MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE!

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.”Psalm 100:1-2

This week, there is joy in the air.

After many months of prayer, paperwork, waiting, planning, hoping, and preparing, Rev. Ken, Jen, and Mickey have arrived in Canada!

Thanks be to God!

There are some moments in the life of a church that invite us simply to pause and give thanks. This is one of those moments. We have been praying for this day. We have been watching this journey unfold step by step. We have heard updates, celebrated milestones, waited through uncertainty, and trusted that God was walking with Rev. Ken and his family, and with us, through it all.

And now they are here.

What a gift.

The words of Psalm 100 feel especially fitting this week: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.” Sometimes faith is quiet and contemplative. Sometimes it is patient and steady. Sometimes it waits in hope.

And sometimes faith sings.

This is a week for singing.

It is a week for gratitude. Gratitude for safe travel. Gratitude for answered prayers. Gratitude for the Search Committee and all those who helped guide this process. Gratitude for those who have been preparing spaces, making plans, offering hospitality, arranging practical details, and helping turn a new country, a new town, and a new church into the beginnings of home.

It is also a week for welcome.

On Saturday, many will gather at the garden party to meet Rev. Ken, Jen, and Mickey in a relaxed and joyful way. On Sunday, they will be with us in worship. What a beautiful thing it will be to gather as a congregation, to see them in person, to worship together, and to begin this new chapter not as names in an announcement, not as faces on a screen, but as people among us.

This family has come a long way.  They have said goodbyes. They have packed up pieces of one life and carried hope toward another. They have travelled halfway across the world, stepping into a place that is new, unfamiliar, and full of possibility. Their arrival is joyful, but it is also tender. They come with excitement, surely, but also with all the feelings that come with a major life change.

So our welcome matters.

Not because it needs to be perfect. Not because every detail must be polished. But because welcome is one of the ways we show the love of Christ.

We welcome with smiles. We welcome with food. We welcome with handshakes and hugs. We welcome with patience as names are learned, routines are discovered, and new patterns take shape. We welcome by making room, by listening well, by offering help without overwhelming, and by remembering that settling in takes time.

Psalm 100 continues: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.”

That is what we do this week.

We enter with thanksgiving.

We give thanks for Rev. Ken’s ministry and for the gifts he will bring. We give thanks for Jen and Mickey, and for the courage and faith it has taken for their family to make this journey. We give thanks for all that God has already done, and for all that God will do among us in the days ahead.

This is not the end of a journey. It is the beginning of one.

There will be many things to learn together. Stories to share. Traditions to honour. New customs to discover. Questions to ask. Meals to enjoy. Worship to shape. Ministry to imagine. Laughter to share. Community to build.

But for today, before we rush too quickly into what comes next, let us simply rejoice.

Let us make a joyful noise.

Let us celebrate this long-awaited arrival.

Let us give thanks for the goodness and faithfulness of God.

Welcome, Rev. Ken. Welcome, Jen. Welcome, Mickey.

We are so glad you are here!!