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Madison Christian Community
Weekly E-Letter
Each week, MCC sends an email newsletter with details about worship;
congregational events, activities and opportunities; information about
happenings in the community and wider church; and more. You can subscribe to
this free e-letter!
Click here.
Kudos
to the Green Team
The Green Team has finished harvesting for the season. With their love and
sweat equity, they grew in our food pantry garden and donated over 2-1/2
tons of produce to our neighbors at MOM, Chrysalis, Lussier, and Tree Lane.
5,362 pounds, to be specific. Thanks to the many hands that made this
possible.
Because of You, Our Church Changes Lives
Pledge
Reminder
Have you turned in your membership and pledge commitment form yet? If so, a
big Thank You! If not, but you’re planning to do so, please turn it in this
week if at all possible. Our anticipated income determines how we will be
able to equip ourselves for ministry in the coming year, including staff
compensation, building upkeep, education, and outreach. Pledge forms are
available in the Shalom Room, or you can fill them out electronically.
Hope's form can be found
here; Advent's form can be found
here. Thank you to all who have already or will soon make their
membership commitments and pledges of time, talent, and treasure. With our
combined gifts, our church will continue to change lives in the coming year!
Hope's form can be found
here.
Advent's form can be found
here.
2019 Stewardship Team: Betty Custer, Ellen Ermer, Larry Henning, Rita Olson,
and both pastors
2020
Men's Retreat
February 7-9, 2020 at Mt. Morris Camp &
Conference Center
http://www.mt-morris.org/
Join us for a laid back weekend set on 200 acres of woodland & prairie.
Activities include disc golf in the snow, conversations by the fireplace,
hiking (or bring your cross country skis), games, or even catching up on
sleep and reading. Everyone is encouraged to choose what they want their
weekend to be. We gather together for meals. John Szalkowski (772-5491 or
jszalkowski2@gmail.com)
Youth Speed Gaming and Taco Night
4 minutes are ticking away...do you double down...out maneuver...roll the
dice...draw a new card... turn right ...turn left...all before time runs
out...and you switch seats...and switch games. Only one thing is for
certain! Tacos. Lots n lots of tacos. Ice cream sundaes will be on hand to
help celebrate or ease the sting of losing.
Middle schoolers and high schoolers,
Saturday November 16, 6:00-8:00 at church.
Call All MCC Carolers
Please join voices on
Monday, December 2nd from 6:30-7:30
at St Marys Care Center (3401 Maple Grove Rd) to share holiday songs with
the residents. This is a lovely tradition of the MCC and the residents enjoy
the singing and ofter join in on their favorite songs! There will be a
post-sing gathering at Lori DeMeuse’s house (6517 Fairhaven Rd ). Please
bring a holiday treat to share if you can and enjoy some fellowship!! Any
questions contact Karen Kuhn - 609-4351.
Deck the Halls!
MCC will be decorating for Advent/Christmas on
Tuesday, Dec 3 at 6 pm.
If you're on Advent's Arts Committee, you may already be aware. Community of
Hope folks, we can use some volunteers to join the fun of getting things set
up in our sanctuary. If you have questions, contact Pat Eddings or Linda
Mahlberg. Thanks!
MCC Quilters
We meet the first Tuesday of every month at 9am at MCC. The women in this
group enjoy the fun of making warm and beautiful quilts for Lutheran World
Relief. The quilters are taught everything they need to know and provided
with any needed “tools.” If you can stay into the afternoon, we encourage
you to bring a lunch. Contact the church office.
MCC GEMs (Grumpy Elderly Men)
November Topic
Members are retired, but not necessarily grumpy or elderly. We meet at MCC
on Tuesdays at 10:30am to discuss books chosen by the group and to engage in
conversation about current issues. In November, David Keesey-Berg will lead
us in learning and discussing "The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call
for Moral Revival" (https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/?source=direct_link)
, the topic at June’s Washington Island Forum led by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove,
and reading and discussing his book, Strangers at My Door. Contact: Jim
Eastman, 298-7155.
2019 Bible Reading
Would you like to set a goal of reading through the whole Bible this
year (or even having a nudge to read some more) and understand the fuller
narrative of God’s story in scripture? Pastor Nick again has available
copies of his reading guide, with a format mixing Old and New Testament
readings of about three chapters per day. You can pick up a booklet at
church on Sunday or find the
electronic version here.
Racial Justice in Action at the MCC
Opportunities to participate with Jesus
in creating a racially just world.
MCC Goes to the Movies: “Harriet”
Would you be interested in
seeing the movie "Harriet" together the afternoon of
Sun, Nov 17?
This movie is an inspirational recounting of Harriet Tubman, an enslaved
African who risked her life to gain freedom. She went on to became one of
the most successful conductors of the Underground Railroad, and even led a
military regiment. If you are interested and could commit to that day, let
Pastor Sonjaknow as soon as possible. If the movie doesn't run that long
in the theater, but if we have 20 or more people coming, it’s possible we
can book a private showing.
Volunteer with Dane Sanctuary Coalition
to Support the Aguilar Family
The Aguilar Aguirre family is settling in well at Orchard Ridge UCC. The
congregation, Dane Sanctuary Coalition's Community Resource Team (CRT),
Sanctuary volunteers, and Dane County Immigration Affairs Specialist Fabiola
Hamdan and her assistant have been meeting the needs related to their
housing and connecting the family with the schools, medical services,
employment services, and legal help. As the situation has evolved, it has
become clear that additional assistance is needed from all of our Coalition
partners in two areas:
1. Volunteers to sign up for a variety of tasks. Volunteers must have
attended a Know Your Rights training and clear a background check.
2. Technical Assistance: Training will be provided. Contact Dorit
Bergen if interested.
Administrator for the volunteer scheduling program in conjunction with two
others. This is similar to our MSP program, and Emily Wixson is also on that
team.
Shift Coordinator to ensure that volunteer shifts are covered using the
volunteer scheduling software and that volunteers have what they need for
their tasks. There will be a two-hour training for all technical assistance
roles.
3. Funding: The family needs an estimated $800/month to help with
basic needs such as food, laundry, phone. If you wish to make an individual,
tax-deductible contribution, send a check for Dane Sanctuary Coalition to
Orchard Ridge UCC, c/o Pastor Laura Crow, 1501 Gilbert Rd, Madison 53711.
Free Weekly Devotional Message; Mondays
Augsburg Fortress sends a devotional message and selection of
artwork based on a Bible reading. Interested,
click here to sign up.
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Boundary Waters Group 2019
Advent Endowment Accepting Applications
The Advent Mission Endowment Committee is accepting applications from MCC
members for grants for one of its biannual disbursements. The application
with eligibility criteria is available on the website (click
here) or through the church office and must be submitted to the office
or to the current committee chair, Linda Pils, at
lindapils@sbcglobal.net. The application period is between October 25
and December 7.
Holy
Land Trip
Pastor Nick is currently leading ten folks from MCC, eight from All Saints
Lutheran in Palatine, Illinois, and another pair from Annapolis in an
exploration of the Holy Land. Most, including Pastor Nick, return this
Monday, November 18. (A few participants are doing a Petra extension and
returning the 20th.) MCC participants include Raelene Freitag and LisaAnn
Trembath, Sue Gubner, Linda and Roger Pettersen and Erik, Ellen Soto,
Rebecca Weise and daughter Audrey. If you’d like to follow their travels,
here is the itinerary. You can also follow along with posts Nick is
making on our public
MCC Facebook page.
Coverage
Pastor Nick is away with the group traveling to Palestine/Israel. Filling in
November 17 will be. This week David Keesey-Berg will be preaching.
Pastor Sonja will be available for any pastoral care needs.
Becoming a Dementia-Friendly Church
In October, we had presentations about becoming a
dementia-friendly church. That included information about what we can do at
MCC to make it easier for folks with dementia and their caregivers to
participate. We heart enthusiasm for moving forward with this. Lynn
Breedlove had agreed to serve as the point person for this effort, and we’re
looking for others to assist. If you’re interested in helping move this
process along, have questions, or want to share your reaction to becoming a
Dementia Friendly church, please
contact Lynn
or one of the pastors. And if you’d like additional information about the
October presentations, you can see Lynn’s article from last Thursday in
this document.
Porchlight
Dinner
On Friday, November 22 MCC will serve its last dinner of 2019 to homeless
men at the Porchlight shelter at Grace Episcopal. (This is Not Thanksgiving
weekend.) So far this year, the Thursday Morning Coffee Women and Jewel
groups as well as Confirmation Class and ad hoc gatherings of individuals
have served. If you or your group are interested and need more information,
please contact Ken Streit.
Adult Education
Nov 17 –
In the Covenant Room at 9:00 this Sunday, Lynn Breedlove will facilitate an
MCC Community Conversation about Becoming a Dementia Friendly Church. This
opportunity follows up on our October presentations related to this issue.
(Marie Stolzenburg, who was going to present this Sunday, needed to
reschedule, so watch for a new date for her after the first of the year.)
Nov 24 –
A Pre-Thanksgiving session on gratitude, including celebrating your
commitments – “Because of you, our church changes lives!”
Dec 1 –
Denny Weaver, a retired Mennonite theology professor and friend of Pastor
Nick’s who was last with us to give an overview of African American
theologies, will lead a session on “Jesus the Rebel.”
Dec 8 –
Follow-up discussion on Denny Weaver’s presentation.
Sunday Adult Discussion
3rd Sunday of the Month at 9:00 am
All are welcome to attend Adult Discussion (formerly “Parent Hour”) the
3rd Sunday of the month, downstairs. Anyone with interest in
sharing the challenges and occasional triumphs of parenting is invited. The
group is accepting, and always has a robust discussion. Anyone with a
commitment to our youth, regardless of parental status, is encouraged to
join us!
It’s Never Too Early to Think PIE
Wednesday, November 27 at 6:30 pm
Our Thanksgiving Eve worship gathering with St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic
Parish is coming up quickly! And that means PIE! (In addition to worshiping,
singing, and praying our thanks to God, of course!) It’s MCC’s turn to host.
You can help us provide hospitality with the donation of a delicious pie for
the reception. If you can help organize our reception as kitchen crew,
please let one of the pastors know.
Freedom Inc. Holiday Gift Giving
This will be our third year extending ourselves to our neighbors connected
to Freedom Inc., a grassroots organization that serves no- to low-income
people of color in Madison in a variety of ways, particularly those
experiencing violence. FI offers an opportunity for those who have been
privileged by systems that reward our racial or gender identities to
redistribute our resources in this small but tangible way. Last year, with
great appreciation from FI and in partnership with Middleton Preschool, we
were able to provide holiday gifts to over 80 assigned individuals and
collected an additional 42 gift cards that were distributed to others still
awaiting assignment. Look for sign-up forms in your bulletin this week.
You can also find a link here. You may sign up to purchase gifts or gift
cards for a specific individual, or you are welcome to make non-assigned
contributions of $25 gift cards for grocery stores, gas stations, or stores
such as Target or Walmart that sell a variety of goods at low cost. (Please
no Amazon gift cards or others that require access to a computer to use.)
All gifts due by Sunday, Dec 8.
Friends of Tree Lane Family Apartments
Here is the
Tree Lane wish list for November:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050b4caaaa2caa8-tree4
Please limit drop off at the MCC donation center to what is on the list. If
you have other things you’re interested in giving, check with us first.For
most clothing, household furnishings and electronics, new or gently used
items in good condition are accepted. For underwear, cleaning products,
consumables please donate new, unopened. Jean Einerson & Ann Ward will pick
up donated items from MCC and deliver them on the first and third Monday of
the month. Items that are needed all the time include: diapers, wipes, HE
laundry detergent and dish washing detergent. Thank you for keeping Tree
Lane families in your prayers.
Java For Justice
First Sunday of the Month
Coffee can be purchased in 12 oz. ($10) or 4 lb. ($45) bags; regular or decaf; bean, drip or perk. Make your checks payable to Mt.
Meru Coffee Project and place them in the envelope by the sign-up sheet in
the Shalom Room on the Coffee Table. Your support remains the sustaining
force in the lives of many coffee-farming families in Tanzania.
Thanks for your continued support.
Faith Formation & Affinity Groups
Fellowship
groups, Bible study groups prayer groups and shared interest groups are all
found on our Faith Formations & Affinity Groups page.
Click here.
Food Drive for Lussier Food Pantry
First Sunday of the Month
Please remember to make a special effort to bring food for the pantry.
Suggested items include canned goods (fruit, vegetables, tuna, beef stew,
fruit juice, etc.), also peanut butter, jelly, and cereal. We also need
large paper grocery bags. Please do not put pet food in with donations for
the Lussier Food Pantry. We do not have facilities to handle fresh produce.
For those who prefer to donate money, checks can be made out to the Lussier
Community Education Center, designated for the pantry. Dobbin McNatt,
Coordinator
Two
Minute Bible
 MCC member Don Falkos has been working on a new
Bible storytelling project to offer Bible stories in two minute
episodes. That’s why it’s called “Two Minute Bible” and is found at
http://twominutebible.com. Two new stories are posted each week.
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Epiphany Choir Concert 2018 Directed by Jen
Striet
Community of Hope
UCC
Community of Hope: Let’s Dream Together!
Sunday, September 15th in worship the Steering Committee introduced a
document called “Desired Future Conditions” to articulate our congregational
aspirations as we look ahead to the coming years.
You can find a copy of that here. In addition, they’ve scheduled
opportunities for small group conversations that are coming up soon. These
are for everyone at Hope—whether a long time member or a new attendee—who
has a stake in who we are and who God is calling us to be.
Sign up online here or on Sunday.
SWA Shalom
Community of Hope, we encourage all of our members to keep up with the
goings on of the closer-in wider church by subscribing to the e-newsletter
for our Southwest Wisconsin Association. Click
here to
send an email to sign up.
Grow in Faith with the UCC Lay Academy
Lay Academy is a ministry of transformation and
faith formation offered by the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of
Christ. Participants dive into scripture, explore theology, consider God’s
presence in their lives and discover fresh ways to speak about and live out
their faith in their day-to-day lives. Classes are held throughout the year. For more detailed information, go to
www.wcucc.org/layacademy or talk to Pastor Sonja.
Advent Lutheran
Church
South-Central Synod Interim Bishop
Peter Rogness, a brother of Andrew and former bishop of Milwaukee and St.
Paul, has been named interim bishop for our synod.
You can find a few more details here.
Blessing Room Baptismal Font
A new addition to our baptismal font is a bowl by potter George Lowe, a
Luther College professor and brother-in-law of Kris and Paul Wilkie. The
bowl was given in honor of the baptism of their granddaughter Charlotte last
month.
2019 Holy Land Trip
November
8-18
After a combined meeting last Saturday with the contingent from All Saints
Lutheran in Palatine, Illinois, the group is almost ready to travel and
explore the Holy Land together, departing next Friday November 8 and
returning Monday, November 18. (A few participants are doing a Petra
extension and returning the 20th.) Group participants include Raelene
Freitag and LisaAnn Trembath, Sue Gubner, Linda and Roger Pettersen and
Erik, Ellen Soto, Rebecca Weise and daughter Audrey, Pastor Nick, his
seminary classmate Sara Yotter and her husband Justin.
View the tour description
at
www.gtd.org/post/pdfbrochure/191108.pdf.
Click for Pictures from 2016 Trip
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In the Wider Church . . .
News from Synod
Re-Assembly
November 9, the South-Central
Synod of Wis. reconvened in assembly at Our Savior’s in Sun Prairie. MCC
representatives will include Pastor Nick, Ken Streit, and Kaisa Miller. The
interim bishop Peter Rogness provided these documents as
welcome and to
introduce the new bishop election process.
Racial Justice in Action Opportunities in
the Wider Church and Community
Witnessing Whiteness Series
Mondays from
6:00-8:30pm at the Sequoya Library, 4340 Tokay Boulevard in Madison. Here
are the ten dates: 11/4/2019, 11/11/2019, 11/18/2019, 11/25/2019, 12/2/2019,
12/9/2019, 12/16/2019, 1/6/2020, 1/13/2020, and 1/27/2020. You can register
here.
Racial Bias Training
Sat, Nov 23 from 9:30 am to
3:00 pm, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 4011 Major Avenue, Madison. Hosted
by MOSES/WISDOM. Learn to recognize and understand implicit bias to build
stronger communities. Instruction, videos, and discussion will help us dig
into implicit bias and why it's an important topic. We'll also engage in
group and independent activities, allowing for deeper self-reflection. In
closing, we will discuss the way forward, personally and for our
communities. Please bring a dish to share for lunch.
Click here for more information and to RSVP.
"Seeing
White" Podcast
Along with books and movies, we are going to start including suggestions for
podcasts that can help you engage with issues of racial justice. For those
of us who identify as white, helping to dismantle injustices of white
supremacy starts best with an examination of our own life and world, since
we won't be able to heal what we can't see. A really good resource while
walking that path is a podcast series called "Seeing White." It explores
questions of what it means to be White, what it means to have a history of
Whiteness, where Whiteness came from, and how it has evolved. You can
find the show page here, with the option of listening to it online, or
on your favorite podcast app. Consider getting friends or a group you are in
to listen to it and reflect together on the questions it brings up.
Know Your Rights Training
The next Know Your Rights training will take place on Nov. 24, 10:45 a.m. to
12:15 p.m. at Beth Israel Center on Mound St. This training is required for
volunteers working with the family we are currently housing at Orchard Ridge
UCC. Please RSVP to Dorit Bergen at elanor3560@att.net.
Faith & Freedom Tour: Birmingham,
Montgomery & Selma
This Wisconsin Council of Churches event to pilgrimage through American
slavery and the Black American Civil Rights in Alabama comes up
March 13-20 or 20-27, 2020.
Cost is $1075 per person, double occupancy, which includes bus
transportation from Milwaukee, lodging, tour guide and entrance fees.
Register at
www.raceandfaith.org. For more information:
rhonda@raceandfaith.org (414) 736-0523.
Wis. Council of Churches’ Annual Meeting:
God in the Streets
Tuesday December 10th, 8:30-4:00 at
Christ Presbyterian Church
944 E Gorham St
Do you care about: gun violence, your faith &
your vote, building 1:1 relationships and community networks, or where we
can find God at work in so many activist movements like Black Lives Matter,
March for Our Lives, the Climate Strike and more? Come to the WCC Annual
Meeting with Keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. Alton B. Pollard III, will speak on
"God in the Wild", where God is moving through movements for social change.
The meeting will also feature workshops on WCC’s newest resource “Faith &
Gun Violence: Who is My Neighbor,” WCC's business meeting, a spoken word
performance, and worship.
Register here.
Epiphany Retreat – Moon Beach
December 27- January 1
This intergenerational retreat is a relaxing change of pace after the hustle
and bustle of the Christmas season. Come and join us in the Northwoods
playground for some unstructured time as well as some group activities.
There will be ice skating, sledding, and skiing, while the fireplace in the
lodge will be a warm and cheery gathering place for those wishing to read,
sew, or just relax. We will usher in the new year with a celebration and a
talent show. Everyone and every family are welcome. Join us for a relaxing
and rejuvenating time.
Register here.
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