Rev. Takouhi Demirdjian-Petro
Pieces of My Life
Every day is a piece of the larger puzzle that we create.
Every moment is the revelation of the bigger picture.
The pieces have dark and light images, but ALL make up One picture.
With its beauty and bleak moments, we do know that unimaginable possibilities are found in every moment for all of us to grow deep and expand our horizons.
The purpose of this blog is to share my journey. The blogs are divided into two sections. One will be snippets of my personal life (Personal Pieces) and the other will be my ministry life (Ministry Pieces); however they both are one whole event called Takouhi.
You are welcome to accompany me on this journey; and as you make the time to read, may you find nuggets of comfort, challenge and courage to help you continue your own journey.
Every moment is a gift, may we share that gift with everyone on this journey of Everlasting Love. Amen.
Broadcast Schedule
Grace United Church - 10:30 am on YouTube
Bread for the Journey - 9 am Sunday on YouTube & Facebook, Noon and 5:30 pm on Cogeco in Smiths Falls, Perth, and surrounding areas.
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Study Leave – Festival of Homiletics Gathering – May 14, 2023
Dear Grace United, It is the most wonderful time of the year for your minister, as she prepares to leave for her annual preaching conference – Festival of Homiletics. Yes, some people attend music festivals, garlic festivals, and many other sorts of festivals, but your minister attends a preaching festival. This festival is a learning, enriching and growing opportunity for all ministers and lay leaders from all over the world. I have been fortunate enough to be able to attend this festival, either live or virtually, since 2013. It is one of the most powerful lifelong learning events that I attend each ... Read more
A Prayer of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide
April 24, 1915
April 24 is the Armenian Genocide Commemoration date. In 2015, the Canadian Parliament passed Motion M-587 to declare the month of April as Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month, and mark April 24 as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. A Prayer of Remembrance – Armenian Genocide – April 24, 1915 [1] Holy and Life-Giving God, we come to you today with trust, knowing that Your Spirit hovers over all existence, bringing Light out of darkness, Life out of nothingness, Beauty out of ashes and Resurrection from the depths of the earth. Today, we remember the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire, that was ... Read more
Time Away – Easter 2023
Easter 2023 Dear Grace United Church, What a joy it is to be journeying with you! Would you believe that this is our third Easter together? I have been blessed, and still am, to be serving congregations that understand the hardships of being a minister and offer a reprieve following the high seasons of the church, Advent/Christmas, and Lent/Easter. Preparing weekly worship with meaningful sermons is the small part of the iceberg that is visible from the pulpit each week. Not many realize the depth of accompanying all those who are walking through the shadow of death. Of course, there ... Read more
Mandate of Love – for Holy/Maundy Thursday
Holy One, Your mandate to us is to live Love, and make this world a better place. Jesus, our Teacher, Friend, and Example to follow, took bread, blessed, broke, and gave it to others. He was the Word made flesh, Your Word, the Bread of Life. Today, we want to be like Jesus, and have your Word live in and through us. Therefore, we urge you to bless us, break us, and help us share ourselves with others – even to the point of death. You promise to sanctify and multiply all that we willingly give and help us make ... Read more
Broken & Spilled Out – VIBE closing prayer – March 8, 2023
Holy One, We come to you and offer all that we are and all that we have. We come to you broken and spilled out, tired and worn out from the way of the world, and TURN to Your Love; because Your LOVE breaks down barriers, builds relationships, and strengthens us to CARRY ON. We pray, wholeheartedly, and bow down at the feet of Your LOVE and surrender all selfish ways and live in the WAY ... Read more
Words from the Heart for The Rev. David Timpson: A Man After God’s Own Heart – February 28, 2023
Dearly Beloved, I am Takouhi Demirdjian-Petro, and I serve the Creator through Grace United Church in Gananoque, the Canadian Gateway to the Thousand Islands. Today, I stand here before you because I had the amazing privilege to know David and Brenda since 2009, when I came to Ontario from Quebec to do my internship at Elgin-Portland Pastoral Charge in the Rideau Lakes Township (between Ottawa and Kingston). When I moved to Portland for the eight-month internship, I did not know the area and felt lost and out of place. However, there was a minister, Rev. David Timpson, who served the ... Read more
Grace United Church – Gananoque – Minister’s Annual Report 2022 – AGM 2023 – February 12
“Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…” First Corinthians 13:4-8a (NRSV) Dearly Beloved, the above verses are usually read at weddings. Last year, I had the privilege to officiate nine weddings. However, I also had the honour of presiding at twenty-two different funerals. I have learned, and now, I ... Read more
Time Away – Feb. 15-22, 2023 – February 8, 2023
Dear Grace United Church, If I told you that I cannot remember many birthday celebrations, while growing up in Lebanon – but only four and a fifth one that is very blurry – you would not believe me. Four birthday celebrations in the first fifteen years of my life. Of course it did not help that the Civil War in Lebanon began when I was not even eight years old (1975). My very first memory of a birthday celebration was in 1977, my 10th birthday, when my sister Ruth and my dad, Vramshabouh, surprised me at school. They showed up with ... Read more
Peace that Surpasses ALL Understanding – Jan. 29, 2023
Have you ever been in a storm, both figuratively and literally, but sense PEACE that surpasses all understanding? Today, we go back to Jan. 12, 2015, when Gary and I left our house to go to Gananoque to take care of a few errands. There was gentle snow coming down, but the weather was not stormy. We did not make anything about it and went on with our plans. We were about 10-15 km away from Gan, our Honda Element took a spin and Gary said, “Here we go honey, hold on tight”. Our car went zig-zag to the oncoming ... Read more