At Dalston-Crown Hill United Church, we love to celebrate our rural heritage!
On Saturday, November 2nd, over 200 full turkey dinners followed by home-made pies were enjoyed by community members, guests, and members of our congregation. We are so fortunate to live in an area that still supports activities that are linked to our rural past. In fact, this year our dinner was sold out almost two weeks ahead of time! Thank you for your overwhelming support! To everyone in our congregation…..yes everyone, thank you! There was total participation in one (or more!) areas which included ticket sales, set up, food preparation/donations, serving, dish washing, etc! And, we are so thankful for energetic additional help from the ‘young leg team’ of Bev, Madison, Sydney, Anthony, Megan, Rick and John! Hosting our church dinners , sharing the workload , the laughter, the full tummies, brings us together….as a church family, and as a still vibrant rural community. Our springtime Ham Supper will be on May 2nd…..be sure to reserve early! Watch for more details in next issue.
Advent begins on Dec. 1 and we will be celebrating the four Sundays of Advent during December at both churches. Christmas Eve services are scheduled for Forest Home at 4 p.m. which will be a family service and Dalston-Crown Hill will hold its service, with Communion, at 7 p.m. All Welcome!
Meditation Circle continued at Forest Home church for six weeks during the Fall, with Hazel Soares as the leader. For more info on the next session, please contact Debbie at 705-329-1709.
MEET, GREET & EAT Men’s Breakfast will be held at the Dalston-Crown Hill church on the following Wednesday mornings: January 15, March 18, May 20 at 9 a.m. All men welcome! Please let Joe (705) 722-6965 or Al (705) 737-2552 know if you can attend.
Do you make Gingerbread for Christmas? If not, and you’d like to, here’s your opportunity to learn how. Generation to Generation “Learn to make Gingerbread” Saturday, Dec. 7th – 2 – 4 pm – at the Dalston-Crown Hill Church. Bring friends or family of all ages to make and decorate gingerbread. For more info or to reserve your spot, please call Will at 249-877-0393. Bringing your own cookie cutters and rolling pins is welcomed but not required.
CHIT CHAT, SIP’N SNACK -. A Women’s Social Time happens on Wednesdays; December 11, February 12, April 15, at the Dalston-Crown Hill church at 9:30 am. For more info please call Janet Isaac at 705-835-2750. All women welcome!
Forest Home United Church Women (UCW) meets the 2nd Friday of each month at 1:30 pm at the church. The next meeting is the Christmas Potluck on December 13th at 12 pm. All Women Welcome!
Our reno continues….
This Fall the Dalston church received a complete exterior facelift. While a master in stucco work was on site to stucco the exterior of the newly added storage room, he also repaired the well-aged stucco on the existing building. Then our church volunteers (youngest 8 years old – oldest 70+) spent a week-end painting the walls. One of those volunteers spent time the following week painting all the foundation, having to dig out the gravel around the foundation, paint the cement, then put all the gravel back. We rented a lift to get to the high spots, which worked well, and even the person who said he was afraid of heights, was determined to try it, and painted the dates in our “date blocks” on the front of the church. The weather so far has prevented any further outdoor work. We could really use an “Indian summer” now. Over the winter, we’ll hopefully get the new storage room set up with shelving and get things organized. So the next time you drive to, or by, the Dalston church, you will find the little white church much whiter! Our volunteers, like in most places, are invaluable. We couldn’t find a painter who wasn’t booked all fall, so our amazing church members took on the job! A huge thank you goes out to all who assisted in some way on this project.
A few words from Rev. Will …
I heard from someone recently who had been chatting with some friends and family of hers after a funeral and the consensus of their conversation was something like this: “we should get together more often, and not just wait for times like this to see each other.” That struck a chord with me because I have been a part of that same conversation, on similar occasions, with my own friends and relatives. It is often the case that we get so busy with our lives, with important and even extraneous things, that we go long stretches between connecting with those who might be closest to us.
The Christmas season is a time when we might be more inclined to visit with those we care about. This is fitting, as we remember and celebrate those images of community being created around the baby Jesus, born amongst the animals and laid in a manger, as parent and stranger alike paid homage to the newborn king. Yet the holiday season has become for most of us like the rest of our lives–overwhelmingly busy! With God’s help, may we commit ourselves, this Christmas and in the year ahead, to spending quality time with the important people in our lives and, as we are able, gathering in community around this same Jesus–the perfection of God’s love among us.
To stay tuned to upcoming events, follow the postings on Facebook at Forest Home United Church and Dalston Crown-Hill United Church or check out the websites at: www.DalstonCrownHillUnitedChurch.net or email dalcrown@gmail.com.
www.ForestHomeUC.ca or email foresthomeunitedchurch@yahoo.ca