If you are open to:

A place of welcome…
A place of learning…
A place to explore your growth…
A place of laughter…
A place for all ages…
A place where people seek to make a difference…
A supportive community…

We invite you to visit us at
Pictou United Church for Sunday Worship at 10:30 am
Sunday School and Nursery facilities available

Join us in making a difference
In our community and in our world.
We think you will like what you will see and hear.

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The United Church of Canada announced today that it is launching an emergency appeal for donations designated for flood relief and reconstruction in Pakistan.

The United Church will receive donations to its Emergency Response Fund to be used by the ACT Alliance, a global network of 100 churches and church-related organizations that work together to provide humanitarian assistance and long-term development. ACT members in Pakistan are working diligently to deliver assistance including food, water, tents, kitchen kits, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, and emergency medical care.

Gary Kenny is The United Church of Canada’s Program Coordinator for Emergency Response. He says the United Church has a solid history of working with its in-country partners and organizations like ACT to deliver aid to affected communities in a timely, efficient, and effective manner. Delivering aid to the affected communities is extremely difficult, because they are in mountainous, remote, and hard-to-reach regions. Nonetheless Kenny says he’s confident that the initial emergency funds the United Church has sent—$65,000 from emergency relief funds and $75,000 through its membership in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank—has reached or will soon reach communities in need.

“Patience, ongoing consultation, and careful planning and monitoring are critical requirements in responding effectively to a humanitarian crisis as complex as that currently unfolding in Pakistan,” says Kenny.

Individuals are invited to contribute to the United Church’s Pakistan appeal either through their local congregations or directly to The United Church of Canada’s national office: 3250 Bloor St. West, Suite 300, Toronto, ON  M8X 2Y4. Cheques should be made payable to The United Church of Canada and marked “Pakistan Flood Relief.” Online donations can also be made at Pakistan Appeal.

Additional background material related to the United Church’s Pakistan appeal has been posted on The United Church of Canada’s website. Please watch for updates as new information becomes available.

Thank you to my “masking tape” freinds for their amazing surprise. You guys and gals keep me guessing!!!!

MB

This Summer , Mary-Beth is planning to use as the guide for her weekly reflections the book Welcome to the Wisdom of the World by Joan Chittister. In this book, Chittister, a Benedictine abbess, popular lecturer and prolific spirituality writer, explores life’s most pressing questions. Spurred by letters from those who… often pour out their … See Morehearts and seek advice from her, each chapter tackles a separate spiritual question: Where is God?; What does it mean to be a spiritual person?; What’s important in life? Chittister presents insight and wisdom into those questions as she draws upon the Christian tradition as well as five world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. So with Chittister’s book as a guide, we will explore some of these deeply human questions, in hope we might gain guidance for our own living… SUNDAY, AUGUST 22: “WHAT CAN I DO WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”

Next Sunday we will have as our special guest; Sarina Bayer, the daughter of Dr. Mina MacKenzie, and founder of the Dr. Mina MacKenzie Memorial Trust Fund. As some are aware, the links between Pictou United Church and the work of the Dr. Mina are long standing.

Dr. Mina was born in 1872 in Waterside. In spite of incredible obstacles, she graduated with her MD in 1904, and devoted her life to serve as a medical missionary in India. During this period, she maintained an ongoing connection to Pictou, Caribou River and Three Brooks; spending her furloughs and vacation time with family and friends including her niece Ruth Munro.

Throughout Dr. Mina’s time in India, her work in medicine and education was supported by many people and groups; including Pictou United. In 1940, after 35 years of service, Dr. Mina retired to Pictou, where she set up a hospital in her home and dedicated herself to care for those in rural areas. Though she died in 1957, her compassion, love and commitment for the people of India continues through the work of the Dr. Mina MacKenzie Memorial Trust and its support of schools, an AIDS Hospice, and orphanages in India. Over the years Pictou United, through donations to our ‘Ruth Munro Mission of Children’, has financially supported the costs for 2 students to attend school (approximately $300 CAD per student, per year). As Sarina writes, “Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. It saves children from being exploited as child labourers and gives them the ability to permanently improve their lives.”