C R O S S R O A D S U NI T E D CH U R CH
Crossroads’ Chronicle
Easter 2016
Where life and spirit meet
The ending of the Lenten sojourn with Holy Week,
Message from Rev. Bill,
the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, the solemn
Ordained Minister
How is Your Relationship With God?
gathering in the upper room on Maundy Thursday,
and the trial, degradation and death on Good
Each year the Lectionary for
Friday remind us that in the midst of life when
the first Sunday of Lent invites
there are powers and principalities to be dealt
us to join Jesus for a desert
with, God is with us all the way.
sojourn where his companion is
But it also reminds us that when the trials of life
‘ha Satan’ – the tester.
have done their worst – God is still not finished.
Over the generations this has led the Church to use
When we are made in the
the season of Lent to encourage the faithful to
image of God we must
become disciplined in their expression of faith by:
consider ourselves an
study, prayer, good works, and self-denial – usually
Easter People – those
fasting. Unfortunately the last one has received
who live in light of
most of the press. Even the current Pope agrees
Easter’s dawn. Come and
that the purpose of fasting is not self-denial, but
join in the Lenten –
rather to explore our humanity “being made in the
Easter celebrations.
image of God” and to intentionally tie that to re-
Walk with Jesus to Jerusalem, the upper room,
connecting with the rest of humanity in good
Golgotha’s brow, and beyond to Easter.
works. The real question that ‘the tester’ is asking
He is not here – He is risen – He goes before you
is, How is your relationship to God?
to Galilee and all the world. Then let us go from
The prophets over and over again ask that ques-
there, an Easter people, sharing the journey with
tion of Israel and her people, trying to get them
the Risen Christ.
to understand what it means to be, “God’s chosen
people”. The hope was that they would see the
cost of losing that relationship and turn around
(the biblical/theological word is “Repent”). The
story asks us to consider that question for ourselves here and now: How is your relationship
Rev. Bill McAuslan
“There will come a time when you
believe that everything has finished.
That will be the beginning”.
– Louis L’Amour
with God?
Crossroads United Church
Easter 2016
1
Message from Debbie, Designated Lay Minister
Easter: A Time of Anticipation
Easter is a time of thanksgiving and rejoicing. It is a time to remind us of the many
blessings we have been given, such as our families, our friends and our lives. We
should all remember the true meaning of Easter and the sacrifice that has been made
out of love. It is a time of great anticipation as we expectantly wait for the Resurrection of our Savior.
Anticipation is even reflected in the search for the Easter egg. There is so much fun
and eagerness to look for that Easter egg because you know at the end of the search,
you get something good out of it. This anticipation leads us to realize all the blessings that have been
showered on us.
It is our ministry, as disciples of Jesus,
to ensure that God’s promise of new life
is made known throughout the world.
Come on Easter Sunday and be inspired as the “Message of the Risen Christ” is told by the children of
Crossroads, under the leadership of Darcelle and Debbie McCutcheon, using music and dance.
Let us keep singing the good news of God’s love as we celebrate Easter. Praying that this Easter Season
will be one of meditation, peace and blessing for you.
Your friend in Christ, Debbie
Change the World:
Recovering the message and mission of Jesus
A Lenten Study
March 6, 13, 20
9:00 — 10:00 a.m.
in the Nursery Room.
Refreshments provided.
We invite you to join us!
Growing Souls Youth Worship
Lenten Collection
When: February 14 to March 20
What: Coin collection each Sunday
Why: Raise money for the Boys and
Girls Club of Kingston & Area
For more information
contact Debbie McCutcheon
A time to reflect on your personal faith journey.
Easter Services
Sun. March 20
Thurs. March 24
Fri. March 25
Sun. March 27
10:30 a.m.
7:00 p.m.
10:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
Crossroads United Church
Palm/Passion Sunday at Crossroads — Triumphal entry and Communion
Maundy Thursday at Crossroads — Foot washing and Table gathering
Good Friday at Cooke’s-Portsmouth — Service of the Cross
Easter Sunday Celebrations at Crossroads
“Where life and spirit meet”
2
Greetings from Norman Rice, Chair of Council
Lent is an opportunity to pause and reflect on who we are, and what we are doing (or
not), and why we are doing it (or not), and what we might do (or not). The ‘we’ in that
sentence might be us individually, or us collectively as part of the Crossroads community.
By the time you read this, Crossroads will have had a congregational meeting where we
were presented with a proposed budget showing a considerable operating deficit. I
expect we will have approved it with considerable anguish. So what does that have to do
with Lenten reflections?
“Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
You will have heard that Council is undertaking
some deliberate discussions exploring exactly the
no hands but yours, no feet but yours…”
questions in the first sentence in the first para- Saint Teresa of Ávila
graph above. But a serious consideration of that
‘First Sentence’ is something we should all be
engaged in. We should each be chatting with our friends and colleagues about ‘who we are’ as Crossroads,
and deliberately chatting with ourselves about it, and chatting with people we see in church but hardly
ever talk with. It is hard to make good decisions about how to move forward if we don’t know who we are
and where we want to go. We have a lot of blessings and a lot of challenges—how do we respond to
them?
I don’t want this to sound like a sermon (only Bill is officially allowed to do that), so let me mention just a
couple of things we might be asked to decide about in the near future:
The Visioning Group plans to soon make a presentation to the congregation showing a number of possible
initiatives that have been proposed. Some of these you will like and some you won’t. But none of them
will happen unless some of you say, “Yes, that does represent ‘who we are’ and where we want to put our
energies. Let’s do it.”
Crossroads was recently approached by a construction company with a proposal to build a small apartment building on our back parking lot. Crossroads would own the building and “make a fortune” from the
rental income. This is an idea that has floated up before in various forms and never gone anywhere, but
this time Council decided to explore the general idea in a much more serious and deliberate way by engaging consultants from the United Church’s EDGE program who can advise us on technical matters, as well as
help us discern if this fits with ‘who we are’. This sounds vague just now, but you can expect to hear more
about it.
In the word of Saint Teresa of Ávila, “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no
feet but yours…” Who are we?
Crossroads’ AGM
Pork Dinner
When: Sunday, April 24, 2016
When: Friday, April 15, 2016
Where: Sanctuary
Where: Crossroads United Church
When: After the service
Crossroads United Church
When: 5:00 p.m.— 6:30 p.m.
Cost:
Easter 2016
$15.00 per person
3
Happy 6th Anniversary Crossroads!
Why do we have bunnies and eggs as symbols of Easter?
Spring is a time of new life, and this reminds us of our new life in Jesus.
Find the springtime words in the puzzle.
TREE
BUNNY
EGG
GRASS
CHICK
FLOWER
Crossroads United Church
“Where life and spirit meet”
4
Back to Israel
With Carol Lynne and Norman Rice
Last October, Carol Lynne and I enjoyed a two-week
trip to Israel. It was my second time there, and
Carol Lynne’s fourth time. Israel has so much
Biblical, ancient, and modern history, that one can
go again and again and continue to see new and
fascinating things. For Rev. Stan Lucyk, our tour
leader from Kingston, this was his 37th trip to Israel.
There is no way to describe our whole trip (far too
much to talk about), so let me just say a few things
about Jerusalem, and particularly the “Old City”
where most of the biblical material is found.
The first place one is usually taken to in Jerusalem is
the Mount of Olives, opposite the Old City. There
one gets a grand perspective of the city, a
perspective that
would have been
familiar to Jesus.
One big difference,
of course, is that the
Muslim “Golden
Dome” is now prominently in view in almost the
same place where the temple stood in Jesus’ time.
Remember the time when Jesus “wept for Jerusalem” (Luke 19 & 21). The disciples were marveling
at what a magnificent building the temple was,
while Jesus had to tell them that it was destined for
destruction. And indeed that happened just 40
years later when the Romans finally put a violent
end to the constant Jewish uprisings.
The Mount of Olives is also the location of the
Garden of Gethsemane (really, an olive orchard),
where Jesus was in
prayer the night he was
betrayed. It is one of the
many evocative places
to visit; some of the
olive trees there have
been dated back to the
time of Jesus, so it is easy to feel a certain mystical
presence there.
Crossroads United Church
In the Old City itself another ‘must visit’ place is
the “western wall”, just
about the only remaining original part of the
temple complex. It is
part of the retaining wall
for the enormous temple mount – the space
leveled at the peak of Mount Moriah by King
Herod for his grandiose vision of a suitably grand
place to build his temple. This Mount Moriah area
figures in many religious traditions.
Archeological excavations around the temple area
are surprisingly recent
since access has only
been possible since the
1967 war. Perhaps the
most moving time for
me was standing on the
southern steps leading
up to the temple. This enormous excavation, digging back 2000 years to the time of Jesus, uncovered the very stone steps that Jesus and his
disciples would have climbed on their way to the
temple. Gives one pause!
And perhaps our most fascinating experience goes
back another 700 years before Jesus, to the time
of King Hezekiah watching the invading Assyrian
armies capturing all of Israel north of Jerusalem,
and knowing he would
be next in line for
attack. How to protect
the city’s water supply
from the attackers? Dig
a water tunnel more
than half a kilometer
long through solid rock from the Spring of Gihon
just outside the city to the protected Pool of
Siloam . . . done! (2 Kings 20:20). And now adventurous tourists (like Carol Lynne here) can walk the
tunnel (with water sometimes up to her knees).
This is just a tiny taste of what Israel has to offer.
As in the phrase that traditionally ends the Jewish
Seder Meal: “Next Year in Jerusalem.”
Easter 2016
5
Why We Love Growing Souls Youth Worship
(GSYW) Children’s Ministry

We love to introduce children to Jesus Christ.

We love to watch the lights come on for the children when they start to understand God’s love.

Children are gifts from God—knowing them is such a blessing.

We learn more about God by working with children than anything else we do in our spiritual walk.

Children who learn about God now will make the world a better place.

Children have such pure, complete and simple faith in God – working with children reminds us that
our relationship with God should be the same.

We love to show the children that God is awesome.

Children have open hearts for the Gospel.

Children are never afraid to ask the hard questions like “Who made God?”

Music is so much fun using actions and musical instruments.

When they say something surprising, it always brings a smile to our face and brightens our day.

It is our way of serving God in response to God’s love for us.

It is the only thing that uses all of our Spiritual Gifts at one time, (teaching, patience, grace, mercy,
encouragement, discernment, and love).

Working with children keeps you in touch with what truly matters – loving God and loving others.
“Thank you God For Children” GSYW Leaders Team:
Debbie McCutcheon, Ann Lablans, Sheri Jackson, Allison Handelman, Teri Giroux,
Laurie Baird, Enid Johnston, Crystal and Ryan McCracken, Hope Bentley, Brenda Coleman.
Hand Chime Dedication
In Memory of Freda Irene Cantelon
On January 31, 2016, Hart Cantelon, in loving memory of
his mother, Freda Irene Cantelon (nee Tustian), gave
Crossroads United Church a beautiful two octave set of
hand chimes. This is especially fitting as Freda loved music,
becoming an accomplished pianist, playing for church services in congregations served by her husband,
Reverend Hart Cantelon. The choir performed Beethoven’s Ode To Joy, as an inaugural performance.
As part of the dedication, it was prayed “...that as we hear the music of these hand chimes that every one
of us might be reminded of the gifts of memory that bring joy to our lives.”
Crossroads United Church
“Where life and spirit meet”
6
Fund Raising News
Year in Review
From the Fundraising Group
From the Outreach Committee
The Fund Raising Group would like to extend a
huge THANK YOU to all who
attended or volunteered at
the Pancake Supper! It was
a big success raising $725
which will go towards
supporting the work of
Crossroads United Church.
For 2015, the Outreach Committee received
$8,250. The committee would like to thank the
congregation, Crossroads Council, and the
United Church Women for this generous
budget. The majority (42%) was allocated to
supporting children and family related organizations. Of the remaining amount, 23% was
allocated to homeless and disadvantaged
people; 22% to national and global justice
organizations, and 12% to women.
Unfortunately we can no longer provide Fish
Fries, as the supplier (who both supplied and
cooked the wonderful Fish and Chips for us) has
stopped providing this service. So this year we
are having a Pork Dinner on April 15. We hope
you will be able to support this delicious event!
The Fund Raising Group will be catering a dinner
for Presbytery in May, and may have some
catering opportunities in the fall, but these have
yet to be finalized.


From Phill Purchase, Chair of Trustees
Pork Dinner—April 15
Rummage and Plant Sale—May 28
Christmas Bazaar—November 19
I hope this newsletter finds everyone well. We
have secured a new insurance provider for
Crossroads. Marsh is providing us with the same
coverage we had with the old insurer, but we
will save approximately $2,000. Insurance is for
the church and church originated groups,
(Shuffleboard and Bridge). All other groups using
the church must still supply their own insurance.
Let’s make this the best fund raising year yet!
If you would like to help, or have a
fundraising idea, please contact Karen.
Investments are steady and help to provide a
source of income. This past year we saw a
$15,000 deficit, which was covered by drawing
our capital fund down by the same amount. Our
solar panels are paying for themselves and
should be totally paid in 6 years.
At Crossroads We Recycle
To date there are no major capital projects
projected for this year.
Thank you for your help!
Crossroads United Church
Please feel free to contact any committee
member should you have ideas or questions
about stewardship or outreach generally.
Trustee Report
2016 Fund Raising Activities
Mark Your Calendars!

The Outreach Committee would like to sincerely thank the congregation and Crossroads
Council, for entrusting this committee with a
budget of $7,500 for 2016. We will continue to
strive to reflect the intentions of the congregation in the stewardship of this budget.
Easter 2016
7
Crossroads United Church
690 Sir John A. MacDonald Blvd.
Kingston, ON K7M 1A2
613-542-9305
Ordained Minister:
Rev. Bill McAuslan
[email protected]
Designated Lay Minister:
Debbie McCutcheon
[email protected]
Directors of Music:
Shirley Porter and Kevin Guthrie
[email protected]
Office Administrator:
Karen Elliott
[email protected]
If you have an email address, please consider
sharing it with Karen. She will enter it into
our secure and confidential database.
Email is an efficient and green way to be
kept up-to-date on events happening at
Crossroads.
Visit our website:
www.crossroadsunited.ca
Join us on Facebook! You will find us at Crossroads
United Church. If you LIKE us, you’ll receive notices
when changes are made to our Facebook page.
Crossroads United Church
Pre-Authorized Remittance (PAR)
PAR is a direct debit program that allows
people to support their church through an
automatic monthly withdrawal from their
bank account. The United Church administers the program following the giver's wishes
(e.g., X amount for local church expenses
and X amount for the Mission and Service
Fund). Once a month, all PAR givings are
debited from givers’ accounts and then the
total, less a service fee, is electronically
transferred to local church accounts.
Please contact Karen if you are interested in
making your donations via PAR.
“Where life and spirit meet”
8