Palermo United Church

 

"WE invite our community to grow with us as followers of Jesus"

 

About our Pastors
Join us each Sunday morning for worship at 10:00 A.M. with our rotating worship team of Rev. John Ambrose and Glenn MacPherson.  Following is a brief profile of our worship team:
 

Rev. John Ambrose

John has just marked his 50^th year in ministry.  The years have taken him from serving congregations in Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, to Toronto and Mississauga.  In addition to pastoral work with congregations, he has served as the first Staff Appointment for Worship in the United Church, and more recently as the Editor of Voices United.

In his ‘random’ retirement he has been Mission Development Officer for Halton Presbytery, and served as intentional interim minister with five congregations going through times of transition.  He currently serves as President of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, and as vice-Chair of the Board of directors of the United Church Observer.  With his wife, Catherine, he is deeply involved in music and the arts in Mississauga where they have lived for 34 years.  He recently received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award for community service.

Glenn MacPherson

Glenn was born and raised in Renfrew, Ontario.  He grew in faith with the St. Andrew's United Church community.  Glenn and his wife Judith were married there by the late Rev. Howard Dickenson, who had a positive impact on them in their teenage years.  As a young family in Roxboro, Quebec, they led a church youth group called the "7-Ups."
Their family grew as they moved from Canada to the United Kingdom to the United States and then back to Canada.  They have three adult children and two grandchildren.  Through all this, their spiritual journey continued through church involvement and Glenn's  participation within the church and with non-denominational men's bible study groups. Glenn felt called to go back to school as a mature student at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto and after six years of study, graduated in 2006 with a Diploma in Lay Ministry.
Judith and Glenn have been members of Glen Abbey United Church since 1991, and it was there that Rev. Bill Brown and the Worship Committee invited Glenn to lead a service of worship for the first time.  It was not easy, but with support of Bill and others, this first service offered a clear glimpse of where God was calling Glenn.  Since then, Glenn has lead many services of worship in a diversity of settings and contexts.  Over the last five years, the Rev. Dr. Jeff Crittenden, the current minister of Glen Abbey United, has both encouraged him to continue to explore his calling to worship leadership and ministry and has, with the worship committee, provided many opportunities to do so.  As confirmed by others, Glenn sees that he is growing more comfortable in the role as he learns new skills, continue to study our traditions and, above all, deepen his personal spiritual life.
Since 2008, Glen Abbey United Church in partnership with Palermo United Church (Oakville) has entrusted Glenn with providing worship leadership once a month with Palermo.  "It is with a great deal of enthusiasm and humility that I approach my opportunities at Palermo.  My wife and I both get a great sense of acceptance and support from the Palermo congregation.  All of these experiences continue to point me in the direction of a powerful sense of call to ministry in the United Church of Canada.  It is with this sense of call that I offer myself to proclaim the good news about God's love and invitation".
Judith and Glenn are grateful for God's incredible Grace and the interesting life experiences that have brought them to this point.  Thanks be to God.