There are good things happening at the Urban.  Sandy is making the place welcoming with sewing of new alter vestments and banners.  There are a few people who attend the Urban who would like to provide guitar accompaniment to the music, but no one owns a guitar, so if anyone knows of an available guitar, phone the Urban office – 774-3143.

Change in operating hours:
There is a need for evening programming in the West End area.  After the May long weekend (starting on Tuesday May 20) the hours at the Urban will be Monday – Thursday 12:30 – 9:00; Sundays 1:00 – 4:00.  Please phone ahead prior to dropping in to ensure that Sandy will be in the office when you plan to arrive.

Volunteer opportunities:
1) Some of our regular volunteers are not available over the summer months.  If you would like to fill in on either Sunday’s 11:00 – 1:00 helping to prepare the after worship meal or 1:30 – 3:30 setting out, serving and cleaning up please give Tannys Strand a call 228-7594.

2) If you have a gift/talent/interest you would like to share with the Urban, give Sandy a call at 774-3143.  (sewing, crafts, playing games, cards). She is planning programming based on the revised hours of operation and match your interests and availability with community needs. 

A generous gift.
Early in May, a very special 6 year old acted in a big hearted way by having the friends she invited to her birthday party bring food donations for the Urban instead of birthday gifts for herself.  This girl is a member of Epiphany and on behalf everyone at the Urban I would like to say thank you to Hanna.  Her birthday gift is especially timely in that with the extra evening hours, there will be more food distribution and sharing. 

Wish list:
Safeway or Superstore giftcards (or if you prefer a tax receipt, a cheque with food on the memo line)
Plastic margarine or yogurt containers – good for leftovers.
Guitar - for use during worship times

A story from the Urban:
I am going to share a story with you as experienced by Claudette.  I believe this story exemplifies what is at the heart of this ministry.  Not only does Claudette participate in the Worship service, but has taken it on herself to do a super clean after each Sunday’s shared meal.  The following are her words:

“I have been attending Sunday services at the Urban for the past two months.  I have found a sense of intimate worship and genuine sharing not possible in larger congregational settings.  There is a strong feeling of community.

Two Sundays ago, I was especially excited by the heartfelt sharing of one young mother, whom I’ll call M.  M was there with her three young kids, all under seven years of age.  Hubby was at home with the baby, ten months old.  During the prayer/sharing time, she quietly told about her personal struggle with alcohol addiction.  “For the past year I haven’t been drinking, but many others have constantly been after me to go drinking with them.  So far, I have been able to resist them.”

I saw how gently and caringly she interacted with her three kids.  As she told us her story, I put my hand on her shoulder to encourage her. 

IT WAS A TRUE GOD-PRESENT MOMENT.  WHAT AN OVERWHELMING, WONDERFUL GIFT OF TRUST. (Claudette’s caps)

As M was leaving, she stopped by the kitchen and said good-bye to me.  I wished her God’s PEACE and STRENGTH for the coming week each and every day.  I truly felt a deep emotional connection with her which for me personally has been missing at large churchy functions.”

In the mission statement of the Urban we are seeking opportunities for mutual ministry, learning from each other, reciprocal faith sharing between people who may otherwise not encounter the opportunity to share.  The Urban, being a ministry of presence, is an opportunity waiting to happen.  If you would like to become involved, please give Sandy a call 774-3143.

Check out our website www.urbanministry.ca

Manitobans for Healing and Reconciliation
National Day of Healing and Reconciliation Launch - May 25, 2008
At The Oodena (East of Johnston Terminal)

Continuing Education Plan - Application for Short Term Study funds

The Continuing Education Plan is now being administered by ELCIC Group Services Inc.
When applying for Short Term Study funding, please use the form available on the Group Services website:
www.elcicgsi.ca (click on Forms and then CEP Short Term Study Payment Authorization).

St. Mark’s Lutheran Youth group is having a huge yard & bake sale on Saturday, May 24th from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the church, 600 Cambridge at Corydon. Rain or shine, there will be lots of treasures inside and out. Proceeds are in support of their trip to the Whitehorse gathering.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Selkirk is having a huge garage sale
Saturday, 31 May 2008, 9am to 3pm at the church, 6088 Main Street,
just south of Selkirk. Drinks will be available alongside a bake sale.
Support our youth as we fundraiser for the Whitehorse trip!

The Church of St. Stephen and St. Bede invites written applications for

  THE POSITION OF PARISH MUSIC DIRECTOR

The Church of St. Stephen and St. Bede is a suburban Anglican and Lutheran parish of approximately 150 households.  Laity and clergy work together in the ministry of the parish, as well as of the wider church.  The Parish Music Director is a vital part of this ministry.

Since we are accustomed to the use of an electronic keyboard in worship, the applicant should have a proficiency as both an organist and pianist.  Along with being at home with more traditional church music, this person should also be familiar and comfortable with contemporary church music involving not only organ and piano, but other instrumental accompaniment as well.  The Music Director should have previous music and choir leadership experience and should have, or be willing to acquire, an appreciation of Anglican and Lutheran liturgy.

Duties will include:  playing and leading the choir and other musical accompaniment for all 10:30 a.m. Sunday services and special/seasonal services; conducting and accompanying choir rehearsals; collaborating with the pastor and worship committee in planning music and liturgy for worship; and recruiting people for the choir and other musical accompaniment.

Resumes will be accepted until Friday, June 13, 2008.  Each applicant will be forwarded a full job description.  Interviews will be conducted during the week following, with the job to commence on Sunday, June 29, 2008.

Please forward resumes to:

The Pastor and Wardens
Church of St. Stephen and St. Bede
99 Turner Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 2S9

or by email to: rickcondo@hotmail.com

By now most of you will have been reminded in various ways that this is the 25th year of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The attachment is an invitation to an evening celebration on June 18. This is being done in conjunction with the Board Meetings, so you can expect to meet the Board members and CFGB staff. Tickets are being sold to cover the costs of the evening. This is open to anyone, so I encourage you to pass this invitation on to people in your community who may not be on my e-mail list, but could be on yours, or print it and post it where people will see it. Especially for growing project committee people please pass this on to supporters of your project who may be interested in coming.

Many of you have asked me if we managed to get 25 growing projects in Manitoba. I was going to wait until the July Fieldnotes but I'm happy to say that I'm quite confident now that we've passed it. The final number depends on how you count (I know what you're thinking - figures don't lie but liars can figure.) Well, it's not quite like that. My list has 27. That includes one project that doesn't actually have a field, but is gathering commitments from farmers to donate 5 acres of production from one of their fields. So it is a project of a different nature, but has people committing themselves to - in community - work to support the work of ending hunger and the amount of supports depends on the production of grain in their fields. My number also includes the Thunder Bay project since the Ontario coordinators asked me to keep in touch with the people there. It's about 600 km for me and about 1400 km for them! But officially it's still on the Ontario list. So I'm saying we have 27 Manitoba projects. If you wish to dispute those 2, well - we still have 25! Thanks to all who worked so hard to add to last year's total of 19.

Thursday, May 08, 2008
Greetings from Cameroon. Val and I have been kept busy delivering work men to the village of Beka Hosseré about 10kms from here, where we are putting on a roof. It should be completed by Friday and we will attend church there on Sunday. We expect there will be much singing and dancing in appreciation.

Hi from the Youth and Sunday school classes of Grace Lutheran Church.

We just wanted to share with you our great news. On Sunday, April 20, we held a Walk-a-thon during regular class time, with the proceeds going to the Urban (the Lutheran Church’s inner city ministry, located at 743 Ellice Ave.).  Although it was a cool day, we all bundled up and covered a route adjacent to our church, followed by hot chocolate and donuts. 

The good news is, we raised $607.00.   Because of this success, we decided to put the challenge out to all Lutheran congregations to meet or beat this amount, in support of our wonderful growing inner city congregation.  We had fun doing it, and we know you would too!

A church pastor in Abbotsford has been told not to feed the homeless in a city park after residents and businesses complained that drug addicts and aggressive panhandlers were overrunning the area.

Pastor Christopher Reiners of the Peace Lutheran Church told CBC News two or three volunteers from the congregation have been doling out cereal and hot coffee to about 20 people on Thursday mornings in the city’s Jubilee Park for the past six weeks.

Last week, three city councilors and concerned neighbours met with Reiners to ask him to stop.

"We were told by some people … that what we were doing was contributing to the problem or was, in fact, creating the problem,” said Reiners.

Bob Bos, the President of Abbotsford's Downtown Business Association, who attended the meeting, said businesses are finding people sleeping in their doorways and elderly residents were too scared to get out of their cars to visit the seniors' center,

After the church volunteers clean up and leave, the homeless remain, and the problem gets worse, said Bos.

"The church says, 'Yeah, we take everything that we bring with us.' Maybe they do, but that's when the drug dealers show up,” he said. “They may have had 15-20 people that they feed. But next thing you know, there's 30 out there.”

City councillor John Smith said the church doesn’t have the city’s consent to feed people in the park and suggested the church transport the homeless from the park to the church for breakfast.

The Abbotsford police and the city’s parks department are planning a major crackdown in the area because of the complaints, said Smith.

According to the recent Upper Fraser Valley Homeless Survey, half of the homeless counted in the region were located in Abbotsford, which had 235 homeless people in 2008, up from 226 in 2004.

While he’s ready to discuss solutions, not feeding the homeless isn’t going to solve the city’s growing problem, said the pastor, and for now, he plans on continuing his work in the park.

"For Christians not to care for the needy is simply not an option. It's part of our calling," said Reiners.