Cedar Park United

Welcome to the Cedar Park United Podcast!  This was Thanksgiving Sunday on the Canadian calendar, and also the day we marked the 125th anniversary of this faith community, which began as a Presbyterian mission in 1899 meeting in the then newly built schoolhouse, and which over the decades grew to become Lilly Memorial Church and then in the 1950s, Cedar Park United Church.  We indeed have so much...

In this scripture reading and reflection from June 20, 2021, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones reflects on Psalm 80 and the practice of making space for grief and lament, specifically around the communal and intergenerational impact of settler policies and actions on the lives of Canada’s indigenous peoples. “Everything we know about God’s utter fidelity to God’s Dream of abundant, flourishing life for all...

In this worship from September 29, 2024 we brought ancient texts and an even more ancient practice of meditation together to experience the mystery of the divine. As it’s quite hard to reproduce the first-hand experience of meditating in the presence of singing bowls, in our worship livestream we used an audio recording from Benjamin Iobst, from his 1999 CD, Seven Metals, with thanks. Dr. Shelley...

Being God’s people is both a blessing and a challenge! In this reflection from September 22, 2024, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones turns our attention to the Gospel story (Mark 9:30-37) that reminds us that often we just don’t “get” how radical, counterintuitive, and countercultural it can be to live God’s Dream. Sometimes Jesus has to sit us down and show us. But…when we do get it, well, that’s amazing!...

In this reflection from September 15, 2024, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones invites us to lend our ears to “Lady Wisdom.” In today’s Old Testament reading, “Lady Wisdom” cries out from the crossroads in the city, (not from some lofty ivory tower, or majestic temple), and what she cries is often hard to hear. She is forthright, not backing down from hard truths, calling out injustice. How can that possibl...

In this reflection from September 8, 2024, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones speaks to the day’s scriptures which encourage us to wrestle with the fact that living as a community of disciples of the Way of Jesus is hard. The wide, wide embrace of God’s Loving Dream is so often much bigger than we can imagine or embody. We get it wrong over and over again. Thank God, then, she reminds us, that God never giv...

In this reflection from August 25, 2024, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones invites us to consider the final stanzas of the United Church of Canada’s “Song of Faith.” These remind us that we are all “time-bound children of the Timeless One”, called to live as fully as we can in the space between birth and death, with trust and grounded hope in God’s loving, redemptive action in all creation. With such hope,...

In this reflection from June 23, 2024, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones explores how worship and spiritual practices and discipleship connect us with God, who nourishes and challenges us to shape our collective and individual lives in ways that reflect God’s Dream for Creation. This is the last in our 4-week series exploring the foundations for our congregation’s ⁠Community Compass strategic plan and visi...

In this reflection from June 16, 2024, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones focuses on sustainability as God’s great idea for shaping the way we support our ministries and use our resources to live God’s Dream in community and in the world. This is the third of four reflections around the key “directions” of our congregation’s ⁠ ⁠Community Compass⁠ . To hear the Scripture reading that preceded the reflection,...

In this reflection from June 9, 2024, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones poses the question: What is “progressive”, and why do we need to be a beacon for it? One of the answers is clear: to share God’s Good News as widely as we can. This is the second of four reflections around the key “directions” of our congregation’s ⁠Community Compass . We hope you’ll be inspired! To hear the Scripture reading, head to...

In this reflection, Rev. Dr. Elisabeth Jones explores the difference between “being nice” and offering truly radical welcome. This is the first of four reflections around the key “directions” of our congregation’s ⁠ ⁠Community Compass⁠ . We hope you’ll be inspired! To hear the Scripture reading that Rev. Elisabeth refers to, head to the livestream recording . To read the Identity and Values Statem...