Bulletin – Wednesday, June 11, 2025 – Covenanting Service
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Covenanting Service
Gathering and Prelude
Land Acknowledgement
Words of Welcome:
We joyfully gather to mark a new ministry within the Prairie to Pine Regional Council between Windsor Park United Church and Diane Meredith. Today, we commit to and celebrate how we are the church together. Today we celebrate two Covenants, connected and yet separate in their identities and some of the particular people involved in supporting them: a Pastoral Relations Covenant and a Learning Covenant .
Opening Prayer
Hymn: “Let Us Build A House” (Voices United #1)
Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hope and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
Here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
Where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;
Here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine and wheat;
A banquet hall on holy ground, where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space;
As we share in Christ the feast that fees us:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone
To heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;
Let us bring an end to fear and danger:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
And love and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace;
Let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Scripture Reading: Micah 6:6-8
6 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!
Reflection:
Hymn: “Walk With Me” (Voices United #649)
Walk with me, I will walk with you
And build the land that God has planned
Where love shines through.
When Moses heard the call of God he said, “Lord, don’t send me.”
But God told Moses, “You’re the one to set my people free.”
Walk with me, I will walk with you
And build the land that God has planned
Where love shines through.
Now Peter was a most unlikely man to lead the flock,
But Jesus knew his holiness and he became the rock.
Walk with me, I will walk with you
And build the land that God has planned
Where love shines through.
Young Mary Magdalene was sure her life could be much more,
And by her faith she dared to let God’s love unlock the door.
Walk with me, I will walk with you
And build the land that God has planned
Where love shines through.
And when you share your faith with me and work for life made new,
The witness of your faithfulness calls me to walk with you.
Walk with me, I will walk with you
And build the land that God has planned
Where love shines through.
Covenanting Action
Statement of the Community’s Faith Story:
Member of the Search Committee:
After prayerful discernment, we present Diane Meredith, who has been appointed to a ministry of word, sacrament, and pastoral care in the Windsor Park United Church community of faith. We believe that her skills and talents complement our faithful witness, ministry needs, and community context. In our interview process we had conversation about the learning goals that Diane brings to this relationship and we believe that the ministry opportunities available at and through our church context will enable her to realize this learning.
Statement of this New Ministry:
Regional Council Liaison:
We are here to join in a covenant relationship with God and between , Windsor Park United Church, Diane Meredith, who is both Minister, and also a Candidate for Ministry who has completed her academic requirements for Ordination and is now engaging in a Supervised Ministry Education appointment, and the wider church as represented by Prairie to Pine Regional Council. Although God’s covenant with us never changes, our covenants with one another evolve as we seek ways to faithfully deepen our commitment to Jesus and to live our calling to embody God’s love in the world.
Regional Council Liaison:
Diane Meredith , you are here in response to the request of the Board of Windsor Park United Church and the Prairie to Pine Regional Council for appointment with this community of faith. The Prairie Candidacy Board has agreed that this is a suitable Supervised Ministry Education Learning Site for you and has identified and trained those who will be supporting you in those particular aspects of this relationship. We come together to mark these new relationships for the sake of our shared ministry. Diane, you have undertaken the ministry of word, sacrament, and pastoral care in this place. You the members of this community of faith are called to join Diane in worship, study, prayer and action. We, the Prairie to Pine Regional Council, will be responsible for supporting this ministry .
As a Pastoral Relationship that is a Supervised Ministry Education Learning Site ,this relationship also includes some people within this community of faith and others appointed by the wider church who will support the Community of Faith and more actively engage with the Candidate in her learning: The Connectors from WPUC (Pat Lumsden, Jan Nazarko, Gwen Polak, Pat Scarr, Marlaine Stevens and identify them ); the Educational Supervisor appointed by the National Office of Vocation, Rev. Heather Sandilands and the Pastoral Charge Supervisor appointed by Prairie to Pine Regional Council, Rev. Susan Reed.
Prayer
One: Let us pray for guidance and wisdom as we prepare to make these promises:
All: Uniting God, you call us into your church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship: to celebrate your presence, to live with respect in creation, to be your servants in the service of others, to seek justice and resist evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at this table, to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. Send your Holy Spirit to bind us in full communion so that we may be a uniting church embodying your love for the world. As one, we proclaim: in life, in death, in life beyond death, you are with us, we are not alone, all glory and power be unto you. Amen.
Regional Council Liaison
Diane are you willing to share your God given gifts for ministry as you work and worship with this faith community, and are you willing to serve as the Spirit enables you?
Minister Candidate
I will, God being my helper.
Regional Council Liaison
Diane , do you in the presence of this community of faith, take on the new trust and responsibility of ministering within it? Will you accept the guidance of the Prairie to Pine Regional Council and, together with its other members, be responsible for the health of the Windsor Park community of faith? Will you share in the ministry goals and faith story of this community of faith?
Minister Candidate:
I do.
Regional Council Liaison
Will you accept the support and encouragement of this community of faith and this regional Council? Will you work cooperatively with the wider church and wider community to embody God’s love in the world?
Minister Candidate
I will.
Regional Council Liaison
Rev. Heather Sandilands, You have been called by God and appointed by Office of Vocation of the United Church of Canada to be Diane Meredith’s Educational Supervisor. Will you share with her your knowledge and passion for ministry and your love of God, supporting her throughout the experience in this faith community?
Educational Supervisor
I will ,God being my helper.
Regional Council Liaison
Members of the Community of Faith Connectors, Pat Lumsden, Jan Nazarko, Gwen Polak, Pat Scarr, Marlaine Stevens, you have accepted God’s call to fulfill the role as lay leaders in the Supervised Ministry Experience. Are you willing to receive Diane Meredith’s gifts of ministry, offer wise counsel as support grows in their role, and in their relationship with this community of faith?
Community of Faith Connectors
We will, God being our helper.
Regional Council Liaison
Members of the congregation of Windsor Park United Church, you have heard the promises of Diane Meredith, Minister Candidate, Rev. Heather Sandilands, Education Supervisor, and the Community of Faith Connectors, Pat Lumsden, Jan Nazarko, Gwen Polak, Pat Scarr, Marlaine
Stevens, who have answered God’s call to service. Let us pledge to them our support:
Community of Faith :
We promise to support you with love as we all try to live God’s way.
Regional Council Liaison
Will you join with Diane Meredith in a ministry of worship, study, prayer and action within this community of faith, Prairie to Pine Regional Council and the wider church? Will you support Diane as she serves among you in this ministry?
Community of Faith:
We will.
Regional Council Liaison
Will you as members of the Prairie to Pine Regional Council and members of the wider community, join with this community of faith in the ministry that is both theirs and ours? Will support and encourage them and the Pastoral Charge Supervisor assigned to them, Rev. Susan Reed , and those supporting most directly the Learning aspects of this this ministry relationship ?
Prairie to Pine:
We will.
Symbols to be Presented
Bible
One: As members of the body of Christ, we live out the Holy Scripture through hospitality and justice-seeking – with one another, those who come through our doors, and the world around us. Take this Bible; be with us as one who teaches and practices the Word.
All: Amen.
Teacup
One: Holy Grounds is a safe welcoming space that this community offers weekly for any and all who need friendship and hospitality. Please accept this tea cup as an example of our invitation to you to be a nurturing presence as we are as Christ is to the stranger and friend alike.
All: Amen.
Seeds
One: At Windsor Park United Church we are both young seeds of life and older growth of wisdom. Be among us who sow seeds of hope so that together we can all bloom and continue to grow as God intended.
All: Amen.
Learning Covenant
One: This Learning Covenant, created in the spirit of promise and commitment, charts our sacred journey together. We present this shared covenant as a symbol of our mutual engagement to learning and growing as the Body of Christ here, in this neighbourhood.
All: Amen.
Orange T-shirt
One: We humbly recognize the harm perpetrated through the sense of superiority in Christian thinking and actions for far too long. We present this Orange Shirt as a symbol of our commitment to making amends and changing attitudes, so that we may live the gospel in the way Jesus intended. It is our work to do. As followers of Christ, we are committed to building right relations among Indigenous and Non-Indigenous peoples through mutual understanding and respect.
All: Amen.
Pin
One: We recognize that we are not alone in following the way of Jesus. In communion with the larger church, we can be a greater voice for respect and peace in the world. This pin represents the support and oversight of the wider church as represented by Prairie to Pine Regional Council.
All: Amen.
Response to the Covenant
Regional Council Liaison:
Let us rejoice in the covenant we have made.
Sung Response: “Halle, Halle, Hallelujah!” (Voices United #958)
Halle, Halle, Hallelujah!
Halle, Halle, Hallelujah!
Halle, Halle, Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hymn: “One More Step” (Voices United #639)
One more step along the world I go,
One more step along the world I go,
From the fold things to the new,
Keep me travelling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.
Round the corner of the world I turn,
More and more about the world I learn;
All the new things that I see
You’ll be looking at along with me:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.
As I travel through the bad and good,
Keep me travelling the way I should;
Where I see no way to go
You’ll be telling me the way, I know;
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.
Give me courage when the world is rough,
Keep me loving though the world is tough,
Leap and sing in all I do,
Keep me travelling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.
You are older than the world can be,
You are younger than the life in me,
Ever old and ever new,
Keep me travelling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.
Prayer
One: Let us pray. Loving God, we have made a covenant with you and with one another. We are grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow in faith and understand of your ministry in the world. Help us to encourage the gifts of all those involved in this covenant relationship and in ministry in and through this community of faith. We pray for all who work toward our common purpose of extravagant welcome, proclaiming the gosel, and mending God’s world. Uniting God, hear our prayer.
All: And in your love, answer.
One: For the dreamers, teachers, and prophets who share our common longing to be one in Christ, with creation and with each other. Uniting God, hear our prayer.
All: And in your love, answer.
One: For those around the world who work toward your sacred message of justice and peace in harmony. Uniting God, hear our prayer.
All: And in your love, answer.
The Prayer Jesus Taught Us:
Our Mother and our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Hymn: “Spirit God, Be Our Breath Be Our Song” (More Voices #150)
Spirit God: be our breath, be our song.
Blow through us, bringing strength to move on.
Our world seems inward, defensive, withdrawn…
Spirit God, be our song.
Patient God: soothe our pride, calm our fear.
Comfort us. When we know you are near
We grow more certain, our vision is clear.
Patient God, calm our fear.
Loving God: be our voice, be our prayer.
Reaching out, joining hands as we share,
We seek your guidance through friendship and care.
Loving God, be our prayer.
Spirit God: be our breath, be our song.
Blow through us, bringing strength to move on.
Through change, through challenge, we’ll great the new dawn…
Spirit God, be our song.
Blessing and Sending Forth
One: May the roots of our faith be planted so deeply that, even in times when no rain falls and no rivers flow, we may thrive and flourish as God’s beloved people.
All: May God’s love for us be a wellspring of life.
One: May Jesus’ wisdom and compassion be our guide,
All: May the Holy Spirit’s strength and nurture be our sustainer.
Sung Response “Sing Amen” (Voice United #431)
Sing amen: amen, we praise your name, O God.
Sing amen: amen, we praise your name, O God.
Sing amen: amen, amen, amen, amen,
Amen, we praise your name, O God.
