<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[mwuc]]></title><description><![CDATA[mwuc]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:45:22 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.millwoodsunited.org/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[June 11th - Pastoral Pondering]]></title><description><![CDATA[This spring in Edmonton has been a bit of a roller coaster.  We have a few glorious sunny days that are even warm, then the clouds roll in and the rains come, and come, and come.  Then the cycle repeats.  Our weather reminds me of the rhythm of life with highs and lows, peaks and valleys, joys and sorrows. Last Sunday we celebrated Pride Sunday and it was truly a mountain top, joyful experience.  The joy continued to flow as towards the end of our worship service we held a “Ceremony of...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/june-11th-pastoral-pondering</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a29c455a83c9aa62bd42a4b</guid><pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:09:07 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[June 5th - Pride Month]]></title><description><![CDATA[We are now in the month of June, the month that in recent years has been referred to as Pride Month.  In light of this, Naheed Nenshi, NDP leader in Alberta, posted on Facebook that “Alberta is seeing growing attacks on 2SLGTBQ+ communities and warns that recent moves targeting trans rights are only the beginning”.  What surprised me was the type of responses and replies to his post.  Many either wanted to argue with his statement or simply come back at him with personal attacks.  I was...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/june-5th-pride-month</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a2436a41a907a1704eb1e7e</guid><pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2026 15:04:07 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[May 29 - Change is coming]]></title><description><![CDATA[When I was a kid in Sunday school I remember singing the song, with actions, about the wise man and the foolish man.  Based on the parable in Matthew 7:24-27, the song tells the story about the wise man building his house upon the rock and the foolish man building his house upon the sand.  The rains came down and the floods came up.  The wise man’s house stood firm, the foolish man’s house came tumbling down.  As I read this now, what strikes me is the awareness that storms come in life,...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/may-29-change-is-coming</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a1a06ddcd05d69352d255c6</guid><pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 21:37:14 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[May 23 - a jam-packed celebration]]></title><description><![CDATA[In May of 1981 I was ordained a minister in the American Baptist Churches of America at a church in Wayne Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.  On May 24, 2009, my ordination was recognized and I was officially welcomed as a minister of word, sacrament and pastoral care in the United Church of Canada at a regional celebration in Langley, BC.  This Sunday will mark 17 years since I officially became a part of United Church family.  At the time I had absolutely no idea that in the years following I...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/a-jam-packed-celebration</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a11c03258e6754d67c6c420</guid><pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2026 14:56:54 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[May 14 - Moose Hide Campaign Day]]></title><description><![CDATA[Today, May 14, is Moose Hide Campaign Day which began as a BC-born Indigenous-led grassroots movement to engage men and boys in ending violence towards women and children. It has since grown into a nationwide movement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians focused on ending gender-based violence.  Born out of sorrow and grief, the Campaign began over 10 years ago along the Highway of Tears where many indigenous girls and young women simply disappeared.  The Campaign today provides us the...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/may-14-moose-hide-campaign-day</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a072f4a22114a9aa2a77c21</guid><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 14:38:20 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[April 30 - Pastoral Pondering]]></title><description><![CDATA[Today is the last day of April, 2026.  I have nine more Sundays left before I retire on June 28th.  Last night I attended the April Church Council Meeting.  I only have two more such meetings left before the Council takes a leave for the summer and resumes in the fall with their new minister.  As I write this I am aware that I am feeling a mixture of relief and sadness.  I am relieved that my time here as your minister is coming to a close.  I have been in this role far longer than I...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/april-30-pastoral-pondering</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a01f531160bfc81f64fdf4b</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 15:27:13 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[April 24 - Pastoral Ponderings]]></title><description><![CDATA[Thanks to Rob McPhee, our 50th Anniversary Book is now published and being distributed.  Looking back over the last 50 years, 1976 – 2026, evoked a myriad of wonderful stories and memories.  The scripture reading for this coming Sunday describes the early church as a community where everyone shared whatever they had, and none went without.  It reminded me of some of the old hippie communes back in the 60’s and 70’s where a large home or farm was shared by many people and all were regarded as...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/april-24-pastoral-ponderings</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ecde89b502c05c43b6e395</guid><pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2026 15:33:21 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[April 15th - Pastoral Ponderings]]></title><description><![CDATA[I am writing these Ponderings on April 15 th , and there is a skiff of fresh snow on the ground.  Our niece sent us pictures of a recent visit her family made to Butchart Gardens near Victoria.  The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming and spring was clearly in the air.  This time of year a part of me longs for the resurrection of spring.  Yet on the Prairies, including in Edmonton, I am always amazed that when it rains or even when it snows, people often say, “Well, you know we really...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/pastoral-ponderings-april-15th</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e4e5290c8d230c9e9290fa</guid><pubDate>Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:22:37 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[April 7 - Mother's Day]]></title><description><![CDATA[Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday and it is always a challenge for a minister and/or for a church to decide how to deal with this day.  When I grew up in the church, mothers always received recognition and sometimes a flower on Mother’s Day.  But over the years traditions have shifted and changed.  This happened partly because some people had horrible, even abusive mothers, or mothers who abandoned them.  It is hard to pretend that all mothers are the source of comfort, love and affection,...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/april-7-mother-s-day</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a01f5c60e085586d47922ab</guid><pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:29:21 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[April 2 - Maundy Thursday]]></title><description><![CDATA[The psalmist proclaims, "There may be tears for the night, but joy comes in the morning." In many ways this passage reflects our Holy Week journey. Today, Maundy Thursday, we remember Jesus celebrating Passover, and what we now call the Last Supper, with his disciples in which he predicts that one will betray him. They then go out where Jesus enters into agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. On Friday we remember Jesus' crucifixion, death and burial. Thursday and Friday invite to...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/april-2-maundy-thursday</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cfd72e535e7bcd269ab1e5</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:06:40 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[March 26 - Holy Week]]></title><description><![CDATA[Holy Week is approaching.  Following Palm Sunday, this Sunday, we will launch into a week of contemplation and reflection which includes the remembering the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday and the Crucifixion on Good Friday. During Holy Week this year we will have the opportunity to walk the Labyrinth in the sanctuary beginning Monday, March 30 th .   The Labyrinth will be open through Thursday from 10:00 – 4:00. On April 3 rd , Good Friday, we will have a brief Good Friday Service while...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/march-26-holy-week</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c41ca1a0626dd1900a453e</guid><pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 17:42:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/faa811_abdbb3cac9584134a60e80fdade3d816~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[March 19th - first day of spring]]></title><description><![CDATA[Tomorrow, March 20 th , is the first day of spring.  It just might be my perception, but it feels like this winter has been exceedingly harsh with cold temperatures; snow, snow and more snow; and ice so pervasive that parking lots are turning into skating rinks. So on the eve of the return of spring, I am reminded of these words from a familiar hymn written by Natalie Sleeth: In the bulb there is a flower In the seed an apple tree, In cocoons a hidden promise: Butterflies will soon be free!...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/pastoral-ponders-first-day-of-spring</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69be0470401a0b244d00ff91</guid><pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 02:38:50 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[March 12, 2026 - Soul Searching]]></title><description><![CDATA[Traditionally Lent is a season of soul searching, an opportunity to take an honest look at one’s self and identify both one’s strengths and weaknesses.  As a clinical educator I observed that growth and change come when someone makes a mistake or experiences a failure, reflects on what they did, and explore what they could do differently.  Refusal to recognize and admit a mistake and reflect on one’s experience stunts growth and limits one’s ability to change.  It also keeps us stuck.   This...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/march-12-2026-soul-searching</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b43ba3d7b18f7389d1bf80</guid><pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2026 16:31:47 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mar 05, 2026 -"the times they are a-changin"]]></title><description><![CDATA[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 night, you will...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/pastoral-ponderings-mar-05-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ab0a0b7fac2e2861fe7101</guid><pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 17:08:46 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[February 27, 2026 - Lent season of Soul Searching]]></title><description><![CDATA[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 consumption.  One’s...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/lent-season-of-soul-searching</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a21e73b9110b3fca19270d</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:45:27 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pastoral Ponderings - February 19, 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[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 suggests as we enter...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/pastoral-ponderings-february-19-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69978ccf7b02767d8665caf8</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Feb 2026 22:22:17 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pastoral Ponderings - February 12, 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[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 a book entitled...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/pastoral-ponderings-february-12-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6994f13d180bb9f884cba3b6</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:52:54 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pastoral Ponderings - January 29, 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[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 to step in and...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/pastoral-ponderings-january-29-2026-1</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6994f0e0180bb9f884cba2c6</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:51:25 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pastoral Ponderings - January 22, 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[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 into the future...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/pastoral-ponderings-january-22-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6994f0aca8ff0d3b0980de6e</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:50:32 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pastoral Ponderings - December 18, 2025]]></title><description><![CDATA[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 from younger...]]></description><link>https://www.millwoodsunited.org/post/pastoral-ponderings-december-18-2025</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6994f064180bb9f884cba162</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:50:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>LaneB Borstad</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>