Musical Prelude and Service.

Anniversary Sunday
Acts 9:1-20 & John 21:1-19
What does it mean to be a community of faith? Why do we gather in community?
I must confess that I am sometimes reluctant to look too deeply into this question. If I do start digging, might I begin to unravel what is a delicate but beautiful creation? It shouldn’t be a concern. Do I really have that kind of power to tear apart what God put together? But that is one aspect of my imagination and anxiety.
Don’t overthink things Warner.
At some point it is useful to explore what brings us together and what we are called to do as a community. Because one of the things about being church is that it is ultimately about more than a place where we come together to pray, sing songs of praise and explore what we hear in our scriptures. Community is critical to who we are as human beings, and a strong and healthy community is critical to how we develop as distinct personalities and also as a whole. And what we do, what we learn, and how we reflect on scripture, is critical to how we as a congregation have grown and continue to develop. What we hear in those sacred stories is that we are called to be Christ’s body; to be messengers of hope and love to the world. To support one another, to encourage one another, and be the fertile ground in which we and our siblings grow to be the people God sees us becoming.
On this Sunday, we take time to celebrate the fact that Grace United Church has been a part of the community of Dunnville for more than 170 years. It started as Grace Methodist Church and then took the name Grace United in 1925 when the United Church of Canada came into being. But for 174 years there has been a community of faith gathering, worshipping, and living out God’s love for the world here in Dunnville and doing so under the name of Grace.
In its earliest years, Grace functioned as a community of faith led by circuit riders. In 1850, the Nanticoke-Dunnville circuit of the Wesleyan Methodist Church was formed. A team of Methodist preachers travelled throughout the region offering worship in the small communities they entered. They carried their bible and various tools needed for the job. Prayers, hymns, scripture, sermon, and then on to the next town.
In his book “Growing in Grace” Lorne Sorge notes there were earlier itinerant preachers; part of what he refers to as the saddle bag brigade of the Niagara Circuit. These were preachers who traveled to various stops in the region – preaching, offering communion, and organizing communities of faith.
In any case, it was out of the work of Rev. John Hunt and Rev. John Baxter that a congregation in Dunnville began to grow. It moved from preaching in the camps, to using space in a public school, to renting room above Frank Ramsey’s Menswear Store. By 1853, they built their first chapel on the corner of Alder and Cedar.
Leaders of the Methodist congregation started to build on our current location in 1904, with the laying of the cornerstone on Dominion Day that year. The new Grace Methodist Church was dedicated in 1905 and it was part of church union in 1925 when the United Church of Canada came
into being. Since its inception, Grace Methodist and then Grace United has fed those who have come to join us. Whether it be with food or the word.
The gospel reading today is pretty clear in its charge to those who choose to follow Jesus. Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs, guide my flock. Feed them.
I would argue that Grace has taken to that call with some vigour over the decades or generations.
Whether it be actual nourishing food or reaching out with love and comfort in times of difficulty, Grace has recognized that part of being a community that models Christ’s love means serving the wider community. I would suggest Grace has taken the charge to feed God’s flock seriously.
We can look at a host of different projects this congregation has taken on over the years. Grace sponsored a refugee family from Southeast Asia in the early 1980s.
It has been active and committed to the Canada Foodgrains bank for decades.
Just last Sunday, Ellie and I attended an Active Bystander Seminar at the Mennonite Church in Vineland. It was organized by the Mennonite Central Committee. Talking with one of the organizers at the end and explaining who we were and where we come from, he knew of our church through our commitment to the Foodgrains Bank.
Grace was also instrumental in starting Meals on Wheels and has been active over the years with Senior Support Services and community dinners. The community dinners were an important part of our ministry to the community for many years prior to the pandemic shutting down so many important services. We have been dedicated to raising money for several different community efforts such as the Food Bank. We have provided support to Bridges and Pride in recent years.
And now, having completed our sponsorship for one newcomer family, we are hard at work supporting and sponsoring a second family of newcomers to Canada.
We remain in a partnership with the Adult Learning Centre; providing space for their important service to the community.
Despite the anxieties for what the future might bring, we continue to speak words of hope, and to live in that hope for the wider community to see and hear.
The reading from Acts this morning tells us of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. We hear the questions asked of Paul and the challenges they pose, but we also hear of how God calls on Annanias to serve and assist in the healing of Paul. Despite his reservations; the fear and anger he must harbour for this man who has persecuted and harmed so many fellow followers of Jesus, Annanias responds to this call. He goes to Paul, serves him, teaches him, and prays with him. Despite his fear; despite his anger; he loves him.
Annanias models Christ’s call to love your neighbour, to broaden the scope of what it means to be community. Go out and meet people where they are. Open the doors and invite more people in. This too is part of our call as part of the body of Christ. It is often a challenge.
It can mean asking challenging questions about who we are and who we are called to be. Are we living up to our call and if not, how can we work to better resemble who we picture ourselves being? I am so grateful I answered a call to serve in this community and am thrilled to remain a part of this community. I am proud to be a part of the long history of this congregation and look forward to seeing where we are called in the days, months and years ahead.
Thanks be to God. Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789