Revs. Smith – Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church

Rev. Moon’s Message for June 11, 2023

Dear friends of Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church,

In the fall of 2021, the Future Directions Committee (FDC) was established to carry forward the efforts of the Big Things Committee (BTC). The BTC had been exploring options to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of our congregation, prompted by the deteriorating state of our stained-glass windows and the significant cost associated with their repair.

We, as Session, would like to inform you that the Future Directions Committee has completed their report and recommendations, and the report is ready for the congregation to consider. To facilitate this, we are planning to hold a congregational meeting in June. The proposed date for the meeting is Sunday, June 25 (12–1 PM). Please note that the purpose of this June meeting is solely to present the report of the Future Directions Committee. While you will have the opportunity to ask questions about the report, no decisions or recommendations will be made during this meeting. We want to allow sufficient time for prayer and reflection on the report’s contents. Two additional congregational meetings will be scheduled later this year. The first one is tentatively planned for Sunday, September 24*, where members of the congregation may bring their questions and share their thoughts on the report. The second meeting is tentatively planned for Sunday, November 19*, and we hope to make recommendations during that gathering. *Dates to be confirmed later.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the members of the Future Directions Committee for their diligent work on this report. We humbly ask for your prayers as the congregation prayerfully discerns how we can continue to serve the Risen Christ through our congregation for many years to come.

Please take note that there is a Prayer and Communion service on Wednesday, June 28 at 7:30 PM.

In Christ,

—Rev. Chuck Moon

Absence of Rev. Moon June 5–19

Note that Rev. Moon will be absent from the office from June 5–19 (for reading and vacation weeks). The Rev. Helen Smith preaches this week, and the Rev. Dr. Bob Smith will preach on June 18. Rev. Moon will return from reading and vacation weeks after June 19, and the Livestream will return then also.

A version of this message appeared in the Saturday, June 10, 2023 version of Tidbits.

Rev. Moon’s Message for March 12, 2023

Dear friends of Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church,

Revs Helen & Bob Smith

Just a reminder to turn your clocks ahead this Sunday morning for Daylight Savings Time, and please note that there is no livestream this week, as I am away on study leave. We welcome the Rev. Dr. Bob Smith to lead the worship service this Sunday.

—Rev. Chuck Moon

A version of this message appeared in the Friday, March 10, 2023 version of Tidbits.

Rev. Moon’s message for October 9, 2022

On September 30, 2022, Rev. Helen and Rev. Dr. Bob Smith visited the Taber Hill Ossuary to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I asked if Helen could write about her visit to the site with us, and she kindly agreed to share her experience and thoughts.

granite stone with bronze plaque on a low flagstone plinth — *Taber Hill Ossuary commemorative stone with bronze plaque, September 30, 2022. Photo by Rev. Helen Smith; used by permission.*

On Truth and Reconciliation Day, Bob and I visited a spot not too far from our home, the Taber Hill Ossuary, marked by a large stone at the top of an unusual smooth mound. The Iroquois prayer on the east side of the stone is well worth the trip up the Hill. It is on the east side of Bellamy Road, just north of Lawrence. It is not a natural feature. The mound contains the remains of nearly 500 Iroquois buried sometime during the 13th century, well before the settlers from Europe landed on mainland Canada. Six centuries later, corn fields were being bulldozed for new homes and the 401 was making its way around the then-northern limits of Toronto. While digging up earth in 1956 for a 401 overpass and to make way for new housing, the shovel operator noticed human remains in his shovel. The land was quickly declared a cemetery. Remains of an Iroquois village were unearthed close by the Taber Hill site.

As I read the plaque on the large stone, I thought of how the land had been cared for hundreds of years before the settlers came and claimed the land and the colonization of the indigenous people began. It is good to be reminded of this as we seek to move forward together in truth and reconciliation.

Our prayers continue.

—Rev. Chuck Moon

A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, October 8, 2022, edition of Tidbits.

Rev. Moon’s message for June 26, 2022

Dear Friends,

On Sunday, June 26, we would like to celebrate the faithful ministry that both Rev. Dr. Bob and Rev. Helen Smith offered our congregation as interim moderators. Due to the COVID restrictions, we briefly acknowledged their faithful ministry with us in October 2021. But we never had a chance to celebrate their time with us by sharing laughter and stories. Not to mention that there was no food! Like many of us who were unable to celebrate a significant birthday, anniversary, funeral, wedding, or party with our loved ones, we are grateful that we are starting to gather and celebrate together as a community with stories and laughter.

Revs Helen & Bob Smith

We are trying to celebrate the presence of God we experienced through them and each other during the challenging vacant years. We want to observe how God allowed us to work, pray, and grow as a church family. By celebrating, we would like to recognize the sacredness of our time together. It is also an opportunity to deepen our awareness and sense of gratitude in our human spirit.

I don’t know about you, but I feel I can do a far better job of allowing “thank you” to nurture my soul. Sometimes I am (and some of us are) so quick at exchanging words, “Thank you” and “You’re welcome”, but I think it is perfectly okay to hold onto our feeling and awareness of “Thank you” a bit longer and let it guide what we do and believe.

—Rev. Chuck Moon

A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, June 25, 2022, edition of Tidbits.

The Revs. Smiths’ Message for August 29, 2021

Dear Friends,

So, the time has finally arrived, and in a few days we will officially welcome our new minister, the Rev. Chuck Moon. I can sense the excitement in everyone I talk to, and like everyone, can hardly wait to see Chuck’s ministry take shape in our midst.

The Revs Helen & Bob Smith

As central as Chuck will be in our church community’s life, it might be good to remember that we are all a part of a collection in which each of us has a role. In Ephesians 4 Paul reminds the people in the early church that we are all given gifts by the Spirit for building up the body of Christ in the work that it has to do in the world. Each of us has a role, a part to play, and it is in the drawing together of all those gifts in order to see God’s work in us move forward.

With our minister, we are all Christ’s ambassadors in the world, proclaiming to the world the good news of the love of God. Chuck’s work in our midst will bear fruit as we encourage him in it, and offer ourselves and our God-given gifts, to be co-workers with him under Christ.

Together, may we see our church grow and reach out, to God’s glory.

In Christ,

Revs. Bob and Helen Smith

A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, August 28, 2021, edition of Tidbits.

The Revs. Smiths’ Message for August 22, 2021

Dear Friends,

In our neighbourhood it is a delight to watch the children play, not street hockey, but street cricket! We certainly have trouble figuring out the rules. We got some help, sort of, from the Yorkshire County Cricket Club Rules of Cricket:
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out.

“Lords-Cricket-Ground-Pavilion-06-08-2017.jpg” – Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, England. CC BY-SA 4.0 International. Photo by Yorkspotter. Full credit below.

When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.

Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out, he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.

There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men are out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.
Fortunately, it is much easier to follow the rules of discipleship. You just have to, in theologian Paul Tillich’s phrase, “accept the fact that you have been accepted.”

And then you are in, and the game is amazing, and it goes on forever!

In Christ,

Revs. Bob and Helen Smith

Photo by Yorkspotter . Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Taken from the Wikimedia Commons.

A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, August 21, 2021, edition of Tidbits.

The Revs. Smiths’ Message for August 15, 2021

Dear Friends,

Some advice from a butterfly, as recently seen on a T-shirt:

Let your true colours show.
Get out of your cocoon.
Take yourself lightly.
Look for the sweetness in life.
Take time to smell the flowers.
Catch a breeze.
We can’t all be monarchs!

In Christ,

Revs. Bob and Helen Smith

Photo by Fesoj. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Taken from the Wikimedia Commons.

A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, August 14, 2021, edition of Tidbits.

The Revs. Smiths’ Message for August 8, 2021

Dear Friends,

Who could help being caught up in the excitement of the Olympics? The strength and stamina of the athletes, the photo-finishes, the teamwork — at this highest level of competition is pretty thrilling to watch.

I was struck by the Canadian swimmer, Penny Oleksiak. She won four medals in 2016 in Rio, so was a star even before she got to Tokyo. She won two medals, and all eyes were on her, because if she got one more, she would be Canada’s most decorated Olympic athlete. She failed in her next race, coming in fourth, which just happened to break the Canadian record, but wasn’t enough for a medal. Where she had her final success, and achieved her record-setting medal-count, was as the anchor swimmer in a relay.

In her comments after that race, she said that she was glad not to have placed in the previous race, because the achievement was even better here — “sweeter” was her word — because it was shared with her teammates.

What a selfless thought. The one at the centre of attention pulls her teammates into the circle. The one whom everyone is talking about wants to talk about the others who helped her get there.

To me, this is sports at its finest, and an example of how its lessons can extend beyond the swimming pool or track. No great success is achieved without the support of others — parents, friends, coaches, teachers — and no failure or discouragement is overcome without their encouragement. To acknowledge that only strengthens us, and helps us all move on to even greater accomplishments.

In Christ,

Revs. Bob and Helen Smith

Photo by Sander van Ginkel. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Taken from the Wikimedia Commons.

A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, August 7, 2021, edition of Tidbits.

The Revs. Smiths’ Message for August 1, 2021

Dear Friends,

Professional basketball player Jeremy Lin was crashing on his brother’s couch in New York, warming the bench at the Knicks’ games, when he was put in to substitute for an injured player. He went from an unknown benchwarmer to superstar. During the 2011–12 season he unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the Knicks. “Linsanity” was born. Lin was the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. In 2019 he became the first Asian American to win an NBA championship with our own Toronto Raptors.

Jeremy Lin playing with the New York Knicks in 2011. CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic. Photo by nikk_la. Full credit below.

When asked about his meteoric rise, Lin, out of his Christian faith, said it was a miracle, “God’s fingerprints are all over the place, where there’s been a lot of things that had to happen that I just couldn’t control. You could try to call it a coincidence, but at the end of the day there’s 20, 30 things when you combine them all, that had to happen at the right time for me to be here. That’s why I call it a miracle.” Many times we look back over our own life stories as individuals and as a congregation and see that “God’s fingerprints are all over the place.” Thanks be to God that miracles still happen.

In Christ,

Revs. Bob and Helen Smith

Photo by nikk_la. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Taken from the Wikimedia Commons.

A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, July 31, 2021, edition of Tidbits.

The Revs. Smiths’ Message for July 25, 2021

Dear Friends,

It seems we spend a lot of our time worrying about whether we will have enough and be okay, all the way from the stories that fill the headlines, to our own day-to-day struggles. Will we be able to beat COVID? Will the Olympians be safe? Will there be some rain for the fires in BC? Will we have enough to pay the rent next month, and even to be able to retire sometime. We live our lives with a sense of scarcity, with a very commonsense idea of what is possible and what is not.

In biblical times, for most people their existence was pretty much hand to mouth — much more precarious than ours. And yet the message Jesus proclaimed was of a God of abundance. Not the abundance of hoarding up our riches in storehouses, but of being cared for and having our daily bread and something to share with others. When a huge crowd gathered around Jesus to hear his teaching and he instructed his disciples to feed them, they asked, “How do you expect us to buy enough for this many?” And from a gift of a boy’s lunch, all are not just fed, but “filled,” and with basketsful of leftovers (John 6: 1–14). There is an abundance, even beyond what we thought was possible.

There will be enough and extra. This might be Jesus’ response to our tendency to view the world and our lives through the lens of scarcity. God’s sheep are fed, and able to live in peace. By grace may we look forward in the confidence that God will provide enough, for all our needs, and with leftovers to share.

In Christ,

Revs. Bob and Helen Smith