At the last Board meeting June 1st, the last with our retiring minister, David Ewart, attending, the members of the Board thought that it would be a good idea if there were a newsletter go out to everyone to let them know what is happening at Capilano United. This is it. There are several things that might be of interest and a few requests for help.
June Celebrations:
Firstly, we are having 2 celebrations this month: one next Sunday, June 13th, to celebrate the graduating of our Grade 7 and Grade 12 students and also to welcome Andrew Warner as a new United Church member. Then, on the last Sunday this month, June 27th, we are planning a celebration of and thank-you to David for his ministry with us this past 4 years. There will be a potluck lunch after the service and we are hoping that everyone will be able to come and celebrate with David and wish him well in his retirement. Carol Sawyer and Lorraine Bentley are in charge of this and would appreciate your RSVP as soon as possible to help them with their planning.
Personnel Changes:
Our new minister, Rev. John Kim, will be starting with us on September 1st, with his first service on the Labour Day weekend (September 5th) at Ambleside Beach with the St. David’s and Lynn Valley congregations. We will have our first service with Rev. Kim at Capilano on September 12th.
In the meantime, we would like to make everything ready for our new life with Rev. Kim and to do that we will need involvement from as many of you as can spare the time and offer the energy.
For several years now, we have been blessed with the caretaking services of Wayne Johnson (since he retired from his “real” job) but he has decided to retire completely starting on July 10th this summer. Starting the beginning of September, we will, therefore, be in need of a new caretaker for the CE Centre. We are hoping for someone just as conscientious and diligent as Wayne to take this position. If you know of anyone who would be interested in this position, please ask the Office for a job description and an application form. It would be very helpful if we could find someone to take over Wayne’s job before he leaves so that Wayne can have a chance to explain his duties.
Property and Facilities:
Already, there are wonderful changes to the kitchen in the CE Centre with the alterations to the kitchen, mostly courtesy of Bart Dueck, and with the cleaning and painting, courtesy of Dianna Wilson. These renovations to the kitchen are not just to update the kitchen but also in hopes of there being cooking classes possible in the fall/winter.
We would also like to make some changes to the gardens, to make them looked more “loved” and more attractive for everyone’s enjoyment. For this, we will be organizing at least another 2 “garden parties”, one later this month (June) and one during the summer. Carol Sawyer and Marion Sebastion will be organizing these so please offer your help to them when the call goes out. There will be a lot of trimming, planting, digging, hauling away, etc. to be done so a lot of help would be appreciated.
The Property Committee is also hoping to have a couple of work bees between now and September as there is a lot of cleaning up to do. What can be accomplished depends on how many people are able to help. The smaller jobs include power-washing steps and outside walls of the church and CE Centre, cleaning and repairing gutters, sweeping off the CE roof, touch-up painting, and fence repairs. The larger jobs include removing the bricks from the furnace chimney (at the east side of the building) down to the roof level, some painting in the basement, and refinishing the floor in the sanctuary. If you are interested in helping, please phone Jan Kocaba (604-980-2291) to leave your name and a convenient time to help out. All help is very gratefully received and is necessary for the continuing well-being of the facilities.
We are also looking for volunteers to clean the church. There has been and will be a volunteer roster sign-up sheet in the coffee area in the basement for people to sign up for a convenient week. This is not a permanent job, just an occasional hour or so in a week to vacuum and mop the floors, and dust when necessary.
Does anyone have a reasonably up-to-date computer that is not needed and could be donated to the minister’s office? David has been having a lot of problems with the computer in his office and would like to see it replaced with something more reliable. The computer should be capable of accessing the internet and e-mail but does not need to have all the “bells and whistles”. Please talk to David if you have something that might work.
Music and Worship:
We would also like to get the Sunday school organized before the beginning of September. To do that, we will have to meet and plan during the summer, probably in August. Once again, we are looking for potential Sunday School leaders, people who are committed to the children and are willing to offer some help with the planning and with weekly implementing of those plans. Although it would be wonderful if there were people who are willing to be with the children every week, we know that most people do not have the luxury of having that much time available. So, we are hoping that several people will offer their help and be happy and willing to work with the children. It would be especially wonderful if there were 2 groups, one for the older youth and one for the younger. That way, there could be better, age-appropriate activities organized that would encourage more young people to join us.
We are also hoping to start another choir—with whatever ages are willing to come and sing. Rev. Kim plays the guitar and is quite interested in musical opportunities for all. There seems to be a great interest in another children’s choir, according to the board in the CE Centre, but it would be good to have adults in a choir too. Lorraine Toljanich, our organist, would like there to be a choir to sing at least once every month, so participation would not be too onerous. Please let her know, as soon as possible, if you are interested.
Financial Matters:
The Finance Committee is looking into ways of saving the church some money and of finding new ways of earning money, so we look forward to hearing more about their ideas in the fall. With the Fund-raising Committee, they will be looking for as many ideas as possible for us to earn more income and remain solvent. As you know, these days most of our income is from the rentals of the properties and not from the weekly offerings. Even if you are not on one of these committees, you are always welcome to offer suggestions to either group.
Just a reminder—your weekly offerings throughout the summer would be much appreciated. We do need money to keep the church going, even if we don’t have weekly services. There are always bills and taxes to be paid year-round and the summer absences make it very difficult to make ends meet. If you are going to St. David’s in the summer, you can use your envelopes there and they will be transferred over to us. If you are not attending there, you can arrange for the PAR to contribute automatically monthly. Ask David how to sign up for that. Several people in the congregation think that that is the best and easiest way to contribute their offerings.
Conclusion:
We hope to see you at our last services with David this month to enjoy his ministry and his warmth and humour and to celebrate the young people in our midst. Throughout the summer, it would also be wonderful to see you not just on the street to say “Hi” but also at the various work parties and meetings to accomplish things in fellowship and friendship, to help guarantee our little church’s continuing life and outreach. We wish you a happy and healthy summer, rich with God’s blessings. Let us all return to a “normal” church life in September full of enthusiastic commitment to God and Capilano United.
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