The Church at Southpoint
15639 24 Ave. V4A 2J6 Surrey, BC, Canada

Grief, Courage and Active Resistance Buried in the book of 2 Samuel is the story of Rizpah. Hers is a story of grief, the unraveling of a mother’s heart at the violent deaths of her sons, and her refusal to let things go back to normal until some semblance of justice had been done. Rizbah was King Saul's concubine. She bore two sons into the world. [ 652 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-september-20-26/

2020. The year of global pandemic, bush fires in Australia, apocalyptic forest fires in the pacific northwest, plagues of locusts in Africa, earthquakes in Puerto Rico, murder hornets, hurricanes, tribalism, hyperpolarization, police brutality, racially-motivated violence, Russian intelligence hacking, voter suppression, civil unrest, assaults on democracy, the explosion in Beirut, China's clamp down on Hong Kong, unchecked capitalism (the stock market going up just as unemployment skyrockets?!?) Now that summer is over, schools are starting up just as covid numbers are rising, and to top it off, soon it will be winter in BC. [ 635 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-september-13-19/

Sarah, Laughing In this image, Sarah looks down at Isaac, the child born to her in her old age. There is such joy and warmth in the unraveling of her barrenness. Walter Brueggemann wrote that "Laughter is a biblical way of receiving a newness which cannot be explained. The newness is sheer gift - underived, unwarranted." What might it look like for our disbelief to unravel into joy? [ 663 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-september-6-12/

Grief-soaked Hope This past Sunday, Joy shared with us four pieces of art she created while grieving the loss of her husband, Dennis. There is the interplay in each piece between grief and hope. She gives this a name: grief-soaked hope. Grief, as the deep, gut-wrenching loss of someone treasured and loved. Hope, found in unexpected glimpses of a God who seeks out, draws near, and brings comfort to us in our affliction, even when we have lost the will to reach out to him. [ 772 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-aug-16-22/

This Week is a Zooming Sunday Thank you to Brian Oger for offering our short meditation. This is the summer liturgy (link). Get the Zoom invitation here. Southpoint Summer 2020 On Zoom Sundays, we will continue our rhythm of zooming at 10:00 am, with a new liturgy for summer. Our theme is "voices of hope", and someone from within our community will share briefly on the subject of hope. [ 350 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-july-12-18-2020/

Hope, in the Summer of 2020 This Sunday, July 12, we will will meet OUTDOORS! in three separate locations with two Gathering Groups** per place. We will share liturgy (link), communion, and cultivate a conversation around hope, highlighting one new question each week. Our discussion material for Sunday the 12, shared to Gathering group facilitators, is provided by David Morrison. [ 447 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-july-5-11-2020/

This Week is a Zooming Sunday This is the summer liturgy (link). Thank you to David Morrison for offering our short meditation, Lessons on Hope from a Place of Hopelessness. Southpoint Summer 2020 On Zoom Sundays, we will continue our rhythm of zooming at 10:00 am, with a new liturgy for summer. Our theme is "voices of hope", and someone from within our community will share briefly on the subject of hope. [ 431 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-jun-28-jul-4-2020/

Southpoint Summer 2020 As the weather warms and the number of Covid cases drops in BC, we are beginning to come out of deep hibernation and reconnect in safe ways. This gives us a window of opportunity to have some face-to-face contact in smaller clusters. In response to the preferences named in our recent survey, we've come up with a rotation for summer that will look like this: [ 649 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/4609-2/

Woke Do you remember way back in Advent (I know, it seems a lifetime ago) we sat in the church building - together? The chairs were in a square. We put black paper over the windows and shut the back door so it would feel dark inside, and in the middle, the advent candles were in lanterns, surrounded by cedar branches and twinkling lights. [ 822 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-june-7-13/

A Humble Resistance Listening, Learning, and Unlearning I am physically perched on the border between the US and Canada. Emotionally, I have crossed over this week. Bear with me. I do not even know how to begin this post, as each hour I absorb a new blow from the latest piece of shocking news. The picture of Trump in Washington, D.C., holding a copy of the Bible while standing in front of St. [ 729 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-may-31-june-6/

Grounded and Guided Hi Southpoint friends, I'm wondering how you are all doing today as things continue to open up and we step back out into the world? Some of us are stepping out boldly. Some of us are stepping out gingerly and carefully. Others are choosing not to step at all. Our responses to this new freedom are personal and tender, rooted in our life experiences, stories that hold authority for us, our traumas, our temperaments. [ 700 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-may-24-30/

"Yes" and "No" One of the beautiful (and daunting) parts of adulting is the freedom of choice we have. No one is hovering over us to remind us to brush our teeth, or get to bed on time. No one else chooses what item we'll order on the menu, or how much money we're going to give away. We have freedom and responsibility. [ 957 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-may-17-23/

A Liturgy of Abundance Last week, when there was news that our government was loosening restrictions and we could double our bubble, I overhead Johanna talking with her dear friend, Maiah. In voices full of excitement, they were saying to one another, "And we can SIT on a blanket - TOGETHER!!! As if sitting together on a blanket was the most amazing feast. [ 902 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-may-10-16-2020/

Liminal Space We are six weeks into self-distancing, and it is working, which is such good news. In the meantime, we are still in liminal space. Our routines have changed. Our sources of fullness have changed. Our activity level has changed. Our future has changed into something still quite unknown. We are learning to live day to day. Some are thriving amidst these changes, others feel the emptiness, malaise, the challenge of reorganizing life within these new constraints. [ 584 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/week-of-may-3-9-2020-2/

Befriending Craig loves structure and the comfort of daily routine. While he makes our coffee, he puts two cups out, his favourite and mine. He then makes oatmeal. While the oatmeal simmers, he lays the bowls, the spoons, the container of almonds, and the container of sugar on the counter in an orderly fashion. Afterwards, he sits in a chair to read, journal, and pray. [ 820 more words ] http://southpoint.ca/the-week-of-april-19-25/

Letter from Anne Hello dear Southpoint community near and far, I write to you today with the firm conviction that beauty, goodness, joy, creativity, abundance, justice, love, connection, and fecundity are in endless supply deep in the heart of God, and therefore are endlessly being poured into God's Creation, which includes you! Jesus embodied this presence and power for us while he walked on earth, and now is the source, the headwaters, for this Life. [ 1,215 more word ] http://southpoint.ca/the-week-of-april-12-18/

At the heart of reality is abundance. Out of death, life. While it is still dark, we watch. We wait. We hope.