This Week at St. Andrew's

Please see the end of this newsletter for a thought-provoking article
about lateral thinking.

Typhoon Morakot slammed into Taiwan on 7-10 August 2009, causing loss of life, extensive flooding and killing millions of livestock. Some regions received a year’s worth of rainfall in two days following torrential rain.

PWS&D is working with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan to help provide emergency aid and continue rescue efforts. Relief centres have been established and assessments are underway to assess exactly the loss of life as well as the damage to land, property and livelihoods. Destroyed roads, collapsed bridges and damaged electricity lines are hindering the assessment process.

“It is really devastating,” says the Rev. Lin Tsung-Jeng, Moderator of the 54th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. “The clean up will be horrendous and it will be necessary to monitor and control infections that could arise from dirty water, debris and dead animals. We express our deep appreciation for your concern and ask that you hold the victims of this major disaster in your prayers as well as those involved in the daunting task of rescue and relief in the weeks to come.”

Your donations are needed to support an emergency response in Taiwan to meet the growing needs of those affected by flooding, mudslides and destruction. Make a donation online (http://www.presbyterian.ca/donate/pwsd), mail donations directly to the office, donate through your church or call PWS&D today at 1-800-619-7301, ext. 291. Please indicate “Taiwan Relief” on the donation.

Church Manager Doug Pearson will be taking vacation time on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays until the end of August. He will be in the office on Monday and Tuesday mornings.

Rev. Ingram will return from vacation on August 18; in cases of pastoral emergency, please contact the church office or George Vais.

3) Communicating Better...

Do you have an interest in helping St. Andrew's to improve our communications, outreach and publicity?

We need you! A special brainstorming and visioning meeting will take place on Wednesday August 19 at 7 pm for all who might be interested in helping the church to strengthen our ability to be a witness to faith, hope and love in the heart of Toronto.

All are welcome. For more information, please contact Peter Price at pmprice@sympatico.ca

St. Andrew's Church School and Nursery will begin the fall term on September 13th.

This year, students age 12 to 15 are invited to attend classes in the upstairs assembly room. The classes will run from 9:30 to 10:20 a.m. The students will then have an opportunity to attend the worship service or assist in the nursery or church school on a rotational basis. Fur further details, please contact Betsy Nieuwland.

All younger students will attend classes during the service (after the children's time). The nursery will be open at 10:20 (10 minutes before the beginning of the service) until 10 minutes after the service.

All children are welcome!

Please remember that the Wednesday morning Bible study group continues to meet throughout the summer months. The study begins at 7:30 am and concludes by 8:30 am. Next week the group will study the book of Malachi, the final book in the Old Testament. The study of the Wisdom literature, that includes the books of Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and the Song of Solomon, will begin the following week. All are welcome!

Members and friends of SAGA are invited to a pool party will take place on Saturday July 25, 2009 at the home of Robert Sheng from 2:00 - 9:00 pm. Robert's home is located at 63 Neilson Ave in Scarborough. Please RSVP before August 20th at 416-269-7828. Please bring $10 to cover the cost of food and drinks, or give what you can.

7) Fall Supper Seminars - "Islam and Present Day Considerations" - Wednesday October 14, 21, and 28, 2009

Plans are well underway for our fall supper seminar series. We are very pleased to announce that Michael AbdurRashid Taylor, who is a Muslim imam and a Chaplain at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), will present a series of three seminars about understanding Islam on Wednesday, October 14th, 21st and 28th.

October 28th: Prayer, Fasting and Charity: How a Muslim's Worship Life engages Personal and Social responsibility.

Brochures and registration information will be available soon -- but please set these dates aside.

8) The 2009 Annual Congregational Retreat - Saturday November 7, 2009

This year’s congregational retreat will be held at the Old Mill on Saturday, November 7th. Our leader will be the Rev. Dr. Clyde Ervine of Central Church in Hamilton, Ontario.

More information will soon be available -- but please keep this date free on your calendar and plan to join us for a great day of conversation, reflection and discernment.

The next meeting of the St. Andrew's Book Club will be held on Thursday, September 24th at 7 p.m. in the Board Room. The selection for the September meeting is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Library Journal said: "this is a warm, funny, tender, and thoroughly entertaining celebration of the power of the written word." There's still time to read it if you haven't started it yet! Everyone is welcome to attend.

The next issue of our quarterly newsletter, Catalyst, will be published in September. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, September 6th. Please email submissions to co-editors Jane Martin (at janemartin@pagemartin.com) and Kristen Stout (at kwmathewson@rogers.com).

We are pleased to announce that donations to the Church, and to ministries such as the 'Out of the Cold' programme, can be made online. To learn more, please click on the button below!

Many years ago in a small village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

The cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.

2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

2) The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.

3) The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers. What would you recommend to the girl to do?

Well, here is what she did.... The girl put her hand into the money bag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look in the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked." Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

Most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we don't attempt to think 'outside the box".

Can you discern ways in which lateral thinking could help you resolve a dilemma in your life? Can you find examples of ways Our Lord used lateral thinking?

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