Christmas Bazaar 2022 is planned for November 19. This is the season for preserving, so make some extra for the Deli. Knitting and crafts made over the summer will be welcomed as well. But we need a coordinator(s) to make it all happen. If you have a friend who could share the duty with you, please let the office know. Without overall coordination it can’t happen, and we have been too long without a Christmas Bazaar.

Join with our BCUC Family in an ALL-AGES OUTDOOR SERVICE followed by a BBQ Lunch and Games. We would like to include a “talent show” to the June 5th picnic. Please let Abe, Erin or the Office know if you have a song, reading or juggling act you would like to share with us. This is NOT a POTLUCK EVENT. Food and cold beverages will be provided from the proceeds of the Hymn-Sing Requests. Please contact the church office at office@bcuc.org to let us know you’re coming! Hope to see you and your family there!

Camp Awesome is a summer day camp and youth leadership development program that operates within the Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council (EOORC) of The United Church of Canada.

Camp Awesome provides a full-day, active program for children. The program combines Vacation Bible School activities, like stories, songs and crafts with games and theme day fun.

Learn more about Camp Awesome and how to register here.

Bring donations in on Friday, May 6, during the day and come back Saturday to shop. Sales areas will include Books, Baking, Plants, White Elephant, Linens, Women’s & Children’s Clothing and Furniture. Masking will be imperative. Information: (613) 820-8103 or office@bcuc.org

United Church Mission and Service partners are responding to the rapidly unfolding crisis in the Ukraine. Shelter, clean water, food and medical attention are urgently needed. You can help by donating online at united-church.ca , by phoning 1-800-268-3781 ex. 2738 or by sending a cheque to The United Church of Canada, Philanthropy United - Emergency Response, 3250 Bloor Street West, Suite 200, Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4. Please mark "Emergency Response - Ukraine" on the face of your cheque.

Would you like your favourite hymn sung in memory of a loved one or in celebration of a joyful occasion? With a suggested minimum donation of $30, your hymn request will be featured in one of the Sunday services from March 13 until June 5. Proceeds from this fundraising will be used for a “Welcome Back Family Picnic” sometime in June! Please send your name, hymn request and dedication to the office via email. Donations can be made by e-transfer, cash or cheque, payable to BCUC with the note: “Hymn-Sing”. Thank you for supporting this initiative.

We are a group of volunteers who are helping the Afghans who helped our Canadian Forces Ottawa and are currently looking for housing as they have now received their Canadian documents. They have begun settling the Afghan refugees and some of the families are large.

Please note we are not asking or accepting clothes and are only providing furniture to the families. We also ask that items be washed, clean and not torn.

Here is the wish list:

• Everything for the kitchen (pots, pans, cutlery, toasters, microwaves, spatulas, dishes, glasses, mugs, etc). Kettles for boiling water are especially needed.

• Beds - mattresses and box springs - cribs, singles, bunkbeds, double and queen size (singles are in huge demand). We are not accepting king size beds at the moment.

• Bedding - sheets, blankets, pillows, pillowslips

• Dressers

• Sofas and living room chairs

• Dining table and chairs

• Lamps

• Desks (not large ones please)

In short - just about everything but clothes and king size mattresses.

Please contact Afghanmove2022@gmail.com or the BCUC office at (613) 820-8103 to arrange drop-off.

The construction of the Church/Community Building in Chipembi, Zambia is proceeding! We’ve had a wonderful start to our fundraising for this partnership project thanks to some generous donations from members at BCUC in memory of loved ones and money raised previously in anticipation of a building project. At last count we had raised over $12,500!

You can Help! Buy a virtual “brick" - or many! - at $5 each. Gather your family, your friends, your choir, your Sunday School class… raid your piggy bank, hold a fundraiser, return bottles… Use your imagination! Make your donation to Bells Corners United Church (Zambia Partnership Fund). Let’s make a difference in this small community!

On Tuesday 21 December, the donated socks, mitts, gloves, hats and scarves were brought to the Jami Omar Mosque to be given to women, children and men at the Shepherds of Good Hope. Thank you to all those who donated items for a very successful joint project between Bells Corners United Church and Jami Omar Mosque. Altogether we collected 317 items. They will be very much appreciated by so many people.

To provide an opportunity for families to remember loved ones who have passed, we are providing a virtual poinsettia memorial donation option for Advent again this year. Funds will be used to buy flowers for the sanctuary for Christmas and to create a fund for sanctuary flowers throughout the year.

As in the past, you may make a minimum donation of $10. A virtual flower display with the loved ones’ names will be included in the online version of the service week by week from Nov 28 until December 19.

The Interfaith Bridge Building Committee of BCUC and Jami Omar Mosque has a new project. We are asking for you to donate new hats, mitts, scarves and socks for men, women and children at the Shepherds of Good Hope. Financial donations are always welcome to purchase the items requested. The project will run to the 15th of November. There will be a collection box at the church.

UPDATED

The construction of the Church/Community Building in Chipembi, Zambia has begun! We’ve had a wonderful start to our fundraising for this partnership project thanks to some generous donations from members at BCUC in memory of loved ones and money raised previously in anticipation of a building project. At last count we had raised over $10,000! You can Help! Buy a virtual “brick" - or many! - at $5 each.

It seems that folks are still a bit reluctant to come into the church building - and that’s understandable with the COVID 19 variants around us! We want to have as many people as possible in our new photo directory, so we will try again in the spring - with hope for a safer world by then.