Sunrise at Cape Spear
Exciting events happen in church congregations from time to time. Sunday, October 30, 2011 was one of those times at Newtonbrook United Church.
After an Iona-style worship service, the congregation gathered to make a decision about their future. When the vote was tallied, 100 per cent of the members present voted in favour of a proposal to amalgamate with their neighbours, Northminster United Church. Northminster United also voted in favour of the proposed amalgamation.
If approved by South West Presbytery of the United Church of Canada, the amalgamation process will “officially” begin on January 1, 2012, and conclude on June 30, 2013. The site of the NEW congregation will be 53 Cummer Avenue in Willowdale.
The United Church of Canada is a “united and uniting” church. Amalgamations of congregations have been taking place since the founding of the denomination on June 10, 1925.
Still, there is a sense in this situation that God is doing “a new thing” in this neighbourhood and we all look forward to the possibilities and opportunities to do Christian ministry in a new way.
We worship a God who calls us to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths yet untrodden, and through perils unknown. Still, we serve in ministry to God’s world and God’s people knowing that God’s hand is leading us, and God’s love supports us. (The previous words are adapted from a prayer published in Voices United, page 915)
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