Our New Sound system will provide assistance to the Hearing Impaired.

If this would be a benefit to you please see Pat Scott, Tim Pauli or Pete Dougall or simply stop by the sound system center in the Sanctuary! OUR 11WEEKLY MISSION - This past
week was HUNGER AWARENESS week. Lets help clear our FOOD BANK TABLE11 in support of this cause! Consider purchasing an item today. Prices start at 25 cents.

KNOX MUSIC.Praise Explosion rehearsals Mondays at 6 pm and Choir meets on Thursdays at 7:30 pm. In the Narthex you will find a book trolley with books from the Church library. When borrowing a book leave your name and book title on the clipboard. When finished with the book simply return it to the cart and check the returned column. Take a few moments before and after the service to look for some good reading material.
Coffee and Treats!! Thank you to all who have donated goodies or coffee for the Sunday coffee hour it is greatly appreciated! A big thank you to Dale Bast, Elmer and Barb Dredge for hosting coffee hour in April. Marlene Hanson and Anne Marie Pauli are in charge for the month of May. We still need people to sign up for the months of September, October, November and December. See Anne Marie if interested or sign the sheet in the Narthex.

Nursery Volunteers Today: Jenn Raleigh and Diane Parker Nursery Volunteers Next Week: Annie Pottle and Carol Rothwell Church Opening Today: Tim Pauli Ushers this week: Dale & Lynn Bast, Karen Savelle and Bill Forbes Greeters this week: Tom & Heather Hislop and Family

Greeters next week: Elmer & Barb Dredge Coffee and Treats for this week: Marlene Hanson & Anne
Marie Pauli

KNOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH May 13 2012

th

142 Ontario Street. Stratford

11:00 am

Interim Moderator- Rev. Gwen Ament Director of Music: Suzanne Strahan

Preparation for Worship - Prayer, Meditation and Quiet Visiting Prelude: Fanfare - Jean Joseph Mouret, arr. E. Broughton Welcome and Announcements Call to Worship :(minister) God invites us again and again into relationship, Knowing that with words of encouragement and love Lives and communities can be transformed. Let us come in love. Prayer of Approach (together) God of Creation, You are with us always - draw us ever closer to you in this time and in all we do. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, encircle us with your love. Through the grace and compassion of Your Son and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, bind us into a loving community of faith, open to Your will and your way. Amen. Opening Hymn: #706 Come. Let us sing Prayer Of Confession: (together) O God, we struggle to forgive others and even ourselves. May we grow in grace and humility through the gift of Your steadfast love, trusting that you continue to work in us and through us. Amen ASSURANCE OF PARDON (together) All thanks and honour to Christ who, when we are lost, seeks us out: who when we are in despair, gives us hope. Amen

Passing of the Peace: Leader: The Peace of Christ be with you Congregation: And also with you. (Greet verbally and return to your seat) Anthem: You Are My God - Bob Chilcott Childrens Hymn: # 412 Come let us sing to the Lord our song All the children are welcome to gather at the front of the church during the singing of the last verse. Scripture Readings: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 John 15:9-17 Sermon: Caring for One Another- Rev Gwen Ament Hymn: # 641 One More Step Along the Road I Go Offering Offertory: Meditation on "Beach Spring" - Hugh S. Livingston Jr. Offertory Praise # 830 Praise God from whom all blessing flow Prayer of Dedication (together) God, You call us to love, and one of the ways we do that is by sharing what we have been blessed with. May You continue to work in us and through us, that needs may be met. Amen Prayers of the People and The Lords Prayer Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory, are Yours now and forever. Amen Closing Hymn #645 Follow me, the Master said Benediction

Postlude: C. Franck, arr. D. Wells

** Please plan on attending the special th CONGREGATIONAL meeting on May 27 following the service. This meeting is a request of Board and Session regarding the future of the Organ. Contact Elmer Dredge for more information. Communion Sunday will be held on June 10th. This will also be New Member Sunday! If anyone wishes to join the Church or transfer their membership here please contact Margaret Lupton at 519 475 4443. REMEMBRANCE On this day, 99 years ago, a fire, considered the worst in the history of our city, destroyed our first Knox building. Let us remember: Police Chief, Hugh Durkin, Fire Chief, John A. McCarthy and Police Constable, Matthew Hamilton who lost their lives fighting this fire.

WHAT'S UP KNOX The May/June NEWSLETTER is ready to be picked up in the Narthex! Make sure you get your copy! A heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to our great ride The Heavenly Riders, those who sponsored and to those who came out to cheer us on. We raised $ 4,639.00 for Heart and Stroke. As well we showed Stratford that Knox is alive and full of great spirit! Working as a team at Knox is making a difference in our community.
Ministry With Respect is the topic of the upcoming Manna Day at Crieff Hills Thursday May 17th 2012 (10:30 am 3:00 pm). The guest speaker will be Rev. Dr. Clyde Ervine. The cost for the day which

includes lunch is $20.00. More details can be found on the Crieff Hills web site www.crieffhills.com or through calling Crieff Hills 1-800-8841525 or 519-824-7898. If you are interested in attending this day at Crieff Hills, please register SOON.

Session Report May 2, 2012 Session meetings are not following our regular schedule as we try to work with our Interim Moderators schedule. We welcome Rev. Gwen Ament to this position and we are certainly enjoying working with her. She mentioned at our last meeting how impressed she was with the enthusiasm and commitment of your Session members and how well she felt Knox was doing now. Please check this newsletter for events planned over the next couple of months. We need your participation at each for them to be successful. We are very concerned that Session membership has gone down over the past few months and will be looking for new members later this year. You might begin prayerfully considering who you might nominate. I hope you are finding the new sound system helpful. Very soon it will be enclosed in a protective cabinet. A couple of pews will have to be removed to accommodate this change. A Committee of Session will be reviewing the mandate of our Personnel Committee to assure that it meets the needs of all employees. We regretfully received the resignations of Gareth and Gillian Jones as our coordinators of Meals and Wheels and our Mission to our students. They are planning to move closer to their family. We understand this but are all saddened at this significant loss to Knox. We are grateful for their faithful service in so many areas of our life here at Knox and wish them well in the future. Recently I happened to meet a member of the Advisory Committee for the National Presbyterian Museum. He mentioned they have a collection of church plates but Knox is not included. We have located a newer plate which will be sent to them. Does anyone have one of the older plates they would be willing to donate? Submitted by Margaret Lupton. Board ReportBoard met this past Monday in the parlour. A couple of our most important discussions were centered on a letter from Dodingtons regarding the state of the Organ. The Board has requested a congregational meeting on Sunday May 27th following the Service. A task force will be led by Elmer Dredge in regards to this. Another highlight was a follow up from the annual meeting in regard to

insurance and ways to reduce our premium. The upcoming newsletter will highlight the need for a task force to deal with that. Summer office hours will go into effect in May. The office will now be closed on Mondays. Submitted by Sue Orr