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WOODCLIFF MESSENGER MAY 25, 2018
 

Maintaining Balance - Note from Nora

Most of us feel pulled in many directions at once.

How to do what is expected of us in our jobs, whether within the church or outside it? How to respond to the news of snipers firing at protesters and medical personnel in Gaza, and pedestrians being run over on the streets of Toronto? How to juggle the various schedules in a household and meet the needs of different generations of family members? How to find time to clean the house and make dinner? How to carve out time to accompany sponsored refugees or volunteer in the community? How to carve out time for ourselves?

So often, in our long “to-do lists”, that final question comes last, or is left out altogether.

Yet as people of faith, we follow one who has told us to, “Love your neighbour as yourself”.

So we are to love our neighbours, and it is implicit in this teaching that we must love ourselves too. I don’t think that is about being selfish and self-centred. I think it is about maintaining a balance of mind, body, and spirit. It is about maintaining a balance in our lives to enable us to be healthy enough to serve others and to serve God.

When the focus is all on the mind, on the things we can analyze, plan, figure out, and solve, our lives are not complete.
We need to give our bodies healthy food and exercise of some kind, (ideally of a kind that we enjoy!), but if we focus only on our physical beings, that is not enough either.

Somehow, the mental and physical elements of our lives gain meaning as we develop our spiritual lives. Spiritual practices can take many forms. We can take part in Sunday worship. We can read scripture alone or with others. We can look for the Holy Spirit in each person we meet. We can try to offer the light of Christ to each person we meet. We can find comfort in God’s promise to Moses, “I will be with you.” We can take to heart the simple reminder in a beloved hymn, “Take it to the Lord in Prayer.” We can share a meal at a table with people we love. You can add to this list for yourself.

Loving our neighbours, and loving ourselves, involves our actions, but also our hearts and our souls.

God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.

Nora Sanders, General Secretary, The United Church of Canada | L'Église Unie du Canada
 
 
THIS WEEK AT WOODCLIFF
ANNOUNCEMENTS
                                          
WORSHIP AT WOODCLIFF
 
Sun. May 27                            Rev. Debbie Stockdale
Sun. June 3                             Rev. Debbie Stockdale
Sun. June 10                           Rev. Clint Mooney
Sun. June 17                           Rev. Debbie Stockdale
Sun. June 24                           Intergenerational Worship with all Ministers
Sun. July 1                               Rev. Eric Pagé


 
WOMEN OF WOODCLIFF (WOW)
We’re Retiring!!
Effective, June 30, Pat Blair and Karen Stenhouse are retiring from their current leadership roles with the Women of Woodcliff. This would leave WOW without leadership for the fall. On Wednesday, May 30th at 1:30 p.m., at the church, we will be holding a planning and recruitment meeting to 1) discuss possible programming for the future and 2) turn over the leadership reins to interested parties. Karen and Pat are willing to mentor new co-leaders for the fall programming. Please plan to attend and help WOW continue its ministry.
 
Projects for the Sherriff King Home
June 11th is coming soon and it’s the evening we turn over our Worry Buddies, afghans and other projects to this YWCA facility. If you have a project underway, it would be great if you could have it finished by then and ready to hand in. Thank you.
 

PROPERTY
                        DO YOU LIKE TO PAINT?                             
                                   DO YOU LIKE TO GARDEN??                                 
DO YOU LIKE TO PARTY???
 
Then come to our Woodcliff Church Spring Clean-up Party!   
We are hosting this incredible event on Saturday, June 2, 2018, starting at 9:00 a.m.
 
We have a station to suit everyone's interests.  We need painters to spruce up the Sunday School rooms.  We need gardeners to move mulch and spruce up our gardens.  We need cleaners to spruce up our kitchen.  And we welcome anyone who would like to help us clean up a lot of little jobs around the church.  There will even be a surprise task here and there. 
We will provide coffee and munchies.  And there are door prizes!  And lots of fellowship and laughter!  We hope you can join us in getting Woodcliff shiny for the spring and summer months. 
                                                                                    - the Property Committee


AFFIRMING
Thank you to all those who signed up as interested in learning more about the affirming process and possibly helping with exploring what affirming is and could mean for Woodcliff. Our first meeting will be June 7 at 6:30pm in the lounge. We will get to know one another a bit, do a little brainstorming of topics to explore and decide how we'd like to be organized.


CALLING ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS
Thank you to everyone who has submitted photos for our bulletins and Power Point. It's not too late to send along others! We have set up an email specifically for photos: woodcliffphotos@gmail.com If you have any photos you would be willing to share or take any photos during you travels this summer, please forward them along. Thanks!


OUTREACH

Got some time this summer to contribute to Habitat’s goal of providing affordable housing to needy Calgarians? Builds are currently underway in Bowness and Pineridge; check out volunteer opportunities: habitatsouthernab.ca. Stay tuned: Woodcliff is exploring week day and week end build days for the fall.

Sonshine Community Services
Sonshine is looking for two dressers in good condition for two different apartments, preferably at least six/nine drawer for the larger Mom rooms.  If you are able to donate and deliver please contact Lise Blanchette at  403.705.3490 or Lblancette@sonshine.ca 
 

WOODCLIFF DEMENTIA CAREGIVERS SUPPORT GROUP
 
Our caring circle meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm in the Edworthy Lounge here at Woodcliff.  No professional referrals are required. If you are in need of a safe, confidential circle to share your experience, learn from others and support others in their journey, our Caregivers Support Group is for you and is open to all. If you have questions, please be in touch with Lorna at rowsell5@shaw.ca or Ron at roncarter@telus.net. Next gathering is June 5, 2018.
 
 
CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Children's ministry volunteers - it's time to sign up for opportunities for 2018! Please use the following link to find available spaces to help and to sign up. Thank you!
 
VBS

VBS is coming to Woodcliff this summer from July 16-20th and we are looking for donations to help set the scene:
Tan coloured carpet scraps, beach toys, plastic table cloths in tropical colours. If you have any of these items to donate, please be in contact with Sheri.

Camp Kasota West
Summer camps for children and youth. Information available on the downstairs bulletin board, on the web site www.campkasotawest.com, or by phoning 403-275-3636.


WOODCLIFF CHOIR
Choir practice runs Thursday evenings starting at 7:30 pm.
New voices always welcome!

 
MEN'S BREAKFAST GROUP

Next meeting: June 16, 2018. 

THIRSTY THURSDAYS
Come join us for coffee in the Edworthy Lounge anytime after 10:00am!
PASTORAL CARE
WOODCLIFF PRAYER CHAIN
To have names placed on the confidential Prayer Chain List please contact the prayer chain at wucprayerchain@gmail.com
PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY
Pick up a request form at the Church to arrange for a prayer shawl presentation.
CARD MINISTRY
Contact the church office to help us acknowledge the life situations of our congregants.
HEALING MINISTRY
The Healing Pathway Ministry team is available to give healing sessions upon request. To experience relaxation, and receive the gift of healing hands, please contact the church office at 403-249-3121.
MINUTE FOR MISSION

A Sweet Mission of Empowerment


Our gifts for Mission & Service support innovative programs like the cake-decorating program at Tamil United Church, Toronto.

Tamil United shares space at the former Wilmar Heights United Church with the Toronto Southeast Presbytery office. The congregation worships and offers programming for the surrounding community. The program was started by one of the women of the congregation, Ruth, who has her own cake-decorating business and found there was a need among women new to Canada who wanted to start their own businesses.

Vilvan Gunasingham, Chair, Tamil United Church, shared that this program has become an effective social justice outreach to women who are single mothers, unemployed, or underemployed, who now are able to support themselves and their families. Many of the women who took the course now work at major grocery stores decorating cakes in the store bakery. The program also provides a place of welcome to people new to the community.

Your gifts for Mission & Service make possible programs that offer hope to new Canadians.

If Mission & Service giving is already a regular part of your life, thank you so much! If you have not given, please join me in making Mission & Service giving a regular part of your life of faith. Loving our neighbour is at the heart of our Mission & Service.


COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
Save the date:
Tonight, May 25, 2018 - Concert of Hope (at Centre Street Church)
Tickets go on sale April 13 through Centre Street Church's website: https://www.cschurch.ca/event/1111690-2018-05-25-12th-annual-concert-of-hope/ 
For more information: call 403-796-3603, email info@corecelebration.com or visit our website at http://www.corecelebration.org.

 


5010 Spruce Drive SW T3C 3B2
403-249-3121

NEED AN ANNOUNCEMENT IN THE BULLETIN, MESSENGER OR POWERPOINT? email the office at 
office@woodcliffunited.com

wucprayerchain@gmail.com
woodcliffkids@gmail.com
youthwuc@gmail.com

Please add us in your address book.

Find more information about the wider Church at:
Calgary Presbytery: www.calgaryunited.ca
Alberta & Northwest Conference: www.anwconf.com
The United Church of Canada: www.united-church.ca
Wondercafe2 http://wondercafe2.ca/index.php
Our mailing address is:
5010 Spruce Dr. SW, Calgary, Alberta T3C 3B2, Canada

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Woodcliff United Church · 5010 Spruce Drive SW · Calgary, AB T3C 3B2 · Canada

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