What is Happening?

Are there other accessibility concerns we have missed? Do you have any ideas or want to help? Please write to eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com.

Full address: The EY Centre, 4899 Uplands Drive Ottawa ON K1V 2N6

Travelling by Public Transportation: The EY Centre is easily accessible by public transit. It is serviced by Line 4 (the new LRT line to the airport) via Uplands Station and by several bus routes. If you are coming from outside of Ottawa/Gatineau, you can park at one of the “Park & Ride” stations on your way into the city.

Travelling by Chartered Bus: Several communities of faith are planning buses to travel together to the EY Centre. This will be a fun, simple and eco-friendly way to travel to the meeting. We have had confirmation that a bus will be running from Chalk River to Arnprior to the EY Centre. Buses are also in the works for other routes.

Travelling by Car: The EY Centre has a large parking lot. It is located near the Ottawa Airport. Parking is $10. We encourage carpooling when possible: it can be a great way to save on parking costs, make new friends (or deepen existing friendships), create links between churches and care for the earth.

We look forward to welcoming people of all ages at this event, including children and youth.

Babies and toddlers: The EY Centre is all on one level – perfect for strollers. The event will be in one big room. We will have a little area in the back of the room with some mats for babies who need space to crawl around. A nursing/quiet room will be available off to the side. (Of course, please breastfeed or bottle feed wherever you would like! The nursing room is only for those parents and babies who would prefer to breast or bottle feed in a quieter space.) We know that little ones make noise, and are delighted for you and your baby/toddler to be part of this event. There are change tables in the washrooms, and even a special family washroom off of the hallway.

Children: During the worship service, we will have some simple activities available for ages 4-12. They will be in the same room as the worship service, so that children can still be part of this special celebration even while doing their own activities. We are currently planning on three stations: One station with “busy bag” activities, one colouring station, and one story station (where children will hear a Bible story through Godly Play.) We will also provide materials, a pattern and space to make friendship bracelets. Youth and adult helpers will be present to welcome the children. All of the adult helpers have undergone a police record check. Please note that the stations mentioned above are children’s activities rather than child care, as it would be impossible to provide quality supervision in this setting. We will have chairs available near the children’s area so that parents/grandparents/guardians will have a place to sit. This will allow you to keep an eye on your children while also having time to enjoy the worship service yourself. The worship service will be 1.5 hours long. Towards the end of it, we will be sharing Communion. Children of all ages are welcome to share in Communion. We are also hoping to have children involved in worship tasks like collecting the offering and serving Communion. If your child would like to help, please write to eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com.

Youth: We are inviting youth and young adults to be part of the planning and leadership for this event. Would you or a young person in your life be able to help with serving Communion, collecting the offering, reading scripture, or organizing the historical exhibit? Please write to eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com.

On June 15th, you are invited to join in song. We will sing our praises to God as we celebrate 100 years of The United Church of Canada.

Would you be interested in joining the mass choir?

Many United Church congregations have a church choir. If your Community of Faith is attending the big celebration at the EY Centre, and if you have a choir, we invite your choir to practice the hymns together ahead of time.

Maybe you are not a member of the United Church of Canada, or your congregation does not have a choir. You are still very welcome to join the choir! In this case, we invite you to practice the hymns on your own using a hymn book or online recordings to help.

Either way, please join us for choir practice at 10:15 am on Sunday, June 15th. We will meet in front of the stage at the EY Centre. We will start promptly at 10:15 am. You are welcome to arrive early if you would like.

All are welcome in the choir! A few people have asked whether children and youth can participate. The answer is a resounding “yes!”

There is no need to register for the choir itself. A registration form for the event as a whole will be available in May, and we ask you to register for the event at that time so that we can plan enough chairs for everyone.

April 24, 2025

Dear EOORC music people (second letter),

There’s news to share and it involves updating details for June 15th. Most substantially, we now have an anthem in the service (SATB) and there’s a complete set of written music and music tracks (SATB) now available at the link below. Thanks for your interest in this worship service, and your anticipated gift of music as part of the event. Your voice and the collaboration of music directors is essential.

All the elements for learning and rehearsing the “Love Each Other” anthem (and contemporary Taize-version) are available. As you can see there are two versions of “Love Each Other” and they will both be part of the service. While there is much in common, these two musical experiences will be quite distinct…and will lead us into a deep reflection on the nature of sustaining and transformational love in our church.

Please rehearse the anthem (with harmony and verses) and be prepared to participate in sections. Please also familiarize yourself with the unison version of the piece as well, it is in a different key and has a different chord progression. Both will shape the liturgy of the 100th service, and underscore the sermon, on June 15th.

There will be a very brief rehearsal on the day of the service so we are assuming that folks will prepare separately and simply be ready for participation. There will be song leaders assisting as ‘section leads’.

Here is the music and rehearsal resources for “Love Each Other” Love Each Other Music Resources – Google Drive

Here is the list of other musical elements that you’ll be invited to sing.

1. These are songs that will occur in the worship service:

• Draw the Circle Wide MV 45
• The Church’s One Foundation VU 332
• Lord, Listen to your Children Praying VU 400
• Love Divine VU 333
• Walk With Me VU 649

2. Singalong Hymns/Songs (this list may change):

• Great is Thy Faithfulness
• All who are Thirsty
• What a Friend
• Over My Head
• Holy Holy Holy

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:

There will be video monitors available for you to see the lyrics, but please bring books/music/paper/digital resources yourselves if you plan to read music during the service. And in that regard, all the VU and MV hymns will be played in the original book keys with as-written harmonies. It would be fantastic if choirs are prepared to lift the EY rafters with the SATB harmonies on those hymns … and with the full power/volume of this many people multiple descants will be welcomed.

Reminder of details:

Logistics:

• Please come as early as convenient on June 15th. Singers are invited to gather in front of the stage at 10:15 for a 20 minute rehearsal. You will be invited to gather in groupings of SATB at that rehearsal time. Again- please feel free to be onsite as early as you’d like…it’ll be a fun chance to hang out with each other!
• Dress is casual and summery
• Please note that the festivities will immediately continue with lunch, and there will be some music happening at that time as well….including a few opportunities for casual group singing. Please bring along a picnic lunch.

I trust this all looks like a reasonable plan at this point? The goal is to inhabit our rooted traditions/sounds in a way that invites daring possibilities and bold directions in our life together, and in our shared theological project. The two versions of the anthem will greatly assist in creating a unified worship experience. Thanks for your leadership and participation.

We will share the full order of service at a later date. Please advise if there are questions or concerns.

In Christ,

Peter (on behalf of the planning committee)

Here are the music and rehearsal resources for “Love Each Other” Love Each Other Music Resources – Google Drive. “Love Each Other” is a new piece of music composed for this event. We invite you to take some time to practice it before the event. For more information, please see the tabs “Joining the Mass Choir” and “Letter from Rev. Peter Woods, Musical Director for the June 15th Celebration.”

The Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council is creating a special quilt to mark the 100th Anniversary of the United Church of Canada. Every community of faith in EOORC was invited to submit a square. The quilt will be on display at the 100th Anniversary event. Thank you to the quilters at St. John’s United Church (Kemptville) for quilting the squares! 

We are grateful for your support in sharing this event. We have three options available for download:

1. Poster for Printing (in PDF)
2. Four-to-a-Page Invitation Cards (PDF)
3. Poster for Sharing Digitally (PNG)

All of the above options are in colour. However, they also print well in black and white.

We invite you to consider bringing…

• a re-usable water bottle
• a picnic lunch (a small canteen will be open if you do not have a picnic lunch)
• any personal items you need for the day