On February 23rd, 2019 several Parkwood youth participated in
the Coldest Night of the Year, a family-friendly walk that raises money
for charities serving hungry, homeless and hurting people in our community.

   

On February 9, 2019 the Youth Group ventured down to Winterlude,
then to Knox chuch where along with other local Presbyterian youth,
they prepared food for a nearby homeless shelter, and delivered it.

 

   

On December 16, 2018 the LOGOS children presented the Christmas story
and sang three carols during the worship service.

Oct. 7, 2018: Parkwood honoured Lorne Roach who retired early this year after 43 years as church treasurer.
Lorne was presented with a certificate, a framed photo of the church, and everyone enjoyed the day with a special cake served after the service.
Thanks, Lorne!!

Oct. 7, 2018: Today this webservant noticed the culmination of some hard work by three people on the bike rack to the south of the church entrance. The area was excavated, stone dust laid down and some of the bricks left over from the building project were laid down to make a great parking spot for our cycling folk.
Thanks to Duane Mayo, Marcia Harten and Dale Tuck for a job well done!

Sept. 15, 2018: The weather was ideal for Parkwood's annual "Day Away" at Gracefield. Here's the gang gathered for the "offical" photo.

   

June 3, 2018: After the morning service of worship today Pastor Hurd and Rev. Justin Kim
of our sister Korean congregation unveiled a new plaque highlighting Parkwood's mission statement.
The plaque was a gift to Parkwood from the Ottawa Korean Presbyterian Church.

May 20, 2018: The Ottawa Korean Presbyterian Church (formerly Sarang PC) celebrated a milestone on May 20th, their 14th anniversary,
by formally becoming a congregation and ordaining two elders. Pictured here are those who took part in the ceremony:
From the left, back row: Yoo, Jun Jea (elder), Rev. James Hurd, Rev. Justin Kim, Rev. Park, Jun Ho, Rev. Chung, Moon Soung
front row: Lee, Bu Ja, Lim, Jong Yeol (new elder), Park, Eun Ju (new elder), Shim, In Sik.

 

 

On Saturday April 28, 2018 Sylvia Hepburn celebrated her 100th birthday! Peter and Betty Paul attended the gathering.
Congratulations Sylvia!!   (...and GO SENS GO!)

April 1, 2018: The gathering of the faithful at Parkwood's annual 42nd sunrise service took place
under cloudy skies and 50 kph winds on Easter Sunday, April 1st. The sun rose at approx. 6:45 AM
behind a bank of clouds, peeking out here and there. Meanwhile the intrepid cooks were preparing
a feast of pancackes and sausages with fresh fruit, and of course hot coffee back at the church.
Thanks to all who participated. It was encouraging to meet a number of visitors as well!

 

 

On Saturday February 3, 2018 Parkwood celebrated Black History Month,
with an evening of fun featuring a sumptuous buffet of African dishes,
entertainement by the Tine Rufaro Marimba Band (Zimbabwe) and
a fashion show of colourful dress from many different countries.
Our thanks to the ladies who organized the evening,
Dolly, Olivia and Nana (and their many helpers)!!

November, 2017: For a couple of weeks in late October and early November there was some action
evident in the staircase, obscured from view by caution tape and tarps. Behind the scenes, Mahshid Eshtiagh
was at work creating a beautiful mural depicting among other things, Jesus welcoming children, communion bread
and wine, prayer, to name a few. We encourage you to take a few minutes to enjoy and take in the images.
We thank God for Mahshid and the talent He has given her, for us to enjoy! The mural was dedicated after the worship service
on November 26. In the bulletin that day was an explanation of the imagery in the mural, available here.

On Sunday July 9, 2017 we welcomed the son, daughter and grandson of Joseph and Terese Kanku
to Canada and Parkwood. L to R, elder John Huber, Terese, daughter Sandra, son Jackson, pastor James
and Joseph. Grandson Amram was checking out the church. Bienvenue Sandra, Jackson et Amram!

April 28, 2017 - Milestone birthday: Sylvia Hepburn celebrated her 99th birthday with a gathering of friends and family on April 28th,
and Peter Paul was there to take some pictures. Thanks Peter, and congraulations Sylvia! Looking good! (The cake too!)

March 2017: Amanda Veras came to Canada to study at the Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute.
The school recently held a competition to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday, with the open to anyone in Canada.
Although she won't be enrolling until June, Amanda took on the challenge, and came out with first prize. Congratulations, Amanda!

March Break 2017 Disaster Zone: If you'd been around Parkwood during March Break, you might have thought disaster had struck.
Karen Hurd was at it again, teaching some Parkwood folk the Standard First Aid-CPR C course.

 

 

On Sunday October 30, 2016 a ceremony of dedication of our new facility formed part of the morning worship service.
The moderator of Presbytery of Ottawa, John Tyler took part. Afterwards all were invited downstairs for cake and conversation.
During this part of the celebration gifts were presented to Dennis Featherstone and Dan Moffet for their efforts
"above and beyond the call of duty". Thanks, fellas!

clockwise from upper left: The cake, complete with an edible photo of the church with the farmhouse; Dan Moffett, Pastor James
and Dennis Featherstone cutting the cake; the engraved jewellry box presented to Dennis; the engraved plaque presented to Dan

Seven youth from Parkwood were among 24 from Eastern Ontario who boarded a bus at St. Paul's church early on July 4, 2016
to head off to CY2016 at Brock University in St. Catherines. Those youth were joined by a number from Montreal and stops were also made
at Smith's Falls and Brockville to pick up more kids from neighbouring presbyteries, Also accompanying the youth were
Phil Macfie, Synod co-ordinator for CY2016, and Parkwood's Youth Animator elect David Lee.

The afternoon of May 29, 2016 several Parkwood folk joined with the congregation of the Sarang Presbyterian Church to celebrate their
12th anniversary and mark the ordination of their first two elders. The afternoon consisted of a service of worship followed by a delicious meal
of traditional Korean food. We look forward to many years of fellowship and co-operation with our Korean brothers and sisters.

After the worship service each Sunday many conversations take place downstairs in the Fellowship Hall, and worshipers are
encouraged to come down, have some refreshments and a friendly chat. On May 22, 2016 a chat of a different sort took place:
Gord Walford introduced himself to Pierre, the husband of a Syrian family who have come to Canada recently. The only problem was,
Pierre didn't speak English and Gord didn't speak Arabic. No problem, thanks to two smartphones and Google Translate!

On Sunday April 10, 2016 the congregation gathered after worship to honour Flora Brown for her dedicated service over 40+ years,
including 30 as our caretaker. Flora resigned as caretaker on Nov. 30, 2015. Thanks Flo!

First Aid, anyone?


5 x 6 = 30 strings...

During the March Break 2016 an industrious Karen Hurd kept some folks busy for a few days by offering a First Aid course (officially a Red Cross
Standard First Aid & CPR C course) as well as launching a Beginner Guitar Course that will continue Wednesdays from 4-5 pm for several weeks.

On Sunday March 6, 2016 at the 10 a.m. service of worship Jan Sheridan presented a beautiful batik depicting a scene from Uganda
created by Joseph Mawanda, one of the CANHAVE students, to Parkwood. It was a gift from Gwynneth Evans, Executive Secretary of CANHAVE,
and marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of that organisation at Parkwood.
Click here to see a close-up of the batik.

On Sunday December 13, 2015 at the 10 a.m. service of worship six new elders were ordained:
(from left) Paul Mkandawire, Asuquo Eniang, Laura Game, Holly MacDonald, Daniel Akat and Pamela Pestaluky. God is good!

The sanctuary looking well decked out for the season on the 2nd Sunday of Advent, Dec. 6, 2015.
Thanks to elder-elect Pam Pestaluky, ably assisted by Jim MacDonald (with a wee contribution by the choir & the Copeland kids).

The current building project has necessitated emptying rooms in the old Mulvagh Wing and adjacent to the wall of the remaining
building that abutts the new construction. During this process a few "historic artifacts" have been discovered. Here are pictures of two:



A sign dating from the "Files era" (1967-1975) showing the times of the service and Sunday School.



A sign showing the financing of the original church building, total cost $100,000, dating from 1973.

After the morning worship service on Sunday April 12, 2015 the congregation and a few visitors gathered outside the Mulvagh Wing
for a short "decommissioning" service. Pictured here are from the left, back: Rev. James Hurd, Kay Stanley (granddaughter of
Thomas and Matilda Mulvagh, who grew up in the original farmhouse), Claire McPhee (who along with her husband, Rev. Floyd McPhee were
the last residents of the house), granddaughter Erynne McPhee, grandson Matthew McPhee (who knocked the ceremonial first brick
out to mark the occasion), son Andrew McPhee, Fran McKenny (charter member of Parkwood), and front Stewart Elder
(chair of the Fundraising Team) and Samantha Sutherland (whose late father Don had volunteered to take the building down).
The wing has been closed for use and in the few weeks following the event, the old farmhouse will be taken down and a new facility erected in it's place.

Parkwood folk have gathered each year on Easter Sunday at dawn since 1976 to celebrate Jesus' triumphant rising from the dead,
and this tradition continued in 2015. Here's a photo of the group of around 40 who gathered on April 5, 2015 at 6:15 a.m. "Civil Twilight"
(when you can just see pretty well anything around you) was at 6:06 a.m. and sunrise was at 6:36 a.m. The service is planned so that
the sunrise takes place near the end of the service - hence the early hour.

For those who haven't had occasion to visit the minister in his office, here's a carving of Parkwood that hangs there, as it looked in the "early days"
(defined here as before the ramp, when the narthex had a flat roof and before the addition to the sanctuary), done by master woodworker Jon Wadleigh,..

Sunday December 28, 2014: The crowd swelled each week since the first Sunday in Advent as the Christmas Story unfolded during the children's time:
first came the prophet, then Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus (including the donkey), then the angels, the shepherds (accompanied by their sheep), and finally the wise men...

Sunday November 30, 2014: Students from the Arise School of Dance blessed us during our worship service with their preformance of "THE REASON"

November 22, 2014: Parkwood's Logos gang took part in the Barrhaven Santa Claus Parade. Here's some photos from the event:

Two videos of the event have been uploaded to YouTube - part 1 · part 2.
Parkwood's float can be seen between 9:20 to 10:00 in the part 2 video.

Sunday November 9, 2014: Presenting the TD* New Testament, in the TD* script.
This script is 500 years old, and until about forty years ago was only handwritten.
It has now been typeset through the work of Jim Brase, and this New Testament is the firstfruit of that labour.

* Names have been abbreviated for security reasons.

Sunday September 28, 2014: Pastor James wearing a Ugandan sash, a gift from Leah Hopp, "our gal in Uganda".
Leah says it's a traditional Ngikarimojong blanket called 'elampuru'. Their tradition is similar to their cousin-brothers the Maasai.

The men wear it all the time and the women have it made into a skirt. The old women wear it yet a bit differently.
It can be worn in many different ways. At night they use it as a blanket or to wrap around their shoulders for warmth.
During the day, they wrap it around the waist like a skirt (warrior mini skirt) or around one shoulder.

Sunday September 21, 2014: Cutting the cake on Anniversary Sunday, marking the 50th anniversary of Parkwood's inaugural service.
Cake cutters included from left, charter member Fran McKenny, Phil Campbell, one of Parkwood's first assessor elders, and Lorraine Widdis,
who's late husband Joe was chair of Parkwood's Building Committee from 1972 through construction of the building in 1974.

September 13, 2014: Some of the Parkwood folk at our annual fall weekend at Gracefield.