September service service

On Sunday, September 30, the sol cafe will be meeting for one of our regular service services, where our Sunday gathering and worship takes the form of some work in the community. This month we will be back at the Salvation Army downtown food sorting depot (9618 101A Avenue), processing donations and doing whatever other work they might need done.

If you can join us, please meet at the depot at 5 pm and, unlike our usual "Mexico time" approach, you'll need to be relatively prompt because the facility will need to be locked once we're inside. If you've never been before or need a lift, we will also have a couple of volunteers at Cafe Dabar at 5 pm to shuttle people over. Drop us a note if you think you'll need a lift and we'll make sure to watch out for you.

And for those continuing to follow along, this week's verses from the Revised Common Lectionary are as follows:

Proper 21 (26) September 30, 2007

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 or Amos 6:1a, 4-7

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 or Psalm 146

1 Timothy 6:6-19

Luke 16:19-31

ladies night!

On Friday, September 28, 7 pm, the ladies of sol will be holding a long-overdue ladies night at New Asian Village. If you'd like more details or plan on attending, please drop a note to rsvp [at] thesolcafe.com by Wednesday so that we know for how many to make the reservations.

Praise, Prayer and Sharing

On Sunday, September 23, the sol cafe will be meeting around 5ish at Cafe Dabar for a simple evening of prayer, scripture reading, and maybe some music. Bring a favourite verse to share, if you'd like. We'll also be reading this week's Revised Common Lectionary verses:

Proper 20 (25) September 23, 2007

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 or Amos 8:4-7

Psalm 79:1-9 or Psalm 113

I Timothy 2:1-7

Luke 16:1-13

Hope to see you there!

A Time to Remember

On Sunday, September 23, a very special event will be taking place to remember children who have died of cancer. "A Time to Remember" is an annual event organized by the Stollery Children's Hospital's kids with cancer ward for families who have lost a child to cancer. This year it will be taking place at the Devonian Gardens in Devon, Alberta, from 2 to 5 pm. If you would be interested in volunteering or otherwise providing support, please drop us an e-mail and we'll forward your information along. Perhaps more importantly, in the days leading up to this event, on Sunday, in the days to follow, please remember these kids and their families in your prayers. And also the staff who work with these kids and their families every day.

One of our sol cafe regulars is a nurse on that ward, and as a church we've kind of adopted the ward and their staff, helping out with whatever they might need. In the past we've had, as our Sunday services, cleaning bees for the playrooms on the ward and work bees to put together information binders. For this year's "A Time to Remember" we built wooden sailboats that the families will be decorating and releasing onto the water, as well as hosting a candle fundraiser to supply remembrance candles for the event. We've also prayed, and mourned, and prayed some more.

As each family takes time to remember their child this Sunday, please take time to remember them.

To worship or not to worship, part 2...

On Sunday, September 16th, the sol cafe will again be meeting at around 5ish at Cafe Dabar for an evening of worship and the discussion of worship, a continuation of the discussion from the week before.

More details to follow, maybe. Or just show up with an open heart and an open mind!

The readings for this week from the Revised Common Lectionary are as follows:

Proper 19 (24) September 16, 2007

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 or Exodus 32:7-14

Psalm 14 or Psalm 51:1-10

I Timothy 1:12-17

Luke 15:1-10

To worship or not to worship...

On Sunday, September 9th, the sol cafe will be meeting at around 5ish at Cafe Dabar for an evening of worship, and the discussion of worship.

For some people, "worship" is simply churchenese for "music." In particular, it is music sung for a very specific purpose -- the worship of God. In that spirit, it is music meant to be delivered in community and with a particular attitude, not merely as background music or entertainment. The point is not how well you sing or how musical you are, but that you join in the communal act.

For other people, worship is something more than just music. It is still something to be done with a particular attitude. Or with that same specific purpose. Or maybe it is just the attitude with which you do all things.

Maybe they are both right. Maybe it is something in between. But for this Sunday, we can say this for sure: we will be having music for the purpose of celebrating God together, and we will be talking about it too.

Not sure how this will be fitting into the evening yet, but the readings for this week from the Revised Common Lectionary are listed below. Maybe the Psalm 139 reading would be a good place to start?

Proper 18 (23) September 9, 2007

Jeremiah 18:1-11 or Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 or Psalm 1

Philemon 1-21

Luke 14:25-33

starting out September with a service service

Just a quick note to mention that the sol cafe did meet on Sunday September 2, and with a lot of people in attendance despite the long weekend. We spent the evening building little wooden sailboats for the Stollery Children's Hospital cancer ward, one of the places we regularly support through prayer and the occasional work bee. They will be hosting their third annual evening for families who have lost a child to cancer, a chance for them to remember and grieve and heal in the company of other famililes making a similar journey. The sailboats will be decorated by family members before being launched.

We'll post more details about the actual event once we have them!