HELLO!

Attendance is beginning to decline as the warmer weather becomes more common. Still, there are some advantages, I can see all the faces now, no one leave church with me saying, “I didn’t see you, where were you sitting?” As has become our custom, there were five new faces this morning, that always makes my day. If you missed the service, here is the livestream link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HesDP13rnC0

Margo is looking for summer ushers as many of our regulars are away in July and August. If you have the time and the interest, please let me know and I will pass you name on to Margo. It’s a great way to meet people, like being a coffee hour host. Faces become more familiar.

After church I made my way to the hospital to visit Murdock. I have his permission to share this news and given the timing I asked if anyone this morning wanted to sign a card for him. I shared with Murdock this prayer shawl (thank you Linda) and the signed card. Murdock told me his favorite colour is blue. I wanted you to see (again, with his permission) how his face lit up when I presented him with these gifts from our church.

On my way into the hospital (I am a “far parker”, I like to park on Neptune to get some walking in) I spotted a couple carrying a life-size cardboard cutout into the hospital. When they entered the building I asked, “who is it?”. It turns out it was Tom Jones (with gray hair). I was never that interested in Tom Jones. But I did attend a UN seminar as a high school student at Mount Allison University in Sackville NB and my roommate, Jay, wanted to be the next Johnny Carson. He could do a Carson impression like no one else. He also, despite his age, was fully aware of all the Tonight Show regulars, 1960’s/70’s celebrities. Jay told me all about Tom Jones, even why he sweated so much (I am cursed with a memory that retains even information I would prefer to forget…).

On Sunday night, I helped support a family grieving their beloved aunt. They all live abroad, so when they arrived in Halifax and were looking for a minister, their aunt’s best friend, Irene, suggested me. I discovered, sadly, Irene’s husband Phil has died recently. I will never forget meeting Phil, he gave me a fake $50/100 bill (I can’t recall which one it was), instead of MacKenzie King’s or Robert Borden’s face on the money, it was Phil’s. If you did not look carefully, you would have assumed it was authentic. Further, when I went to visit Phil and Irene, Phil brought out an old Royal certificate of recognition presented to Irene’s mother, who then was a cook at the Pine Hill Divinity School. She had been out having her lunch, by the water, when she saw some local boys fall into the water from their makeshift boat. She swam out, saved a few of them all by herself (sadly, at least one boy drowned). Phil showed me an article in the Herald, about this rescue. I recognized one of the boys whom Irene’s mother rescued, a member of the church I then served. That Sunday at coffee hour, I introduced the daughter of the woman who had saved these lives, to the daughter of one of the boys who had been rescued.

These are the kind of stories that live in my memory. They are what make ministry so interesting for me. In 36 years, I have never had a dull day.

Peace, Kevin