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spent a couple of days in Toronto this past week, speaking to various people and teaching a class on church planting at Wycliffe Colege. thank you to those of you who prayed for me while I was away. last week we talked about the people who have supported and encouraged us in following in the Jesus way, and also how we could be people who support and encourage people in the same way. praying to God on behalf of others seems a basic thing most of us could manage. expressing our hopes as well as our concern for other followers of Jesus needn't be so hard or as mysterious as it sometimes seems to be.

sunday november 8

we gather at the Undercroft at 5.00pm to eat bread & soup, catch up with one another, listen to some live music, and importantly spend some extended time praying using a variety of styles. it would be great to see you there. so think about people and concerns you'd like to pray for, and about creative ways in which you could do that!

nxt 7

The challenge of sainthood
is to go where love takes me.

sunday november 1st
all saints day

sometimes it's hard to remember that everyone who ends up memorialised in a stained glass window starts off as a real live human being like us! it's funny how we often turn 3 dimensional people into 2 dimensional "saints", something always seems to get lost in the process! so today we'll talk about who are our heroes of the Jesus Way. there'll be food, friends, music, all the things you'd expect to find where people gather around Jesus!

5.00pm the Undercroft

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for the last couple of days I have been up in Sault Ste Marie spending time with the anglican diocese of Algoma. I've had a lot of fun meeting loads of really interesting people and talking about Fresh Expressions. I get back to Montreal late friday night.

sunday october 25
"celebrate the feast!"
we often find ourselves hemmed in by various kinds of barriers, stopping us from getting where we would like to get to. in addition to celebrating the Lord's Supper together we will be looking at the barriers that people have that prevent them from checking out Jesus, with the aid of the experience of a 1st century formerly blind beggar! we start at 5.00 pm in the Undercroft, with bread & soup, hopefully some live music, interesting people, and plenty of conversation. hope to see you there!

nxt7

saturday october 17th 20.30 Yellow Door Montreal, Quebec, Tanya Nielsen and musicians play "firefly"

sunday october 18th
Matthew Brotherwood has been a member of emerge since the beginning. two years ago he spent monday-thursday of each of six summer weeks in Toronto doing animation at the NFB's downtown studio. this sunday we get a sneak preview of the results.we will get a chance to see an almost-finished copy of the movie. the trailer can be seen here . things start at 5.00 pm in the Undercroft with bread & soup, and continue with live music, conversation, and of course the movie! this would be a great opportunity to invite and bring a friend with you.

thursday october 22nd
20.00 Shaika Cafe Montreal, Quebec, Tanya Nielsen plays "firefly"

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yes, thanksgiving day really is next monday. seems to me the time between labour day and thanksgiving gets shorter each year! it's always a good time to get together with family and friends, and I expect many of you will be doing so this coming weekend, which will take some of you out of town. but by the same token that means some of us will be in Montreal. so this sunday october 11th, we are going to gather in the Undercroft at 5.00pm to enjoy a Thanksgiving Poutine together, and share times when we have felt especially thankful. feel free to bring a favourite poem, psalm, song, whatever, that expresses what you feel, and of course be ready to share it!

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welcome to a new month!
shorter days, longer nights.
31 days in which to engage with God and others.
enjoy!
sunday october 4th
station to station
(no, not that kind of station)

simply a series of generally quiet places, that offer us ways to turn our hearts towards God that do not rely on words only. the invitation is to look, touch, taste, hear, smell.

5.00pm the Undercroft
accompanied by bread, soup, things to drink, people to talk to, and some live music.

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sunday september 27
sees two exciting events take place.


at 10.00 am in Phillips Square sees the start of the Stop Child Trafficking Walk fundraiser.

then at 5.00 pm we gather in the Undercroft to celebrate God's love for us and to baptise our youngest emerger!

a baptism gives us an opportunity to look at some of the core issues involved in being followers of Jesus. if you come on sunday, and I very much hope you do, you will be asked the question, "Will you...do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?" the "persons" here are not just the one being baptised, but also their parents, and godparents. it is a really good question, and one that is worth taking some time to think about before we blurt out the enthusiastic response, "We will." what may constitute support for these friends now and in the future? what does supporting someone in their life in Christ involve? baptism seems to be very much about setting a direction for life, about a desire to live life in Jesus' distinctive way.

I have a friend for whom alchohol has been a formidable foe. I recognise and support their determination to struggle against its power. and so I attended their celebration of several years of sobriety, it was one way in which I could support them. however inviting them to a pub (ordinarily a perfectly okay thing to do) would probably not have been a supportive act, because it didn't respect their commitment to sobriety. so being supportive includes positive as well as negative elements. doing certain things that would be helpful and not doing other things that would not be helpful. as we think about supporting one another in our life in Christ, we need to consider both forms.

tuesday september 29
hear the silence see below for details

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last sunday we got into an interesting discussion after watching Rob Bell's nooma video "Corners". monday evening our house smelt wonderful when a few emergers got together to do some bottling of aubergines, can hardly wait to sample the results!

sunday september 20
"celebrate the feast"
we are going to gather in the Undercroft at 5 pm to eat together, as well as celebrate the Lord's Supper together. there'll be live music and wonderful people too! hope you can make it down.

sunday september 27

Stop Child Trafficking WALK!
10am Phillip's Square, Downtown Montreal

Route: St-Catherine and Maisonneuve Street.

Length: The walk will be about 3km long

seren's baptism at 5 pm in the Undercroft, a chance to commit or recommit ourselves to following Jesus

tuesday september 29
“Hear the Silence” with Jamie Howison and Gord Johnson of St. Benedict’s Table, Winnipeg. A meditative liturgy for the evening hour. A time of worship built around music, prayer, readings and stillness. At St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, 4006 boul Dorchester W. (at Atwater), from 7:30 to 9 pm.

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first week after Labour Day and we are still being taunted by summer weather (where were you in July when we really needed you? sigh!) still it's nice while it lasts. fortunately God's love is not like the weather in that respect, it is predictable and reliable. thing is, how are we going to respond to it?

sunday september 13
this sunday we are going to be at the Undercroft at 5.00 pm to eat together, talk, think, (aided by a movie from Rob Bell), pray. complete with live music, coffee, tea etc. see you there?









monday september 14
bottling with Sue!
contact us for details

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basically any excuse to have a picture of loons is a good one!
one of the many things I like about loons, apart from their appearance, their cries, etc.) is their unpredictability. when they dive, it is impossible to predict just where they will surface. of course "we shall not live by unpredictability alone..." but in a world that sometimes seems oh-so-predictable, it's great to be surprised by a splash of water and a growing ripple from an unexpected direction!

sunday september 6
no gathering at the Undercroft this week, instead you are invited up to Nick & Su's cabin in the woods. the idea is to arrive mid-morning, enjoy the delights of the Laurentians, help us furnish & eat a barbeque, and return to the city in the evening! sounds good? you need to let us know if you are coming. so email me at the address on the right asap.

happy Labour Day!