“Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Colossians 3:14 (NRSV)
Here is the link for Sunday, October 19, 2025 worship service: https://youtu.be/mE_YmETbxCY
Damber is away until October 22nd at the United Church of Canada Candidacy Meeting in Toronto.
Please hold in your prayers the family of Doreen McRae, who passed away October 19th. Service details to follow.
Worship Sunday October 26, 2025 At 10:45 a.m. Baptism.
SCRIPTURE TO PONDER
Week of Reformation Sunday / All Saints Day
Scriptures this week:
Joel 2:23‒32, Jeremiah 14:7‒10, 19‒22; Psalm 84:1‒7
2 Timothy 4:6‒8, 16‒18; Luke 18:9‒14
To ponder: Psalm 84:1-7 & Luke 18:9-14
A Brief Reflection:
Reformation is not a single event in history — it is a continual call to renewal.
The 16th-century reformers — Luther, Calvin, Knox, and others — sought to rediscover the heart of the Gospel: that God’s grace is free, and that the Church must be reformed and always reforming.
In the United Church of Canada, born in 1925 through the union of Methodist, Congregationalist, and Presbyterian traditions, that same reforming spirit lives on — a spirit that values faith expressed through justice, compassion, and unity in diversity. Each generation is called to discern afresh how the Gospel speaks in its time and place.
Psalm 84 speaks of those whose hearts are set on pilgrimage — who, even in dry valleys, make them places of springs. This is the journey of the Church: walking through seasons of doubt and renewal, carrying both memory and hope.
At Trinity United, we too walk this pilgrim path — honoring the saints who built the foundation before us, the reformers who dared to imagine a wider grace, and the Spirit who still calls us to become a more inclusive, just, and humble Church.
And in Luke 18, Jesus contrasts the proud Pharisee with the humble tax collector. True reformation begins not in power or perfection but in repentance and humility — when hearts are open to God’s mercy. The tax collector’s prayer becomes the heartbeat of all reforming faith: “God, be merciful to me.”
We reform because we are still learning to love as Christ loved.
We reform because the Spirit still moves, still surprises, still reforms us into grace.
Let us pray…
God of Reforming Grace,
you have led your Church through ages of faith and struggle,
calling us to live not by habit, but by hope.
Through prophets and reformers, you have reminded us
that faith is a journey and your mercy our home.
Renew in us the humility of the tax collector
and the courage of the saints who walked before us.
When we grow comfortable, stir our hearts again.
When the path feels dry, make it a place of springs.
At Trinity and beyond, reform us once more—
to be a people of compassion, justice, and grace,
alive in your Spirit,
and grounded always in the love of Christ. Amen.
Trinity United Church 