are at a distance and would like to participate, please contact us and we will work toward making that possible.
Until then and beyond, please hold the community in your heart and your prayers.
On Sunday May 10 we invited the congregation to participate in our VisionWorks conversation.
VisionWorks is an extremely important document in our congregation. It outlines those values we chose to live by and use to guide us in the choices we make. It outlines the ideals that we to strive to meet, difficult as that may be sometimes.
Back in February we extended our first invitation, we were looking for individuals to help us reread and rewrite our VisionWorks II document. You see it was written 5 years ago and we pledged then to look at it from time to time to make sure it is current, relevant and meaningful.
A small group of folks - ten of us, met regularly over the past three months.....we read, we talked, we offered our thoughts and suggestions, we agreed and we disagreed, we laughed and at times we were silent. With joy and pride we developed a new tentative draft for VisionWorks. We now offer it - place it before the congregation and invite you into this important conversation. We hope that you will be present and participate. You see, VisionWorks isn't just a document - it's a commitment to the way we want to live our lives.
On May 5th, the new VisionWorks was presented to the board and was fully endorsed and more importantly, embraced. Over the next 5 to 6 weeks we will hear much more about it. It will be the focus of Gretta's meditations. Not only will we hear, but we'll also have opportunities to participate. We have 4 workshops scheduled (see the schedule below) that will allow you to ask questions, to offer your thoughts and to become better acquainted with it.
Hard copies will be available starting Sunday May 17. It will then be posted to our website along with an opportunity for you to blog and share what's on your mind. Following any revisions, the new VisionWorks will then be formally presented at our June congregational meeting for ratification. So stay tuned as we do our best to communicate to you, and more importantly to engage you in the VisionWorks conversation.
Workshop Schedule:
Sunday May 31 9:00 a.m upper lounge before service
Wednesday June 3 7:00 p.m. upper lounge
