Page 18 - Presbyterian Connection

Connection
MISSION & OUTREACH
Glenview’s Charity Challenge
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PRESBYTERIAN
WINTER 2021
presbyterian.ca
By Natalie Jahn, Christian Education and Outreach Leader, Glenview Presbyterian Church in Toronto, Ont.
Every year, Glenview Presbyterian Church in Toronto, Ont., raises money for a special fund to support projects and missions, primarily Presbyteri- an-led, that respond to current needs in the world. This year, we have been raising funds to support Native Child and Family Services Toronto; Cariboo Presbyterian Church; ARISE Ministry; Portland Place; Evangel Hall Mission; and Boarding Homes Ministry.
While many of our traditional fun- draising events still can’t happen as they used to, we decided to try something new this year: we entered a team into the Scotiabank Charity Challenge at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
As word spread, we experienced
overwhelming support and enthusi- asm for this event. “Team Glenview” had 13 team members of all ages who walked or ran 5K, 10K, half- marathon and marathon. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only the 10K race could take place in person, but with limited capacity. Thus, most of the race took place “virtually,” mean- ing everyone could do their run when- ever and wherever they preferred. Even though we missed the thrill of the big, in-person event, it gave us the opportunity to find creative ways to do the race virtually. Some of our team members did the virtual race together in one of Toronto’s parks; one team member participated in the 10K in-person race on the Toronto waterfront and the others completed their run on their own, whenever and wherever it worked best for them.
Members and friends of Glen-
view who chose not to run or walk cheered on Team Glenview, and gen- erously supported their efforts. By mid-October, we had already raised almost $4,000!
Even though so much had to be put on hold since the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, we are still called to reach out, to love and to serve, and be the church of Jesus Christ today. A big thank-you to all team members and suppor ters of Team Glenview for making a differ- ence in people’s lives!
The Art of Neighbouring in Calgary
By the Rev. Dr. Tim F. Archibald, Lead Minister, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Calgary, Alta.
In the sunny days of July—follow- ing our Albertan Premier’s “Open for Summer” declaration—St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Calgary excit- edly began to plan for a Fall season of in-person re-gathering. At that time, our Chief Medical Officer began talk- ing of the move from pandemic to endemic as Albertans enjoyed the end of all COVID-19 protocols. Yet our congregation remained cautious about returning to in-person wor- ship. The steep curves of the second and third waves in Alberta had only reinforced people’s hesitancy to re- gather in person. As one “pre-COVID regular” told me honestly one day, “I rather like my ‘new Sundays’ of get- ting my coffee, settling in my comfy chair in my bathrobe and fluffy slip- pers along with my dog for online worship each week; it’s a habit that will be hard to break.” I knew right then that we had our “re-gathering” work cut out for us in the autumn of 2021.
We chose, as our Fall theme, “Re- gathering and the Art of Neighbour- ing.” After a season of isolation, it was time to break out of our bub- bles—and brush up on our skills of neighbouring—whether across the street or across the aisle! In some neighbourhoods, COVID-19 had ac- tually brought people together in a
new way—we wanted to help our parishioners build on that in their re- spective neighbourhoods. The series was an attempt to raise the focus from “ourselves” to “others.” After all, Jesus says that the most impor- tant Commandment is to love God and to love our neighbour as our- selves. We wanted to work on lov- ing our neighbours better and more deeply.
We designed a Fall Sunday wor- ship series around a variety of themes on neighbouring: Hospitality: A Biblical Tradition; Rediscovering Neighbouring; Making time—Being Interruptible; Overcoming Fear and Stereotypes; Forgiveness; When God Moves into the Neighbourhood; and to finish the series, a film and gospel Sunday based on the movie about Mr. Rogers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood.
To supplement our Sundays to- gether we designed a small group
study series based on the book The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon and planned to create myriad groups. Individuals in each group would do a “Block Diagram” of their neighbourhood and set weekly goals for creating great connec- tion on their street. We scheduled a “Re-gathering Sunday” for after Labour Day—with a special congre- gational event immediately following in-person worship. We spearheaded a “Neighbouring Across the Aisle” initiative, where all our households would be contacted by someone from our congregation and invited to our re-gathering events. We designed a Blessing of the Pets Sunday on St. Francis Day at the church building. And finally, we prepared for a screen- ing of the movie—A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood—on a Friday night in our sanctuary, in prepara- tion for the last Sunday of the series. Films are not only a great way for the
church to see clearly the main issues facing our culture but are also an op- portunity to help us connect gospel with the current needs in our culture. An important focus of this particular film is how people deal with anger and fear. It seemed a great choice for our Covid-weary time.
And then September arrived. Al- berta’s COVID-19 numbers were off the charts compared to what we had seen during the previous waves. A Medical Emergency was declared. COVID-19 deaths in the province passed 3,000. It was a stressful and chaotic time.
So, at St. Andrew’s, Calgary, we had to pivot (I think many of us will totally want to ditch the word pivot when this pandemic is finally over). “Re-gathering” disappeared from the title of our series; but since Je- sus says that the most important Commandment is to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves, the series on the Art of Neighbouring continued.
Instead of in-person small groups we created Zoom Small Groups. We cancelled the special congregational event following Labour Day, but held the Blessing of the Pets in early Oc- tober on our lawn. The “Neighbour- ing Across the Aisle” initiative con- tinued, but with a greater pastoral component.
Two stories illustrate the impact of the “pivoted” series on neighbour- ing. First, one newer person in our
congregation, who had lived in her neighbourhood for some time, be- came very aware of how few peo- ple she actually knew on her street. She decided to drop off handwritten Thanksgiving cards to her neigh- bours. In the card she told them a bit about her family and offered to be of help if anyone needed assistance. A new couple who had just moved from Ontario appreciated her card so much that they reciprocated with a special card, a photo of themselves and a desire to connect.
Second, two people in one of our small groups wanted to say “thank you” to our weary and faithful health- care workers. They sent a home- made card to the largest hospital in South Calgary. The card was so ap- preciated that it was photographed and emailed to staff at the hospital. Hundreds of people received that card. And as one hospital staff mem- ber told us, “The card was the talk of the whole hospital that day and deeply appreciated.” A small gesture of neighbouring can go a long way.
Our new Mission Statement at St. Andrew’s is: Woven into the neighbourhood, growing disciples who love like Jesus. The series on neighbouring has challenged us as individuals and as a congregation to practice greater love of neighbours and has spawned further creative ideas for being better woven into our neighbourhoods and living out our mission in South Calgary.