Place of Meeting January 2015

Place of Meeting

In the beginning ...

Advent 2014 was an exceptionally rich time of pondering the meaning of Christ’s coming, putting ourselves into the context of his arrival, and celebrating the joy of Advent. See inside for more.

Toronto United Mennonite Church

January 2015

Place of Meeting

Scene around TUMC

is the meaning of the Huron word “toronton,” from which our city gets its name. Fittingly, it can also mean “plenty” or “abundance.”

Place of Meeting is also the monthly newsletter of Toronto United Mennonite Church. May you find plenty here to enjoy and ponder. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily of the congregation as a whole.

Contributions of all kinds are enthusiastically received, through the mail folder in the lobby or at dmartens@pathcom.com Next issue: TUMC Annual Report!

Have you discovered the allcolour online version of Place of Meeting, complete with live weblinks? Check this month’s issue out here: issuu.com/pomeditor/docs/ pom_jan_2015l NOTE: New address for submissions: dmartens4@ cogeco.ca Editor: Doreen Martens

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Top: Of the thousands of hygiene kits shipped to places of need by Mennonite Central Committee every year, the 109 completed at TUMC may be the only ones made by GERMS! This photo of our junior youth will be shared by our recent guests, Doug and Naomi Enns, in Lebanon, where Syrian refugees are making good use of such kits. Centre: the Star of Bethlehem made an appearance section by section in a beautiful banner this Advent. Above: Damaris Schmucker has the kids enthralled as she tells part of the Christmas story on Dec. 7.

Aurora House: An Update

By Bob Tiessen

S

ince our last report the main step was to sign a contract with Greening Homes to do the renovation work on 6 Lark. We expect to have our building permit from the city by the time this issue of POM is distributed so work may have already started as you read this. We are using a time-and-materials approach for our contract so decisions on various issues and their cost implications will develop as work proceeds. For example, after the initial demolition work we will know better how much electrical remediation will be needed.

The building committee is very conscious of our construction budget and Greening Homes is on board with our needs in this area. The contractor has reduced their usual overhead fee for their work since they support projects like ours.

Bob Tiessen, Mary Klein and Christy Langschmidt on the porch at 6 Lark during September’s “It Takes a Village” day. Renovations are imminent!

A major piece of work before we could sign the contract was finishing the design of 6 Lark. The building committee has been working with Aurora House to complete this work. We have had to deal with issues such as zoning rules about how many unrelated persons can live in a unit and what this means for items like fire exits, separate heating and ventilation systems, and so on. One of our goals has been to avoid an ‘institutional’ feel for the building.

We have had our mortgage application approved by Mennonite Foundation of Canada, in the amount of $625,000. We will likely need that full amount towards the end of 2015, when construction is planned to be nearly complete. The amortization period is 20 years and we have a two-year interest rate of 3.25%.

There are no restrictions on prepayment and we expect to reduce that amount quickly in the first five years with the amount pledged for the projects. The finance team will need to plan carefully, since our contractor invoices every week but we can only draw funds from MFC once a month.

Once this was finished, detailed design work on the main church building was begun in earnest. Our architect, Melana Janzen, provided a good design for us to start with and many good ideas have come out of the meetings held so far. The design of the new first floor space, revamped lobby, meeting space, and external ramps and access points is complete. Basement space and the redesign of the kitchen are mostly complete and we will next turn to how we might redesign the back yard of 6 Lark for greater use by TUMC. We have a Committee of Adjustment hearing in midFebruary. This meeting is open to the public, so the building committee will be hosting an open house for the neighbourhood on Jan. 31 to explain our building plans. We hope to address any concerns neighbours might have before the Committee of Adjustment hearing.

As of this writing, the year 2014 was not complete and not all pledges for the year had been received, but very substantial amounts had been donated and we thank you for your generous financial support.

Now that the rate of activity has increased we expect to have announcements in the weekly electronic bulletin as well as regular Kingdom Reports during the Sunday service. Reports in POM will continue as well.

The Building Committee, Calvin Dyck (treasurer), Joel Gerber, Christy Langschmidt, Richard Ratzlaff (chair) and Bob Tiessen (secretary), along with our architect, Melana Janzen, welcome your comments.

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Tea and company TUMC women of all ages got together for the annual Christmas Tea on Dec. 6. Delicious food, tea, carol singing and conversation made for a relaxing pause in the Advent season. Below, Pastor Marilyn tells a wonderful children’s story with a message for all.

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Tea and company

One of the delights of the Christmas Tea is seeing three generations of women in a single family sharing the morning together, above.

Dora Alexander, above and left, enchanted everyone with her stories of celebrating Christmas in the Bruderhof community where she grew up, accompanied by a large collection of charming figurines she has sculpted illustrating that life.

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Sing we now of Nowell

We enjoyed a joyously musical Sunday in the third week of Advent, including the choir and a host of instrumentalists.

A delightful new addition was a junior bell choir directed by Damaris Schmucker, above.

During the walk-up offering, everyone helped decorate the tree.

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Sing we now of Nowell

During the service, we were commanded by a Roman centurion (Brad Lepp, below) to assemble in Bethlehem to be registered that evening.

The prophet (John Epp, below right), speaking words of promise and warning later in the service, soon found himself arrested!

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Creating Bethlehem In the few hours between the morning service and the evening beginning of registration, the TUMC sanctuary was magically transformed into a Middle Eastern marketplace on Dec. 14.

Largely constructed by the extended Lepp, Thiessen and Alexander-Unger families, our Bethlehem was replete with the sounds, smells, flavours and sights that one might imagine seeing in the real Bethlehem 2000 years ago, including a restful fountain and sheep and goats that needed clever penningin to keep them from running amok!

Above, the sheep arrive. Below, Ani UngerBrandt sets out some of the wonderful handmade items for sale.

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An evening in Bethlehem

First stop in Bethlehem: the moneychangers, to trade your your loonies for shekels needed to buy everything from lunch to doves for the temple offering. Shekels in hand, visitors proceed through a ceremonial gateway (below) and, hopefully soon after, through the bustling market to the place of registration (below left).

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An evening in Bethlehem

Amid the honest labour of carpenters, craftmen and food sellers, our Bethlehem is not without conflict and vice. Roman soldiers demanding proof of registration will haul off anyone who couldn’t produce it promptly (above left). A dark gambling den (left) lures the curious into games of chance.

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An evening in Bethlehem

So much to do in the market, from buying a temple offering or a pouch to carry your shekels in, to watching a juggler, playing backgammon, even enjoying handmade hummus, skewers of meat or sausage and goat cheese on homemade flatbread.

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An evening in Bethlehem

When in Rome ... or Rome’s empire ...

Efforts made by many to follow ancient custom in their garb add to the fun of this visit to Bethlehem, which for some visitors includes a stop at the crowded village inn to sip mint or spicy tea while reclining on pillows.

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An evening in Bethlehem

The palm reader is a popular stop, left, while chickens, fish and goats keep things real. The child-made “doves” in cages, while pretty, thankfully make a cruelty-free “sacrifice” at the temple.

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An evening in Bethlehem

Crowds circulate through the marketplace as sounds of mooing and bleating, and the occasional chicken cluck, add to the din of commerce. Below, a fountain burbles and a mysterious woman has her fortune told.

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An evening in Bethlehem

The rabbi instructs a woman who has come to the synagogue (right).

Meanwhile, in a different corner of Bethlehem, a littlenoticed drama is unfolding, as the innkeeper, already run off his feet by the crowds coming into the city to be taxed, is confronted by a young couple in dire need. Despite his no-vacancy sign, he takes pity on them and clears a path through the crowd to his stable, a warm, dry place for the young woman about to give birth. And word begins to circulate about this child ...

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O Holy Night

With candlelight, word, works of art and song, we celebrated the advent of our Saviour with a beautiful Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols. Afterward, there were goodie bags for the young. a chance to wish each other a Merry Christmas and, especially for for youth coming back to TUMC after some time away, a chance to reconnect.

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