Merry Christmas

The church is all decorated for Christmas Eve with the candles glowing in the stained glass windows, the tree standing in the corner and the Nativity scene gracing the Communion table. It’s a pretty sight, the church being decorated to remind us about the true meaning of Christmas.

Knox Church has already held its lessons and carols service along with the Christmas pageant, and so on Christmas Eve, the congregation will gather along with family and friends as well as visitors for two special services.

Rev. Bob Docherty, the interim moderator at Knox, will be conducting both services, with a family Christmas Eve service scheduled for 7 p.m. following by the Christmas Eve Communion service at 9 p.m.

There will be lots of special music at both of these services including anthems from the choir and of course many of the traditional Christmas hymns.

You are invited to join with us for one or both of these services as we celebrate Christmas at Knox.

We hear from Victor

Dear Friends at Knox,

    Hard to believe the year is almost over; seems to have gone so very quickly. My first semester at Presbyterian College is now complete; finals ended for me on Dec 16th. I believe everything went rather well. Don't wish to say any more until after the results are posted because, as Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have said, "The hen is the wisest of animals - she does not cackle until after the egg is laid"! The winter semester begins on Jan 7th, so I have a couple of weeks to enjoy the holidays with my family.

    Also, as many of you know, when I was last in Burlington at the end of October I appeared before the Student and Colleges Committee of the Presbytery of Hamilton. I am happy to say that all seems to have gone well and the Presbytery has certified me as a candidate for ordained ministry. 

Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you once again for your help and encouragement. I would also like to extend my appreciation to the members of Session for commending me to Presbytery.

    My thoughts and prayers are with you as we begin this holiday season. Allow me to wish you all a Blessed and Merry Christmas and a Joyful New Year! 

In Christ,

Victor

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).

Housling cloths

It’s Communion Sunday on Nov. 25th and once again, the church will be using the housling cloths. For anyone who does not know the tradition behind the use of these cloths, check out the Knox Facebook page where there is an explanation. It can be found at www.facebook.com/KnoxPresbyterianChurchBurlington

And just one other note this time around, but a most important item concerns honors which are being bestowed on Cindel White at the University of Western Ontario on Sunday.

Cindel honored
Cindel has two scholarships:  In first year she received the "Gerry Killan Entrance Regis Award" plus she received the continuing scholarship of this award for second year.  She is also now receiving "The Mr. Justice John Kennedy Award for Excellence, 2012-2013.  The award is given to a returning King's University College student with the highest average in five full courses or equivalent in his/her first year program.  She is also receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Achieving for the Top Award.

King's University College is an affiliate college of the University of Western Ontario in London.  She is specializing in Psychology.

Proud parents Sharon and Trevor White will be at Western to help celebrate the occasion which occurs in conjunction with the Feast of Christ the King.

As a congregation we congratulate Cindel on this impressive achievement, and wish her well in her future studies at Western.

Overnight guests

Knox Church will be having a large number of guests Saturday night - overnight guests - so that when the congregation arrives early Sunday morning they may be witness to a great deal of activity.

As a unique outreach program – and in order to accommodate cadets who will be participating in an overnight vigil at the cenotaph prior to Sunday’s Remembrance Day service - session has approved the use of the church facilities for Burlington’s Air Cadets, with Knox being so ideally situated to help in this particular cause.

Deb Settle has already posted information on the Knox Facebook page, but in order for everyone to have an even better understanding about what is happening, I thought that perhaps it would be best to use Deb’s own words about the vigil.

“For many years, starting on 6 p.m. on Nov. 10 until 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, the Air Cadets have held an overnight vigil at the cenotaph at the corner of Brant and Ontario streets. This involves five cadets standing guard at the monument for one hour shifts each.  In the past, officers and volunteers would drive the cadets back and forth from their Squadron in the Mountainside area throughout the night. The remainder of the cadets would be sleeping there.

“Last year the Navy cadets joined the Air Cadets and so were able to use the Iron Duke facilities. This year the three units (Air, Army and Navy) will be involved. The Navy cadets will stay at the Iron Duke and the Air and Army corps will be at Knox. The routine will be the same, but instead of having to drive the cadets they will be able to walk.

“The cadets will arrive at about 5 p.m. at the church with uniforms, sleeping bags, toiletries etc. They will be delegated to a room. A brief service will be held at the cenotaph at 6 p.m. Five cadets will remain on duty and the rest will return to fellowship hall for dinner. My group, the Squadron Sponsorship Committee (SSC), will have a meal prepared.

“During the evening, the off-duty cadets will play board games, watch movies etc. until bed or their turn to be at the cenotaph. The rotation will continue all night and into the morning.

The SSC will provide breakfast in the morning at 8:00 a.m. The cadets will be dressing and preparing to attend the parade that will start at Burlington Central High School at 10:30. and as such will be leaving the church around 9:30.

“There will be about 40 cadets participating in the vigil throughout the night. There will be at least four officers supervising and a few CVs (Civilian Volunteers) as well. The cadets will never be left unattended and will have strict rules to follow.”

While Knox has made its facilities available for the cadets on this special occasion, Deb must be congratulated not only for making this event happen, but for all her involvement with the Air Cadets in Burlington.

Time change

In our last blog, we talked about time with particular reference to the change in clocks going back to Standard Time. But there is another important time change this week as everyone is reminded that the church service will be at 9:30 a.m. for this coming week only, so that those in the congregation wanting to attend the cenotaph service will have sufficient time to walk over to the cenotaph at City Hall.

It’s a matter of time

Time is such an elusive quantity. It just seems that we never have enough of it, ever. We juggle our time, we try to multi task, and we try to stretch out every minute of the day.

As I write this blog I should be elsewhere, but if I’m elsewhere, this blog won’t get done. And this dilemma with time – unfortunately – is not getting any better – for most of us.

Well, perhaps for one day a year it does get better, and that day is tomorrow. And so, for everyone looking to gain even one extra hour of time, you are reminded that the clocks fall back one hour, and so indeed we each have 60 minutes of extra time to enjoy.

While I would really like to have this blog out on a more regular basis, it is time – yes, there’s that word again – that steps in the way. But the blog is part of our communication network with not only those who worship at Knox, but the outside community as well.

And, as I have noted in the past, Knox is a vibrant church, and despite the present pulpit vacancy, many have pulled together to provide strong leadership as the search committee works towards calling a new minister.

 Timely speaking…..

• Speaking of time, everyone is reminded that the church service next Sunday – Remembrance Day – will be at 9:30 a.m. to accommodate those in the congregation who want to attend the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph at 11 a.m.

• While time – in the form of a tight deadline – is tight, every effort is being made to get the next issue of Knox Talks out before the next Communion service, which is scheduled for Nov. 25. That means the deadline is Nov. 11, but there is so much going on during the Christmas season that it is important to have the newsletter into your hands in good time.

• It is now only two weeks until the Holly Wreath Bazaar with groups throughout the church busy making last-minute preparations as time closes in on this major event in the church year. Please consider how you can help in this event, and of course, please mark the date – Nov. 17 – on your calendar.

• And finally – for now – just another reminder about the Knox Church Facebook page. We need people to log onto this page and Like it, please, so that we can chart future items to download. Facebook can be a valuable communication tool, but without 30 Likes, we cannot determine how many people are looking at various items, or, in other words, we can’t gauge interest levels. You can just Google in: Facebook Knox Presbyterian Church Burlington and it will pop up, or the long form is www.facebook.com/knoxpresbyterianchurchburlington

Thanksgiving Sunday

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, a special time of the year as we offer our thanks for all the blessings bestowed upon us. It’s also a time of celebration for on Sunday Knox will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper. Rev. Bob Docherty, our interim moderator, will be preaching on Sunday as we come together for this special service.

A special thank you
As clerk of session, I would like to also offer my sincere thanks to three individuals who have now completed their term of office as active elders, and while they are still active in many other ways around the church, they have stepped aside from session duties and regular pastoral visits.

Merri Fergusson, John Gowing and Gord Sherritt all decided not to seek re-election when the most recent election for the Knox session was held, and while we will indeed miss their participation around the session table – for the foreseeable future – we are ever so indebted to all that they brought to their responsibilities over the years.

Knox moved to term eldership four years ago, and while term eldership is for a six-year term, it was decided at that time that some elders would serve for two years, others for four and the rest for six years as the concept phased in toward the six year terms.

Session is actually down in numbers from the Spring as no new nominations were brought forward, but we are thankful that Reg Butt, Roxie Clendening and Patty Kirby, each nominated by session, agreed to serve another term. If all that sounds a bit confusing, just know that session had 22 members as of May 31 and today we stand at 19.

Knox on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/KnoxPresbyterianChurchBurlington
Hopefully most everyone knows that Knox now has a Facebook page, and over time we expect to add various items of interest not only to the Knox congregation, but to the general public as well.

But perhaps I can highlight how a Facebook page can provide great visibility to a church such as Knox by using an illustration from another page. At the present time, I am involved in several other Facebook pages, some of them designed around historic and/or nostalgic photographs.

I put up an old photograph of the Bell Tower Room on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vintage-Burlington/345338745530110 but I did not provide any details, instead asking viewers to provide their insight. After 24 hours, more than 200 people had viewed that picture; today, 346 people have viewed the picture and 24 have offered comments. That is great exposure for Knox, and will continue to be so for some time. 

That picture is not on the Knox site at the moment, but may well be migrated over there some time in the future, but in the meantime, it can be seen at the above link.

We hear from Victor
As most everyone knows by now, a member of the Knox congregation is now at Presbyterian College in Montreal, immersed in studies at this college as he heeds his call to the ministry.

Victor Vaus spoke to the Knox congregation in the Spring, talking about his calling and his desire to attend Presbyterian College. Session endorsed his application, passing it along to the Presbytery of Hamilton for their consideration. As part of the official process, Victor must now appear before the Presbytery….just one more step on his long road toward ordination.

The letter below is from Victor, bringing the congregation up to date on his life in Montreal, and about his Presbytery appointment.

Dear friends at Knox,
First allow me to thank you for remembering me in your prayers, and for the cards and best wishes that you have so kindly sent.

My first month at Presbyterian College has gone by very quickly. Academically things are fine, and I feel like I am starting to get into the "swing of things" here. The workload is heavy but manageable, and I am being exposed to new ways of looking at things on a regular basis.

Rev. Dr. John Vissers preached a sermon that revolved around Anselm's notion of  "Fides Quaerens Intellectum" - faith seeking understanding -which I particularly enjoyed. The title of the sermon neatly sums up my experience here so far.

Also, the date that I am to appear before Hamilton Presbytery has been set - Saturday Oct 27th. I intend to stay thought Saturday night and worship with you all at Knox on Sunday Oct 28. I will return to Montreal Sunday afternoon.

I wish you all a blessed and happy Thanksgiving, and look forward to seeing you in Burlington very soon.

Yours in Christian fellowship,

Victor

Going and coming

It’s Labour Day weekend, the end of summer for many, the start of a new church year, and so, in the next few weeks various activities will be starting up around Knox, starting with Rally Day Sunday on Sept. 9 when courtesy of the board of managers there will be a barbecue after the regular church service.

In the meantime, everyone is reminded that Sunday’s church service reverts back to the normal time, that is 10:30. The earlier church service was done as an experiment this year, something that many other churches do in the summer, as we tried to address not only the heat and humidity, but also to provide a bit of flexibility for Sunday activities.

And the search goes on
As Rev. Bob explained last Sunday, the search process has continued over the summer with the committee still meeting on a regular basis. There was somewhat of a lull after the flurry of early applications, but there has been renewed interest over the summer months as a number of additional applications have been received.

Rev. Bob tries to get copies of all the new applications out to the committee as soon as possible, so that when they do meet, there is the opportunity for good discussion. And, of course, with the internet these days, there is also the opportunity for committee members to gain additional information on any of the candidates…information that will help find the ideal candidate for the Knox pulpit.

And some other pieces,
• We welcome the Rev. Gordon Ford, from Niagara-on-the-Lake as our guest minister this Sunday. Rev. Ford, who was a classmate of Rev. Bob, will in the pulpit for most of September, that is except for Sept. 9 when Rev. Bob will be with us once again for Rally Day.
• The church office hours will return to normal this week, well, almost normal, as Monday is a holiday. But other than that, Trish will be in the office Monday and Fridays, 9 am-12 noon, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9 am- 3pm.
• The Knox Quilters will be holding a fall rummage sale on Saturday, September 22 with the funds raised by this sale going to the Quilters Malawi Orphan Care project

Summer time hours

It’s not only the calendar that tells us that it is summer time, but also the weather, and as a result Knox Church is making a few changes in the timing for summer services and for the church office.

Starting July 1st, the church service will start 30 minutes earlier, that is at 10 a.m. with the hope that the air and the humidity in the sanctuary will be somewhat better. The change in time is for July and August only, so that for Sept. 2, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Knox will revert back to 10:30 a.m.

And with so many people being away, and with far less activities around the church, the office hours are being changed so that Trish, our church administrator, has more opportunity to enjoy the days of summer. Once again, for July and August only, the church office will be open from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, with no afternoon hours.

Pulpit supply

This week we welcome Marilyn Repchuck back into the Knox pulpit as the church has reverted to pulpit supply from interim ministry as part of the process as we advance through the stages of calling a new minister.

Strawberry social

And then, after the service, everyone is invited to participate in the Strawberry Social in Fellowship Hall. There will be a freewill offering, and all monies collected, according to the Congregational LIfe committee, will go toward the operating fund.

Defibrillator

In recent weeks, an anonymous donor provided the church with the funds to secure an Automatic External Defibrillator, which will be located in a highly visible location just outside of the sanctuary.

While the new models are highly automated, and in fact will talk one through the steps once the case is opened, there will be a training session following the church service on July 15, and all are urged to attend as this session will provide some practical information, and as well, will provide an opportunity to ask questions of Gary Macdonald from the Burlington Fire Department.

Repaving

The tree is down and now the parking areas will be paved so that might make for some alterations if you are visiting the church at the end of next week. The tree at the end of the driveway was in extremely poor condition, with the core rotting away at an alarming rate, and while it was hoped that it might be on city property – and removed at the city’s expense – it was just over the line and so the board of mangers had it removed.

That was the first step to renovating the parking areas, with the next step to be done Wednesday, June 27 and Thursday, June 28, when the old pavement will be removed, the grade sloped to take rain water away from the foundation and then both lots will be repaved.

But for those two days, visitors will need to park on the street and enter the church by the James Street door. Trish suggests that if you just need to drop something off, phone ahead and she will meet you so that you can avoid parking.

Search committee

And finally, although it is the summertime, the search committee will not be taking a break.  Now that they have completed the church profile, it can be sent out to those ministers who have expressed an interest in Knox, and in fact, some ministers have already responded with their own profiles.