Marshall Memorial United Church

06/07/2026

https://youtube.com/live/A77eqSRiMHw
Welcome to Marshall! How do we know when we are living in step with the Spirit? This Sunday, as we gather around the Communion table and continue our series on the Holy Spirit, we will explore the inward and outward signs of God's presence among us. Through lives marked by love, joy, peace, and the unique gifts we each share, we will discover how the Spirit shapes us for community, compassion, and service. Come join us at 10AM in person or online. Children's Sunday School is available. Coffee and conversation follow the service for those able to linger. Blessings for a wonderful week!

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06/01/2026

05/31/2026

https://youtube.com/live/sMxDfrc74n4
Welcome to Marshall! On this first Sunday after Pentecost, we begin a new series exploring the Holy Spirit with The God Who Breathes Life. Rev. Matthew Lingard will be leading the service today. Come join us at 10am in person or online as we reflect on the Breath of God that sustains all creation and draws near to us in every moment. In Scripture, we are reminded that God is never far from any one of us, but rather is intimately present in the life we live, and in every breath we take. Sunday School is provided and coffee and conversation will follow the service for those able to stay.

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05/29/2026

In Gratitude
to the Congregation of Marshall Memorial

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for the retirement party you hosted for me last Sunday. I was overwhelmed by your generosity. I had heard that a luncheon was being planned following morning worship, but I had no idea it would be such an elaborate celebration.

Thanks to all who decorated the hall and set the tables, complete with beautiful decorations reminiscent of walks on the beach — something close to my heart. Thank you to the MM Sunday School children, residents of Highgate retirement community and others, who created wonderful centrepieces for the head tables: with trees and rocks and campfires and beach shells; with a campfire and s’mores, complete with roasting sticks and marshmallows; and then with direction signs inviting exploration, swimming, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, partying…! Oh, what adventures await me. Pictures of hiking boots, binoculars, cameras, an RV, a tent, a backpack, barbecue, lantern, mountains, fish and trees… all luring me toward the possibilities to come. Thanks also to the Marshall Memorial youth for the beach stone art piece depicting a mountain climber. And then there was the “forest of colours,” presumably coloured by the children at Marshall with images of creation on every page! How lovely to have such mementos that reflect the outdoors and so many things close to my heart. For years you have heard me say that for the Celts, there were two primary ways to know God – the little book of scripture and the big book of creation. I look forward to exploring that big book of creation and being spiritually nurtured.

And the lunch was delicious: wonderful pasta and salad, and a specialty cake to delight my taste buds, filling me both physically and spiritually. Thanks to those who worked prior to the event to set up and organize the hall, ordering and preparing food and making sure everything was ready to serve. Thanks to those who served food and drink. Thanks also to those who stayed to clean up after. I know there was much work done behind the scenes. Every time we eat together is an occasion of communion — where we are linked to the source of life and linked to others in community. The food gave sustenance to our bodies, and then enabled conversation and closer connection with each other. I enjoyed the conversations we shared and the opportunity to move around the room, connecting with many of you one last time. In all of these things, the divine presence hovered with grace.

And then there were your gifts, which were a surprise and a delight. For years, I have longed to have a cider press. Little do you know, but we have a small orchard on our schoolhouse property, with half a dozen mature apple trees, which produce abundant fruit every year. I love apple cider, and every fall, mention how great it would be to have a press and be able to turn our harvest into cider. This year, we will be able to. And each time I use the press, I will remember all of you. However, I am looking forward to a long summer before I get to try it out.

And then on top of this, you gave me a gift certificate to the Stratford Festival — a place where I return year after year, to be enwrapped in the wonder of theatre. Many of the plays I have seen in the past have inspired sermons or weekly email reflections. As you know, I have a deep interest in the arts and how they inform spirituality. Theatre nourishes and inspires me, and gets me thinking about deeper connections. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I wonder what we will see this summer and what new ideas that will spur?

I am honoured that my photo will now appear in the foyer of Marshall Memorial, along with other past ministers. And I am pleased that I have a copy of that photo on the oversized poster-card that many of you signed. And then there were all of your cards, hugs, phone calls and good wishes. These things all speak of relationship, and how we got inside each other in my four and a half years with you. I shall miss you. I know many were unable to be with us on Sunday, and I have been grateful for the conversations we have shared over the past few weeks, and for your sharing with me what my ministry has meant to you.

Alison, Kerry and I met each week to plan worship. As we planned this final Sunday, Alison said that she had written a special choral benediction for our leaving music. Oh, what a wonderful composition to experience, newly composed for the occasion. If I were staying, I would look forward to hearing it many times in the future — but you will have that privilege.

I was focused solely on worship for this final Sunday before retiring, and consequently, I was oblivious to other things happening. I did not know that Nicole and my girls had gone through photo albums and made digital images of dozens of them for a slide show. And at the same time, people from Marshall were also collecting photos of my ministry with you. So many of them I had never seen, or had not seen in years. I look forward to a chance to see them again. Here in digital form was a retrospective of my ministry, and my growing and changing family. I even caught glimpses of me windsurfing, and photos of each of my four daughters when they were young — to say nothing of my younger self, before grey hair. Watching those images filled me with delight and thanksgiving for all the stages of my life.

As you know, music is central to our life as a family. It was heartwarming to have Ilsa, Nell and Nicole sing that famous song from The Sound of Music — symbolically sung as a final blessing by the von Trapp family as they prepared to leave Austria, and on Sunday, sung with the same sentiments for our leave taking from you. And then, after some of you had left, there was one last musical event as Ilsa tap danced to a song I sing to my girls every Friday morning: “It’s the weekend, and I know that you’re free, so put on your jeans and come on out with me….” How appropriate as I now embark on an eternal weekend! I am filled with gratitude that God creates us as family, and for the support of my family through all of my ministry. To watch family members bring their own skills and abilities and do something totally original is heartwarming.

I was also oblivious to the fact that my wife was working behind the scenes contacting people from my past: university friends, parishioners from various churches I have served, and friends I have met along the way, and inviting them to join in this celebration, or send greetings. I was shocked to walk out of my office before church on Sunday morning and find some of those people in the narthex. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that this could happen. I was so thankful that my parents could also share in the occasion along with my two brothers living in Ontario. And then, there was my spiritual guide — whom I quoted twice in my reflection — sitting in the front row. Oh, to be surrounded by friends! The Psalmist (133) would say “behold, how pleasant, how good it is when God’s people are together. There is where God bestows the blessing…!”

And of course, thanks to our Marshall Unified Board and chairperson David Cairney, who brought his usual style with humour and wisdom to the role of MC. I felt embraced by you. I knew that the Board was doing some planning at the end of one of our meetings, but I had no idea how extensive those plans would be. For me, the whole occasion filled me with joy and a sense of accomplishment. I was grateful for the chance to interact with all of you one more time in the de-covenanting ceremony. Perhaps it is the only time we have all been together at the front of the church. It seemed like a fitting way to complete my ministry with you.

Following the pattern that has developed over the past few years, it seems appropriate that I share this last message with you on a Friday. I have been blessed by my experience with you, and I carry that with me as I move into retirement. I pray that my life with you has also been a blessing.

In Solidarity, and toward Shalom/Salem,
~Rev. Keith Hagerman
(and with thanks to my “long-suffering editor,” Nicole Langlois)

05/24/2026

https://youtube.com/live/8rR0zzNM1r4
Welcome to Marshall! This coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. Starting at 10AM in person and on-line, we learn that Pentecost is the birthday of the church, when the early followers of Jesus were filled with the Spirit to the extent that they were enabled to become the church – the body of Christ. This is also Rev. Keith’s final Sunday at Marshall. We say good-bye, even as we celebrate that the Spirit is coming with new possibilities, fortifying us to be the church in the days to come. There will be no Sunday School. Join us after the morning service for a luncheon in the Hall as a celebration of Rev. Keith!

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05/22/2026

2026-05-22 Encounters with the Sacred Energy of Living

Early this month I was involved in a recording project with The Edison Singers. Over the course of three evenings, we recorded the Fauré Requiem and the Duruflé Requiem in the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate, Guelph. Doing a recording is a fascinating process. It is not a concert, but intensely focused work on one section at a time. Rather than sing from beginning to end with the microphones live, we record small sections, sometimes recording the same section numerous times, and then later, they are pieced together into an integrated whole. By late fall, the CD will be available internationally on the Nexos label. Here is a short clip that gives an overview of the recording process.

The basilica has marvellous acoustics for choral singing, with a four- to six-second reverberation of sound. Recording in this manner is a reminder that each section arises out of a whole soundscape, already present in the building. We therefore begin each “take” a few measures prior to the section we are focusing on, in order to establish the sound atmosphere.

I have been thinking about the ambient sound energy already present in the building and how this connects to a larger reality. Ah, the sound that goes before; the energy that is already present; the atmosphere that is laden with memory!

There is an energy field that has been created in churches over the years, by all that has happened there. Those who have worshipped in the physical space have raised their voices in prayer, in song, in the reading of sacred texts. I think of the words “The Lord be with you” and “Peace be with you” and “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord,” shared hundreds and even thousands of times, how these words continue to echo and affect that space. There have been voices unified in speaking justice and peace, hope and reconciliation, building community and ushering in transformation. I wonder if something of those sounds still remains, echoing off wood and stone, down through the ages, becoming part of the very fabric of the church building. In the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, this would be called karma — where intentions, words and deeds dictate future experience.

I am reminded of the conditioning process for a new guitar or violin, where there is both intensive playing, and hours of placing the instrument directly in front of recorded music so that it can resonate in the wood, and thus condition the instrument to be more mellow. It is like the instrument takes on the sounds it hears, and the sounds affect the structure.

Perhaps, like me, you experience a sacred aura when you walk into old churches. It could be described as a feeling of peace, or a deep sense of holiness, of a sense that the spirits of others gather with you. I don’t think this is accidental. It is like it holds the memories of all who have been there — of baptisms and funerals, of weddings and communion, of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Science tells us that radio waves never die, but continue to swirl around us. Energy and matter cannot be destroyed. Just as organ and choir create the energy of sound waves that reverberate through the building, so congregational singing and prayer also add to the sound memory in a building. The breathing in and out of each person who has been part of the worshipping community affects the building and is remembered by it. Brain waves give off an energy field, as do circulatory systems. It is like the church holds the memory of everyone who has worshipped there.

When we enter a church, we encounter the ambient energy of all those who have gone before. It is the atmosphere in which we immerse ourselves. We do not begin our sacred journey out of nothing, but rather surrounded by the great company of saints, of all those who have gone before. There is already an ambient energy present because of their living and worship and witness. And we bring our own energy — our thinking and our doing, our breathing and our singing — and we too affect that sacred space, putting our mark upon it. I am part of each sacred space where I have worshipped, and so are you. Whenever we worship, we gather surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses who continue to embrace us and energize us, and we become part of that august company of saints for others. We lift our voices in justice and peace, and the echo of past voices comes down through the ages to embrace us, giving our sound more depth and more purpose.

This weekend, I invite you to reflect on where you have experienced that mystery of pre-existent energy. Perhaps it was in a church or other sacred space. What was your sense of what was happening in these moments? How did it make you feel? How did it affect your life and what you were about? Perhaps, like my experience in the recording session, it buoyed you up, creating an energy field that you could then glide on. You may also wish to consider the places where your presence has left an energy field — perhaps it was things you did, things you said, things you supported. We join with others and the energy of our living affects life far beyond us, not only in the present, but into the future as that energy field continues to live and resonate.

I joined my voice with The Edison Singers in singing Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth! Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis (Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts! Heaven and Earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest), and the sound hung in the air, reverberating and infiltrating the entire sanctuary, embedding itself in every crevice so that this praise of God became one with that sacred space. And then we sang Et lux perpetua luceat eis (Let perpetual light shine upon them), and the sound energy became the cosmic energy of blessing, echoing forward into the future.

Blessings to you as the God-energy in you leaves traces that will affect the lives of others.

In Solidarity, and toward Shalom/Salem,
~Rev. Keith Hagerman

05/17/2026

Welcome to Marshall! This Sunday we will be worshipping at Ryerson United Church on Wilson St. in Ancaster. Please join us there at 10:00am. The service will be available for viewing on Ryerson’s YouTube channel. There will be no Sunday School this week. Happy Victoria Day weekend!

05/15/2026

Reflecting on 38 Years Since Ordination

It was on May 15, 1988, at the Annual Meeting of Maritime Conference, that I was ordained to a ministry of Word, Sacrament, and Pastoral Care in the United Church of Canada — 38 years ago!

Although I had been in seminary for four years and had been working in various churches over those years (including three summer internships, along with work in other congregations during the school year), I had my whole career ahead of me. I remember as I met for ordination interviews with the Maritime Conference Education and Students Committee, how I had framed my sense of call. I had been sharing this for years — first with the local pastoral charge (Wesley Methodist in Hamilton, Bermuda), then with Presbytery (Bermuda Synod), and then with representatives of Maritime Conference. There had been interviews and check-ins throughout those four years, including lengthy correspondence with the General Council Office of Vocation (as it is now called), all assessing my sense of call and my fitness for ministry. Ordination was the culmination of that process and the beginning of a new ministry. So much potential ahead of me… and now that retirement is just around the corner, it seems to be ending all too soon.

When you think of ministry, what functions come to mind for you? What does it mean “to minister”? Within our tradition, we also talk about the ministry of the whole people of God. How is your life also “ministry”?

My call to ministry was to function as a minister in many different ways. Looking back, that call encompassed different forms of ministry, using the skills and abilities within me:

Priest – mediating the presence of God, speaking forgiveness and reconciliation, surrounding with the sacred energy.
Prophet – speaking the word of God, challenging injustice and calling people to change.
Pastor – surrounding people with love and care, walking with them through the challenging times of life.
Counsellor – sharing wisdom and guidance, helping people become whole.
Educator – sharing knowledge and wisdom, about the Bible and the Christian tradition, and helping people grow in their faith.
Spiritual Guide – walking with people through questions and doubts, helping them explore new areas for spiritual growth.
Creative Liturgist – exploring new forms of liturgy, through words, music and action.
Cantor – following the Jewish tradition where the cantor leads in prayer and praise through song, bringing the best of who I am as a church musician to lead people in touching holiness.
Theologian – exploring what the “Is-ness of life” is and means in each moment of our rapidly changing world, and where that sacred energy is inviting us to be present.

Now, 38 years in, I am considering whether these things have characterized my ministry. This is not only for me to assess, but also how others have experienced my ministry. I would guess that some have experienced one of these aspects of my ministry, while others have known other aspects.

Although my self-assessment says I have functioned in all of these ways, it has changed over the years as I have continued to learn and explore. I have been deeply affected by the people with whom I ministered. I have grown into ministry and it has often taken me in directions I did not foresee. In the end, all of these things have affected who I am — both as a person and as a minister. I am not the same person I was 38 years ago, but those initial energies are still within me. Process Theology says that we are the sum total of all our experiences. Each of my experiences increases who I am, just as ongoing education adds to who I am. And so, who I am as a minister after 38 years of ordination is directly related to all of my experiences, and you are the recipient of that, as well as being co-creators in who I have become. In each moment I am complete, but in the next, I will be added to. I wonder what new experiences I will have, what new people I will meet, and who I will become in the years ahead?

As I look back and reflect on my younger self and my dreams for the future at that time, so I invite you to look back at your younger self: what plans and dreams did you have and how did you fulfill those? Have you grown into your earlier dreams, or were those replaced by different dreams? How have you been changed by them? What energies are still strong within you, and where have you gone in new directions?

Isn’t it marvellous how our lives are not static, but always in the process of becoming as we stretch in new directions? A mentor of mine, Dr. George Hermanson, would talk about “the lure,” and how the Is-ness of life is always enticing us into the future to explore and become more fully who we already are. What are the growth points in your life that became defining moments for who you are today?

Blessings to you on the journey — a journey that continues “through all the changing scenes of life,” as the hymnist wrote.

In Solidarity and toward Shalom/Salem,
~Rev. Keith Hagerman

05/08/2026

https://youtube.com/live/shu6Vrl2ry0
Welcome to Marshall and Happy Mothers Day! Join us at 10am in person or online (click the image below) where we look at healing and touch.
Mothers are traditionally seen as care givers, with a hands-on approach to family life. A mother’s touch has healing power, whether it is bandaging a cut or hugging away hurts beyond the physical. In Jesus we see someone who reached out and touched others, and in this brought healing and wholeness. What are the hurts today that Jesus would be reaching out to? As the hands and feet of Christ, our mission is to embody this practice of reaching out in healing.
Children's Sunday School is provided. Have coffee, a snack and conversation following the service in the Gathering Place! Moms, enjoy your special day!!

To donate to Marshall's programming with our sincere gratitude, please click on the following secure link: http://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/19884

05/08/2026

Musings for the Merry Month of May

I have been thinking about generosity. It is not just accidental — I have been encountering it all around me, and it has deeply affected me.

Recently I was listening to CBC in the run-up to “Canada Reads,” where different personalities were promoting the book they thought all of Canada should read this year. If it were me, I would be promoting Theo of Golden — a first novel by Allen Levi. What has captured my imagination, and why I want others to read it, is its values-based approach to life. It models something we need in our time. It challenges our assumptions of how life should be lived, and offers encouragement to explore life lived in connection with others. The protagonist, Theo, arrives in the small town of Golden, and transforms life around him by his radical generosity. Early in his stay, he notices portraits hanging in the local coffeehouse, and he begins purchasing them, one by one, and then gifting them to the “rightful owners” — the artist’s subject in each portrait. With each exchange, conversation is shared, stories are told, and relationship is nurtured, as one person’s life becomes enmeshed in another’s. A simple act of kindness serves to communicate to the other that they have been noticed, and that their lives have meaning. I celebrate Theo and his putting into practice that “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

A little over a week ago, I called an old friend in Nova Scotia. Our lives have been intertwined for years, to the point that we could have been twin brothers of different mothers. We met when I was ministering in Antigonish, and he was a member of the congregation. Like me, he is also a PK (preacher’s kid), and deeply immersed in spirituality. When I needed a place to stay, he provided lodging; when I needed a place to talk, he provided a listening ear; when I was involved in community theatre, he was a fellow actor; when I began experimenting with Christian meditation, he was a mentor.

By profession he was an ophthalmologist: Dr. Paul Price. Like Theo, he was a conversationalist, wanting to know the life stories of each of his patients — a practice that resulted in his daily schedule always running behind (sometimes by several hours), as he listened to the stories that undergirded the lives of those he met. He was generous with his time. That generosity also extended to his medical skills, as he regularly did volunteer stints in the developing world, doing dozens of cataract surgeries each day for a couple of weeks each year. He was also known to travel to the far north in Canada, doing vision clinics with the Indigenous people there. Paul was also an acclaimed artist, with his paintings compared to the Group of Seven. In his generosity, he gave most of his paintings away, often offering them to auctions in support of various health organizations or other charities. He was a dear friend who saw the good in everyone. His generosity overflowed to others (often leaving him poor by the world’s standards). He eventually retired and moved to Arichat, a tiny village on Ile Madame in Cape Breton. I asked him once, “Why Arichat?” His response: “The people are kind.” Oh, isn’t that what we all want, for ourselves and those we love! Because of his words, Arichat will always have a warm place in my heart, and I in turn, want to be an experience of kindness for others.

I call Paul every month or two. Along with our deep friendship, I know he has also been going through health challenges, and I have journeyed with him through these. When I recently called, I got a message that his phone was no longer in service. I immediately checked the internet, and discovered that he had died in the middle of March. I grieve his passing but celebrate his life and how generous he was with his friendship.

I see people all around me who are generous with their time, their talent and their resources. They volunteer on committees, they bake, they make coffee, they visit, they telephone, they drive…. I see it in teachers who take an interest in their students beyond their professional responsibilities. I see it in neighbours who go out of their way to support each other. When I start looking, generosity is part of interactions all around me.

Generosity is an expression of grace. It is offered without strings attached. It is a gift that shares the message that the other is deserving, simply because they are — whether the other is another person, the church, a charitable organization, or creation itself. It is also a gift that recognizes that each of us is part of something larger — the mystery of life — and that we have a part to play. All that we have and are is a gift that is ours to share. Generosity is one of the ways we put into practice kindness, fairness, and respect. It is a flowing out from our lives, into the wider life of the world. In this, we become linked to life around us.

When asked for his motivation, Theo is heard saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” As observers of his antics in the novel, we gain insight into the value of generosity. Through giving, Theo allows others’ lives and their stories to affect him. In so doing, he becomes part of the very Is-ness of life — the Mystery that is often named “God.”

In the immortal words of Mission Impossible: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find opportunities in the coming week to be generous. Also, notice instances of generosity all around you, celebrate these, and allow them to get inside you. In a world where goodness is sometimes hard to find, may these things be a reminder that Good News is constantly creeping into our world, disrupting the status quo, transforming life.

In Solidarity and toward Shalom/Salem,

~Rev. Keith Hagerman