HELLO!

How do you honour a loved one, or someone you respected and admired in the community? Many make memorial donations to the church in memory of one of our beloved “Cloud of Witnesses”. You see those name in the bulletin, on the screen during worship. When Kim’s father Bob died the family asked for donations to the trail he cared for (he was on their Board and did a lot of the manual labour himself). There is a bench, on that trail near Timberlea, with Bob Foote’s name on it. I note many parks and wilderness areas have similar benches with plaques and names.

Bethe tells me she met me for the first time when I was the minister at Fairview United Church, and we were honouring her uncle Rev. Ralph Webber by dedicating our church library in his name.

The very first church conflict I was called on to navigate was over a plaque in the church. It split the Session, one side did not want any more plaques on the walls, they were already quite full and if we accepted this one, there were bound to be more. On the other hand, even though there was policy saying we would not accept any more plaques, there was this widow and her feelings to consider. I drove up and down a long road eight times. The manse was on this road, Kim saw my red truck going back and forth, back and forth, until finally I negotiated a compromise. We placed the plaque on top of a large display cabinet. The widow was thrilled, but the Session members, both sides, were never happy with the decision. It was my first taste of church conflict, and as any good conflict specialist will tell you, once you insert yourself into such a debate and offer a compromise, you then become part of the conflict too. Lesson learned.

Today I was volunteering at Margaret’s House, serving coffee. For those who may not be aware, the building is named for the late Margaret Savage. Many of you likely know her only as wife to John, mother to Mike. But I knew her as a tireless volunteer, social justice advocate, strong supporter of her church. Margaret was the kind of person anyone would want as a friend and a colleague. The fact that her legacy in 2026, besides her children and grandchildren and the causes she championed, is this building in downtown Dartmouth that offers a mission to feed those who are hungry. Calling the house after her was an inspired choice.

Have you thought about how you honour your loved ones, those cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12) who surround you where your journey takes you?

Peace, Kevin

PS Photo taken today by Cathy Belanger.