... Take a Holy Breath and Sing
Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, Daring Justice...
November 6, 2024
Dear Friends,
Our new United Church of Canada music resource Then Let us Sing! has arrived. It has been a delight to start exploring the resource, trying to introduce a new hymn a few times a month. I have been impressed with its breadth and depth so far. The primary reason for exploring the resource is to have a dialogue with the theologies that the new hymns present. One such hymn by Becca J.R. Lachman, Could It Be That God is Singing is our theme for this years Anniversary/Stewardship/Advent communications to you. It has a haunting tune that helps to penetrate our hearts and souls. And its closing line is “And if music is God breathing, take a holy breath and sing!” Over the next month or so I will be exploring this theology in our worship and these letters to you.
As I reflect on the past few years, I keep coming back to the significant growth of ministry and engagement with the community that is Grace Dartmouth. This is a very busy community of faith and community hub. I would commend to you the attached infographic so you can explore how we are living out our mission. If you are interested exploring any of our ministries please reach out to me and together we can explore your options.
I invite you to join us at our 11am Worship Service on November 16, 2025 as we celebrate the 172nd Anniversary of Grace United Church.
Our guest preacher is the Rev. Krista Anderson. Krista seeks spiritual growth and a flourishing life of vitality in the light of the Creator. She currently lives in Cambridge NS with her spouse. She's mom to two amazing humans and caregiver to an eight-year-old dog named Annie. She spends a lot of time in nature, traveling, sailing in the summer and dabbling in artistic pursuits.
She achieved a BSc. in Psychology from King College and Dalhousie. She graduated with a Master of Divinity from the Atlantic School of Theology in 2014 and was ordained with the United Church that same year.
Called to ministry, Krista served as a student minister with Wolfville United, Berwick United and Grace United in Dartmouth. She offered supply at Grace United for my sabbatical leave in 2014. She served Ste Croix Pastoral Charge from 2015-2018 as a bi-vocational minister (working 2 part time jobs). Since 2019, she has been serving the church in regional council committees and as a supply minister for the region. This past year she has been supervising Aylesford United Church as they live in covenant with a minister from Zimbabwe who is going through the process of admission to the United Church of Canada.
Energized by new opportunities to innovate and increase health access for patients and providers, Krista has been part of dynamic Nova Scotia Health (NSH) Virtual Care service teams over a 25-year career. Now a NSH Clinical Informatics Lead, she is bringing her experience into helping to launch the One Person One Record, single electronic medical record across NS.
And we can’t forget about our ministry of music. This year on Anniversary Sunday, we will be joined by guest pianist, Cynthia Davies. Cynthia is an incredibly gifted and generous collaborative pianist who has played at Grace many times before. She and Joel have prepared a couple piano duets, and Cynthia will accompany the choir on some special anthems.
Come and take a Holy Breath and Sing - help us celebrate 172 years of ministry in this community and in the world.
Yours in Christ's Service,
Rev. Stephen Fram