Enjoy us at the Covenant Church for Good Friday Service at 10:30 AM.
kitchen update
A big thank you to your Kitchen team for all the work they have been doing over the last couple of months.
To keep up to date on the kitchen renovations. Visit your Facebook.
A SYNOPSIS OF THE JANUARY 20, 2024 CONGREGATIONAL WORKSHOP
The Visioning Workshop was well attended by 34 members and adherents of the congregation of First Presbyterian Church, Penetanguishene. Rev. Dr. Malnick stressed that there were two areas that “Visioning” helps to identify. These are:
Who we are (and who our neighbours are)
Who we are called to be (what we can offer our church and community).
Rev. Malnick used examples from several congregations to which she has been associated over the years to illustrate that knowledge of our strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities are key to understanding our role as a congregation.
Those in attendance recognized our strengths to include: a wonderful music program; welcoming attitude; fellowship; willingness to learn (preaching & bible study); our “traditional” worship style/comfort zone; and our anticipation/excitement in outreach – serving God.
Our weaknesses or challenges were seen as: finances; an aging congregation with a dwindling resource of volunteers; our ability to continue to provide pastoral care and outreach; communication; programming; making better use of our facility all week long; visibility in the community (marketing); and more specifically how to emphasize respect in the sanctuary pre service – the challenge of fellowship vs preparing for the Sunday worship.
The Visioning experience is a spiritual process with God, working through each of us. As God has provided us each with various gifts, He allows us to take this experience and grow it with intentionality and transition, with an outcome of serving Him. We must recognize that many approaches of the past are no longer applicable, and this has been exemplified by the worldwide COVID pandemic. However, there are new opportunities that await our exploration. When asked who our neighbours are, the answer was a long list of possibilities, and numerous opportunities to love and serve God’s people. I think we surprised ourselves.
FOLLOW-UP … a recommendation to enable a visioning committee within our congregation was put forward.
Submitted by Mary Sheriff, Workshop Secretary)
Feb. 6, 2023 Session approved the recommendation to form a visioning committee. We would invite each of our ministry groups to be represented and hope we will have a group of 12-15. Please consider joining this important mission of sharing ideas in developing strategies and goals to excitedly move forward in our journey of faith
Interested in serving on such a committee? Speak to Clerk of Session, Shirley Spearn, email address spearns@sympatico.ca 705 549-8516
Under Construction - Kitchen
As the kitchen is under construction and the old hall downstairs has hazards on the floor.
We value your safety. Please be careful if you have to go into the old hall downstairs either to use the elevator or the washroom. We don’t want anyone to stumble or fall over them.
Visioning Workshop
Dear Friends and Family of First Church:
We are excited to invite everyone to a Congregational Visioning Workshop on Saturday January 20 10am-1pm at First in our church hall.
It will give everyone an opportunity to share their ideas, goals and strategies to meet the challenges of a changing time in our church.
Rev. Dr. Heather Malnick minister at Knox Presbyterian Church in Bracebridge will be leading us. She is very experienced with helping congregations
discuss different ways of engaging with the community and within our family of faith.
Come and discover how we can implement and communicate our vision to move forward to fulfil God's plan for First.
Candlelight Services
We are looking forward to a special Christmas Eve together. We are hosting Candlelight Services at 7pm on Sunday December 24, 2023. All are welcome to join us for these interactive and joyful services.
Winter Bible Study - Wednesdays
Starting Wednesday January 10, 2024. The Winter session of our weekly Bible study meets Wednesday afternoons, in the lower church hall, at 1:15 PM. We “make a joyful noise” singing hymns for half an hour and then have our study and discussion until about 3:00. There will be Bible-reading, wonderful fellowship, much laughter and thought-provoking discussion. The Winter Study will be announced.
You are welcome to join us whether or not you have any biblical knowledge or any church affiliation. Please contact Donna Drapkin (donnadrapkin@bell.net) if you are interested or have any questions.
RightNow Media on indefinite hiatus
RightNow Media will no longer be accessible to fiends and family of First Presbyterian Church as of Oct 15th. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope it was a useful tool to you! Please note that if you would like to have this service continued, you should reach out to an elder and let them know.
Outdoor Picnic Potluck Service - June 25, 2023
On June 25th, we will be having an outdoor picnic potluck service at the Penetanguishene Museum at 10:30AM. You are welcome to join us, but please don’t forget to bring your own cutlery, cups, plates, and a lawn chair if you can! We will share a potluck meal after the service, with activities and games.
YouTube Stream Update
Click here to join us for worship on our upgraded YouTube Stream beginning June 18th at 10:30AM. We give our thanks to the Presbytery of Barrie who has made it possible for us to upgrade our live streaming equipment and pray that it would be a blessing to many.
Online Services on Indefinite Hiatus
As of 2023, our pre-recorded online services that have helped us throughout the pandemic, will be going on an indefinite hiatus. The Session will be looking at alternative options to continue to serve those who continue to worship from home. We extend an enormous thank you for those who have continued to worship with us over the years, and thank all those who have contributed in various ways to the services. For those of you who are able, we hope you will be encouraged to come to our in-person services on Sundays at 10:30AM.
Most of our past Online Services remain available for viewing on our Youtube Channel here.
You can also visit our Sermons page for audio recordings of recent services.
Join our In Person Worship Service
We are excited to announce that on August 1st we will have our first in-person worship service since the beginning of the COVID Pandemic. We ask that you follow the guidelines and registration process here.
We thank the Lord for having sustained us all this time and look forward to gathering to worship Him on Sunday!
Church to Remain Closed Until Further Notice
In light of the current situation with COVID-19, the Re-Opening Sub-Committee and the Session has decided to keep the church closed until further notice.
Minister's Letter
*This is a copy of a letter in the Weekly Bulletin that is sent straight to the inboxes of members of our congregation. If you would like to sign up for the Bulletin please click here
Shalom! (Peace be with you!)
As many of you know, I will be away from Aug. 3rd - 24th, and during this time there will be no bulletins sent. However, Shirley Spearn will be sending out the details for the Wasaga Beach Community Presbyterian Church's service on Sunday mornings, with whom First Church will be worshipping with. It is wonderful that we can visit with another church in this way, as I am sure many of you have been exploring other services as well. Wherever, whenever and however we worship the Lord, may it be to His glory!
This Sunday we will be celebrating Holy Communion during the service. I had originally planned on creating a separate video for the Sacrament, but have found a way to include it in our main Online Sunday Service. Please prepare your elements of bread (or crackers) and wine (or juice) before the service. Participation in this virtual communion is voluntary and I ask that you prayerfully discern this for yourselves.
I want to say a special thank you to Ken Hicks who has resigned as chair of the Board of Managers. His service to First Church in the background has been a blessing to all in ways we could never fully appreciate. His resignation has come just before a major spinal surgery that took place this past Thursday. Our prayers are with him and his family throughout his recovery.
While I am away members of the Session will be checking the church voicemail regularly, and they will do their best to maintain the current office hours in case you would like to drop off your offerings (Tues & Thurs. from 9-11AM). In case of an emergency please contact the Clerk of Session Shirley Spearn at 705-762-0001
Praise the Lord for all that we can enjoy and know.
May the peace of Christ be with you.
In Christ,
Rev. William Min
From the Desk of the Clerk of Session
Dear Friends: Greetings from session.
We are missing being together, we want to worship together, break bread together and greet one another face to face. We are getting isolation fatigue and want things to return to normal.
Representatives from Session, Board of Managers and Leading with Care met this week, to consider the eventual opening of our sanctuary. We are carefully considering pastoral care and needs of our congregation in planning re-opening. We are staying updated with the advice of public health officials. We want to make responsible, faithful, thoughtful and lawful decisions.
We are developing a phased approach to re-opening in accordance with government and PCC guidlines about public worship and gatherings. Session want to protect the vulnerable and since all are vulnerable in varying degrees to this pandemic, we will not put people at further risk. We will be adhering to all health care directives and taking all measures to be safe and reduce risks.
Even after we have worship services in the sanctuary Rev. Min will continue to send out online services and will continue to have a mail out to people who do not have a computer. There will be those who cannot and should not come to public worship.
We are preparing a survey so that we will be more aware of your needs and hopes so we can better plan for re-opening. We will continue to update you as to when we can safely re-open.
Thank you to all who continue to work at bringing us God's word and music with the online worship services. It is only with Rev. William's remarkable skills that it can all be synchronized and sent out. He has made it very easy to join the service, just click where indicated on the email that he sends on Sunday morning. Although we cannot see one another it does connect all of us who are watching at 10am.
Thank you to the Pastoral Care team and to everyone who have been providing support and love to our family of faith. Please leave a message on the church answering machine, it is checked daily by our minister. Just ask if you would like to speak to him or an elder or be added to the Pastoral call list. Rev. William is at the church on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9 - 11 am
Our expenses are still ongoing for the building and our staff, so we encourage those who can to continue with your offering. We are grateful for your support. You can do this by mailing your cheque to the church, dropping it off on Tuesday or Thursday between 9 - 11am or the easiest, by PAR speaking to Jill StAmant 705 549-4142 or email jillmstamant@gmail.com who will set it up for you. The financial statements for the year 2019 are available upon request and can be emailed to you or copies can be picked up at the church.
Hope you enjoyed the church video of activities from 2019. We are grateful to Jean Hall who did a exceptional job of putting the video together.
Thank you to Ann and Ernie Corbeau who continue to keep our building clean and safe. Ernie's birthday was this week, Happy Birthday Ernie ! 🎈🎉
Our elder Kirk Weldon is taking a well deserved retirement from active eldership after many years at First and before that at other churches. Ken Hicks will be retiring as chairperson of the Board of Managers as soon as a replacement can be found. We are deeply appreciative of Kirk and Ken's commitment to these committees, we have counted on their wisdom and experience, they will be truly missed.
Remember we are all here to do God's good works by encouraging others. We will get through this together.
We pray for God's peace that comes from knowing that "Your Faith is Bigger than Your Fear".
Shirley Spearn Clerk of Session on behalf of the elders Jim Anderson, Trish Cheshire, Peter Cheshire, Klaas Koiter, Gary Ronald
A Message to First's Family of Faith (From the desk of the Clerk of Session)
March 27, 2020
Dear Church Family:
The Board of Managers and Session have been discussing these “without precedence” times, and the non-ordinary challenges they present to a host of daily activities, including the format for practicing our faith. The Board Members take seriously their responsibility for the care and maintenance of property, the collection and management of funding, and the physical safety/well being of those both serving the congregation and congregants attending our programs.
To be in compliance with provincial dictates regarding only keeping open essential services, we suggest that the sanctuary and assembly halls be closed until further notice. Excluded from this will be our minister, the organist as needed, and our custodians to keep our complex safe and clean-(dust and flies do not follow provincial edicts).
Regarding our offering: reminding our congregation that even though the building is closed the church has ongoing expenses. The BOM is suggesting 3 options for contributions;
a. Mail your collection, in the form of a cheque, with envelope number, to the church address, 20 Robert St E. Penetanguishene L9M 1K9, Attn Board of Managers, and monthly would suffice
b. Encourage members to chose this time to select the PAR offering format, and you do that by phoning or emailing our envelope secretary, Jill St. Amant, 705 549-4142 jillmstamant @gmail.com
c. Those wishing to continue using “offering envelopes” with cash or cheque, a deposit box marked Offering will be placed inside the parking lot doors, and access to it will be Tues. & Thurs. between 9am - 11am. To reduce contamination the hall will be cordoned off from the rest of the building. We believe these actions to be in our member's best interests.
Rev. William will be posting a weekly worship service online and mailing printed materials to people who don't have email. Church services and our Annual Congregational Meeting are regretfully cancelled until further notice.
We have a calling committee who are reaching out and people who are willing to drop off groceries to you. We are a family that care and support one another so if you need us please call your elder or call Rev. William 705 549-2776.
Peace and Comfort,
Shirley Spearn
Clerk of Session on behalf of our elders
URGENT: All gatherings and services have been cancelled
Dear Friends,
In light of the ever evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the Session of First Presbyterian Church have decided to cancel all upcoming weekly gatherings, events and services until further notice. Please stay home! This is as much for yourselves as an act of care towards those around us as well.
We will continue to pray for those who are more directly impacted by this virus; the ill, the medical personnel at the frontlines of this crisis, and the families who may potentially be separated during their travels. May we trust in the Lord who is our refuge and strength, a source of help and assurance in times of trouble (Psalm 46)
We will be uploading our services online at our new YouTube channel here.
Please also find below a letter written by a friend who is a medical practitioner regarding their current perspective on this vitally important window of opportunity.
In Christ,
-Rev. William
Shalom.
We are all currently facing challenging times in the light of the new COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. I pray that with God’s wisdom we can get through these trying times together.
I write this letter as a currently practicing family physician here in Ontario to highlight the urgency of the issues we are facing NOW. In a nutshell, the media / government / the public in large still have not grasped the urgency of the outbreak. Looking at the pattern of the virus we now know that eventually FIVE PERCENT of all infected people will end up in hospital requiring MECHANICAL VENTILATION for up to a month in order to fight the virus. The issue is that in all of Canada we ONLY HAVE 3170 hospital beds available with means to deliver the intensive care. Canada currently has a population of 37 million. We have learnt that unless the early spread of the virus is contained, countries can end up with 30-70% of its population infected. In the best scenario.. 37 million times 30%.... far outnumbers the 3170 intensive care beds.
The ONLY THING we can do currently is to practice STRICT SOCIAL DISTANCING. This means staying home unless your life depends on it. This would include work / shopping / meetings, etc. Over the weekend, we family doctors all over Canada have begun to set up phone / internet telehealth services for the majority of our patients so we do not have to see them in person in order to deliver health service. We are all scrambling at this point.
However, as aforementioned, the media / provincial / federal policy have still failed to highlight the urgency of the issue. For instance, many provinces sent out a message that meetings with over 250 people should be discouraged. It should have said that any meetings should be discouraged at this point. Many people still assume that Canada is not at a critical stage because so far there has not been any confirmed “community spread” of the virus. But many fail to realize that we were not even testing for “community cases” in the first place, and do not have enough test kits to do so in the near future. People were only tested if they had symptoms + travelled to high risk areas or have been in contact with confirmed COVID patients. It is now even more strict because they are only testing people who meet the criteria above PLUS only those who are health care workers / reside in long term care / already hospitalized / etc. The current number of infected people only represents the tip of the iceberg.
DOCTORS ACROSS CANADA ARE PANICKING CURRENTLY. Ontario premier Doug Ford today had a press release where he said that Ontario is ready with enough supply to fight the virus. BUT I know that doctors in COVID testing centers in Ontario have been wearing the same disposable (one time use) protective yellow suit for 3 days in a row and cleaning it themselves with lysol spray. I know that no family doctor clinics have enough protective gears to last them more than a few days at most. All we can do at this point is to practice STRICT SOCIAL DISTANCING. Otherwise, this will spread quickly, and we will end up at a stage where we have to decide who gets the intensive care and who will be left on their own with little fighting chance. I pray that all of us will part take in the process.
God bless.
Dr. Lee, Y.S.
Annual Congregational Meeting
This year’s Annual Congregational Meeting (ACM) is on Sunday, March 29th following the service and potluck lunch. All committee chairs are asked to submit their 2019 Annual Reports by March 1, 2020.
Reading the Bible in 2020!
As we enter the New Year, First Church is embarking on a journey to spend more time in the Scriptures! We have been using a variety of resources available online:
1) The Gospel Coalition: Read The Bible with TGC in 2020
2) A video on the impact of Reading the Bible 4x a time
If you would like to join and sign up to this challenge (whether you are reading the Bible everyday, or just a few more times a week!) email Rev. William at rev.wmin@gmail.com so that the church can keep you in their prayers on this endeavour!
CHRISTMAS BAZAAR, BAKE SALE & White Elephant Sale
Once again, Stitch & Chat is holding its Annual Christmas Bazaar, White Elephant Sale and Bake Sale on Friday, November 15 from 2:00–6:00 PM and on Saturday, November 16 from 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. Anyone who would like to donate crafts, knitting, sewing, white elephant sale items (nearly new items, not garage sale items) or bake sale items, please contact Trish Cheshire at 705-549-5226 or Jean Hall at 705-355-0334 to arrange for drop-off or pick-up times. Also, we need your support, so come out and enjoy the event and bring a friend. You will find something for the whole family.