FEED YOUR SPIRIT 

Peace, Friends 

We are delighted to share with you the broadcast from Good Shepherd Sunday, April 25, 2021, featuring inspirational music with special guests, vocalist Richard Hrytzak, the Inter Mennonite Children’s Choir, and organist Peter Nikiforuk, prayers including requests from across the country, readings, a message, and the celebration of Holy Communion.

Richard Hrytzak regularly sings with The Elora Singers, Opera Atelier and Spiritus Ensemble, and occasionally with Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Choir 21, and Nota Bene Baroque Players. Recent projects have included Candide with the Grand Philharmonic Choir/KWS, and with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Other recent highlights include performances with Steven Page, Natalie MacMaster, Roger Hodgson, Ben Heppner. Richard is also the choir director at Grand River Unitarian Congregation.

The Inter Mennonite Children’s Choir is currently under the direction of Artistic Director Carolyn Newmann Vanderburgh.

We offer these worship elements for you to use this day or at your convenience; the timeline is listed below so you can jump to the pieces that are helpful for you. Hymn numbers are for Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

Blessing on your worship!

00:00  BROADCAST INTRO

00:35  OPENING     

03:27  THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM

South Dakota Synod of the ELCA (adapted)

06:56  MUSIC 1        764 Have No Fear Little Flock

08:44  OPENING PRAYER

Crafted by Julie Perrin

09:44  READING      Acts 4:5-12

11:05  MUSIC 2        645 Christ is Made the Sure Foundation

14:10  READING      1 John 3:16-24

15:43  MUSIC 3        778 The Lord’s My Shepherd

18:54  GOSPEL       John 10:11-18

20:16  TEACHING

References: Leonard Sweet (Preach the Story); Jake Owensby – Looking for God in Messy Places; Nadia Bolz Weber (Patheos); Barbara Brown Taylor (The Preaching Life)

34:35  MUSIC 4        Easter from Five Mystical Songs (Ralph Vaughan Williams)

39:20  PRAYERS

Crafted by Katherine Kussmaul (adapted)                                  

43:38  MUSIC 5        Mein Herz ist bereit (Nicholas Bruns)

47:50  EUCHARIST

This communion liturgy has been inspired, crafted, and adapted from a variety of sources and authors, and spans several denominations and continents, in particular, that of Thom Shuman.. See also: Bread and Wine Online (pmphillips); Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church: Eucharistic Prayer for the Global Pandemic (Rev Lane Cotton, Rev Juan Huertas); Scattered and Gathered (Simon Woodman); Evangelical Lutheran Worship; St. Bride’s Holy Communion (Miranda Threllfall-Holmes); Online Communion for Palm Sunday (Rev Maren C. Tirabassi). Post-Communion prayer crafted by Andrew Nunn (adapted).

53:09  MUSIC 6        Organ Chorale Prelude (Friedrich Held)

                                    544 Praise the Lord, Rise Up Rejoicing

57:32  THANK YOU

57:52 BLESSING    Inter Mennonite Children’s Choir (Carolyn Newmann Vanderburgh, Artistic Director)

Be kind to yourselves

Peace, friends.

It was  a very emotional week filled with highs and lows.
Meetings. Deaths. Grieving. Sessions. Dealing with an insurance company. Dissertation editing. Video editing. Broadcast stuff.

And then…that Friday happened.

Like many who called or emailed me, I thought to myself “geez it’s Easter, why does it feel more like Good Friday?” 

Many of the folks who telephoned or emailed me find the latest directives announced this week by the Ontario Government challenging. Some were particularly concerned with the policing and enforcement piece. Some were confused. Some were just plain ol’ weary and wondering as many a biblical figure have “How long, O Lord…how long?”

Some people are experiencing what has been named “crisis fatigue.”
 
Let me borrow, adapt, and paraphrase the words of author Jake Owensby for a moment: Confronted by a relentless barrage of stress-inducing events, we respond with a draining mixture of exhaustion, rage, disgust, despair, anxiety, and grief. We want things to change, but the problems seem so huge that we don’t know where to start. We begin to wonder if we could make a real difference anyway. We’re overwhelmed.
 
And no wonder. COVID 19, racism issues, government issues, pandemic inequalities, vaccinations, food insecurity, lack of affordable housing, right relations, climate crisis…the non-exhaustive list continues…
 
These are big problems requiring sustained, vigorous action. And when we’re feeling overwhelmed, the sheer size and scope of the challenges we face can sap us of the energy we need to confront them effectively.
 
If we look at our challenges as whole we may feel too small and inadequate to do anything about them. We know that we should do something, but we may struggle to get started. Here’s  something the recovery community taught [Owensby] about that. Don’t be frozen in your tracks by the illusion that only big things can make a difference. Instead, just do the next right thing.
 
Wear a mask in public. Follow public health directives. Get your shots. If you’re white like me, listen to people of colour talk about what it’s like to be a person of colour in our society and resist the urge to defend yourself. Sit with your Bible and read what Jesus says about the poor, the stranger, and loving your neighbor. Vote when the time comes.
 
Do the good that’s right in front of you. 
 
After many hours, when I hung up the phone and closed my laptop after replying to as many emails as I could, feeling truly blessed to be journeying with people but overwhelmed myself, I thought about Owensby’s words. I felt strangely numb. And then a peculiar thing happened, I noticed that I was humming a hymn.

My Oma used to do that – in good times and challenging times – and she had many of both during her life. As the notes escaped my lips and wrapped themselves around my tired soul, I thought of George Santayana – at least I think it was him – who said religion is another world to live in. That creaky hymn stuck in the back of my throat seemed to beckon me to that world, a word of promise in the midst of the hearts winter, as Martin Marty says.

I’m under no illusions…singing a hymn is not going to solve these big challenges. But it did come as healing balm, as breath, as outlet, as a moment, and as a nightcap for the soul.

Self-care is important, especially now. Be kind to yourselves.

As always, should you feel (mentally) stressed and find yourself in need of supportive conversation, please feel free to reach out to me via email pastormark@stpeterskw.ca or at (519) 591-1551. I’d love to chat.
 
Friends, take care of yourselves and each other.

Onward,
Pastor Mark

NEED TECH SUPPORT?

There’s a new program called enTECH@home that provides phone- and email-based tech support to anyone who may need a bit of technology help. This service is entirely free, and run by University of Waterloo student volunteers. 

“We are happy to provide support to anyone who contacts us – this service is available to you no matter where you live or how old you are. We are happy to provide support to community members living in retirement homes and long-term care homes.”

Services are currently only offered in English. We are looking into providing support in other languages.

Common issues include:

• Problems with video calling
• Setting up an email account
• How to use YouTube
• Joining online religious services
• Other technology issues

A volunteer will make two attempts to contact you, after which we would ask you to reconnect with us and provide your updated availability. (http://www.entech.club, accessed Feb18,21)

Details are in enTECH’s graphic below.