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Hi everyone! I trust the summer is going well for you. (And I hope that not too many of you are having to deal with the challenges caused by the emerging Air Canada strike. Prayers for those who are.) 

We’re back! Thanks to all who prayed for Diane and me as we travelled and camped over the past few weeks, and to the many who’ve asked us how everything went. For those who haven’t heard any of the stories yet, you can guess that we had a wonderful time on vacation. How could we not? We slept in. We took hikes and paddled our kayaks. We tried (with a little beginner’s success) to figure out how to ride a stand up paddleboard. We watched whales spout and splash, and took pictures of various creatures that turned up along the way. We napped. We ate. We read books and watched movies. We ate some more, then slept some more. We relaxed, and it was lovely.

Maybe I relaxed too much? Since I’ve been back over this past week, I’ve already forgotten at least one meeting and at least one of my regular weekly tasks! So, I suppose my brain is still on holiday. My apologies again(!) to those who’ve had to remind me. Oh well, I think I’m getting back up to speed little by little. It’s great to be back home and connecting with you all again, too.

I should add a special word of thanks to our wonderful church staff and to the others who kept everything running so very smoothly while we were away. That, of course, is exactly what I expected would happen. I know I keep saying it, but the church is not an organization and a staff. Ultimately, it is a community of people made alive in Jesus, gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve each other and to be Jesus’ hands and feet in our world. It’s all of us, walking together with our Lord. I know this is true, and celebrate it regularly. At the same time, it’s fun to see it at work in real life in different ways, as happens each summer when different team members are coming and going. Thanks to everyone for allowing the Spirit to bless others through you.

Now that we’re home, Diane and I are glad to worship with you all again, and looking forward to the upcoming events that mark the rest of the summer. I’m also enjoying the reading and prep associated with our current series from the Psalms. What a wonderful book! We’ll continue in these “Songs for Summer” through the first week of September. If you’re wondering what’s coming after that, we’re going to switch back to the New Testament for a study in the book of Colossians. I’ve been thinking that it’s time to focus on a book that talks more about our Lord Jesus, and Colossians is one of the best for teaching us who Jesus is and all that He has done for us. I’m excited to move into that series, too!

Speaking of thinking ahead, this coming Sunday, we’re going to jump to the front end of the Psalter and take a look at Psalm 8. It’s one of my favorite Psalms for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it’s full of encouragement. You can probably gather that from this week’s title: Worship Lifts Us Up. Psalm 8 is only 9 verses long, so it’s an easy read if you’ve got a few minutes to look at it ahead of time.

That’s my main news for this week. In next week’s newsletter, I’m going to shift gears a bit and give a little more organizational news relating to the church. Many of you know that our leadership has talked for a while about next steps for hiring some additional help in the pastoral area, especially to strengthen our Mandarin ministry and a range of other ministries that focus on education and discipleship. I’ve heard many people speak about how this would be helpful as we seek to grow and strengthen our ministries in the next few years. It came up again at last Sunday’s budget chat, too. It’s about time that I share an update in that area—but I need a little more space to do it than I have today, and a little more time to prepare. (No, this isn’t one of the items I’ve forgotten! )  So you can anticipate some more news on that front next time.

Meanwhile, have a great week. Enjoy the cooler temperatures. We can all pray that the anticipated rain will help to ease the wildfire situation. Then hopefully we’ll get some more nice summer sunshine for a while. Whatever comes, God bless you richly. I look forward to seeing many of you on Sunday.

- Pastor Ken