We have had a very rewarding year at St. Stephen’s-on-the-Hill, with our 70 active members involved in various fundraising, outreach projects, and supporting members in our congregation with ongoing personal concerns. Many of our ladies join in to make our Harvest House Tour and the Garage Sale a lot of fun, as well as a success.
Under the leadership of Sharon Bagley, our Flower Committee continues to provide all of us with beautiful arrangements inside the church, beside the cross, and outside in the memorial gardens. Flowers are delivered after church to those in need of comfort and cheer.
The Reception Committee is organized by Flo Williams and teams of 2 women graciously host refreshments following funeral services held at the church. This year, fortunately, there have been only 4 receptions.
Our craft group, The Sew 'n Sews, are very talented artists, under the leadership of Anne Carleton and Jayne Cook, who meet in the afternoon to chat and knit, sew, glue or crochet. This year they sold their beautiful crafts at Santa’s Brunch and at our UCW meeting in December. The women in this group donate to both church and outside projects.
A few women from this group have sewn 50 new bridge tablecloths for the annual Luncheon Bridge on April 25th. This event, organized by The Fidelios, under the capable leadership of Sheila Smith, is a very popular afternoon of fun, socializing, cards, and delicious desserts which are prepared by the members of The Fidelios. Tickets to this event are sold out months in advance. The proceeds from the Luncheon Bridge will enable this group to support the UCW as well as their chosen outreach projects. Marlene Sharp leads The Fidelios in their monthly meetings, when they have speakers like Lynn from "The Open Door", to explain how their donations benefit many families in Mississauga.
Led by Wendy Roney and Jean Brooks, our Genesis women have been busy again this year sewing pillows for breast cancer patients, which are donated to the Cancer society. This group of women also has been knitting pink scarves to honour all breast cancer patients, and have shown support by providing meals and driving to appointments one of their members. On December 7, the Genesis ladies hosted a luncheon at the church to honour all those senior members in the congregation who give so much to us every day. Everyone enjoyed carol singing with our amazing organist Sunju, as well as socializing while being served a delicious meal.
Within the Genesis group is our Kitchen Committee, headed by Jan Barclay. These women maintain our weekly kitchen supplies and linen, and do a thorough cleaning of the entire kitchen annually. We are very pleased to now serve Fair Trade Coffee every Sunday, funded by the UCW and the Outreach committee.
The Friendship Group is a wonderful group of about 10 senior ladies who are lead by Marj Swanson. These women simply enjoy getting to know each other better, while offering support and friendship to each other. They look forward to meeting monthly to chat and share light refreshments.
Our group that meets in the evening, The NiteLites, has fundraised to help 5 youth members who traveled to Mexico in April to volunteer in the community. They held a Mexicali Valley dinner complete with decorations, authentic Mexican chili and tortillas, dancing, and a piñata. Another fundraising event was a lovely guitar concert at the church. Led by Karen Penseney, this group has provided support and "meals on wheels" to families with health concerns. A new addition this year was the start of an aerobics class on Thursday nights at Christ Church. From November 4-18, five of our UCW members went on a Medical Mission trip to Honduras. Due to all the donations received from the church, and the UCW, these women took many supplies with them, including reading glasses, school supplies, vitamins (with instructions written by the Genesis group) and samples of soap and shampoo. In two weeks, they treated almost 2000 patients with their team of doctors, nurses, ministers, a physiotherapist and a dentist. We also prayerfully and financially supported another member of our congregation as she traveled to Africa in August to volunteer for a mission there. We are so proud of these women, and are thankful they were able to do God’s work, and return home safely.
The Annual UCW Joint Advent Evening was held this year on Tuesday, December 5th at St. Stephen’s-on-the-Hill. We were joined by ladies from Christ Church, First United, and Sheridan United for an evening of praise, music and fellowship. Following a short worship service was a beautiful performance of Christian Music by Eduard Klassen on his Paraguayan Harp. We all enjoyed Eduard’s sense of humour as well as his testimony and praise for God. Refreshments and home-made goodies were served after the concert. Our offering was given to support the Mississauga Life Centre, a crisis centre for young women.
Our UCW groups have supported the following outreach projects: Canadian Cancer Society, Community Church Volunteers, Interim Place, Ian Anderson House, Drs. Without Borders, Sleeping Children Around the World, Massey Centre, Honduras, South Africa, Mexico, Nursing School Education, World Vision, and the Open Door.
My thanks go to all the women at St. Stephen’s who continually contribute to the caring and friendly nature of our church. Thank-you to all the group leaders who offer support and guidance to their members, and to Karen McCreight (Treasurer), Joy Sieg (Secretary), and Sheila Smith (Past Pres.) for their continuing support and great ideas.
On behalf of all our UCW members, I wish to thank our Minister, Reverend Deanna Wilson, for all her caring and support over the past 13 years. Our thoughts and prayers are with her as she retires from our Ministry on June 30, 2007.
Respectfully submitted
Gwen Laing
President