Do you have excellent people and computer skills?
We are currently looking for a part-time communications secretary.
​For details click here. 
Trinity United Church
200 Owen Sound St.
Shelburne, ON  L9V 3L4
Join us for worship on Sunday at 11:00 am
Primrose United Church
486281 30th Sideroad, Primrose
Mono, ON L9V 1G7
​Join us for worship on Sunday at 9:10 am

Our Holy Week Services

​Friday April 19, 10 am
Community Good Friday Service hosted by Abiding Place Ministries  at the Mel Lloyd Centre
Father Mark, the singing priest, will be leading the service of Good Friday celebration
that is the tradition of Abiding Ministries. Everyone welcome. By donation.  

Friday April 19, 7 pm. 
Good Friday Service at Trinity United Church.
This traditional reform service weaves scripture and music together in a contemplative service that
allows us to reflect on  the story of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus. 

Saturday April 20, 7 pm. 
Holy Saturday Service at Trinity United Church for the St. John the Evangelist Parish
Father Paul will lead this traditional Catholic Service

Sunday April 21 Easter Morning Services at regular times
9:15 am at Primrose, 11 am at Trinity. 
Our Shelburne Primrose Pastoral Choir will lead us in a musical celebration
of the highest holiday of our Christian year at both the morning services.

Good Friday, April 19th 

Our Good Friday Service, at 7 pm Friday evening, is a beautiful meditation on waiting in sorrow, patiently and faithfully, following as it does the reform tradition of the theology of the cross. Before the celebration of Easter, there is the time of waiting at the foot of the cross in mystery. Bruce and the Shelburne Pastoral Choir will lead us through
​this contemplative hour with grace.
I encourage everyone to attend, in the faith, or otherwise. 
​
Below are two pieces of music - What Wondrous Love is This? and The Agony, by John Stonier - that are part of the service. Below is the equally thoughtful Lux Aeterna, for your listening pleasure, followed by the prayers of the people for Good Friday.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Judas betrayed you in the garden, 
But we have all betrayed you, and continue to do so even today….
Peter denied you, and so too, we deny you in the living out of our lives, forgetting your way of love and compassion, even as we know it to be right and true.

We like to think that we would be the ones to stay strong and faithful and good.  But the truth is, we forsake you, we betray you, we are a part and a parcel of an economy and a society that spits in your face and laughs at the perfect justice of your cross.  Forgive us. 
 
But you have remained true and faithful to us
Your forgiveness abounds
Your generosity astonishes.
Your mercy is beyond our comprehension.
You remained faithful to God, to us, to your way of love.
There you are stretched out on the cross, arms wide open to the world, heart fully open to God, in your last breath granting grace and forgiveness to all…..
 
Strengthen us, that we might be faithful too,
not turning aside,
not turning away,
not betraying you or denying you,
but following you through the sunlight and through the shadow,
for you have claimed the final victory over evil and darkness
with your gentle way and your humble spirit.

May we be worthy followers,
and steadfast friends,
leaning upon your council
and seeking out the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in all things.

Amen. 

Easter Sunday, April 21

Both Easter Morning Services, at Primrose and Trinity, are largely led by the Shelburne Primrose Pastoral Choir. With an original Easter Chorus as our theme, and well known pieces of this celebratory season beautifully arranged by our musical director, Bruce Ley, you will have every reason to feel joyous this season of new beginnings. If you wish to come early, find your way to the lovely little church in the country - Primrose United. Or if a later hour suits you better, join us at Trinity United at 11 am in Shelburne. Either way, you will enjoy an hour of gentle reflection and encouragement to begin again. The heart of the Christian faith is the hope of new possibilities
​in the midst of failure and despair.
Chin up. There is more before you than you can see. 
Big Joy
James Broughton, beat poet 
 
Shake out your qualms. 
Shake up you dreams. 
Deepen your roots. 
Extend your branches. 
Trust deep water and head for the open, even if your vision shipwrecks you. 
Quite your addiction to sneer and complains. 
Open a lookout. 
Dance on a brink.
Run with the wildfire. 
You are closer to glory leaping an abyss than upholstering a rut. 
Not dawdling.
Not doubting.
Intrepid all the way walk toward clarity. 
At every crossroad be prepared to bump into wonder. 
Only love prevails. 
En route to disaster insist on canticles. 
Lift your ineffable out of the mundane. 
Nothing perishes;
nothing survives;
everything transforms!
Honeymoon with Big Joy!
“As the author E.B. White watched his wife Katherine planning the planting of bulbs in her garden in the last autumn of her life, he wrote, ‘there was some thing comical yet touching in her bedraggled appearance . . . the small hunched-over figure, her studied absorption in the implausible notion that there would be yet another spring, oblivious to the ending of her own days, which she knew perfectly well was near at hand, sitting there with her detailed chart under those dark skies in dying October, calmly plotting the resurrection.
        “‘Katherine was a member of the resurrection conspiracy, the company of those who plant seeds of hope under dark skies of grief or oppression, going about their living and dying until, no one knows how, when or where, the tender Easter shoots appear, and a piece of creation is healed.’" —Robert Raines
 “The spiritual life does not come cheap. It is not a stroll down a Mary Poppins path with a candy-store God who gives sweets and miracles. It is a walk into the dark with the God who is the light that leads us through darkness.” 
​—Joan Chittister OSB, “Called to Question: A spiritual memoir”

Sunday, April 14
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the Sunday that leads into our Holy Week, and the high holiday of the Christian faith - Easter. As we traditionally do, we have communion on Palm Sunday, allowing ourselves to spend contemplative time in considering how we might better follow in the way of love as it was lived out by Jesus of Nazareth, and is today found everywhere the
​spirit of anointing is present.  
I beg you, wait for God quietly, and don’t be so religious. To have nothing to show for yourself and to wait for God is better than to be polishing your piety. You shall not become godless by waiting for God. On the contrary, the truth of God’s cause will grow in your heart, and that is all that matters. A true word once in ten years is dearer to God than a daily sermon. It is your genuineness that matters. . . .

A single genuine moment has much greater consequences in God’s kingdom than a thousand religious practices. — Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, 19th German Lutheran theologian and one of the founders of Christian Socialism in Germany and Switzerland.
The incomparable Alison Krauss with her acoustic version of 'Be Thou My Vision', which we will be singing this Sunday. The words are inspiring, her rendition, a prayer. Be still and listen. 
This Sunday we will be reminded of the strong powers that Jesus and his followers opposed. The odds against them were overwhelming. Like today.

There was nothing much to do back then, but stay faithful to what they knew was right - to care for one another, to love the great mystery they had named God, but did not really understand, to listen to Jesus' instruction and do their best. 
We can do that still. 
And we must. 
Because the voice that is gentle, is also the strong one. 
And the power of love, yes, it is the one that holds the power to create. 

It has never been any other way. 
To think otherwise is foolishness. 

Come to church on Sunday, and be reminded that the power of brass and steel and gold is not where the real power lies. 

Be reminded of the vision. 
The early community that followed Jesus was a community of practice. Jesus’ followers did not just sit around the campfire and listen to lectures on Christian theology. They listened to stories that taught them how to act toward one another, and what to do in the world. They healed people, offered hospitality, prayed together, challenged traditional practices and rituals, ministered to the sick, comforted the grieving, fasted and forgave. These actions induced wonder, gave them courage, empowered hope, and opened up a new vision of God. By doing things together, they began to see differently.
It is profoundly important to grasp this. Jesus and his followers were poor; the vast majority of them were politically and religiously oppressed. There was little reason for them to hope for a better world, that the Romans would just let them be, or that the next ruler would change things. They were victims of one of history’s most vicious empires; they lived in utterly hopeless circumstances...Jesus did not tell them to have faith. He pushed them into the world to practice faith. The disciples did not hope the world would change. They changed it. And in doing so, they themselves changed.
--Christianity after Religion, Diana Butler Bass, HarperOne, 2012, pp. 207–80.

Sunday, April 7

This is our fifth Sunday in Lent. Following the lectionary, we find ourselves at the house of Martha and Mary and Lazarus in Bethany, to a lovely little vignette in our scriptures that paints a picture of the sweetness of a life devoted to love and grace. And yet, there we see how it is interrupted by our lack of grace, our pettiness, our self-righteous 'knowing'. And too, we celebrate the wonder of spring, just peeking around the corner.
​Join us, for an hour of reflection and contemplation. 

Our Call to Worship courtesy of Mary Oliver, with additional wanderings.....
 
Why do people keep asking to see God’s identity papers
When the darkness opening into the morning is more than enough?
 
Certainly any god might turn away in disgust.
​Though that is the miracle. The divine spirit lingers in the midst of our blindness and stupidity.
 
Think of Sheba approaching the kingdom of Solomon.
Do you think she had to ask, “Is this the place?”
 
This morning the redbirds eggs have hatched  
and already the chicks
are chirping for food. They don't 
know where it's coming from, they 
just keep shouting, "More! More!"
As to anything else, they haven't 
had a single thought. Their eyes 
haven't yet opened, they know nothing 
about the sky that's waiting. Or
the thousands, the millions of trees.
They don't even Know they have wings.
And just like that, like a simple
neighborhood event, a miracle is
taking place.
In his Lenten message, Moderator Richard Bott reminds us that this season is a time to think, deeply, about our relationship with God. He asks us each to consider meeting with another disciple of Jesus, and exploring the question, “How is it with your soul?”

Our visioning group was out and about this week, looking at the way other churches are gathering and using their sanctuary space. The key words around space and spirit seem to be: simple. flexible. fresh.
In line with the visioning presentation shown at our annual meeting, we will continue to explore the possibilities of Belonging, Without Borders. 

Sunday Service March 17
Second Sunday in the Season of Lent

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me. 
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the Living God, move among us all 
Make us one in heart and mind, make us one in love. 
Humble, caring, selfless, sharing, 
Spirit of the living God, fill our lives with love!
God of wilderness and water,
your Son was baptized and tempted as we are. 
Guide us through this season,
that we may not avoid struggle,
but open ourselves to blessing,
through the cleansing depths of repentance
and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.

Artist of souls,
you sculpted a people for yourself
out of the rocks of wilderness and fasting.
Help us as we take up your invitation to prayer and simplicity,
that the discipline of these forty days
may sharpen our hunger for the feast of your holy friendship,
and whet our thirst for the living water you offer
through Jesus Christ. 
Amen.
And two lovely pieces of music for your Lenten consideration.

Sunday Service March 3, 2019
Transfiguration Sunday
Communion Service
Our continued quest to understand the divine,
the human, and the soul that
stretches ​between the two.

We will be singing "This Day God Gives Us" on Sunday - wonderful lyric drawing us into the meditation of the moment, gratitude for all things, and the safety of the divine embrace. It is a modern take on the ancient Celtic writing St. Patrick's Breastplate. 
"NOTHING IS WORTH MORE THAN THIS DAY." GOETHE​
“Our Father,” a rendition of The Lord’s Prayer in Swahali, performed by the Gospel Choir in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Excerpt from St. Patrick's Breastplate
​
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun's life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

The Shelburne/Primrose Pastoral Charge partners with
Partera Peace Builders International, The Shelburne Farmer's Market,
First Line for Syria, Soup Haus, KAIROS, and the Quiet Garden Movement. 
We support the work of the UCC Mission and Service and are part of the
​Dufferin Moves initiative in Dufferin County. 
We are supportive of the work of Streams Community Hub

We continue to look for partners and friends who are offering a
compassionate presence to the community and an uplifting and creative spirit.
Call or email if we can be of any help to you. 
shelburne.primrose.uc@gmail.com / 519 925 2233
​
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