Bethel-Maidstone United Church
933 Talbot Road N0R 1K0 Maidstone, ON, Canada

Join us in supporting the Welcome Centre Shelter's campaign to equip a portable classroom on-site at the shelter, providing children access to educational and recreational programming, as well as services to parents!

Plan to support our neighbours at Harrow United Church by ordering a delicious turkey dinner!

Too soon to think of Christmas? Now is the time people traditionally make their Christmas pudding. This recipe, passed down in Rev. Catherine's family for generations, is made now, dried out to preserve it, and then steamed on Christmas Day. Serve with warm rum sauce and Christmas carols! Lowry Carrot Pudding 1 cup each of brown sugar, shredded carrots, shredded potatoes, dark raisins, light raisins, suet... 1/2 cup of candied orange and lemon peel, finely chopped 1 tsp each of salt, cinnamon, nutmeg 1/2 tsp allspice 1/4 tsp cloves 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 cup boiling water 4 cups all purpose flour Mix together all the ingredients up to the baking soda. Add the baking soda to the water. Alternating with the flour, add the water mixture to the batter. Line a steamer basket with parchment or brown paper. Add the batter. Using your hands, bring the paper up to form the batter into a ball. Pat out any air bubbles. Add water to the pot, cover and steam for 4 hours. Watch and add water to the steamer as needed. Remove from pan to a cooling rack, remove paper. Leave out to dry completely for a few weeks. Store in a cool, dry place till Christmas. On Christmas day, place the pudding (cut into quarters if you want to speed things up) in the steamer basket and steam for two to three hours until moist all through. Serve with warm rum sauce.

Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate the harvest with a special meal! Yesterday, in our sermon series "Food for the Soul," we reflected on food and wine as a means of celebration. Church member Jean has been celebrating her birthday with a special meal of spaghetti and meat sauce since childhood! Cook up a batch and eat likes it's your birthday! Jean’s Spaghetti Sauce (serves 4-6) 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 lb extra lean ground beef... salt and pepper to taste 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves of garlic 1 28oz can of diced tomatoes 1 5.5oz can of tomato paste to cups of water tsp dried oregano cup fresh basil, chopped ( cup shredded parmesan for serving over sauce) Heat oil medium-high heat, add beef crumbled and sear for 3-5 min til brown. Add onion and saute 4 min. Add garlic, cook 1 min. Stir in tomatoes, water, paste, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to boil then simmer for about 45 min. Serve over cooked pasta, sprinkled with parmesan. See more

Thanksgiving blessings to you and your family!

"Here are four things to keep in mind when having that ‘how-are-you-doing?’ conversation with your teen" #WorldMentalHealthDay

Our church wants to be part of the solution to END RACISM IN CANADA. Join our antiracist reading group as we take steps to educate ourselves and mobilize for change. Contact us if you'd like to sign up for our first title, Desmond Cole's "The Skin We're In."

Blueberry Lemon Loaf? Yum! As part of our "Food for the Soul" series we're celebrating favourite recipes and this one comes from Connie Reeb. It reminds her of many wonderful conversations had with family and friends over tea and a slice. Enjoy! Lemon Blueberry Loaf 1 cup of white sugar cup butter softened... 2 eggs 1 cups all purpose flour 1 cup blueberries tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder Grated rind of one lemon cup milk Topping: cup white sugar mixed with the juice of one lemon Preheat oven to 350 degrees Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Combine dry ingredients, lemon rind and blueberries. Add alternately with milk to the butter mixture. Bake 1 hour in greased loaf pan. Remove from pan and spoon topping on hot loaf. See more

Bread is nourishing, comforting and versatile. It is a universal staple, with unique expressions in every culture. And Jesus says, I'm like THAT. Today is World Communion Sunday, and Christians typically around the globe celebrate communion today as an act of unity. Because of the pandemic we did not celebrate communion, but we DID celebrate our unity in the body of Jesus, who calls himself the bread of life.

Sneak peak! Tomorrow in part 2 of our "Food for the Soul" series we celebrate bread! A staple with so many variations. A comfort food throughout the ages. What does it mean for Jesus to call himself "the bread of life"? We'll also be hearing the story behind Jean's fried bread recipe for corn fritters. Whip up a batch and join us in-person for worship at 10 am or listen later on our podcast, "Worship with Bethel-Maidstone United Church." Jean’s Corn Fritters... 1 can cream style corn Combine: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 5 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt Sift into cream style corn. Mix together and add 2 beaten egg yolks. Fold in 2 beaten egg whites. Fry in deep fat, 375 degrees until golden brown. Serve at once with maple syrup. See more

Over the next month, as part of our new sermon series "Food for the Soul," we're highlighting favourite recipes from the congregation! Food is about more than nourishment. This week we looked at how food relates to our identity and to belonging. This recipe for Pot-au-Feu, contributed by Lonnie, is a family favourite and connects him to his French heritage. Put a batch on the fire and tell us how it tastes!

The fourth and final message in our series on "Faithful Tools for Challenging Times" is up on our podcast! Take a listen: anchor.fm/bethel-maidstone

Listen online to part 3 of our sermon series "Faithful Tools for Challenging Times"! anchor.fm/bethel-maidstoneListen online to part 3 of our sermon series "Faithful Tools for Challenging Times"! anchor.fm/bethel-maidstone

Watch our August 30th worship service! Part 1 of 4 in a series on "Faithful Tools for Challenging Times"