A letter from the UChurch Council

Update: June 12, 2024

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Hello everyone,

Thank you to those who joined us as we honoured Jen last Sunday. It meant a lot to be together and to support Brant and the family. For those who couldn't attend in person, we hope you were able to livestream the event and feel the love and comfort (especially Amy and Sonny).

Brant and the family have been truly comforted and encouraged by all the love and support they have received.

The first week after Jen’s passing, it was on our hearts to offer practical ways for all to support the family in a method that wasn’t overwhelming. While we initially provided ways for you to support the family by delivering frozen meals or sending messages, it's now time for us to step back from being the go-betweens on behalf of the family.

For example, here’s a wonderful thing we can all participate in. We’ve put together an online board for anyone who wants to contribute an image, gif, video or kind word about Jen to give to the Reding family to see her through our collective memory and experience. If you have something to add, you can do so here: https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/h0kjNC8W.

For those who still wish to support the family with meals, consider giving Skip the Dishes cards or contacting them directly to provide a home-cooked meal or a word of comfort. You can send your gift cards and meals directly to any of the family members as you feel to do.

We also want to remind you about the GoFundMe page set up in memory of Jen. You can access it here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jennifer-reding. Contributions will go towards the expenses of planning for the Celebration of Life service. Your prayerful consideration and generosity are deeply appreciated.

Lastly, the Redings have set a date for Jen’s celebration of life so we’ve included the details below:

In loving memory of Jennifer Lynn Reding

The Reding family invites you to celebrate and commemorate the life of Jennifer Reding. Please join us for a celebration of life service.

Friday, June 28, 2024, at 1 P.M.

Bow Valley Christian Church - 5300 53 Ave NW Calgary AB

Blessings and with love,

The UChurch Council Team

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Update: June 7, 2024

We have some important updates for you.

Brant and the family have been so encouraged by the emails and messages many of you have passed on. Thank you for being a gift of encouragement during this time.

We feel Father has more special time for us this coming Sunday as we meet in person. For those of you not in Calgary we will do our best to broadcast live on Sunday morning. We will honour Jen, comfort each other, and share the hope of our good, good Father.

Also, we have started a “Go Fund Me” page that you can access here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jennifer-reding

This page has been set up to facilitate contributions towards the specific expenses in planning for the Celebration of Life service. Your prayerful consideration and generosity are deeply appreciated.

Although details for this time are not quite finalized, as many will be coming from out of town, we do know it will be sometime during the last weekend of June.

Lastly, Brant asked if we would share a couple of messages he received, as he knows you will also find comfort and be encouraged. The Holy Spirit knows how to touch the deep parts of our hearts. (See below)

As well, two sermons in particular have been a source of encouragement for Brant and his family, and he wanted to share them with each of you. They are both by Bill Johnson, Pastor of the Bethel Church in Redding, California.

You can find those messages here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Pi87Q6tnYmo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USfftDqIx0Q&t=1618s

We anticipate coming together this Sunday to be together in our “Common Union” and receive all that Papa has for us.

There will also be the usual pre-service prayer at 10:10, and all are welcome to join!

We love you and continue to pray for the wind of the Spirit to carry you higher. He is calling us all to come up and see things from where He is, to receive more from His heart and gain His perspective as we enter into this next season.

UChurch Council Team

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June 4, 2024

Dear Family,

As most of you know by now, we received the heartbreaking news that our dear sister, friend, mother, and Pastor, Jennifer Reding, has gone to be with the Lord. This past Saturday evening, she was admitted to emergency with an infection in her lungs, and by 11:30 PM, it had spread to her kidneys and other organs, causing failure. Further details are not yet known. We are all still in shock as this happened so suddenly and quickly.

We want you to know that over the past year, God, in His provision, has been forming a council team for our family, church, and community. In response to Brant and Jen’s invitation, we have been meeting regularly alongside them for about eight months to discern collectively as a team, how to take steps in the unfolding vision of UChurch.

This council team gathered Sunday evening and felt it was important to reach out and encourage you all and give you some information. In these times of uncertainty, our hearts are to live out Ephesians 4:1-16, particularly as Paul writes, “Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

That which the Father has been unfolding in our midst over the last several years is unique and special. Our hearts long for us to be the kind of church, community, and family where each of us, hears directly from the Head (Christ), moving in synergy and alignment as a body full of His Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness...

“If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honoured, all the parts are glad.” (1 Cor 12:26). Like you, we are all grieving the loss of our dear spiritual mama, friend and family member, Jennifer. Our hearts especially go out to the Reding family, Brant, their children, grandchildren and extended family. We are all hurting. Even though we do not mourn as those who are not anchored in hope (1 Thes 4:13), our hearts still feel the loss of someone so special to us.

As a council team, we hear the Holy Spirit saying that Father wants to use this time for each of us to become more rooted in the ground waters of His love. On the Sunday Zoom call, we witnessed the Father's love flowing through each of us, offering encouragement even in our shared pain. The economy of the kingdom is this: giving and receiving LOVE.

In the coming days and weeks, we encourage you to reach out if you have any questions or words of encouragement to share with Brant or the family. Please use this special email we have created for this purpose: councilteam@uchurch.ca. Each communication will be shared appropriately.

We also want to respect the Reding family's time and privacy during this transition. Please know that a point person from our team is actively communicating with Brant and the family to support them. We are all navigating uncharted territory and want to walk with the Father through this season, taking things one step at a time.

If you have any questions, would like prayer support, or need help processing this loss, we would like to make ourselves available to you. We feel pastoral grace being poured out on us as a team and want you to know how important it is to respond as the Holy Spirit leads you.

How can I help?

• Brant will take some much-needed time over the summer to be with his immediate family. As a UChurch family, we want to free him from any responsibilities during this season.

Meals

• A very practical way to bless and help is with meal preparation. Barb Cox will be the point person, she will receive and store frozen meals and distribute them as needed to the family. Please reach out to her at barb.cox@uchurch.ca.

Donations

• Over the next few weeks, there will be practical expenses for funeral arrangements, etc. We are looking into creating a place to receive such donations. In the meantime, if you feel led to, please put aside any funds you want to give. There will be more details to come soon.

Prayer

• Please pray for the God of all comfort to manifest himself as Brant, Dustin, Katie, Amy and their spouses and children grieve and mourn. Please remember to send any messages to councilteam@uchurch.ca if you want to share anything you hear or sense.

We will do our best to communicate any further information, such as possible future group prayer times or gatherings, where donations will be collected, and other ways to support the family on the UChurch website.

Lastly, we want to share a note from Brant, Dustin, Katie and Amy -

“We want to let everyone know that all the prayers and support received have been such a comfort in this time. We appreciate all those who have reached out; it has touched our hearts. Thank you so much.”

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers during this difficult time.

From our hearts,

UChurch Council Team

Barb, Bob & Jan, Catherine, Erick & Jodie, John & Rowena, Karl & Siobhan, Lance, Peggye, Rob & Donna & Tara

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