Being United—Faith in Action.

Our Summer 2021 worship series.

This is our third summer of sharing in worship with other United Church communities of faith on the West Island of Montreal.

This year we’re also joined by Riverside United Church, which is an amalgamated community of faith that stretches across Laval, and to the North Shore as far at Saint Jerome. Summer presents us all with the perfect opportunity to mix and mingle on-line (by Zoom or You Tube or Facebook Live, depending on the community of faith) while celebrating God’s presence among us. The last two summers revealed to many of us just how much we have in common, even while we’re all such distinctive congregations. One thing we have in common (self-evidently!) is our United Church-ness!

This is what we’ve decided to explore and celebrate this summer: the distinctive ways in which being “United Church” makes a difference for good both close to home, and in the world at large.  In a province where being Christian, or religious is decidedly unpopular, and treated with ridicule, cynicism or suspicion, this is a somewhat gutsy thing to do!  Even more so, in this moment in our Nation’s history where the churches’ involvement (including the UCC) in Canada’s Residential Schools is being laid bare again, we have the opportunity to worship together with a posture of critical self-examination also.

Throughout these ten weeks we will celebrate, explore, examine and pray our way through various “gifts” that the United Church brings to the West Island, Quebec, Canada and the world. We’ll celebrate the way our faith is expressed in inclusive, expansive and progressive theology (Aug 1), and lived out in a public commitment to social justice, at home and abroad (July 4 and August 8). We will look back at our history and look forward in hope at the full inclusion of the ministry of women (July 11), and of people of all gender expressions and identities (August 15). We will take time to pray through our long, at times painful, and still far from complete road towards racial justice (July 18) and the path towards reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples (July 25). And we will conclude our summer by hearing and responding as people of faith to God’s call to creation care (August 29) before one final online worship gathering around the theme of Sabbath (Sept. 5).

We look forward to worshipping together with you this summer!