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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.
Porchlight Needs
Blankets
With this cold weather numbers are increasing at the shelter. They are in
need of more blankets. The blankets need to be big enough to cover an adult
and be washable - not a “throw” or comforter or something knit or crocheted.
Contact
Karla Thenneswith questions.
Calling All Last-Minute Pledgers!
If you haven’t already turned in your pledge form, please do so ASAP. You
might be getting a reminder call if we haven’t heard from you. 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)
Advent Midweek Worship & Soup Supper
For the three Thursdays that fall during the season, you have the
opportunity to gather at 5:30 for a simple worship service to help celebrate
the season, including singing carols by request. Then we’ll enjoy some warm
soup supper together and finish by about 6:45. The worship pattern from Dec.
5 and 12 will change on Dec. 19 for the Blue Christmas service (but still
have soup after).
Shared Youth-led worship & Christmas
Pageant
Sun, Dec 15, 10:15 am
55+ Potluck and Carol Sing
December 18, 12pm
Wednesday, December 18 at noon - Consider yourself invited to share the
piano accompanying joy with Sybil for the Carol Sing-Along following our
shared potluck meal. If you have a favorite, or several, carols you would
love to accompany-PRACTICE (kidding)- and come ready to help! Maybe it's
something you have wanted to do so now is your chance! Singing or playing,
I'm looking forward to our get together.
Tree Lane December Wish List
This monthly list is updated with input from support services staff and
residents, and distributed by volunteers. Our hope is to give our community
an additional easy and direct way to provide support to our neighbors as
they get established in their new homes. You can bring your things to the
Donation Center at the MCC and Jean and Ann will deliver them.
Men's Retreat 2020
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 and 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 at mealtimes. John Szalkowski (772-5491 orjszalkowski2@gmail.com)
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.
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.
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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Boundary Waters Group 2019
Winter Solstice Labyrinth Walk
Sunday December 22
Drop in anytime between 4:30pm - 6:00pm.
Walk will be accompanied by Harpist, Alice Kissling
$5.00 donation is appreciated.
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.
Adult Education
Dec 15
-
Share Christmas traditions and explore what that diversity means.
Dec 22 -
We’ll gather cross+generationally to sing some carols and hear their
stories.
Dec 29 -
Christmas break for education hour
Jan 12- An
overview and introduction to OWL. Our Whole Lives is a series of
age-appropriate sexuality education courses that help participants make
informed and responsible decisions about their relationships, health and
behavior in the context of their faith. Several MCC members were trained
this fall to lead OWL, and we hope to debut it for K-2 students and families
perhaps later this spring.
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!
High School Special Social Hour
Our December Social Hour will be held Sunday, December 15 at MCC rather than
Panera. We’ll begin at 8:30 in the Blessing Room with skit rehearsal and
worship reading practice. Bring your copy of the skit if you can, which was
emailed to you last Thursday. Don’t worry there will be snacks, courtesy of
the Kuhn family!
Call for Christmas Eve Evening Prelude
Musicians
The Christmas Eve evening services times have been set for 4:00 pm and 7:30
pm. As a reminder, the prelude times, 3:30-4:00 PM and 7:00-7:30 PM on
Christmas Eve, are times when MCC musicians provide special sacred Christmas
music for 15 - 30 minutes prior to the service. If you are interested in
providing sacred music for one of the services, contact Emily Wixson (early
service) or Sybil Klatt (late service) by Sunday, December 15. Please
provide the name of your piece, musicians, duration (please - no more than 3
minutes), stand/microphone requests, and accompaniment needs. The prelude
times fill up quickly, so contact us early.
3:30 - 4:00 PM: Contact Emily, 608-630-2809 or enwixson@gmail.com
7:00 - 7:30 PM: Contact Sybil, 608-212-4222 or
s.klatt@sbcglobal.net
Candy for a Cause
Confirmation students will sell home-made candy (peppermint bark and
chocolate-covered pretzels) at MCC on Sundays Dec 8 & 15. Money donated goes
to purchase groceries for the Lussier Food Pantry as a confirmation service
project in January.
Palestinian Olive Products
The next several Sundays, there will be gifts
available to support Palestinian producers and their families. These include
beautiful olive wood carvings, provided by our friend Ali Jaber, as one of
the rare sources of income for urban residents, and delicious fair trade
olive oil, a culturally and historically central aspect of Palestinian life,
with oils from Canaan Fair Trade, whom our travel group helped with the
olive harvest.
Coping with Grief During the Holidays
Blue Christmas service and soup supper on
Thurs, Dec 19 at 5:30 pm
The holiday season can be a time of joy and connection.But it can just as
easily be a time of grief and overwhelm. We might be missing loved ones who
have died or from whom we are estranged. We might be in the midst of other
life losses or uncertainties. We might feel stressed. We might feel pressure
to "put on a happy face" when we're feeling anything but cheerful. If this
is your experience,
Click here for practical tips for coping. In God's presence among
community, it is a time to acknowledge lament, and hope in God to carry us
through.
Longest Night Service Homeless Person’s
Memorial Service
Dec 21, beginning at 3:00 outside the Capitol and ending with a soup supper
and brief interfaith service at 1st United Methodist Church. Sponsored in
part by First Congregational UCC, Madison, and Memorial UCC, Fitchburg.
Augusta Victoria Hospital
In worship in Advent and from the recent Holy Land travelers, we heard about
Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and how they
are having to turn away new patients with a funding shortfall for cancer
drugs, largely because the US government has withheld support for the
hospital. Of course most helpful would be to convince our legislators to
respond. But you may also like to know that the Advent Council met on Monday
evening and voted to allocate $1100 of unspent benevolences provided by your
offerings this year to the hospital. (There was also $1100 for Dane
Sanctuary Coalition and refugee families, and $1100 marked for supporting a
local family.) If you’d also like to help the hospital, you can contribute
through the ELCA at https://community.elca.org/augusta-victoria-hospital
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.
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.
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Epiphany Choir Concert 2018 Directed by Jen
Striet
Community of Hope
UCC
Community of Hope: Special Offering Dec 8
Each year at this time, the United Church of Christ collects a special
offering called the Christmas Fund. This fund assists active and retired
clergy and lay employees in the UCC who are in need of emergency grants,
supplements small pensions and health premiums, and provides a small
Christmas “Thank you” to lower-income retirees. It is a way of caring for
those who are and have faithfully cared for the Church. Make checks
out to Community of Hope with “UCC Christmas Fund” on the memo line.
Community of Hope: Let’s Dream Together!
In September, 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.
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
MCC at Holden Village – August 9-14
Holden Village, mostly known through the much-loved “Holden Evening Prayer,”
is a Lutheran-run ecumenical gathering place in an old mining village tucked
into the Cascade Mountains of Washington. It is a place for education, faith
enrichment, worship, retreat, hiking… Pastor Nick has been planning to
organize a group trip from MCC to Holden next summer, but they opened
registration early and group slots are all already full.
BUT! We can still register as individuals,
and so are aiming at a week with the most openings and hopefully a free-ish
time for your summer. Folks from MCC are encouraged to register for August
9-14. You can do that at
http://www.holdenvillage.org/visit/guest-rates/. Those six days
in the Village (including room, meals, and all experiences) would be about
$500 for an adult. Nick will also be organizing group travel through Amtrak,
if you’re interested in journeying that way together. There will be sign-ups
to indicate interest. Best to act quickly! Sorry for the short notice!
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.
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In the Wider Church . . .
Synod News: Bishop Election Process
Click here to read the latest news from Bishop Rogness on how the synod
plans to call a new bishop.
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.
Remaining dates:
12/16/2019, 1/6/2020, 1/13/2020, and 1/27/2020. You can register
here.
MLK Day of Action for Youth
First Congregational, UCC, in conjunction with Beth Israel Center and the
MCC present a day of ACTION for 1st-8th graders on MLK Day – Monday,
Jan. 20,
9am-2:30pm at First Congregational UCC.
Youth across many faith traditions will spend the day celebrating the life
and work of Dr. King with cooperative activities and games, art, action
projects, voting discussion, and social justice activities. Special
activities with Elmore Lawson and Friends of State Street. $12/youth
($24/family). Register at
www.firstcongmadison.org by Jan. 6. Email
jrabe@firstcongmadison.org
MOSES's Gala and Transformation Celebration
Saturday, December 14, pm.
Heavy Hor'Dourves, Dance music by WORT's Lady L, and celebration of people
who have experienced incarceration and gone on to become assets to our
community.
Find out more on our web site.
African American History Course
This popular and well-received course sponsored by Justified Anger and the
Nehemiah Center is accepting registrations now for the 9-week course that
runs Mondays from 7-9 pm from Jan 27 through March 23. Several from MCC have
participated in previous courses and highly recommend it.
Click here for more information and registration.
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.
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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