At LMC

Coffee and Conversation is returning to hybrid in-person and online meetings. You are particularly invited to join us on Tuesday, November 1st, at 10:00 am as we watch and discuss the short film Doctrine of Discovery—in the name of Christ. 

Mark your calendar for Loaves & Fishes, Saturday, November 5, 4:30-6:30pm in Fellowship Hall. We’ll be building Kub Kars in preparation for the LMC (Kids) Christmas Banquet and generally having fun together! For those not interested in building cars, we’ll have some simple crafts and table games. Please bring a potluck dish to share.

Come and rejoice with us! On Sunday, November 6, 2022, we will have a Soup and Dessert Potluck to welcome and celebrate our Adult Sunday School guest speaker, Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt. Dr. Gerbrandt is President Emeritus of Canadian Mennonite University and the author of our three-Sunday series, “Joyful Wrestling: the Art of Reading Scripture.” He will be with us in-person on November 6, and will come to us by Zoom on the 13 and 20.
To attend the potluck, please register by November 4 by filling out the survey below or contacting Doug M. Please let us know if you can supply a pot of soup, a dessert, or dinner rolls, or if you can help set up at 9:30 or clean up afterwards. Thank you in advance for your participation!

In the community

CCMBC

CCMBC has appointed a new National Faith and Life Director. Ken Esau, Columbia Bible College prof, has been filling in the post for the past year on an interim basis and following a search process the Board was very pleased to call Ken to an ongoing appointment beginning November 1st. Ken brings not only exceptional Biblical and theological knowledge, but also a winsome presence to teaching and leading. We love his strong collaborative leadership!

A decision was made to reshape and reschedule our National Assembly. We failed to reach quorum at our June 2022 National Assembly. Out of the feedback and suggestions and our desire to make a move which will hopefully permit us to provide both in-person opportunity and online access, the Board agreed to the following as an experiment for the next while:

• Hold a two-hour online AGM to process the Audit and approve an Auditor, and appoint Directors June 8, 2023. This meets our required obligations on the financial level.
• Host a hybrid (In-Person and Online) Equip Conference and National Assembly in November 2023. Our hope is that the value of providing both Equipping and Key National Decision work will justify the costs of travel to such an event, and that its timing in November will avoid the very busy spring convention schedule.

Mennonite Central Committee

Breakfast! On November 18 at 9am, pastors, church admins, and lay leaders are invited to the Calgary office to have breakfast with Rick Cober Bauman, Executive Director of MCC Canada. RSVP by calling or texting Donita at 780-901-1021.

Join us for a celebration of 50 years of MCC Thrift! This special virtual event on November 22 at 6pm will celebrate the history, creativity and generosity of the MCC Thrift network and our many dedicated volunteers. Link: mcccanada.ca/get-involved/events/celebration-50-years-mcc-thrift.

Making decisions day by day/Checking in with partner in Ukraine. A new episode of Relief, Development and Podcast with updates on Ukraine is available at mcccanada.ca/relief-development-podcast.

Fellowship with us. Nov. 18, 7pm. Foothills Mennonite Church. Everyone is invited to an evening of stories and fellowship with Rick Cober Bauman and Ryan Siemens, the Executive Directors of MCC Canada and Alberta. RSVP by calling the Calgary office at 403-275-6935.

Ecumenical Friends

The Give Away: Where Repair, Reciprocity, and Reconciliation Meet. What does the work of reconciliation look like? Join us at “The Give Away” to learn about the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual roots of reparations and reciprocity. We will participate in interactive workshops with Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders and consider our role as individuals and as the church in repairing broken relationships and building a shared future with all of our neighbours in what we call Canada. Join us November 5th from 9:00 to 3:00 at The King’s University.

To register for the event, visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-give-away-where-repair-reciprocity-and-reconciliation-meet-tickets-429356074577

To learn more about the Pakitinâsowin Fund for Reciprocity and Reparations, visit: https://www.kingsu.ca/reciprocity-fund

Mennonite Disaster Service

Volunteers needed in Atlantic Canada. MDS Canada is appealing for volunteers to assist with clean-up efforts in Cape Breton from Hurricane Fiona. Accommodations and meals will be provided; travel reimbursements are available. Volunteers are needed until mid-December. Contact Clara Flores at cflores@mds.org or call 866-261-1274.

Early response. Hurricane Ian brought significant damage to the residents of Florida. Contact Kelsey Friesen (kfriesen@mds.org or 866-261-1274) if you’re interested in serving as a Leadership Volunteer for 4+ weeks, or Deanna Frey (dfrey@mds.org or 800-241-8111) if you’re interested in serving as a Weekly Volunteer for 1-3 weeks.

Weekly Volunteer opportunities in Eastern KY; Jennings, LA; McAllen, TX; and Paradise, CA through the end of 2022. Contact Deanna Frey (dfrey@mds.org or 800-241-8111) with any questions or to schedule a week of service!

Leadership Volunteer opportunities in Eastern KY; Crisfield, MD; Jennings, LA; McAllen, TX; and Paradise, CA; and openings for RV Volunteers at the RV Project in Welsh, LA through the end of 2022. Contact Kelsey Friesen (kfriesen@mds.org or 866-261-1274) to learn more or to serve at these projects for 4 weeks or more!

Winter projects (January through March) in Paradise, CA; McAllen, TX; Jennings, LA; Dawson Springs, KY; Eastern KY; and Crisfield, MD! Contact Deanna for Weekly Volunteer Options and Josh for Leadership and RV.

A Common Word Alberta

Christian-Muslim Dialogue. ACWAB invites you to their annual Christian-Muslim Dialogue, held this year on October 29, 2022 from 10 am to 2 pm at All Saints Anglican Cathedral. The theme this year is “Drawing the Circle Bigger: Inclusion and Belonging as expressed in our faith tradition.” Find out more on their website.

Village Goods

Starting Monday, October 31, the Village Goods store on Whyte Avenue will be open 7 days a week. Check out the store for fair trade Christmas decorations, nativity scenes, and gifts, such as children’s toys and books, mittens and socks, calendars, and jewelry. If you are interested in volunteering, contact us at info@villagegoods.ca.

The King’s University

Annual Music Faculty Gala. Our music department is proud to present King’s faculty musicians who will showcase their talents across a variety of instruments. There are decades of professional performing experience represented in this lineup and tickets are very affordable. Join us Friday, November 4th at 7:30 pm.

Time to stretch your own music muscles? It’s not too late to register for our Alumni and Community Chorus. We have a record-breaking 75 choristers this year and the group is looking to tackle some fun and exciting new pieces. No auditions required—just a love and passion for music and song. Register here.

Living within our planetary boundaries for our common good. For the rest of the year, each of our Everything Series lectures will be hosted on campus. Next up, on November 8th at 7:00 pm, is Dr. Peter Mahaffy’s lecture on living within our planetary boundaries. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided. Wine and beer are available for purchase.

Richard Eaton Singers

The Music of Vaughan Williams. Concert Saturday, November 12, 2022, at 7:30 pm at the Winspear Centre. Richard Eaton Singers have in past years had the opportunity to present numerous concerts with the Edmonton Symphony either on or around Remembrance Day, as musical commemorations of one of the most significant national holidays in our calendar. This concert will present several of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ works, including his major cantata on the theme of war and peace, Dona nobis pacem. This co-production will reveal the composer’s lifelong commitment to writing impactful music for voice and orchestra including four representative works that span a period of nearly 50 years of compositional activity.

Reflecting on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we begin with the short celebratory hymn arrangement Vaughan Williams was invited to contribute to her coronation in 1953, The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune: All People That on Earth do Dwell.The first half of the concert closes with his Five Mystical Songs for baritone soloist, chorus and orchestra.

The second half of the concert will centre on the fact that Vaughan Williams’s long life (1872-1958) spanned both World Wars. Although at the age of 42 he was well past the age of conscription for active duty in WWI, he did contribute as an ambulance attendant for British campaigns both in Greece and France, and the experience of witnessing the brutality of the War’s casualties affected him deeply.  Undoubtedly the memories of these war experiences were very much on his mind when in 1935, with the ominous signs of conflict emerging from continental Europe, he composed the cantata Dona nobis pacem – grant us peace. A major source of text for Vaughan Williams was war poet Walt Whitman. The rigours of war are aptly represented in Beat! Beat! Drums!, Dirge for Two Veterans, and Reconciliation. The cantata closes with a triumphant and ultimately peaceful, reassuring “Dona nobis pacem”, hauntingly sung unaccompanied by soloist and chorus.

Celebrate, commemorate, and reminisce with us in Remembrance of those that have given their lives to protect ours. Buy tickets here.

The Chester Ronning Centre

Stories about Religion in Public Office. Can you be religious in office? The Chester Ronning Centre hosts a conversation on the politics of religion and public life. Join Interim Director Joseph Wiebe who will be speaking with Agnes Hoveland (Camrose City Councillor), Rodrigo Loyola (MLA, Ellerslie), and Jonathan Martin (Chief Federal Prosecutor) about their experiences of religious traditions in their public life. This event will be held on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre, Mayer Hall, at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus. There will be refreshments at 6:30, and the program will begin at 7:00. Register here.