The new schedule for Sunday Club is now up on our website. Go to What We Do > Learn > Kids for more details and information. Or just click here.
The kids will join Jacky Laurin, Anne Walker, Karen Wigle, or Scott Kearns and Babette Oliveira as they explore the themes that enhance our values: Our Global Neighbours, Our Environment, Our Good Character, and Our Faith Tradition.
Volunteers to assist are always welcome and needed. To get involved, contact Anne Walker through the church office: 416-282-8566 or email: admin@westhill.net
I despair. That girl in Winnipeg fed hate and anger for breakfast, lunch and supper by her mother and step-father.
I despair. I know she is not the only child whose soul is twisted to hate others for the colour of their skin and their religion.
Yet I hope. I find hope in the most unlikely places. In my 7 year old, Iain, explaining to me only two days ago, about the concept of unfair trade applied to bananas. Patiently explaining to me about the grower only getting a tiny fraction of money while the seller and store get the lion's share. Hope, when he tells me he learned this in church -- in Sunday Club only a few weeks ago.
I do hope. When my 11 year old daughter Danielle pipes up that they learned all about fair trade in school. In school. At 11 years old, a concept that did not reach my consciousness until my late 20's.
So forgive me if I can't help but hope a bit more than despair, for my children's generation.
The oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan continues and as their oppressors well know, fear is the most effective weapon they have.
'Poison gas' puts 50 Afghan schoolgirls in hospital
Nearly 50 teenagers have been admitted to hospital after a suspected mass poisoning at an Afghan girls' school, the second such incident in a month.
read more...
Habitat for Humanity is all about hope and on May 6th, I'll be helping them hammer that message home. At a build site near West Hill United Church, after opening the day with a devotional time, I will, along with a contingent of enthusiastic women, participate in Toronto's first ever Women's Blitz Build.
It's been a long time coming. Several years ago this piece of property was purchased by a group of nuns wanting to help Habitat provide stable, decent homes for families experiencing the degrading realities that under-housing and poverty carve into children's hearts. Their dream is finally coming true as one by one the news of hope is being brought to households across the city who will, in the coming months, move into one of the homes being built and become part of a new community within our community. It is an honour to be part of the process of creating this new start for them.
If you would like to help out, please sponsor me by making a donation to Habitat through my personal pledge page! I'd be delighted to carry you with me on that day and write your name on a piece of wood or name a nail for you somewhere in the house I'll be working on. Together, we can make an enormous difference in a family's life!
Because the conversation on AM640's Culture Wars is fast and oft times furious, there are sometimes things left in its wake that are unfinished or never really managed to get said during the few minutes we have on air. That happened this past Tuesday morning while we were discussing the difficult situation facing two families with dying infant girls. While introducing the topic of discussion -- the appropriateness of parents deciding to terminate a pregnancy if they know the fetus is not healthy -- host John Oakley used a term to describe a condition that may or may not merit such consideration -- "retardation".
Since I was a young child, kids that struggled to learn differently than those the school systems catered to were the butts of many a cruel joke but the word that was the most devastating was the “r” word: retard. Now, the Special Olympics and other organizations with the support of those with and without intellectual disabilities have launched across North America and around the world a movement to Spread the Word to End the Word. I just wish I’d taken the time to call John on it when I had the chance.
Check out the Special Olympics site for more information on the movement
Posted by: David Barker in kids, church news on
Mar 6, 2009
OUR INCREDIBLE, SUPER-FANTASTIC SUNDAY CLUB is in need of Volunteer Helpers for the following dates: April 19th, May 3rd, June 7 & 14th. Connect with Anne Walker or Trisha Bower if you have some time to give. Materials and training provided.
LOVE COFFEE AND CONVERSATION? Join the Hospitality Team as they bring you coffee and snacks each Sunday am. It only takes few minutes to help set up and clean up...perfect for the volunteer who wants to help but has limited time. Jim Irwin is your connection to book your date now.
Fill out the Volunteer Sign-Up sheet here.
