As of October 2, 2011, Mercy Community Church no longer operates.
It is with many mixed emotions that we say goodbye to our community, which has been a church home for a small but diverse selection of people in the city. This time of transition will be difficult for many of us in the search for a new church, but to support each other there are email messages being exchanged about the new services members are trying out in the Ottawa area, mostly in the west end. If you would like to participate, please send an email to cjelnano@gmail.com.
As of October 26th, the website does not yet have a closing date so for the time being it will remain online in an archival form. The contact page has been updated to reflect our non-operational status and mercychurch.ca addresses will only be available until web hosting services are discontinued.
There may yet be some additional notes to post from the minister with regard to the church's closure - these will be posted either here or on the main page as soon as possible.
September 24 - Important Meeting
Church members: Please be advised that this Sunday's service will be abbreviated so that the church community can gather to discuss future plans. If you have not read or received your Mercy Mail on the matter (sent September 23rd), your attendance is even more important - our community faces a difficult decision and your presence and interest will determine whether or not this church continues. The location is Maki House, a community centre next to Maki Park in the Crystal Beach area of West Ottawa - location map can be found on the homepage.
September 3 - Sunday In the Park Kick-Off Weekend, Sept 11
Join us at Andrew Haydon Park (at the bandshell) next Sunday, September 11th, for Mercy's kick-off weekend. Come early for coffee/social time at 9:30am and bring a lawn chair to settle in for the service, which will begin at 10:00am and cover the topic: "Does God Really Have a Purpose?" Stay afterwards for a BBQ at noon and bring your own food - the grill and the drinks will be provided!
August 16 - Hiatus
Mercy Church will not be meeting for the last two Sundays in August, the 21st and the 28th. For the first two Sundays in September, we will be meeting at Andrew Haydon Park in the west end of Ottawa, near the Coliseum. Bring along your lawn chairs or blankets, as well as a lunch if you can stay after the service, which will still be at 10:00AM.
In the fall, Mercy will be relocating and no longer meeting outdoors. Further information will be available soon.
July 19 - Sermons, surveys, suggested readings
The sermons from the last 3 weeks are now available to download - technical difficulties related to some new equipment delayed uploading, but these have now been solved. Please visit the upper section of the news page as well as the sermon section of the website to listen to or download the files.
If you haven't picked up a copy of the church visit survey and you would like to download it, you can find it in plain text format here: Church Survey. Bring a copy of the survey each time you visit a different church over the summer and turn in the completed copy to Jim or Shana when you return to Mercy. We hope to see you soon!
This past week's message "From Goo to You?" touched on a number of viewpoints that fall in the grey area between evolution and creationism. For an expanded explanation and analysis of some of the viewpoints mentioned and more, along with many other discussions on subjects that we face today, I would recommend the book: Unshakable Foundations: Contemporary Answers to Critical Questions About the Christian Faith, which is available to borrow for free from the Ottawa Public Library: catalogue listing (view the 'contents' tab for a listing of chapters and their segments).
July 13 - Back in Carp this week
This week's location is at Derek and Julie's place in Carp.
July 8 - Different Location
Come out to Bill and Bev's for church this Sunday at 10AM. Again, bring your lawn chairs and, optionally, an umbrella to keep cool. Don't forget to pick up a church visit survey if you plan to be travelling and attending a local service while you're away - see Jim or Shana for a copy. And please bring a lunch and stay around for some fellowship time after the service!
Our summer sermon series is called, "How to Live in a World that's Mostly Grey" and will be running throughout July and August. Keep up to date on any sermons you've missed by checking out the SERMONS page for audio of recent (and not so recent) recordings of the weekly message.
June 27 - "Lawn Chair Church" Summer Format beginning this coming Sunday
For the summer months, Mercy will be holding our shorter summer services outdoors at the homes of two families in our congregation, alternating over the course of the summer. A location schedule will be available soon, please bring your own lawn/camping/folding chairs. This change affects some of our volunteering activities:
- Powerpoint operators will not be needed
- Coffee will be replaced with lighter refreshments of water and/or lemonade
- Nursery care will NOT be provided; Fritters programs are on hiatus; Donuts (JK - Grade 3) programs will be headed by Justin Perkins
- MUSICIANS WANTED: especially guitar players, please see MUSICIANS page
June 8 - Website Inactivity
The website will not be updated in the next couple of weeks as our maintainer will be away on her honeymoon. Congratulations Carrie and Michael!
May 15 - Mother-Daughter Tea
Our ladies' ministry is planning a tea in June, either the 18th or the 25th. Please see Marnie to sign up or RSVP your preferred date to her ASAP.
May 6 - Men's and Ladies' Ministries: Planning help
Our groups are looking to meet this month, possibly for another set of "wing nights" but ideas are welcome for something different - venue, activity, etc - so that we can all share in some quality fellowship time together. Please contact Brian and Marnie Penney if you are willing to help out in the planning of some of our men's and ladies' ministry events.
May 4 - Website news
On the SERMONS page, we now have the audio recordings of the sermons from the month of April available. Click on the link to have it play in your browser or right-click and "save as..." to download a copy of the file.