Our Covenanting Sunday was a celebration of the gifts of St. John’s United Church and the Sunshine Coast. Before the service even began we saw the blessing of Isobel Gibson’s artistic rendering of the eagle from our stained glass window that graced the cover of the bulletin. The service began with a beautiful piano and flute duet by Ken Dalgiesh and Kelly Smith. The singing and drumming songs from our First Nations brothers and sisters led by Terry Aleck, Christine Turenne, Jean-Paul Daigle and Sue Spurgeon stirred our souls. The Covenant Prayer sung by the choir was exactly that, a beautiful prayer.
We were given a call to action through the reflections shared by Rev. Bob Smith, who reminded us that though the church may be changing, we are always called to care for those people and places in God’s Creation in need of mending. We were blessed by our colleagues in ministry from the Presbytery and Conference through the presence of Terri Scallon and Marc Coulombe.
Then there was the presentation of gifts that embodied the core values of this community of faith; illumination through scripture and prayer, communion, baptism, our affirming ministry, our commitment to the First Nations people, our care for the Earth, our love of music and the arts, our vision for the future, and desire for children to have a safe place to grow and discover who they are.
And if that wasn’t enough, we enjoyed nine different varieties of soup followed by a carrot cake as large as Cliff-Gilker Park with its very own pathway called, “We Make the Path by Walking.”
So let this day be our trailhead, the place where we mark the beginning of our journey together. Let us remember this promise that we have made to one another, to our ancestors, and to our children’s children. We each have gifts to receive, to offer and to share with our wider community. And we have a world in need of mending. May our heart and our feet dance together as we make the path, the prayer, and the peace.