Video – Remembrance Service in Canton

A Remembrance day service was held in the Municipality of Port Hope at the Community Hub in Canton on November 11, 2024.

The ceremony has been held at the location for several years with a number of members from the community taking part in the service including the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 577, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 30 Colour Party, Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, 116 Skeena Cadet Corps along with the Perrytown Church Choir.

Dignitaries in attendance were MP Philip Lawrence, Municipality of Port Hope Councillors Claire Holloway Wadhwani, Adam Pearson and Darrell Toms.

After the ceremony the tradition of placing stones of the Wall for Future Peace took place.

The tradition began nearly 30 years ago when it was suggested that attendees of Remembrance Day service bring a stone with them. The vision was to create a symbolic wall, a Wall for Future Peace, representing collective strength and unwavering commitment to a more peaceful world.

Each year, more stones are added bringing a simple, yet powerful act that carries a profound message.

 

Call to Worship 

 

Grace be unto you and peace,  

from God, Our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.  

The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God. 

Their bodies are buried in peace.;  

But their names live on forever.  

 

At the eleventh hour  

of the eleventh day  

of the eleventh month,  

time stands still for a moment. 

And we remember those who died, 

Not for the war, 

But for a world that would be free of war.  

 

Opening prayer 

Almighty God,  

You are the refuge and the strength. 

We humble ourselves in Your presence,  

And,  

remembering the great things You have done for us 

We lift up our hearts in adoration and praise. 

As you have gathered us together this day, 

We give you thanks for all who served their Country in time of trail. 

In remembrance of those  

who made the supreme sacrifice, 

Make us better men and women,  

and give us peace in our time., O Lord. 

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH 

For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth.  

the former things shall not be remembered  

or come to mind.  

But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.  

for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,  

and its people as a delight.  

I will rejoice in Jerusalem,  

and delight in my people,  

no more  

shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,  

or the cry of distress.  

No more  

shall there be in it  

an infant that lives but a few days,  

or an old person who does not live out a lifetime.  

for one who dies at a hundred years  

will be considered a youth,  

and one who falls short of a hundred  

will be considered accursed.  

They shall build houses  

and inhabit them;  

they shall plant vineyards  

and eat their fruit.  

They shall not build  

and another inhabit;  

they shall not plant  

and another eat;  

for like the days of a tree  

shall the days of my people be,  

and my chosen shall long enjoy  

the work of their hands.  

They shall not labour in vain,  

or bear children for calamity;  

for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord  

and their descendants as well.  

Before they call,  

I will answer,  

while they are yet speaking  

I will hear.  

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,  

the lion shall eat straw like the ox;  

but the serpent  

its food shall be dust!  

They shall not hurt  

or destroy  

on all my holy mountain,  

says the Lord.  

ISAIAH 65:17-25 

 

Sermon: 

We come here today,  

to remember and say thanks  

to our forebears,  

who stood up  

and indeed, fought for the world in today’s reading. 

In today’s reading from Isaiah,  

We are given a beautiful vision of the future.  

It is a message, 

 filled with joy, hope and peace.  

Our future,  

is not something to be dreaded or feared— 

In June of 1914, this was all true and what followed was 4 years of war.  

Not ordained by God; but fashioned by men;  

Twenty-one years later we went to war again to restore peace and order to the world. 

Since 1945, we have seen a series of wars and skirmishes.  

Even today we are witnessing the war in Ukraine, Palestine and Israel.   

We, as humanity, sincerely thank those who gave up their youth  

to give us the rights we enjoy today  

and we hope to achieve  

the kind of peaceful world talked about in today’s reading.        

God promises a new heaven  

and a new earth  

a new Jerusalem.  

No more weeping or crying   

no hate and no more war.  

Enemies shall become friends 

—wolves and lambs,  

lions and oxen,  

even serpents shall live in harmony and peace. 

Let us all make the supreme effort  

that the tyrants of this world  

become our friends,  

They can turn from enemies to friends.   

Let the kingdom of peace grow.  

The sum of everything:  

There must be a reign of peace.  

Let us bring peace without sword  

or force or tyranny.   

We will all have the same inheritance. 

Until then, we are blessed with small glimpses of that future  

whenever love and peace shine in us  

and through us.  

Today, we look forward to that future.  

when all violence, hatred, sin,  

death and evil shall end; 

May that future start today Amen 

 

Prayer of Remembrance 

 

Almighty God, 

As you have gathered Your people together this day 

in hallowed remembrance,  

we give You thanks for all 

who laid down their lives for our sake,  

and whom You have gathered  

from the storm of war  

into the peace of Your presence.  

Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us,  

that we at the last,  

being faithful unto death,  

may received with them  

the crown of life. 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen 

 

Benediction  

The peace of God which passes all understand, 

Keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of God, 

And his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 

And the blessing of God Almighty,  

The Father, 

The Son, 

And the Holy Spirit  

be among you and remain with you always    

Amen.