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Peace be with you Glen Morris United Church, 

This Sunday we will be gathering as the Grand River Collaboration for our second annual picnic. Last year we came together to celebrate our denomination’s 100th birthday and recognized how important (and fun!) it is to gather together as a wider church. 

As I prepare to start my sabbatical, I feel grateful to know that there is an entire network of communities of faith that will be able to offer support and care while I’m away. My sabbatical preparations were developed in part through conversations with Rev Sarah at St Paul’s United Church in Paris who went on sabbatical last summer using a similar set up. 

As clergy colleagues, we already feel the great benefit of working collaboratively and I think there is still a lot of untapped potential as we imagine what the future of the United Church will look like in our neck of the woods. So please come to worship and picnic with us this Sunday and take this as an opportunity to get to know your neighbours who very well may become partners in your faith journey in ways you never expected! 

This Sunday, we are working as a collaboration to prepare blessing bags for recently arrived farm workers in our area. As many of you are probably aware, a substantial amount of the farm labour in Southwestern Ontario is made up of international workers who spend seasons away from their loved ones, taking on very physically demanding work. Our blessing bags will help women feel welcome and supported as they arrive in Canada and ensure they have some much needed supplies to keep them healthy, safe, and comfortable. It’s not too late to donate sunscreen, or make a financial contribution to the project. If you’d like to be more involved in the project please let me know! 

 

May you all have the most blessed of summers, 

 

Yours in Christ, 

Rev Michiko