Weddings and baptisms
Sunset United Church is available for weddings! See our Wedding Policy
Have your child baptized into a community of love. Baptism is a Sacrament
Contact
Sunset United Church
177 Sunset Drive [map]
Regina, SK, S4S 6Y7
306-586-3613 | Marci (office staff)
Ministers: Russell | Kathy
Office Hours:
9:00am-3:00pm Tuesday/Thursday; 9:00am-1:00pm Wednesday/Friday
Problems, questions or comments?
email the web committee
Author and Publisher Access
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Kathy's Blog
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Kathy's Spiritual Meanderings... |
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Written by Kathy Platt
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Friday, 03 February 2012 11:18 |
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The scripture for this week is: "they that wait upon God, shall renew their strength." So, that got me thinking about waiting and how I don't often find waiting a very strengthening activity - just the opposite usually! I think a lot of that depends on our attitude. I was talking with one mom who was introducing me to her 3 week old baby - a complete treat for me to hold such a very wee young person! Anyways, she was saying that it has been funny hearing the different reactions from friends who have had children. If it is a really long time since the person had their babies, she would hear: "enjoy this time - it passes by all too quickly!" If it was a mom whose babies had just gotten out of diapers, she would hear: "don't worry - this phase won't last forever!" Our perspective makes a big difference as to how enjoyable the waiting is. Part of the goal might be to stay connected to the present moment and not look to either what's to come, or what used to be - but just stay connected to the moment you are in. The strengthening part of the present moment might be an opportunity to simply be still and know that you are in exactly the right place at the right time. I was also thinking about what happens when I am in my car in a traffic jam. I can very easily go to that place of road rage and curse everyone around me who seems to be moving at a snail's pace. However, what can turn that around is if I put some good tunes in the disc player and let the music carry my heart to a better space! So the strengthening part of a wait over which we have no control might be to allow music to change the mood and lighten the anxiety. Life is full of moments that involve "waiting" - waiting for our children to be born, waiting for our children to grow up, waiting for test results to come back, waiting for a long-anticipated holiday to arrive, waiting for...and the list goes on. My hope is that we find ways to allow the waiting time to be life-giving, and that we feel the strengthening presence of God enabling us to walk courageously towards wherever the wait may be leading us.
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Kathy's Spiritual Meanderings... |
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Written by Kathy Platt
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Friday, 27 January 2012 13:28 |
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We have been doing some re-vamping of this website and decided that my "blog" would now be on the home page. So what I hope is that what I write will be "spiritual", and knowing how my brain works, it will most likely be "meandering" - hence the snappy title! In preparing for Sunday, one of the theolgians I was reading asked us to reflect on times when we may have been possessed by an "unclean spirit". He draws out that idea by saying there are times when he has been so possessed by anger that he said or did things that he later regretted. Or what about someone who is so possessed by addictions that he/she makes very poor life decisions? Or what about being so possessed by racism or prejudice that you can't see past your blind spots? When Jesus confronts an "unclean spirit" he simply speaks with authority and tells the unclean spirit to leave. I wish it were that simple! However, if we think of who we are as a community of faith, part of what we do when we gather together is speak about how to be a "spirit of blessing" in the world. It is hard for anyone to imagine how to do that when they spend all their time in isolation - sometimes we need the encouragement and solidarity of a community around us to give us the courage to embrace a new spirit or a new way of "being" in the world. I have been speaking recently with several people who have been diagnosed with cancer. As always I am deeply touched by their courageous spirit in speaking about living with the diagnosis. It is easy to be paralyzed with fear simply at hearing the word "cancer". I believe that it is possible to live with fear, but not be so consumed with fear that it silences or paralyzes us. This Sunday I want to explore how our faith journey can help to cleanse our spirits from those things that possess us and lead us to actions/decisions we later regret - and how our faith communities can be places where we discover the courage to confront those unclean spirits that possess us from time to time.
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Last Updated on Friday, 03 February 2012 11:00 |
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Free to respond - IMMEDIATELY |
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Written by Kathy Platt
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Thursday, 19 January 2012 14:58 |
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Whenever I take a look at what the scripture reading is for the week, there tends to be a word that leaps off the page. This week it is IMMEDIATELY. Jesus sees 2 men, says, "come and follow" and IMMEDIATELY they do just that. Walks a little further along - says the same thing to another 2 men - and IMMEDIATELY they follow. We tend to live in a culture that likes to receive "immediately", but doesn't always seem as keen to give "immediately". First of all we need to check our schedules and see when we might be free to give a little of our time. Secondly we need to check our bank books to see if we really do have any cash that is extra that might allow us to give to something not written into our automatic debits. And then there is the whole business of checking out the legitimacy of whatever it is that is asking us to give. When we were visiting one of the widows in her home in a village in Kenya, she spoke about not being able to pay the fees for her children to write their final exams. That meant they had to be sent home, which meant that she had to come up with food for two more of her children who otherwise would have been fed lunch at the school. So Tim reached in his pocket and pulled out the $10 that enabled her to pay the outstanding fees. I was busy listening and shaking my head in great compassion - but my first reaction was not to just pull the money out of my pocket to give her. I met a man named Paul who is very involved in the work of Sauti Moja. He told me that he had to be careful because he gave so much to others that he didn't have enough money left to buy himself a new shirt - he had a sweater on with a huge hole in the side of it. I yearn for the day when I can say honestly that I responded IMMEDIATELY when I saw the need. Not because I am a martyr, not because I want recognition, not because I have more money than I know how to spend - but because I heard the call to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and I responded IMMEDIATELY! This Sunday I will be showing photos that I took while I was in Kenya and Tanzania. The people in these photos taught me much about courage, about strength, about generosity, and about faithful living. I look forward to sharing their stories with all of you.
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Last Updated on Friday, 27 January 2012 13:09 |
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Written by Kathy Platt
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Wednesday, 18 January 2012 19:20 |
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This is a test to see if this new place for my blog will work. Hope y'all enjoy it!
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 January 2012 19:21 |
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And just how was Africa?? |
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Written by Kathy Platt
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Thursday, 12 January 2012 16:01 |
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One of the challenges of the week is figuring out how to respond to that question. As I read minutes from the Board about budget and building challenges and money shortages, my mind's eye flashes back to sitting in mud homes hearing about eating nothing but leaves that have been boiled in water because the food relief trucks haven't been able to get to the community. As I head out to plug in my vehicle in the frigid wind of a Prairie winter evening, my mind's eye flashes back to watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean as we sat at our table on the beach at Zanzibar. As I listen to the kids who have arrived here for Explorers this afternoon, my mind's eye flashes back to the kids who are walking in the fields of Kenya and Tanzania shepherding the flocks of goats and donkeys, and whose parents often can't afford the fees associated with attending school. The world I was immersed in for the month of November is vastly different than the world that we inhabit here in Regina, Saskatchewan. It is impossible to compare, and it is impossible to describe. I know that my heart is full of memories and stories -full of faces and relationships that I will never forget. I also know that it is very, very good to be home. I expect I will continue to ponder, to puzzle, to reflect - and that some of that will spill over into the work that I do here at Sunset. One of the huge gifts of this sabbatical was the opportunity to put my watch and my day-timer away. I hope that one of the gifts that I will bring back with me is the slowing down of the franctic pace we lead around here. It is essential that we learn to listen to the beating of our collective hearts - that we learn to look around and give thanks for the gift of community and for the gift of life itself. So, I trust that people will be patient when it looks like I am miles away - I may have retreated back to Africa for a few minutes, but I am trying hard to plant my feet on this soil, and I am trusting that God will give me the strength and the wisdom to tell the stories that need to be told - a little bit at a time!
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Last Updated on Thursday, 12 January 2012 16:54 |
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Located in Regina, SK.
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