CLICK ON THE LINKS (in blue or purple) for more info on the events.
Our Sunday School is on summer break. Childcare will continue to be staffed and available.
Alta Vista Garage Sale: Rideau Park will be participating in the Alta Vista Garage Sale on June 10, 9am-2pm. If it is a rainy day, sale will simply move inside to Beecroft. Coffee, tea and muffins will be available for sale 9-11 am, followed by a BBQ of hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks starting at 11am. Donations are welcome — paperback books, hand tools, toys, jewelry, knick-knacks, household items, etc. Please, no clothing, linens or draperies and nothing broken! You can drop off items to contribute for the garage sale at the Church Thursday, June 8, 6-8pm, and Friday, June 9, 10am-6pm.
Celebrating with Debi Brown- Sunday, June 11, during and after the service. After almost 15 years of dedicated service to Rideau Park, Debi has made the decision to retire at the end of June. We will celebrate her time with us on Sunday, June 11th. Refreshments will be provided.
Boxes will be placed at the Sanctuary entrances on the following Sundays – May 28th and June 4th – should you wish to contribute to a gift. there will be cards available as well for you to sign with a message for Debi.
Forest Church: On Sunday, June 25 at 4pm, come and worship in Cunningham Forest as we open our hearts to the leading of all God’s creatures. We meet at the church at 4pm – don’t forget to dress for the weather!
SAOC Collection of Personal Care Items: The next drive will be on Monday June 26 between 1pm and 3pm under the flowering crabs at the Cunningham entrance to Beecroft Hall. June’s items will be donated to Blair Court Community House. They are in need of laundry soap (large powder), dish soap, baby wash, liquid hand soap, children’s toothbrushes, Band-Aids, toothpaste (adult and children) and dental floss.
Broadview subscriptions: Receiving Broadview magazine (8 times per annum) is an effective and efficient way for Rideau Parkers to keep abreast of the work of our national Church and to follow the more innovative activities of our sister congregations. Our church maintains a subscription list of those who wish to receive Broadview. Subscription through Rideau Park is $25.00 (a $5 saving over ordering directly from Broadview) payable to Rideau Park United Church by cheque mailed or left in the church outside mailbox along with the subscription form. Payment by e-transfer is also available using accounting@rideaupark.ca. Please note “Broadview” in the message box. Deadline to subscribe is June 1, 2023.
What does Spring have to do with our Fall Bazaar? Spring has sprung, and gardeners are keen to venture outdoors and prepare their beds for planting ! The RPUC Christmas bazaar will be returning to the old format this fall – an in-person event on Nov 4! We invite you to keep the Bazaar in mind when you are planting a vegetable garden…. With a little extra to make jams, jellies, relishes, pickles, salsa, or whatever your favourite offering might be! Thank you! Fore more information contact Peggy Radar or Christel Kurz (2023 bazaar convenors).
UCW Merry Dairy Ice Cream Fundraiser 2023 – Merry Dairy is a local ice cream store located at the corner of Gladstone and Fairmont and all Merry Dairy products are peanut, tree nut and sesame-free. Teaming-up with Merry Dairy we are again making their “tastes like old fashioned ice cream” available for purchase between Sunday, May 7 and Saturday, June 24. For more info click here.
For every pint you buy at $10.00 (the store’s regular price) the UCW receives $2.00. All proceeds received from this initiative will be directed to Indigenous Charities. Our previous ice cream campaigns raised in excess of $1,500.00 which was distributed to the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, the United Church of Canada Healing Fund, and the Tewegan Housing for Aboriginal Youth charities.
Shop directly from this link RPUC Fundraiser! – The Merry Dairy May 4 to Saturday, June 24, 2023, for store, home, or delivery to RPUC.
If you do not like shopping online, starting this weekend there will ice cream order forms available on the desk outside Beecroft hall, or call either Diane Lagace at 613-421-8722 or Lisa Sadler at 613-523-9101 for phone orders prior by Friday June 23.
There are both pick-up and delivery options. 1) Pick up at the store any time you want (closed on Mondays); 2) Free home delivery to your home or others as a special gift ($40.00 minimum order); and 3) Order for pick up on Sunday, June 25 from 11am-12:30pm when the Merry Dairy Truck will be at Rideau Park to help us celebrate Indigenous Prayer Sabbath and deliver your ice cream order and/or allow you to treat yourself and others to an ice cream cone – coffee flavour maybe!
Meditation Group Online: Thursdays at 10am. Twenty minutes of quiet, peace, and mindfulness, shared together through Zoom. Meditation is not difficult. And group meditation is a deepening experience.
The YMCA Summer Work Student Exchange Program is looking for alternate hosts for a program they run from July 1st to August 12th. An alternate host is a family who takes in an exchange youth without sending a student of their own on exchange. This year, we have quite a few interested Ottawa applicants who are unable to host due to family circumstances such as low income, being new to Canada, and family environment. The YMCA keeps the youth busy with full-time employment and activities run by their staff so the student is out of the house for most of the day. If you or anyone you know might be interested in hosting, contact sarah.sollors@ymcagta.org or speak to Georgina.
Confirmation Class: We will be offering a confirmation class in the fall. If you are interested, please send an email to Steve. He will organize things when he returns from sabbatical in September.
Please note that Steve will be on sabbatical starting Monday May 8 and will return to work on September 5, the Tuesday after Labour Day.
Can you help? From time-to-time Rideau Park requires assistance for various activities/events. Volunteers are required for Rideau Park programs, events, and activities. Some of these events are on a schedule and some are for seasonal events.
Did you know that one source of income for Rideau Park is rental of space on a one-time basis? During non-office hours, the Rental Policy requires an Event Host to be on site to provide assistance to the organization using the space. Event Hosts are paid an honourarium in the range of the minimum salary. Event Hosts must also open up in evenings or weekends (turn on lights, unlock inside doors, put out chairs or a table) and lock up the building after ensuring that it is cleaned up and ready for the next event. Event Hosts need to expect a dark locked church and they must stay in the building and reachable for the duration of the event. Training will be provided.
If you are interested in assisting as either a volunteer or an Event Host please contact the Administrator, administraor@rideaupark.ca or 613-733-3156 ext. 228.
Camp Awesome registration is now open. Rideau Park will host the camp August 14-18. Camp Awesome provides a full-day summer program that is active and engaging for children. The day camp program combines vacation bible school teachings, like stories, songs and crafts, with interactive games and theme day fun.
The Enviro Crew of Old Ottawa South is now collecting clean outer milk bags and turning them into useful items. Clean outer milk bags can be left on the porch at 90 Aylmer Avenue.
Boys and Girls Ottawa South End Clubhouse is seeking egg cartons, plastic bags, shelving and snow shovels. Donations can be dropped off in the wooden box inside the doors of Rideau Park.
The Heron Emergency Food Centre (HEFC) continues to experience a sharp rise in requests for emergency food and they are being stretched quite thin. You can donate food at the church or make an online donation to HEFC through CanadaHelps. Save your receipts from Your Independent Grocer (YIG): Please keep your receipts from the YIG at Alta Vista and Bank and drop them off at Rideau Park. They will be given to the Heron Emergency Food Centre, who will take them to YIG and receive a donation for them.
The Rideau Park quilting group has a variety of flannelette baby quilts for sale. The quilts can be viewed and purchased on Thursday mornings between 9:30 and noon or by calling the church office to set up another time. Cost is $45 each.
Alcoholics Anonymous: OASIS in-person meetings Mondays from 8-9pm 12 Steps to Serenity has in-person meetings on Thursdays at 7:30pm.
RPUC is not currently under a mask mandate, but we strongly encourage you to wear a mask inside the building, especially in worship if you are going to be singing. Help us decrease the current wave of COVID, influenza and RSV. We have disposable masks at the entrances to the sanctuary and hope you will use them.The UCW, supply and welfare rep, would like to thank the congregation for all past contributions of eye glasses, stamps, aluminum pop tabs, and your Wilson’s YIG receipts. We continue to collect stamps, eye glasses, aluminum pop can tabs, and YIG receipts. Apparently, Wilson’s YIG contribution to the Heron Food Bank has been substantial. With much appreciation Peggy Rader.
People are discouraged from parking on the north side of Cunningham Ave. Experience shows that the probability of having another car back out into your car is high.