Weekly Update

 

 

No Livestream: 
Home Viewers, we will record Sunday's worship service and upload video to valleyviewmc.ca > Watch > Past Worship Services. An email will be sent when it is available. Contact the church office by email if you are unable to access.

 

 

10:00am – Worship at Valleyview

 

Orange Shirt Day

If you have one, please wear your Every Child Matters orange shirt to this worship service. Or, any orange shirt will do! This day of truth & reconciliation honours residential school children and recognizes that every child matters.  www.orangeshirtday.org

 

MCC: Every Child Matters Buttons

Mennonite Church Canada (MCC) has provided Every Child Matters buttons for those who wish to wear one, available on the library counter this Sunday.  MCC commits to honouring the lives of residential school children, their families, and to listening to Indigenous communities seeking justice.

Theme: To Hope and Act with Creation Series - Revealing.
Milestone Bible Presentations

Worship Leader: Pastor Marv

Speaker: Pastor Marv

Song Leader: Heidi W

11:00am – Second Hour

 

Upstairs: Coffee Hour, Fellowship Time

 

Lower Level: Youth Meetup, and Children/Junior Youth Sunday School Class

Snack Host: Lynne & Paul W

Children’s Sunday School (JK-Gr 4) Teacher: Rachel C
Junior Youth (Gr 5-7) Teacher: Lanette FW

Youth Meetup (Gr 8-12) Leader:  Jacob M/Sarah D

 

 

Tuesday, October 1: *Event*

7:00pm at Valleyview:

Panel Discussion: Climate Change, Mining, and the Defense of Water Rights in El Salvador

Please join us for a discussion featuring the following guest speakers:

BERNIE HAMMOND Professor Emeritus, King’s University College Founder of the Centre for Social Concern and the Social Justice and Peace Studies program. Recently published research on the impacts of Canadian mining in El Salvador and Guatemala.

EVER ENMANUEL HERNÁNDEZ MARTÍNEZ Community Water Systems Expert Member of the Association for Social and Economic Development "Santa Marta" in Cabañas, El Salvador

See Poster for further details, click here.

 

Thursday, Sept 26:

Male Chorus Rehearsal - 7:30pm

 

 

October 18 – 20, 2024: Valleyview Unplugged, Fall Church Retreat

 

10:00am – Worship at Valleyview

 

Theme: To Hope and Act with Creation Series - Hope.

 

Worship Leader: Linda W

Speaker: Pastor Marv

Song Leader: Henry B

11:00am – Second Hour

Upstairs: Coffee Hour, Sharing Faith Story: Athieng A

Lower Level: Youth Meetup, and Children/Junior Youth Sunday School Class

Snack Host: Kristibeth K

Children’s Sunday School (JK-Gr 4) Teacher: Jess A & Dan H
Junior Youth (Gr 5-7) Teacher: Lanette FW

Youth Meetup (Gr 8-12) Leader:  Jacob M/Sarah D

 

 

Worship: To Hope and Act with Creation is our fall worship series, providing an Anabaptist lens as we seek justice and peace for all creation. In a time when the groans of creation are growing in intensity, Mennonites are invited to join Christians all over the world in marking the Season of Creation - six weeks in September and October of worship, prayer, and action dedicated to the healing of our common home. (We will extend into November.)

 

Romans 8:14-25 provides a rich scriptural framework for the season, inviting us to join creation in lament and praise as we seek reconnecting as kin within the whole, moving away from a culture of destruction into a fully restored and embodied web of life.

 

October 6: To Hope and Act with Creation Series - Hope.
Second Hour: Sharing faith stories – Athieng A

 

October 13: Thanksgiving
Second Hour: Potluck Meal for all (no Sunday School classes)

 

October 20: Valleyview Unplugged, Annual Silver Lake Church Retreat
There is no worship at Valleyview in London this weekend.

 

October 27: Worship Guests, the Valleyview Male Chorus
Second Hour: Male Chorus performance

 

 

For ways to donate please visit www.valleyviewmc.ca/Give.

 

Donations received in September: $22,800

Monthly donations target:  $24,158

Total donations received Year-to-Date: $211,384

(73% of total goal reached)
2024 Annual donations target: $289,897

 

Announcements

New and updated announcements are marked with purple font.

 

Seeking to Borrow Coolers & Ice Packs

In preparation for transporting food to the annual church retreat at Silver Lake camp, we are again asking to borrow your large coolers (with ice packs)!  Please email heather@valleyviewmc.ca or speak to Brenda F on Sundays to let us know if you have a cooler and ice packs we can borrow. Then, label and bring them to Valleyview by Thanksgiving weekend. (Oct 13^th) Thank you!

Seeking Disposable Plastic Containers!
Welcome Wednesday needs your disposable plastic containers and lids (“Mennonite Tupperware!”).  We could really use your ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, margarine, and whatever else containers WITH lids. bring them to Valleyview and leave them with Lynne W, Doris K, or at the Church Office.

 

Many thanks! - Lynne W.

 

Tuesday, October 1 - 7:00pm at Valleyview:

Panel Discussion: Climate Change, Mining, and the Defense of Water Rights in El Salvador

 

Please join us for a discussion featuring the following guest speakers:

BERNIE HAMMOND Professor Emeritus, King’s University College Founder of the Centre for Social Concern and the Social Justice and Peace Studies program. Recently published research on the impacts of Canadian mining in El Salvador and Guatemala.

EVER ENMANUEL HERNÁNDEZ MARTÍNEZ Community Water Systems Expert Member of the Association for Social and Economic Development "Santa Marta" in Cabañas, El Salvador

See Poster for further details, click here.

 

CALL FOR SUPPORT Since the water defenders were charged, hundreds of national and international organizations and individuals have joined an international campaign to defend the historic mining ban, and to call for the immediate release of the Water Defenders of Santa Marta and ADES. Among those calling for their release are the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, 17 Representatives of the US Congress, elected members of the Spanish Congress, and hundreds of civil society organizations around the world. In January of this year, 185 prominent lawyers and academics from 30 countries signed an open letter asking the Salvadoran Attorney General to drop the charges, and in February 245 organizations from 34 countries presented a similar petition.

 

“During the weeks of September 22 to October 4, 2024, we are asking individuals and groups like yours to join Salvadoran social movement organizations in organizing solidarity actions in different cities around the world. Together, we can help to raise international awareness of the country’s human rights crisis and to show urgently needed solidarity with the Salvadoran social movements and the community of Santa Marta.”

 

Valleyview Unplugged:

When: October 18- 20, 2024

Theme:  Meeting God in the Wilderness

Where:  Silver Lake Mennonite Camp

What to Expect:  Prepare yourselves to Meet God in the Wilderness at Valleyview Unplugged this year! We invite you to a weekend filled with God’s presence and fellowship among community. Come for an experience in nature and an opportunity to work together to prepare elements of our Sunday worship service, either through Visuals, Music, Drama or Creative Writing. We hope to see you there!

Registration Due: October 6 (online form linked in Weekly Update email)

Cost: Food and Accommodation Costs at the Camp provided by Valleyview Mennonite Church

 

 

MCEC Invite to Prayer:
Wendy Janzen, MCEC Eco-Minister, and Herb Sawatzky, pastor of Bethany Mennonite Church, invite you to join in a monthly prayer for our planet. Let’s come together to pray for our concerns around climate justice (ways that climate change has unequal impacts on marginalized and vulnerable populations, both human and more-than-human). The second Thursday of the month, for 30 minutes, beginning at 11:15a.m. Sign up for the Zoom link at mcec.ca.

 

MCEC Intercultural Worship Gathering and Potluck, Saturday, October 26, 2024, 4 - 6 p.m, First Hmong Mennonite Church. We warmly invite everyone to join us for a special time of worship, unity, and celebration, as various congregations come together to honour our diversity in Christ. This year's speaker: Hruai Tu, Chair of Young Adult Ministry at Chin Christian Church (Kitchener). Potluck follows - bring food to share! More information at mcec.ca/events.

 

MCEC Palestine Israel Networking Group presents Challenge for the Church: Antisemitism, Saturday, November 2, 2024, 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Waterloo North Mennonite Church, 100 Benjamin Rd, Waterloo. How has the Church been antisemitic in the past? How can the Church resist antisemitism today? Join us for a day that calls us to a deeper examination of Mennonite thought and action. We invite churches to join us for this workshop on antisemitism, as well as a companion event March 2025 Challenge for the Church: Islamophobia. Register at mcec.ca/events.

 

Menno Youth Ensemble

 

For the latest news and volunteer opportunities, visit links below:

 

MCC (Mennonite Central Committee): mcccanada.ca

MCEC (Mennonite Church Eastern Canada): mcec.ca

MDS (Mennonite Disaster Service): mds.mennonite.net

· September edition of On the Level:  https://conta.cc/4esqtQj

MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates): www.meda.org

 

   Attendance Practices at Valleyview

 

Scent-Free Zone: Severe Scent Allergy

Valleyview is a scent-free zone as many participants have strong reactions to scented products. Please refrain from using all scented products: cologne, perfume, hairspray, hand and body lotion.

No Peanuts: Allergy Alert

Members in attendance experience a serious peanut allergy. Please refrain from bringing, eating, or serving any food labelled as containing peanuts or with warning “May contain peanuts”.

Masking Policy at Valleyview

Please wear a facemask if you feel more comfortable and remember to stay home if you are not feeling well.