St. Paul’s Worship Committee has come up with an innovative faith experience for our church family for the duration of the summer months. The committee members considered many services and came up with a selection that we hope you’ll find inspiring and meaningful.
July 11
Acting as our tour director this week is Sharon Pyle, who is taking us all the way to Regina, Saskatchewan to meet up with our long-time friend, Cam Fraser.
Knox Metropolitan United Church Regina, Saskatchewan Cam Fraser
From the time Cameron Fraser began attending St. Paul’s as a ten-month-old in 1980, he was actively (as a toddler, some might say very actively!) involved in the life of our church. We had many opportunities to enjoy Cam’s unique talents in his teen years – from teaching Church School, participating in youth group activities and leading worship services to serving on a JSC, Cam always provided experiences that were enjoyed by young and old alike. Appointed as a Designated Lay Minister here in 2008, Cam was instrumental in the formation of the Annex. He continued his ministry at St. Paul’s until 2014, when he was called to Knox-Metropolitan United Church in Regina.
The Regina congregations of Knox Presbyterian and Metropolitan Methodist date back to 1882. Becoming part of the United Church at the time of union in 1925, they merged in 1951. The church, now usually referred to as “Knox-Met”, continues to play a vital role in the life of downtown Regina, providing a premier venue for concerts, hosting guest speakers to present “conversations that matter” and offering activities that find affinity with other faiths. For the past 50 years Knox-Met has also been the home of the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry which works with some of Regina’s most marginalized. In the winter of 2020 (less than a month before COVID-19) Knox-Met voted to become an Affirming Ministry. Knox-Met also works intentionally to partner with Indigenous communities and organizations to work on issues of racism and justice. Cam’s current role as a Coordinating Minister balances leading worship and congregational activity with community engagement and public witness/presence, integrating the internal and external work of Knox-Met as a congregation and community Hub.
The link provided is for the Knox-Met traditional service which is livestreamed at 10:30 am CST (12:30 here in Milton) and then later available on YouTube. You may also be interested in checking out the YouTube postings for Knox-Met Kids, where you can enjoy the energy and joy Cam, Cheryl, Lily, Isla and Ollie impart in song!
If you are the type who likes to pack as much into a holiday as you can, you might want to partake in a side-trip or two. Here are a few other choices from the Worship Committee members, for those who might be more adventuresome:
Hey, everyone, grab your passports. We’re going stateside! Jo McDuffe has made all the arrangements for us in Florida. Don’t forget your sunscreen.
Asbury United Methodist Church Maitland, Florida Chris Jones
Marilyn Pickett and myself attended the Community of Faith United Methodist Church in Davenport, Florida for many years. We both had rental homes in the area for the winter.
Pastor Chris Jones was posted new there in 2015 as a young man of 30. We took to him immediate. He was so very easy to listen to and his message always meaningful.
We continued to follow him online as he got married, then later when he and his wife were blessed with a set of twins – a boy and a girl.
A month ago he transferred to Asbury United Methodist Church, Maitland, Florida near Jacksonville. And we continue to follow. Please enjoy his message.
Another interesting point: Pastor Chris has morning prayer live at 8:30 am every morning using the same link.
Sherry Cameron had heard such interesting reports about this church that she thought we should pay a visit to experience it for ourselves.
Harbour Fellowship St. Catharines, Ontario Jeff Bennett
A co-worker of mine at school attends this church in St. Catharines. She and her husband are very involved with the youth group.
Harbour Fellowship Church is an Evangelical Baptist Church that is part of FEB Central Ministries. The pastors are: Jeff Bennett (Lead Pastor), Mark Vincent (Pastor of Discipleship and Compassion), Chrissy Payne (Director of Family Ministries), Josh Shulz (Director of Worship Arts). The services are broken up into two different times: 9am and 11am on Sunday mornings with a live stream happening during the 9am service. If you would like to know more about the Harbour the website is: https://harbourfellowship.com
This time, for something different, we have an Anglican church service. Manotick, in the greater Ottawa area, is home to a very pleasant church with a friendly, active congregation. Wendy Hodgkins is the extremely proud aunt of the music director at St. James, Ellen Badcock.
St. James Anglican Church Manotick, Ontario Kerri Brennan
It’s always special to see a relative doing something really well. One of my nieces, Ellen Badcock, is an accomplished pianist, organist, composer, and choir director and she is also a member of Aella Choir in Ottawa. She teaches piano privately as well as in the school system and is the music director at St. James Anglican Church.
I’ve had the opportunity to visit St. James and I found it to be such a friendly place. One time while there, I had the occasion to attend a choir fund-raiser/concert and I saw how Ellen put her choir members through their paces. It was a lovely musical experience.
This church congregation has been in place since the 1870s. Although the present church building is a recently built structure (1980s) most of the plaques and stained glass windows hearken back to the original structure of one hundred-forty years ago. I hope you enjoy your visit.