Unionville Presbyterian Church

• What we’ve accomplished
• & where we’re going
Unionville Presbyterian
Church
2020: Year in Review

What we’ve
accomplished
… and where we’re going

Unionville
Presbyterian
Church:
a community church
where all
are welcome

We come together
as a faith community

Worshipping together, like this

And sharing God’s light in our lives

Sharing God’s gifts
in our community

Supporting each other in faith, individually

Serving soup & roll,
as an opportunity
for fellowship,
and a fundraiser.

With the men assuming
kitchen duties on Mother’s day

… and through UPC’s
Care Network

Bearing in
mind
Charlie
Brown’s
words

We celebrated
the sacraments,
like
Holy Communion
… this way

…. and like this
… and this way

Baptisms continued,
observing COVID precautions

We celebrated special events in the life of the church,
like Christmas.
Although not like this, as in former years …

… we celebrated Christ’s birth together,
remembering his message of hope, peace, joy & love.

We found ways to create together,
as in Lorne’s Advent wreath-making workshop

In the face of a
world pandemic,
we took to heart
Charlie Brown’s
message to Linus

… and in response
we made
significant donations
to assist
individuals & families
in need
in York Region

And at Easter, instead of our usual
celebrations together at UPC

… we
celebrated
more like the
disciples did
on the first
Easter

Marty reassured & inspired us, and led us into the world of
meeting virtually for worship, groups, meetings, & staying connected.

Julie continued to
manage UPC’s
administrative affairs
on site each day,
and to provide
a valuable link between
English & Mandarin
speakers.

Rachad continued his ministry of music bringing calm in the midst of
storms, finding creative ways to provide meaningful music for
worship services, including video recordings of himself playing as
well as voice recordings including some of our own choir members.

Rev. Grace Chang continued her ongoing leadership
of our Mandarin congregation.
Grace works with Marty to ensure that Mandarin
speaking people are welcomed and have a place at UPC
to grow in their faith.

Thank you to Rev. Heather Jones, who regularly takes part in the leadership
of worship services with Marty and has led the service in Marty’s absence.

We learned
to master
new technology,
and became-
Zoomers!

participating in
services & meetings
virtually,
even while away
on vacation.

Several members became
Zoom masters,
and “drove the bus”
for our Sunday services

Bible study & Harry Potter
groups continued online.

ENJOY Group met weekly by Zoom,
& celebrated Chinese New Year with the Mandarin ENJOY group.

Joint ENJOY celebration for Chinese New Year

We all
experimented
with new
ways of doing
things.
Some of us
even tried
cutting our
own hair.

By the time
of the 2nd wave
in the fall,
many of us
felt like this …

… but Marty, Julie & Rachad
supplied us with support,
inspiration & motivators,
like these daily
quarantine questions

We
encouraged
each other
to …

We recognized
that we’re not all
in the same boat.

So in recognition
of the tremendous sacrifices
by our essential workers
of all kinds,
we expressed
our appreciation.

• donated to staff meals on duty,
• supplied chocolates for the chaplain to distribute to staff
And UPC members:

… and supplied weekly hot, healthy,
home-cooked meals
for 5 ENJOY group members who live alone.

The meals
were
prepared &
delivered
each week by
our own team
of UPC’ers

UPC’s beginner & intermediate
ESL classes
had to be suspended during COVID.

But advanced level classes continued regularly online.
There were 120 separate classes taught in 2020,
equivalent to about 160 hours of teaching.

We focused on the
rainbows in the storm.

The UPC kitchen renovation was started
• a

… and completed,
thanks to the management & skill of UPC’ers,
and funds from HIA.

UPC’s square foot gardens
continued to thrive

Individuals shared their personal
stories of courage & faith.

… and we all wore hats
as support

Regretfully
four of our
beloved UPC
members
died in 2020.
We hold
them dear
in our hearts.

Outdoor Movie Night:
A group of 6 youth volunteered to build an outdoor movie screen,
then hosted a successful outdoor evening movie event.
Increasing COVID numbers made it impossible to continue,
but hopefully we can later in 2021.

Some
members
advocated for
a more
equal & just
society,
supporting
the BLM
movement.

Some are trained facilitators of Kairos blanket exercises,
and some have been meeting online to learn more
about systemic racism and to pursue a UPC anti-racism initiative.

Rev. Grace Chang continued to provide
leadership for the Mandarin speaking congregation,
both in person and virtually.

Numerous combined services were held,
both in person and virtually

Both congregations participated in
Holy Communion services together,

… and three
members of the
Mandarin speaking
congregation
joined UPC’s
Session.
We were thrilled to
have them join as
elders.

… and the two congregations celebrated
Chinese New Year together,

As a community hub, we’ve welcomed
numerous other community groups to UPC,
e.g. CHATS

And by the end
of 2020,
we were
convinced that
…

We ushered in
the new year
with an online
New Years Eve
celebration

… with renewed enthusiasm
for the next year.

The year
2020 has been
a year of
great achievement
in living out our
SILK values of:
service, inclusion,
love, & kindness.

And we have proceeded into 2021
in peace, in faith, and in love..

Unionville Presbyterian Church

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