NEW DATE!!! – Monday 08 APRIL 7:30pm will be an Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation.

Come unplug from your social media, your day, your responsibilities, etc., and recharge your Spirit once a month with Kim Curlett, our new Minister of Spiritual and Pastoral Care. This time of quiet contemplative spiritual practices is for EVERYONE who seeks a sacred and meaningful reconnection to their Source.

Our hour together will include different spiritual practices from various traditions and will always be accessible to most people. Come with a willing heart, an open mind, and a hopeful spirit.

NEW DATE!!! – Monday 08 APRIL 7:30pm will be an Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation.

Come unplug from your social media, your day, your responsibilities, etc., and recharge your Spirit once a month with Kim Curlett, our new Minister of Spiritual and Pastoral Care. This time of quiet contemplative spiritual practices is for EVERYONE who seeks a sacred and meaningful reconnection to their Source.

Our hour together will include different spiritual practices from various traditions and will always be accessible to most people. Come with a willing heart, an open mind, and a hopeful spirit.

Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there.” (Matthew 18:20)

One of the wonderful things I’ve noticed during my short time here is how this congregation is very good at making time for one another outside of Sunday morning worship. Scripture reminds us to never neglect meeting together. Gathering together encourages us to work together to come up with ways to practice what we preach – good deeds, loving one another, etc. (Hebrews 10:24-25). Sometimes we think that the only time that “church” happens is on Sunday morning, but here at Cole Harbour Woodside United Church there are many other opportunities to gather together with God at the centre. 

Women, in particular, have found beautiful ways to do that in this community. Two ways that the women of Cole Harbour Woodside have done this are Women, Wine, and Worship and Widow’s Lunch. 

Women, Wine and Worship is a monthly gathering of women at Pilot’s Pub in Woodside, near the Woodside Ferry Terminal. This group regularly gathers on the 3rd Tuesday of the month around 7:15 pm for a 7:30 pm start and usually finish up around 9 pm. This is an opportunity for women to meet in public to connect with each other over a glass of wine (or other beverage), nurture community, reflect on Scripture, and share concerns through prayer.

Widow’s Lunch is a potluck lunch gathering specifically for women whose spouses have died. This gathering provides a beautiful opportunity to share a meal together, to talk about life, to laugh, and to support each other. They often begin their gathering with a reflection on scripture and prayer. These lunches are regularly held in the church hall on the 4th Tuesday of each month at noon.

These gatherings are open to all people who self-identify as a woman.  Just like on Sunday morning, you do not have to be a member of our church (or any church) to come. YOU ARE WELCOME HERE. If you already come to one of these groups, please remember that small groups may be more difficult for new folks to come to without a personal invitation. So, if you love your time with other women at either of these groups don’t neglect to tell others about it and invite a friend or many to come with you to the next one. If you are new to these ideas and are interested, please come! Your initial nervousness about coming to something new will quickly be dissolved by a warm welcome. Gathering as women who support and love one another is one more way we are Practicing What We Preach!

AFFIRMING PIE DAY 2019!!!

We celebrate and honour the full inclusion at Cole Harbour Woodside United Church of LGBTQ+ individuals, the aboriginal community, individuals of colour, and those individuals with mental or physical challenges.

Please join us Sunday 24 March after 10:30am worship service for tea, coffee, juice and a piece of pie.

Wonderful News!

At our Annual Congregational Meeting, the culmination of a year’s study, discernment, prayer and conversation resulted in a vote that saw 95.5% of our congregation vote in favour of becoming an Affirming Congregation! There were tears of joy and celebration that day! We would love to share that joy with you and invite you to share in the joy of our official recognition service on Sunday, April 7. 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at Cole Harbour Woodside United Church, 15 Bissett Road, Dartmouth.

Please help us spread the word but putting up this poster or by putting the information in your announcements.

We look forward to worshiping with you.

4 Hands & 1 Piano

Cole Harbour Woodside United Church

Postponed…stay tuned for new date to be announced!!

15 Bissett Road, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Don’t miss the amazing talents of Charles Myra & Greg Myra!!

Response to the commitment forms has been wonderful, Thank You Everyone!!  We are still accepting past the original date for anyone who would like to respond and may not have had the chance as yet.

Focus On Our Future Mission – Commitment Form

As a community of faith, Cole Harbour Woodside United Church reaches out to our congregation and the wider community through the many ministries in which we participate. Your contributions help to fund such things as Sunday School and Youth Programming, pastoral care through Pastoral Care Team, Prison Ministry, Worship at local long-term care facilities and funeral ministries, as well as many other ministries as part of our mission of ‘Offering the Care and Comfort of Christ’. Your offering supports the work of our Unified Board and Committees to maintain our building and support our staff. In recent years, together we dreamed of adding a half-time Associate Minister to our ministry team.

To fulfill these dreams, you have given generously of your time, your talent and your treasure, and we thank you. To enable us to continue the amazing ministries we have, requires a financial commitment from all of us.

By using this Commitment Form (link below to printable document), you are letting us know we can depend on your ongoing support so that we can budget for 2019 Mission and Ministry expenses. We are asking you to increase your offering to Local Expenses in 2019 and in following years.

Commitment Form

Feel free to contact the office by phone 902-434-7714 or email chwuc@eastlink.ca if you have questions for need any assistance.  Thank you!!

This year, Cole Harbour Woodside United Church is hosting World Day of Prayer service 01 March at 7:00pm.

At the core of the theme for WDP 2019, an invitation – Come. And to enable the response – Everything is ready. Come to praise, thank, and proclaim the kingdom of love.

The invitation is grounded in the parable that Jesus told about a great dinner which was attended by the ones called off the streets, as the ones invited excused themselves. The community formed around the table is not enough to fill the house – there is still room. Who are missing from the table in your community?

The artist, Rezka Arnuš, wanted to present two topics with her artwork pictured on the right. The country of Slovenia and the main biblical story of the worship service. At the top there are women dressed in national traditional costumes. The semicircular ornament with Slovenian folk embroidery represents a plate or a table with their best known national dish – potica – and grapes from various wine producing vineyards. Partly under the table, one can see the children from the margins of the society. They heard the invitation to the feast. The red and white colors used reflect Slovenian folk embroidery.

The green background color emphasizes the green Slovenia, fields and forests. The warm colors of children express the joy of heartfelt invitation.
For more information on the World Day of Prayer, visit https://worlddayofprayer.net/slovenia-2019.html

The Blog post from February 4th was missed as my computer needed a trip to the MacBook spa after I put it to work on my study leave last week! Please forgive the missed post. Thank you, ~k

January 27^th the congregation of Cole Harbour Woodside United Church voted 95.5% in favour of becoming an Affirming Church. This means that we now declare ourselves to be fully inclusive of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. We have made a commitment to back up our words with action. So, what does this really mean? And, why does it matter?

According to the Affirm United/ S’affirmer Ensemble(AU/SE) website “all gender identities and sexualities are a gift from God and <…> churches should be a safe and fully welcoming space for LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit people to worship.” A group of volunteers representing this congregation worked tirelessly this past year through what is known as the affirming process. By doing so, they were able to present a motion to our congregation requesting that we become an Affirming Church. By exclaiming “Yes!” with its overwhelmingly positive vote, this congregation has committed to being held publicly accountable to Practice What We Preach!

This process took time, dedication, and hard work. The requirements of the process are too many to mention in this short post, but please review them here: Affirming Ministry Requirements. You will notice that the last step listed under the requirements (but, certainly not the last step in an ongoing Affirming Ministry) is to publicly celebrate this ministry.  You are ALL invited to attend this celebration on Sunday evening, April 7 at 7 pm!

This post is offered in the Care and Comfort of Christ, 

~kim curlett

Minister of Spiritual & Pastoral Care