June 4, 2009

nxt7



last Sunday’s free museum day didn’t exactly work as planned, eight of us met in 2nd Cup on McGill College, and five of us were my family! Ah well, we tried something different. Things have been busy for me with a visit to Oshawa and a day for clergy & lay leaders in Loblaws LaSalle! Busy & good though.


Sally sent me this in response to the flash mob guerilla worship video I forwarded,


"Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more, from the first similitude."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning
from Aurora Leigh, Seventh Book

sunday june 7
being part of the Diocese of Montreal is a funny thing, but sometimes it has it's perks...such as
11am Diocesan Brunch outside the Cathedral, it's free, there will be veggie burgers as well as beef, and we're all invited!
1pm Diocesan Eucharist: Guest Speaker: Bishop Mark MacDonald. Theme: “Hear What the Spirit is Saying to the Church.”
Bishop Barry is asking us to come together as a Diocesan family. Mark is National Indigenous Bishop and is well worth meeting! (That's his photo at the top)




later that same day… and as if that were not enough, we will get together in the Undercroft to do something we haven’t done for quite a while, share the Lord’s Supper together, plus soup & bread, live music, friends, conversation around “where do you see God’s Spirit at work?” 5.00 pm



wednesday june 10

musicians & singers want to get something special going for june 14 so we’ll get together to rehearse at Sue & Nick’s 7.30 pm

May 28, 2009

nxt7

sunday may 31-pentecost
montreal museums day


when Montreal's 30 museums are freee! 9am-6pm. so let's take advantage of this opportunity and get out there! the idea is to check out a museum or two, preferably with a couple of other emergers, and then get together at the Second Cup at 2200 McGill College & President Kennedy at 6.30 pm to debrief. we know that the Holy Spirit is at work in the world, so we need to pay attention to see what the Spirit is up to! so check out the museums, choose one or two to visit with some friends, then get yourself to 2nd Cup! call me if you get lost!

the Jesus Way reading group continues to meet at Julie-Maud's place.

please give thanks for... Tanya & Joan's successful show last saturday; the imminent arrival of summer; the affluence we enjoy in Canada; life and freedom; relationships with God and with others;...

please pray for...
those looking for work; those feeling helpless; the majority of people around the world who can never hope to have a little of what we so easily take for granted; Nick presenting to Toronto synod.

May 15, 2009

nxt 7

sunday may 17th

we have spent the past few sunday evenings thinking about some of the appearances of Jesus after being raised from the dead. this sunday we come to one of the last appearances, recorded this time by Matthew, during which Jesus tells his disciples what they are supposed to be getting on with. we will have a look at how we are doing at being about what Jesus told us to be about!
soup, bread, boissons, friends, hopefully music too, and as always prayer! hope to see you there! 5.00 pm the Undercroft

have a great Fete des Patriotes/Victoria Day weekend if I don't see you!

May 8, 2009

nxt7


"these are a few of my favourite things..."

sunday may 10
a chance to share a part of the Bible that has impacted our lives, to listen, to look for any common threads...5.00 pm the Undercroft, soup & bread, live music, coffee, friends, talk, prayer.

May 1, 2009

nxt7


the last two sunday evening gatherings have seen us "marinating" in some of the resurrection appearances of Jesus as recorded in the gospels. last sunday we were flies on the wall as Jesus met with the disciples without & with Thomas. is it possible to live as resurrection-shaped people? can we "soak" it in?



Tanya's listening party included an impromptu acoustic set on a chilly sidewalk in front of Shaika's last wednesday, complete with her cousin Ronnie on guitar. listen to some of her cd "Firefly" here.



sunday may 3rd

Patrick's last sunday gathering before he goes home to Brazil and guess what? he's making soup! so be sure to catch Patrick and his soup, plus coffee, live music, spoken word, friends, conversation, prayer, etc. "guys' night out on lake rescued from disaster by mysterious stranger..." well, what do you make of it? read. think. respond.



not sure when exactly, but the Plateau Jesus Way group goes on meeting at Julie-Maud's. must get down there one time!

April 23, 2009

nxt7


sunday april 26 "missing!"

confusion and despair have often been the experience of the church, even from its very earliest days. check out the later parts of John 20! how do we respond to the experience of the same things? over bread & soup, around tables, to the sounds of live music, in conversation, prayer and silence. the Undercroft 5.00 pm


wednesday april 29 musicians & singers

get together. let's try 7.30 pm at 3498 Harvard, NDG.

April 17, 2009

nxt7


sunday april 19
last sunday the doors to Promenades Cathedrale & the Undercroft were locked, but not so this sunday! the events of last sunday started out badly, quickly got worse, but then something totally without precedent happened...so, this sunday we get to commemorate, celebrate, and consider the momentous implications of those events! join us at the Undercroft 5.00 pm for soup & bread, live music, friends, prayer!

painting:"Emaús" (Lucas 24, 30), Fray Gabriel

April 10, 2009

no gathering this sunday



paintings by Greig Leach




a quote from a favourite writer of mine, Lesslie Newbigin, that seemed especially fitting this Good Friday.
"He (Jesus) does not leave behind an ideal or a program. He leaves behind a community--the Church. This community exists not because of decisions its members have made. It is not constituted by the faith, insight, or moral excellence of its members. It exists because God has called its members out of the world by his own action and given them to Jesus." (The Light Has come;Grand Rapids 1987 p.228)

a very small part of that community got together last night in the Undercroft for "a meal with friends". To eat and talk together, but also to read Matthew's account of the Last Supper, betrayal, arrest of Jesus, the dispersal of the disciples, and finally to share the Lord's Supper together on the night that commemorates Jesus' last supper. It was a poignant evening.

Today, Good Friday, gives us the chance to walk once again through the harrowing events of that day, before we wait, through the hours of gloomy saturday to the surprise and shock of the empty tomb on Easter morning. quite a journey!

we won't be gathering at the Undercroft this sunday for a number of reasons, Promenades Cathedrale is closed for Easter, many emergers are out of town with family. so celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead with friends, family, a local church, whatever. but make sure you reflect on the outrageous turnaround that God engineers, that absolutely no one expected. it's the same God who calls us into relationship with him through his son Jesus. It's the same God who has made us a part of his community!

Have a good Friday and a joyous Easter Sunday when it arrives!

April 2, 2009

nxt7


sunday april 5th
5.00pm meet at the Undercroft for soup & bread together, then around 6.00pm head down to Reggie's at Concordia's Hall Building, (de Maisonneuve & Mackay) to join with the Living Room, who have asked Nick to speak at their Palm Sunday gathering. this will be a great opportunity to hang with some other followers of Jesus.

thursday april 9th (aka Maundy Thursday)
"a meal with friends" is what Jesus had the night before he was executed. so let's gather at the Undercroft at 6.00pm for a pot luck supper with friends, before many of us head off to celebrate Jesus' resuurection with family on Easter Sunday. it will give us time time to walk through the events of that fateful day, and to celebrate appropriately the cost of Jesus' victory over sin & death.

March 25, 2009

nxt7

human trafficking









a presentation by
Sally Richmond


sunday march 29th, 5.00 pm
the Undercroft,
halfway down the stairs
at the Ste. Catherine & University
entrance to Promenades Cathedrale

more information? call 514-246 5796