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Connection
NEWS
Women’s Group Returns to St. Matthew’s After Eight-Year Absence
PRESBYTERIAN
23
 presbyterian.ca
FALL 2018
    1956
By Lynne Allan, Thistle Club co-chair and elder at St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church in Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L.
St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church in Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L., once again has a women’s group. Some 62 years since it was established and eight years since its last meet- ing, The Thistle Club is back.
It was November 1956 when 10 of the younger women of the congrega- tion met to form what would eventu- ally be named the Thistle Club. The church’s older women were already members of the White Heather Guild, formed some 18 years earlier. Both groups focused on fellowship and raising money for the church.
From the beginning, fundraising was high on the agenda of Thistle Club meetings. The first tea and sale of handiwork was held in the home of one of the founding members before the club was a month old. It set the stage for years of dessert teas that included sale tables laden with baked goods, preserves, handiwork and crafts—labour-intensive events that earned the Thistle Club the reputation of serving “a good cup of tea.”
As years went by and the younger women of the congregation became the older members of the church, and membership of the Thistle Club dwindled, it became obvious major fundraising events were too much for
the club to under take. Meetings were discontinued in 2010. The Thistle Club folded.
Fast forward to 2017. The idea of re-establishing the Thistle Club had been on the minds of several former members, more for fellowship than anything else. But it wasn’t until the congregation was called upon to par- ticipate in the PCC General Assem- bly’s Strategic Plan that it became ob- vious a group was needed to take the lead in fulfilling St. Matthew’s commit- ment to the plan. On April 9, 2018, the Thistle Club was reborn and became that group.
It was a happy coincidence that the same number of women that estab- lished the club in 1956 attended the April meeting. It is also special that two of the founding members are members of the present-day club.
While fellowship remains a very impor tant par t of the Thistle Club mandate, there will be no more fund- raiser dessert teas with sale tables of crafts and baked goods. Instead, the women are taking the lead on the St. Matthew’s Community Outreach Pro- gram, which is the church’s commit- ment to the Strategic Plan.
The support of the rest of the con- gregation means much has been ac- complished in a shor t time, keeping in mind there is a service at St. Mat- thew’s only once a month. A collec- tion of non-perishable food had al-
ready been started and that project fit in well with the Community Outreach Program. After just five services, 315 items had been delivered to the local food bank.
The Thistle Club’s first official pro- ject is a Community Clothesline erect- ed in the sanctuary. The congrega- tion is encouraged to hang new adult socks and underwear from the line. Three months later 95 pairs of socks and 69 pairs of underwear have been given to the Salvation Army’s Family and Community Services division in Grand Falls-Windsor.
When a need for caps and mittens for newborns and incubator blankets for premature babies was identified at the local hospital and the children’s hospital in St. John’s, the knitters and sewers of the group got busy. In the days between the May and June meet- ings, 57 caps, 57 pairs of mittens and 32 incubator blankets were produced. Not only did church members give freely of their skills and materials, but a friend of a club member wanted to help and when her sister visiting from Alberta found out, she did, too. Talk about community outreach!
Before breaking for the summer, the Thistle Club reached out to the churches of other denominations in Grand Falls-Windsor. Letters were written to the eight women’s groups of the other churches, informing them of the club’s return and offering support
A signature from T. J. Milo in 1924.
Fathers of Confederation, Sir John A. Macdonald and Oliver Mowat, as well as famed Canadian author Robertson Davies, attended church services
These 10 women gathered in November 1956 to form The Thistle Club of St. Mat- thew’s Presbyterian Church in Grand Falls (now Grand Falls-Windsor), N.L. Two of them are members of the present-day club.
The Thistle Club of St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church, Grand Falls–Windsor, N.L., has been reactivated after an eight-year absence. Ten women, the same number that established the club some 62 years ago, came together in April with a mandate of fellowship and commitment to General Assembly’s Strategic Plan.
  2018
  Carvings from the Past in Kingston
for an event they may be planning that will benefit a cause in the community or further afield. Response to the letter has been positive and the Thistle Club expects to be involved in at least one ecumenical project in the fall.
While much is accomplished dur- ing the monthly meetings, the Thistle
at St. Andrew’s. Queen’s Univer- sity was founded by the church 176 years ago.
But St. Andrew’s isn’t just looking back. The congregation is growing and expanding into the future. Other completed renovation projects in- clude building stairs up to the bell tower, making two new sets of stairs to the choir loft to match the original wood, and installing new LED light- ing over the chancellery. The church organ and church clock have been restored, and accessibility improve- ments include the installation of a wheelchair-accessible washroom and two lifts.
“It’s exciting to maintain this place of beauty in the centre of the city, but also just to feel we’re welcoming fu- ture generations,” the Rev. Andrew Johnston said.
Club isn’t all work for members. After the meetings are adjourned, the fel- lowship that fosters co-operation and brings community outreach projects to fruition continues with a catch-up, a cookie and a cup of coffee or “a good cup of tea.” Some things never change.
Scaffolding in the sanctuary of St. An- drew’s during restoration work.
  By Barb Summers, Communications Office
Restoration work in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kingston, Ont., led to the discovery of sig- natures from the past in the ceiling above the sanctuary and around the church.
The restoration work involved work on the cupola and stained- glass windows as well as refurbish- ing the chandelier. The stained-glass windows were taken out as part of the restoration project and doing so
exposed the handwriting of previous tradesmen, dating back almost 100 years. The first signature comes from T.J. Milo, who painted the outside of the cupola on July 18, 1924. What followed was a series of signatures from workers until 1984.
Additional signatures were discov- ered around the chancellery that date back to the 1800s. The surprise sig- natures have all been photographed in order to preserve their stories.
St. Andrew’s has a rich history in the community and recently cel- ebrated its 200th anniversary. Two
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