LETTING OUR LIGHT SHINE!
Report for June – August 2008

Throughout the summer Islington continued to be a busy place for the worship and work of God – carrying out our mission “to be an open, caring and friendly church where people of all ages are invited to discover, explore and develop their spirituality in Christ’s name.”
 
Here are some highlights:

Congregational Development

• The Sunday School Visioning task group met throughout the summer to develop its proposals for the revitalization of our Sunday School – stimulating curriculum, age-appropriate classes, refurbished classrooms, advertising to the community and more…

Worship & Music

• The new United Church hymn supplement, More Voices, was introduced into Sunday worship;
  copies in the pews are made possible by gifts from the congregation
  
• GO Project youth and their leaders led dynamic worship at two services in July
  
• Plans began to introduce more informal worship at the first service in the fall to meet the spiritual needs of new and current worshippers
  

Christian Development & Faith Formation

• 42 children and youth leaders discovered how to help their neighbours in “God’s Big Backyard” our August Vacation Bible School; their collection of school supplies for the children of the Mabelle Food Program was published in The Etobicoke Guardian!

Pastoral Care

• Visits with our many homebound members and friends didn’t take a summer break; we continued to keep in touch
  
• Seven funeral/memorial services and care for the bereaved
  
• Elders and interested parishioners met to create a renewed vision for the role of the Visiting Elder – the caring “connectors” in our congregation

World & Community Outreach

• Over 60 children from our local community participated in the twice-weekly, full-day free children’s program offered by the GO Project
  
• GO Project youth and leaders learned about and put their skills into action in community outreach programs with local agencies and at the Mabelle Food Program in July

Much has been accomplished to shine the light of Christ over the summer. However, our income lags behind our tightly managed expenses and the financial plan. Here is our financial situation at the end of August.
To ensure there is no shortfall at the end of the year, Church Council advises that if every donor household increased our gifts by nine percent for the remainder of the year, then we would have a balanced budget.

Here are some examples:

• $25 per week becomes $27.25 per week
• $100 per week becomes $109 per week

Can you join with others to ensure a balanced budget in 2008?