Woohoo it's Chilli time!

The Chilli cook-off returns! You can cook, eat and/or compete. Any sort of chilli is welcome - if a dessert chilli exists, that counts as well as the more traditional versions.

Please bring your chili in a crock pot to keep it warm. You will be give a slip of paper with ingredients which some might be allergic to like, gluten, dairy and nuts. All you will have to do is check "yes" to any that are in your chilli. That means, if you did not cook it, please try to know what is in it.

Our masking mandates are relaxed but you will be required to wear a mask when serving yourself chilli and to wear plastic gloves. The gloves are standard at restaurant buffets so many of you are used to that. Masking is optional in the Parish Hall but please be sensitive to your table-mates as always.

If you can't get to Church you can still come to chilli. Look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

All Creatures Great and Small

Each year on the closest Sunday to October 4th we hold a Blessing of the Animals in our Church garden. We choose the day closest to October 4th because that day is St. Francis' day. St Francis of Assisi is often remembered for his love of animals.

When we bless our animals we are also praying for their human families as well. All sorts of animals show up with their owners, cats and dogs, gerbils, fish, spiders and snakes. Sometimes folk bring pictures of their pets, either because they are too hard to transport or because the whole thing will scare them. We can pray for them as well.

Whether or not you have pets please join us on October 2nd at 5pm. The Pet Blessing is very short and gives you plenty of time to hang out with other animals lovers. Just one thing; please make sure your pet is secure. That means put dogs on a leash and crate cats and other animals which might disappear into the cemetery.

Amen! Amen!

When I am talking with my kids I know I have got it right when one of them says “truth” to a statement I make. They simply mean that they agree, that it resonates with them. It does not have to be a scientifically proven fact, it is just something which they can stand behind.

One translation of the word Amen is “truth”. We say it when we hear something which we feel we agree with, which we can feel ourselves to be a part of, which we are invested in. It is an energetic statement, joining in with what has been said. Totally, absolutely, definitely, yes!

When there is an Amen at the end of a prayer in Church it is there on purpose. It is an invitation for you to say, “Yes, I am on board with this”. Jesus gave us the Eucharist? Yes! God blesses us? Yes! Amen! Amen!

Sometimes we do not want to say Amen at the end of something - that is fine. Other times, though, we just kind of forget about it, and that is missing a chance to affirm something wonderful and life giving.

I once had a colleague who said that if the people did not say Amen at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer or after the Blessing it wouldn’t work. I prefer to think God is a bit bigger than that. Of course God always does God’s stuff. When we respond enthusiastically with a loud “Amen” we are throwing ourselves right into the middle of all that grace and blessing instead of tentatively dipping a toe in the edge, or even wandering off in the opposite direction.