Kingston’s The Mess Studio 10 years old and going strong

by


Click on the link below to hear the interview of Sandi Dodds on CKWS News. 

‘It’s just like your family’: Kingston’s The Mess Studio 10 years old and going strong

Let’s talk about “The Mess.”

That’s the name of an art-based program in downtown Kingston, designed for those affected by poverty, addiction, mental and physical health issues. On Tuesday, The Mess officially celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Sandi Dodds is the executive director and co-founder.

“We’re called The Mess Studio because life can definitely be messy and so can art,” Dodds said.

The Art of Hanging Art

And according to Dodds, if you keep working on it and persevere — in both life and art — something beautiful will result. And that’s been the case as The Mess celebrates a decade on the Limestone City scene.

The initiative, which is run out of the basement of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in the downtown area, is a place where art and relationships come alive, Dodds says.

“We are diverse and inclusive but at the heart of The Mess are people that are struggling with physical or mental health, addition, poverty, loneliness,” Dodds explained.

“We qualify that only to say please come out. Don’t let anything stop you from being a part of our community, we want to remove all stigmas.”

Sharon Walker has been a part of The Mess for seven years now. She enjoys producing art, and she also enjoys the atmosphere where she does it.

“It’s really a great place to come and meet new people and it’s just like your family,” Walker said. “That’s what it is.”

Dodds and co-founder Mechele te Brake have taken something from humble beginnings to what it is today, and Dodds says they had no idea that they’d go two to 150 people.

The Mess has spent the past seven years at St. Andrews, all rent-free. The non-profit organization is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Article by:

© 2019 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The Sanctuary Windows of St. Andrew’s (8) The Children – Sunday September 8, 10:30 A.M.

by

This morning we conclude our summer series of services focusing upon the wonderful stained glass windows of the St. Andrew’s sanctuary. And how appropriate that, with the beginning of a new school year, we will gaze upon perhaps the loveliest of all gospel scenes, when Jesus declares ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs’ (Matthew 19: 14). Lovely indeed, but also radical. It is a scene that speaks about children, but to all of us, and does so with challenge and with promise.

We warmly welcome you to join us. Certified child care is offered during the service and there is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service. If you have any questions about forthcoming events and opportunities, please call the church office Tuesday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, 613-546-6316, or email [email protected]

Download (PDF, 347KB)

 

p.s. be sure to look at The Days of September for information about forthcoming services and events at St. Andrew’s

The Days of September

by

I am standing at the door and knocking
Revelation 3:20
Stained glass of St. Andrew’s sanctuary

As one season gives way to another, we hear the invitation to open our lives to the presence and promises of God (Revelation 3:14-22).

p.s. this is a print document file, so the formatting on your screen may not be ideal

Download (PDF, 1.16MB)

You are also invited to read the insert… Prayer Partnership, September 2019.

Download (PDF, 556KB)

The Sanctuary Windows of St. Andrew’s (7) At the Door – Sunday September 1, 10:30 A.M.

by

I am standing at the door and knocking ~Revelation 3:20~

Stained glass of St. Andrew’s sanctuary

As one season gives way to another, we hear the invitation to open our lives to the presence and promises of God (Revelation 3:14-22). We warmly welcome you to join us. Certified child care is offered during the service and there is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street. Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service. If you have any questions about forthcoming events and opportunities, please call the church office Tuesday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, 613-546-6316, or email [email protected]

Download (PDF, 229KB)

The Sanctuary Windows of St. Andrew’s (3) The Good Shepherd – Sunday August 4, 10:30 A.M.

by

Jesus the Good Shepherd Window

These Sundays of summer we are exploring the gospel through the stained glass windows of the sanctuary of St. Andrew’s and this morning, The Good Shepherd Window. Created by Castle and Son, with the inscription ‘He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom’ (Isaiah 40:11), and the dedicatory plaque ‘To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of Effie, the beloved daughter of William and Ellen Nickle, died July 23, 1877.’

We warmly welcome you to join us. Certified child care is offered during the service and there is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service. If you have any questions about forthcoming events and opportunities, please call the church office Tuesday -Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, 613-546-6316, or email [email protected]

 

Download (PDF, 193KB)

The Sanctuary Windows of St. Andrew’s (1) The Ten Commandments – Sunday July 21, 10:30 A.M.

by

These Sundays of summer we explore the gospel through the stained glass windows of the sanctuary of St. Andrew’s. As we do so, I am reminded of the beautiful poem The Windows by George Herbert (1593-1633) and the glorious opportunity for us to become windows through which God is ‘seen’ in this world!

Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word?
    He is a brittle crazy glass;
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
    This glorious and transcendent place,
    To be a window, through thy grace.
But when thou dost anneal in glass thy story,
    Making thy life to shine within
The holy preachers, then the light and glory
    More reverend grows, and more doth win;
    Which else shows waterish, bleak, and thin.
Doctrine and life, colors and light, in one
    When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and awe; but speech alone
    Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
    And in the ear, not conscience, ring.

What better window with which to begin than the one over one of the sanctuary doors … of the Ten Commandments. It is good to recall and reclaim these ‘ten words’ of God. The commandments have been reduced to a list of divine prohibitions, forgetting the great freedom that leaves us all else. They have been relegated to some objective legal code, neglecting the more meaningful context of covenant, the Sovereign One coming to the human ones in commitment and love, laying out for us the way of life that would honour God and ourselves. A small stained glass window, a great opportunity to consider the gospel!

A warm welcome in the name of Jesus Christ and a special welcome to all visitors and friends with us this morning.

During these services of summer,  we have our certified child care and there is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service. If you have any questions about forthcoming events and opportunities, please call the church office Tuesday -Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, 613-546-6316, or email [email protected]

Download (PDF, 228KB)

The Peace Tower – Sunday June 30, 10:30 A.M.

by

The Peace Tower Under Construction, 1921

The Peace Tower Under Construction After Fire of  1916

On this holiday weekend, a warm welcome in the name of Jesus Christ and a special welcome to all visitors and friends.

After the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa burned to the ground in 1916, they were rebuilt, and the Victoria Tower became the Peace Tower. The new tower arose in the shadow of World War One as a prayer for peace, a peace that would honour the sacrifice of so many deaths by banishing war. This morning we take up this prayer for peace, and explore in scripture and sermon where we find peace (in Christ!) and how we live peace (as Christians).

During the service, we will unfurl in the sanctuary the flag that flew over the Peace Tower on November 30, 2018. It is HUGE. I had applied for a flag some eighteen years ago, and its arrival by post caught me unawares – particularly when I realized it had been flown on St. Andrew’s Day!!!

During these services of summer, our certified child care There is free parking on the streets around (please note that the time-of-day restrictions on Clergy Street north of Queen are not in effect on Sundays) and in the surface civic lot just behind the church off Queen Street.

Have a look at the Order of Service and bulletin below, and consider each hymn and prayer and announcement a personal invitation to join us in Christian worship, community and service. If you have any questions about forthcoming events and opportunities, please call the church office Tuesday -Thursday, 9 a.m. – noon, or email [email protected]

Download (PDF, 184KB)