Worship and Spiritual Growth

To watch via Twitch 
https://twitch.tv/crescentfortrougelive

To watch on YouTube
 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY_yu6hzsG1yoisFBHvGm5A?view_as=subscriber

To watch on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/cfruc/

If you would like to join our pre-service Zoom conversation at 10:00 am go to link below. Contact Marc for a passcode please. marc.cfruc@mymts.net:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85184672753?pwd=FNTc0iEmoxKOQWt5bbfH7Ax9Hmkyw7.1

POSTPONED – MORE SOON. Towards 2035 Workshop—The third session of our Towards 2035 workshops will be held on Saturday, June 5 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (location TBD). We will be reviewing some feedback from our last meetings, considering our own trajectory, and continuing to name our “Why” for being now and into the future.

UPCOMING WORSHIP SERVICES

Sunday, October 11, 2026—Creation Time 6 and Thanksgiving–Deuteronomy 8:7–18 God will bring you to a bountiful land. Psalm 65 (VU pp. 782–783) God provides; the valleys shout and sing. 2 Corinthians 9:6–15 God loves a cheerful giver. Luke 17:11–19 Ten healed; one returns to offer thanks. This whole day is about the gifts of Creation. How does our stewarding of those gifts demonstrate our gratitude to God, even when we feel alone in giving thanks? Joint Service at CFRUC at 10:00 a.m. We will begin collecting non-perishable food items for our 1JustCity partners.

Sunday, October 18, 2026—21st Sunday after Pentecost–Exodus 33:12–23 God speaks to Moses face to face as a friend. Psalm 99 God is a ruler who delights in justice. 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10 We always give thanks to God for you. Matthew 22:15–22 Give to God the things that are God’s. When we think about “Creation,” we so often turn our attention to flora and fauna, but when was the last time you gave thanks for God’s gift of metal, as was used to create the coin in today’s gospel reading? We will be celebrating the sacrament of infant baptism. 10:00 a.m. at CFRUC. 11:00 a.m. Harrow.

Sunday, October 25, 2026—22nd Sunday after Pentecost–Deuteronomy 34:1–12 Moses dies and is buried in Moab.

Psalm 90:1–6, 13–17 O God, our help in ages past. 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8 We care for you like a nurse tenderly cares for her own children. Matthew 22:34–46 Love God; love your neighbour as yourself. Our “neighbours” are not only those who are around us today; our love of neighbour must include caring for the earth we leave behind for those who are yet to come. 10:00 a.m. at CFRUC. 11:00 a.m. Harrow.

Sunday, November 1, 2026–All Saints’ Day–Revelation 7:9–17 They will hunger no more and thirst no more. Psalm 34:1–10, 22 Taste and see that God is good. 1 John 3:1–3 What we will be has not yet been revealed. Matthew 5:1–12 The Beatitudes. Even when this realm of existence reaches its conclusion, the gifts of Creation do not end. The saints wave palm branches, arrive at springs of water, and rest among fruit-filled trees. 10 am at CFRUC. 11 am Harrow.

Sunday, November 8, 2026—Remembrance Sabbath–Joshua 24:1–3a, 14–25 Joshua challenges the people to choose God. Psalm 78:1–7 We will teach the next generation. 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 God will raise the dead. Matthew 25:1–13 Parable of the 10 bridesmaids and the lamps. Psalm 78 is about teaching the next generation. How can we remember the stories of our ancestors and make better choices, being grateful and preserving the land for those to come? It may seem overwhelming, but if each person makes some changes, a new beginning is made. Joint Service at CFRUC at 10:00 a.m. There will be no service at Harrow.

Sunday, November 15, 2026—25th after Pentecost–Judges 4:1–7 The judge Deborah speaks to Barak. Psalm 123 (VU p. 847) We lift our eyes to you, O God. 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 The day of God will come as a thief in the night. Matthew 25:14–30 The parable of the talents. The gospel invites us to use but not exploit Creation. In what ways might we, or do we, “live with respect in Creation” as A New Creed declares? 10:00 a.m. at CFRUC. 11:00 a.m. Harrow.

A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“The Season of Letting Go” (Barbara Brown Taylor)

When I look out the kitchen window, I see a doe on her hind legs playing bob-for-the-apple with my pear tree, except her medium is air, not water, and it’s a ripe pear she’s after. The tree is so heavy with fruit this first week of October that every branch sags toward the ground, the lower ones picked almost clean. The deer and her friends will be back when the riper fruits higher up fall down, though they will be lucky to find one that the squirrels have not gotten to first.

My newest dog, Ellie, will also have made off with a few pears by then, since a green pear is the next best thing to a red ball when you’ve lost your ball in the woods. She’s a young Labrador mix that a friend found limping along the shoulder of a country road, unspayed and unchipped. Maybe she had jumped from the bed of someone’s truck? There were no matching “Lost Dog” signs at the vet, so the friend fixed her up and gave her to me, explaining that the red-ball energy was driving both her and her cat crazy.

Once that energy moved in with me, I was pretty sure it could flatten anyone who was not an eight-year-old boy. One day last week, when I declined to throw Ellie’s ball for the seventeenth time, she reappeared with a green pear in her mouth. This was hard to resist, especially since I knew she might not return once she’d bitten down hard enough to find the sweetness inside. Later, I found her sitting under the clothesline with the pear held neatly between her front paws, taking it down to the core in small bites using only her front teeth.

In two weeks, the pears will be finished, along with the last of the summer’s zinnias, the swamp milkweed, and the persimmons. Wasn’t I just looking forward to May, and here it is October? This is the season of letting go, when you can sometimes smell the change in the air, and there’s no ignoring the fact that every day is shorter than the last. It’s both a time of year and a time of life for me, as the body knows without checking a calendar. It’s time for the earth to do its thing, and for me to get the message, as we take the next turn in the great wheel of being.

[In the book of Exodus] God commands humans to give the land a twelve-month sabbatical every seven years. “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow,” God says. “Let the needy among your people eat of it, and what they leave let the wild beasts eat. You shall do the same with your vineyards and your olive groves.”

What we read in English as “let it rest” comes from the Hebrew word shmita, which means “release” or “letting go.”

Later in Torah and Talmud, the Shmita command gains steam, calling for debtors to be released from personal debt every seven years, and for those with privately held food to let go of it, offering it to anyone who needs it during the year the land lies fallow. Meanwhile, the land is released from being plowed, planted, terraced, reaped, and plucked for someone else’s use. The earth can produce anything it wants during its sabbatical year and invite anyone to eat for free—including the wild animals and the needy who remember being shooed away (or worse) when they showed up for something to eat last time around.

The mind reels at what a revolutionary command this is, disrupting the economy, the social order, the defense of private property, the subjugation of wildlife, and the human fixation on continual growth, by imposing one full year of divine rest for every six behind the plow. Perhaps that’s why the only place I have encountered it is in a very old book.

There is much more to Shmita (including ways to get around it), but right now, my mind keeps returning to the doe reaching her soft muzzle toward one of the last low-hanging pears, with no one—not even a pear-eating dog—trying to shoo her away. The pear is hers if she can reach it. So are the muscadines, the acorns, the wild mustard greens, the red clover. She will probably eat my last hostas down to nubs before they’re through, but she’s welcome to them.

Because I’m entering the season of letting go, following the lead of the yellow poplars, the spent wildflowers, the browning grass in the pasture—even the black bears in the woods, fattening up and settling down for the cold weather ahead. The Shmita commandment is not for them. The commandment is for me and my kind, who need so much help stepping back from the plow.

What are we afraid will happen? You have your list; I have mine. Somewhere near the top is my fear that the field and all the life it holds will fall apart without me—that I am somehow necessary to its well-being, though it did all right before I got here and will probably manage when I’m gone. Whose fallowness, then, do I really fear?

When letting-go season comes so fast that it catches me off guard, I count on the earth to remind me what it means to live in a world that turns. Then I call Ellie to give her a new red ball and throw it as many times as she wants.

UPCOMING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES AT CRESCENT FORT ROUGE AND HARROW

Kitchen Conversations for Thanksgiving: What happens when food becomes an invitation to belonging? This Thanksgiving, join us for Kitchen Conversations with the Moderator: A Thanksgiving Table — a special video series bringing together food, faith, friendship, and stories from across cultures. Chef Izzeldin Bukhari joins Moderator Kimberly Heath and friends to cook recipes from his home in Palestine and share stories about how food can create connection, foster belonging, and open pathways toward peace.
A new episode drops every day over Thanksgiving:

  • October 8: Welcome to Kitchen Conversations with the Moderator: “A Thanksgiving Table”
  • October 9: Discussion – “Tell us about a meal that changed your life.”
  • October 10: Discussion – “Who is still missing from our tables, and what is the church being called to do to make room for them?”
  • October 11: Discussion – “What kind of world are we trying to create around our tables?”
  • October 12: “A Thanksgiving Table”
    Subscribe to The United Church of Canada YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/%40UnitedChurchCda and join us at the table! Because every table can be an invitation to community.

Sharing Our Stories. Join Manitoba Friends of Standing Together on Thursday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m. at Westgate Mennonite Collegiate for Sharing Our Stories. Palestinians, Jews, and allies will share their experiences to foster understanding and compassion, in hopes of a better future. Register for the event at https://tally.so/r/rj77VX.

OTHER

Choir Rehearsal — is every Friday at 10 am. New members are welcome. If you are interested in singing with our choir, even occasionally, and Friday morning rehearsals present a barrier, other arrangements are possible. Contact Michael Cutler at organmike@gmail.com for more information.

We are continuing to collect non-perishable food stuffs for our 1JustCity partners.  Hygiene Items for shower (soap, any size shampoo), coffee, white sugar, white flour and cooking oil.  Items can be left at CFRUC on Friday mornings when Terry is in the office.  Look for the Blue Box marked “1 Just City”.  Please note:  bottled water and sunscreen are not needed as the City of Winnipeg has supplied them. Of course, socks and underwear are also always needed.

Friday Mama Bear Clan Walk – A few of us have experienced walking with the Mama Bear Clan this Fall enjoying the milder weather. As well as the sandwiches that are made on site, we have had extra muffins and cookies to offer. When the word “homemade” is mentioned, eyes light up. Last Friday was chillier and we had many requests for mittens. We don’t have room for a mitten tree, but there will be a turquoise box at the back of the Sanctuary to hold donated mittens or gloves. New, gently used, adult or kid-sized, all are welcome. Thank you!

Take action for Guaranteed Livable Income – Everyone deserves to live with dignity. Across the country, people are struggling to afford basic necessities. That’s why the United Church is calling on the federal government to create a Guaranteed Livable Income program. It’s a practical, compassionate solution that would help ensure no one is left behind. By providing a consistent income floor, it can reduce poverty, improve health outcomes, and give people the stability they need to thrive.

You can help make this change happen. We’ve made it easy to contact the Senate Committee that is reviewing Bill S-206 for the creation of a Guaranteed Livable Income. Add your voice today with just a few clicks: https://united-church.ca/social-action/act-now/create-guaranteed-livable-income-program

Together, our voices can help build a more just and compassionate Canada.

Our Faithful Readers Book Discussion Group is open to everyone, and we usually meet the last Wednesday of the month via Zoom, except for the movies and our windup dinner. If you are interested, please contact the office for the Link. Pick up a Bookmark at Harrow for times, etc.

Composting is an act of faith. It requires trust in the hidden work of bugs, microbes and the natural processes of decay to convert old food into nourishment for new life. Lent is a time of preparing ourselves for the new life God offers at Easter. We are invited to look at our lives and communities of faith and ask – What needs to be composted so that we are ready for resurrection? Click here to read this article by our Growth Animator, Jordan Cantwell.

Be Part of the Migrant Justice Network!

The United Church of Canada Migrant Justice Network will meet both during the day and in the evening over the next five months, to try to ensure as many people as possible can participate. Are you passionate about supporting migrant justice and improving living conditions for migrants in Canada? The United Church of Canada’s Migrant Justice Network invites you to be a part of our collective efforts to advocate for international students, refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants, and migrant workers. We welcome anyone aligned with the concerns of (im)migrants in Canada and globally. Learn more, and register on CHURCHx.

New Blog! Becoming an Intercultural Church: Learning to Stay with One Another. Many communities of faith are living in an “in-between” time—marked by change, uncertainty, and grief. In a new blog, Rev. Hyuk Cho invites us to see this moment not as a problem to fix, but as a season of transformation. Drawing from his upcoming book, Cho explores intercultural becoming—a way of life rooted in companionship, honesty, and a willingness to be changed through relationship. Read the full blog and learn more about the upcoming Becoming an Intercultural Church course on CHURCHx

What is Spirituality?

“Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than [one]self, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature.

“Spirituality means knowing that our lives have significance in a context beyond a mundane everyday existence at the level of biological needs that drive selfishness and aggression. It means knowing that we are a significant part of a purposeful unfolding of Life in our universe.

“Spirituality involves exploring certain universal themes – love, compassion, altruism, life after death, wisdom and truth, with the knowledge that some people such as saints or enlightened individuals have achieved and manifested higher levels of development than the ordinary person. Aspiring to manifest the attributes of such inspirational examples often becomes an important part of the journey through life for spiritually inclined people.”

What happens at Sunday morning Worship? Lots!

Sunday morning worship at Crescent Fort Rouge generally follows a predictable pattern of gathering in God’s name; hearing and reflecting on the intersection between the ancient faith story and the story of our own lives and time; responding to what has been heard; and going out with a commission to be actively engaged in the world.

Our worship respects the rich heritage and traditions of the Christian faith, while holding up a progressive and contemporary theology. Our worship is designed to actively engage all of the senses, and welcome the participation of all. We come together around the Lord’s Table through the sacrament of communion six or seven times a year.

Music is an integral part of our worship life, and we offer music in a wide range of styles and genres. Worship allows us to enact through ritual, story-telling, music and prayer our core belief in a God of peace, justice, compassion, healing and hope who invites us to practice the same things.

Why Worship? Worship reminds us of who we are and whose we are. Worship helps reinforce a rhythm for our lives. Worship offers a chance to connect with others and to feel that connection and engagement. Friendships are formed!

Occasional Services

In addition to regular Sunday morning worship, we also offer worship experiences at other times to mark special days or occasions. These include such things as Pet Blessings, Blue Christmas services, Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Services for Life Transitions

CFRUC provides opportunities to recognize significant life passages with ritual and celebration such as Baptism, Confirmation, Weddings and Funerals.

Services to Recognize Other Life Transitions

We also work with individuals to create meaningful rituals to mark significant life passages such as moving to a new home, divorce, miscarriage, adopting a child, or seeking healing after trauma or violence.

Please contact our minister if you would like to explore some of the possibilities. cfruc@mymts.net

Daily Prayer Resources

In many faith traditions, it is customary to pray at specific times of day. The discipline of morning prayer allows one to start a day grounded in God, and the intention to be mindful of God’s presence in all that unfolds.

Prayer of Examen

The prayer of examen, is a traditional form of “end of day prayer” which invites reflection on the day that is past, an expression of gratitude for what has been experienced, and an opportunity to explore in greater depth God’s presence in our lives. Our friends at The Work of The People  https://www.theworkofthepeople.com/ have created a contemporary expression of this ancient form of prayer. For a version of the Examen, please click here.

Frederick Buechner
www.frederickbuechner.com

The Center for Contemplation and Action
cac.org

Sacredise
Sacredise.com

One time tested way of nurturing the spirit is to maintain the disciple of keeping a journal. During this time of  self-isolation we invite you to join others in a 28 day journaling challenge. Click here for a list of daily prompts. Self-Isolation Challenge

Looking for more intentional study?

A variety of online programs and webinars are available through:

The Abbey of the Arts
https://abbeyofthearts.com/

The United Church of Canada
https://www.united-church.ca/

We encourage you to contact Crescent Fort Rouge and receive our weekly newsletter which offers many opportunities. cfruc@mymts.net

Looking for an experience on Sunday for children (ages 3 to 12)?

Children are encouraged to begin their Sunday morning church experience with the gathered community in worship. This time with adults includes a theme conversation with one of the ministers and introduces children to the concept of worship.

Following this time, the children participate in age appropriate activities designed to introduce them to faithful living. We make use of a variety of teaching activities: drama, music, cooking, art, science, games and more. Parents and guardians of very young children are welcome to attend this program with their young ones until the children feel comfortable enough to attend the class on their own.