Highlands United Church, 3255 Edgemont Blvd. North Vancouver, BC V7R 2P1

604-980-6071 churchoffice@highlandsunited.org www.highlandsunited.org Rev. Will Sparks, Lead Minister

HIGHLIGHTS

August 4, 2019

Praying

It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds on a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try to make them elaborate, this isn’t a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak.

- Mary Oliver

Highlands Upcoming Events and Programs

This list does not include rooms booked for outside rentals (Scouts, AA, Alanon etc).

Highlands Event Calendar can be viewed on our web site at: www.highlandsunited.org

Summer Office hours

Monday July 22 to Friday, Aug 16: weekdays 9:30 am -2:30 pm

Monday Aug 19 to Friday Aug 23: Church Office closed this week

Also, during the last three weeks of August, contractors and volunteers will

be here performing repairs and yearly maintenance projects including floor

washing, painting and gym floor resurfacing.

Sunday, August 4 9:30 am Coffee/Tea in the Welcome Space 10:00 am Sunday Worship Service, Sanctuary 11:15 am Coffee & Hospitality, Welcome Space Monday, August 5 – BC DAY (Office Closed) 7:00 pm Healing Hands, Chapel Tuesday, August 6 9:00 am Adventure Vancouver Camp Wednesday, August 7 7:30 am Men’s Breakfast, Cora’s Restaurant 9:00 am Adventure Vancouver Camp Thursday, August 8 9:00 am Adventure Vancouver Camp 6:30 pm Leadership Board Meeting, Faith Room Friday, August 9 9:00 am Adventure Vancouver Camp Saturday, August 10 1:00 pm Saturday Lunch at North Shore Neighbourhood House Sunday, August 11 9:30 am Coffee/Tea in the Welcome Space 10:00 am Sunday Worship Service, Sanctuary 11:15 am Coffee & Hospitality, Welcome Space 11:30 am BBQ Fundraiser, Courtyard 7:00 pm Singing Hope and Justice – Strathdee Concert, Sanctuary

A Message from Highlands

Shelter to Home Team:

There has been a large parade of clients visiting

the Shelter to Home storage room in the past

10 days. Once all the chosen furniture is

removed, the place will be quite bare.

We currently have 5 clients who need things we

do not have. We recognize that we have let our church family know our

needs, over and over again. But we're hoping all of you can spread the

word that "the cupboard is bare".

We have:

no beds (and need 4),

no dining tables and chairs,

no coffee tables,

no dressers.

no TVs and TV stands

no microwaves

no pots

few electrical appliances and kitchen utensils

Thanks for your ongoing support of this outreach ministry.

Ruth

To donate to Shelter to Home, contact 778-331-8465

Highlands Book Circle

All are invited to our gathering in August - a chance to discuss

dystopian novel, published in 1953, which has stood the test of

time.

Date: Monday, August 26th

Time: 7:15pm

Title: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The novel presents a future American society where books are

outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found.[5] The book's

tagline explains the title: "Fahrenheit 451 – the temperature at

which book paper catches fire, and burns..."

Come for the discussion and to recommend books which we will

vote on to choose for the autumn months.

Any questions? Contact Phyllis at phyl_ferg@yahoo.ca

Men’s Breakfast

For the next two weeks, our usual meeting place will be closed.

Accordingly, the Men’s Breakfast will be gathering at Cora’s

Restaurant.

Date: Wednesdays, August 7th and 14th

Time: 7:30 am

Location: Cora’s Restaurant

801 Marine Drive (corner of Fell and Marine)

See you there!

Experience the healing of touch this

summer……

The Highlands Healing Hands ministry team is offering sessions of

healing at Highlands Church on Monday evenings in July and August

Dates are July 8, 15, 29 and August 5, 12

Times are 7:30 and 8:15

All are invited to come for relaxation, easing of pain, or emotional or

spiritual companionship. Please call Sharon Yetman 604-988-587 for

an appointment.

The Healing Pathway practitioner serves as a vessel or conduit of

God’s grace and healing energy. Practitioners are not the source of

the healing energy; they are merely the instrument. The aim of

healing is to restore balance and harmony within the energy system

and thus enable the self-healing of the individual.

The foundation of the Healing Pathway program lies in the long

tradition of healing within the Christian faith. Healing is not just

something Jesus and the early Christians did, it is an expression of

the deeper realities of faith, compassion, forgiveness and caring for

one another. The intention to be fully present with another in God’s

unconditional love creates the opportunity for healing. For early

Christians, healing was part of what it meant to be a follower of

Jesus, and the Healing Pathway is built on those ancient roots.

Christmas in June

By Lisa Madill

When Ruth Kershaw suggested that the Highlands community donate

food to the North Shore Lookout Shelter in June, I had an idea, an idea

that lead to a beautiful gift. I took the idea of Christmas in June to my

Grade 3 class at Blueridge Elementary. I explained that there are over

200 homeless people on the North Shore and that many of them don’t

have enough to eat. As we talked, the excitement began, and they

wanted to help.

The idea to started out as a small class project…every student would

bring in one food or non-food item each day for a week. If all went well,

we would have 95 items to donate to the North Shore Lookout Shelter

by the end of the week. Quickly, word go out and the entire Blueridge

community wanted to pitch in. If every child brought one item in, we

would collect 320 cans of food/non-food items.

My class created posters to put up

around the school, put up a huge

thermometer to show our progress, and

created a life size letter to Santa asking

him to bring the things on our list. My

students set up a table every day for a

week outside the school. They wore

Santa hats, rang jingle bells and sang

Christmas carols.

Ruth came in to visit my class and

shared stories and explained what the

lookout shelter does. She was very

impressed with our efforts. She was

touched by the fact that children were

working hard to help adults;

strangers they would never meet.

Needless to say, the Blueridge

community pulled through and we

collected well over 540 items for the

North Shore Lookout Shelter. On

Friday, June 21 five parents and

seven students went to drop off the

donation. They were treated to quick

tour around the facility and met some

of the people they had worked to

hard to help. There were many

lessons learned that week.

Lessons of compassion, citizenship,

and community.