Time and Talent Auction

The people of the Pinawa Christian Fellowship

are having an auction,

not an auction of old stuff,

an auction of our time, talents, and energy!

come bid on...

- a houseboat ride and dinner for 2

- professional re-stringing of your broken necklace

- base waxing your XC skis

- 2 hours of yard work

- half ton loads to the dump

- 4 home made pizzas delivered to your door

- Christmas baking

- and much more...

Follow this link to see the full list and to submit On-line advance bids.

Live auction takes place 2 pm Sunday October 2nd

in the lounge at The Ironwood.

On-line bidding closes Saturday, October 1st, at 12 pm.

Proceeds will be used to support Manitoba Flood victims

through Mennonite Disaster Services

and the Mission and Ministry of the PCF.

PCF Foster Child

The PCF sponsors a child through the Christian Childrens Fund. The foster child is Haresha Madushani Wanniarachchi. Haresha lives with her family in Sri Lanka and is in Grade 2. In the past the cost of this sponsorship had been covered by Church School collections and in more recent times mainly by individual donations of money, special appeals or by fund raising such as done by Mats Strandlund at the Pinawa Birthday Party. With the reduction in numbers in the Church School the Mission Committee has taken responsibility for this sponsorship and has decided to continue it until Haresha graduates or leaves the program. If you would like to contribute directly towards the cost of the sponsorship, currently $456/year, you may do so by writing it on your church envelope. The Mission Committee will keep the congregation informed about Hareshas progress.

Hey... that's my mom and dad!

The folks in the yellow circle are Rob Murray's parents, Bruce and Yvonne.

Bicycles for Africa

The people who make up the St. Bartholomew’s United Church community recently revived their efforts to provide bicycles for people in Namibia. The bicycles sent, and this year’s efforts will provide the fifth container shipped out by the group, are used to help local health care workers reach people in need in rural areas. As we here in Canada are extremely fortunate to have the funds and infrastructure to ensure that our EMS workers can perform their duties with maximum efficiency. Says Terry Owen, chair of the project, “Bicycles can make a huge difference in the lives of the poorest people on the world's poorest continent. In rural Africa, bicycles provide access to food and water, employment and healthcare. A used bicycle can save hundreds of lives.” The collection day on June 25th yielded quite the haul, and those who benefit from the generosity of this community will surely be thankful for the efforts of the St. Bartholomew’s United Church community.

Pinawa Friendship Block Quilters

Members of the Pinawa Friendship Block Quilters have been using the PCF meeting room on Tuesday evenings to work on 'Charity Quilts'. They have given some quilts to Pinawa Cancer Treatment, Women's Clinic HSC, and the Women's Shelters in the area. Here are some examples of their work...

An Online Donation Option

We can now process online donations to the Pinawa Christian Fellowship through the service CanadaHelps. Online donations are issued a tax receipt immediately, funds are transferred to our account at the credit union, and we are notified at the church office so we can send a personal note of thanks. Thanks CanadaHelps!

Summertime!

Don't forget that shared summer Sunday worship with the Pinawa Lutheran Church begins this Sunday, July 3rd. We will worship together in the Lutheran Church on the corner of Massey and Burrows till September 4th. Worship begins at 9:30 am. This Sunday is a service of Holy Communion in the PCF style with the Rev. Rob Murray presiding and Pastor Jack Frederick preaching.

No building, no problem

We had a very encouraging article written about us in the Lac du Bonnet Leader. Lori Mitton came out and interviewed Rob and Leny. You can read the article here.

"Pimp my Ride" Mennonite Edition

Ken Reddig wrote...

"My weekend consisted of Steinbach tractor trek for Eden and the Mennonite Heritage Village. We had 47 old tractors which we drove 56 kms., and had a hoot. I drove a 1950’s John Deere 70. Aside from riding a horse or being in a horse drawn cart it is the best way to explore the countryside. Our route began at the Steinbach museum, Mitchell, Blumenort, lunch in Kleefeld, south along roads south of Steinbach and then back into the MHV from the east. We will clear about $ 40,000 for this one event."

www.edenhealth.mb.ca

Baptism

Funny what jumps out for people in the sermon. last week I made a throwaway comment about how people used to get quite exercised that the grand kids hadn't been baptized. I remember a Grandma in the Maritimes wondering loudly "why that baby hadn't been done yet?". I thought my comment was a fairly uncontroversial example of how times have changed; and how little people really seem to care about the forms these days. Turns out that it hit a nerve for more than one person. So... do children need to be "done" so they can saved? Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't have much to say about baptising babies. Jesus was baptised as an adult (but he may have been a special case.) All the other people baptised in the Bible are adults (but baby baptisers point to Acts chapter 16 where people were baptised "with their household" or "with their family"). Jesus' command to "baptise all nations" in Matthew chapter 28 doesn't say what will happen to those who aren't baptised.

There is no explicit statement in the Bible that un-baptised people of any age will not be saved. (On the other hand, there is no explicit statement that they will be saved.) All Christians believe that baptism is a real sign of grace that Christ commanded us to use. All Christians agree that baptism should not be despised; but they differ on when it's appropriate to baptise and whether it is entirely essential for salvation. Baptists and Mennonites and Pentecostals firmly believe that one should not baptise children and that baptism is only effective when it is consciously and willingly embraced by a consenting adult. The attitude that all children must be baptised came out of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions but it has had a strong influence on the Protestant Churches that baptise infants. (Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, the United Church et al) Baptism is the sign and seal of membership In Christ's church. Because the Catholic and Orthodox traditions have such a high view of the Church they insist that there is no salvation outside the church: baptism is required. I was baptised as an adult (mainly because of my parents laziness not because they cared one way or the other) and I was glad to be able to make that decision for myself. My personal view is that the hard-line views for or against infant baptism are both a little disrespectful of God's Freedom and Grace. I don't think God is waiting for us to do something with water and words before God can choose to love and cherish a child forever. On the other hand, I don't think we should despise the God given opportunity to raise children in a faith community, baptising them as a sign that they are already part of the family.

This is important stuff. At 10 am next Wednesday, May 25th, I'll have the coffee on at the church office and I'll be glad to dig into this in detail with whoever shows up.

Thanks for asking the questions.

Easter Morning

Easter Morning Manitoba Communion by the Pinawa Channel. 40 people gathered for the early communion this year! We heard the story of the Risen Christ making breakfast for his fishing friends while the bannock and pickerel cooked on the fire. Then we broke bread and shared sweet fruit wine from the Rigby Orchards in Killarney Manitoba. Giuliano played the accordian and Mats played a haunting flute solo that echoed off the woods. Awesome!

Good Friday

For the first time ever all four churches of Pinawa worshipped together on Good Friday - and what an occasion! We processed with the Cross from church to church and place to place, almost 100 of us!

Behold, how pleasant ...

Fr. José, Pastor Brad and Rev. Rob at the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service in the Pinawa Lutheran Church, January 20, 2011. Paster Jake was there but must have been putting the coffee on.

January 2011 Mission Report

The Mill in St. George NB .... during the flood ... and the usual water level.

Total undirected Missions givings and disbursements in 2010 were $5860 and $6827.29 respectively. $767.76 was carried forward to 2011. These numbers differ from those in the year end financial report because $745 was included in the Mission Fund but directed for NB Flood Relief in 2010. An additional $125 was donated for NB Flood relief in early 2011. The Mission Committee has requested that $1120 ($870 directed and $250 from the undirected givings) be sent be to the Presbyterian Kirk of St. George New Brunswick for flood relief.