Mount Royal United Church

Virtual Voices 154th Edition

Virtual Voices

The Video E-Newsletter

of Mount Royal United Church

for Friday July 28th 2023

Welcome to our one-hundredth and fifty-fourth edition of the Mount Royal United Church Video E-Newsletter. You will find the video at the bottom of this message.

If you have any news items or information you think we should be including in an upcoming e-newsletter, please send your suggestion to newsletters@mountroyaluc.ca we will do our very best to put it on for you.

A quick reminder that our Sunday Service is live streamed from the sanctuary beginning at 10:30 AM and can also be watched later on the church website. The Prelude will begin at 10:15 AM with music and the announcement slides before the service begins with Rev. Stuart.

The weekly bulletin will be available here.

This video will be produced and sent out weekly on Friday morning with all the important things from our faith community. We plan to keep them short so you have time to drink a cup of tea or coffee while you watch.

We hope you have a very good day today.

Best Regards,

Newsletter Committee

Message from - a member of our Community of Faith, Susan Fowler

This is going to be the last edition of Virtual Voices at least in the way we have produced it for 154 editions. I hope you have enjoyed it as one way to learn the details of activities at the church.

When we first began these weekly video announcements, in person worship was prohibited because of Covid restrictions. I thought we might stay at it for a few months. We took pictures inside and outside the building, sharing the familiar with you because we knew folks were missing gathering with friends at church. We brought in some guest presenters so you would see the faces of other members of the church family. We featured photos and poems you sent in. And maybe you remember when some members of the Newsletter Team organized and presented a virtual variety show so you could enjoy the talents of many in your Mt Royal family. Because of Covid, every act was rehearsed and recorded and edited and the only live part was pretty much the announcing. It was a lot of work but so appreciated by many.

Over the past 3 plus years, we had some faithful followers; people who called or sent emails, made requests or passed along their announcement requests. We weren’t always the smoothest and on occasion there were retakes after bloopers and giggles. When it seemed tiring to do week after week, an email would arrive saying how nice it was to see the people recording or how the viewer waited each week for Virtual Voices to arrive in their email inbox. There was often a thanks for the connection to the church family.

As pandemic restrictions eased, we happily told you details of upcoming events both during worship and at other times through the week. On light weeks we shared details of community events and we always outlined upcoming celebrations. We talked about ways to have live interaction before worship or during meetings. There seemed to be lots more possibilities to join those online with people gathering in person.

I haven’t any idea what the plans are for sharing announcements come September. In the meantime, thanks to Bill Millett especially for producing 154 editions of Virtual Voices and to all those folks who recorded, often week after week. And thanks to all those who checked us out weekly. We appreciated your support and encouragement.

All the best,

Susan for the Newsletter Team