Thank you: Anne Wilson and Sharon Fisher for putting together this weekend’s service.
Greetings from Ireland: Sent from Breda, please see her card on the notice board.
Summer sermon series on parts of the Book of Genesis: Some of you may recall that we did a similar sermon series last summer, but Genesis is so vast and full of interesting stories that we’re able to do a completely different series over the next two months. Schedule of future Genesis themes:
Aug. 19 – Genesis 22:1-19 – Abraham called to sacrifice Isaac.
Aug. 26 – Genesis 37:1-12, 18-36 – Joseph part 1.
Sep. 2 – Genesis 45:1-15 – Joseph part 2.
Notices:
Doors Open Banff: RMUC will be taking part in this annual event once again this year. Sunday, August 19th, from 1-4pm our church will be open for visitors. Margaret Watson will open the Sanctuary and greet visitors however one other volunteer to help Margaret would be appreciated. Please contact Katy, Dave or Margaret if you can help.
New Book Club Group for Sept-Oct: Rather than continue with the comparative religions theme, we will gather for an 8-week book discussion group. The book to be used is ‘Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighbourhood Church is Transforming the Faith’, by Diana Butler-Bass. In this recent book she outlines how congregations of various sizes and denominations are bucking the trend of church decline in North America, not through institutional change but rather through grass-roots congregational imagination and creativity. The aim of our group will be simple – to talk about church – our childhood memories, the glory days, church and culture, the future of spirituality, whatever, in light of Butler-Bass’s discoveries and observations.
The group will be held Thursday nights in Lonsdale Lounge, from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m., beginning September 6th. Participants will be expected to have read the assigned chapters prior to each gathering. Copies of the
book will be ordered soon so please let Rev. Crawford know ASAP if you wish to participate.
Board Meetings: The next board meeting is to be tentatively held on September 9. Stay tuned for confirmation of the date.
RMUC Ministry: At its most recent meeting the RMUC Board accepted an offer from Rev. Doug Powell to serve as 3/4 time minister (stated supply) between Nov. 1st and Jan. 31st. As many of you know, Doug has been serving at Rundle for two or so years as the Presbytery Rep., and has a fairly solid knowledge of the Bow Valley and issues related to RMUC. He has recently retired from Okotoks United Church. We look forward to Doug’s leadership!