Pirates Update!

It is half way through the summer and it has flown by, or should I say sailed?  So far the campers from Fifty United, Emmanuel United, Pioneer United,  and Carlisle United have all taken the Pirates Oath to help protect and conserve water in their daily lives!  These kids have been armed, and now they can fire cannons of knowledge back to their home churches and parents about saving water and not plundering from nature.  

Next week we will be heading to Westdale United Church, followed by Olivet United, and then St. Mark's United Church. The camp counsellors have been amazing every week and I always look forward to seeing them in action with the kids.  I have learned new games and pirate related songs from them every time.  

Talk to your kids about saving water, dress up as pirates at home, and say the Oath often to remind you of your duty!

Pirate’s oath

As a Pirate,

I solemnly pledge,

To always turn off the water as I brush my teeth,

To not let my car be washed in the street.

I will remember to have quick showers,

And to wait until nightfall to water my flowers.

If there be a leak we shall fix it with speed,

As a good pirate, we do good water deeds.

My treasure will be all the happy fish:

Cleaner water is their greatest wish.

Where water is we will not blunder,

We arrr the pirates who don’t plunder!

Sarah having fun at Pioneer United Church

Worship Without Your Car: Get To Your Faith Centre A Greener Way

 Are you a youth? Want to organize an event at your place of worship? Need volunteer hours? Want to win prizes? Then this is for you!

Traveling green is an important way we can be stewards of our planet. Over the weekend of September 21st, 22nd and 23rd, Greening Sacred Spaces Hamilton invites people of all faiths to travel to worship that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on foot, by bike, by public transit or carpool.

Your faith group will be competing against other Hamilton faith groups for a chance to win a prize (TBA) for your place of worship. The group with the highest percentage of participants gets the prize.

The youth that pre-registers the most participants by September 14th will win tickets to see Jane Goodall on September 19th! Over that weekend, the place of worship that tallies the highest percentage of people using green transportation will win the contest.

You will receive volunteer hours for every hour that you advertise at your place of worship, (i.e. after services, giving announcements, taking registrations in foyers) and for the amount of time it takes you to tally on the weekend of the event. You will need your youth minister or a staff member from your place of worship that was present to sign your volunteer form. This is very flexible, and you can make it fit your schedule. Remember that the more you promote, the more successful your event will be. Talk to your leaders: can this day be turned into something more? A BBQ or social event afterwards?  Be creative, take initiative!  We want to hear all about how the event went, and will give you a volunteer hour for sending us a one page report or article and pictures of the event. The most creative and well written report will be featured in our newsletter.

Be part of the fun while promoting active transportation. The first step is to register your faith group with Beatrice by email bekoko@faith-commongood.net or by calling (905) 549-0900. Then via email you will receive all the materials you need to get started.  Once you register, participants from your group can join your team.

Know some youth who might be interested? Make sure to let them know! Let’s celebrate 'a greener way to worship' together!  

Pirates who Don`t Plunder Activity Video

We all know how important water conservation is. For the next few weeks at GSS we will be running the Pirates Who Don`t Plunder activity at children`s summer bible camps.  Here is the video we use: an oldie but a goodie from Sesame St.  This week, sit down with your own kids and talk about water conservation, or look at how you can conserve water better at home.  We can all be better pirates.