DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
We welcome all guests who have joined us.
Danforth Mennonite Church
June 16, 2024 11:00 a.m.
Order of Service
Land Acknowledgement
Welcome
Call to Worship (prayer)
Hymn: VT #365 Lord, I lift your name on high
Announcements
Offering Prayer
Hymn: VT #698 Somebody prayed for me
Congregational Prayer (VT # 987)
Scripture Mark 4: 26-34
Hymn: VT #123 Come, Ye thankful People
Message: Keeping our seed watered
Hymn of Response: VT #812 Sent forth by God’s Blessing
Benediction
Leading Us in Worship
Message Carol O.
Worship Leader Linda D.
Song Leader Dalton J.
Musicians Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters John E., Anne R.
Zoom Host Bonnie W.
A/V Technician Murray L.
Hymn of the month VT #365 Lord, I life your name on high
Adult Discussion Group
John will be leading the conversation.
Baby and Bathwater:
Please read the chapter entitled, “A closer look at Ekklesia (church) p27-34.
Ponder:
*Why is it a false idea to say the church was born at Pentecost?
*What are the roots of the word, ekklesia?
*What’s the relationship between the word “Ekklesia” and the 96 images?
*Why are people discouraged about the church?
*Is it possible to be both institutional and elastic?
Offering Prayer
Leader: What will you offer the body of Christ today?
All: Bring all that you have. Bring all that you are.
Leader: The gifts of silence and the gift of words are welcome.
People: The gifts of leading and the gifts of following are welcome.
Leader: The gifts of doubt and the gifts of faith are welcome.
People: The gifts of the head and the gifts of the heart are welcome.
Leader: The gifts of planning and the gifts of spontaneity are welcome.
All: May all that we are as individuals. Come together to strengthen the living body of the church, Christ Incarnate.
Scripture Reading
Mark 4: 26-34
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
The Use of Parables
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Giving Thanks For Summer
Father, Creator of all, thank You for summer!
Thank you for the warmth of the sun
and the increased daylight.
Thank You for the beauty I see all around me
and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation.
Thank You for the increased time I have to be with my friends and family,
and for the more casual pace of the summer season.
Draw me closer to You this summer.
Teach me how I can pray
no matter where I am or what I am doing.
Warm my soul with the awareness of Your presence
and light my path with Your Word and Counsel.
As I enjoy Your creation, create in me
a pure heart and a hunger and a thirst for You.
– Author Unknown
DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS
Summer Hours will
commence June 30.
Our Church service will be
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
There will be no Adult Class or
Hymn Sing during the summer.
Treasurer’s Report: We received $6,422 in offerings in May. Our budget calls for $8,114 each month in offerings. Due mostly to the absence of a paid Pastor we now have a $19,011 operating surplus to the end of May. In May there was $250 donated to the Benevolence Fund and there is now $351 in the fund. Our goal, as stated in the policy, is to have a minimum of $2,000 in the fund for future situations of need. There was an additional $25 donation in memory of Salome H. which has been placed in the Professional Development Fund. We have forwarded $400 from our Food Bank Designated Fund to the Neighbourhood Group who administer the 40 Teesdale Food Bank. Designated food bank donations through DMC are always welcome. We support the 40 Teesdale Food Bank and the Nourish East End Food Bank with these donations. Donations to Danforth Mennonite Church are always welcome through Sunday morning offerings, mailed cheques or email transfers at dmmc2174@gmail.com. Please contact Roger H. if you would like to join the monthly giving program which happens through bank transfers on the 15th of each month. Thank you to all for your generous support for the work of our church.
Worship Schedule reminder
June 23
Message: Pieter N.
Worship leader Sue S.
Song Leader Sue S.
Musicians Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Vic & Mary Jane G.
ZOOM host Bonnie W.
A/V Tech Don B.
June 30
Message: Robert J.
Worship leader Dalton J.
Song Leader Ed F.
Musicians Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Vic & Mary Jane G.
ZOOM host Bonnie W.
A/V Tech Roger H.
Ladies Walking group
This is our last walk for June. We will take a break during the summer and get together again in September.
On Tuesday, June 18, we will be meeting at 10:30 a.m. at Rosetta McClain Gardens at 5 Glen Everest Road (Kingston Road and Birchmount) for a one-hour stroll through the gardens.
An email will go out on Monday, June 17 to confirm the place and time.
If you need to be picked up or dropped off, please check in with fellow walkers or email Bonnie.
WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS
In recognition of World Refugee Day and National Indigenous Peoples Day, MCC Ontario’s Migration and Refugee Resettlement and Indigenous Neighbours Programs are collaborating together on an upcoming event on Saturday June 22nd to explore what it means to welcome newcomers in Treaty territory together. We’ll hear impactful stories from newcomers and their sponsorship group. We’ll listen to and learn from an Indigenous elder who will share about the Dish With One Spoon, and how land and resources can be shared to the mutual benefit of all the inhabitants together. We’ll hear updates on current initiatives within both MCC’s Migration & Resettlement and the Indigenous Neighbours programs. We’ll celebrate stories of arrival, peacebuilding, reconciliation, welcome and inclusion here in Ontario. The event is on Saturday June 22 from 10:00-12:00 noon followed by a light lunch at Toronto United Mennonite Mennonite Church at 1774 Queen Street East, 3rd Floor, Toronto, Ontario. Seo Vang Ma, of the Ma family sponsored through Welcome the Stranger-GTA and First Hmong Mennonite Church will be sharing their family story of the journey to Canada. I have been asked to share how we (WTS) sponsor refugees/newcomers. Please go on the MCCO website to register or use the link below. https://mcc.org/events/welcoming-newcomers-treaty-territory-together Thank you Andrew R.-M.
Mennonite Church Canada Annual General Meeting
Saturday, June 22, 12:00-1:30 p.m. Central time
Online – Zoom
Join our nationwide community of faith for Mennonite Church Canada’s Annual General Meeting. Along with our business agenda, we will hear updates from our program directors, enjoy worship and reflect together as Joint Council members share what God has showed them over the past year. All are welcome. Agenda, information packet, audited financial statements, and registration portal coming soon.
Save the Date
Joint Service and Potluck
at Willowgrove on August 17-18
from 10:30am – 4pm.
Swimming, wagon rides, games, and more. For more details please visit willowgrove.ca.
Google Form for Joint Service & Picnic
Leah R.-K. will be offering a workshop titled:
Tending Hope: supporting parents & caregivers
to talk about climate change
This is an interactive workshop to help people who love and care about the young people in their lives to have courageous and hopeful conversations about climate change.
Drawing on her book Tending Tomorrow: Courageous Change for People and Planet, Leah will provide practical examples and resources. Participants will also be encouraged to reflect on their own faith and wisdom traditions to think about what has sustained them to live in hope during times of adversity, and how they can share this with the young people in their lives.
https://www.willowgrove.ca/events/climate-change-workshop
Thank you!
Rebecca B.
Rentals & Festivals Coordinator
Willowgrove Inc.
Between the River and the Sea:
A Lunch and Learn Conversation
with Jeff H.
June 25, 2024
12-1 p.m.
Community Room, 50 Kent Ave., Kitchener
Join the MCEC Palestine Israel Network Working Group as they welcome Jeff H., an Israeli anthropologist working to address injustice against Palestinian people. Jeff will speak for 30 minutes, leaving time for discussion.
Jeff is a founding member of the Palestinian-led One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC), will present the ODSC’s program for replacing Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory with a democratic state of equal rights for all – including the returning refugees. This, he argues, is the only substantially just way forward, but it is strewn with complex and difficult issues we will discuss.
The constituency-based MCEC Palestine Israel Network Working Group serves the MCEC constituency by promoting awareness and education on specific issues and topics. The information and links are those of the Working Group and do not necessarily represent MCEC as a whole.
In summary, upcoming events
At Danforth
June
18 Ladies walking group
25 Ladies walking group – last walk until Sept.
30 Summer hours – service at 10:30 a.m.
August
17/18 Willowgrove joint service
Wider Church
June
22 Mennonite Church Canada AGM
22 Welcome Newcomers (at TUMC)
25 Between the River and the Sea
Community corner
June
19, 22,23 Carmen (Kathy is in the opera)