Art and Service

On Sunday, April 30, the sol cafe "field tripped" to the Stollery Children's Hospital for a night of art and service.

First we headed into the McMullen Gallery to check out "...a thousand words", an exhibition of photographs by medical photographers Pat Marston and Stephen Wreakes in celebration of the University of Alberta Hospital's 100th anniversary and the Stollery Children's Hospital's 5th birthday.

After that we headed up into the Stollery Children's Hospital to help clean up one of their toy rooms, a chance to do a little something to help the young patients there as well as the remarkable staff who work with them. Our first service trip there a few months ago was much appreciated, so we headed back to help out a little more.

parables and song

On Sunday, April 23, we gathered at Cafe Dabar to share some stories and music. Steve read out some favourite parables from the Bible, Bethany give a "trailer" for a future presentation on her mission trip to Thailand, and Joe regaled us with a selection of music to stir the soul. Our virtual greetings also to guests Brian and Bonnie from the DOVE Christian Fellowship, Gateway Region -- thanks for finding us and joining our merry band for the evening!

Our Easter Sunday had a Lion

On Easter Sunday, the sol cafe gathered for a bit of prayer, a bit of snackage, but mostly for fellowship. Because Cafe Dabar was closed to the public, we had the run of the place and held a screening of "The Chronicles of Narnia" on the big screen. It's not "The Passion of the Christ" but it was about ultimate sacrifice and rebirth, so we figure it was in keeping with the true meaning of Easter and the kids could watch too.

the symbolism of communion

On April 9th, Palm Sunday, our topic was Communion (also known as the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist), its meaning, and its symbolism, an off-shoot of this discussion in our manifesto. We took a look at this overview of Christianity as a place to start our discussion (scroll down about halfway to the section on communion). And of course, the place where it all started, here, here, and here. This is where we started... God lead from there.

Some other references at which we took a look:
John 6:53-54
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
The Canadian Christian and Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith
Wikipedia (actually we couldn't look at this one because their server was down, but it's still interesting reading when you can get to it!)

As you explore, please keep in mind this small disclaimer. Thanks!

the sol cafe at the Sally Ann

On April 2, the sol cafe continued its monthly practice of meeting away from home and doing some small bit of good in the community. After a round of toy cleaning at the Stollery Children's Hospital last month, we returned to the Salvation Army downtown to sort food hampers, a seemingly perpetual need unfortunately.