St. Stephen’s Stories, October 2025

Today, I am feeling very grateful! September has been a bit of a blur, between the
twins starting high school and activities getting rolling at St. Stephen’s. I have also
started a challenging and fascinating bible course on the book of James. If you follow
us on Facebook, my first assignment will show up on there shortly! If you’d like to
walk along with me in the book of James, our next bible conversation will be on
James 1 on Tuesday, October 7. But I digress. With Thanksgiving and our church
anniversary this month, here are just a few things I am grateful for:

• Sunday School has gotten off to a great start, with a new teacher, Andrew, and our new coordinator, Laura! It is a joy to see our kids having fun and learning about Jesus every week.
• Our grant application for a 3-5 year declining grant was approved by Presbytery! The application is now with the national church, and we will hear back after November 20.
• Our next Hello Neighbour Sunday Night dinner is on October 5! I had so much fun in June, and I look forward to meeting even more neighbours (and seeing many of you) then!
• We have some new volunteer help from one of our tenants, an oboist named Celina. This is part of what we mean when we say we want to do more than just rent out space. We want to partner with people where and when it makes sense. Hopefully you will get to meet her at some point!
• 81 years of being in this neighbourhood and almost 8 years of me being here asyour minister! What a wonderful adventure we are on!
• While our financial picture isn’t all roses, we are in a better position than we expected based on our budget. Thanks be to God and to all of our generous supporters for exceeding our givings to date!

I could keep going, but I am running out of space! My point is that God is so good!
And when we remember all the ways that God is good, it helps change our
perspective on what we see in the world and in our own lives. I encourage
you to make a list every day of 3 things you have to be grateful for. I have seen
how this can be life-changing, including for me. I’d love to hear what you are
grateful for one Sunday.
See you then!

-Meg

A song from my playlist:

I closed my eyes to offer thanks to God, and the chorus of There is a redeemer (hymn 358) came to mind. This video version below even has someone signing ASL in the front row!