Sunday, January 23
- 9:15am Informal Fellowship Time
- 9:30am Zoom Worship (contact Anne for details on how to join)
- Speaker: Doug Kaufman, Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions
- Message topic: Creation and Anabaptist Aspirations
- 10:30am Sermon discussion
- 7:00pm Action/Reflection Creation Caring Group
Thursday, January 27
- 7:00pm Bible Study (contact Anne for details on how to join)
Saturday, January 29
- 9:00am-12:00pm Zoom Retreat Session with Doug Kaufman
- This is an important gathering. Please plan on attending and set aside to be fully present and willing to engage via Zoom.
- 7:00pm MennoZoom Live (a fun talent/variety show; contact Jim for details on how to join)
- Everyone is invited to join in with something like a skit, music, short poem, joke, etc. Please let Jim and Becky know if you would like to participate so we can plan an order for the evening.
Sunday, January 30
- 9:15am Informal Fellowship Time
- 9:30am Zoom Worship (contact Anne for details on how to join)
PRAYER TEXT GROUP
Often Anne will receive requests for prayer as our weeks unfold between Sundays. She is happy to share in those prayer needs. Many of our congregations’ participants are also willing to add their prayers to needs that are shared.
If you are interested in being in a text group for prayers, please let Anne know and I will create that group. Linda will relay them to the praying text group.
NOTE: No request will be shared with the text group without your request or permission to share. Requests shared just with me–or with another–will be kept confidential unless you request that they be shared.
Please let Anne know before the end of January if you want to add your gifts and energy for prayer to this group. (This will function as a “prayer chain” even though we no longer need to phone one another person by person.)
In response to the National Defense Authorization Act, Mennonite Church USA and Mennonites Against Militarism co-wrote a “Statement on the value and morality of the 2022 U.S. defense budget.” This statement speaks out against the funding of this act and gives several tangible ways that you can take action. Read the statement here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/transformational-peacemaking/statement-2022-defense-budget/.
Through his mother’s recent death, Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) Executive Director Glen Guyton gained a renewed appreciation for the brevity of life and an understanding that life is too short for anger and hatred. In his blog, “A change in me, be transformed,” Guyton encourages MC USA delegates to keep this in mind, as they prepare for the Special Session of the Delegate Assembly, May 27-30, in Kansas City, Missouri. Read more here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/menno-snapshots/a-change-in-me-be-transformed/.
Recycle That Denim
Recycle old denim into new insulation. Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green repurposes any denim apparel and puts it to good use. Since 2019, the program has diverted 87.5 tons of waste from landfills and processed more than 72,000 denim items in 2021 alone. Shipping is free. Visit their website.
Plastic Pollution Needs Systemic Change
It’s everywhere! It’s everywhere! Plastic pollution threatens so much of our lives and especially our oceans. It’s time to advocate for systemic change. Check out the bill that is before Congress now: Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act. Write to your Senators and Representatives. For more incentive, visit breakfreefromplastic.org.
A little bit of humor from actual church signs, courtesy of Jim—
This too shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone, but it’s gonna pass.