It’s an odd Monday for me- odd because as a result of a meeting in Toronto and the Remembrance Day events of November 11 – I do not have liturgies or reflections to prepare for November 4th or 11th.
On the 4th in my absence Miranda Forestall will lead both services on the Pastoral
See you at Convocation Hall on Nov 11th at 10AM as we join to ‘remember them’.
Charge and on the 11th I’ll take part in the Remembrance Day Service that begins at Convocation Hall and then moves to the Cenotaph.
Some might say ‘lucky you’. And yes, I am blessed: honoured to work with congregations that recognize and support my participation in the work of the larger Church and that is filled with committed folk like Miranda who step up to share their gifts and talents.
So yes, I am blessed – but I do miss being with you as much as some of you say that you miss my presence among you. I miss the connections. I miss the music. I miss the laughter and stories and, I miss the routine that forces me to engage in a reflective process that engages the ancient story of the biblical text and our ongoing story of faithfulness.
I am especially challenged this morning with the tragic news out of Pittsburgh and a President that is more worried about his bad hair day even as he suggest that the answer to such violence is locking the doors of places where people gather in faith and posting armed guards inside.
May we never forget that Jesus died living out his Jewish faith.
May we never forget that Jesus was killed by the powers and principalities of Empire that he spoke in opposition to.
And may we never… when gathered in community lock our doors to those who may wish to enter.
In closing, a deep thank you to the Upper Sackville congregation for allowing me to be with the Sackville congregation for their visioning exercise on Sunday!  And, thank you to those of the Sackville congregation that took part in the exercise.  The Executive will be reviewing the material from Sunday on Tuesday evening and then handing it off to a working group for further development.  If you were unable to be with us on Sunday or have some further comment you’d like to offer you may do so by visiting this link.
Faithfully,
Lloyd
Today I’m in Moncton at the Hospital and attending a meeting followed by pastoral visits in the afternoon.
On Tuesday after some visits at the Drew I’ll attend the meeting of Chignecto Presbytery Executive and the Grounding Meeting of the Sackville United Church Executive.
On Wednesday I have two pastoral visits scheduled and for the rest of the day I’ll be preparing for the meeting that I’m attending in Toronto from Thursday to Sunday.
From Thursday to Sunday I’m in Toronto attending a training event for investigators within the new governance structure of the General Council Office.