On Wednesday, December 24, we are invited to join the congregation of église Unie Saint-Pierre for a bilingual Christmas Eve Service which will start at 7:00pm. The Rev. Darla Sloan will be leading the worship service with the participation of members of both Chalmers-Wesley and Saint-Pierre. There will be a special time for children during the service and a time of fellowship and refreshment in the lower hall after the service.  Visiting friends and family are most welcome to join us.

Please note that there will be no service at Chalmers-Wesley next Sunday, December 28. Rev. Stephen Hayes of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church has extended a special invitation to Chalmers-Wesley Church, with whom their church has enjoyed cordial relations for many years, to worship with them at 10:30am.  There is also the alternative of worshipping at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity at 11:00am.

On January 4th, Epiphany Sunday, the worship service will be led by Shirley Nadeau.

Best wishes to all for a Blessed and Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

For those of you who may be travelling over the holidays, we wish you a safe and comfortable trip, happy times with your family and friends, and a safe return home.

These weekly messages are prepared by

Shirley Nadeau
and
Derek  White

Please come and join us as we worship together this Fourth Sunday of Advent on Sunday, December 21.

On December 24, we are invited to join the congregation of église Unie Saint-Pierre for a bilingual Christmas Eve Service which will start at 7:00pm. The Rev. Darla Sloan will be leading the worship service with the participation of members of both Chalmers-Wesley and Saint-Pierre. There will be a special time for children during the service and a time of fellowship and refreshment in the lower hall after the service.  Visiting friends and family are most welcome to join us. 

Looking for a "last minute" Chirstmas present?  How about a copy of "Remember All the Way, the History of Chalmers-Wesley United Church," written by George Crawford and launched in December 2006?  We still have many copies on hand and would be happy to "express mail" a copy to the recipient of your choice for $30, plus mailing costs (exact amount depends on destination).  To order your copy of the book, contact Shirley Nadeau at cashnadeau@videotron.ca

The Community Christmas Hamper Campaign committee and many volunteers will be busy sorting and packing boxes of groceries for 139 families this week but are in need of a few more strong, able-bodied people to help with the loading and delivery of these boxes during the day of Saturday, December 20th.  If you feel you are able to help, please contact  co-ordinator Jan Anderson-Toupin at the Jeffery Hale Community Centre at 684-5333 x 1539. Thank you.  As of Thursday, December 11, the total amount of donations raised was $16,800.  In order to purchase all the necessary fresh food supplies, the goal is $20,000. If you can help reach this goal, please send your cheque payable to to the Community Christmas Hamper Campaign to: Community Christmas Hamper Campaign c/o Jeffery Hale Community Services, 1250 chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec (Québec), G1S 2M6.

In last week's Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (Dec 10 issue, page 4) you may have noticed a brief note entitled GIVING THANKS written by Marie Nassif which read . . . "Dear American Embassy, Thank you for sharing Thanksgiving turkey with the people of L'Auberivière. God bless your hearts! "  In fact, this was an intiative of the Chalmers-Wesley Women's Group, spearheaded by Elizabeth Huse, who works at the American Consulate. Besides Beth, other members of the Women's Group who went to help serve Turkey Dinner to hundreds of appreciative people were:  Sandra Holman, Joan Shea, and Constance Brown.

Best wishes to all for a Blessed and Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

For those of you who may be travelling over the holidays, we wish you a safe and comfortable trip, happy times with your family and friends, and a safe return home.

This Sunday, December 14, there will be a Service of Lessons and Carols with special music provided by the choir and lots of carol singing for all.

If you are interested in being one of the Lesson readers, please contact Elizabeth Huse, who will be leading the service.

The choir is preparing for this special Service of Lessons and Carols and could really use the help of another Tenor to sing with us.  Is there anyone out there who is available to attend Choir practice Friday evening at 7:30pm who is also available to sing with us on Sunday, during the 11:00am service?

We welcome new voices to sing with the choir every week - sopranos, altos, tenors or basses - but tenors always seem to be "ten or twelve miles away."

The Women's Group meets this Thursday, December 11, at 7:00pm, in the lounge in the church hall. 

Please bring a small wrapped gift (value $5 to $10 - "re-gifting" is permissable) for a Fun Xmas Gift Exchange.  Also, bring a sweet or savory (finger food) to share with others over a cup of tea or coffee. And, please feel free to bring a friend. 

If you have any extra Xmas tree decorations, please bring them to put on the tree we will be putting up in the lower hall.

Check out the recent article titled "Spire Restoration Underway at Chalmers-Wesley" submitted to the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph.  ( www.qctonline.com/ )

This Sunday is your last opportunity to bring in non-perishable food donations for the Community Christmas Hamper Campaign. 

Monetary donations are gratefully accepted to purchase fresh fruit, vegetables and meats. A tax receipt will be issued for donations of $10 or more. Please make your cheque payable to the Community Christmas Hamper Campaign and send it to:
Community Christmas Hamper Campaign
c/o Jeffery Hale Community Services,
1250 chemin Sainte-Foy,
Québec (Québec), G1S 2M6.

As a point of interest, from  Remember All the Way, the History of Chalmers-Wesley United Church . . .

The Christmas Hamper Project
In 1967, Cyril Cook and his wife Jeanne met Mr. and Mrs. Léo Grenon at a New Year’s reception at Sillery City Hall, where the idea arose of providing Christmas grocery hampers to needy local families. As chief of the Sillery police, Mr. Grenon knew of many such families and he promised the Cooks that, if they prepared the hampers, he would help deliver them. As a result of that meeting, one of the most successful and long-lasting social outreach projects undertaken at Chalmers-Wesley was launched.

Every Christmas for the next 16 years, deliveries were made with the assistance of Sillery firemen and police, although the project soon grew beyond that area. The IGA store in Sillery provided fruit and vegetables as well as fresh turkeys at a very reasonable cost, sending pre-packed boxes to the church to supplement the donated non-perishable food. Armand Lemire, an Elder of the church and owner of a delicatessen, was also a tremendous help over the years, supplying turkeys and many other items for the hampers.

Cyril Cook is now minister of Edwards United Church, near Ottawa. In a recent interview he recalled:

The English television station asked us to go on TV to talk about the success of the program and to let the listeners know that we helped families in need in the community. Jeanne did this for a few years. At the same time we mentioned to the listeners that we would accept donations.
Each year, many families with children were helped out at Christmas. One year, we had a total of 150 children of all ages. Most were in need of good, warm snowsuits during the cold, Quebec winters. One of the members in the congregation asked to have the sizes of each of the children and purchased all 150 snowsuits so that each child would have a warm suit for Christmas.
Our last Christmas in Quebec City was December 1976. That year, we prepared and delivered about 60 hampers.

In 1967, the first year of the Chalmers-Wesley Christmas Hamper project, boxes of groceries were sent to only 10 households. However, by 1992, a record number of 250 people in 96 households in the Greater Quebec area received hampers. Committee members that year were: the Rev. Bill Jay, Murray Baker, Hazel Harriet, Leslie Herman, Patrick Hutchings, Fanny Miller and Hazel Shannon. Convenor Ruby Skidmore dedicated many years of effort to the project.

In 1996, Danielle Fournier, Co-ordinator of the Christmas Hamper Campaign, stated that the English-speaking Community Anti-poverty Coalition – a joint initiative of Chalmers-Wesley United Church, the Quebec Baptist Church, St. Patrick’s Parish, St. Stephen’s/St. Vincent’s Church and the Holland Centre – had combined their efforts to make sure that no one in need was overlooked, to ensure efficient use of the community’s volunteers and financial resources, and to avoid duplication of services. Through the Coalition’s hard work and pooling of resources, over 200 families and individuals were served that year.

Since then, the Community Christmas Hamper Campaign has been co-ordinated by staff from the Holland Centre* [now the Jeffery Hale Community Centre] with help from over 200 volunteers from up to 20 English-speaking churches, schools and community groups, including many members of Chalmers-Wesley. Each household receives from three to six boxes of groceries, including fresh vegetables, various meats and a turkey.

What was started nearly 40 years ago by a small group of people at Chalmers-Wesley with the help of the Sillery police, firemen and merchants is now a major community outreach program.

The text of these messages is prepared each week by

Shirley Nadeau
and
Derek White

This Sunday, December 7, is the Second Sunday of Advent.  We will be led in worship by Elizabeth Huse.

The Official Board meets this Sunday, December 7, at 1:45pm.

La BAND'ACCORDÉONS de Québec holds its activities at Chalmers-Wesley.  The eight accordionists are pleased to invite members of the community, family and friends to their final run-through rehearsal on Wednesday, December 10th starting at 7pm in the basement of the church.

The first half of the evening will present numerous Christmas pieces they will present at the V'lal'BonVent concerts scheduled for December 14th and 16th at the Salle Albert Rousseau.  The second half of the evening will feature a repertoire of classical music prepared by the group.

The next meeting of the Women's Group will be on Thursday, December 11th. A Christmas party is planned.  

Each year we have the challenge of helping to fill nearly 200 Christmas hampers to be distributed to families in the Québec City region. These hampers will provide families in need with a Christmas dinner and a sense of holiday cheer that they might not otherwise enjoy. But we need your help to reach this goal. Please donate today! Cash donations are gratefully accepted to purchase fresh fruit, vegetables and meats. A tax receipt will be issued for donations of $10 or more. Please make your cheque payable to the Community Christmas Hamper Campaign and send it to: Community Christmas Hamper Campaign c/o Jeffery Hale Community Services, 1250 chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec (Québec), G1S 2M6.

Donations of non-perishable foods are also welcomed. Empty IGA grocery bags with a list of accepted items are available in the lower church hall. Please bring your donated items to the church or to any local English school or the Jeffery Hale Community Centre before or by December 14th at the latest.

The text of these messages is prepared each week by

Shirley Nadeau
and
Derek White

This Sunday, November 30, is the First Sunday of Advent.  We will be led in worship by Elizabeth Huse.