Dates & Updates 1

Dates & UpdatesRosedale Presbyterian Church, Summer 2009

The Joy of Summer

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Clockwise from top left: Zoe running despite her broken arm; a water balloon exploding in front of Brock Winterton; Brooke Alyea presenting Isabella with her certificate; and Chelsea demonstrating her hula hoop skills.

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Noteworthy

Membership

Baptisms

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On April 19, RPC celebrated a double baptism.On the left, Ian James, son of Ann Katrusiak and John Waldie prepare to cut their cake. Ian James’ late grandfather, Gordon Waldie, was for many years chair of the Board of Managers of RPC. On the right, Emerson Robert Henry Cook not looking very happy as his parents, Scott Regehr and Jodi Cook get set to share their cake. Before the baptisms, Jodi, Ann and John became members of the congregation.

On June 7, Charles Kenneth, great grandson of long-time mem-ber, Anne Fairlie, was baptized. He is shown here with, from left to right, his godparents Max and Christina Saegert, Bill McLel-lan and his parents, Kimberley and Ken Darlington.

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Also on June 7, RPC celebrated the anniversary of members who joined the church in years ending in “9”. Henry den Braber, who became a member June 14, 1959, was present, as was Anne Fairlie, who became a member October 4, 1959. Both marked fifty years as members. We also welcomed Robin Daprato as the congregation’s newest member. Robin and Anne are shown with the celebration cake.

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ssWith sympathy

Our sympathy goes: to Janet Heisey Winterton, Brock Winterton, •

Adam, Philip and Claudia on the death of W. Lawrence Heisey, Janet’s father, on May 29.

to Melody McShane whose father died in Chilli-•wack, B.C., in February.

to David Alderson and to Delia on the loss of Da-•vid’s father, W. Keith Alderson on May 28.

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On March 29, Courtney Morris, former student minister at RPC, was ordained. The service took place at RPC. She has now taken up a call at St. Andrew’s Coldwater. Right, Rev. Morris receiving a stole from Rev. McLellan during the service. The stole belonged to the late Rev. Dr. Margaret MacNaughton, who was a leader in the move-ment for the ordination of women to ministry.

Ordination anniversary

Birthday

On May 31, longstanding member (Octo-ber 1951) John Wevers Sr. celebrated his 90th birthday with family and friends at RPC. Dorothy Roberts presented him with a prayer shawl, one of several which are being made by the Knitting Guild.

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The congregation recognized the 40th anniversary of Bill McLel-lan’s ordination on May 24.During the service, bass soloist Lawrence Cotton sang “The Impossible Dream,” which was sung when Rev. McLellan was ordained. Session Clerk Mark MacEl-wain congratulates Rev. McLellan.

Noteworthy

Ordination

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Birth

Congratulations go to the De Simone/Morden family. Rocco, Martha and Jeremy are overjoyed at the arrival of a baby girl, Taylor, on May 27. Also delighted are grandparents John and Joyce Morden.

The two ministers laughing after the service.

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Holy Week

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Holy Week observances included a Palm Sunday procession; a Maundy Thursday evening service at Rosedale United; Good Friday Stations of the Cross with the Ecumenical Coalition in St. James Town; Easter Sunday. Clockwise from top left: Jeremy and Isabella carry palm branches through the church; flowers bought by the congregation in memory of loved ones; and Heather Roberts, Brooke Alyea, Robin and Alex carrying the cross through St. James Town on Good Friday.

Dates & Updates 5

Second Century

We are both members of the Second Century Group, which hosted the Diana Butler Bass

workshop earlier this year and also had the responsibility to ensure that our congregation was thinking into the future -- especially now that we are near the end of our most recent five-yearplan.

Session asked us this morning to give a brief update of the ways that we are proposing to build on the momen-tum from the Diana Butler Bass workshop. Her approach was to study mainline churches that are healthy or growing and learn from the Christian practices that they choose to develop.

Our Session has decided to go down a similar path, to develop these four practices

Mission and Discipleship•Worship and Beauty •

“Christian practices” at RPC

In February, RPC hosted a workshop by Diana Butler Bass as part of the church’s looking forward into its second century. Here is a copy of the announcement made by Mark McElwain and Michelle Miller-Guillot during the June 14 service of worship:

Hospitality (and that’s in the wider sense – not just •welcoming a visitor on Sunday morning)

Discernment and Prayer•These are practices that make churches stronger and

help them grow. What’s the process for developing this at RPC?

You will see new signs in the fall. For example, as part of the practice of Discernment and Prayer, there will be a new ‘lexio Divina’ Bible Study launched just after Labour Day. This is a special contemplative technique for sharing the meaning of scripture.

For some of the other practices, such as Mission and Discipleship, there are several activities underway – like our involvement in the Out of the Cold and the Boarding-Homes Ministry – where we are already well-developed in practicing our faith through mission.

And the way that these practices will be developed and presented to the congregation, and to get broad partici-pation of the congregation, will be through our upcoming Stewardship Programme this fall.

Michelle Miller-GuillotMark McElwainClerk of Session

Diana Butler Bass during her workshop on Christian practices in mainline churches.

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As part of Holy Week, RPC and other members of the St. James Town Ecumenical Coalition, collected food for the food bank run by Our Lady of Loudres. Outreach Co-ordinator Mike Burns, far right, Jeanne Isley and David Hunter took down RPC’s donation.

The St James Town Ecumenical Coalition was formed by people who were concerned about the

disparity between mainstream Toronto and the neighbour-hood of St James Town. The Coalition is a place where residents and non-residents can come together to improve conditions in St James Town.

The Coalition hopes to cross all barriers and embrace all who call St James Town home.

The Coalition is currently comprised of 614 St James Town Church, City Hope, Our Lady of Lourdes Ro-man Catholic Church, Rosedale Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew’s United Church, St James Town Safety Commit-tee, St Simon-the-Apostle Anglican Church, Yonge Street Mission

How can we help?We recognize that the best way to work in the neigh-

bourhood is in partnership with others, be they individuals

St James Town Ecumenical Coalition

or organizations. We currently work with the St James Town Safety Committee running the Macaco Homework Club, Yonge Street Mission and the Community Kitchen and by supporting the Lourdes Food Bank.

Our goal is to offer whatever resources the commu-nity needs based on our ability to provide. These resources rangefromfinancialtomoraltopoliticaltophysical.Theresources we provide are intended to build the capacity of the residents, programs and organizations in St James Town.

If you, or someone you know, are currently running a program in St James Town working with children, youth, young adults, women or men we would love to hear from you. We are seeking to identify some local programs that we could partner with in order to increase their capacity, quality and reach.

Please contact Mike Burns by telephone at 416 925 3468 or by email at outreach@rpcc.ca.

Below is a flyer which was distributed at the St. James Town Festival June 13. It outlines the way in which the Ecu-menical Coalition is working to support community initiatives in St. James Town. Among other contributions, RPC has provided food for the Food Bank operating out of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, equipment for the Community Kitchen, and funds and supplies for the Macaco Club (after school program meeting in St. Simon’s Church). Regular volunteers at the Macaco Club are Marjorie Ross, Anne Donaldson-Page, Alexandra, and Mary Legge. They are joined by three regular volunteers from St. Andrew’s United, and other volunteers from time to time. Mike Burns has played a vital role in networking with the many different groups.

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Mission

Stevie Cameron spoke to a group gathered for a pasta supper about starting the Out of the Cold program in Toronto at St. An-drew’s Presbyterian Church.

This spring, the Mission and Outreach team hosted two pasta suppers. Each meal featured a talk

about mission RPC in which is currently involved.Atthefirstdinner,journalist,authorandmember

of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Stevie Cameron,

On April 4th and 5th, the youth of our church participated in the 30 hour famine. Along

with the youth group from Rosedale United, we played games, visited a food bank, held a spa, and even had a fashion show!

While we had a lot of fun that night, we also learned a lot about what it feels like to go for an extend-ed period of time without food, something hundreds of millions of people experience every day. Over the course of the night, we had interesting discussions about the causes of world hunger, and what we can do to eradicate it.

We left feeling hopeful that we were contributing to a cause that will one day solve this problem. With the

help of our congregation and the efforts of our youth, we were able to raise $934.10 for World Vision.

A big thank you to Heather Roberts, Mike Burns, and James Weavers for helping to supervise the eve-ning’s activities, and also to Vicki and Andy Boukydis, and Bruce Roberts for cooking a delicious breakfast the next morning.

Finally, I would like to send a heartfelt thanks to the youth who made the event so much fun for me: Sarah, Alex, Robin, Ally and Matthew. I hope next year is as much fun as this year was!

Cheers and Blessings,Brooke

30 Hour Famine

describedthebattlesshefacedtryingtostartthefirstOutof the Cold program in Toronto. She told how when they began, many members of the congregation were worried about damage to the church and its historic banners. She alsodescibedthefirstnightwhentheyservedonlysoup,bad coffee and stale doughnuts and the response they re-ceived was “This is it?” Ms. Cameron and the then-minister Cameron Brett said that would never happen again and made the decision to serve what they would serve their familes. St. Andrew’s now has a reputation for serving one of the best meals on the street.

As the program found its feet, it added extra programs including providing some health care and hair cuts. She thanked RPC for being part of the program and added that “every church who has done this has found the same thing -- you get more back than you put in.”

The next month, Laura and Michelle Roberts spoke about their two mission trips last summer. Support from RPC enabled them to take part in visits to two overseas partners of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. For an ac-count of Michelle’s visit to Eastern Europe, see the Winter 2009 issue of Dates and Updates, and for an account of Laura’s visit to New Delhi and Jobat Christian Hospital in central India, see the Fall 2008 issue. Their presenta-tions were accompanied by power point photographs which made for an enjoyable and interesting evening.

Ijeoma RossMarjorie Ross

Pasta Suppers

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Director of Music, Emerita

Mary Legge was named Director of Music, Emerita, in recognition of her work as former music director and in appreciation of her filling in for Melody McShane. Above, Bill McLellan and Mary during the service and then Mary and Melody at coffee hour.

Yard Sale

The annual yard sale took place on May 2 this year. Clockwise from top left: the bargain seekers were lined up bright and early as usual; Jeanne Isley works the china table; and in the hall, the tables were loaded with book and other treasures.

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Recognition Sunday

On June 14, the congre-gation recognized the children and teachers who participated in the Chil-dren’s Worship and the Arts program. Bill McLellan also presented plaques awarded by the St. James Town Safety Committee recognizing RPC’s work within the community. Clockwise from the top left: Education Co-ordinator Brooke Alyea gives a present to Robin; Brooke talking with the children; Heather Roberts thanking Brooke; and Bill McLel-lan presenting Marjorie Ross with an award for her social justice work in St. James Town.

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SeptemberSept.19 Hymns n’Hollywood: Rosedale Pres-byterian Church’s answer to the Toronto Film Festival! A celebration of hymns in the movies.Sept. 22 The Book Club meets to discuss The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. 7:30 p.m. in the lounge.

OctoberOct. 4 Holy CommunionOct. 23 - 25 Fall FestivalOct. 25 Worship - Genesis Now!

NovemberNov. 1 BGen. David Kettle, Chaplain General, Canadian ForcesNov. 8 Remembrance SundayNov. 14 The Session will once again host a Gourmet Dinner and Silent Auction, 6:30 p.m.

Looking back: We met in September 2008 to compare our favourite summer books. From these sugges-tions, we chose titles for our Novemeber, March and May meetings: Stunt by Claudia Dey, The Cellist of Sarajevo by Stephen Galloway, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. The RPC library has all the Book Club selections and are available for borrowing. We have relaxed due dates. (Perhaps, we might give you a gentle reminder after a year or two).

Looking ahead: Mark your calendar for Tues., Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and An-nie Burrows, as well as your favourite summer reads. We extend a welcome to all who are interested to come out and participate in our discussions. Looking forward to seeing you in September.

Irene King

Calendar

Book club

New Elders

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Communion & Luncheon

Dr. John Wevers, Earle Roberts, a friend of the Roberts, Dorothy Roberts, Anne Donaldson-Page and Violet Donald-son at the luncheon held May 27.

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On May 31, five new elders were elected to Session. Above, An-nemiek Miller, Ken Craigie and Jamieson Saab. Peter Schall and Tom Starkey were also elected.

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Food and games

After the Recognition service, the Family caucus hosted the annual picnic and games. Clockwise from top left: Jeremy gives Sarah five to mark the end of the first leg of the egg and spoon race; Claudia helps Michael during the three-legged race; Evan demonstrates his catching skill; Robin and Sarah talking with Emily during a break; and Patricia enjoying some lunch at the picnic

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Around RPC

dates & uPdates: Ijeoma Ross: Ijeoma@RogeRs.Com, 416-778-8876; maRjoRIe Ross: mj.Ross@RogeRs.Com, 416-920-3778; sue RoBeRton: 416-486-5379

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Clockwise from above: Bill McLellan introduces Ian and Emer-son to the congregation after their baptisms; Deane and Brooke enjoy watching the games at the picnic; two baby birds nesting on the church’s downspout; and Alexander and Isabella making quick work of some chocolate cake.

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