forest hill 
Thank you for your 2019 gifts to our church
We are so grateful for all of the gifts that our members and friends offer to support our ministries here at the church. The hours of volunteer time are quite incredible – everything from repairing the bathroom fan to singing in the choir, to organizing celebrations. We could not be the community we are without all of these hours of time and creativity and wisdom and fun. Thank you!
Thank you too for your financial gifts to our ministries. These are just as important, if sometimes a bit more invisible. We value your excitement about the work that the church is doing, and your trust in the leaders to spend these monies wisely and well. Here’s a summary of the ways that we’ve used your gifts this year.
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Your gifts for Mission & Service support long-term global partnerships in 21 countries, advocacy, and food security, as well as changing the lives of those on the margins in Canada. Our gifts support theological education to those studying to enter paid accountable ministry, as well as life-long learning through our retreat centres and United Church Camps. 20 congregations receive grants that keep their ministry thriving. As well, we walk the path of reconciliation with the National Indigenous Church and inspire innovation through Embracing the Spirit. |
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Learning Ministry: The reason that so many parents bring their children to our church – and attend themselves – is because we offer quality and consistent programming for their kids. Parents know that Sunday morning offers them the opportunity to reflect on life’s meaning, secure in the knowledge that their kids are cared for with love, and taught the basics of the faith too. In addition, we continue to provide opportunities like the Holocaust Education program and the Words to Live By group for adults who want to go deeper in their faith, and Rev Steve writes a weekly reflection in our e-newsletter that’s now delivered to 99 people every week! If you’re not already receiving this, let us know at the Church Office. |
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 Worship Ministry: Because of your gifts we can offer Worship Services that are varied, dynamic and relevant. This is the first contact most people have with our church, and we regularly receive feedback about how they touch people’s lives. Every year there seems to be a new group of folks who start as visitors and end up joining the church on Easter Sunday, and we know that it’s the worship that keeps them coming back. |
 Grateful and Loving It! Campaign: Roof leaks last Winter prompted us to bite the bullet and replace the worn out shingles, and we took the opportunity to add insulation to the Sanctuary roof at the same time. Your generosity to this campaign means that we’re now able to plan for other projects that will help reduce our heating bills and improve our carbon footprint, and leverage grant monies to make our church even better! |
Outreach Ministry: Your gifts reach even beyond the bounds of our own congregation. We support local community groups (Sparrow Lake Camp, Toronto Urban Native Centre, North York Harvest Food Bank, and people looking for emergency relief through our Benevolent Fund), and programs across Canada and throughout the world through the Mission & Service of The United Church of Canada. For example, last summer your gifts sent two children to Sparrow Lake Camp and one of our teenagers to the GO Project Monies you’ve donated for Refugee Support have helped Asmat and Million settle into Canada and become financially independent. We also raised money help Million get some badly needed dental care.
Caring Ministry: One of the most moving programs this Fall was our annual commemoration of those who have died – this year we all held candles, because all of us have been shaped and deepened by people who have passed on ahead of us. But this is also a congregation that loves to gather for fun, for celebrations, for bus trips, for work parties. These events don’t just appear out of thin air! The time and money that make them possible is a result of your contributions.
Your tax receipt is a vote of confidence in each of these ministries. It’s one tangible way you demonstrate how important each of these activities and programs is to you, and we’re grateful for your support and encouragement. Your presence at our programming is another kind vote of confidence – the fact that you come, that you plan and organize and laugh and pray with us shows us that the work of our congregation matters to you. Thank you for all that you do to support our ministries.
Planning for 2020
We are in the process of planning out our program for 2020. For the past several years we’ve relied more on our renters to help cover rising costs. That can’t continue. Our rental mix is shifting. We who love the things this community offers need to bear our share of the costs as well as our share of the benefits. And so in the Grateful and Loving It Campaign last Fall we invited everyone to consider what kind of difference Forest Hill makes in their lives. Many made a pledge to increase their local giving by up to 10%. Thank you! If you haven’t considered this yet, we invite you to join with the rest of us, to ensure that the church has the finances to continue its important work
We also invite you to consider having your gifts automatically debited from your bank account every month, the way that many of us do with other payments that are also important to us. We call this process PAR (short for pre-authorized remittance), and it helps ensure that your gifts make it to church even when you can’t. If you’re interested in coming onto PAR, or you want to change the amount that you give by PAR, please contact the Church Office.
May God bless you and yours as we move into Lent at the beginning of March. May that holy season bring you moments of meaning and hope as together we prepare for the Easter festival.
Annual General Meeting April 7, 2019
Meeting materials
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Annual Report
Audited Financial Statements
There are lots of different wedding services available, and at Forest Hill we're quite flexible about what words you might use. This service is offered as an example of what's possible. We like it because of the informal and modern language. When you meet with our minister, you'll have a chance to talk with him about the sorts of things you're hoping for. Regardless of the words you choose, we want to help you make it a day that you'll never forget.
PRELUDE
ENTRANCE
GREETING
The presider shall say:
May God who gives life to all creation and who hears all prayers be with us.
PURPOSE
The people may be seated.
Friends, we are gathered here in the presence of God to witness the marriage of <groom> and <bride>, and to ask God to bless them.The bond of marriage was given by God who created us to be in covenant. We acknowledge the reality of human failure; yet we affirm the joy and the freedom of lifelong union. In the assurance of God's promise to be with us, let us open our hearts in faithfulness and in hope.
DECLARATION OF INTENT
The presider shall say to the persons who are to marry:
<Bride's full name> and <Groom's full name>, you have made it known that you wish to be joined together in marriage. If either of you, or if anyone here present, can show just cause why you may not lawfully be married, now is the time to declare it.The presider shall say to the woman:
<bride>, will you have this man to be your husband?The woman answers:
I willThe presider shall say to the man:
<groom>, will you have this woman to be your wife?
The man answers:
I will.The parents of the couple are invited to stand and the presider shall say:
Do you, the parents of these two persons, give them your blessing, and promise to uphold and care for them in their marriage?The parents answer:
We do.
The people are invited to stand and the presider shall say:
Do you, the friends and family of these two persons, give them your blessing, and promise to support and honour them in their marriage?The people answer:
We do.
PRAYER
Creator of all, you have made us in your image,
and have made the world as our home.
You give us love and courage, joy and faithfulness, hope and comfort.
We give you thanks for these gifts and we praise you for your goodness.
Be with us, that we may become ever more fully
the people you have created us to be.
This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
READINGS
Click Here to see a number of suggested readings
MUSIC
ADDRESS
PRAYER
Loving and beloved God,
from the beginning you have made us to live in partnership with one another.
We pray for the presence of your Spirit with these two persons.
Fill their hearts with sincerity and truth as they enter this solemn covenant. Amen.
VOWS
The man and the woman shall face each other and join their right hands, and each shall say after the presider:
Option 1 In the presence of God and before these witnesses, I N, take you N. to be my husband/wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; in joy and in sorrow; to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live. This is my solemn vow. Option 2 N, I commit myself to be with you in joy and adversity, in wholeness and in brokenness, in peace and in trouble, living with you in fidelity and love all our days. Option 3 N, I take you to be me husband/wife. All that I have I offer you; what you have to give I gladly receive; wherever you go I will go. You are my love. God keep me true to you always, and you to me.
THE RINGS
Each partner shall give a ring to the other, placing it on the fourth finger of the left hand, and saying:
Option 1 I give you this ring as a sign of our covenant. With all that I am, and all that I have, I honour you. Option 2 I give you this ring that you may wear it as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. Option 3 N, this ring I give to you, with my body I honour you. God make me your true husband/wife in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
KISS
DECLARATION
The presider shall say:
<bride> and <groom> have made a covenant of marriage before God
and in the presence of all of us.
They have confirmed their marriage by the joining of hands,
by the exchange of rings,
and by the giving of a kiss.
Therefore, I declare them to be husband and wife.
BLESSING
May there be truth and understanding between you.
May you enjoy length of days,
fulfilment of hopes,
and peace and contentment of mind.
May God bless you and keep you always.
SIGNING OF DOCUMENTS
SIGNS OF AFFIRMATION
The presider shall say:
Greet <M&M> who are now joined in marriage.
The people may respond with applause.
PRAYER
Spirit of God, in whom we live and move and have our being,
you have given us life,
and the grace of human love that draws us to each other.
Today we pray for <bride> and <groom> in their life together.
We are thankful for the joy they find in each other,
and for the hope they declare by this act of marriage.
May they always be strengthened to keep the vows they have made,
to cherish the life they share,
and to honour each other in love. Amen.
DISMISSAL
The grace of Christ attend you;
the love of God surround you;
the Holy Spirit keep you. Amen.
The following readings are recommended as suitable for weddings.
Please do not choose more than one from each category.
Hebrew Scripture |
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Genesis 1: 26-28 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." |
Song of Solomon 1:15 - 2:4 Behold, you are beautiful, my love; |
| Song of Solomon 2:10 - 13
My beloved speaks and says to me: |
Song of Solomon 8:6,7
Set me as a seal upon your heart, |
| Isaiah 61:10,11 - 62:3-5
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, |
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbour and each woman her sister, saying "Know the LORD," for they shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more |
Epistle |
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| Romans 8:31 - 39
If God is for us, who is against us? For since God did not even spare the Son, but gave him up for us all, will God not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: For thy sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered |
1 Corinthians 13:1 - 13
If I have all the eloquence of humanity or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing |
| Philippians 2:1 - 11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. |
1 John 4:7-12
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and those who love are born of God and know God. Those who do not love do not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us and sent the Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and God's love is perfected in us. |
Gospel |
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| Matthew 22:35 - 40
And one of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question, to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" |
John 1:1 - 16 selected verses
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. |
| John 2:1 - 11
On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them "Fill the jars with water," and they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called to the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first; and then when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. |
John 15: 9-12
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." |
We're delighted that you've chosen to celebrate this special day with us. Here's a description of the way things work around here, so that you'll feel comfortable with the process. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at the Church Office, 416 783-0879.
BOOKING THE DATE AND TIME
Please contact the church administrator at the Church Office 416 783-0879 to book the time and date of your wedding. Our Administrator will be pleased to show you around the church, and to answer any questions you might have about holding your ceremony here. Bookings will be confirmed upon payment of a $100 non-refundable deposit.
COSTS
The normal fee for a wedding at our church is $900, in addition to the non-refundable deposit described above. This is due two weeks before the wedding, and can be paid to the Church Office by cheque or Interact transfer. If you have special requests for your ceremony which might change the number of church staff involved, or the amount of time they might require, please speak with the Minister about this.
MEETING WITH THE MINISTER
The minister will most likely meet with you twice -- once to outline options for your ceremony, and a second time to confirm the arrangements, and to get to know you a little. The first meeting will happen a month or two before your ceremony.
We don't require couples to take a pre-marriage course, but we do recommend it highly. Information on courses offered in the neighbourhood is available from the Church Office.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOGRAPHY
Photographers and videographers are welcome to film the ceremony. We do request that they use only available light. Flash may be used for the processional and recessional only. Otherwise, the minister is willing to remain behind afterwards to re-stage the ceremony for pictures.
DECORATIONS
The Sexton will open the church 1 hour prior to your wedding. You are welcome to have your florist deliver flowers then, or to do some decorating. Please respect the wood finish in our sanctuary and avoid using nails or tape to fasten your decorations. Please also make arrangements for someone to remove your decorations immediately following the service.
CONFETTI
Please save your confetti for someplace off-site where our cleaning staff don't have to pick it up!
PARKING
The church parking lot is available on weekends, but during the week the lot is rented to monthly parkers. There is some limited on-street parking, and a municipal parking lot a block west on Eglinton.
THE REHEARSAL
Normally we schedule a rehearsal a day or two before the wedding. It's important that the bride and groom, and as many of the attendants as possible attend. The time for the rehearsal will be set at your first meeting with the minister.
ALTERNATE PERSONNEL
Sometimes we get requests for a different minister or a different musician to be involved in the service. It's usually just fine to bring your own musicians, but our Music Director has the final say on this. Other ministers are welcome to assist at a wedding service, but the minister of our congregation must always be presiding.
OFF-SITE WEDDINGS
Sometimes couples request a wedding in a garden or park. The minister is willing to consider each request. Normally the minister's honorarium for an off-site service is $400, or more if there is extensive travelling involved.
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