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Dear beloved Passing the Peace readers, 

Each week, when Glen Morris United Church gathers for worship, one of the things that we do is take time to give thanks for the many gifts that support the life and work of the church. We give thanks for volunteers who support our committees and special events. We give thanks for financial contributions that help us keep the church building so well cared for. We give thanks for the ways our church members are being the hands and feet of God through acts of kindness, support, and solidarity. There is so much to be grateful for right here in the Glen. Something I would like to be more mindful of, are the ways we can give thanks for what we, as The United Church of Canada, are making possible. As a church, we give to the Mission & Service Fund which supports a wide range of justice initiatives on the local, national, and international level. If you have some time to be amazed, consider taking a look at The United Church’s website that is filled with stories of Good News. 

In my ministry I have had the opportunity to meet some of our global partners and I have been inspired by the courageous and dedicated ways people are living out their faith. I think of David, a gay man from Kenya whose ministry is dedicated to making safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people in a country where their legal rights are currently under attack. I think of the community I visited in El Salvador in 2011 that was dealing with community members being killed for speaking out against a mining company’s presence in the area. It was a delightful surprise to meet a woman who had been living in the area for a while as part of a United Church initiative.

To support the church means to support God’s liberating and loving work in the world in more ways than we often remember.

May the Peace of Christ be felt in every corner of the world, where The United Church is offering support and solidarity through partnership.

May the Peace of Christ, inspire and remind us that we are part of something so much bigger and more beautiful than just us as individuals or an individual church.

May the Peace of Christ continue to teach us that we all belong to each other.

 

Peace be with you,

Rev Michiko