Monday Musings – June 28 at 7:00 pm
Zoom – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219
Remembering an Apology
June is National Indigenous History Month.
During this month, Canadians have again been confronted with the pain and tragedy suffered by Indigenous people in the history of this country.
In May, the remains of 215 children were found buried on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
This past Thursday, the Cowessess First Nations announced that 751 unmarked graves had been found near a former residential school, about 140 km east of Regina.
In last week’s Church at Home message, we shared statement from the United Church’s 1986 apology to Indigenous People and the 1988 response from the indigenous church.
This week, we share words from the United Church’s apology to ‘former students of United Church Indian Residential Schools, and to their families and communities’. The apology was read by then-Moderator The Right Rev. Bill Phipps at a meeting of the General Council Executive in 1998:
“As Moderator of The United Church of Canada, I wish to speak the words that many people have wanted to hear for a very long time. On behalf of The United Church of Canada, I apologize for the pain and suffering that our church’s involvement in the Indian Residential School system has caused. We are aware of some of the damage that this cruel and ill-conceived system of assimilation has perpetrated on Canada’s First Nations peoples. For this we are truly and most humbly sorry.
“To those individuals who were physically, sexually, and mentally abused as students of the Indian Residential Schools in which The United Church of Canada was involved, I offer you our most sincere apology. You did nothing wrong. You were and are the victims of evil acts that cannot under any circumstances be justified or excused.
“We know that many within our church will still not understand why each of us must bear the scar, the blame for this horrendous period in Canadian history. But the truth is, we are the bearers of many blessings from our ancestors, and therefore, we must also bear their burdens.”
Our burdens include dishonouring the depths of the struggles of First Nations peoples and the richness of your gifts. We seek God’s forgiveness and healing grace as we take steps toward building respectful, compassionate, and loving relationships with First Nations peoples.
We are in the midst of a long and painful journey as we reflect on the cries that we did not or would not hear, and how we have behaved as a church. As we travel this difficult road of repentance, reconciliation, and healing, we commit ourselves to work toward ensuring that we will never again use our power as a church to hurt others with attitudes of racial and spiritual superiority.
“We pray that you will hear the sincerity of our words today and that you will witness the living out of our apology in our actions in the future.”
We pray to God for wisdom and compassion as we continue the work and journey of healing and reconciliation as individuals, as communities, as a denomination and as a country.
We remind you that Monday, June 28 will conclude our Monday Musings Zoom check-ins. You can join the conversation from 7 to 8 p.m. via the following Zoom Meeting link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219. or by phone: 204 272 7920 — Meeting ID: 753 844 9219
During the summer, TMUC’s online worship Zoom services will be on July 18 and August 29 (10 a.m.). The next online Sunday School Zoom will be on July 18 (9:30 a.m.)
Also, during the summer you will be receiving two weekly worship emails. You will continue to receive our regular ‘Church at Home’ mailing. However, during the summer we will also be participating with some other United Churches in creating a weekly online worship service, so you will also receive an email with the links to those services (various order of ministry and music teams will participate in each of those services.
Thanks again to everyone for engaging with us on this COVID-19 journey. We are grateful to share ministry with you and really appreciate your efforts to stay in touch and to continue to care about TMUC with your prayers and your financial support. Donations on PAR, through www.canadahelps.org and in cheques mailed to the church are making a difference. Thank you.
Even though we cannot be together in one place, let’s continue to be a community at prayer together. On Sunday at 10, please think about the gifts we have in our lives, and needs of our world, and then pray the Lord’s prayer (you can pray silently, or out loud).
And, sometime, when you want to have a longer worship time, we are including some words and videos for your use.
The Prayer List is distributed separately and allows us to remember specific people with our prayers. If you want to receive the Prayer List, or add a name (with their permission), please be in touch.
As we share this week’s TMUC worship service, we are called again to listen to our faith community’s words of reconciliation:
We are gathered for worship and work in Treaty One territory, which is the traditional land of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dené peoples and the homeland of the Metis Nation. For thousands of years Indigenous Peoples walked this land and knew it to be the centre of their lives and their spirituality. We respect the Treaties that were made on these territories, we acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past, and we dedicate ourselves to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.
Worship for Sunday, June 27, 2021
Introit: “Come All You People”
Come, Holy Spirit!
Come to awaken our faith,
to inspire our hope
to embolden our love
and to let Christ live in us!
Come, Holy Spirit!
Our opening hymn is “When Jesus the Healer”
Esther and Emmett talk about saying to God, “Here I Am!”
Printable Version:
Esther and Emmett_June 27
Mark 5:24b-34
…a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”
And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
He looked all around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well’ go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Jeff offers a reflection:
Printable Version:
Reflection_June 27
Let us pray:
God of unrestrained grace,
God of unexpected healing,
God who blesses us with newness,
God who moves amongst us, often unrecognized and unacknowledged,
God who moves amongst us to bring new creation;
Let us hear you call to us;
amidst the crowds, amidst the crowded places,
in our times of hurt, of shame, or fear
in our places of isolation, of uncertainty, of loneliness…
…let us hear you call to us, to ‘us’ who seek to touch You in the Christ.
To ‘us’ who seek to touch You from our places of need and hope and yearning.
To us in need of healing and blessing.
To us, in need of being identified as daughters and sons of God.
To us, God, give Your peace, Your promise, Your resurrecting love,…give us a new awareness of living in Your love, of dwelling in Your love divine.
We pray God in this time when it is so difficult to touch or be touched by others.
We pray for people to have the determination and discipline to continue following health rules. We pray for vaccinations to be available and administered throughout the world.
We pray for all those grieving the deaths of those who have died from COVID.
We pray for all those who have lost employment, lost businesses, lost economic security due to COVID.
We pray that leaders and societies find ways to care for all people and provide for all people.
We pray for healing and reconciliation, that indigenous and non-indigenous people may live and walk together in peace, respect and friendship.
We pray for peace in the world.
We pray for those living in regions of war and conflict. We pray for the people of Ethiopia, Myanmar and Afghanistan.
We pray for areas that have suffered from tornadoes, fires and floods.
We pray for the people of Madagascar in the midst of a severe drought.
We pray that we be compassionate people; that we discover the blessing of our diverse humanity; that we continue to appreciate and affirm humanity’s diversity of gender identities and sexual orientations.
We pray for all whose lives are bound by poverty, by disease, by abuse, by bullying, by homelessness, by anxiety, by fear… we pray for a world in which all people can live in safety, can live with dignity and welcome.
We pray for courageous imagination to create relationships of healing and compassion in our homes, in our communities and in this world.
We pray, God, for healing, for hope-filled living, for spirits of gratitude and graciousness, and we pray that the life of Christ might transform our lives so that we more fully and profoundly embody Your wondrous love.
We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ. AMEN
Our closing hymn is “I Have Called You by Your Name”
May God bless you and keep you.
May God’s face shine upon you.
May God grant you peace and joy.
Be in the peace of Christ, this day and always. Amen
We keep you in our prayers,
Jeff (and Carol)