The Lenten Season begin Ash Wednesday, February 18 th  and carries through to Easter Sunday, April 5 th .  Sermon Series During Lent Dale will present a sermon series entitled “ Stories that Form and Shape Our Faith ”.   The series will start with a focus on the creation story in Genesis on the first Sunday of Lent and finish on Easter Sunday with the story of the resurrection found in the Gospel of John February 22 - Story of Creation  Genesis 1:1-28 March 1 -       Story of

Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin' And you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin' The times they are a-changin’…  These words of Bob Dylan remind us that this Sunday we “Spring Ahead” one hour as we enter into Daylight Savings Time.  If you forget to move your clocks ahead Saturday nigh

Lent is a season that invites us into a close examination of lives and ask the question “Am I living the faith that I espouse?”  It is based on Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness in which he fasted, prayed and was tempted away from what he claimed to believe.  In the book some of us are reading during this Lenten Season the author, Jesse Zink, suggests that we are living in a market based society in which we are simply consumers who should find meaning through purchase and cons

I am writing these “Ponderings” on Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten Season.  I reminded the waitress at breakfast this morning that this was the first day of Lent, and she asked me what I was going to give up or abstain from during this Lenten Season.  I quickly responded, “Snow”! She reminds us that the tradition of the faithful during Lent is to give up something, or abstain from something.  In the spirit of ecumenism, I would like to quote what Pope Leo XIV sugge

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, challenging some of the theology and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.  Theses challenge eventually lead to the protestant reformation that to this day still is still visible in the landscape of the Christian Church. In 2024, Jesse A. Zink, principal of an ecumenical theological college affiliated with McGill University in Montreal, published

My journey as the minister of Mill Woods United Church came as a surprise to me.  When Ian Kellogg retired back in May of 2022, the pastoral search committee had been unsuccessful in finding a suitable candidate.  So I was asked to accept a year appointment as minister while the search continued.  In the spring of 2023 the church called Eli Carter-Morgan as its new minster to begin in August.  Eli ended up going on long-term leave the following October, and again I was asked

Coming back from a two week holiday in Mexico with a nasty cough and cold is no fun.  And change is afoot.  The Pastoral Search Committee is calling a meeting for February 1 st  to present for congregational vote the name of the new minister for Mill Woods United Church.  I have to confess, this news comes with much relief for me.  I look forward to my remaining months as your minister, but I also look forward to moving on in the summer as Mill Woods also embraces and steps i

It is a week before Christmas and there is music in the air.  Tomorrow afternoon we will celebrate the Sounds of Christmas with music, storytelling and Christmas goodies from 2:30 to 4:30 here in the sanctuary.  Our Sunday worship service the Fourth Sunday of Advent will be an explosion of music.  In addition to hymns and Christmas Carols, we will have a choir anthem, two selections presented by the Bells of Mill Woods United Church, two hand bell duets, and two piano solos f