South West Norfolk Pastoral Charge

       Friday October 24th -1:00 at the Courtland Community Centre to set up tables and peel potatoes for the church supper                                                                                                  ( bring your potato peeler)

                                Saturday October 25th -Turkey and Cabbage Roll Supper at the community centre 4:30-6:30.                                                                                          Tickets Adults $25, kids under 12 -$12, kids 5 and under are free.

                                                                               Turning Thanksgiving into Thanks-living.   

I Love Thanksgiving! It’s that time of year again, the bright colours, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and my oh my pumpkin pie, all laid out on the table full of family and friends.

Recently, I have travelled the roads of this beautiful County of Norfolk and I have been treated to a wondrous delight to the senses.

My eyes have witnessed the beginning of the fall colours in the woods, a change in the fields as the tobacco harvest has passed, the beans and corn have ripened and will soon go for a ride in the combine. I’m forever amazed at the pumpkin and squash fields and how they add to the brilliance of the countryside, as they seem to wait patiently to be collected and taken to market.

The familiar scents and aromas of the season have also arrived on schedule as one can enjoy the smell of curing tobacco, and wood burning stoves on a cool clear morning. It really is beautiful. It really is a gift, and it’s an ongoing story of creation, GOD’S creation, this planet we inhabit, and all living things, in relationship, in community in many different, yet at the same time, similar ways.

These wondrous and mysterious gifts of the season remind us again of God’ s consistency in creation as the seasons come and go, and we are provided for in so many ways.

The season of the harvest is upon us, and we are called and compelled to give thanks. This relationship we have with creation is such a gift. And so even as we are fed from the land and the hard work of the farmers among us and around us we are also offered “Spiritual feeding” through our relationship with God, with our faith community, and the wonders revealed in nature.

This to me always feel more evident as one season turns to the next, and in the fall, we see the fields and the forest moving to take rest, after yielding abundant harvest for the world.

I am reminded of the Feeding of the 5000. Where in Jesus’ presence there was enough to go around and then some.

And Jesus said,“ I am the bread of life, he who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty..”

This is yet another invitation from Jesus to everyone, know me, try to know me, who I am, what I am about. When you hunger or thirst, not for a ham sammich or a glass of water, but SPIRITUAL FOOD...FOOD FOR THE SOUL.

In this simple metaphor, I am the bread of life, consume me, make me a part of you, and hunger no more. It’s about being made whole. It’s about finding this balance in our living and a sense of purpose that goes far beyond the temporary things of this world.

He’s calling us to away from the junk food of the world to the life-giving food of God. When we remain topped up on that we will, I believe, see such amazing and positive results in our lives, our relationships with those we love and struggle with, with those we have yet to meet, with the very planet we live on.

We are invited by Jesus to partake of the bread of life, to be fed and nurtured and through this be held by and take rest in God’s love, a place of comfort, safety, and wholeness. As thanksgiving Sunday comes and goes, as we gather once again (however that might be), to give thanks communally, to share old stories and laughter, to write new stories and memories, I invite us to reflect on all we see, experience, taste, smell, hear, witness and recognize all of this as a great and wondrous gift from God, for which we are called into thanksgiving. My prayer for us today is that we might embrace this time of thanksgiving and transform it into “Thanks living”, a thankful and humble way of going that leads to a greater sharing of ourselves and our resources as God’s beloved children.  

Rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given you and your household.  PT.

                                                                                   CONTACTS FOR CEMETERY BOARDS

COURTLAND UNITED CEMETERY:        Wayne Cadman   519-688-2345      

CULTUS  CEMETERY:                 Linda Millen  519-875-4657     

South West Norfolk Pastoral Charge...We Are Linked In LOVE!!

CULTUS UNITED CHURCH: Located at  748-6th Concession Road ENR, Cultus, Ontario     WORSHIPS on Sundays at  9:00am        

COURTLAND UNITED CHURCH: Located at 133 Talbot Street, Courtland, Ontario            WORSHIPS on SUNDAYS AT 10:30am           

Our Mission Statement:   The South West Norfolk Pastoral Charge is called to be a Christian community empowered and inspired by the Holy Spirit and to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

CONTACT US:   EMAIL: swnpc@yahoo.ca                  Office Phone: 519-688-4050

**** FOR ALL PASTORAL EMERGENCIES  PASTOR TED can be reached at  519-861-9273 ****

OUR MAILING ADDRESS:  South West Norfolk Pastoral Charge, P.O.Box 129, 119 Talbot Road, Courtland, On., N0J1E0

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