We are in the early stages of rewriting our By-Law. We are looking for your feedback on this first draft, which is for discussion only. Please download the document (PDF; requires the free Acrobat Reader) and respond using the feedback sheet by November 15.

This Sunday is our monthly Family Service. Everyone is invited to join us for the morning service at 10:30 a.m., which will be followed by a potluck meal. Please bring a main course or a dessert.

See you on Sunday!

HYMN SING is every third Sunday evening in the Theatre Hall at 7.00 p.m.

We are trying to find a permanent pianist.

BIBLE STUDIES are held every Tuesday at 10.30 a.m.

The Beta Course is held every first Tuesday of the month

This fall we are studying Mark's Gospel

Speakers:

November 11/2006

SINGING PILGRIMS on Saturday, 11 am to be held in the RBC at the Activity Room.

Tickets on sale from October 29th to November 5th. at the church

From October 30th to November 5th at the Residence (416) 247-5316

The October newsletter has been published (requires the free Acrobat Reader program). Read the newsletter here.

Bob Fukumoto is in Romania. You can get regular updates on his trip here.

Yesterday, I talked about the importance of preparation - that before we do anything, it is important to know who we are. Charles Colson says it much better than I could in this quote from The Body:

Ask about the local church's role in the world, and most Christians immediately begin hauling out mission statements, actions plans, and strategy schemes. They are already lacing up their Nikes, asking, "What should we do?"

That eagerness is wonderful, [but] we need the Big-picture view of the body, alive and vibrant—the holy, presence in the world. For the church's role in the world is not a series of independent items on an action checklist.

Instead, the church's role (what it does) is dependent on its character (what it is) as a community of believers. What we do, therefore, flows from who we are.

This character oriented perspective is totally foreign to our achievement-oriented society, however, where we look at what people do rather than who they are. And it goes against everything in our consumer oriented religious culture, where we pick and choose churches on the basis of fellowship [personal clique's] or outreach programs or music or location or convenient parking.

Rarely do we hear believers say, "I decided to join this church because of its character as a holy community." Nor do most choose a church on the basis of it capacity to disciple and equip them for ministry.

Yet that should be our very first consideration. If the church is the body, the holy presence of Christ in the world, its most fundamental task is to build communities of holy character.