Saturday, January 28
- 10:00am-3:00pm Illinois Conference Day of Discernment, Lombard Mennonite Church
Sunday, January 29 Service Sunday
- 9:30am NSMC and CCMC Service Project (see announcement below)
Thursday, February 2
- 7:00pm Bible Study on Genesis 3 with Shane (contact Anne for details on how to join Zoom)
Friday-Sunday, February 3-5 Church Retreat
- See detailed announcement below
January 29 Service Sunday
Bring a good knife to church on Sunday, January 29, to help chop and prepare dinner and lunch for The Haven, a women’s and children’s shelter. Cooking supplies, recipes and directions will be at each congregation to prepare and cook together.
Worship will originate this week at the Civic Center in Libertyville. Shane will bring the message. Then, instead of discussion time following worship, each congregation can work together to get the meals prepped and assembled. Anne will pick up the finished meals and deliver them for dinner and for lunch the following day.
Church Retreat at Menno Haven Camp & Retreat Center
Some members from CCMC and NSMC will attend the retreat there from Friday, February 3 through Sunday, February 5. The topic for the sessions will be The Five Life Standards first offered by Doris Janzen Longacre in her book, Living More With Less. They are: “Do justice. Learn from the world community. Nurture people. Cherish the natural order. Nonconform freely.” The retreat learning sessions will be live via Zoom on Saturday, from 9:00am to 2:00pm with pauses for break at 10:30-10:45am and for lunch from 12:00pm to 1:00pm.
Worship on Sunday, February 5 will be led by North Suburban Mennonite Church from Camp Menno Haven via Zoom. Ric Hudgens, former co-pastor of North Suburban, will be speaking. The worship Zoom link will be used for the Saturday morning sessions as well as worship on Sunday. Look for the Zoom link and worship plan in your email on Friday, February 3. Both the retreat learning sessions with Ric and the worship on Sunday morning will be recorded. Let Anne know if you are interested in seeing the recording.
Mennonite Church USA has released the MennoCon23 block schedule and registration rates. Learn more about MennoCon23 here: mennoniteusa.org/mennocon23-schedule
Sarah Augustine, co-founder and executive director of the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition, is both Indigenous and a Mennonite, two identities that she believes complement one another. In her blog post, “I am Indigenous and an Anabaptist,” she shares how she incorporates her cultural heritage into her faith journey. Read it here: mennoniteusa.org/i-am-indigenous-and-an-anabaptist
–from Creation Justice Ministries
Sing Hymns of Creation
Find/choose some creation-themed hymns to sing at church. Some ideas: “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and “The Ocean is a Call to Worship.”
–from Creation Justice Tips | United Methodist Church
Find a Green Insurance Company
Look beyond your insurance policy to see what’s happening at the office. Collecting money from all the policy owners, the company invests it—often in fossil fuels. Imagine if that money went instead to renewables or other life-giving enterprises! It’s your money. Find an insurer that invests in the future not the past.
Use a Smart Thermostat
Imagine your home as warm as you need it to be without costing you or Earth a penalty. Reap the advantages of a smart thermostat for heating and cooling or add weather stripping or caulking around windows and doors, thermal drapes or blinds, and insulation. These relatively inexpensive changes pay off rapidly for you and for future generations of earth-dwellers too.
MCC Thrifty 50 Challenge
Do you want to help our planet but aren’t sure where to start? MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) Thrift is celebrating their 50th anniversary by issuing 50 challenges to help us be more equipped to care for our planet. We’ll include one challenge each week for the next 50 weeks.
Week 33 | Kitchen challenge | Start a stock bag
It’s the final week of our kitchen challenge! Hooray for making it here!
This week, we’re getting scrappy . . . with our veggie and herb scraps.
Ever wonder if there’s another use for your veggie and herb scraps? Wonder no more.
This week, instead of throwing away leftover scraps, start a stock bag by putting them in a freezer bag. When you have enough, make some hearty veggie broth.
Freeze leftover bits of onion and garlic, carrot peel, ginger ends or even those almost expired veggies you were ready to throw out in last week’s fridge clean-out challenge.
Once you’ve got about eight cups of frozen veggies and herbs, make a veggie stock to sip on those chilly winter days or to feed your kids when they have the sniffles. Jillian Harris has a great recipe that takes minutes to prep. Once you’ve strained your broth, compost the leftover scraps.
Need some glass jars to store your broth in? You know the deal . . . your local MCC Thrift shop is a great source for jars.
Kitchen Tip of the Week
–from The Washington Post
Support local and in-season produce
Shopping local means fewer carbon emissions. Items don’t have to be transported, requiring less packaging. Eating seasonal produce supports sustainable agriculture ― i.e., crops produced during a season when adequate water is available as opposed to sourcing water to produce crops which are not in-season.