The Guildwood Gazette

Inspired by remarkable stories of spiritual renewal and growth, an estimated 13,000 churches from 60 denominations have experienced the purpose-driven phenomena inspired by the best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. The fastest-selling hardcover nonfiction book in history, The Purpose Driven Life has sold more than 16 million copies since its release in 2002.

Dozens of people in our congregation have changed their outlook on life through studying this book in a group or reading on their own. Many have ordered extra copies for family and friends!

Everyone involved in the study said, "Wouldn't it be great to do this as a whole congregation!" And that's precisely what 40 Days is all about.

The book's author, Rick Warren, is senior pastor of one of North America's largest churches: Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Following its 40 Days of Purpose Campaign two years ago, Saddleback Church added almost 1,200 new members and increased average attendance by 2,000.

Two years ago the first 1,500 churches to hold a 40 Days of Purpose Campaign reported their worship attendance increased an average of 22 percent.

During the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign here at Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church, the truths about God's five purposes for people-worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism-will be communicated in the following ways:

1. A kick-off banquet and simulcast of the national campaign on Saturday, January 29

2. A weekly Sunday service highlighting the theme

3. A personal or family daily devotional reading

4. A weekly Scripture memory verse that everyone memorizes

5. A weekly small group get-together

People will hear about God's purposes for their lives in many different formats. This will allow everyone to be included and to feel a part of the excitement.

So many people in our own congregation and countless people in others have experienced a renewal in the faith and a realignment of their lives through affirming the purpose God has for their lives. You can-and will! - be a part of that opportunity!

Mark your calendars now for Saturday, January 29, 2005 for our kick-off banquet and simulcast. We want everyone to experience God's blessing on their lives in 2005 and beyond. Get ready for something big!

A simple curriculum is in place, and everyone is welcome to volunteer to assist with the nursery.

No previous experience is necessary, just a desire to help out.

All materials and instructions are supplied each week.

Check the sign-up sheet on the bulletin board outside the nursery to see when you can help out.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has volunteered so far, including those who came forward during the Volunteer Fair.

Bruce and Gillian Morrison Nursery Coordinators

By Valerie Ann Little

For the past few years I have been a member of the Bruce Trail Hiking Club.

We meet at York Mills subway station, where a bus waits to whisk us off to places such as Blue Mountain, Dufferin Hi-Lands, and Caledon Hills. The hikes are all very well organized with excellent leaders.

A number of hikes are organized every weekend.

Level I hikes are for beginners and those who want to walk at a leisurely pace. The distance for a Level I hike is generally between 10 and 12 km.

Level II hikes are a little more demanding with a faster pace and distances of 10 to 18 km. There are drop-out points on the trail where we can meet up with the bus if there is an emergency or if we are just too tired to carry on.

Level III hikes are very demanding with distances of approximately 30 km and a very strenuous pace. I can honestly say I haven't, as yet, tackled one of these.

The Bruce Trail, a winding ribbon of natural beauty, follows the Niagara Escarpment from Queenston to Tobermory. The forest floor and the Escarpment wetlands support a tremendous diversity of plant life.

More than 300 bird species, 53 mammals, 35 reptiles and amphibians, 90 fish, and a richly varied insect population make their home on the Escarpment.

The natural areas along the Bruce Trail provide a vital refuge for many species of wildlife that are becoming increasingly rare in this highly urbanized area of Ontario.

The sedimentary rocks of the Escarpment are a record of the past 440 million years.

An ancient sea supported reefs and animals that now appear as fossils embedded in the rocks. As the seas drained away some 250 million years ago, streams and rivers carved out the Escarpment. About 2 million years ago, gigantic glaciers advanced and reshaped the landscape.
My goal is to complete the entire trail end to end.

To hear of one's favourite artist releasing a CD "unplugged" is to anticipate the essence of the songwriter and his or her music-pure, true, free of the trappings of background vocals and instruments; the musician, the music, and simple guitar accompaniment.

The annual Women's Retreat was held October 22-24.

Twenty-four women travelled to Marmora to spend a glorious day and a half exploring the theme of "the tapestry we are weaving with our lives." Trish and Dana had planned a wonderful program to accomplish this end.

And, in retrospect, "wonderful weaving women-unplugged" is what we became from the moment we crossed the threshold of the first cottage, the one where we ate all of our meals, beginning with homemade tea biscuits and freezer jam Friday evening.

This was not cottage life as I've ever experienced it: scrambled eggs, bacon, homemade oatmeal, breads, muffins, soup from scratch, roast beef and gravy, numerous baking specialties brought from home, fresh fruit, yogurt, cereals.

The bulk of the women, and our two fabulous chefs, Harry and Cyril, slept in this cottage. Ten of us slept in the second cottage, where all the activities took place.

From the first moment, we were ready to break free and live the moment, and that we did!

The girl guide pranks played on each other; the swishing of leaves beneath our feet as we walked from cottage to cottage and back several times a day; the wonderful introduction to Tai Chi so beautifully led by Cindy to a backdrop of music, lake and fall colours; the hymns of praise, worship, and personal commitment, sung to Joanne's beautiful organ accompaniment, and Jennifer's very moving solo; the laughter; the tears; the sharing; and the program itself-each was an opportunity to "just be," to look within, to hear another's point of view, and to create through the beautiful craft activities.

Two very special women were an integral part of the weekend. Sheila Kendall's memory was uppermost in everyone's mind and heart, and she was honoured through the playing of her favourite hymns, the weaving of a single gold thread amongst the glorious colours of our Rainbow Tangle Tango, and the weaving of another gold thread through the butterfly weaving following the communion. The communion was given Sunday by Rev. Katherine McCloskey, the surprise guest who arrived just after breakfast Saturday morning to share the weekend with us.

Each woman took away treasured memories and additional keepsakes: the weaving she created for the candle of her choice, a wonderful bag of "treasured trinkets" with a variety of symbols used with the Bible Study, and a little scroll with a legend of the meaning of each one.

What a privilege to spend time away with these wonderful weaving women and to discover so many gifts among us! New life was breathed into each one of us, and with it, the desire to provide many opportunities throughout the year for the women of our church to come together for fun, fellowship, sharing, caring in community with each other.

Wherever possible, plan to attend. It is one of the greatest gifts you will give yourself in coming months!

A few days ago, a choir friend and I were chuckling about the many years the choir used to go carolling around the village on one of the Sunday evenings before Christmas.

We'd begin at Guildwood Extendicare and then make stops at maybe ten homes of members of the congregation before adjourning to a choir member's home to do what we love to do most next to singing: eat!

One choir member dubbed it the Guildwood Demolition Derby as we'd pile into cars and speed off to the next home. The car rides in between allowed us to warm up a little as well; invariably the evening was typically Canadian winter-cold and snowy.

Canadian Christmases always involve snow. It is at this time of the year that we hear "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," "Frosty the Snowman," "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", none of which has anything to do with the real meaning of Christmas. (Why don't we sing about Frosty in January?)

But surely snow was not an issue in Bethlehem that night so long ago. Chilly night maybe, but snow? Don't most nativity scenes depict wise men riding over sand dunes on camels, dodging palm trees? Weren't sheep grazing on the hills?

Thus it surprised me that four carols in our hymnbook actually mention snow specifically or suggest a winter landscape. Two of them only mention snow in the title and first line, Edward Caswall's "See Amid the Winter Snow" #168 and the Anglo-Irish carol, "The Snow Lay on the Ground" #157, but two are more descriptive. "In the bleak mid-winter" #145 by English poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1849) begins:

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone.
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow
In the bleak mid-winter,
Long ago.

Surely she is thinking about Christmas in her native England, not that first night so long ago in Bethlehem. Set those words to the haunting tune by Gustav Holst and you certainly get the impression of bleakness.

The setting of a winter landscape is more understandable in "'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime" #144. It is, after all, referred to as "The Canadian Carol."

The word "snow" is never actually used, but is there a Canadian among us who can sing this carol without seeing the "lodge of broken bark" surrounded by drifts of snow, or who doesn't know why the Baby is wrapped in a "ragged robe of rabbit skin" or why "all the birds had fled"?

Originally written in the Huron language in 1640 by Jean de Brebeuf, the great Jesuit missionary, it has come down to us through several translations until Edgar Middleton gave us this popular, albeit romanticized version, in 1927.

Brebeuf wanted to couch the nativity story in terms the Native Canadians among whom he worked in Southern Ontario could understand.

And isn't that the point?
Weren't the authors of these four carols trying to imagine the most pitiable conditions into which the King of Kings was born?

Humble and difficult conditions: far from home, no room in the inn, a stable full of animals, a controversial pregnancy, lowly shepherds down from the hills, and worst of all, frosty winds, frozen water, snow.

The most amazing aspect of the nativity is that Christ became one of us, born a baby, to experience life as we experience it.
For all the authors of these carols, all Europeans, the weather that first Christmas night symbolized the first sacrifice Christ made for us.

From Rossetti's poem "...in the bleak mid-winter, a stable place sufficed the Lord God incarnate, Jesus Christ"; from Edward Caswall's, "Lo within a manger lies he who built the starry skies"; to "The snow lay on the ground", "And thus the manger poor became a throne, for he whom Mary bore was God the Son."

If it snows December 24, 2004, think of the One who became flesh and dwelt among us. Let's Sing about Christmas!

What would Christmas be without music?

That's why, as our Christmas gift to you, the choir invites you to an evening of "Music of the Season" on December 19 at 7:30 p.m.

This is not a concert, not a hymn-sing, not even a carol-sing.
It's all three: a little congregational singing, a little chit-chat, a little performing by the choir! Bring along your whole family and all your friends-it's going to be fun for everyone! Make "Music of the Season" part of your Christmas celebration this year! December 19, 7:30 p.m.

By Bonnie Horton

Saturday, November 13, 2004

For the second year in a row, the VILLAGE COUNTRY FAIR was an overwhelming success.

So many enthusiastic men and women conjured up amazing ideas, used their own initiatives and resources, and donated hours of precious time and hard work to come up with a day that will long be remembered with delight and satisfaction.

The shared fellowship and laughter were highlights of both Friday and Saturday. We got to know one another better, made new friends, and even survived some work-related casualties (i.e. Cindy's poor toe).

As for aching joints, one staff member said she was going to start "working out" well in advance of the next Fair. Should we now think of the VILLAGE COUNTRY FAIR as another way to keep fit?

Friday was full of anticipation as we eagerly awaited the arrival of donations for the eight different shoppes and the Country Cafe. Throughout the day and evening there were exclamations of delight over and over again as bags were opened and boxes pulled apart.

Staff were constantly moving around to show each other exciting articles that had come in and making decisions as to which shoppe each item best belonged.

Many, many thanks to everyone who donated their new and lovingly used treasures to the Fair!

Without your gifts this happy event would never have been possible.

Saturday's visitors commented over and over again about the amazing décor of both the shoppes and the country attire that adorned the staff. As one gentleman remarked, "I've stepped back in time." It was heartwarming for all involved in making this Fair happen to look at visitors' smiling faces as they moved around the "village" and delightedly soaked up the atmosphere.

If you were one of those able to celebrate with us on Saturday, we thank you for coming and thus lending your vital support. Even the weather cooperated. Sincere appreciation to each and every one who contributed in any way to this year's very unique event that we call THE VILLAGE COUNTRY FAIR.

On October 31 the Senior Choir paid tribute to Rick Humphrey for his ten years as organist and choir director at Guildwood by dedicating a piece of music to the church in his honour.

The special musical selection will be chosen by Rick himself. Then the sheet music will be purchased, labelled in memory of the occasion, and kept in the choir files.

Whenever this anthem is sung in the future, the dedication information will be printed in the church bulletin. Thus the choir will pay ongoing tribute to their enormously talented, extremely patient, and much-loved director.

The Session also honoured Rick's ten years of musical dedication to Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church. This congregation has been richly blessed by Rick's ministry of music through the Bells of Guildwood, the Senior Choir, the sharing of his own beautiful tenor voice, and the many inspiring organ and piano contributions over the years.

On behalf of Session and the entire congregation, the Clerk of Session, Grace Wuthrich, thanked Rick for sharing his time and talents so generously and expressed the hope that we could look forward to ten more years of his gifted musical leadership.

Sailing enthusiast Rick has long admired a particular lighthouse photograph (information gleaned from his wife, Paula). On behalf of Session and everyone at Guildwood Community Presbyterian church, Cathy MacOdrum presented this picture to Rick with many heartfelt thanks.

Furthermore, we all look forward to the special portrait of Rick that our own talented photographer, Art James, so kindly took on this memorable day.

A reception was held in the church hall following the 11:00 a.m. service, with Rick's family participating in the joyful celebration. ~ Submitted by Grace Wuthrich

Did You Know...?

Wendy Worling, Karen Siddall, and Sue Procak work diligently to present a warm and welcoming atmosphere for both our own members and guests.

If you wish to donate memorial flowers on any given Sunday or have flowers from a wedding or memorial service/funeral, it would be helpful if you would inform one of these ladies or Judy in the church office so that they can properly prepare the chancel and acknowledge your gift in the bulletin.