DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
 
Pastor Stephen Reist

We welcome all guests who have joined us.

 

Danforth Mennonite Church
June 11, 2023
Order of Service

Land Acknowledgement

Welcome

Call to Worship

Opening Hymn:  VT 31   Come, We That Love

Announcements

Offering

Offering Prayer:  VT 1023

Hymn:  VT 698   Somebody Prayed for Me

Congregational Prayer

Scripture: 1 Samuel 17: 20-47

Hymn:  VT 428   Praise with Joy the World’s  Creator

Message:   Worthy of our Admiration

Closing Hymn:   VT 161   I Sought the Lord

Benediction

 

Our theme: Think on these things
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8–9

 

Leading Us in Worship
Message                             Margaret A.
Worship Leader             Linda D.
Song Leader                     Sue S.
Musician                            Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                            Leslie S., Murray L.
Zoom Host                       Bonnie W.
A/V Technician              Roger H.

 

 Adult Discussion group at 10:00 a.m.
 June 12 – Mr. Ryerson and Mr. Truman
June 19 – The devil

 

Did you do your homework?

Dear Danforth thinkers,
This week Margaret invites us to think on whatever is admirable.
So, start by brainstorming your list of the top 10 things or people you admire.
Then, choose a couple of those things you listed and consider these questions:

• a) What routines in your life support your admiration of this thing or person?
• b) If you were to have a conversation with Jesus, telling him about this thing you admire, how would that go?

It is said “we are what we love (admire)”  Does that make sense to you?  Does your list reflect who you are?

May God’s Spirit be at work in our minds and hearts through this exercise.
Stephen

 

Scripture Reading
1 Samuel 17: 20-47 (NIV)

²⁰ Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. ²¹ Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. ²² David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. ²³ As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. ²⁴ Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

²⁵ Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”

²⁶ David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

²⁷ They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸ When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

²⁹ “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” ³⁰ He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. ³¹ What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

³² David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹ David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. ⁴² He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. ⁴³ He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

 

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Make sure that you check
 out the website below.

https://sowingforpeace.org

Congratulations to Jessie and Anthony on your website for Sowing for Peace.  Jessie says “This will officially be complete within 2 weeks (with some major changes).”  We thank you for all the work you are doing to promote peace.

 

Treasurer’s Report: We received $7,475 in offerings in May. $8,200 is needed each month to meet our 2023 operating budget. Our operating deficit is -$115 to the end of May.
We also received a designated donation of $100 for the 40 Teesdale Food Bank and an additional $200 directed towards our Danforth Grow Hope budget line.

 

Would you like to be a part of
our worship team? 

For our schedule covering October through December 2023, we would like additional:

• • musicians (song leading and instruments),
  • worship leaders (we provide you with resource materials)
  • greeters for our lobbies
  • zoom hosts

Contact Bonnie if you are interested or would like additional information. 

 

 

Summer Hours will
commence July 2.
Our Church service will be
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
There will be no Adult Class or
Hymn Sing during the summer.

 

 

Would you like to join other congregations
in publicly thanking Toronto fire and
police services, as well as Enbridge Gas,
for safely repairing the June 6th
natural gas leak near Michael Garron Hospital?

The date and time are not yet determined, so we're not asking for a firm commitment; just whether you would try to attend. Please contactRoger H. by Sun. June 10.

 

We need books for our Little Library
 Our shelves are empty

 

 

 

 

An investment for you, bonus interest
for what you believe in!

Kindred Credit Union offers you a unique way to invest through Community Inspiration GIC’s. You invest in a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) that earns a competitive interest rate and, in return, Kindred donates an additional quarter percent interest to your congregation or qualifying charity.

This offer is available for a limited time. If you are interested in investing, please contact Kindred before June 30 and consider naming Danforth Mennonite Church as the bonus interest recipient. For more information, call or visit your local branch or kndredcu.com/CI-GIC.

 

Ladies Walking group

On Tuesday, June 13th at 10:30 am (weather permitting), we will be at Greenvale Park. Take Kingston Road to Celeste Drive (which is about halfway between Scarborough Gold Club Road and Galloway.  Go north on Celeste Drive.  Turn left on to Greenvale Terrace.
 
An email will go out on Monday June 12 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.

 

Worship Schedule reminder

June 18
Speaker                     Stephen R.
Worship leader    Dalton J.
Song Leader           Ed F.
Musician                  Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                  Leslie & Fazal S.
ZOOM host           Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                  Don B.

June 25
Speaker                   Carol O.
Worship leader   Sue S.
Song Leader          Sue S.
Musician                 Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                 Cindy R., Bethany W.
ZOOM host           Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                 Murray L.

 

WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

War in Ukraine: When Peace Cannot be Won on the Battlefield

 Do you want peace in Ukraine? As a person of faith, do you feel the urgency to do something but feel powerless? Grace Mennonite Church in St. Catharines made a podcast from a presentation by Ernie Regehr, Co-Founder and former Executive Director of Project Ploughshares, Officer of the Order of Canada, Pearson Peace Medal laureate, and Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Conrad Grebel University College. Listen here.

https://www.gracemennonitechurch.com/seminars-2023.html

 

In summary, upcoming events

 At Danforth
June
10  Men’s breakfast
13  Ladies Walking group – Greenvale Park
13  Cooking class
20  Ladies Walking group
20  Cooking class
24  Messy Church
27  Ladies Walking group – our last walk until Sept.
27  Cooking class

Wider Church
June
24  MCC AGM

August
13  Worship at Willowgrove

September
16  Greater Toronto Area Mennonite Festival at Willowgrove

DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
 
Pastor Stephen Reist

We welcome all guests who have joined us.

 

 Danforth Mennonite Church
June 4, 2023
Order of Service

Welcome

Opening Prayer

Responsive prayer

Responsive reading #1 Call to Worship

Opening Hymn:  VT #227  Here I Am to Worship

Responsive reading #2  Give Thanks

Announcements

Offering

Hymn:  VT #396    May You Be Rooted and Grounded

Congregational Prayer

Hymn:  VT #177 All Things Bright and Beautiful

Scripture  Reading:  Song of Solomon 1:9-17,
Mark 14:3-9, Psalm 27:1-5

Message:  Whatever is Lovely

Closing Hymn:  VT #115 How Great Is Our God

Benediction

 

Our theme               Think on these things

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8–9

 

Leading Us in Worship

Message                             Stephen R.
Worship Leader             Cindy R.
Song Leader                     Kathy W.
Musician                            Roger H. (piano)
Greeters                            Dalton & Carol J.
Zoom Host                       Bonnie W.
A/V Technician              Mike D.

 

Hymn sing Sunday
In the sanctuary at
10:00 a.m.

 

Responsive prayer

Leader: In the beginning God created all things,

All: and God saw that they were good.

Leader: At our beginning, God created us

All: unique and irreplaceable, loved and wanted by God, known and treasured by God even before He created us.

Leader: In all our new beginnings, God creates something new

All: so we will seek God in the freshness of this morning, in the laughter of friends, in the colors of creation, and in this beautiful place.

Leader: Lord God, King of Creation,

All: open our eyes to see your presence, our souls to sense your presence, and our hearts to love your presence, ever here in your creation, and ever beyond it in eternity.
Amen.

 

Responsive reading #1
Call to Worship

Leader: Come, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

All: Holiness present in the silent pulse of the earth beneath us.

Leader: Holiness present in the beating of the sun and stars.

All: Holiness present in the chorus of life, breathing together, even here in this room.
God of creation,

Leader: open us to the beauty in and around us in this time of worship.

 

Responsive reading #2
 Give Thanks

Leader: Give thanks to God and call upon His name!

All: For God is great, and God is here!

Leader: Spread the news of what God has done throughout the world.

All: For God is great, and God is here!
 
Leader: Sing praise, and shout for joy:

All: For God is great, and God is here!

 

Scripture Reading

Song of Solomon 1:9-17 The Voice
⁹ You remind me, my dear, of an honored mare among Pharaoh’s stallion driven chariot
¹⁰ The strings of jewels against your cheeks frame your elegance, as also the tender curve of your neck with precious gems.

¹¹   Young Women of Jerusalem (to her): We will make for you golden jewelry to lay against your skin, golden jewelry studded with silver to frame your elegance.

¹²    Her: When the king was relaxing at his table, the seductive fragrance of my perfume filled the air.
¹³  My love is close to my heart, like a sachet of myrrh tucked between my breasts.
¹⁴  My love is like a fragrant bouquet of henna blossoms from the vineyards of Engedi.
^{15  HIM:} How beautiful you are, my dear! How so very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.

¹⁶   Her: You, my love, are so handsome! A pleasure to behold! Our bed is a lush, green field,
¹⁷ The beams of our house are majestic cedars, and the rafters are tall pines.
Mark 14:3-9 NIV
³ While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

⁴ Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶ “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Psalm 27:1-5 CEB
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation. Should I fear anyone?  The Lord is a fortress protecting my life. Should I be frightened of anything?
² When evildoers come at me trying to eat me up—
it’s they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall!
³ If an army camps against me, my heart won’t be afraid.  If war comes up against me, I will continue to trust in this:
⁴ I have asked one thing from the Lord — it’s all I seek: to live in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, seeing the Lord’s beauty and constantly adoring his temple.
⁵ Because he will shelter me in his own dwelling during troubling times;
He will hide me in a secret place in his own tent; he will set me up high, safe on a rock.

 

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Lunch and Pray – June 4
12:45 p.m.

You are invited to bring a bag lunch on Sunday, June 4 and after lunch join us in the sanctuary for a time of in-person prayer for our pastoral search.
You can also join us on zoom.  A separate zoom link will be sent out on Friday, June 3^rd.

 

Our doors were open

There will be an article in the next DMC Outlook regarding the success of our participation in Doors Open Toronto.  We are already talking about how we can reach out to more of the community next year.

Guests on Saturday:  126
Guests on Sunday:     107

 

 

 

 

 

 

An investment for you, bonus interest
for what you believe in!

Kindred Credit Union offers you a unique way to invest through Community Inspiration GIC’s. You invest in a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) that earns a competitive interest rate and, in return, Kindred donates an additional quarter percent interest to your congregation or qualifying charity.

This offer is available for a limited time. If you are interested in investing, please contact Kindred before June 30 and consider naming Danforth Mennonite Church as the bonus interest recipient. For more information, call or visit your local branch or kndredcu.com/CI-GIC.

 

We need books for our Little Library

 

 

Thanks to Anne R. for planning and working with the Sparks to bring new colour to our garden.
 It was perfect timing for Doors Open Toronto.

 

Ladies Walking group

On Tuesday, June 6 at 10:30 am (weather permitting), we will meet at Taylor Creek off Dawes Road, north of Danforth.
 
An email will go out on Monday June 5 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.

We are a happy bunch of ladies!
Our group has had between 2 and 12
 any Tuesday morning.
Come join us.

 

 

Worship Schedule reminder
 

June 11
Speaker                  Margaret A.
Worship leader  Linda D.
Song Leader         Sue S.
Musician                Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                Leslie S., Murray L.
ZOOM host          Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                Roger H.

June 18
Speaker                  Stephen R.
Worship leader  Dalton J.
Song Leader         Ed F.
Musician                Kathy W. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                Leslie & Fazal S.
ZOOM host          Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                Don B.

 

You are invited to join the folks at SCOC for Sunday Evening Worship on
June 4 at 7 pm

Following a conversation with Chaplain Jonathan Emerson-Pierce, Dalton confirmed that our church would plan a service that includes favourite hymns and the stories of how they came to be composed.

SCOC will welcome our presence and the opportunity to sing. There are no longer Covid restrictions so please plan to participate if you are able. Following the service, you are invited to drop by Dalton and Carol’s new home and visit.

 

WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale
May 27 & 28, 2023

Thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, sponsored, bid in the auctions and supported NHMRS. Over $330,000 was raised to support relief, development and peace around the world and here in Ontario.

And a little closer to home…
 
Don’t forget the Greater Toronto Area Mennonite Festival at Willowgrove coming in September.

 

In summary, upcoming events

At Danforth
June
4  Service at SCOC
6  Ladies Walking group – Taylor Creek
6  Cooking Class
10  Men’s breakfast
13  Ladies Walking group – Greenvale Park
13  Cooking class
20  Ladies Walking group
20  Cooking class
24  Messy Church
27  Ladies Walking group
27  Cooking class

Wider Church
August
13  Worship at Willowgrove

September
16  Greater Toronto Area Mennonite Festival at Willowgrove

 

DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
 
Pastor Stephen Reist

We welcome all guests who have joined us.

 

Danforth Mennonite Church
May 21, 2023
Order of Service

Call to Worship

Hymn VT #360    Who Are These?

Reading: (Revelation 7:13-17)

Hymn VT #360   Who Are These?

Opening Prayer

Welcome/Land Acknowledgement

Announcements

Offertory prayer and Offering

Hymn VT #156  There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy

Congregational Prayer Time

Scripture reading 1:  Matthew 20:1-16 (NIV)

Scripture reading 2: Psalm 50:1-6

Hymn:  VT #809 Sing a New World Into Being

Message:    Think on what is right and just

Closing hymn: VT #297 You are Salt for the Earth

Benediction 

 

Our theme:

Think on these things

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8–9

 

Leading Us in Worship
Message                         Stephen R.
Worship Leader         Sue S.
Song Leader                 Kathy W.
Musician                        Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                        Vic G., Anne R.
Zoom Host                   Carol R.
A/V Technician          Murray L.

 

Adult discussion class

Jim will lead our discussion on the topic of sin.
Join us in the sanctuary at 10:00 a.m.
All are welcome.

 

Scripture Readings

Matthew 20:1-16 (NIV)

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Psalm 50:1-6

A psalm of Asaph.
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

2 From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

3 Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.

4 He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people:

5 “Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice.

 

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Treasurer’s Report: In April we received $10,130 in offerings. This support has helped reduce our operating deficit to -$769.

There has been $200 donated to the 40 Teesdale Food Bank. We have also received a Spirit of Mennonite Disaster Service grant which will be used for our Healthy Eating Program led by Carol O’Neil.

Donations to Danforth Mennonite Church are welcomed in the following ways:

1. 1. The offering plate on Sunday
   2. By email transfer to dmmc2174@gmail.com
   3. By automatic funds transfer on the 15th of each month. (Speak to Roger Horst if interested)
   4. By mail or in person to the church office or treasurer’s home.

DMC will be part of Doors Open Toronto
May 27 & 28, 2023
 
Check us out on the
Doors Open Toronto website!
 
https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/doors-open-toronto/

 

 

Ladies Walking group

On Tuesday, May 23 at 10:30 am (weather permitting), we will meet at Ashbridges Bay (turn in at Lower Coxwell).
 
An email will go out on Monday May 22nd 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.

We welcomed Olive, Eva, and Eva’s daughter Margaret to our stroll through Rosetta McClain gardens last Tuesday.

We are a happy bunch of ladies! Come join us.

 

Worship Schedule reminder

May 28 – Doors Open weekend
Speaker                        Carol O.
Worship leader       Mike D.
Song Leader              Ed F.
Musician                     Bonnie W. (piano)
Greeters                     Dalton & Carol J.
ZOOM host              Carol R.
A/V Tech                    Fazal S.
 
June 4
Speaker                      Stephen R.
Worship leader     Cindy R.
Song Leader            Kathy W.
Musician                   Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                   Dalton & Carol J.
ZOOM host            Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                  Mike D.

 

WIDER CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Theatre of the Beat
presents
Selah’s Song

We’re kicking off our upcoming tour of Selah’s Song with a Toronto performance! Tell your friends, tell your family, bring your child and mother – we hope to see you before we hit the road!

WHEN: Friday, May 26th at 7PM. Doors open at 6:30pm.

WHERE: Danforth Mennonite Church, 2174 Danforth Avenue

TICKETS: PWYC (pay what you can) at the door
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr, 45 mins + 15 minute talkback
For more details, please visit our Facebook event page.

 

At Theatre of the Beat, we believe in the power of storytelling to spark meaningful conversations and create positive change in the world. And thanks to your generous support, we’ve been able to bring our thought-provoking perfor-mances to communities across Canada and beyond.

We’re excited to announce our ROOT TO RISE Fundraising Campaign, which aims to raise $25,000 this spring. With your help, we can continue to grow and expand our programming, bringing our unique blend of theatre and social justice to even more audiences.

Your contribution will make a real difference in supporting our upcoming US tour of Selah’s Song, a heartwarming musical that celebrates the power of family and community. And with your help, we can also take our new Forum play series, I Love You and It Hurts, on tour across Canada this fall, exploring important themes such as recognizing the early signs of abuse.

Your support will help us to continue to create new Canadian theatre and engage communities in essential conversations on peace and social justice.

We invite you to join us on this journey of growth and transformation. To donate, please visit theatreofthebeat.ca/donate.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

 

In summary, upcoming events

At Danforth
May
23 Ladies walking group – Ashbridges Bay
26  Selah’s Song
27/28  Doors Open Toronto
30  Ladies walking group
30  Cooking class
30 Ladies walking group

June
3  Fundraiser craft show
6  Ladies Walking group
6  Cooking Class
10  Men’s breakfast
13  Ladies Walking group
13  Cooking class
20  Ladies Walking group
20  Cooking class
24  Messy Church
27  Ladies Walking group
27  Cooking class

Wider Church
May
24  Spring into Summer concert

August
13  Worship at Willowgrove

DANFORTH MENNONITE CHURCH
416-422-2406
 
Pastor Stephen Reist

We welcome all guests who have joined us.

 
 
For our Doors Open Guests
A note from Mike, our worship leader

I was asked to explain how our urban Mennonite worship service differs from other Christian services. I decided I do not know enough about other denominations to explain how we’re different from, say, Roman Catholic, and also different from, say, Old Order Mennonite… so instead I will say this…

•  We greet visitors. My guess is that, in ye olde days before cars or telephones, when all North American Mennonites were farmers, that a visitor would be someone’s relative… and all the people in the visitor’s home congregation would be related to people in the local congregation. So everyone would want to get their family news from the visitor, and share their stories too.
• • The bulletin shows the order of the service. We sing, share announcements and prayer concerns, pray, and one person delivers a message.
  • Everyone wonders… where are the horses and buggies? You’d want to spend time in Waterloo Region to find Mennonites of other denominations who still use horse-and-buggy. The same goes for finding people who dress in “plain clothes”, rather than casual or business casual.
  • Some Mennonites have retained either Low German or Pennsylvania German as heritage languages, depending on how their families migrated from the Netherlands via Poland and Ukraine, or from Austria and Switzerland via Pennsylvania. Some of us have completely different ethnic backgrounds.
  • We do have a tradition of singing, preferably in 4-part harmony. Please join in. We’re going to put more singing into today’s service than we normally would. After all, this year’s Doors Open theme is “Toronto – City of Sound”.
  • During the pandemic lock-down, we found that we could also meet for worship via Zoom. We now hold hybrid services – both in-person and via Zoom, all at once – and we try to integrate everyone as much as possible.
  • We have a time for congregational prayer, sometimes called “the prayers of the people”. It’s an important part of how, as community, we express care for each other. If you would like us to pray for you today, you’re welcome to share your concerns during that part of the service. Or feel free not to; we do not require everyone to share.
  • Finally, let me point out that we have a table with some activities for children, so they aren’t bored beyond their capacity. There is also a small nursery, if a younger child needs more attention. There’s a washroom on this level, and two in the basement corridor. And you may slip out if you need to, during the service. If you stay to the end, please stay and chat with someone.

 

Danforth Mennonite Church
May 28, 2023
Order of Service

Welcome
 
Land Acknowledgment
 
Opening Hymn:   VT #6 Let’s walk together
 
Hymn:  VT #7  Come, let us all unite to sing
 
Announcements
 
Offering
 
Hymn: VT #158           I know God loves me
 
Congregational Prayer
 
Hymn: VT #387           We are one in the Spirit.
 
Scripture:       1 John 4: 7 – 12          
 
Hymn:  VT #638   Love divine, all loves excelling
 
Message:         You are so welcome  
 
Closing Hymn: VT #832     The Lord lift you up is
 
Benediction

 

Today’s speaker, Carol O. is a Licensed Lay Worship Leader.  She continues to share her messages with us on regular basis.

 

Leading Us in Worship
Message                      Carol O.
Worship Leader      Mike D.
Song Leader              Ed F.
Musician                     Bonnie W. (piano), Stephen R. (guitar)
Greeters                     Dalton & Carol J.
Zoom Host                Carol R.
A/V Technician       Fazal S.

There is no
adult discussion class
this Sunday.

 

Scripture Reading

1 John 4: 7 – 12 (NRSV)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.

12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

 

 

DANFORTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Treasurer’s Report: In April we received $10,130 in offerings. This support has helped reduce our operating deficit to -$769.

There has been $200 donated to the 40 Teesdale Food Bank. We have also received a Spirit of Mennonite Disaster Service grant which will be used for our Healthy Eating Program led by Carol O’Neil.

Donations to Danforth Mennonite Church are welcomed in the following ways:

• • 1. The offering plate on Sunday
    2. By email transfer to dmmc2174@gmail.com
    3. By automatic funds transfer on the 15th of each month. (Speak to Roger H. if interested)
    4. By mail or in person to the church office or treasurer’s home.

 

We need books for our Little Library

 

 

 

 

 

A big thank you to our
Doors Open volunteers
They participated with…

• • • filling out the Doors Open application
    • creating display boards
    • setting up display tables
    • printing materials
    • folding brochures
    • cleaning up the backyard
    • maintaining the front garden
    • participating in the hymn sing
    • greeting our guests
    • preparing the Sunday service

Ladies Walking group

On Tuesday, May 30 at 10:30 am (weather permitting), we will meet at Warden Woods Trail (Gus Harris) off of Pharmacy, north of Danforth.
 
An email will go out on Monday May 29th 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.

We are a happy bunch of ladies!
Our group has had between 2 and 12
 any Tuesday morning.
Come join us.

 

Lunch and Pray – June 4
after the service

You are invited to bring a bag lunch on Sunday, June 4 and join in a time of in-person prayer for our pastoral search.

 

Worship Schedule reminder

June 4
Speaker                        Stephen R.
Worship leader       Cindy R.
Song Leader              Kathy W.
Musician                     Roger H. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                     Dalton and Carol J.
ZOOM host              Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                    Mike D.

June 11
Speaker                      Margaret A.
Worship leader     Linda D.
Song Leader            Sue S.
Musician                   Jessica M. (piano), Ray W. (tuba)
Greeters                   Leslie S, Murray L.
ZOOM host            Bonnie W.
A/V Tech                  Roger H.

 

 

A thankyou to Roger for donating his neighbour’s bench and to Walter for giving it a makeover.

 

 

Our cooking classes start on
Tuesday, May 30^th.

 

 

You are invited to join the folks at SCOC
for Sunday Evening Worship
on June 4 at 7 pm

Following a conversation with Chaplain Jonathan Emerson-Pierce, I confirmed that our church would plan a service that includes favourite hymns and the stories of how they came to be composed.

They will welcome our presence and the opportunity to sing. There are no longer Covid restrictions so please plan to participate if you are able. Following the service, you are invited to drop by Dalton and Carol’s new home and visit.

 

In summary, upcoming events

At Danforth

May
27/28  Doors Open Toronto
30  Ladies walking group – Warden Woods
30  Cooking class
30 Ladies walking group

June
3  Fundraiser craft show
4  Service at SCOC
6  Ladies Walking group
6  Cooking Class
10  Men’s breakfast
13  Ladies Walking group
13  Cooking class
20  Ladies Walking group
20  Cooking class
24  Messy Church
27  Ladies Walking group
27  Cooking class

Wider Church

August
13  Worship at Willowgrove