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Lay Worship
Leaders' program |
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Creating Community from Diversity
Twenty-four
individuals from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British
Columbia completed the sixth Lay Worship Leadership course in
May, 2007. During our time together (six weekends over two
years) we grew in our awareness of each other and ourselves. We
made complex and life-giving connections. Our backgrounds were
as varied as our geography, but in the end we were aware of the
creation of a strong, Christ-centered community.
Linda Wilson of
Ridgedale, Saskatchewan was the twenty-fifth member of our
group. Her death, part way through our second year, touched us
all. Linda was a tiny woman with a big spirit. She lived a deep
and steadfast faith. In her memory, we created a quilt for
Calling Lakes Centre. It also represents the symbolic
"footprint" left by the group.
About The Quilt
 There
are seven blocks in this quilt representing the time we spent
together as a group and the lives we lived during the two years
we were together. The center of each block was formed by
repeatedly cutting a variety of "orphan" blocks apart and
reconnecting them with scraps of material. This is a metaphor
for our divergent backgrounds and experiences which came
together in new and exciting ways as we formed community. Our
Christian focus is represented by the red and green borders and
the quilted Celtic (having no beginning or end point) crosses.
~ Pat Lyster
 In
Memory of Linda Wilson
Quilt placed by the 6 th
Lay Worship Leaders’ group
Quilt accompanied by
several program participants and leaders
(L to R): Pat Lyster, Tricia Challoner (above), Diane Schmidt
(below), Donna Rumpel, Marg Janick-Grayston, Jim Tenford,
Jennifer Thompson
(photo: Kathy Gudnason)
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"Goes on the Road"
to Cambrian Presbytery
The Lay Worship
Leaders program is no stranger to Calling Lakes Centre. In fact
as I write this we are preparing to welcome the 7th group who
will be making a commitment to this two year journey of learning
and exploration at the Centre. What is new is that we are
finalizing plans that will take this program all the way to
Cambrian Presbytery in the Thunder Bay area.
The conversation
began many months ago when Cambrian Presbytery approached
Calling Lakes Centre to see if the idea might become a reality.
There was a need for lay people to offer their worship
leadership gifts in churches in the area and there were a number
of people interested in taking the Lay Worship Leaders Course to
gain skills and explore their own theology and spirituality at a
greater depth. However, travelling to Calling Lakes Centre six
times over a two year period to participate in the course would
be an expensive and time consuming endeavour. It seemed more
realistic to have a conversation about the possibility of having
a program staff person from Calling Lakes Centre do the
travelling, and co-facilitate the course with a person from the
Cambrian area who had previously taken the course.
With the
inspiration of Cambrian Presbytery and the enthusiasm of Calling
Lakes Centre, we are now very close to getting this new program
off the ground. From November 16-18 Christina Stricker of
Thunder Bay and I will be facilitating the first weekend of the
Lay Worship Leadership program being offered in the Cambrian
Presbytery. The first event will be held at Trinity United
Church in Thunder Bay with the possibility of the following 5
events being alternated between Kenora, Ontario and Thunder Bay,
depending upon the geographical areas from which the
participants are travelling.
This is an
exciting new journey upon which we are about to embark and it
models how working interdependently with a presbytery, we are
able to respond to the needs of the church and bring an
important program to a group of committed and enthusiastic
participants.
~ Marg
Janick-Grayston |
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Other articles
from this Echo:
Letter from Linda
Anderson, Calling Lakes Director
Our
Staff Team
Reflections on my First Official Event as Program
Coordinator/Staff ~ Marg. Janick-Grayston
Mind-Expanding, Hope-Giving Event ~ Bill Wall reports on Diarmuid O'Murchu event |
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