Over the last year, I’ve had a chance to spend some time in the beautiful
Stella Maris Catholic Church on the east side of Saint John. Kelly’s last
three choir concerts have been held there – so I’ve had many opportunities
to look around the building and learn more about its history. Among other
things, I’ve discovered that “Stella Maris” means “Mary, Star of the Sea,”
and that over the years Mary has often been called on to intercede on
sailors’ behalf as well as to offer protection to those who live by the ocean.

Even today, many continue to turn to her for help and guidance, and
several lovely images of the virgin can be found in the Stella Maris
sanctuary.

As a Prairie Protestant farm boy who was raised thousands of miles from
any ocean, much of this is new to me. But like St. Mark’s, the church I
grew up in at least paid regular attention to Mary during the Advent and
Christmas season – and we’ll be doing the same this coming Sunday. In particular, we’ll focus on her “magnificat” and discover (possibly in some surprising ways) how she believed God to be at work – in her life and in the world. We’ll also celebrate Communion, hear and sing some lovely music, and celebrate the gifts of love that are offered to us during this special and holy season. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday, and pray that the days to come will be filled with many rich blessings for you and those you love.

Among other things, December is the season for Christmas pageants.  And every year at this time I recall some of the ones I’ve been involved in, be it as a participant or director.  They’ve ranged from the sophisticated to the simple. 

But they’ve all featured cute little angels who’ve been dressed in white and adorned with wings and halos.  And their presence reminds us that angels feature prominently in all the stories of Jesus’ birth.

So we’re going to focus on angels this coming Sunday morning.  We’ll pay particular attention to the angel Gabriel – the messenger who helped Zechariah, Joseph and Mary get ready to the gift that changed the world.  And we’ll ponder how we hear and respond to the divine, sometimes life-changing messages that come to us.  So I hope to see you on Sunday!

In many ways, Christmas is a time of celebration and joy. However, it can
also be a difficult season of the year. The realities of grief, loss,
depression, anxiety, financial stress and illness can weigh especially
heavily on us. And the absence of a loved one who’s no longer with us can
make these days especially hard.

That’s why it can be comforting to take time to remember and give thanks for those who have touched our lives with love and grace. So I encourage you to attend the special “Service of Lights, Lessons, Carols and Christmas Memories” that will be held this coming Sunday, Dec 1, at 7 pm at St. Mark’s. We’ll gather to remember the lives of those whose memories we still cherish, to give thanks for those loved ones who once brightened our days and lit up our lives, and to cherish the love that we still hold dear. A special Christmas light will be lit for each person whose name is read, and the Memory Tree will remain lit during the Advent season. In all our living may we never lose the memory of our most cherished relationships, and may we know that God’s grace, mercy and peace is with us always.

“What’s the Spirit of God up to here at St. Mark’s United Church?”
That’s a question I posed to the Search Committee last spring, and it’s one I continue to ponder. It’s the type of query that can be difficult to answer, but over these last few months I’ve begun to see several signs of where and how it’s alive and at work in this place.

It was evident in the warm and gracious way you welcomed the folk from Elections New Brunswick into the building.

It was clearly present at the recent “Harvest Hoedown” as we gathered to dance, eat, and enjoy the great hospitality offered by the Seniors Adult Ministry group.

It was evident last Sunday as Gene Mason placed a wreath on behalf of St. Mark’s Veterans, and we gathered to remember those who had sacrificed and died to help secure our peace and freedom. It’s been clearly seen in the recent efforts to publicize our church’s activities through some new signage, an updated website, and a renewed Facebook page and the positive support that’s been given to these initiatives.

It’s evident in the fact that I’ve never heard even one person say “we don’t do things that way” when I’ve offered a new suggestion or idea; And it’s also seen in the helpful feedback many of you offered when you
completed the congregational questionnaire that was circulated a couple of weeks ago. These are some of the signs of the Spirit’s presence I see here at St. Mark’s. And these are elements we can build on as we continue discerning where the
Spirit is leading us, and what a viable and sustainable ministry plan for the future might look like.

So, if you haven’t yet completed your questionnaire, please do so. If you have some suggestions about what you’d like to see happen here, please share them. Any and all ideas you may have are welcome, because we’re all in this together! As the Scripture passage we’ll be reading this Sunday reminds us, the contours of religious life inevitably change over time. But the Spirit that brought those religious institutions into being continues to live on. So I pray that that the Spirit will continue to guide us and give us the courage and grace we need to face the future with confidence and hope.

In the small farming community of Domain Manitoba where I was raised, the annual Remembrance Day service – held on the Sunday before November 11 – was one of the holiest days of the year.  They began with a procession of veterans, including my dad, dressed in grey flannel trousers and navy-blue Legion blazers, who marched down the centre aisle and filled the front few pews.  The music for the day was somber, wreaths were laid, a minute of silence was observed, and the sanctuary became eerily quiet as a Legion member read the names of those from our community who had fought and died during the two world wars.  As I looked around at the packed sanctuary and saw some of my adult neighbours become visibly shaken as the name of a brother, uncle, cousin or friend who never returned was spoken, I understood that war was a painful, costly, but sometimes necessary business.

Those memories and lessons have remained with me, and I’ve continued to believe Remembrance Day services are very special occasions.  So I invite you to join us this coming Sunday at 10:30 am as we remember and give thanks for those who sacrificed and served so that we might live in the kind of country we do.  And the day will be made extra-special by the fact that a WW2 veteran – 98-year-old Gene Mason (Donna Henderson’s father and Angela Phelps grandfather) – will be present to lay a wreath.  It will be a special day, and I look forward to seeing you this coming Sunday morning.  

As I was thinking about this week’s gospel reading the other day, I was reminded of a story in which a girl asked her Sunday school teacher a question. “Why did it take the Magi so long to find the baby Jesus,” shewondered. “That’s easy,” said the teacher. “It was three MEN who were traveling, and they never thought to ask anyone for directions!”

I too have been known to have that problem – on more than one occasion. But over these last weeks, I’ve been impressed by the fact that assistance is quickly forthcoming at St. Mark’s when it’s requested. This happy reality has helped make my first few months here both pleasant and productive.

Important assistance has come from many corners. Two Saturdays ago, Tom and Dick did a great job of putting our new signs in place the day after I picked them up – even in the rain! Yesterday, Ralph helped review the website and identified some ways it can be updated and improved. And the work of the “Transition Support Team” has also been especially important over this last while. The members of this group – Grace, Ralph, Nancy, Angie, Lora, Joyce and Bonnie – were part of the Search Committee
you established last year to look for a new minister. Their explorations led them to me – and we had several fruitful conversations last spring about what a year of “interim ministry” might look like and how we might develop a faithful and realistic ministry plan for the church’s future. An initial approach was agreed to, and I asked if a few people might be willing to be part of an “advisory team” that would offer some advice and help keep this process on track. “We can do that,” everyone said. And they’ve all done it very very well!
In the near future, you’ll receive a further update about this piece of work and where we’re at. Meanwhile, let’s all give thanks for the helpful spirit that abides here at St. Mark’s, and our part to keep it strong!