Mary Lou and Milne Oaks

Marta Schafer

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News from Mount Zion
November 26, 2021

We are open for in-person worship, Sundays at 10 am. Read more here 

Oh Come, O Come Emmanuel

Advent begins this Sunday. Be a part of the journey to Bethlehem and lighting the Advent wreath by either attending in person or on the live stream. While we continue to mask and social distance, the good news is that singing is now allowed in the sanctuary while masked.

Our Wednesday Advent services will begin on Dec 1 at 7pm on Zoom. Dim your lights and perhaps light a candle or two for our traditional Holden Evening Prayer. (See below for Christmas service times)

It’s Poinsettia Time

Poinsettias will be ordered again this year to enhance our chancel for Christmas services.  If you would like to participate, there is a signup sheet at the church entrance, or you can call Margaret at the church office (519-886-5820) or email her at mtzion@mzlc.ca.   Needed are 2- 10-inch pots at $32.00 each and 30- 6-inch pots at $11.00 each.

All poinsettias can be picked up immediately after the Christmas Eve service.

Celebrations

Mary Lou Oakes writes, “Milne and I will be celebrating our 50th anniversary on December 23.  We were married by Pastor Norman Lange in the Lutheran Chapel at WLU. It was a beautiful, crisp winter evening.”  Congratulations!

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Happy Birthday to Marta Schafer who turned 106 years old on November 25. We wish you well Marta!!

Mount Zion Café

Next Cafe is Wednesday December 8th from 10 AM to 11:30 AM.  Join our Christmas Social Gathering at Mount Zion with coffee, tea and cookies.  A wonderful opportunity to meet and socialize in a safe, appropriately distanced environment.  A little exercise through walking also available for those who wish.  Please join us!

As well, FYI, we are planning to hold the first Mount Zion Cafes of the New Year in January on Wednesday the12th and January 26th.  We hope these cafes will feature soups lunch as well as coffee and cookie socializing.  Mark your calendars!!

Please contact Christine or a member of health council if you have any questions.

Friday Night Get-togethers

Join Pastor Philip and friends for our next Friday Night Get-together tonight (November 26) Please let Margaret or me know if you would like to come.

The Mitten Tree

Donations to decorate The Mitten Tree are now being accepted until December 19th. These items will then be delivered to the Anishnabeg Outreach Centre for distribution, to those in need, throughout the Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and Cambridge area. Contact: Joan Schweitzer, 519-886-5977 with questions.

Sunday School is alive and well

We are alive and well and doing Sunday school on Zoom every Sunday morning. It is not ideal, but it is good to see everyone’s faces each Sunday and connect. We are currently getting ready to make our Christmas Program video for church which will be shown online and on the video screen for those who attend church in person. We will miss Amy connecting us to the rest of the church via our taped skits etc.

Until the children are double vaccinated, they will not be attending Sunday school in the church building. So far everyone has remained covid free and with online Sunday school, they can do that mask-free! 

Remember us in your prayers. Even though we are not physically in church, we are there in spirit!     Anne Woolner

News from Open Sesame   

It has been an active fall at Open Sesame with our four – two- and half-year olds and seven three-year-olds. The addition of a Laurier student each day has been very helpful. Ann Crossman and Carol Ziegler are sharing laundry duties while Anne Woolner is our grocery volunteer. 

A Big Thank You to the members of the Property Committee - Martin Juergensen, Art Schelter and Ross Schlegel for installing a new slide in our playground. It is much safer and more age appropriate. Our teacher, Samantha Beesley, has been reading books with the children outside each day with great success. It has had a calming affect after much active play. The gym has been used only a few times on rainy days.

This fall Open Sesame has used a new system called HiMama to ensure that every parent receives regular personalized feedback about their child. Jana Kelly has been working on a book to read with the children that has pictures of them during their morning routine at Open Sesame.

When the Open Sesame Committee met, via Zoom, on Oct. 5th, it was decided that for now, due to the pandemic and the spacing required, we are going to remain at having a maximum of eight children per day with just one teacher, Samantha, and Jana, our administrator.  At this meeting we also learned that our Open Sesame library needs to be up-dated along with much needed paint supplies.  It was recommended that our budget for 2022 include a line for both of $750. - $l,000.

Our request for a grant of $7,000. from Synod has been approved and for this we are very grateful. Thank you to our treasurer Joan Brunger for the work she did in putting together our application.

We were inspected by the Ministry of Education on Fri. Nov. 19th, and we received very positive feedback about the program set up by Samantha and Jana.  A big thank you to both of them for being such a great team.

Open Sesame will continue until Dec. 17th and resume when schools come back in Jan. Thank you to the members of Mount Zion who continue to support Open Sesame each year. Have a blessed Christmas and a happy healthy 2022.     Carol Ziegler

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Food vouchers

At this season of the year, food vouchers are especially appreciated by individuals and families who are struggling with food insecurity. Demand is still high this year owing to the pandemic and other circumstances. Please consider making a December donation to this program.

From the Committee for Justice Through Service:

Amnesty International Write for Rights

Thank you to those who have so far expressed interest in participating in Amnesty International Write for Rights.  As one member observed, this is a fitting way to begin the Season of Advent.  Because this is a new venture for us, we are recommending that as individuals we  consider signing  up to join the local Group Nine effort “Ten Days for Human Rights", https://act.writeathon.ca/events/group-nine-ten-days-for-human-rights,  while still keeping track of the numbers of letters we Mount Zion members have sent.  Group Nine will be emailing out one case per day with instructions and sample letter from December 1 through December 10.  If you have questions or comments, please contact Mary Thompson.

Christmas Boxed Dinners Sale

Many thanks to Mrs. Bell, Nurse Christine and Winston and those of you who helped chop, peel, cook and deliver Mount Zion’s delicious Christmas Boxed Dinners. The crew served up close to 150 festive meals, up from 120 last year. The proceeds of the dinner will be divided between the Caribbean Scholarship fund and Mount Zion’s ministries.

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Mount Zion's Food Ministry

Mount Zion’s food ministry continues to distribute meals in our weekly effort to assist those facing food insecurity., As a Mount Zion member you can help by volunteering to lend a hand in the kitchen, or by making a donation. You can also purchase and meal and pick it up as well.

We are looking for a name for this important new ministry and if you have any suggestions, please send them to Pastor Philip.

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In Our Prayers

Let us pray for George, Betty, Marjorie, Rosalie, James, Willie, Kerry, and Don and Jean and their daughter Tai.

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Upcoming Lessons

Sunday Nov 28 – First Sunday in Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Psalm 25:1-10 (1)

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Luke 21:25-36

Sun. Dec. 5 — Second Sunday of Advent

Malachi 3:1-4 Baruch 5:1-9 {alternate}

Luke 1:68-79 (78)

Philippians 1:3-11 Luke 3:1-6

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Advent and Christmas Services

Our Wednesday Advent services will begin on Dec 1 at 7pm on Zoom. Dim your lights and perhaps light a candle or two for our traditional Holden Evening Prayer. https://zoom.us/j/94951669774

Christmas Eve. There will be one service at 4 pm. The service will be in-person for those who wish to return. It will also be live streamed on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWXECBJ1qAjDtjkimg2Q2GA/videos https://zoom.us/j/96599940521 

Christmas Morning. Join us on Zoom for a time to gather virtually and chat with each other on Zoom. https://zoom.us/j/96599940521 

Sunday, December 26. The service will be held in person and streamed.

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Links for Worship and more

Mount Zion's office tel.: 519 886-5820  office hours: Tues. - Fri. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

How to contact our staff, while our building is closed:  
Pastor Philip Mathai               pmathai@mzlc.ca                       cell: 519-781-5602
Music Director Sarah. E. Cardwell   sarah.e.cardwell@gmail.com
Office Administrator Margaret Waechter mtzion@mzlc.ca           
Nurse Christine Ramseyer     pnchristine@hotmail.com            cell: 519-588-8006
Feel free to call our cell phones. If we aren't available we'll return your call!

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