Congregational News

Colored christmas glass balls isolated on white background

Christmas Hamper Project 2021 Successfully Completed!

This year we gave out 178 hampers, which represented over 500 individuals. Each recipient was referred to us through a Drop In or Emergency Food Centre. Each hamper contains gift cards that should provide groceries for a week, a warm greeting card, and personalized gift. The success of this project depends on many volunteers to adopt, pack, and deliver these hampers. Equally necessary are the financial donations which allow us to purchase gift cards. To undertake a project of this size we depend on people to organize the volunteers. A huge thank you to the organizing team. Thank you to all those who partnered in the Christmas Hamper Project. Your participation made someone's Christmas a little brighter.

A donation to the Christmas Hamper fund can still be made at: www.centretownunited.org/xmashamperproject . If donations are so generous that we receive additional funds, they will be shared with the Centretown Emergency Food Centre and Centre 507 to assist recipients, who struggle to make ends meet throughout the entire year.

Thank you for your interest and support of the Christmas Hamper Project!!

Summer 2020 - Flower Garden on Bank Street

Because of the many restrictions caused by the Coronavirus, the gardeners were not able to plant vegetables this year. Instead the garden boxes are filled with flowers. They look beautiful. Thank you for making our church look so attractive for people passing by.

We’d like to thank the following volunteers who have created and maintained these flowers through our Covid season:

Helen Barkley - Trinity United Church

Julie-Ann Kirkpatrick - Centretown neighbour

Kathryn Thompson - Centretown neighbour

Scott Mosey - Centretown neighbour

Mostafa Nasr - 507 participant and volunteer

Jane Ambridge

Jules Audet

Linda Pollock

Mother'sDay Tea with a Cookie Twist

It is hoped that you will attend and bring a friend to celebrate Mothers Day. Tickets for tea are $10. In conjunction with the tea, the ladies are challenging the men to take part in a MENS ONLY cookie baking contest. There will be three categories: Best Tasting, Best Decorated, and Largest. Men can enter as many times and categories as they like, but for each entry they must submit 3 dozen cookies (which will be sold) plus 2 cookies to be judged. Our guest judges will be Mayor Jim Watson and Chef Bruce Wood, the chef who works in our church kitchen with the FoodWorks programs, through Operation Come Home. All proceeds from the tea and from the cookie sale will go toward the Congregational Challenge.

Centretown Book Group

The book group’s next read will be The Pearl That Broke its Shell, by NADIA HASHMINI. A description follows: In Kabul, 2007, with a drug-addicted father and no brothers, Rahima and her sisters can only sporadically attend school, and can rarely leave the house. Their only hope lies in the ancient custom of bacha posh, which allows young Rahima to dress and be treated as a boy until she is of marriageable age. Cutting her hair and donning pants lets her barter at the market, attend school and play soccer with the boys. Everyone accepts her new position as a son. Unfortunately, Rahima’s opium-addicted father is indebted to a warlord, who has taken an interest in the 13-year-old. After having tasted freedom as a bacha posh, how can she return to the oppression inflicted upon women. This a lyrical, heartbreaking account of silenced lives. It provides an intimate look at the conditions in which women in some cultures must survive, and raises thought-provoking questions about what can and cannot be done to help them, and, indeed, what should be done, given that cultural, religious, and even the social attitudes of women themselves may reinforce the ways in which girls and women are used and abused. The discussion of this book will be Friday April 13th, 2018 at 7:30 pm. Everyone with an interest is invited to read the book and join the discussion. The book is available at the Ottawa Public Library in paper, e-book and audio formats.

Stride - Assistance for the Disabled

Stride is a registered, non-profit, charitable organization which operates solely by a dedicated team of Volunteers. Dave Boal is the President, and Barb Potter-Angus and the Ambridge/Dewan family are volunteers. This organization was formed in 1983 out of Bell Street United Church. It was Co-Founded by Rev. Percival and Mary McDowell. The UCW is pleased that Mary McDowell will be speaking at their next meeting Monday March 5th at 7:30. Mary will be telling us all about Stride and it's accomplishments. If you are interested in learning about Stride please plan to attend the meeting.

Centre 507 Potluck Supper

To all those who worked at or donated to the Dinner for our friends at Centre 507 on Feb 27th the meal was a great success! We served a variety of casseroles, lasagna, quiche, rice, potatoes, chicken legs, beans, meat balls, shepherds pie, salad, rolls, vegetarian pasta and chilli and to end the feast we served a variety of cakes (all made by Ellen) with ice cream. Approximately 70 guests pass on their thanks for a delicious meal and can't wait until we have another one. Thanks to everyone involved.

Walk For The Centre

On Sunday October 15th at 2 pm from City Hall. The Centre is the Centretown Emergency Food Centre housed in our church

CCSAC (Centretown Churches Social Action Committee) is organizing this event and we are looking for people to represent Centretown United on the walk. If you are interested in walking and would like a sign-up form, please speak to Joan Fletcher, our CCSAC rep.

If you are not walking perhaps you could sponsor Joan or someone else from Centretown. For more details, speak to Joan or go to centretownchurches.org/

Centretown United Participates in Pride Parade and Hosts BBQ

On Sunday August 27th, Centretown United Church members participated in the 2017 Pride Parade in Ottawa. It was a great success and a beautiful day!

Again this year, Centretown United Church held its free-will donation barbeque at 507 Bank and Argyle prior to the Pride Parade. We ran out of all fifteen dozen hot dogs, cold drinks, and watermelon in 45 minutes!

Thanks to the generous donations of the parade’s participants and spectators, Centretown UC was able to cover its expenses and give $377.00 to the Centretown Emergency Food Centre which is housed in our church basement. (The CEFC is a project of the Centretown Churches Social Action Committee.) Centretown UC thanks everyone. It plans to have more hot dogs and drinks next year!

Congregational News