Grace United Church
4708 50 Avenue T9V 0W4 Lloydminster, SK, Canada

As you may know, street health and harm reduction workers working on the frontlines have been under pressure for a while now with a lack of affordable housing and the ongoing opioid epidemic. The pandemic has only made things more challenging for these frontline workers. Now, more than ever, street health workers need our support to ensure that they stay well, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. "Several street health workers from Ottawa Inner City Health and from the ...Somerset West community in Ottawa have recently collaborated with singer/songwriter Pat Mayberry (who has composed several hymns for the United Church) to produce a song/video entitled Rise Up Strong. In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, please view and share Rise Up Strong to spread the word that we need to care for street health workers’ mental and spiritual wellbeing, as they care for our most vulnerable community members." - Soul Space Ottawa #GodsHandsandHeart https://youtu.be/YZlfGG1c2f0

The United Church of Canada is hosting a daily webinar series during Mental Health Week at 10 am MDT. Head over and have a look. If you missed a session, scroll down and watch the recording. https://facebook.com/UnitedChurchCda

What does mental wellness look like in faith communities? How do we support those who need more than we can offer in prayer and an open ear? How will we be #ACompassionateFaithCommunity towards mental health? Leader of the Identity and Mission Team with the UCC, Amy Crawford speaks to the Mental Health Working Group with the United Church of Canada. They have had to push through the challenges of creating a community of caring in COVID, dealing with their own mental health at... the same time. Let’s #getreal about mental health, talk about it and keep the conversation going. https://united-church.ca//breaking-silence-about-mental-he

May 3-9 is Mental Health Week, and the Canadian theme is #GetReal about how you feel. Good mental health isn’t about being happy all the time. A mentally healthy life includes the full range of human emotions, even the uncomfortable ones like sadness, fear, and anger. One of the best ways to quiet emotions is to give them a voice, so name them, don’t numb them. This week’s #MindfulnessMonday practice of guided meditation can help identify emotions and give a sense of freedom ...from feelings that weigh you down. If you or someone you know needs help, the local health authority, workplaces, faith communities, and schools have resources to help people #GetReal and talk about difficult emotions.

Happy #MindfulnessMonday! Today’s practice is really popular with young teens and adults can love it, too. This exercise will help you be more mindful of your surroundings and reduce anxiety and can be used anytime, anywhere. It is called the "5-4-3-2-1 Exercise" and focuses on all the senses to help ground you with the here and now. Name 5 things you see now. It can be anything.... Name 4 things you can physically feel. Name 3 things you can hear. Name 2 things you can smell or taste. Name 1 positive thing about yourself. This week, challenge yourself to perform the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise whenever you begin to feel overwhelmed. Once you’ve finished, reflect on how you feel. Here is an example of the exercise being completed: https://www.tiktok.com/@therapy_thou//6884383155457920262 See you next Monday for another Mindfulness tidbit. Have an excellent week!

Today's Grace Connection video is for the young and young at heart. It is hosted by our Family Support Worker Lana Lane. We will be adding a new video in this series every week until Easter. If you have not received an activity bag you can contact the office at Grace United Church 780-875-8959.

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Choir Mistress Karen brings you this week’s Power to the Pews.

In times of need we ban together to bring Joy to those around us. Colleen, Pat and Graci make up one of our cooking teams for the Soup for the Soul program. Today they were creating Hamburger and Lasagna Soup for Outreach. All soup is put into 1 litre containers to be handed out to whomever needs it! Such a wonderful way to reach those in our Community. Next week Grace welcomes 3 more cooking teams to prepare Chicken Noodle, Potatoe, Hamburger, and Lasagna soups. Chili... will also be on the menu. #Outreach #apassionatefaithcommunity #GodsHandsAndHeartEverywhere #graceunitedchurch

Yay God! Thank you for your prayers and support through this challenge. Ashley and Ethan are going home together today! Keen praying for a full and healthy recovery.

Amazing things happen when you rally people to collect food for those in need. Yesterday, record numbers of food hampers went out the doors of Grace. 36 families benefitted from donations collected throughout the month of November. Special thanks to all those donating to the food collection. Brown sugar, coffee, canned fruit, Chef Boyardee and other canned pasta with pull tab lids are on the wishlist this week. Food donations are graciously accepted during office hours ...at the Church if you’re willing to support. #Outreach #graceunitedchurch #apassionatefaithcommunity #GodsHandsAndHeartEverywhere

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A little update for our families and youth and young at heart. We are sharing our advent calendar with all, please share it and enjoy. Take some time to find Hope, Peace, Love and Joy in this advent season. It may not look like your usual Christmas but we all have some much to be thankful for, if you have a little extra share it around. From our Grace family to yours we wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Happy Saturday Grace family! This is a friendly reminder tomorrow is White Gift Sunday. If you would like to donate your gift the Church doors will be open tomorrow from 9:00 - 11:30. What a beautiful way to give back to those in need. #whitegiftsunday #graceunitedchurch #GodsHandsAndHeartEverywhere... #apassionatefaithcommunity See more

Good morning, Grace. Below is the link for Sunday worship sign-up. Please remember to sign-up as individuals and not groups. The link will remain the same for each week but you will not be able to register for the coming service until Thursday morning.... Cards will be mailed out shortly with these details but please help spread the news by calling people who may not have access to the internet. We hope to see many of you soon! https://form.jotform.com/202538659556063

Today is a great day to support the Lloydminster Public and Catholic School Division Breakfast programs. Go fuel up at a Co-op gas station today and help raise monies for the students in Lloydminster needing a healthy breakfast! #graceunitedchurch #apassionatefaithcommunity #giveback

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We are sew excited to announce a new addition to our calendar! This Thursday, from 1pm to 8pm, join Heather in the hall as you gather your thoughts, share a yarn and maybe baste together a love of sewing. Please bring your own sewing machine and other tools, an extension chord and be prepared to wear a mask. There is no food or beverage made available; therefore, we ask you to bring your own coffee and snack items. No machine? Tack in your knitting, crochet or cross-stitch pr...ojects. Dont be on the bias. All are welcome, whether you have to dart in or have take all day to ease into it. Contact the office for more details. We hope you bobbin soon.

We all know where we were and what we were doing when the Towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, 19 years ago. No doubt we will remember, but how will we remember. Take time today to just p a u s e. https://youtu.be/gPHnadJ-0hE... #graceunitedchurch #apassionatefaithcommunity #remember

Grace United gets back to in person worship this Sunday, September 13th! We are very excited to be welcoming the kids back to service with Youth, and Junior Groups. Babyfold will also be open for families requiring this service. Covid-19 protocols will be in place with physical distancing, the wearing of masks and individual activity bags. We are encouraging families to sign up with the attached registration forms. Also, mark September 27th on your calendar for our kick ...off Celebration of the 2020-2021 Sunday School Year. We are very excited to have all of you back! YAY GOD:) #SundaySchool #GraceUnitedChurch #GodsHandsAndHeartEverywhere #APassionateFaithCommunity Grade 5 and up- YOUTH GROUP https://form.jotform.com/202528018386254 Kindergarten- Grade 4- JUNIOR GROUP https://form.jotform.com/202535743484256

Good evening everyone! We hope you had a splendid long weekend! Special thanks to the following families and their recent donation of bottles to support Youth programming at Grace United: Holtbys, Weavers, Quists, Herrings, Campbells, Morgans, Cunninghams and Lanes! . We raised just about $550.00. This is awesome work! A big shout out to Devyn Haygarth for driving around to collect the bottles!!! Gods Hands and Heart were definitely at work!!! Our next bottle depot ...run will be the week of Oct. 13-16th. If you have bottles for pick up you may contact Lana at [email protected]. #graceunitedchurch #LloydminsterBottleDepot #GodsHandsAndHeartEverywhere #ACompassionateFaithCommunity

Good morning! Below is a link to sign-up for this coming Sunday worship. ***This link will change in the coming weeks.*** The policies are highlighted at the end of the questionnaire and must be adhered to in order for people to be present at the service.... Please have this filled in as soon as possible in the week. Anyone not preregistered will have to screen and check in at the doors on Sunday. Once we reach the limit of attendees, no one will be permitted to enter. Share this with anyone you know. You can also help limit calls and emails to the church by signing up your friends or family who do not have access to the internet. As always, let us know if you have any further questions. Peace. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2RCHX7Y

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We would like to thank Adrienne for stepping in as office administrator over the last few months. Her help during the pandemic has been the best, assisting us with technical support for staff and all our congregational members and keeping the office flowing as smoothly as possible. We wish her all the best in her studies as she follows the path of ministry. We are excited that Adrienne will be staying on as our communications liaison for our website and social media! Happy first week at Lakeland College Adrienne!

Grace family... During Sundays service, Rev. Cathy mentioned a family who lost a majority of their house in a fire last week. Our prayers go out to this family as they manoeuvre this very difficult time. Over the weekend the house was also broken into and TVs , electronics and possibly other things were stolen. The Red Cross supported this family initially, but mom, dad and the two kids have been living at hotels throughout the weekend. Insurance adjusters are figuring... out the claim. This family is going to be displaced for months as things are settled with their home. In the meantime, they will be living in a rental home they were able to find today. They are in need of furniture and kitchen supplies. We are hopeful with a reach out, we can supply this family with the following items in great condition: Couches Chairs Coffee table TV Kitchen table and chairs Kitchen appliances Silverware Dishes Glasses and cups Pots and Pans Beds X2 for the kids Bedding and Blankets Pillows Dressers Towels, washcloths Tea towels, dishcloths, Please email [email protected] if you have anything to donate. If you have any questions, please call 403.901.8385. #GodsHandsAndHeartEverywhere #GraceUnitedChurch

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ON-LINE and FREE!

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We are having a sound issue. We will be back on shortly.

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From the fields of Howellville, D-Ho and Chicklet. Accompaniment by the Purple Martin Brigade.

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Happy Saturday to all Grace friends and followers! With school days just around the corner, whether in person or online, here is a call out for micro-essays. Contemplate and answer these questions: How did you spend your summer?... What did you learn or how did you grow? What are you most excited about in your future? Please, feel free to share in the comments below.

Happy Friday Grace family. Meet your Great Cycle Challenge rider. Here is Jarrods story and the WHY he participates in the Great Cycle Challenge every year. At the age of 4, Jarrod was diagnosed with a Grade III Astrocytoma of the left frontal region. This is a big name for a cancerous brain tumor. This diagnosis came after a simple fall playing in his dads truck in the Summer of 1980. It has never been determined if Jarrod was born with the tumor, or if it developed ...as a result of him choking on a plum stone when he was two. Following the fall, Jarrod began to experience headaches, problems with balance and walking, a change in his mood, vomiting, numbness on his right side and some clear changes in his speech. Jarrod had 3 brain surgeries to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Following these surgeries he had 30 Cobalt treatments, the strongest radiation treatment at the time. Jarrod was a sick little guy for a very long time, only given a 30% chance of survival. As an aftermath of all the surgeries and treatments, Jarrod developed epilepsy because of remaining scar tissue. Fast forward to today.... Jarrod is 44 and survived! He survived the challenges of Elementary School, the bullying of Junior Highschool and the modifications of Highschool. He is partially paralyzed on the right side, suffers from epileptic seizures from scar tissue, and has learning difficulties because of speech and processing impairments. This...all because of Childhood Cancer. Jarrod lives in an assisted living complex and gets around Lloydminster on his recumbent bike. He has 4 siblings; 3 bossy sisters and one brother. His parents, Wayne and Barb Russell are very supportive and help Jarrod whenever needed. Aside from Wayne and Barb living at Little Loon, the rest of the family call Lloydminster home. For the past 4 years, Jarrod has been the top fundraiser in Canada raising over $112,000.00 for kids battling Cancer. 2020 was to be the 5th year celebratory ride sharing with families. Unfortunately, COVID-19 changed plans and the ride was changed to August and ideas of the big community get-together didnt happen. Today we celebrate with everyone and cheer Jarrod on as he plans to finish out his riding with at least 1200 km logged by the end of the month. With the support of family, friends and this wonderful community, he has raised over $27,000.00 so far this year! This morning he is #2 on the leaderboard and will continue to ride and collect donations until the end of August. We encourage you to give Jarrod a honk, a wave or even join him in the ride. Please watch out for him when you are out and about! If you would like to support Jarrod, here is the link to his sponsor page. https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/Riders/JarrodQRussell

Another $75.45 for the Grace United Church homework program in bottle collections. Special thanks to the Polischuks, Keegan Lane, his roommates, Shelby Lane & friends for the bottle donations! Bottle donations accepted all the time Thanks everyone!!!... #GraceUnitedChurchHomeworkProgram #LloydminsterBottleDepot #GodsHandsAndHeartEverywhere

Good morning Grace family! One of our own will be on the streets today riding a lot of kilometres in support of the fight to end Childhood Cancer. Prayers for Jarrod keeping him safe on the streets and that this is a great day for donations to support his cause. #GreatCycleChallenge #EndChildhoodCancer #GodsHandsAndHeartEverywhere

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Good morning, Grace family, and a blessed Sunday. Tune in a bit early for a special presentation of Power from the Pews, starring the Darling Diva and some special guests.

Happy Saturday Grace family. Came across this lovely post which ties so nicely into Childrens storytime for service tomorrow. Hope you plan to check in via our Facebook Live feed. Have a wonderful day and fill your cup with all the goodness surrounding you! You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee? ... "Because someone bumped into me!!!" Wrong answer. You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. *Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.* Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. Its easy to fake it, until you get rattled. *So we have to ask ourselves... whats in my cup?"* When life gets tough, what spills over? Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions? Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it. Today lets work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation; and kindness, gentleness and love for others. (Shared from a friend whose cup is full of goodness and inspiration.)

Correction on today... A live stream of the video portion of the service will start at 1:30 today. Again, the Zoom link for the stream is 658 105 380.

Good afternoon, friends. Tomorrow at 2pm is the celebration of life for Gary Young. Do to COVID restrictions, the service is by invite only. It will be broadcast here on Facebook and Zoom as well. The Zoom link is the same as our Sunday service - 658 105 380. Cards may be dropped off at the office any time before the service or on another day.... The office will be closed at 1:30 tomorrow to accommodate the service and ease traffic flow. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding while we organize space to remember a friend lost during this challenging time.

We miss our coffee time, all that conversation and time to catch up... but we really miss our celebration moments. Happy Birthday, friends.

Power from the Pews: Addendum...a little Stairway from ye olde bin...

Power from the Pews: S1:E11 PS: There is an addendum to this video too...posted shortly...when I figure that out...

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