Good Friday - Hope and Despair
April 2, 2010
A Good Friday reading explores joy and pain, hope and despair, life and death. There is no video of this service but follow this link for an audio recording of the reading.
Affirming Diversity
December 6, 2009
This Sunday we celebrate becoming an Affirming Ministry within the United Church of Canada. One of about 50 ministries that have joined Affirm United in support and in celebration of the LGBTQ, West Hill took this step after a year of exploration and following a unanimous vote supporting the motion at our June 2009 Annual Congregational meeting.
As a progressive congregation, West Hill has been a place of non-exclusivity and welcoming of diversity for many many years. But declaring that we are an Affirming ministry is much more than receiving recognition for the openness that currently exists. In its public declaration, West Hill joins Affirm to stand alongside and in solidarity with those who have been marginalized by sexual diversity or those who advocate for them. And to mitigate the effects of religious communities who have marginalized and continue to marginalize those who have walked the path of difference.
At our celebration, we hear again from Calvin Neufeld, who presents the certificate from Affirm United. Calvin spoke movingly to the congregation last February about his journey as a female to male transsexual and today he thanked us for encircling him with belonging. We were also privileged to have with us the Hon. George Smitherman, former deputy premier of Ontario and current MPP. Reflecting on his own positive welcome from his family, his words speak of the need to extend the circle of belonging to those who have been unwelcomed within their own family circles.
Finally, Gretta talks about the need to extend our embrace in ever widening circles, stretching it so far that we will be forever changed.
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All Saints
November 1, 2009. Reflecting on the chaos of death, we gather strength from those loved ones gone before along the road. Readings from Walt Whitman’s poem, Song of the Open Road, are interwoven into music and silence.
We get to carry each other
October 4, 2009
This Sunday was a celebration of Worldwide Communion. In a brief reflection, Gretta examined the idea of getting to carry each other. Borrowed from U2’s song, “One” this statement suggests that carrying each other is not an obligation we undertake, but a privilege we keenly accept.
This privilege was highlighted through short readings describing the United Church’s work worldwide through the Mission and Service Fund. These stories provided an opportunity to reflect on how we might support and carry each other – those close to home and those worldwide – and how the privilege of carrying each others’ hearts can change our own hearts and in turn, change the world.