Today’s service will be offered in 2 formats – view the video and text below, or download and print the service from this document – link
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Exciting news for Grade 3 students! – Each year Walton Church is proud to present our Grade 3 Sunday School students with their own copy of the Action Bible. Bible presentations will take place in person in the Sanctuary during our 10:00am service on Sunday, June 18th, which is also our Father’s Day Ice Cream Sunday. We hope all Grade 3 children and their families can take part in person; please RSVP with the church office if you plan to be here. If you are unable to attend on June 18, let us know and we will arrange a special delivery to your door.
Cans for camp – As part of our preparations for VBS we are collecting empty small (284ml) soup cans for a craft. If you could clean and save your cans & drop them off at the church we would appreciate it!
Help send a kid to camp – Over the years the Walton congregation has supported the Kerr Street Mission in sending children from low-income families to summer day camp. To ensure that all eligible children are able to be a part of camp this summer we need your support. It costs $32 per day to allow a child to participate. Please sponsor a day or two (or more!) and make a difference in a child’s life. This can be done online at the Walton website or through the church office.
Cleaning out your closet for spring? Please donate any winter coats to the Bronte Coat drive! Donations are now being accepted! This has become a co-operative effort between Church of the Epiphany, St. Dominic’s Church and Walton Memorial primarily; all of us having the betterment of people of our area as our goal. So, sew on that button, empty those pockets, sponge out that stain, and please give us your coats that you will not plan to wear next year or ever again!
Calling all knitters! The Bronte Coat Drive Committee has a need for knitted scarves for our Annual Coat Distribution Event. If you could knit a scarf 5’ – 6’ long in black, grey or navy, we would be most happy to include it as a giveaway on October 14, 2023. As you may know, there are many people in our community who are grateful to receive a coat from this event, and they are delighted to also receive a warm scarf (or hat or gloves)!
New to Walton? Are you visiting today? Welcome! Please feel free to ask the ushers if you have any questions during the service and we invite you to fill out a welcome card in the pew racks and leave it in an offering plate at one of the doors. Please join us for coffee, tea or cold drinks and conversation in Bronte Hall after the 9:30 service ends and before the 11:00 am service begins. There you’ll also find the Welcome Centre with information about Walton and someone to chat with. Walton nametags, hats, pickles etc. are also available for purchase.Children and youth are invited to view this week’s virtual Sunday School lesson online.
Walton’s prayer chain is open. Confidential prayers requests can be sent to office@waltonmemorial.com
If you need Rev. Jim for a pastoral emergency, please email him directly at jamescgillwuc@gmail.com.
As we gather today on these treaty lands, we are in solidarity with Indigenous brothers and sisters to honour and respect the four directions, lands, waters, plants, animals and ancestors that walked before us, and all of the wonderful elements of creation that exist. We acknowledge and thank the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation for being stewards of this traditional territory.
One: Heavenly Father, You are Alpha and Omega. You know our yesterdays, todays and tomorrows.
All: Be with us now, as we work together to bring your comfort and strength to those who are in need.
One: We lift up those who have received a prayer shawl, prayer blanket, pneumonia vest, pocket prayer shawl, or Izzy dolls.We lift up those who will receive these items being created.We lift up those who will receive one of these items in the future.
All: Be their tower of strength. Be by their side. Be their peace and comfort.
One: Bless our work as we knit and crochet these tangible gifts that will surround your children with your love.
All: Amen.
Author unknown
All: Let His Spirit move me, each and every day,
let it help me move me out along your way.
When things do not happen, just the way they should,
let me be accepting and turn it to the good.
When life takes me down a road I do not want to go,
give me strength to continue on, and see what I should know.
And take Your spirit in me, make it flourish and grow,
continue to guide me, as that spirit flows.
Pick me up each day, keep a prayer in my heart.
I know you are with me, for we will never part.
And this hug I am giving in the form of a shawl, will remind me of you, God,
Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.
I’m not to waste a moment of the life you have given me.
Let me spread the Good Word to all who can hear and see.
Thank you for this gift of love, I will hold it in my soul.
For Your love is always there and makes me feel whole. Amen.
Adapted by W. Paffenroth
All: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
CONVERSE 8.7.8.7 D (“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”)
God, you wrap your love around us, Like a blanket, soft and warm.
You give rest when we are weary, You protect us from the storm.
May each person who finds shelter In these blankets that we share
Also feel the joy and comfort Of your love’s protecting care.
Do you see these beautiful blankets in the church today? They are very special blankets called prayer shawls, and they are all handmade with love by members of our congregation. We give them to people who need some extra love and prayers – maybe somebody who is sick, or going through a hard time, and who just needs to feel God’s love wrapped around them.
But that’s not all that makes them special. When the people are making them, they are also praying over their creations, and then Rev. Jim blesses the shawls. You know what prayer is, right? Talking to God. But do you know how powerful prayer can be? It’s especially powerful when people join together to pray for something. We don’t always see how prayer works, so I’m going to use these candies to demonstrate.
(Alison puts one candy on a plate and pours hot water on it. The colour starts to spread)
See – this colour leaving the candy represents our prayers, going up to God. It’s nice, but it’s just one little prayer. But when we all pray together, something beautiful happens!
(Alison puts many different colour candies on the plate and pours hot water over them. The colours all spread out and join together in a pretty rainbow pattern).
Isn’t that amazing? That’s what’s happening right now, when we all come together to pray. Let’s try it:
Loving God,
We lift our prayers up to you together. Please help those who need it right now. Wrap them in your love and comfort. Help them trust in your plan. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Jesus, you were once a baby, Sought by those who would destroy.
Into Egypt you were carried — Far from home, a little boy.
Were you wrapped up warm to travel, Safe from terror, free from harm?
Did you feel God’s strong protection, Snuggled there in Mary’s arm?
May the women, men and children Fleeing danger every day
Know, through us, your living presence; You walk with them on their way.
Spirit, as you give them comfort, Teach us here to freely give;
May we blanket this world over With your love, so all may live.
(Read while shawls are being bound)
Cathy: Dear God,As I make this shawl for one of your lambs, please….
Jim: Bless my hands – that will start with nothing and create something warm & comforting.
Cathy: Bless my mind- that I will create something useful.
Jim: Bless my imagination – that I will design something unique & beautiful.
Cathy: Bless my heart – that some of it will go with this hug to let the receiver know it was made with love.
Jim: Bless my patience – that I will continue to move forward & focused on this gift until I am finished,
Cathy: Bless my soul – that it is open to continue to make gifts for those in need.
Jim: Bless my family & friends – who encourage me to continue making these gifts that give hope, faith & love.
Cathy: Bless the one that receives this gift.
Jim: May it be a reminder of Your love each time they wrap it around their soul. Let it bring healing to those in need it and serve as a reminder that someone cares.
Cathy: And we do all this in Your Holy Name.Amen.
Jim: May God’s grace be upon these wonderful shawls, blankets and vests. Warming, comforting, enfolding, embracing. May this mantle be a safe haven, a sacred place of security and wellbeing, sustaining and embracing in good times as well as difficult ones. May the one who receives this beautiful gift, be cradled in hope, kept in joy, graced with peace and wrapped in love. Amen.
Who would have thought that a length of yarn could be knit together to make such a creation.
Not only is it beautiful but, it is functional too.
It brings a smile to the face of the receiver.
It comforts those who are suffering through a very trying time.
Perhaps grieving the loss of a loved one, the loss of a treasured pet or even the loss of a job.
It brings love to the heart, joy to the face and rest to the soul.
It will also be a warm hug on a cold night.
You are never alone when you have your prayer shawl.
God is with you. He will hold you close.
Place your shawl around your shoulders
Feel the love of God enfold you
Know that He is here to hold you
Close to Him
When it’s time for meditation
Prayer and thoughtful words of yearning
Know that He is here to hold you
Close to Him
Times of joy or times of sorrow
You will find Him through your prayer shawl
Know that He is here to hold you
Close to Him.
Amen.
A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed
Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.
Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’s feet and began pleading with him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.
As he went, the crowds pressed in on him.
Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately her flow of blood stopped. Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I noticed that power had gone out from me.”
When the woman realized that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
While he was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.” When Jesus heard this, he replied, “Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she will be saved.”
When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James and the child’s father and mother. Everyone was weeping and grieving for her, but he said, “Do not cry, for she is not dead but sleeping.”
And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand, he called out, “Child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and she stood up at once, and he directed them to give her something to eat.
Her parents were astounded, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.
On Easter Sunday this year, I spoke about the burial linen left in the empty tomb when Jesus rose from the dead. I spoke about his birth and the baby Jesus being wrapped in swaddling cloths and laying in the manager. I talked about the soldiers at the Crucifixion gambling for Jesus’ clothes while he hung on the cross of Calvary. I also talked about today’s reading. “Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” The woman was healed just by touching the cloth, the linen of Jesus’ outer garment. The cloak of Jesus was a source of healing from 12 years of bleeding. Imagine a woman seen as ritually unclean from gynecological related bleeding of a dozen years totally restored to health.
Maybe you do not realize how Walton has such a vital and vibrant Prayer Shawl Ministry. It includes in addition to the many adult prayer shawls displayed this Sunday in the Sanctuary, many other religious items. There are baby, toddler and child prayer shawls we present to children at Baptism like last Sunday’s Baptism of Thomas and next Sunday’s Baptism of Addison. There are also hand sized pocket prayer shawls to go in a Bible, purse, pocket or to hold onto during trying times. In the same way the Issy dolls, which are also children’s toys. They are used for packaging in boxes of drugs that Hpic, a local Oakville Charity, that our Walton Outreach Committee supports both with volunteers to package drugs for overseas shipments and support with donated finances. Finally, our Prayer Shawl Ministry team creates pneumonia vests to help new-borns and toddlers. The common thread here is knitting/crocheting and prayerful creation to comfort, heal and connect to our faith family and beyond to others. All of this in some ways comes back to the biblical stories involving cloth like today’s healing of a woman by touching the cloak of Jesus.
“There are Hebrew roots of prayer shawls, also called a “tallit”. It is a special garment worn by Jewish males. The garment signifies the nobility that comes from being God’s chosen people. The “tallit” is a sign of obedience to God’s law. Jewish females are not required to wear them, but some do during prayer time. Jewish children are often given the “tallit” at their bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah. After Moses led the Hebrew people from captivity in the land of Egypt and God spoke His commands, males began the practice of wearing a prayer shawl”.
Back in 2016 the former Halton Presbytery published an article. “Wrapping Others in Love Through Prayer Shawl Ministry”. That was a great title of what Walton’s Prayer Shawl Ministry is all about. In the article we read, “Everyone should have a prayer shawl,” Walton Memorial United Church’s parish nurse, Cathy Winn, said. “They’re a gentle reminder of God’s presence in our lives.” Hundreds of prayer shawl ministries have sprung up in churches across North America, in many denominations, in the past few decades.
Seventeen years ago now, Winn formed a group to knit or crochet shawls for people who were “going through challenging times such as an illness, a loss, or a death.” We are thankful now with COVID receding that on a weekday afternoon, once a month, eight to twelve people meet at Walton Church, for two hours, to knit, crochet, laugh and pray. Others knit or crochet in their homes, and bring the prayer shawls and prayer blankets into the church office, after the work is completed, to be blessed.
The sessions begin with prayer, and blessings for the recipients, and with inspirational readings. The individuals making the shawls pray into them, and their work becomes a meditative and centering experience. “We’re creating something for someone else with the creativity that God has given us in our hands,” Cathy said. There’s a symbiotic relationship between the creator of the prayer shawl and the recipient.
The knitters may choose designs from a collection of colorful prayer shawl guides provided by Cathy, or use patterns of their own creation. Using wool purchased by the Health and Wellness Committee, or donated by members of the congregation, the ladies create simple or complex patterns, depending on their experience and backgrounds.
Ten years ago, the group also started to make prayer blankets to distribute at baptisms. “Many of the children are not members of our church, but all children being baptized receive a prayer blanket.” Cathy said. “So it becomes a symbol of Christ’s love. Some of the parents are very, very touched when their child receives a prayer blanket.”
“Most of the knitters and crocheters were taught by their grandmothers,” she said. “Knitting and crocheting can seem like a dying art.” Nowadays beginners often need to take classes in order to learn. One of the members of the Prayer Shawl Ministry team could not knit a stitch when she joined the group. Through the patient assistance of members of the ministry, she is now creating beautiful knitted prayer shawls.
Scarves or blankets can take more than a week to make, and group members often complete their work at home. But, Cathy said, the activity is still contemplative and meditative, even if performed in the midst of noise.
“I love the idea that the recipients will be wrapped in God’s love,” Cathy said, “comforted in warmth and caring…Often we don’t know who we’re creating for. Sometimes they have no connection with a church. We trust that they will receive God’s presence.”“Knitting is like life,” she said. “We drop stitches. We mess up. There are knotted emotions—knotted plans. We drop our defences. Yarn is like the thread that holds us all together. It evolves into something that inspires and celebrates life.”
Sydenham Street United Church in Kingston Ontario has a vital Prayer Shawl Ministry. In their material about their ministry they share, “Research shows that doing a repetitive and rhythmic action with your hands such as knitting and crocheting has psychological benefits. You have less stress and experience a sense of calm while doing crafts. Combine this action with the contemplative practice of prayer and you have a powerful way to bring body, mind and spirit together.
Prayer Shawls have been made for centuries; they are universal and embracing: they comfort and enfold; wrap and warm; mother and hug; shelter and embrace. Those who knit and receive shawls and robes are blessed. People knit/crochet shawls for many reasons. Many prayer shawl ministries knit/crochet shawls to console those who are grieving, comfort those who are ill, and bring hope to those in despair. They may also be knit/crocheted to celebrate life and its milestones. The reasons to knit/crochet a shawl are as numerous as the people who knit/crochet them.
Prayer shawls heal the receiver.”
The Walton office regularly receives such incredible heart felt and tear filled feedback from the recipients of shawls. The recipients may live here in the GTHA or various locations across North America and beyond. We get texts , emails, cards, and drop in visits as feedback. By the way there is no charge for a prayer shawl.
I visit people who do not know I am coming to the hospital hospice, long term care or home they are in and I walk in and there they are wearing the Walton Prayer Shawl. We have heard about people wrapped in a prayer shawl in death. Others wearing them during labour. Sydenham continues the story about this prayer shawl ministry we lift up today in worship this service, “ As a receiver, you have a healing item to wrap around you. With a gentle weight and cozy curl around your shoulders, you can rest secure in the knowledge that someone took time to make a gift for you. All the prayers, thoughts and hopes that went into the stitches surround you. A prayer shawl around you allows you to feel safe and valued. You can always have a hug from your friend even if they are not there. You can put on the prayer shawl when you meditate, want to feel inspiration, or need a reminder that you’re loved.
The repeating pattern of three in the prayer shawl patterns is representative of the Christian Trinity (Creator-Christ-Spirit) .. There is no limit to the colour, style and weight of prayer shawls. The first patterns associated with Prayer Shawl Ministries focused on the Trinity—Knit 3, Purl 3, for one or three rows, followed by Purl 3, Knit 3 for the next one or three rows. Others are inspired by other numbers of significance in Christian faith and practice. This prayer shawl group replicates the literally thousands of others found at churches, hospitals and other locations across Canada and beyond. They are inspired by faith and charity, they bring comfort, and sometimes joy, to the recipients, connecting the creator and recipient in a warm community of care.
For Sydenham and Walton Congregations, the art of creating a shawl is prayerful, whether as a solitary pursuit or at our communal gatherings. Wrapping wool around a needle or pulling it through a loop often quiets the mind and engages each of us in thoughts central to our being.
In the name of the Father, the Creator, the Giver of life, the Holder of time; in the name of Jesus: the Savior, the Healer and the Lifter of Pain; in the name of the Spirit: the Comforter, the Counselor and the Sustainer of life, I create this shawl as a mantle of caring.
I create this shawl as a mantle of protection.
I create this mantle of wholeness.
I create this mantle of strength.
I create this mantle of healing.
I create this mantle of patience.
I create this mantle to enfold, to encircle, to empower you.
May this prayer shawl warm and comfort you when you are weak and weary. O Christ, who healed the broken body and spirit, be with all who suffer today.
Be with the doctors, nurses, technicians and all who care for the sick. May your gentle, yet strong, touch reach out to heal all the broken and hurting people and places in our world.
I ask your blessing on the prayer shawl and the person who will wear it.
Comfort and console them as you hold them in your healing presence.
May this shawl be a sign of your love and grace.
May this shawl bring warmth when they are weary.
May it surround the person and cover them with love to ease the pain and suffering.
I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
© 2013 Church of St. Catharine – DL-test-16
When we start making a shawl, blanket or pocket prayer shawl, we start with just needles and wool, it is how we twist the needles and the wool as we bind those stitches together that the shawl begins to take form.
Each of us has something to give, to offer, it is different for each one of us, some it might be time, some it might be talent, some it might be treasure, but put all our offerings together and we are able to give and share what we have to help grow God’s kingdom here on earth.
Our offerings will now be received.
♥ by secure online payment from your debit or credit card. Click here to go to our donation page to make a single or recurring donation. Multiple funds can be included in one donation by using the “Add Donation” button
♥ by cheque through the mail slot at the Church office entrance or by Canada Post
♥ by monthly PAR payments. To sign up contact stuart@waltonmemorial.com
All: On my own what I have to give doesn’t amount to much, in the light of all you have given to me and in the face of so much need.Put together as a congregation, what we offer you here in love becomes more, not simply added together, but somehow multiplied in its usefulness.We ask you to bless our gifts and with the addition of your blessing, just as it was with the loaves and fishes, there is enough for all.Amen.the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand website
Dear Lord,
We thank you for the generous gifts we have received and ask for your continued blessings on our homes and families.
May the Holy Spirit guide us as we share of our time, talents, prayers and love in this Prayer Shawl Ministry.
We also ask your blessings on the recipients of the shawls that they may feel comforted by your steadfast love and if possible that their health be restored. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.
© 2013 Church of St. Catharine – DL-test-16
Here is Rev. Jim’s mid-week update for Wednesday, June 7th
