Nelson United Church

COVID-19 Livestreaming Worship          I’ve been searching out words of hope and encouragement and have found a number.  I want to share one of those inspirational reflections with you this evening.          I subscribe to an online newsletter from the Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Community.  It is a wonderful community of 5 families living near read on →

         There is no shortage of sermon fodder for this morning.  We are focusing on PIE Day with youth from Duncan and Nelson United Churches and how God loves us all as we are.  There is the whole question of the pandemic we are currently facing—as it has now been declared—with respect to COVID-19.  There’s read on →

         In January, I wrote a little Tapestry article for the Nelson Star about baking with Einkorn wheat.  For those of you who are interested in agriculture and baking with ancient grains, Einkorn literally means “single grain”; it was one of the first plants to be domesticated.  Archaeological evidence has found this ancient wheat from read on →

Lent is only a recent observance in the United Church.  It began as a season of the Church for United Churches around the 1960s.  Before that time, Lent and Advent really weren’t observed, not like in the Anglican, Lutheran and Catholic Churches where the church seasons have been observed for centuries. Because we are new read on →

         When I travel by myself, I listen to a lot of music.  I sometimes listen just for entertainment, just to pass the time, but generally, I listen to be moved, inspired, to have my world challenged and a new way of being emerged; of course, that doesn’t always happen.  I like music that provokes read on →

Divinely Inspired Ways of Relating       Scripture: Matthew 5:1&2, 21-37 If there was such a thing as a disciple report card. If this report card was based on Jesus’ words (the words we just heard from Matthew) would we have earned a B+ or two or three? How many A’s? Would some of us be read on →

         Are any of you fans of courtroom dramas?  Remember Street Legal on CBC—I’m dating myself?  Or the original Law and Order?  Or what about the current series Bull; I also know there’s another CBC courtroom drama on at the moment but haven’t seen it.  And then, there was a British produced series called Garrow’s read on →

         John’s Gospel is very interesting and this encounter in the story we heard today involving John the Baptist, Jesus, Andrew and then Simon Peter is full of double entendres, symbolic action, and questions leading to questions.  In John’s—the Gospel writer—story-telling method, the idea was to rhetorically raise questions about Jesus’ identity read on →

         The Christian Century magazine had a reflection on our Epiphany Scripture reading about the Magi; it captured my imagination and was written by Mihee Kim-Kort, a Korean Presbyterian minister in the US.  She wrote about the genealogy in Matthew’s Gospel, the bit that comes before the visit of the Magi, the Epiphany, and she read on →

I’m always interested in the origins of poetry and novels, and words in general.  I’ve always had an interest in words as long as I can remember.  The origins of poetry, hymns and the written word are always important when we think about the meaning of the words.          Here’s a little background to the read on →