Today we sing our song in a borrowed home ...

MINNEDOSA UNITED CHURCH
CLERGY: REVEREND SHAWN ANKENMANN
ORGANIST: ELEANOR TAYLOR
CHOIR DIRECTOR: KENDRA FALLIS
MINISTRY: ALL OF US GATHERED HERE …
February 19th 2006
“On a Journey just begun …”
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DEDICATION OF NEW VOICES UNITED HYMN BOOKS:

One: In memory and honour of the Saints who have gone
before us, and who have formed the community
that has lived and moved and had it’s being on Main Street,
we present these hymn books to be dedicated to the glory and praise of God.
Choir: For 105 years, music has lifted our spirits and comforted our souls.
ALL: THROUGH MUSIC WE HAVE GLORIFIED OUR GOD.
One: Today we replace some of what we have lost.
Today we open books that are new and strange to us,
yet that are known and familiar.
ALL: TO THE SERVICE AND GLORY OF GOD WE COMMIT AND DEDICATE
THESE BOOKS FOR USE AMONG US AS WE JOURNEY FORWARD,
THE PEOPLE OF GOD AT WORSHIP AS MINNEDOSA UNITED CHURCH.
One: And so our journey begins, we count our losses, and
our gains, we mark our journey in tiny steps …
Loving God, giver of song, bless the use of these books we dedicate today.
May we sing our hymns, share our psalms
and mark the moments of life together in worship and in music …
ALL: AMEN.

HYMN: #332 The Church’s One Foundation

AND SO IT BEGINS …
(Reading of the Letter from Jim Sinclair)
One: On the morning of Sunday February 12th 2006, we awoke to the news that our 105 year old sanctuary had been consumed by a deliberately set fire. As the dawn broke over the edge of the valley, we gathered to confront the enormity of our loss …

Hymn: #182 Stay With us Through the Night

One: It has been less then a week … the smoke has cleared
and with it comes the realization that we have become a homeless people,
a people wandering into the uncertainty of tomorrow, uncertain, angry and confused …
ALL: HOLY ONE, STAY WITH US.
One: We have begun to tally our losses … the memories, the treasures,
the moments shared within a building that has loomed large over our community
physically and spiritually.
ALL: HOLY ONE, STAY WITH US.
One: Today we gather before God to worship …
in our hands are books that are not the same as the one’s we used short days ago …
we sit in pews that do not have the familiar feel of those we called home short days ago … around us, are none of the familiar things of our spiritual home …
ALL: HOLY ONE STAY WITH US.
One: Like the people of Israel, we are homeless and wandering …
dependent upon the care and support of one another and our neighbours …
ALL: HOLY ONE STAY WITH US.
One: Today we begin to realize what it is that we have lost …
the lists we compile are long and range from
Sunday school scissors to our majestic organ…
our losses pile up and threaten to overwhelm us …
Yet, in the midst of our shock and grief, we name what we have not lost:
ALL: EACH OTHER …
Choir: The song within our soul.
AOTS & UCW: Our desire to serve.
Bible Study: Our yearning to learn.
ALL: OUR CARING FOR EACH OTHER AND THE WORLD.
One: We have lost much. But we have not lost the Church, we have not lost each other.
We have not lost the community that called our building home.
ALL: HOLY ONE STAY WITH US.
One: The journey ahead will be difficult,
but together we shall face it and its challenges,
and together we shall find the place of healing and wholeness …
ALL: HOLY ONE STAY WITH US …

HYMN: #105 Dust and Ashes Touch our Face.

PSALM 137 – Voices United page 858

Prayer for Wholeness:
One: Holy One, the smell of smoke lingers among us,
the taste of ash is bitter on our tongue …
ALL: WHY O HOLY ONE, WHY?
HAVE WE DISPLEASED YOU ?
HAVE YOU ABANDONED US?
WHY O HOLY ONE, WHY??
One: The question lies heavy in our souls …What once was, is no longer …
the security of our past has been wrenched from us …
the certainty and comfort of the familiar is suddenly gone …
ALL: BENEATH US IS SHIFTING SAND …
AROUND US IS ONLY CONFUSION AND HURT …
One: Be with us in this hour and in the days ahead Loving God,
hold us in our moments of anguish, soothe us in our moments of anger.
Take from us our taste for revenge and guide us to the path of resurrection …
Men: Resurrection.
Women: It means Transformation.
Men: Resurrection?
Women: It means new beginnings.
Men: Resurrection!
Women: It means rebirth and life anew …
ALL: RESURRECTION !!
WE ARE EASTER PEOPLE,
PEOPLE OF THE RESURRECTION.
One: Easy words … a harder journey …
ALL: IN THE COMING DAYS O GOD, BE WITH US AS WE STEP INTO TOMORROW.
HOLD US IN OUR WEAKNESS.
SUPPORT US IN OUR ANGUISH.
BE WITH US AS WE WALK THE PATH OF RESURRECTION …
One: The Journey ahead will not be easy …
ALL: THE JOURNEY WILL BE MADE EASIER BY TREADING IT TOGETHER …
One: Are we alone?
ALL: WE ARE NOT ALONE …
(IN UNISON: The New Creed – Bulletin Cover)

HYMN: #166 Joy Comes With the Dawn
Scripture Reading: Psalm 147 (part 1) Pg. 868 Voices
Mark 2:1-12

CHOIR ANTHEM: Psalm 91 - On Eagles' Wings (pg 808 Voices United)
REFLECTION: “What’s important ??”

So, How was your week ?
To say that this past week has been eventful is to understate the obvious … Today is a good day … we have been given the gift of a place to worship … we have our offices up and running … and yesterday we were fortunate to have hosted a concert by Ron Klusmeier and company wherein through music, we celebrate the Church year …
But today, today we turn our faces to face the uncertainty of the future, and all that it offers and promises … today we count our losses, but more importantly, today we claim the promise and potential that this past week represents.
Will we rebuild? Well, that’s a decision for you, the people that are Minnedosa United Church to decide in coming days … For now, we are a Church that is homeless … our roots, our place – our axis mundi, to use a fancy theological term – has been ripped from us … yet, here we stand – the people of God – part of the vast family of God … and we can say with faith and with certainty, that we simply are not alone: God is with us in this place, and in all the places that we find ourselves. We are not alone.
Those are easy words to say – harder words to live. Yet, they are central to who we are, and who we’ve always been. The idea that God is with us, even in the moments of darkness and in the depths of despair, are found throughout the scriptures. The Israelite people – the Jewish faith, understand the idea of being homeless and feeling abandoned by God. Throughout their history, they have encountered, lived and overcome moments when they felt abandoned and utterly alone …
For 40 years they wandered through the desert, yearning to go home to the land promised to their ancestors. Then they entered the land, built a society, built their houses, and even built the vast temple that stood on the hills of Jerusalem.
But then in the 5th Century BC, the temple was flattened by the Babylonians, and the people lamented their loss. The words of Psalm 137 come from that experience of being hundreds of miles from home, knowing that home isn’t there any more … the psalmist sat in Babylon, many kilometers from home yearning to be back in Jerusalem in a home that was no longer there …
It is a sentiment that today many of us can relate to …
Yet in time, the Jewish people returned to the land of Israel and rebuilt their homes and the temple. In time the temple became an exquisite place of worship and life. The Temple rebuilt by Herod was described as a beautiful structure of white marble adorned generously with gold. It is said to shine in the bright Mediterranean sunshine.
Yet, in 70 CE the Roman legions marched on Jerusalem and utterly destroyed the city and the beautiful temple that loomed over it … To grasp the enormity of the loss to the people of Israel, we must realize that every aspect of life in Israel revolved around the temple … Socially, religiously, economically, and (dare I say it) politically – the temple was at the very heart of the Jewish people. Even when occupying armies came and crushed the people, the temple was the refuge where the people could gather before God and preserve what it was that was important to them in the face of a world gone mad.
But in 70 AD, in a few short hours – all of that changed. The Romans came and set the temple and the city aflame … the inferno was so intense and so hot that limestone blocks disintegrated … the fire was so intense that today in many corners of the city you can still see the visual evidence of the fire. Walls and stones are scorched black from the inferno 19 Centuries ago – archeologists can identify where arches and buildings stood by the patterns their destruction left …
Then for 19 Centuries, the Jewish people wandered homeless across the face of the planet – and for 19 Centuries they put their hope of return in one simple statement: “Next Year in Jerusalem.”
At Passover each year they toasted their well being and said – “next year in Jerusalem,” at Bar Mitzvah’s where boys became men, they proclaimed their hope – “Next year in Jerusalem,” at Sabbath dinners they proclaimed their certainty – “next year in Jerusalem.” Over and over they said the simple words – “Next year in Jerusalem,” until in 1948 that moment finally came to pass and the Jewish nation returned to Jerusalem …
Today we share a similar cry … I have no desire to walk with you into 19 Centuries of exile, wandering homeless (I think it is safe to say that our sisters and brothers at St Alphonsus will throw us out long before that). But our journey may take 19 weeks or even 19 months …
Today we share the cry of homelessness and the certainty of faith that comes from knowing that God has NOT abandoned us on this journey …
ON Wednesday at Presbytery when we gathered with our sisters and brothers of faith from across West Man including folks from Brandon Hills and Central United in Brandon, both places that lost their homes to fire – we were affirmed in our journey and offered support and care. But the wisest words I heard came from Rev. Boyd Drake from Rapid City and Cadurcis … Boyd reflected on the reading from Mark and said – “the job of Presbytery right now is to carry you folks in Minnedosa over our heads to the place of healing …” He went on to observe that Brandon Hills, getting ready to build their new building, are almost there – they are being lowered through the roof – but we have a ways to go. But in time we will arrive at the house and hands from across the region and the country will help to tear open the roof and lower us into the place of healing that is promised …
There will be moments when the distance between here and there – that place of healing seems vast and uncrossable. But we ARE being born on the shoulders of our sisters and brothers of faith … like the good folks of St Alphonsus who have generously and graciously given us space, we have many others who have made offers and are truly carrying us forward.
We are on a journey that will be marked by small steps and achievements. But we are on a journey forward. There will be moments when we stumble, when we feel too tired to continue – but in those moments hands will reach out and lift us and carry us forward.
Today, we are a homeless people. But in our homelessness, we’ve discovered what is really important. On February 12th 2006 dawn came and revealed to us the destruction of our 105 year old sanctuary. In the media, they’ve said – “the United Church in Minnedosa burned down.”
Today we are showing each other, our community and the world – that the CHURCH in Minnedosa didn’t burn down. We are the Church. What we lost was, in the words of one of the many emails we’ve received – our clubhouse where we gathered and stored our stuff …
Today the Clubhouse we called home is gone. But we’ve been fortunate that much of our stuff was spared … we’ve lost a lot. But we haven’t lost each other …
In the coming days our journey – our exile – will be challenging. But we will remember and we will celebrate that we are not alone: God is with us, we are with one another, and from the phone calls, the emails and the letters that have poured in – the Children of God are with us.
Our journey has and will be a challenge, but at the end of the day – we’ve only lost a building … no lives were lost, and in time we WILL rebuild.
The promise of the Resurrection is not a promise of immediate healing and restoration. Sometimes the resurrection requires, and even demands some work on our part … We’re in it. There is work to be done, but personally, I can’t imagine being in a better place with any better people then those who I have been blessed to call friends over the last few years …
We are on a journey just begun … we are wandering homeless and uncertain … but as we’ve sung today, as we will sing in the coming days – the promise of resurrection is there for us to claim and live. And in the hours and days since the fire – we’ve been living the resurrection … In the coming days when we falter, there WILL be many hands to support and carry us …
That is the promise of our faith – that is the promise of the family of which we are a part …the family that WILL carry us when we grow weary …
Resurrection – it’s only a building – forgiveness – rising again … they’re easy words to say – they are harder words to live. But with the help of God and God’s children we WILL live those words and we will again mark life’s transitions and passages in a home to call our own …
The Jewish faith use the term – “L’chaim” To Life, to take stock not of their losses, but to celebrate their gains. For 19 Centuries they toasted and celebrated themselves by saying – “L’Chaim” … in the coming days may we have the courage and the faith to celebrate that the United Church of Minnedosa has not burned down – we’ve merely been temporarily rendered homeless. The fire burned down our building – it didn’t burn down the church … The Church survived and we WILL endure and we WILL live the Resurrection … easy words to say – but we WILL live them out in the coming days … L’chaim … to life … to resurrection … In the coming days - "TO LIFE !!" We're still here - L'chaim !!
May it be so, thanks be to God …


HYMN: #509 I THE LORD OF SEA AND SKY
OFFERING:
OFFERTORY:
PRAYER OF DEDICATION:
One: We bring our offerings of time, talent and treasures
to lay on the table along side those precious things that were spared the inferno …
ALL: ALL WEEK WE HAVE PRAYED, WE HAVE WEPT,
WE HAVE ROLLED UP OUR SLEEVES AND LENDED A HAND …
One: From the ashes we have retrieved little,
but what we have retrieved reminds us of what is important.
ALL: THE CHURCH IS NOT A BUILDING,
THE CHURCH IS THE PEOPLE …
One: We are the people that are Minnedosa United Church,
and together we commit ourselves to living the journey
of resurrection we have been called to trod …
together we will be carried to the place of healing where people will sing together:
HYMN: (insert) WE ARE THE CHURCH

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER:

HYMN: #716 MY LIFE FLOWS ON

THE NEXT STEPS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

PRAYER FOR THE JOURNEY AHEAD:

HYMN: #595 WE ARE PILGRIMS

COMMISSIONING & BENEDICTION:

SUNG RESPONSE:
#586 WE SHALL GO OUT WITH HOPE OF RESURRECTION

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

WORK PARTY: Tomorrow at 9am, we need strong backs, boxes and trucks to clean out the last of the furnishings and the contents of the kitchen, so that demolition and site clean up can begin … if you can help – just come.

OFFICE: We’re down, but not out. On Wednesday morning we had all of our equipment moved, plugged in and operational. The Minnedosa United Church Offices are now located in the former Ken Sharpe accounting office next to the Train Park. Our hours are the same – 9-3 Tuesday to Friday, and even though we’re short of seats – the coffee is on, and you are always welcome. (the smoky smell is getting better all the time) Stop in and say “Hi,” and check out our new “temporary” home …

BIBLE STUDY: For the next couple of weeks, Bible Study will be meeting in the meeting room of the Minnedosa Library – usual time, usual good fellowship … different locale.
All are welcome to join us.

THANKS: Thanks to the AOTS Mens’ Club, and everyone else who helped keep the Ron Klusmeier concert on track yesterday. Thanks too, to the staff at TCS for providing the space for the concert …

THERE ARE NO WORDS … This past week has been incredible … I can’t even begin to describe the roller coaster I was on … I want to say thank you to EVERYONE in our faith family. There are too many people to thank … I don’t know where to begin or to end … I can only say thanks to you, the community of faith I feel deeply and humbly blessed to live and worship with. We’ve lost our home, but we haven’t lost what makes us Church …