This Advent, we are invited into an active kind of waiting—one that is creative, and collective.
We begin with a bare tree, and week by week, we will contribute to its transformation. As we explore the profound themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, we will add a piece to the tree, participating in its—and our own—transformative becoming.
This is more than decoration; it’s a shared story. Join us as we gather around “The Becoming Tree” and discover how our shared anticipation and collaboration can make all things new.
We want to update you on a joint decision of the Pastoral Team and the Steering Committee:
In light of rising COVID cases, and our desire to err on the side of caution in order to protect our community, we have decided to hold our Sunday services online only, beginning this Sunday, December 19th, and continuing until the end of January.
This decision further recognizes the impact on current volunteers who are attending weekly and who may need to prioritize family gatherings during the holiday season, as well as allowing time for more of our children to be vaccinated.
In addition, moving online during this next short season will allow us to adequately prepare a plan to record vaccination status which will likely be required on our return to in-person services in early February (as requested by Trillium).
We are excited to invite you to our annual fundraising event on October 4th, 2025! This year, we’ve made a significant change by organizing our own event, Journey for Justice, instead of participating in Ride for Refuge. To sign up as a rider, walker or to volunteer, follow the link above! If you’re a first timer to the event, please register before the end of the day on Thursday, September 18th, in order for us to get your t-shirt printed in time for the event.
Registering for the Event:
Upfront, let’s explain the platforms we’re using. To register for the event as a participant, walker or volunteer, head over to Church Center and sign up there. Families can sign up together under one simple registration (so much easier!).
Church Center (Registration Page)
Fundraising:
To donate to Elevation or one of the people/teams participating, head over to our Zeffy Fundraising page. There is no need to create an account, just click on Donate, and then select who you want to donate to, and go from there!
If you do want to raise your own funds, head over to the same Zeffy Fundraising page, and click on the Fundraise button to set up your own page with your target amount, profile photo and team name (create a Solo Campaign for you, your family or team and use the first name section for your team name). It’s that simple!
Zeffy Fundraising Page
More Information:
The event will still be hosted at 22 Willow, as it has for the past few years. The timing of the event remains on par with how it has been recently, too:
09:00AM – Check In
09:30AM – Walk/Run/Rides Start
11:00AM – Snacks and Mingle
12:00PM – Dismissal
Here’s a list of who we are raising funds for this year:
The walk will be the same as last year, a scenic stroll around Silver Lake in Waterloo Park. The 5km loop will be mainly on trails and cycleways in and around Waterloo Park. The 10km route will essentially be the same as the 2024 route, however, the direction is reversed this year. The 25km ride is for serious riders, with mountain bikes recommended. However, gravel bikes will also do the job! Click on the above links for the maps on Komoot.
If walking, running, or riding are not your thing, you’re welcome to come cheer on the team or volunteer to help out, as usual! While we won’t be serving a full meal, snacks will be provided after the walk and ride.
For our Learning portion of our September Service & Learning you are invited to us for a viewing of the compelling Documentary “No Place to Grow Old“.
No Place to Grow Old breaks new ground as the first documentary to capture a growing crisis older adults aging into homelessness. The film reveals an unthinkable reality—people who worked, paid taxes, and raised children now finding themselves without shelter later in life.
Set in Portland, Oregon, the documentary follows three older adults navigating life on the streets. Through their personal stories of loss and resilience, the film exposes both the human cost and systematic abandonment that pushes vulnerable seniors into homelessness.
The result is both an urgent wake-up call and testament to human dignity, challenging us to build a future where everyone has a safe and stable place to call home.
Many of our youth viewed this film and it left quite an impact, our hope is to have them share as conversation starters some of the questions and insights they took away from the film.
Date: September 14, 2025
Time: 09:00-10:30
Where: Elevation Waterloo (Screening in the Sanctuary and Discussion in the Gym afterwards)
It’s not about “you”… What if the moral lessons that we have extracted from the parables are not the whole story? We are returning together, to the source (the parables in light of the way of Christ) in the spirit of communal listening as we invite the stories to shape us.
We invite you to join us on Sundays this summer. To help coordinate this busy time, here’s our Sunday summer snapshot that you can use to see what we have planned for each Sunday in July and August.
Atonement remains to be one of the most mysterious aspects of Christian theology. Theologians through the centuries have used a rich tapestry of metaphors and other language in their journey, and in this series we walk humbly alongside them. With open hands, we approach this topic with humility.
In this series we explored how history, and evolving cultural thought has informed our thinking, our theology, and biblical interpretation. We can see connections between the historical/cultural context of a theory being developed. In this we can see humanity journeying together with God to struggle through these great questions. But the work doesn’t end with historical understanding. Hard questions must be asked about what the atonement means to us today, how it works, and how it fits meaningfully into our lives.
So, as we explored Christus Victor, Ransom, Satisfaction, Scapegoat, Substitutionary, and Moral theories we were often forced to recognize things that could not be reconciled with our personal convictions. In contrast, we could often find aspects of these theories which speak clearly to our understanding of a loving God, and help move us more clearly in the direction of Christlike love. Our hope is that as a community we can wrestle through these occasionally contradictory concepts, to find ourselves not just understanding, but living them more clearly.
We thank you for journeying with us through this series. Below is a list of resources suggested by the teaching team if you wish to dive deeper into this concept.
You have Permission Podcast with Bonnie Kristian, talking through 5 of the most popular and historic atonement theories: Christus Victor, Satisfaction Theory, Moral Exemplar, Penal Substitution, and Scapegoat Theory.
20 Minute Takes Podcast with Brian Zahnd, talking about the role of the cross as well as new ways of looking at the cross as a kaleidoscope, in order to inform how we respond to aspects of Christian life and to justice issues in our society.
