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A
LOOK-BACK TO AIDEN CONKLIN and HIS FAMILY
Does the name Aidan Conklin ring a bell?
For many Westminster parishioners, the answer is likely
yes. The more difficult question for those who grew up in
the western end of Winnipeg is, ‘What kind of bell?’
Aidan was a longtime Westminster congregation member whose
involvement with the church included serving as its first
chair of the board in the seventies and numerous other committee
positions. He was also, however, an educational fixture
in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division, where he served
35 years as a trustee. The division’s board office,
better known as the Aidan Conklin Building, was renamed
in his honour upon his retirement in 1980.
Aidan was a man who liked to get involved in the organizations
he belonged to, his daughter Elizabeth Wijtkamp says, and
the congregation at Westminster was just one of those organizations
that benefited from his strong sense of community spirit.
Born in 1905 in Winnipeg’s North End, Aidan was initially
a member of St. Giles United Church. He was persuaded by
many of his friends to join Westminster though, and he quickly
became a part of the church’s vibrant social fabric.
In his twenties at the time, Aidan took part in many different
activities and was a frequent drama production participant.
Aidan married his wife Gladys and the two raised a family
that became heavily involved in Westminster. Aidan had quit
the church’s choir to spend more time with his family,
Gladys – now in her nineties – recalls, but that
didn’t mean he wasn’t still busy at Westminster.
Elizabeth remembers spending Sunday afternoons with her
two brothers counting the collection offering as part of
her father’s role as envelope secretary. Sunday lunches
would end up being a cranky affair if things didn’t
balance, she says, but such was her father’s devotion
to making sure everything was squared away.
Over the years the Conklin family continued its involvement
at Westminster. Gladys joined the women’s auxiliary,
and Elizabeth began teaching Sunday school under the guidance
of Mrs. Beatrice Leathers. Elizabeth was later married at
Westminster to her husband, Peter Wijtkamp, in the sixties,
and her three children were also
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christened
at the church. The Wijtkamps have also served on several
committees and remain highly active at Westminster into
the present. Elizabeth coordinates the food and beverages
for funeral receptions in the church, and both she and Peter
are active in the Garage Sale preparations. Considering
Gladys’ parents were briefly affiliated with Westminster,
four generations of the family have called Westminster their
own.
The church was only one aspect of Aidan’s public life.
While working at the corner of Portage and Main for Canadian
Pacific Steamship Lines, Aidan was talked into running for
the St. James-Assiniboia school board in the forties. First
elected in 1945 – before Elizabeth even started school
– he went on to serve for 35 years before retiring
in 1980. Many of Aidan’s memories are contained in
“Tales of a Trustee”, a book written about him
and the Division after his retirement. History records his
tenure as a progressive one, thanks to things like his introduction
of a motion that allowed married women to continue teaching
and his push to open board meetings to the public. He accomplished
both items shortly after becoming a trustee and he went
on to oversee other initiatives like the introduction of
instructional television in 1967.
The
Conklin living room has several mementos that are a testament
to Aidan’s tremendous involvement in public life. One
of those mementos is a collection plate given to him by
the Westminster congregation in 1990 in honour of years
of service and stewardship. Over 15 years later, the Conklin
tradition at Westminster carries on.
(Written by Andrew Buck)
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Year
2005 for The Thompsons (Bob & Lorraine)
Their Christmas letter report of their 2005 suggests a couple
with real non-standard lives!
Lorraine spent last March and April in Romania as a volunteer
in a nursery looking after orphan babies. Back home she set
about raising money to pay for Romanian workers to take over
her volunteer work! In August both Bob and Lorraine were off
to Japan to the city of Nayoro on the island of Hokkaido.
To do what? To teach classes of English
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working
as subs for a missionary friend of theirs who had to be back
in Canada for a time. They spent 80 days there, in part, working
in the friend's rice fields harvesting (Bob spent his 65th
birthday in the rice fields). Of course Bob had his bagpipes
with him (he plays in a pipe band.) and everyone there said
how good he was (No one there had ever heard bagpipes before!)
Thank-You
From Villa Rosa, our neighbors at 784 Wolseley
who received knitted items
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from
our Mitten tree at Christmas
Pictorial Church Directory:
All interested persons
who would like to form a committee to look into the possibility
of a 2007 Pictorial Church Directory please contact Boyd Rausch
and Ron Miller (784-1330). The last directory was in 2000
and there have been many changes and growth within our congregation
over the last 7 years.
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WESTMINSTER
CONCERT ORGAN SERIES
Tuesday, February 21st at 8:00 pm, a recital by MALCOLM
ARCHER, organist and Master of The choristers at St. Paul's
Cathedral, London. Mr. Archer brings with him a wealth of
experience as a concert performer in Europe, the U.S., Canada
and Great Britain. His program will include works by Boellmann,
Bach, Franck, Schumann and Saint- Saens. Tickets are $22
($17 in advance). Ticket information - 786-4882.
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“Food,
Food, Glorious Food!”
TODAY, February 19th
, is Fellowship Sunday at Westminster,
which means a great lunch for an after-church-get-together.
The run of these excellent occasions for fellowship in the
congregation has been made possible through the efforts
of Boyd Rauch and Ron Miller, co-chairs of the Fellowship
Committee who provide us with interesting food, sprightly
decorations and a relaxed atmosphere to help us get to know
each other better. Our hats off to these gentlemen and long
may they cater!
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Lenten Devotional
Sunday, March 5th, marks the beginning of the season
of Lent. You might want to get a copy of the book "Living
Waters: daily reflections for Lent", the United
Church's Lenten devotional for 2006 which uses the metaphor
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of water to explore "the river of Christ" flowing
through us and for us. The book, created by Ian Macdonald
and Bob Haverluck was 'presented' at McNally Robinson Book
Store last Monday and is on sale there now. It includes
a CD of water-related songs by Common Cup Company.
Mark It On Your Calendars
The XIII Westminster Classic
Bridge and Dessert Gathering
will take place Monday,
April 24 at 12:30 pm in the Lecture Hall. Maureen Macdonald
is in charge once again. Please call the church office (784-1330)
for more information
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Website
Of The Month
In our recent Sunday bulletins there have been invitations
to be involved in "Song Circling All The Earth".
If you're interested in more complete information about
the event go to the Transcona Memorial United Church website-
http://tmuc.ca/content/view/49/35/-
for the complete picture.
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Curling
News Of Great Import
Westminster's indomitable team WON (one game out of three).
Our team, John Moore, Skip, Jim and Teresa Young and Joan
Jarvis were part of the annual Chaplains' Bon Spiel, held
at Heather Curling Club, January 16th. As Teresa puts it,
"We won the wrong game which put us up against the
real stars of the league." Never mind. They had a great
time.
Ice Hockey in
Nairobi
Almost a fantasy, but a report in The Winnipeg Free Press
last week confirms it’s true. And Westminster Church
is involved. The builders of a new hotel and shopping mall
in Kenya’s
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capital
installed an ice skating rink on the third floor of the
building. The rink was originally intended for leisure skating
but its management was persuaded by someone to include hockey
as a possibility. Enter Keith Fowke, of this congregation,
who plays recreational hockey with his co-workers. By convoluted
happenstance he got a call from a friend in Kenya proposing
a game between the “Winnipeg Jets” and a make-up
team in Nairobi.
Keith came to our Garage Sale people and got skates (then
to a thrift store for more.) He traveled to Nairobi with
the most basic equipment; the game was held - Winnipeg won!
- and the people in Nairobi are now looking to make ice
hockey happen regularly in that African land.
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Meet
The Sandersons
Sel and Virginia are a handsome couple who sit in the middle
of the sanctuary, just under the balcony on Sunday mornings.
They’ve been attending Westminster for roughly 10 years
and joined the congregation formally some three years ago.
Virginia was born and raised in Oxford House, in the north
eastern part of the province. (Oxford House was, in the
1700’s, a Hudson Bay post midway between York Factory
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and
Norway house) She completed high school at Cranberry Portage.
Her first vocational choice was teaching school but after
she and Sel were married and moved to Winnipeg, she found
employment with the Federal Government working in the Department
of Health and Welfare with First Nation and Inuit peoples.
She has been with the Department for 27 years and spends
part of every year traveling throughout the Province.
Sel was born and grew up in Fairford, Manitoba, a 2 1/2
hour drive north of Winnipeg. (One of the attractions of
Fairford is a 150 year- old church built by missionaries
from Fairford, England.) Sel finished Grade 12 in Selkirk.
He has worked for
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the
last 19 years as a surveyor. He has served as Vice president
and President of the Manitoba Survey Association and is
currently Vice President of the Canadian Council of Land
surveyors, a post which takes him across Canada meeting
with provincial associations.
The Sandersons belong to a diminishing part of the congregation
living within walking distance of the Church. They tell
us that they come here because they like the sermons, the
music and the friendliness of Westminster. And Virginia
is also a member of our Outreach Committee.
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INTERNATIONAL
H.O.P.E. (CANADA) INC.
This year 2005 has been a very exciting and productive year
for International H.O.P.E. The organization continues to
grow at a phenomenal rate with approximately 54 volunteers
that have put 2,983 hours into our organization in a variety
of ways. We continue to receive support from many sources
throughout Manitoba: hospitals, clinics, home care facilities,
citizens at large, Hutterite colonies, and businesses from
warehousing, transportation companies, printing, packaging,
airlines and the many donors who contributed monetarily
throughout the year.
We have sent four forty foot containers this year. Two went
to the island of St. Vincent’s in the Caribbean with
the able assistance and fund raising of Bryon Jones. Two
containers went to Zaporizhzhyia, Ukraine thanks to the
funding and active involvement of Louie Sawatzky and the
INTERNATIONAL H.O.P.E. (CANADA) INC.
This year 2005 has been a very exciting and productive year
for International H.O.P.E. The organization continues to
grow at a phenomenal rate with approximately 54 volunteers
that have put 2,983 hours into our organization in a variety
of ways. We continue to receive support from many sources
throughout Manitoba: hospitals, clinics, home care facilities,
citizens at large, Hutterite colonies, and businesses from
warehousing, transportation companies, printing, packaging,
airlines and the many donors who contributed monetarily
throughout the year.
We have sent four forty foot containers this year. Two went
to the island of St. Vincent’s in the Caribbean with
the able assistance and fund raising of Bryon Jones. Two
containers went to Zaporizhzhyia, Ukraine thanks to the
funding and active involvement of Louie Sawatzky and the
5) Several people locally transported supplies to Uganda
with the Children’s Hunger Fund from California. President
and founder, Dave Phillips also toured our warehouse this
spring.
6) Dr. Cheryl Simmonds a member of our organization traveled
to Mbale, Uganda last winter. She took supplies with her
and toured several hospitals and clinics in the area she
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had previously worked in, in the 1970’s. She raised
$4,500 at a fund raiser held at the Unitarian Church on
Nov. 19th to send more medical supplies to that country.
7) Dr. Juan Aveiro took supplies to the Fundacef Foundation
in Paraguay. They were well received by Dr. Federico Guggiari
for spina bifida and meningocele patients.
8) Irene Osinchuk, a member of International H.O.P.E. sent
numerous boxes of supplies and pieces of equipment to Help
Us Help The Children out of Toronto. These shipments went
to Ukraine for orphan children that were affected by the
nuclear disaster in Chernobyl.
9) Dr. Ahmed Farooq and several doctors locally took supplies
with them to the devastated areas in the earthquake tragedy
in Pakistan.
These are just a few of the doctors and shipments that have
left our warehouse this year.
Some of the highlights of the year:
Recently the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) has
completed policies and guidelines to release appropriate
medical and surgical supplies to our organization.
The local film industry has started using our inventory
for film sets as needed. We have some archival pieces that
are hard to come by and are used in period films. This will
also be a source of revenue that we had not anticipated.
Thiswill assist us in subsidizing shipments in the future.
I believe we have been very successful as an organization
because of the loyalty and commitment of our volunteer base.
Whether it has been traveling to recipient countries and
seeing first hand the results of sending supplies or reading
letters and seeing the photographs of grateful beneficiaries,
the result has been the same. Recycling and making a difference
in other people’s lives is most rewarding.
We appreciate the ongoing support from the Outreach Committee
and the church. This year $600 went to assist the St. Vincent’s
community with their container shipment in October. The
Caribbean communities had raised $6,000 across Canada to
send the container and the remainder $1,000 was picked up
by Westminster United Church and International H.O.P.E.
(by Phyllis Reader)
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OVERHEARD
IN THE BEDROOM
A few authentic examples of small children at prayer:
Dear God, Please put another holiday between
Christmas and Easter. There is nothing good in there now.
Amanda
God, I read the bible. What does beget mean? Nobody will tell
me. Love Alison
Dear God, I bet it's very hard for you to love all of everybody
in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family
and I can never do it. Nancy
Dear God, Is it true my father won't get in Heaven if he uses
his golf words in the house? Anita
Dear God, How did you know you were God? Who told you? Charlene
Spaghetti
on Broadway
- Our Outreach Committee along with other
churches in our Presbytery cluster group have agreed to offer
tangible support to West Broadway Community Ministry, during
the month of March. We encourage the congregation to embrace
this project by bringing your donation of pasta and/or spaghetti
sauce to the church. There will be collection boxes in the
narthex, lecture hall and church office for your much appreciated
offering. The sauce will be used in various ways – to
be given out to individuals / families in need of groceries,
to be used in preparing food for the lunch program / drop-in
centre, or to be stored in the cupboard for emergency needs.
“Whatever you have done unto the least of these you have
done unto me.”
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DATES
TO REMEMBER
February
Tuesday, 21 8:00 pm Organ Concert
Thursday, 23 7:00 pm Board Meeting
March
Sunday, 26 - 11:30 am Annual General Meeting
April
Sunday, 2 - 10:30 am Sacrament of Communion
and Covenanting of Church Board Members
Palm Sunday, 9
Thursday, 13 - 7:30 pm Maundy Thursday Service
Friday, 14 - 10:30 am Good Friday Service
Easter Sunday, 16
Sunday, 23 - 8:00 pm Organ Concert
Monday, 24 - 12:30 pm Dessert Bridge
Saturday, 29 - 9:00 am Garage Sale
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What
is Presbytery?
What are its Responsibilities?
The United Church of Canada is a connectional church. That
means, on the one hand, our congregations aren't simply
independent units entirely on their own, making voluntary
associations with other churches, seminaries, and mission
organizations. On the other hand local congregations are
not simply part of a large organization which exercises
authority over them.
The United Church's has four units of government. Firstly
the local congregation is concerned with worship, education
pastoral and outreach life. Secondly 91 presbyteries across
Canada concern themselves with the oversight of congregations
and ministers. Thirdly, the 13 conferences are primarily
concerned with the ordination and commissioning of ministers
and ensuring that pastoral charges have a minister. Finally
we have the General Council, the church's legislative body
which is primarily concerned with developing doctrine, providing
resources for the church and speaking on the
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church's
behalf to the wider society.
Winnipeg Presbytery: is composed of 36 pastoral charges
and 6 outreach ministries: West Broadway Community Ministry,
Augustine Oak Table Ministry, the Joint Inner city Volunteer
Coordinator Program, the St. Matthew's-Maryland Community
Ministry, the North End Community Ministry, and the Rainbow
Ministry.
Presbytery Membership: is composed of ministers, including
the Chaplain at the Remand Center, Professors in the Faculty
of Theology at University of Winnipeg, Chaplains at Wing
17, retired ministers and ministers such as Doug Martindale
(MLA), Bill Blaikie (MP) and Karen Toole (Free Press columnist).
Also in membership are lay persons appointed by congregations,
staff associates etc.
Presbytery's Responsibilities: to receive and read Annual
Reports and Congregational minutes; to organize inter-congregational
visits to ‘take the pulse' of congregations; ensure
that ministers are properly paid; to be involved with congregations
where
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there
is reason to fear that all is not well with a pastoral charge.
The Presbytery may form new congregations, receive existing
congregations into the United Church, and amalgamate or
disband congregations. It also has responsibility for the
disposal of disbanded congregations' property and assets.
Presbytery receives and considers applications for incorporation
from pastoral charges of other bodies whose objectives are
in accord with the United Church of Canada (for example
the Fred Douglas Society which has built and manages seniors
housing).
Presbytery also has responsibilities for the moving, placement
and conduct of ministers within the Presbyteries congregations.
It arranges search committees, approves new calls and appointments,
organizes covenanting services, arranges for interim ministers,
and cares for retired ministers. It is also involved, in
a supervisory role, for the recruitment and preparation
of new ministers.
(To be concluded in the March Newsletter)
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IN
MEMORIAM
ERNEST
PAUL ZIPP
– Ernie died January 8th. He was born
December 12, 1928 in Winnipeg. Left to cherish his memory
is his wife, Averill, his daughters, Lesley Zipp of Saskatoon
and Deana Reimer (Allen); his son Danny Gauld of Calgary.
He is also survived by his sister Aileen Fred (Charlie)
of Westminster Church. Ernie was raised and educated in
Winnipeg, attending Elmwood and Gordon Bell Schools. He
graduated in 1945 and spent his working life, first at Dominion
Fruit in branches at Winnipeg, Edmonton and Swift Current
until 1956. He then returned to Winnipeg and joined Investors
Syndicate, later The Investors Group, where he occupied
a variety of positions until retirement in 1989. Ernie was
a kind and thoughtful man who enjoyed and appreciated the
natural things in life. He had a life long love of golf,
being a member of St. Charles Golf Club for over 40 years.
Other interests were gardening and woodworking.
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Call
For Photos
The United Church is seeking photos, slides or digital
images on CD with high quality color printouts for 2008
United Church Bulletin covers.
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Payment of $100 will be made for each photograph used.
Deadline for submissions will be June 30, 2006. Subjects:
Canadian Scenery only; Life and Work of
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The
Church; Seasonal Celebrations (Easter, Christmas etc).
For further information and entry forms please contact
our church secretary (784-1330).
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From
the Stewardship Committee
The Stewardship campaign for 2006 has been completed and
we are pleased to report that a total of $313,173 has
been raised through pledges, including donations from
those who do not wish to pledge. This amount is the largest
ever raised and we wish to thank all who have made this
possible. We have 43 members currently utilizing the PAR
system and this generates approximately $5,100 to the
church on a monthly basis.
Some statistical information from this campaign is as
follows:
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Total
number of pledge cards returned
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282
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Total
number of pledges
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236
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Total
number of non-pledges
Note: Some non-pledgers donate.
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46
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A break down of the 236 pledges by pledge category is
as follows:
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Pledge
Category
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Total
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No.
of Pledges
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over
$2,000
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$
147,830
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37
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$1,000
- $2,000
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58,509
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43
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$500
- $1,000
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61,270
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91
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under
$500
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17,624
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65
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Totals
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$
285,233
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236
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The
difference between the total of $313,173 and the above
comes primarily from those who do not wish to pledge but
do support the church financially.
Of concern to the Stewardship Committee are those who
do not meet their pledge. Over the past five years the
total amount short, averaged $16,000 annually. This past
year we were able to reduce this amount to $8,900 through
the utilization of statements as well as personal contacts.
When you receive your statement at the end of each quarter
and it indicates you are behind on your pledge, please
try to bring it up to date. Also, if you do not currently
make a pledge, please consider doing so as this will help
tremendously in our budgeting process.
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