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PARKWOOD PULSE
PARKWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
All inperson events are Your Parkwood Pulse is
currently cancelled, suspended, online with digital editions.
or postponed, including Sunday Submissions can be sent in to
services, until further notice. parkwoodpulse@yahoo.ca
"For the entire law is fulfilled in
keeping this one command:
Love your neighbour as yourself."
Galatians 5:14
Join us online for worship on
Sundays at 10AM! Find the
YouTube link on the Parkwood
website or Facebook page on
Sunday mornings around
9:30AM
DECEMBER 2020
JANUARY 2021
Parkwood Presbyterian Church ― 10 Chesterton Drive ― Ottawa, ON ― K2E 5S9
6132256648 ― parkwoodchurch.ca
PARKWOOD PULSE 2 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
Neighbours
“Love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22: 39, NIV)
In some parts of the country, and in some countries around the world, the current pandemic has led to
public health orders that forbid one from gathering with people outside of one’s own household.
One does not have to visit one’s neighbour, however, in order to love one’s neighbour. In some cases,
one might best love one’s neighbour by not visiting.
One is not, however, excused from loving one’s neighbour simply because one cannot visit one’s
neighbour. In this time of physical distancing, we would do well to reflect on how to be a good
neighbour and how to bear witness to our neighbours.
It is true that practices and cultures are different in large cities compared with small towns or rural
countrysides, but all of us need to reflect on what it means to be a neighbour. Jesus challenged all who
would hear in the parable of the Good Samaritan to consider that our neighbour is anyone who is in
need, but that does not exempt us from considering our physically nearest neighbours. In a time when we
are being encouraged to “keep our distance”, or to “stay home”, we are still called to love our
neighbours.
To effectively and appropriately love our neighbours, we first of all need to know who our neighbours
are. Do we know neighbours next door — left and right — and across the street? For those in an
apartment building or condominium, “across the street” might be “across the hall”. For those in a shared
quarters in a nursing home or hospital, “next door” might be “in the next bed”.
What can we do for our neighbours to show our love for them? Pray for them? Yes, of course, and very
importantly. But what else, and especially when visiting is curtailed or forbidden?
Christmas often affords an opportunity to decorate house and yard or balcony or window with lights and
other festive signs to mark the season. Driving or walking through a neighbourhood to see multiple
houses decked out with lights is often a source of pleasure and inspiration for people. What do the
neighbours see when they look at our houses?
Growing up in a small town, and in an upstairs apartment, I recall the intentional efforts of my parents
— especially my mother — to reach out at Christmas time both to neighbours and to those who served
our neighbourhood. Decorative (and tasty!) trays of candy (usually homemade chocolate and white
divinity fudge) would be prepared and delivered (usually left on the doorstep) for the neighbours
downstairs, and up and down the street, and to the postman, the milkman, and the newspaper delivery
boy or girl. I think that the garbage collectors might have even made the list!
To build, maintain, or rebuild communities and indeed a civil society — so desperately needed in the
present climate of rampant individualism — we need to treat our neighbours and those who serve our
neighbourhoods with respect and care. Christians who observe the celebration of Christmas remember
PARKWOOD PULSE 3 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
Neighbours
the lifegiving and lifechanging arrival of Jesus as Saviour in and for our world. Our marking of
Christmas gives us an opportunity to witness to those around us — and especially to our neighbours —
of the love of Jesus. Let us take the opportunity to honour Jesus’ command to love our neighbours as
ourselves, and find creative ways to do so — even and especially while we maintain our distance during
the current pandemic.
Small actions now may build bridges, and open the way for more meaningful conversations, visits, and
interactions in the future when time and circumstances allow for such.
Your pastor, pondering how to do
Christmas this year,
James T. Hurd
Lunch and Learn Webinars
I have heard that people miss the Lunch and Learn social and learning opportunity.
I had booked Amy Friesen, Founder and Executor of "Tea and Toast" and Retirement
Living Advisor, to speak at our Lunch and Learn before the pandemic started and
everything was cancelled. She has informed me that she has hosted online webinars that have been
wellreceived, and would present these to us if we were interested. Topics would include safety while
remaining at home and other topics for ideal retirement.
As we have become familiar with using the web for other events, would you be interested in a Lunch
and Learn event? You could join while having your lunch at home.
Please let me know if you are interested and I will arrange it. Send me an email or give me a call:
Dora Brown, debrwb@gmail.com or 6132249110.
submitted by Dora Brown
PARKWOOD PULSE 4 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
Celebrating 50 Years' Service
The session of Parkwood Church, Ottawa wishes to record and express thanksgiving to God for the
service of Janet Sheridan on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of her ordination as a ruling elder of the
Church. We mark this her Jubilee with much joy and gratitude. In 1966, The Presbyterian Church in
Canada adopted enabling legislation, which permitted the ordination of women to the ministries of both
teaching and ruling eldership. In the fall of 1970, the session of Parkwood Church called upon the
professing members to submit by October 25th the names of those individuals in whom gifts for service
as ruling elders were discerned. The session thereafter proceeded to approach several individuals who had
the confidence of the congregation, among whom was Jan Sheridan. She accepted this call from God and
from Christ’s church, and on November 29, 1970 was the first woman ordained as an elder for Parkwood
Church. She has served faithfully through all of the ensuing fifty years.
Our present clerk of session, Dennis Featherstone, moved to Ottawa in 1972, and began to look for a
church with friendly people, which he and his family had found not so easy to find in Toronto. Often
driving past the building site for Parkwood, where the church building was under construction, they
decided to attend on the first day the church building opened for worship. A small and crowded narthex
was the entry point for those attending, but Jan Sheridan made a point of locating and welcoming a young
father and daughter, and fifty years later that father testifies that Jan was the one who “cinched the deal”
that the Featherstones should worship at Parkwood.
Jan’s ministry within the congregation and beyond — literally around the world — has reflected her
commitment to Christ and to those for whom He has come to bring life, and also embodied an awareness
of and understanding for people on the move. As a physical fitness educator, she has remained fit and
active, and encouraged others to do the same. Having married Steve, her deep appreciation for his
Hungarian roots and culture enhanced her interest and delight in learning and valuing other cultures, and
also led her to show great empathy for those who have come to Canada as part of the diaspora of other
countries and peoples.
She has been an integral part of the Coffee Klatch, which began as an initiative for young mothers to
meet for Bible study, and has continued through the years, now as a seniors’ Bible study, meeting within
the past year in a retirement residence to accommodate limitations for travel.
Jan has taken a great interest in the work of CANHAVE, supporting orphans in Uganda who have lost
their parents to AIDS. She visited Uganda as a part of the delegation under the leadership of Floyd
McPhee, and has taken the initiative to reproduce note cards designed by one of the student artists, and
has tirelessly supported the ministry of CANHAVE through the sale of cards and dolls.
At a season in life when many would retire, Jan took on a ministry of outreach to young students who
were gathering in Parkwood Church for tutoring in the Kumon afterschool math and language study
program, offering hospitality to their parents and siblings, and providing a snack and a craft for students
before or after their lesson. In this way, some families were led to enquire and learn about Christian faith.
Jan has consistently taken a personal interest in children and youth among the congregation. She has
PARKWOOD PULSE 5 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
Celebrating 50 Years' Service
supported those with special needs, offered encouragement to young adults, and followed with prayer,
calls, visits, and practical support to individuals and families within her elder’s district, and more widely
in the congregation and community.
Jan also supported the English as a second language (ESL) outreach initiative, which provided newcomers
to Canada and to the Parkwood Hills neighbourhood with opportunities to practice English conversation
and to gain skills and support to navigate life in a new country. For several years, Jan opened her home in
December to host a preChristmas celebration for some of the newcomers, and the Christmas story and
various ways of marking its significance were shared.
Jan has served many years as coordinator for the session’s Benevolent Fund and beyond basic
administrative and financial duties, has personally provided to those in need much practical help, through
the delivery of food and vouchers and the provision of transportation to and from worship and other
meetings at the church, and to and from medical appointments.
Her knowledge of the city of Ottawa as a former tour guide has been generously shared and has been the
means of blessing to many. Our clerk of session also recalls that it was Jan and her late husband who
introduced them to the Seven Lakes community in North Carolina, which led to many years of happy
spring vacations and worship in a supportive community there.
One has summarized Jan’s ministry as being one of “extraordinary service
doing ordinary things”. We would quote and apply Paul’s word:
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always
pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:36, NIV)
We rejoice in God’s gift to His Church and especially to the session and congregation of Parkwood
Church, Ottawa, of the life and ministry of Jan Sheridan.
From the Editor:
February Pulse
The next edition of the Parkwood Pulse will
be for the month of February. Send in
your submissions by Sunday, January 24th to
parkwoodpulse@yahoo.ca
PARKWOOD PULSE 6 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
CANHAVE Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary This Year
Gwynneth Evans’s report on her term with CANHAVE
The late 1960s were a period of change and tumult: African colonies celebrated their independence;
the Vietnam War raged; and students around the world rose in protest. I was caught by the desire to
share my teaching expertise with students at Bishop Tucker College in Mukono, Uganda. Most of
the students were training to become pastors in the Anglican Church of Uganda and I was to teach
English.
My family reluctantly accepted my twoyear voluntary stint in Uganda in 1967, Canada’s
centennial year. A brick bungalow and garden awaited me at the large, attractive college site, which
combined communal areas such as the classrooms, chapel, dining room, dorms, and the houses for
the multiracial, multinational staff, and married students. Most of the houses had vegetable
gardens.
Uganda became my second home. I visited in 1989 and again in 2003. By then I had met
CANHAVE founder, Caroline Nakayenga, who had arrived as a refugee in Ottawa with her young
daughter Catherine. When Caroline came to work at the National Library, I made a point of
meeting her and learning about CANHAVE. In 2003, she asked me to contact Joseph Kabali to
visit together our CANHAVE children in their various villages and schools. That summer I met all
of the original students.
I also met a grandfather who had been a houseboy at Bishop Tucker College and was now a leader
in his village and the parent of many grandchildren whose parents had died from AIDS. Our mutual
interest in Uganda, education, and children led me to offer time and experience to developing
CANHAVE both in Uganda and Canada.
It was the Rev. Dr. Floyd McPhee who asked me to arrange a study tour for interested donors in
2008. Caroline and I organized information sessions, to ensure that our visitors would learn not
only about CANHAVE, but also about family life in Uganda, and have time in one of the world
class sites for animals and natural beauty, for Uganda is the “Pearl of Africa”. One of our
memorable days was spent with Grandfather Israel and his many children near Jinja, the source of
the Nile flowing from Lake Victoria. Because he had been in Mukono, he was able to introduce our
friends to Uganda in perfect English. He set the tone, with Joseph Kabali, for open conversations
throughout our twoweek journey across the country.
It was important that our two boards spent time together, so they would communicate and share
responsibility for the growing number of CANHAVE students chosen by board members because
of their needs.
PARKWOOD PULSE 7 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
CANHAVE Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary This Year
We in Canada could raise funds and set policy, as the article on Janet Castle last month illustrated, but it
is the Ugandan boards and staff who carry out the supervision of the children at boarding schools
(interrupted by COVID19) and at the Trade School.
Not surprisingly, my introduction to Grandfather Israel’s grandson Robert, in 2003, grew as he
completed several levels of education and himself began teaching anatomy. I also enjoyed the quiet
company of Joseph Mawanda, our artist and designer of CANHAVE cards. On my visit to Uganda in
2017, we brought together as many CANHAVE girls and boys as possible; many had grown into
attractive, confident students in university or in work positions. One young woman proudly brought her
newborn to the party.
While I served one term as president from 2015 to 2018, my principal concerns over 15 years have been
communications and fundraising to support nurturing environments for our orphaned children, and well
managed and effective training at the Trade School. Perhaps Canadians who have now lived with
COVID19 understand more personally the meaning of uncertainty and want in daily life. Our
CANHAVE orphans have lost their parents, often very quickly. They are not necessarily welcomed by
other members of their families. Now, their family is the CANHAVE board members and staff and
fellow students.
It has been a privilege to work with friends in Uganda and in Ottawa to provide opportunities for
children whose lives have never been certain, never been easy. Since the '60s, I have had a home and
friends in Africa. My Ugandan family is integral to my understanding of loving community and service.
PARKWOOD PULSE 8 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
CANHAVE and COVID19
Canada
2020 is the 25th anniversary of the founding of CANHAVE
and we (the CANHAVE Board) had planned various events to
celebrate our achievements over the past 25 years. These
events and all other fundraising events have been put on hold
because of the COVID19 pandemic restrictions and, while
we hope to celebrate early in 2021, no one is predicting the
schedule for the return to “normal”. In the meantime, we need
to depend on the ongoing generosity of our supporters.
Uganda
As is noted in the Annual Report (see www.canhave.org), the Children’s
Program was very stable in 2019. We did not admit new students, but are
focussed on ensuring our ability to support the students we are currently
committed to.
This stability seemed to be continuing as we entered 2020. All of the
students from 2019 returned except those five students, who graduated in 2019. Then COVID19 struck
Uganda as it did across the world. On March 20th, 2020, approximately three weeks before the end of
the first term, the Ugandan government cancelled all educational activities at the public, secondary, and
vocational school levels. CANHAVE’s immediate response was to contact the guardians of all students
and to transport all of our students back to their guardians’ homes. As you will understand, this is a big
problem for our students who have various arrangements or definitions of “home”. When I visited
Uganda in the spring of 2019, I visited students in their homes and it was clear that:
The students had a great deal of anxiety about their welcome “at home”;
There were few resources available in the homes to support these students.
When these students had to leave school before the end of their terms and with no indication of when, or
if, they would return to school, they were very worried. "Home" for these children does not include
parents and definitely not WiFi, television, or even, in some cases three meals a day. We are fortunate to
have dedicated volunteers who serve as surrogate parents and counsellors for the students. Our
volunteers visit all of the students in their individual homes to provide support and counselling. We know
that students spend much of their time working in family enterprises such as market stalls, brickmaking,
and gardening.
The Children’s Program has taken several steps to help our students keep up
with their studies, with funding from Canada:
PARKWOOD PULSE 9 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
CANHAVE and COVID19 (cont'd...)
Volunteers regularly visit students and their guardians to provide assistance;
The Children’s Program has purchased dayold newspapers and distributed the educational
material to students;
They have acquired books and lesson plans from the schools and distributed these to the
students;
They approached teachers to see if any were willing to act as tutors or advisors but had little
success.
In early October, the Ugandan Ministry of Education announced a limited reopening of schools and
Vocational Schools on October 19th, 2020. Specifically, they opened schools for grades P7, S4, and S6,
as these are the grades in which students complete government exams to allow them to graduate or to
proceed to the next level. These students will complete the 2nd term by the end of December and the
third term by the 3rd week in March. This affects 25 students and 66 students in other grades probably
will not return to classes until April, 2020.
Notes and Cards
As many of you know, Jan Sheridan has supported CANHAVE for several years by printing cards and
making miniature dolls for sale.
The cards display artwork of Joseph Mawanda, one of our early students. Joseph now works as a
commercial artist in the U.S. His work portrays animals, scenes, and the people of Uganda. The cards
are sold in sets of 4 cards and are sold for $6.00 per set.
The miniature dolls (approximately 3” high) display the national costumes of countries across the world
and make beautiful gifts, tree ornaments, or stocking stuffers. Each doll is sold for $7.00.
Dolls and cards are available by contacting:
Jan Sheridan at (613) 2245624; or
Terry McBurney at (613) 8310615 or by email at
tjmcburney@bell.net.
submitted by Terry McBurney
PARKWOOD PULSE 10 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
White Gifts 2020
Many individuals and families struggle daytoday to survive with few
resources. A White Gift contribution is an opportunity for our Parkwood family
to give anonymously to help others celebrate a joyous Christmas.
Individuals and families at Parkwood:
A gift of money will allow parents to purchase a gift appropriate for their child.
The money collected through White Gifts will be distributed to parents prior to
Christmas. Contributions can be placed in your offering envelope, marked
“White Gift” under “Other”. Due to COVID19, we will not be collecting items
for distribution to families.
The Ottawa Mission:
Due to COVID19, The Ottawa Mission is not receiving any items from the general public. They are
pleased to receive financial contributions. Contributions can be placed in your offering envelope,
marked “The Ottawa Mission”.
We will be collecting items for Ottawa Innercity Ministries. Here are some suggestions…
Ottawa Innercity Ministries: juice boxes, granola bars, toothbrushes/toothpaste, samplesize lotion,
deodorant, razors, ground coffee, fleece blankets, men’s winter boots (new or gently used), gift
certificates (e.g. Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s), gloves/mitts, hats, scarves, socks, underwear, sanitary
pads, clothing, sturdy darkcoloured backpacks, towels, washcloths, etc.
Bins to collect gifts will be placed at the front doors during the following times:
Wednesday, December 2nd: 9:30AM – 11:30AM
Saturday, December 5th: 2:00PM – 4:00PM
Wednesday, December 9th: 2:00PM – 4:00PM
Saturday, December 12th: 9:30AM – 11:30AM
If you would like to drop items off at another time, please call Marcia or Alta to make arrangements. If
you plan to mail a contribution, please note that the postal service may take longer than usual.
Gifts will be dedicated on Sunday, December 13th.
If you have any questions, please call
Susan McCullough at 613-884-9297
or Alta MacFie at 6137237865PARKWOOD PULSE 11 DECEMBER 2020 JANUARY 2021
Upcoming Online Events
Streaming during Parkwood's December
13th worship service includes opportunity
to donate to the Arise School of Dance!
The First Snowfall
The Queensway is a sea of frothing foam, The playful wind now rests, the tide retreats.
Drifting from left to right, and back again, White tendrils wisp across, but now I steer
Curling within itself, then swelling forth With growing confidence, for I can see
Into a surging wave across each lane. Firm pavement is below; the way is clear.
I drive, but am I still? Is this a tide (Sylvia Hepburn)
That carries me, suspended, floating free?
For I no longer can define a road
Beneath the creaming mass surrounding me.
submitted by Peter PaulYou can also read
