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New Website!

After five years we finally have a new, and somewhat functional, website! 

Click here to go to the NEW & IMPROVED www.eucharistchurch.ca

Thanks for all the good times, tumblr. 

xoxo

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Sexuality & Incarnation: Advent 2015

When you think of Advent and Christmas, what comes to mind? 

Mangers? Sheep and oxen? Snow and hot chocolate? God with us?

All good answers. But we’ve talked about that stuff before! Let’s face it, after years and years (and years) of Advent, we could be tricked into thinking we’ve mined the depths of the season, and there is nothing left to discover.

But this, of course, would be a huge mistake... because there is always more to discover.

Advent is about the anticipation of GOD taking on FLESH. God coming entering into God’s creation, taking on our skin, purifying our world, and birthing something new in the midst of it.

And there’s something... deeply sexual about the whole thing! 

So what if we explore that for Advent 2015? What might we learn about our relationship with God, with one another, with the creation and with our own bodies? 

And how might it fill us again with wonder! 

Wonder at the Divine Mystery of the Incarnation!

A Few Important Notes:

1) Sunday December 6th we will be meeting at 6pm, not 3/3:30! MacNab had a previous commitment booked for the space. We will meet 6-7pm on Sunday December 6th. Click here for all the details!

2) Wednesday December 16th we are hosting a “My First Hamilton Christmas: Potluck and Party!” event. This is an open potluck meal specifically focused on welcoming our new Hamiltonians to the city, be they new arrivals to Canada, or just moving to our city from somewhere else in the country. But we want everyone to attend! Click here for all the details!

3) Christmas Eve we will be joining MacNab Presbyterian for their Christmas Eve gathering at 7pm! In addition to being a beautiful gathering, it is a great way to connect with them further, and continue to build a good partnership. Click here for all the details!

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Three Important (& Annoying) Parts of Discipleship - New Sermon Series Begins Nov 8

Starting November 8, and leading up to Advent, we will be in a new sermon series reflecting on three important, and really annoying, elements of discipleship.

Discipleship is costly, submissive, and exclusive... and us polite Canadians don’t like ANY of it! 

We’ll be exploring this tension, and looking at how all three of these elements can be redeemed. 

Here’s a small teaser: we don’t like things that are costly, submissive, or exclusive, but we also recognize good relationships are all three.

A close friend, family member, or partner will cost you much, will require you to submit to them, and will be exclusive (because you are often spending time with only them) - if relationships require these three elements, why would our relationship with God, and with our church, not require them as well?

We’ll dive in and explore more about these themes, starting Nov 8. 

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Town Hall Announcement!

Town Hall Meeting - Budget Edition! Monday October 19, 7-8:30pm at MacNab Presbyterian

Short notice! Sorry for the one week notice on this, but we are in total "go mode" with the budget for this year and are playing a bit of catch up! The topic for this first meeting is our budget for this ministry year (September 2015-August 2016). (As an aside, we have up to 90 days into our year to formally approve a budget, hence why we are having this meeting in October!) Budget may not sound interesting or particularly spiritual, but Jesus (in Matthew 6) told his disciples that they would know where their hearts were by how they spent their money. It's one of the key ways we can know what we value as a church, so budget setting is a very important and very spiritual practice. The proposed budget has been set by consulting with the eight "streams" that make up Eucharist (Sunday, adult discipleship, children's discipleship, prayer, missions, creative, events and foundational) and having the church finance team and elders aim to make a functional budget out of the requests. We will be emailing out a copy of the budget in advance of the meeting so you can get a good look at it and bring thoughtful and prayerful reflections to the Town Hall gathering. Additionally, the budget also includes a proposal for a second staff position. This position is something the elders and Kevin have been working on for almost a year, including three months of coaching last year to look at what EC needs to continue to grow in health, size, and mission. We will get a write up out to you all this week with a bit more about this proposed position, as well as the budget, so that you can understand more of our vision before the meeting on Monday! Anyone who considers Eucharist Church their home is welcome to join us for the meeting, regardless of how long you have been a part of this thing! Really looking forward to gathering in this way, and to seeing what God might do with us in the next year.

If you are a Facebook person, click here for the event!

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Help Needed Discerning New Elders!

Hey Eucharist! 

If you’ve been around our gathering the last few weeks you know that we have been in the process of finding some new elders for our congregation. Elders play a shepherding role in our life, helping make decisions and pastor people in our community. 

We hope to have as many people as possible involved in this process, so please read the attached pdf, spend some time in prayer, and let us know who you think God might be calling into this role.

Click here to download the PDF, including what an elder is, what kind of person we are looking for, and how to participate in the process!

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Fall Sermon Series - Our Weird Church: Five Things We Bring to the Table

Multiple times a year, for the last five years, we have asked people in our community one question: "what words best describe Eucharist?"

The bigger question is "who are we?"

The Body of Christ is made up of Christ followers and communities across the world, and throughout all time... and Eucharist Church is just one weird little part of that grand body! The way we can best serve the whole body, and serve God, is to understand who we were uniquely created to be, and to live out that weird, specific calling together!

Starting this Sunday we're going through a sermon series five years in the making, talking about the five words that have come up again and again and again in this exercise, and asking how they shape a community of Christ followers!

The five words? Spoiler alert!

September 27 - Table October 4 - Place October 11 - Creative October 18 - Pioneer October 25 - Participate

Looking forward to reflecting more on what it means to grow out of, and into, these values together!

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Ordinary Time Ordinarily Ends Sooner... - Plus an Update on the Fall Sermon Series

Here is a quick update for those who are a part of Eucharist!

This Update Brought to You by STOCK IMAGES!

An observant person in our congregation may say: “HEY! It seems as if we have had no screen, slides, or amplified audio for a long time, and have been using those EC Hymnals for quite a bit more than 8 weeks... what’s going on?”

(She is totally like: “UGH! What is going on!!!”)

And I would respond: “I know! It’s really really annoying, but there is a good reason for it!”

We are going to be installing our AV gear permanently! And that means that set up will be quicker, more efficient, and leave us more time for important things like welcoming, aesthetics, prayer, and chit-chat!

(He is totally like: “I’m working on it!”)

However getting things installed is a long process. It involves: 

Getting together with installation people Figuring out what gear we need Figuring out how much it will cost Approving it within our budget (which we set in Sept-Oct, so look for an update soon!) Running it by MacNab Presbyterian Paying for and ordering the gear Installing the gear

So here is the good news: we are moving on that list! We have a quote, will be putting it into our budget process and running it by MacNab asap. But it also means that, in the meantime, we won’t be using slides or setting up our audio gear.

(Our trusty projector actually broke at the very end of June, so we are waiting on the new one anyways!)

So that is why we are still in a bit of Ordinary Limbo. That said, we are moving forward, and will have updates on what install we’ll be doing, and how you can help if you are interested!

If you want to be a part of the installation process, or have a bunch of money you want to donate to get the gear installed and buy a new projector (around $10,000 in total!), you can email me at kevin@eucharistchurch.ca and I’d be so happy to hear from you!

Thanks so much for your patience and grace Eucharist.

And while we may be using hymnals and no slides, I can promise the coming weeks will be anything but Ordinary: we will be talking about big things in the life of our church, and if Eucharist is your church it will be so important to have you there!

This Sunday, September 20

Steve Edwards is talking about the fact that, no matter how much you love this community: we will disappoint you. If you have been around for just a few months, you might be surprised to hear that! If you’ve been around for more than a year, then you know full well that we will always disappoint each other. 

The real question is: how will God’s grace be revealed, in beautiful and subversive ways, when we carry on in relationship through those disappointments. 

We’ll even have two people telling stories about times they were disappointed, and the grace revealed in that time! Fun!

Starting September 27 

We’ll be talking about the five values that have come up, again and again, when we ask our congregation “what is Eucharist all about?”

Larger update on the series coming early next week!

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading and for being such a stellar church. Here’s to the next five years.

- Pastor Kevin

(That’s totally not me, but it does come up when you google “pastor”! Anyways, off to Michael’s t-ball game!)

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Update on Ordinary Season, Fall Launch, and Oh-Man-It’s-Been-5-Years?!

Hey all, so here is a quick update as we move forward into our sixth (!!) years as a congregation.

First up: Ordinary Season. Every summer we slow things down a bit and enter into a season of intentional rest. Then most people try to find a beach to lay at. This year our season of rest also included an incredible art show (photos to come) a fundraiser to make an album (album also coming soon!) and a new Sunday location.

It was the busiest relaxed season ever.

We’ll be spending a few weeks transitioning back into our regular life together, working on getting some audio/visual gear installed in our new space, and having a potluck to celebrate the grace and love God has shown us all over the last five years.

Here’s the next few weeks:

August 30 - Kevin preaching, nothing fancy

This week is just normal, but still has the table, so it’s worth being at!

September 6 - Kevin preaching, Baby Dedication and Baptism

This week Selah Both will be dedicated, and Jared Both (and any others who desire) will be baptized

If you have any questions about baptism, or want to be baptized yourself, let Kevin (pastor at Eucharist) know by emailing kevin@eucharistchurch.ca

September 13 - Same Page Sunday and 5 Years! Potluck

For our Five Year Anniversary Party we are going to be having a potluck at the gazebos on the property of Dundurn Castle (610 York Blvd). 

Potluck starts at 3:30!

We will not be gathering at MacNab Presbyterian this week, we will just be having a potluck celebration!

If you are attending, click here and let us know what dish you can bring!

(And thanks Michelle for the poster and happy food!)

September 20 - Storytelling Sunday

This week we have a number of people who will be telling stories about how hard and weird church is, and how God has met them in the midst of the struggle. It’s going to be powerful stuff.

September 27 - Start of a New Sermon Series Looking Back, and Forward, on 5 Years of Being Eucharist

Finally Sunday, Sept 27 we’ll begin our fall sermon series. This series comes out of five years of asking the same question: who is God calling us to be? We have asked this question to dozens and dozens of people at Eucharist, and we’ve gathered their answers time and time again.

The elders and Kevin feel like now is the time to, humbly, begin to articulate what God has done among us the last five years… and what it might look like for us to honour this identity moving forward. It’s going to be a really important series for anyone who is a part of this congregation!

And that’s everything. Enjoy the last few slower weeks before the fall gets busy. We’ll end with this picture from the Artists-in-Residence final show. Photos are coming soon, but be assured it was an incredible night:

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Growing Settled - Final Art Installation from Artists in Residence 2015

Over the Summer we have been blessed to have two excellent artists doing their residency at Eucharist. Meredith and Chrisy have spent months making art and engaging in theological reflection, and are excited to present their final show: Growing Settled.

During the August James St N Art Crawl (August 14), these two emerging artists are transforming MacNab Presbyterian Church into a massive art installation. The interactive space at MacNab Presbyterian will feature the interrelationship of a few key ideas: built homes, natural environments, and the human body. To do this, MacNab will literally become a "home," with installations throughout the alleyways, gardens, and even the sanctuary of this historic sacred space. These relationships underlie how we live our lives as individuals, and how we relate and commune with one another. So we welcome you to join the Eucharist Church Artists in Residence, Meredith W. Park and Chrisy Hurn, for the one-night showing of their final art instillation:

"Growing Settled" Friday August 14th from 8-11 pm.

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Ordinary Time 2015

As our reflections on the church calendar carry on we have finally arrived at Ordinary Time! At Eucharist we celebrate Ordinary Time with a season of rest, where we cease all of our busyness, and simply sabbath and rest together.

To learn more about Sabbath and the season of Ordinary Time, click here listen to the sermon “Flip the To Do List.”

It’s been a busy few months for us: new buildings, love feasts, album recording projects, and a whole whack of other projects have got us a little tired and in need of rest!

But we still believe meeting together matters. So here’s what Ordinary Time looks like for us:

We will continue to meet on Sundays in a simplified way; still receiving communion, praying together, and singing together, but without any large Sunday set up. Also, Kevin will not be preaching, but we will have the Preaching Guild (a collection of preachers within the congregation) carry us through the summer. They are gifted and passionate teachers and will bring some fresh energy to our gatherings!

The summer preaching series is based on the Lectionary Readings for Ordinary Time, mostly out of the book of Ephesians. The schedule is as follows:

July 5 - Sandy Reynolds - Mark 6:1-3

July 12 - Justin Eisinga - Ephesians 1:3-14

July 19 - Leshia Knopf - Ephesians 2:11-22

July 26 - Stephen Edwards - Ephesians 3:14-21

August 2 - Kevin Makins, Meredith Park & Chrisy Hurn (Artists in Residence) - Ephesians 4:1-16

August 9 - Dave Witt - Ephesians 4:25-5:2

August 16 - Cindy Stover - Ephesians 5:15-20

August 23 - Matt Willard - Ephesians 6:10-20

Finally, a fitting quote on the need for ceasing:

“We need to have times of pruning in our churches, times where most, if not all, activity ceases. Times of rest and abiding. This runs contrary to principles taught in most church growth courses and seminars. How can one grow a church larger by shutting it down for a season? Yet that is exactly what happens at many of the churches where we have discipled the leaders and introduced them to the principles [of rest and work].

We encourage them to stop all small groups and to drastically scale back the worship service. Often there is just a simple time of singing and a brief word of encouragement shared. Many of the members go away on holiday or spend more time with friends and family. It looks to many like nothing is happening.

But in this time of abiding, great strength is given to those who do the teaching, singing, and serving throughout the rest of the year. Without a time for their spiritual ground to lie fallow, there would be a very poor harvest in the year to come.”

- Building a Discipleship Culture, Mike Breen and the 3DM Team

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Love Feast Summer 2015: “The Kingdom of God is Like a Great Feast!”

Jesus was known for a lot of things: his teachings, healing power and stories made him famous. However there was one thing that Jesus was known for above all others:

When people thought of Jesus they thought about his table. 

Jesus welcomed everyone to his table without exception, which people in his culture found confusing and even infuriating.

In Jesus time, eating with people was about way more than filling your belly. Who you ate with revealed who you accepted, who you welcomed, and who you thought was “in.” 

When Jesus talks about meals, he talks about a feast big enough for anyone and everyone who is willing to come to the table, regardless of their history, ethnicity, age, health, or any other factor that the world uses to divide us.

Now it’s one thing to talk about this sort of meal, but it’s another thing to experience it. You can’t truly understand this sort of meal unless you, to quote a biblical poet, “taste and see that the Lord is good.”

We want to create a time and place where we can experience, if only for a few hours, the world God dreams of. A world where everyone is welcome, everyone is fed, and everyone is united at the table. We do this through the Love Feast.

The Love Feast is a free meal for anyone and everyone who is interested in food, community, and love. You don’t need to be religious, you don’t need to attend Eucharist Church, you don’t need to live downtown, and you don’t need to have it all together.

You just need to be wiling to show up and eat with people... and maybe help clear some dishes! 

So join us for the Love Feast, and please invite some friends. The table is big enough for all!

Saturday June 20, 6pm

MacNab Presbyterian Church, 116 MacNab St S

Photos from Love Feast 2012

Photos from Love Feast 2013

Photos from Love Feast 2014 (which doubled as a surprise wedding!) Photos by GreenAutumn Photography.

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Eucharist’s New Worship Space: MacNab Presbyterian Starting June 7

After months of conversation we are thrilled to announce we will begin meeting at MacNab Presbyterian Church on June 7!

A little over a year ago, we found ourselves in the place of needing a new building to meet in on Sunday. Initially we were tempted to find a “quick fix” option, but a friend offered wisdom, encouraging us to spend a year or so in a “wilderness season” of learning. We asked our brothers and sisters at First CRC if we could meet in their space/sleep-on-their-couch for a year while we discerned a new way forward.

The journey over the last year has lead us to MacNab Presbyterian!

(For more on the journey so far, listen to the first ten minutes of this sermon!)

Our partnership with MacNab began over a year ago when we proposed to them the idea of an Artist Studio collaboration: The Manse Studios. The partnership involved a number of artists and creatives from Eucharist who would use two spare rooms in their manse. In exchange for rent they would help out around the building, and begin to offer arts-based programming for the neighbourhood. The partnership has been a huge success, leading to Artist-in-Residence positions as well as opportunities for Jesus-followers to connect together around the intersection of faith and creativity!

In our new arrangement with MacNab we will continue the Manse Studios, but also have office space in the Manse Building and access to MacNab for Sunday gatherings and other events! 

To see a video of 2014′s Artist-in-Residence working at the Manse Studios, click here.

To hear some reflections from artists about the relationship with MacNab so far, click here and listen to the first 15 minutes of the sermon.

MacNab Presbyterian has been worshipping for 161 years (so... a few more than us!), and they are actively involved in God’s mission in the city. The building is used by many different groups, including “Out of the Cold”, a winter meal program. MacNab’s “Out of the Cold” program is actually the largest in Hamilton, serving 200 people twice a week, resulting in over 5000 meals a year! 

In our conversations with MacNab, and our interactions with them through the Manse Studios, they have been excited and supportive of our continued partnership. Their board voted unanimously to start the Manse Studios, and they have voted unanimously to have us join them in the building!

So what are the next steps?

Our next steps are to move in to the building, worship and pray, get to know the MacNab Congregation, and feast together!

For the full list of event details click here, or on an individual event below for the event specific details:

Sunday May 31 we will be moving our gear post-gathering at First CRC. If you can help move we would appreciate it so much! Tuesday June 3 we will be having a worship night to celebrate the end of our ***Eucharist Kickstarter*** and to commit ourselves to God in this space.

Sunday June 7 we are hoping to have a number of representatives from Eucharist join MacNab for their service, where Kevin will give a welcome on our behalf. 

Sunday June 7 will also mark our first time gathering in the space for worship, at 3pm for coffee/tea and 3:30 for the “formal gathering”!

Saturday June 20 we will have our first Love Feast in over a year, where we can celebrate the table together!

Want a photo tour of the new space? Click here for an album!

So that is all for now! If you have any questions feel free to email kevin@eucharistchurch.ca and either he or Sandy (our MacNab liaison) will get back to you, or the Eucharist Elders (elders@eucharistchurch.ca)!

And please pray with us that this will be a wonderful partnership that will bear good fruit!

And now, some pictures of the bell tower that Jesse got to tour!

[eucharistchurch]

The First Worship Album by Eucharist Church: Table Songs!

Eucharist Church Presents: Table Songs

For the last six months, over 20 musicians from our community have been hard at work on this amazing worship album, and it’s getting close to completion.

We’d love to release it for free to the public, but need some support from our friends to get there. Please give to this campaign, and share with anyone you know who believes it’s important to keep making beautiful, theologically-rooted songs for the Church.

Click here to read more about the project, or to support it! 

Supporting the album is the only way to guarantee a copy of the physical album and the 40 page accompanying art book!

[eucharistchurch]

TrueCity Pulpit Swap

Heads up to everyone that this Sunday, May 3rd, is the "TrueCity Pulpit Swap!"

TrueCity is a collection of 16 congregations in Hamilton that work together for the good of the city.

Once a year all of the local pastors “swap” the congregation they are preaching to and visit the other communities.

I (Kevin) will be swapping to our brothers and sisters from Mount Hamilton Baptist Church... Who are pretty much the greatest.

Our guest will be Connan Kublik from New City Church, a church plant that started like, a year or so before we began gathering! 

Oh... and because we have a team of awesome preachers (...in a humble sort of way...) we are sending ANOTHER preacher, Leshia Knopf, to New Hope Church to represent us and serve them. Two EC preachers swappin’ - how great is that?

TrueCity is the greatest, and you should absolutely read up on them and pray for them... and maybe give them some money so they can keep doing great work in the city. Click here to check out the website!

Thank God for what is happening is TrueCity. It’s amazing.

- Kevin Makins

Here is a photo from the most recent TrueCity Conference! Celebrate!

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From Good Friday to Easter Sunday

It's important to walk, not run, through Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. As a congregation we try to go through the valley of death on Good Friday, and hope to arrive on the mountaintop of life on Easter Sunday. On Good Friday we hosted a "Wake for a Righteous Man", where everyone gathers together, dressed in black, to eat, drink, and remember the deceased: Jesus. Over the course of the night we have live music and people share stories. This year we had stories from a Roman Centurion, Mary, a Pharisee, "the woman who was caught in adultery", and even Judas. Ten stories in total that revealed, from ten different perspectives, who this righteous man was. It was a packed house over 60 people, listening, laughing, eating and drinking and grieving the loss of someone so good. Easter Sunday was the other end of the spectrum entirely! Death to life! We heard Mary's story again, this time with an epilogue: a trip to an empty tomb! We broke bread, shared stories of new life, had artists painting during the service, and ended with a balloon-worship party. It was awesome.

To hear the sermon and monologue from Sunday, click here.

Click here to see the full photo album!

Click here to see the full photo album!

(Or to see the balloon popping aftermath... click here!)

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Eucharist Artist-in-Residence 2015

For the second year, Eucharist Church is looking for an “Artist in Residence” for the summer of 2015. The job is open to any visual artist who wants to improve their skills, work in a unique setting, and further integrate their faith and craft.

Unfortunately, unlike last summer, the position is not funded by Eucharist. Previously we applied for “Summer Student Grants” through the Ontario Government, but this year we were so busy getting our own Charitable Status finished up that we missed the application timeline. That said, the Artist would be able to fundraise for the position, with charitable receipts given to donors through EC. Eucharist will provide money for art supplies.

For a full job description and details on how to apply, click here!

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Lent Classes 2015

Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter. It is a time in the church calendar when we prepare ourselves to recognize and celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

For Lent 2015 we are going to be doing something a little different. Living Rooms (our fancy name for "small groups") are going to be breaking for six weeks, during which we are going to host four different classes focusing on a range of topics and practices core to the Christian movement. 

Whether you are in a Living Room or not, we would love to have everyone who is a part of Eucharist Church taking a class. It's a way to set aside time for intentional growth and discipleship, as well as a great way to get to know a whole new group of good people in your community.

We'll have a sign up sheet the next two Sunday's, but if you can't make either of them you can email your choice to kevin@eucharistchurch.ca

Below are the four classes, topics, and times. Pick one class that you will join for all six weeks. All classes are at First CRC (181 Charlton Avenue West), where we meet on Sundays.

Tuesdays, 7-9pm Feb 24, March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31:

On Being Human - Spiritual Disciplines & Discipleship Stephen Edwards This class looks at a range of spiritual disciplines like fasting, repentance, and prayer, and asks the question: "how do these make us more human?" Faithful Intercultural Discipleship and Engagement Dave and Alison Witt & Special Friends This class explores how God is calling us to confront racism, and pursue reconciliation across racial boundaries.

Thursdays, 7-9pm Feb 26, March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 2:

Potpourri of Prayer Peter and Sandy Giokas This class will teach and create time for people to practice different types of prayer, ranging from the contemplative to prayers of protest! No previous experience in prayer needed! (re)introduction to Christianity Kevin Makins & Special Friend This class aims to introduce (or re-introduce) people to the movement known as Christianity. How did it start? What is it all about? What does it mean to be a Christian? If you are interested in being baptized, this would be a great class to take!