DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
We welcome all guests who have joined us.
Danforth Mennonite Church
October 20, 2024 11:00 a.m.
Order of Service
Land Acknowledgment
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn: VT #747 We Plow the Fields and Scatter
Announcements
Hymn: VT #118 In the Lord I’ll be Ever Thankful
Offering
VT# 70 Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Congregational Prayer
Scripture: Isaiah 58:1-11
Hymn: VT #750 God of the Fertile Fields
Message: Room at the table
Benediction: #810 Go, My Friends, in Grace
Leading Us in Worship
Message Carol O.
Scripture reading Mark C.
Worship Leader Bonnie W.
Song Leader Kathy W.
Musicians Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Leslie S., Tessa R.
Zoom Host Mike D.
A/V Technician Fazal S.
October hymn of the month: VT #118 In the Lord I’ll be Ever Thankful
Adult Discussion Class
This Sunday we complete our deep dive into God’s purpose for the church in the world. We will be engaging with the final chapter in our book study entitled, “A Community of Hope.” All are invited, all are needed, all are welcome.
Call to Worship
Leader: We are children of God:
People: Called to praise, and to bless and to show mercy.
Leader: We are citizens of a nation:
People: Called to care, and to respond, and to share our freedom.
Leader: We are members of a community; Called to know each other, and to
accept each other, and to welcome all.
People: We belong to God, and through God, to one another.
All: May our hearts be as one. Let us worship our God.
Scripture reading
Isaiah 58:1-11 (NRSVUE)
False and True Worship
58 Shout out; do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they want God on their side.
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.
4 You fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your needs in parched places
and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never fail.
DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ladies Walking group
On Tuesday, October 22, we will meet at 10:30 a.m. at Birkdale (enter off of Brimley – north of Lawrence) for a one-hour stroll on the trail.
An email will go out on Monday October 21 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.
Come join us
DMC’s search for our next long-term pastor is in a new phase
Council has accepted the recommendation from the Pastoral Search Team, to consider Pieter N. for this position. He has served as pastor in a sister congregation in York Region, and currently attends Toronto United Mennonite Church. You may remember Pieter being a guest speaker at DMC from time to time.
In October, those committees and teams that work most closely with the pastor, will meet with Pieter so they can become better acquainted. Roger, our treasurer, will also determine what salary Pieter would deserve based on the MC Canada guidelines.
On Sun. Nov. 3, Pieter will again be our guest speaker. Following the service, we will take time to meet him. That time will be especially valuable for those who attend by Zoom. Afterwards, we will hold a potluck lunch and spend further time with him.
On Sun. Nov. 10, we will hold a congregational meeting after the worship service, to decide whether to invite Pieter to become our next long-term pastor. This meeting will include the Zoom participants.
We welcome and encourage everyone who attends DMC to participate fully in these two November events.
Mike D., on behalf of Council and the Transition Team.
Why two Sunday potluck lunches in a row?
A few months ago, we asked Stephen R. and his family if they would do the service on October 27th. With the distance that they have to travel and wanting to catch up on their lives, we thought this would be an idea time to have a potluck lunch.
Since scheduling in Stephen, we were able to switch out a speaker so that Peter N. (Pastor candidate) could properly introduce himself and speak and then have a question-and-answer time after the service. This again was a perfect opportunity to meet afterwards for fellowship.
NO more potlucks until December 14 – DMC Christmas banquet.
Treasurer’s Report: We received $6,367 in offerings in September. We are now well below our budgeted offering number, but due mostly to the absence of a paid Pastor we still have a substantial operating surplus to the end of September. Please refer to Church Council Minutes for more financial details on our 2024 budget. In September there was $100 donated towards our Foodbank Fund. Although the fund is open for donations all year, during the Thanksgiving month of October, the Outreach and Service Committee is encouraging cash donations, in addition to the non-perishable food items they are collecting. Please designate your donation as “Food Bank” and it will be passed on to the Nourish East End Foodbank, or the 40 Teesdale Foodbank. (Please see the announcement from the Outreach and Service Committee for more details) 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
October 27
Message Stephen R.
Scripture reading Merle and Daniel R.
Worship leader Carol R.
Song Leader Stephen R.
Musicians Karen R. (piano), Stephen R. (guitar), Merle R. (trumpet)
Greeters Vic & Mary Jane G.
ZOOM host Bonnie W.
A/V Tech Mike D.
November 3
Message Pieter N.
Worship leader Margaret A.
Song Leader
Musicians Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters Vic & Mary Jane G.
ZOOM host Bonnie W.
A/V Tech Murray L.
White Poppy Peace campaign
Tessa Rose has again this year, made us a selection of white poppies
Continue to wear a white poppy.
You can find out more at
https://www.ppu.org.uk/remembrance-white-poppies
Thank you for your donations to the Food Bank.
The food donations were delivered on Wednesday to the Nourish East End Food Bank. Fazal and Murray volunteer at this location.
There is still time to donate with a Cash, cheque or E-transfer. The donations can be donated through our Church Treasurer, Roger H., earmarked for Nourish East End Foodbank and/or Teasdale Community Food Bank.
WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS
Please join us at 7:00 p.m.
October 20 Hymn Sing
October 27 Liturgical Prayers and Hymns
Join Us for our Event Note from Murray: This webinar - November 2nd from the CPT-IK (Iraqi Kurdistan) may be of interest to some of us. I’m sure Dale Hildebrand will be part of it. On November 2nd CPT-IK will host an online webinar on its latest report that documented and verified all civilian casualties by Turkish and Iranian military operations in Northern Iraq since 1991. The report also documented broader civilian impacted and highlighted a number of stores underscoring the targeting of civilians in military incursions by both the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The webinar will be open to questions. Please sign up in the link below. https://cpt.org/webinar-civilian-casualties-by-turkish-and-iranian-military-operations-1991-2024
VOICES FOR PEACE CONFERENCE
Hybrid Event
Saturday, November 16, 2024, 1 – 5 p.m.
Dear Friends in Peace,
It is very exciting for me to announce the upcoming Annual Conference, Voices for Peace, which has returned after a hiatus of two years. Now, more than ever, such a Conference is needed. This year, we are honoured to have, as our guest speaker, an Indigenous Elder well-known for his wisdom and story-telling, Adrian Jacobs (an Indigenous Six Nations man, who spoke at Danforth maybe more than a decade ago.) This event is organized by several faith-based organizations and faith communities; however, its content and spirit is open and very relevant to, all people who long for a path to Peace.
The afternoon will be very interactive with music, story-telling, group-sharing, and a special art installation on the theme of Peace. We will leave feeling inspired, wiser, and supported by a community walking the path together. So that as many as possible can experience this gift, the event will be hybrid. It will be in-person at the Church of the Redeemer and online. The event is FREE, and donations are invited.
TO REGISTER: go to https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2024-voices-for-peace-conference-tickets-998579035777
In Summary, upcoming events:
At Danforth
October
19 Messy Church
22 Ladies walking group
29 Ladies walking group
November
3 Meet our pastor candidate
5 Ladies walking group
9 Men’s breakfast
10 DMC pastor vote
12 Ladies walking group
19 Ladies walking group
December
14 DMC Christmas banquet
Wider Church
October
18-19 Towards a Justice that transforms
Community corner
October
1 – 27 Apple picking at Willowgrove
November
16 Mark Battenberg