Place of Meeting December 2015

Place of Meeting

Ringing in the season

Toronto United Mennonite Church December 2015

The year cycles around again, with TUMC’s fall meeting, Eternity Sunday, and the beginning ofAdvent, with the annual Carol Sing –– a tradition that’s now 48 years old, led for all but a coupleof those years by members of the Penner family. But much is new as well, with 6 Lark close toreadiness, the Aurora House team working hard at fundraising for its program for survivors ofhuman trafficking, work beginning on renovations to our own building and an initiative to sponsora Syrian refugee family kicking into high gear. Here’s an all-photo look back at recent events.

Place of Meetingis the meaning of the Huron word

“toronton,” from which our city gets itsname. Fittingly, it can also mean

“plenty” or “abundance.”

Place of Meeting is also the monthlynewsletter of Toronto United Mennon-ite Church. May you find plenty here toenjoy and ponder. Opinions expressed

are those of the writers and notnecessarily of the congregation as a

whole.

Contributions of all kinds are enthusiastically received, through the

mail folder in the lobby or [email protected]

Next deadline:Jan. 5

Have you discovered the all-colour on-line version of Place of Meeting, com-

plete with live weblinks? Check thismonth’s issue out here:

issuu.com/pomeditor/docs/pom_dec_2015l

NOTE: New address for submissions:

[email protected]

Editor: Doreen Martens

Scene around TUMC

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Top: We remembered the life well lived of a dear sister, Ellie Voth,at her funeral on Nov. 16. Centre: Tim Neufeldt leads singing onthe first Sunday of Advent. Bottom: Trees offer a shower ofblessings! Numerous church folk pitched in on successive Sun-days to deal with the leaves from the Lark maples.

http://www.issuu.com/pomeditor/docs/pom_oct_2013/

http://www.issuu.com/pomeditor/docs/pom_oct_2013/

mailto:[email protected]

Coming EventsDec. 6 - Advent II, congregation photo7 p.m.: Taize healing and prayer service(focused this month especially for thosewho find this season difficult)Dec. 13 - Advent III; all music serviceDec. 20 - Advent IV; outdoor nativityevent for kids, youth and their families Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve service at 7 p.m.Dec. 25 - Christmas Day - no service atTUMC

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Here we go!With 6 Lark almost ready for occupants, work begins on church building

Top: The lobby, stripped of bulletin boardsand mail cart, stands ready for the workerson Nov. 22. Centre: a view from the samespot on Nov, 29, with hoarding (plastic win-dows thoughtfully included) up to keep usout of the construction area. Bottom: theold library window offers a great view of thenow-gutted library/servery/office area.

Some other current changes:• Changes made to the Lark St. doors, in-cluding placement there of the outdoor in-tercom/buzzer and security panel.• Changes were made along the north wallto prepare for foundations.• Change to signage makes it clear that thenorth door is not an exit.• Disruptions in the women’s washroom tolet the contractor access the foundations.• Fire exit has been rebuilt for the upperfloors so they remain useable.• During construction, lobby and wash-rooms will not always be as clean as usual. • Pedestrians now need to walk through thelane from the parking lot to Queen St. to getto church; drivers, take care! • The church office is now gratefully sharingspace in the Junior Youth room.

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Celebrating the traditions of harvest time

The TUMC fall harvest festival, organizedby and held at the beautiful farm owned byLori Unger and Dora Alexander, drew morethan 100 people on Nov. 7 for a wonderfulevening of old-fashioned fun, a pig roastaccompanied by a bountiful potluck, and amagical lantern walk through the woods.Among those who couldn’t resist climbingup into the treehouse to enjoy the viewoverlooking the pond were Gary Harderand granddaughter Charlotte, below.



Signs placed around the grounds invitedkids and adults to tackle some fungames –– like trying to gobble marshmal-lows from dangling strings while hopping.And the farm’s animals, including goats,turkeys, chickens and rabbits, were a bigdraw. Below, kids and ... kids.



The harvest festival reminded us of someskills almost lost to urban generations, including making cider!



Kids and grownups worked together in a madscramble to create scarecrows from straw,bags and old clothes.



Soon, it was time to eat. The pork, slow-roasted by Lori’s dad and stuffed withpineapple and other good things, was accompanied by a banquet of food shared ona potluck table. And as the sun droppeddown, the scene turned magical with illumi-nation from the fire and strings of handmade candlelit lanterns.



The evening ended with a lanternwalk through the woods on a chillynight, a lovely moment for all whotook part. Many thanks to Dora, Loriand their family and other helpers fororganizing a wonderful intergenera-tional event!

A place for the young in faith


One of TUMC’s goals for the past fewyears has been to ensure that our kidsand youth are fully integrated into the lifeof the church. How are we doing?

Above, kids approach the burning bush of theMoses story (Josh Neufeldt, in a yellow cloak!)during one children’s time, while DerekSchmucker leads another. Right, Ani and Beashow off SCOC-crafted goods for sale. Below,young string players help lead worship onNov. 1 and Nov. 29.

Eat, play, work


Who says congregational meetings aren’t picture worthy? The November meeting beganwith something like an indoor picnic as the junioryouth served up a bag lunch. Above, chair DougPritchard leads the discussion, while, left, ErikaFriesen is among those asking questions. A reminder: you don’t need to be an official memberof TUMC to attend and participate in these gatherings, where important issues and initiativesare discussed. Decision-making is generally doneby consensus.

Ding dong merrily


TUMC’s 48th annual Carol Sing, on the firstSunday of Advent, was as always a joyousevening, highlighted this year by Brad Lepp’shilariously professorial rendition of “Twasthe Night Before Christmas.” JD Penner ledparticipants in a lively evening of singing inGerman, English and Spanish, with the addition of jingling bells and keys on “KlingGlöckchen.” We ended, as always, bysinging the Hallelujah Chorus and “SilentNight,” then tucked into the first of the season’s home-baked goodies.

Documents

Place of Meeting December 2015