-Kathy Platt will be away from January 13 to 27 for continuing education and a holiday.  If you require pastoral care during this time, contact Carolyn McBean at 306-586-3565.  Please join Bonnie Morton who will lead worship on January 19 and Marina Jeffery who will lead worship on January 26.

Due to some upgrades and changes that are happening with our website, we have been unable to upload any podcasts for the last three weeks.  Once the upgrades are complete, the previous podcasts will be available.  We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

Kathy, Michelle and Jayne are not going to be in the office between Christmas and New Year's.  Kathy will still be available by cell phone for emergencies (306-529-4009).  Brenda MacLauchlan will lead in worship on Dec. 29th - her gift to our community after a very busy Christmas season!  Many thanks to Brenda.

Sunday, Dec 15th –Choir Sunday-10:30 a.m.

-The Choir will lead us in worship - readings and anthems. The children will be at the whisper table, creating easy Christmas decoration crafts in the sanctuary with Michelle .

Saturday, Dec 21st - Blue Christmas-7:00 p.m.

-This is an invitation to come and light candles for those people we may be missing this particular year - a service of hope and strength in community.

Sunday, Dec 22nd - regular Christmas service-10:30 a.m.

-There will be no Sunday School. Whisper table with crafts again.

Tuesday, Dec 24th –Christmas Eve Services

- 4:30 p.m. - family service with guest musicians Chris Fensom and Barbara Flaten-Orr

- 9:00 p.m. - candlelight & hospitality service, special music with some members from our choir

Sunday, Dec 29th - regular service with Brenda MacLauchlan-10:30 a.m.

Sunday, January 5th - regular service with Kathy Platt & Michelle McConkey - sunday school resume-10:30 a.m.

Mark your calendars and hope to see you at all the upcoming events!!

Sunday, December 8^th is White Gift Sunday. This is an opportunity for us to bring personal care items, things for infants, children and youth, including items to help prepare for colder weather to be donated to Rainbow Youth Centre. They will use these items to make Christmas stocking/gift packages for families who attend their Christmas dinner in December.

Your donation of the following new items is greatly appreciated:

Youth

• Deodorant (male & female)
• Shampoo (500-710 ml)
• Toothpaste (75 ml) & toothbrushes (soft bristle)
• Bars of soap
• Scented Body Spray (male and female)
• Sport socks (white-adult sizes)
• Mitts & Toques (adult size)

Infant

• Toques (infant/toddler)
• Mittens (infant/toddler)
• Socks (infant/toddler)
• Baby Shampoo
• Teething Rings
• Sippy Cups
• Electrical Plus Protectors

Children

• Socks
• Toque
• Mitts
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste (75ml)
• Shampoo (500-710ml)
• Children’s Bubble Bath
• Books for reading
• Crayons
• Colouring books
• Building Blocks
• Puzzles (up to 5 years)
• Stuffed Animals (12” or smaller, new)
• Candy (leftover Halloween candy welcome)

Alternate Shopping Option:

Purchase a gift card from Superstore, Wal-Mart, or Target and let Rainbow Elves do the shopping.

Please contact Michelle at the church office if you have any questions.

Remember that Sunset United provides 1/3 the items required for Rainbow Youth’s annual Christmas stockings.

-We are pleased to offer one more evening of activities for the Advent season. It will be the last Evening For Reflection – for Creating Space in your soul Tuesday, December 10^th – with Shirley Hill-Cookies and Contemplation.  Shirley comes to the church almost every day during the week at some point to play the piano – she says to practice, but Jayne and I like to think that she comes to specially serenade us as we work! There is something very soothing about just hearing the notes of the piano drift around us and over us in this building. Shirley is willing to come to and spend some time playing for us on Tuesday evening – as long as people know that it is not a “concert”! It is an opportunity to sit and let the music and the thoughts of your mind/heart take you wherever they will. We have a few “wisdom” sayings on the table in the centre of our circle for you to contemplate if you wish – sayings from a wide variety of sources on “hope, peace, joy and love” – words to carry us further into the Advent season. Come and give yourself a break – an opportunity to simply be – an opportunity to catch your breath and soothe your soul. We will enjoy some cookies and tea/hot chocolate as we think about Advent/Christmas/New Year. (7 – 8:30 p.m.)

-Sunset Ladies Fellowship are having their Christmas Potluck Supper on Monday, Dec,9th at 6:00. This event is open to any lady who wishes to attend. Our guest presenter will be Wynne Edwards who always leaves with a challenging message. Those who wish may make a goodwill offering to support the Hospital Chaplaincy.

-The Ladies Fellowship of the church have set up a wonderful offering of Christmas items for sale at the back of the church. The items will be for sale for the month of December leading up to Christmas. Take a minute and do some Christmas shopping in the warmth and comfort of the church!!

The Stewardship Campaign is still ongoing. Just a reminder to try to return your pledge forms by December 8, if possible. If you would like an update on the status of your 2013 Pledge and Contributions, email Don Wuschke, Sunset's Envelope Steward at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." or call him at 306-584-1071.

We are pleased to offer three evenings of activities for the Advent season. These will be Evenings For Reflection – for Creating Space in your soul. Mark your calendars and plan to attend as many as you are able.

a)  Thursday, November 29th – with Rabbi Jeremy Parnes

Jeremy is going to come and spend an hour and a half with us reflecting on "Sabbath". The season leading up to Christmas is often filled with the urge to do more and more and more – shopping, partying, cooking, cleaning, preparing....makes me tired thinking about it. Jeremy is going to spend some time reflecting on the passage from Genesis where God was busy creating for 6 days and on the 7th day God rested – and was en-souled once again. I invite you to come to this evening where through melody and story-telling, we can begin to become en-souled once again. Come and spend this Sabbath evening with us. (7 – 8:30 p.m.)

b)  Tuesday, December 3rd – with Joan Fletcher

Joan Fletcher has often used her gifts to help us decorate the sanctuary for particular seasons of the church year. I asked her if she could come up with some kind of activity that would help us reflect on "light" – as we head towards the darkest time of the year, it is good to think about how to create more light in our lives. She has come up with a beautiful craft for us – a glass box of light that can be used as a centre-piece on your table – or as a decoration in your home. Those of you who know me well will know that I am very craft-challenged – but I am really looking forward to spending the evening with Joan as we work on this craft together! There will be a $10 charge to help cover the cost of the materials, and we need you to sign up so that we can make sure we have enough supplies for everyone. The sign-up sheet will be on the back wall of the sanctuary – or you could call the church office before Sunday, November 24th. (7 – 8:30 p.m.)

c)  Tuesday, December 10th – with Shirley Hill

Shirley comes to the church almost every day during the week at some point to play the piano – she says to practice, but Jayne and I like to think that she comes to specially serenade us as we work! There is something very soothing about just hearing the notes of the piano drift around us and over us in this building. Shirley is willing to come to and spend some time playing for us on Tuesday evening – as long as people know that it is not a "concert"! It is an opportunity to sit and let the music and the thoughts of your mind/heart take you wherever they will. We have a few "wisdom" sayings on the table in the centre of our circle for you to contemplate if you wish – sayings from a wide variety of sources on "hope, peace, joy and love" – words to carry us further into the Advent season. Come and give yourself a break – an opportunity to simply be – an opportunity to catch your breath and soothe your soul. (7 – 8:30 p.m.)

The United Church of Canada has been doing a"comprehensive review" with congregations across Canada, and Sunset is about to take part!  On Thursday, September 19th, a group of us will be interviewed by a woman from Alberta - using computer technology!  We have a couple of pages of questions to guide the conversation, but it will be a pretty free-flowing conversation around strengths and struggles of our own congregation as well as questions about our national church - how to stay connected across the country, and what are some of the things that we hold essential to being "United Church".   If you are able, come join us and be part of the conversation that is happening across this great church of ours - Thursday, September 19th - 6 - 7:30 pm.

Know of someone who loves to work with youth and would be a great inspiration to our church youth program?  If you do, the posting for the Youth & Young Adult Program Coordinator can be found under the life and work section of this website. Deadline for  application for this position is July 22.