Ministry

Land Acknowledgement

Words of Welcome and Explanation

Fear Not The Pain

Gathering Prayer
~A Celtic Prayer – David Adam
(We all read the bold together.)
From chaos and emptiness,
From loneliness and lifelessness,
All: Come, Creator, Come.
From void and shapelessness,
From the abyss and awfulness,
All: Come, Creator, Come.
From fearfulness and hopelessness,
From weakness and dreadfulness,
All: Come, Creator, Come.

Fear Not The Pain

Psalm 22

Fear Not The Pain

Litany of Comfort for Blue Christmas By Debra Faulk

(We all read the bold together.)

All around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There is grief with the loss of relationships,
Those we love, no longer with us because of death
Those we have loved who are estranged from us
Those we love, yet experience a diminishment of intimacy
There is grief with the loss and change of relationship,

Grief, bittersweet for it is a consequence of the presence of love
This season brings forth many feelings

All: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together

All around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be pain in our bodies,
Physical pain as a natural outcome of aging
Physical pain that presents itself in illness
Pain in the body that forces us to change and imposes limitations

Pain, bittersweet for physical experience includes both pain and pleasure and
This season brings forth many feelings

All: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together

All around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be anger and regret with the memories we hold,
Anger with past experiences of hurt or abuse,
Regret of our own actions that may have cause hurt to others,
Anger that life has not turned out as we imagined,
Regret for what we might have said or done,

Anger and regret, bittersweet in presenting the possibility for healing and forgiveness,
This season brings forth many feelings

All: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together

All around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be uncertainty that accompanies transition and change,
Uncertainty of what the future may bring with changes,
Uncertainty of direction or purpose after retirement or change of vocation,
Uncertainty when changing residence, by choice or necessity,

Uncertainty, bittersweet for change, a constant in life, let’s us know we are alive, and change along with
This season brings forth many feelings

All: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together

All around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There may be a sense of hopelessness,
Hopelessness in the face of so much violence and suffering
Hopelessness with attempts to heal our aching world and ourselves
Hopelessness in witnessing what we have not managed to accomplish

Hopelessness, bittersweet for its longing reminds us of our capacity for hope and the human spirit’s tenacity and courage that rest deep within each of us as
This season brings forth many feelings

All: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together

All around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
There is loneliness,
Loneliness when we find ourselves alone after being long-partnered,
Loneliness when we are separated from loved ones,
Loneliness when we move to a new community and struggle to find our way,
Loneliness that never seems filled even with good company,

Loneliness that is an ever-present aching in the heart,

Loneliness, bittersweet for it is felt only when we have known connectedness and
This season brings forth many feelings

All: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together

All around us are bright lights and merry messages
Yet in our heart not all is joyful
We know grief and pain,
We know anger and regret,
We know hopelessness and loneliness,
We know all these feeling, we name them, we live them for such is the human experience
That love presents us with the possibility of being hurt, with the grief of loss,
That connection holds the potential of loneliness and uncertainty,
That forgiveness can begin to heal anger and regret

That being alive is a courageous act in which we engage all of our emotions and
This season brings forth many feelings

All: We find comfort in naming these feelings; we find some peace in being together

Ritual of Lighting Candles

Fear Not The Pain

Sending Words

Adapted from Enid A. Virago

Friends, go in peace.
Hold in your heart the certainty
That the spirit of life is with you always.

When your heart is torn asunder
Or when you soar with sweet joy,
You are never alone, never apart,
From the spirit that resides within us,
That guides our lives and cherishes us always.

Take comfort.
Blessed be.

Fear Not The Pain

Calendar

Join us this winter season as we work through a justice-focused Advent and Christmas calendar, created by Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager (Prairie Band Potawatomi/mshkodéni bodewadminwen, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas/kiikaapoa, African American/Black).

Together, we’ll learn about the Doctrine of Discovery and the harmful influence and impact it has had and continues to have on our theology and laws in Canada and around the world. We’ll look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 45, 46, 47 and how we can respond.

The calendar runs from November 30 to January 5 and features daily actions that we can participate in together. This important work is part of our commitment to putting reconciliation into action.

Advent and Christmas Calendar 2025

As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually.

The Canaanite Woman Said What She Said.

The story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28 offers a rich lens for challenging colonial theology and the doctrine of discovery. What does Jesus’ transformation in this story teach us about listening, humility, and change?

Matthew 15:21-28 (NRSV)
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.

Mark 7:24-30 (NRSV)
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” And when she went home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

Kana’an: Canaan was the southeastern side of the Mediterranean coast, the part that joins Africa to Asia. The Indigenous inhabitants of that region were called Canaanites in Biblical Hebrew, or Syrophoenician in Koine Greek. Canaanites were on their land since before 4500 BCE. There were many different cultures and beliefs of the groups of people living in the land of Canaan. Ammonites, Moabites, Israelites who were never exiled, Phoenicians, Philistines (later called Palestinians), and other nomadic groups were all called Canaanites.

A Conversation with the Text

When the Hebrew scriptures refer to “the stranger” or “the foreigner”, most times it means someone who sojourns through the territory where a community of Israelites are living. These strangers or foreigners agree to live in the community of Israelites, and the sacred texts encourage hospitality and kindness to anyone who chooses to live by the values, mores, and rules of the Israelites. The power dynamic tips on the side of the people who are telling the story… the Israelites.

When the story encounters people who lived on the “land of milk and honey” before the Israelites, the power dynamic becomes flipped. The harmony between the stranger (Israelites) and the original inhabitants is incompatible. This is the political context of Matthew 15 and Mark 7.

The story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28 is one of the most striking moments in the Gospels. It is a story of persistence, resistance, and transformation. It is also a story that challenges colonial theology and the Doctrine of Discovery—a doctrine that has justified centuries of land theft, cultural erasure, and spiritual domination.

Jesus, a Jewish teacher and prophet, enters Gentile territory. The woman he meets is not just a foreigner—she is a descendant of the people displaced by Israelite conquest. Her voice disrupts the narrative.

The woman’s plea is urgent: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” Jesus’ initial silence and the disciples’ dismissal reflect a theology of exclusion. She is not part of the chosen people. She is not supposed to belong.

But she persists. She kneels. She speaks back. And when Jesus calls her a dog, she responds with a truth that cannot be ignored: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” This is not just clever rhetoric. She refuses to accept the boundaries of belonging. She claims her place in the story. The woman is direct with no shame. She firmly believes in a God that took joy and delight in creating all of creation.

This woman leads a theological intervention, when she challenges Jesus’ wrong lens. We see an image of Jesus as fully human, fully experiencing all of what it means to be human and have an embody theology that does not include all that God has created. Until this intervention, Jesus embodied what he had been taught in society, and an Indigenous woman came into his life and retold Genesis 1.

What happens next is extraordinary. “huh… recalibrating…” Jesus says. Jesus listens. He changes. He affirms her faith and heals her daughter.

This moment of transformation is crucial. It shows that even Jesus, shaped by the cultural and theological norms of his time, can be moved by the voice of the marginalized. It shows that divine compassion is not static—it responds to truth, humility, and courage.

The Doctrine of Discovery declared that lands not inhabited by Christians were available to be “discovered,” claimed, and colonized. It denied the humanity and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples. It justified genocide and spiritual domination.

The Canaanite woman’s story stands in stark contrast. She is not discovered—she speaks. She is not conquered—she resists. She is not erased—she is remembered.

Her voice calls us to reject theologies that exclude. Her persistence invites us to listen to those who have been silenced. Her faith reminds us that transformation is possible.

Deeper Reflection Questions

• How do power dynamics shape the way biblical stories are told and interpreted? What happens when we center the voices of those historically labeled as “foreigners” or “outsiders”?
• What does it mean that Jesus entered Gentile territory in this story? How does the woman’s identity as a Canaanite challenge dominant theological narratives?
• What does Jesus’ change of heart teach us about humility and openness to correction? How might this story inform our own spiritual practices of listening to the voices we are taught not to listen to?
• In what ways does this story challenge the assumptions of the Doctrine of Discovery? What does this story invite you to reconsider in your own theology or practice?
• When you have experienced or witnessed a moment where someone’s voice disrupted a harmful narrative, what kind of transformation happened? How did you feel?

Closing Prayer: A Prayer for Listening and Liberation

God of all peoples and all lands,
You walked into Gentile territory.
You listened to the voice of a woman who refused to be silenced.
You changed, and in that change, we saw the fullness of your compassion.

We come to you now,
As people shaped by stories—some that heal, and some that harm.
Help us to hear the voices that disrupt exclusion.
Help us to welcome those who have been cast aside.
Help us to unlearn theologies that justify domination, genocide, and colonization.

May we be like the Canaanite woman—persistent, courageous, and faithful.
May we be like Jesus—willing to listen, willing to change.
May our communities become places of justice,
Where crumbs are no longer enough,
And all are fed with dignity, truth, and love.

We pray in the name of the One who crossed boundaries,
Who healed with compassion,
And who calls us to do the same.
Amen.