Join us for worship in person or on line at 10 am every Sunday

 

Super Sunday  -  September 11 following the service

It has been two long years since we have had the opportunity to gather and socialize, making this year’s  Super Sunday a super special day in the life of our congregation.

Please pop upstairs after the service on Sunday Sept 11 for a few yummy treats. As a fund raiser for Mount Zion, Mrs. Bell has offered to prepare Jamaican Patties for lunch. Nurse Christine’s ice cream truck will be on site with a selection of yummy ice cream treats. (Yes, she owns an ice cream truck that is manned by her daughters who visit local events and malls and now the Mount Zion parking lot.) Anne Woolner is supplying us with two of her famous carrot cakes.

We are also expecting some special visitors -- the Bienvenu family.  Shinga, Esperance and the children will be joining us for a visit and a time to reconnect. We are looking forward to hearing about the many ways their lives have changed in the last few years.

Your food donations will be go to reducing this year’s deficit.

 

Blessing of the Backpacks (and briefcases)

As some of us head back to school and others head back to our fall routines, we will be celebrating the image of that routine with a blessing of the backpacks. Please bring your backpacks, briefcases or lunch boxes, anything that speaks to our fall routines, to the service September 11.

 

Picture Phone Directory ready for pick up. 

Our new picture phone directory is back from the printer’s and is available to pick up on Sunday mornings and during regular office hours. From a potential of 130, there are 96 member photos included. The directories are being sold for $10 each to cover the cost of printing. It is a good time to remind everyone to inform the office of changes of address and phone numbers.

 

Five Little Indians - In Person Book Discussion

In support of Synod’s commitment to following paths to reconciliation, and working with the Committee for Justice Through Service, Health Council will offer an in-person book discussion of Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. It will be held in the Glebe Fellowship Hall on Tuesday, September 27, 1:30-3:00 pm.   The well-known author is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, and the book is about five young people emerging from a remote residential school where they had been sent as small children. If you plan to attend, call the church office, 9 am-1 pm.

 

Season of Creation

During the months of September and early October, Mount Zion will be celebrating the Season of Creation along with other congregations in our synod. We will be using materials and music recommended or supplied by the synod designed to help us focus on the theme as we reflect on our responsibility and calling, as people of faith, in our relationship with the created order.

Celebrating creation is not a new idea. St. Augustine said Creation “is the divine page that you must listen to,” Luther is quoted as saying, God has written [the gospel] not only in books, but in trees and other creatures.”

Our choir will begin the fall season on September 11 singing “the Blue Green Hills of Earth” as part of our focus on creation in September. This was composed in 1982 as part of the Missa Gaia (Mass for Mother Earth). It has since become a staple hymn for many churches and cathedrals.

The Paul Winter consort performs it as part of the Missa Gaia around the world and often at the United Nations in New York.

“For the earth forever turning, for the skies, for every sea; To our Lord we sing returning home to our blue green hills of earth “

 

Sunday School Registration

If you have a child or children who want to attend Sunday school in September, please register with Anne Woolner (annewoolner@hotmail.com 519-743-2277) as soon as possible so that curriculum and  supplies can be purchased. Please include: Childs name, date of birth, grade and any special concerns.

Sunday school will be from 9:45-10:30 every Sunday.

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August Financials

Results for the eight month period ending August 31 in our Ministry & Mission (current) account are $22,353 better than planned.  Although a significant deficit of $32,838 was recorded, this compares to a budgeted deficit of $55,191 for the period.  Improved receipts and reduced expenditures were responsible for this improvement as noted. Read the full report here.

 

Fall Prevention and Exercise Classes return on Monday afternoons.

Exercise classes presented by Community Support Connections will return on September 19th at 1:30 pm in the gym. The program will begin with their fall prevention program. The class will be led by Christina, a staff kinesiologist.  For more information

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Mount Zion Kitchen Cookin’

Wonderful aromas will be wafting through the building again as the cooks and volunteers return to The Mount Zion Kitchen (that’s the name given to the Food Ministry) on September 15. 

Volunteer
The Mount Zion Kitchen is one of the ways that our congregation address our community’s need for food security. Many hands are needed to turn boxes of fresh produce into hot and healthy meals.

We are looking for people to help with

• food prep, cooking, packaging and delivery to some of Mount Zion’s shutins.

• volunteers to pick up the cob’s bread donation on Wed evenings at 8 pm.

• Clean up and lock up on Thursday afternoons.

• Grocery order pickup

• Tracking inventory and restocking

Please consider signing up for a shift or two this fall.  Food prep days are Wednesdays. Cooking, packaging and delivery happens Thursday. Lend a hand and be a part of this important ministry.  
Contact:  Nurse Christine Ramseyer,  pnchristine@hotmail.com  cell: 519-588-8006

Purchase a Meal

Another way to support the kitchen is to order a meal. Those funds help support the ministry financially. Because the cost of both groceries and packaging has increased by more than 50% in some cases, we have had to increase our prices.  Starting in September entrees will be $15 each. When soup is on the menu, they will be available in 1 Litre jars for $15. To place an order for a meal, please contact Margaret at the church office. Payment can be made by cash, cheque at time of pick up or electronic fund transfer.

September Menu

Sept 15th - Curried chicken, steamed rice and coleslaw,

                    Or Curried chick peas with sweet potatoes  -  $15
Sept 22nd - Oven roasted BBQ chicken and savoury mashed potatoes,

                     Or Pasta primavera. Both with mixed greens salad   $15
Sept 29th -   Sausage, mashed potatoes and braised cabbage,

                     Or “Chef’s choice”- vegetarian meal.  Both with side salad    $15.
 

In Our Prayers

In our prayers let us remember Samantha, Ed, Sandra, Jim, Julian, George, Betty, Marjorie, Rosalie, James, Thelma, Helen, Gladys and Don and Jean and their daughter Tai. 

 

Easter Lives On

Henriette Stumper sent in this fascinating photo of an Easter Hydrangea that she brought hone from Church last Easter Sunday. She Writes, “The white colour faded to pale green and then turned yellowish.  Gradually a deep mauve colour

set in.  It’s been delightful to see the transition.  It reminds me constantly of my Mount Zion family and that Easter is not over.”

 

Open Sesame Up-Date - Carol Ziegler

On September 19th, 2022, Open Sesame Headstart Preschool will begin its' 53rd year of working with families who have children needing help before enrolling in Junior Kindergarten.  Thanks to our Supervising Teacher Samantha Beesley, our Administrator Jana Kelly, our Treasurer Joan Brunger and Richard Brubacher, who assists our treasurer, we are ready to begin.  This year we are planning to add an extra hour to our program, (9:00 - 12:30), as requested by our parents.  

Open Sesame will be applying to participate in the Government's CWELCC, (Canada-Wide Early Learning Child Care) program.   We will then await word from the Region of Waterloo as to whether we qualify.  We appreciate the fact that the deadline for applying has been extended to November 1st.   Joan and Jana have already spent many hours working on the application process.  

 

Mindfulness Meditation Practice

We are aiming to achieve a mindful awakening of our present time and space.  We strive to focus on our breathing, body and mind, sounds and sight, thoughts and emotions. There is no right or wrong in this meditation, only practice to be used for future applications.

Tues. Sep. 13, 1.30 pm, upstairs

Tues. Sep. 27, 1.30 pm, upstairs  CANCELLED

Tues. Oct. 11, 1.30 pm, upstairs

 

Vespers Continue 

Monday to Thursday nights at 7 pm. https://zoom.us/j/94951669774

The vespers group has been meeting regularly since April of 2020.  We started with a larger group than the small but faithful eight that continue to meet now.  What started off as a daily evening ‘ritual,’ as all of us would make sure that we were in front of our computers or phones at 7 pm, is now confined to four days a week, Mondays through Thursdays.

At the beginning we used the evening prayer from the ELW.  Then we switched to the Holden Evening Prayer, that all of us are familiar with, with participants taking turns in leading sections.  Later we got the recording of the evening prayer that was available as we recorded it for the mid-week Advent sessions and have been using that since.

A significant evolving of the prayer was in how these sessions that met for prayer and socializing during the shutdowns and isolation during COVID, very intentionally started discussing various issues that impacted our lives as individuals, as a faith community and as a nation. We have talked about racism, of environmental and climate issues, politics and right wing response to COVID protocols, various social injustices that is present in our own backyards, religious fundamentalism and bigotry, how we were coping during these challenging days and could support one another etc. etc etc., Of late we discussed the war in Ukraine from different vantage points, of ethics and specifically situational ethics, what is the common good that we talk about in these contexts, and so on. By the way, we also discuss sermons and sometimes the passage for the coming week, which in turn gives me ideas to think about!

I wrote these so that you could get a glimpse of what happens on vesper evenings! This is a time to collect ourselves at the end of the day and the Holden Evening Prayer really grounds us and allows us to focus on God, in the presence of the community that is present, in gratefulness in spite of everything.  It is a time to listen, honestly speak and be vulnerable, and be there for one another.  We get glimpses of and experience true community here. If you so feel to join please sign on with the  link above.

Pastor Philip

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Choir Practice

resumes Thursday mornings at 10 until 11:30 am

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Mount Zion Cafe 

will resume Sept 28 (on the second and fourth Wednesdays)

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Family Friday Nites

will resume Sept 30, 6:00 pm (on the last Friday of the Month)

 

Feather and Cross

Have you been introduced to the Feather & Cross organization yet? The goal of this program is to provide a safe space for Lutherans to learn about Indigenous practices and ways of life. We are nurturing relationships and deepening our knowledge through a series of intergenerational workshops which explore Indigenous and Christian teachings, respecting the distinct spirituality of each tradition.

Our next free, family event will be held September 10, 2022 at the Stanley Park Optimist Natural Area beside the Grand River in Kitchener.  We will Join Mary Anne Caibaiosai (Ca-bee-o-see), Indigenous artist and Educator, along the banks the Grand River, as she shares her knowledge gained from completing four-year journey with All Nations Water Walk and her hopes for these beautiful waters. We will honour the water together and pay our respects to her by holding a day of family cleanup.

Please go to www.featherandcross.org or see poster for more information.

 

Upcoming Lessons

Sept 11 -

Listening to faith traditions

Luke 15:1-10

 

Sun. Sep. 18

Listening to faith traditions

Luke 16:19-31

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Covid-19  Safety and Masking Protocols

• Mount Zion remain strongly supportive of continued use of masks for members and rental groups.

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