DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
Pastor Pieter Niemeyer

We welcome all guests who have joined us.

Danforth Mennonite Church
February 9, 2025   11:00 a.m.
Order of Service

Call to worship hymn: # 29 Come, Now is the time to Worship

Land Acknowledgment
Welcome

Call to Worship

Prayer

Hymn: #9 Come Away From Rush and Hurry

Announcements

Offering Prayer

Hymn: #573 Strong Peaceful Man of Galilee

Congregational Prayer

Hymn: #283 Lord You Have Come to the Lakeshore

Scripture:  Luke 5: 1-11

Sermon:  The Divine breaking into ordinary with abundance

Closing Hymn: #540 Will You Come and Follow Me

Benediction

Leading Us in Worship
Sermon                               Pieter N.
Worship Leader            Erma M.
Song Leader                    Don B.
Musician                           Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                           Dalton & Carol J.
Zoom Host                      Bonnie W.
A/V Technician             Murray L.

Hymn of the month:  VT #9  Come away from rush and hurry

Adult Discussion Class

 Join us this Sunday as we witness Stephen‘s stoning and the resistance to the early church. Follow along in the Book of Acts chapters 6-7.

Scripture Reading

Luke 5:1-11 (NRSVUE)

Jesus Calls the First Disciples
 Once while Jesus standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ² he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

SHARING IN THE PATH TO
RECONCILIATION

A message from the
Outreach and Service Committee

By knowing the facts, and not being afraid to speak up, you can help turn the tide on the continued existence of myths and stereotypes. 

Another excerpt from this book…

A frequent extension of the “residential schools are ancient history” myth is the question “Why can’t they just get over it?”

Senator Murray Sinclair,

former head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, made these comments regarding a fellow senator who posed that question:

My answer has always been: why can’t you always remember this? Because this is about memorializing those people who have been victims of a great wrong.

Why don’t you tell the United States to “get over” 9/11? Why don’t you tell this country to ”get over” all the veterans who died in the Second World War, instead of honouring them once a year? … We should never forget, even once we have learned from it, because it is a part of who we are. It’s not just a part of who we are as survivors and children of survivors and relatives of survivors; it’s part of who we are as a nation. And this nation must never forget what it once did to its most vulnerable people.

Calvin Murray Sinclair CC OM MSC

Ojibway name Mizanay (Mizhana) Gheezhik;
January 24, 1951 – November 4, 2024

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Men’s Breakfast

Saturday, February 8    9:00 a.m.

We share in Food, Fellowship, etc.

This is not limited to the men at DMC,
 so please bring a friend.

This is a Potluck Affair 🙂

We are in need of books for the
Little Library.

Treasurer’s Report: We are off to a good start with $11,277 being received in offerings in January 2025. In order to meet our 2025 budget, our monthly target for Sunday offerings is $9,206.
 
In January there was a $400 donated to our Food Bank fund. Forwarding your $200 Ontario Tax Rebate cheque to our Food Bank fund or another worthy cause is encouraged.
 
The planned gift from the Estate of Salome H. has been placed in our General Designated Fund. Church Council will be assembling a team to help determine the best way to pay tribute to Salome and her family. The team will also consider some possible uses for these bequest funds and report back to the congregation. This plan was discussed and approved at the AGM on February 2, 2025.
 
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.

Ladies Walking group

On Tuesday, February 11 at 10:30 am (weather permitting), we will meet at the Taylor Creek Park parking lot off Dawes Road

An email will go out on Monday February 10 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.

Note:  we will be at the beach on February 25^th to see the winter installations.

Worship Schedule reminder

February 16
Sermon                        Carol O.
Worship leader      Bonnie W.
Song Leader             Don B.
Musicians                  Bonnie W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                   Cindy R., Bethany W.
ZOOM host            Mike D.
A/V Tech                   Roger H.

Book study             Murray L.

February 23
Message                 Pieter N.
Worship leader  Mike D.
Song Leader         Sue S.
Musicians               Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                 Cindy R., Bethany W.
ZOOM host          Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                 Don B.

Book study            Murray L.

In Summary, upcoming events:

At Danforth

February
8  Men’s breakfast
8  Messy Church
11  Ladies walking group – Taylor Creek Park
18  Ladies walking group
22  Pieter & Mauricio’s wedding
25  Ladies walking group – Beach Winter stations

Wider Church

February

 March
24  Evening with Phyllis W.

DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
Pastor Pieter Niemeyer

We welcome all guests who have joined us.

Danforth Mennonite Church
February 2, 2025   11:00 a.m.
Order of Service

Welcome

Land Acknowledgement

Opening Prayer

Call to worship

Opening Hymn: VT#9 Come Away From Rush and Hurry

Announcements and offering

Offertory Prayer

Hymn: VT#813 Heart With Loving Heart United

Congregational Prayer 

Hymn:   VT#719 Jesus, Help Us Live in Peace

Scripture reading:  I Corinthians 13:1-13,

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon:  The Standard of the Spirit   Part 2

Closing Hymn:  VT 831  Blest Be the Tie that Binds

Benediction

Leading Us in Worship
Sermon                               Pieter N.
Worship Leader            Cindy R.
Scripture reader           Bethany W.
Song Leader                    Dalton J.
Musicians                         Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                           Dalton & Carol J.
Zoom Host                      Bonnie W.
A/V Technician             Don B.

Hymn of the month:  VT # 9  Come away from rush and hurry

It’s Hymn Sing Sunday
All are welcome to join us in the sanctuary
at 10:00 a.m.

The adult discussion class returns on February 9.  If you would like to receive emails regarding what’s happening in our class, please contact Bonnie.

Call to worship

One: We confess we are sometimes impatient, and often unkind.  We are quick to envy and find subtle ways to boast.  There are times we are rude and lift ourselves up as we put others down.

All: Loving God teach us to love

One: God of Love, we confess that we are quickly angered.  We are quick to record how often we’ve been wronged.  There are times we celebrate the misfortune of others

All: Loving God teach us to love

One: God of Love, we confess that we put ourselves first.   We are reluctant to give, we are slow to sacrifice.  There are times we hesitate to protect.

All: Loving God teach us to love

One: When we are tempted to judge, may love remind us to trust and forgive. When we are tempted to despair, may love remind us to hope.  When we are tempted to give up, may love remind us  to persevere.

All:  Loving God teach us to love.

Scripture Reading

I Corinthians 13:1-13 (NRSVUE)

The Gift of Love
13 If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. ⁹ For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, ¹⁰ but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹² For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³ And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.

 Luke 4:21-30 (NRSVUE)

²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” ²³ He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land, ²⁶ yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

The Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde delivering her sermon at the national prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, 21 January 2025

Last week, the bishop of Washington delivered a sermon in front of President Trump urging him to show mercy towards LGBTQ+ and migrant communities. The president condemned it as ‘nasty’.
 At church, it was mentioned that people were sending postcards of affirmation and support for Bishop Budde.  Here is the contact information:

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
Washington National Cathedral
2101Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20016

Praying with the Anabaptists: Five Hundred Years Later
Written by Carol Penner

Reforming Spirit,
you blew through the lives of common folk in Switzerland in 1525.

A realization gradually dawned that what they had been taught from childhood about being a Christian was not the only way to think.

Reading the Bible opened a new way.  They envisioned a church not automatically filled with citizens from birth, not led by leaders who bought their positions, not having a hierarchy at all.

And so they knelt and were rebaptized as adults, claiming their own faith in their own time, ready to suffer the consequences.

Your Spirit continues to move today, reform-ing your church in new and myriad ways.

You challenge us to draw close, to read and reread your sacred texts, and to discern where the church is not serving the one who washed feet, not honouring the Creator of all creatures, not tuned to your beating heart of love.

Wake us up to claim our faith in our time,
becoming yielded to your goodness.

Turn us away from sins that vary and multiply in our very souls, and in our beloved communities.

Together we read and listen, together we want to find the footsteps of Jesus and walk in them.

Give us courage to resist what you want resisted; tyranny, callousness, unkindness,
and violence on every level.

Through your power, mold our congregations into true communities of devotion and simplicity, that bring good news of great joy to all people.

The world needs your touch, and we have hands.  The world needs your voice, can we speak your truth?

By your grace, we live and move and find new ways of being.   Amen.

Copyright Carol Penner  www.leadinginworship.com.

Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before you with our prayers for DMC’s new pastor, Pieter Niemeyer.  We ask that you bless and guide him in his role as a shepherd of the congregation.  Grant him wisdom, discernment, and under-standing as he leads and ministers to the people entrusted to his care.
 
Father, we ask that you surround him with a supportive and loving church community.  May the congregation rally around him, offering encouragement, prayers, and support as he navigates the challenges and responsibilities of his position.
 
Lord, we pray that you bless Pastor Pieter with good health, both physically and spiritually.  Strengthen him in times of weariness and refresh his spirit when he feels drained.  May he find rest and rejuvenation in your presence.
 
May our pastor be a vessel through which your love and trust are revealed to the congregation and to the world.
 
In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

White cane week
February 2 – 8, 2025

It is designed to make the public aware of proper eye care and blindness prevention while focusing on the capabilities of blind people.

Men’s Breakfast

February 8,  9:00 a.m.

We meet on the 2nd Saturday
 of every month at 9 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.  It’s from 9-11 a.m. 
 
We share in Food, Fellowship, etc.
 
This is not limited to the men at DMC,
 so please bring a friend.

This is a Potluck Affair 🙂

Worship Schedule reminder

February 9
Message                Pieter N.
Worship leader Erma M.
Song Leader        Don B.
Musicians             Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                Dalton & Carol J.
ZOOM host         Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                Murray L.

Book study             Murray L.

February 16
Message                 Carol O.
Worship leader  Bonnie W.
Song Leader         Don B.
Musicians              Bonnie W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                Cindy R., Bethany W.
ZOOM host         Mike D.
A/V Tech               Roger H.

Book study          Murray L.

Ladies Walking group

On Tuesday, February 4 at 10:30 am (weather permitting), we will meet at Pine Hills Cemetery in the parking lot by the front entrance (Birchmount & St. Clair).
 
An email will go out on Monday February 3 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 This together presents a webinar series…Faithfully at Variance: Engaging with the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. Webinar #2

takes place on Sunday February 2, 6pm CT. We will be discussing Queer Relationships to the Confession. Theologian and MCEC Pastor Eliot C. B. will reflect on historical and current impacts of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective on Queer Mennonites, followed by responses by Anita F. and Nessa S. For more details and to register, visit inthistogethernetwork.ca/news-and-events.

Hope Starts at Home:
An evening with Phyllis W.

March 24, 2025 at 6 pm, Bingemans Conference Centre, 425 Bingemans Centre Dr, Kitchener
Join us on March 24 along with author and speaker, Phyllis W., the founder and ambassador of the Orange Shirt Society. Phyllis will share her childhood of healing and reconciliation in Canada as we seek to restore justice, foster belonging and address poverty in Ontario. Funds raised at the event will supply MCC Ontario’s new meat cannery. To learn more and order your tickets, go to
mcc.org/evening – with – phyllis – webstad.

In Summary, upcoming events:

At Danforth

February
1  Pastor Pieter joins us as our Pastor
2  DMC AGM
4  Ladies walking group – Pine Hills Cemetery
8  Men’s breakfast
8  Messy Church
11  Ladies walking group
18  Ladies walking group
22  Pieter & Mauricio’s wedding
25  Ladies walking group – Beach Winter stations

Wider Church

February
2  In This Together webinar

March
24  Evening with Phyllis W

DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406

We welcome all guests who have joined us.

Danforth Mennonite Church
January 26, 2025   11:00 a.m.
Order of Service

Land Acknowledgement

Welcome

Call to Worship

Opening Hymn: VT #91    We Praise Thee O God

Announcements

Offering Prayer

Hymn: VT #714    Let there be light, O Lord

Congregational Prayer

Hymn: VT #374     There are many gifts

Scripture:  1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Luke 4:14-21

Message: The Standard of the Spirit:  Part 1

Hymn of Response: VT #839   Go Ye Now in Peace

Benediction

Leading Us in Worship
Message                             Pieter N.
Worship Leader             Linda D.
Song Leader                     Ed F.
Musician                            Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                             Wilda S., Tessa R.
Zoom Host                        Bonnie W.
A/V Technician               Fazal S.

Hymn of the month:  VT #839   Go Ye Now in Peace

Adult Discussion Class

We live in a culture of death. This Sunday we explore the reaction to the presence of New Life. Join us. We are reading Acts (5:17-42).

If you would like to receive emails regarding what’s happening in our class, please contact Bonnie.

Call to worship

Leader: Christ is like a single body that has many parts.

All: It is still one body though every part is different.

Leader: Therefore the foot cannot say,

Men: I am not part of the body

Leader: nor can the ear say,

Women: I am not part of the body

Leader: The eye cannot say to the hand,

Men: I don’t need you,

Leader: nor can the head say to the feet,

Women: I don’t need you.

Leader: If one part suffers,

All: all parts share the pain,

Leader: if one part is praised,

All: all parts share the joy.

Leader: Together we are Christ’s body

All: each one of us is a part of it.

Offering Prayer

Leader: What will you offer the body of Christ today?

All: Bring all that you have.  Bring all that you are.

Men: The gifts of silence and the gifts of words are welcome.

Women: The gifts of leading and the gifts of following are welcome.

Men: The gifts of doubt and the gifts of faith are welcome.

Women: The gifts of the head and the gifts of the heart are welcome.

Men: 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

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Unity and Diversity in the Body
¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Luke 4:14:21

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Danforth Mennonite Church
Annual General meeting
February 2, 2025

Dates to note:

• printed copies upon request – will be available January 26 (Sunday before the meeting)

DMC Policy on Attending and Voting at
DMC Business and Congregation meetings

Everyone is welcome to attend the business and/or congregation meeting and participate in the discussion.  You are welcome to vote if you have been participating at DMC, and plan to continue doing so in the future.

I am updating the church directory and the birthday/anniversary list.

When you are at church, please review and initial the documents on the table outside the sanctuary that:

• Information is correct AND
• You give permission to publish.

I will contact via email those persons that don’t come in person to church.

The directory will only be distributed for those persons listed in it.

The birthday and anniversary information is used for notices in the bulletin.  I don’t put in the year unless it is requested.  We highlight (with your permission) birthdays ending in zero and five (e.g.  5. 50, 75, 80) in the church newsletter.

I am now focused on the birthday and anniversary list.

Ladies Walking group
will start up again on
January 28^th
at Taylor Creek Park.

See you in a week.

Worship Schedule reminder

February 2
Message                  Pieter N.
Worship leader   Cindy R.
Song Leader          Dalton J.
Musicians              Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                 Dalton & Carol J.
ZOOM host          Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                Don B.

Hymn Sing             our favorites

February 9
Message                  Pieter N.
Worship leader   Erma M.
Song Leader          Don B.
Musicians               Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                 Dalton & Carol J.
ZOOM host          Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                 Murray L.

Book study             Murray

WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hope Starts at Home:

An evening with Phyllis Webstad

March 24, 2025 at 6 pm, Bingemans Conference Centre, 425 Bingemans Centre Dr, Kitchener
Join us on March 24 along with author and speaker, Phyllis Webstad, the founder and ambassador of the Orange Shirt Society. Phyllis will share her childhood of healing and reconciliation in Canada as we seek to restore justice, foster belonging and address poverty in Ontario. Funds raised at the event will supply MCC Ontario’s new meat cannery. To learn more and order your tickets, go to

mcc.org/evening-with-phyllis-webstad.

In This together presents a webinar series…Faithfully at Variance: Engaging with the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. Webinar #2 takes place on Sunday February 2, 6pm CT. We will be discussing Queer Relationships to the Confession. Theologian and MCEC Pastor Eliot Chandler Burns will reflect on historical and current impacts of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective on Queer Mennonites, followed by responses by Anita Fast and Nessa Schattman. For more details and to register, visit inthistogethernetwork.ca/news-and-events.

In Summary, upcoming events:

At Danforth

January
26  AGM booklet printed copies available on request
28  Ladies Walking Group – Taylor Creek Park
 
February
1  Pastor Pieter joins us as our Pastor
2  DMC AGM
4  Ladies walking group
8  Men’s breakfast
8  Messy Church
11  Ladies walking group
18  Ladies walking group
25  Ladies walking group

Wider Church

February
2  In This Together webinar

March
24  Evening with Phyllis Webstad

DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406

We welcome all guests who have joined us.

Danforth Mennonite Church
January 19, 2025   11:00 a.m.
Order of Service

Welcome

Introduction and video

Opening Hymn:  VT#778 Will You Let Me Be Your Servant

Announcements

Offering Prayer

Special Music:   ‘Anointing, Fall on Me’  — Don B. and Kathy W.

Congregational prayer time

Scripture reading:  Mark 1:14-20

Hymn: VT #283  Lord, You Have Come To The Lakeshore

Introduction of this morning’s speaker

Message:  Ordinary People

Closing hymn:  VT #839  Go my friends, in peace

Benediction

Leading Us in Worship
Message                             Stephen R., MCC Ontario
Worship Leader             Sue S.
Song Leader                     Sue S.
Musician                            Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                             Wilda S., Tessa R.
Zoom Host                        Bonnie W.
A/V Technician               Fazal S.

Hymn of the month:  VT #839  Go Ye Now in Peace

Adult Discussion Class

This week we continue to explore the early church. Please read along with us Acts 4:32-5:11. All are invited to join.

If you would like to receive emails regarding what’s happening in our class, please contact Bonnie.

Scripture Reading

Mark 1:14-20
Jesus Announces the Good News
¹⁴ After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples
¹⁶ As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
¹⁷ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him.
¹⁹ When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.
²⁰ Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

SHARING IN THE PATH TO
RECONCILIATION

A message from the Outreach and Service Committee

An eye-opener for me was in Thompson Highway’s chapter titled “Why Cree is the Funniest of All Languages”. He writes “Here for the purpose of comparison, is a creation myth that should knock the socks right off your English-speaking feet and, in the process, make you laugh until you’re bent over double.” Leslie S., O&S Committee

“Humour is the WD-40 of healing”
the words of a Blood Reserve elder

Summary from The Toronto Public Library…
Humor has always been an essential part of North American aboriginal culture. This fact remained unnoticed by most settlers, however, since non-aboriginals just didn’t get the joke. For most of written history, a stern, unyielding profile of “the Indian” dominated the popular mainstream imagination. Indians, it was believed, never laughed. But Indians themselves always knew better.  As an award-winning playwright, columnist, and comedy-sketch creator, Drew Hayden Taylor has spent 15 years writing and researching aboriginal humor. For Me Funny, he asked a noted cast of writers from a variety of fields — including such celebrated wordsmiths as Thomas King, Allan J. Ryan, Mirjam Hirch, and Tomson Highway — to take a look at what makes aboriginal humor tick. Their hilarious, enlightening contributions playfully examine the use of humor in areas as diverse as stand-up comedy, fiction, visual art, drama, performance, poetry, traditional storytelling, and education.

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Danforth Mennonite Church
Annual General meeting
February 2, 2025

Dates to note:

• AGM booklet will be emailed out January 22
• printed copies upon request – will be available January 26 (Sunday before the meeting)

DMC Policy on Attending and Voting at
DMC Business and Congregation meetings

Everyone is welcome to attend the business and/or congregation meeting and participate in the discussion.  You are welcome to vote if you have been participating at DMC, and plan to continue doing so in the future.

Church directory and
birthday list

I am updating the church directory and the birthday/anniversary list.

When you are at church, please review and initial the documents on the table outside the sanctuary that: 

• Information is correct AND
• You give permission to publish.

I will contact via email those persons that don’t come in person to church.

The directory will only be distributed for those persons listed in it.

The birthday and anniversary information is used for notices in the bulletin.  I don’t put in the year unless it is requested.  We highlight (with your permission) birthdays ending in zero and five (e.g.  5. 50, 75, 80) in the church newsletter.

I am now focused on the birthday and anniversary list.

Treasurer’s Report: We received $7,102 in offerings in December. Your donations along with the absence of a paid Pastor have led to a $43,715 operating surplus to the end of 2024. Expenses were also low in 2024.  More details will follow in the Financial Report for the AGM. Thank you for your steady financial commitment to Danforth during this unusual year.

In December we received $1,400 in donations directed towards our Benevolence Fund. At year end there is $2,251 in the fund. Our policy has a target of keeping $2,000 in the fund for crisis situations.

In December there was an additional $560 donated to our Food Bank fund. This additional money allowed us to send $680 to the Neighbourhood Group for the 40 Teesdale Food Bank and $680 to the Nourish East End Food Bank by year end.

There was also a $172 donation to the John G. Memorial Fund. This fund now stands at $1200

Special Note: We recently received in January 2025, a planned gift from the Estate of Salome H. There will be more information about this bequest in the Financial Report for the AGM and a full report from Church Council at the AGM on Feb. 2, 2025.

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.

Ladies Walking group
will start up again on
January 28^th
at Taylor Creek Park.

See you in a week.

Worship Schedule reminder

January 26
Message                   Pieter N.
Worship leader    Linda D.
Song Leader           Don B.
Musicians                Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                  Wilda S., Tessa R.
ZOOM host           Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                 Roger H.

Discussion Class     Acts – John E.

February 2
Message                    Pieter N.
Worship leader     Cindy R.
Song Leader            Dalton J.
Musicians                 Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                   Dalton & Carol J.
ZOOM host            Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                   Don B.

Hymn Sing             our favorites lead by Dalton

Church Council is pleased to announce that Pieter N.
 will begin the role of pastor of DMC on Sat. Feb. 1, 2025…

just in time for our Annual General Meeting on Sunday Feb. 2.

Just a note about the schedule for speaking on Sundays:

Before Pieter’s start date was finalized, Worship Committee had already scheduled Pieter to return as a guest speaker on Sun. Jan. 26.

As pastor, Pieter will speak several times a month; for example, on Feb. 2, 9, and 23. As we resume having a pastor, we will also resume our long-held practice of having a guest speaker at least once a month, on average. This gives the pastor more time, in that week, to focus on other aspects of ministry.

WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hope Starts at Home:
An evening with Phyllis W.

March 24, 2025 at 6 pm
Bingemans Conference Centre,
425 Bingemans Centre Dr, Kitchener

Join us on March 24 along with author and speaker, Phyllis W., the founder and ambassador of the Orange Shirt Society. Phyllis will share her childhood of healing and reconciliation in Canada as we seek to restore justice, foster belonging and address poverty in Ontario. Funds raised at the event will supply MCC Ontario’s new meat cannery. To learn more and order your tickets, go to

mcc.org/evening-with-phyllis-webstad.

In This together presents a webinar series…Faithfully at Variance: Engaging with the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. Webinar #2 takes place on Sunday February 2, 6pm CT. We will be discussing Queer Relationships to the Confession. Theologian and MCEC Pastor Eliot Chandler Burns will reflect on historical and current impacts of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective on Queer Mennonites, followed by responses by Anita F. and Nessa S. For more details and to register,

visit inthistogethernetwork.ca/news-and-events.

In Summary, upcoming events:

At Danforth
January
22  AGM booklet will be emailed
26  AGM booklet printed copies available on request
28  Ladies Walking Group – Taylor Creek Park

February
1  Pastor Pieter joins us as our Pastor
2  DMC AGM
4  Ladies walking group
8  Men’s breakfast
8  Messy Church
11  Ladies walking group
18  Ladies walking group
25  Ladies walking group

Wider Church
February
2  In This Together webinar

March
24  Evening with Phyllis W.