Congregational Announcements
Thanks: 52 walkers, runners, strollers and one biker gathered on September 27 at Goessel Mennonite Church to walk two or six miles for the Goessel Area Harvest Giving Walk. All joined together to raise money and awareness of MCC projects and Tabor Food Pantry needs. The total amount raised was over $5,000 which will be distributed to MCC and to the Tabor Food Pantry. Official results will be posted in the Church Annual Reports later in the year. As has been the tradition, it continues to be so awesome to see the Goessel community supporting overseas and local missions. Thanks to all of you who walked, and who donated money.
Walkers, if you still have donated money to turn in, please do so this week to your church recruiter or Denise or Elton Nickel.
Playing at the Patch: Plan to join us for a fun afternoon at Papa’s Pumpkin Patch on Sunday, October 18. Meet at the church park at 3:30 p.m. if you would like to ride the hayrack or head directly to the Patch and meet there at 4:00 p.m. More information will be available next Sunday.
Pledge Cards: The Finance Task Force has placed a secured mailbox in the foyer to receive your pledge cards. We also remind everyone that donations to the Facility Fund are best placed in the offering with a memo note indicating “Facility Fund”.
Commitment forms were emailed to you or placed in your church mailbox. Please prayerfully consider how you would like to serve Tabor in this coming year. Forms are due by October 11.
Tabor Mennonite Women: Tuesday, October 20th we will meet at the MCC Center in North Newton for a work day from 9:30 to 3:00. Please bring a sack lunch, and also something for our break time. We still need someone to provide the devotions.
Sexton Position: Please be in prayerful consideration for the position of church Sexton and for a Trustee as you consider your involvement here at Tabor Church this year. If you are interested in either position, please talk to a Trustee for more information.
Western District Conference Annual Assembly will be held on the Bethel College campus on October 30-31. Information about the assembly is posted on the bulletin board. If you would like to serve as a Tabor Church delegate, please contact Pastor Phil or the church office.
Question: Two suitcases and some metal stands were left above the south coatracks. If you left either of these, please let us know what/who they are intended for. Are the suitcases for the foster care program? If so, many thanks. When you leave items, please let us know what they are for. Thanks.
Community Announcements
Soon, the prairie will ring with joyful noise. The Hesston College Bel Canto Singers and the Goessel High School Elbiata Singers will host a collaborative concert at The Cathedral of the Plains, Victoria, Kansas, at 6 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 25. Bus transportation leaving from Hesston is available for $50 per person. Reserve your spot by Oct. 14 by calling 620-327-8109.
The 3rd Annual Goessel Community Thanksgiving Meal will be on Sunday, November 15, 5:00-6:30 p.m. at the Goessel Elementary School Gymnasium.
Everyone in the community is invited. The meal is free. Donations are welcome to help Goessel Ministerial Alliance provide assistance for community families and the schools. The Alexanderwohl, Goessel and Tabor churches and individuals from the community provide food and volunteers to make this event possible. Signup sheets for salads, bread or desserts, turkey or ham will be going up in our churches soon. Monetary donations are also welcome to be used toward the expenses for the meal, such as paper goods and other food items like potatoes, vegetables, and meat. You may write your check out to “Goessel Ministerial Alliance” and give it to your church office. The meal planning team is Keith and Barb Banman, Linda Peters, Janice Funk Voth, Becky Wedel and Lynette Duerksen. Goessel Ministerial Alliance members are Phil Schmidt, Brad Penner, Gail Graber, Peter Emery and Linda Ewert. We are so grateful for your participation and support!
Conference Announcements
Prayer Requests:
« Western District Conference: Pray for Jennifer Wintermote, as she is licensed today for interim pastoral ministry at New Creation Fellowship Church, Newton, KS.
« Mennonite Mission Network: Do you have a ministry of hospitality or the gift of maintenance skills? Perhaps God is calling you to serve for a year at The Hermitage, a contemplative community in southern Michigan. Contact SOOP program coordinator: ArloaB.
« Mennonite Education Agency: Pray for positive learning to come from the time that Hesston College students and the Hesston community spend with Regina Calcaterra, author of the fall 2015 community read book Etched in Sand.
The Western District Conference Annual Assembly:
WDC Assembly planners invite you to be involved with this year’s meeting through intentional prayer. The church offices have received a sheet of “prayer prompts” for each half hour of the Assembly, October 30-31. There is no more important way to support WDC and be involved with the Annual Assembly than through prayer. Ask your pastor for a copy of the list, (or find it online at: www.mennowdc.org/annual-assembly/) and agree to pray for at least one of the items/prayer times listed there.
Mennonite Central Committee:
MCC Borderlands Learning Tour 2015 – you are invited to participate in a learning tour designed to bring awareness about the increasing migrant deaths, militarization and effects on sister communities by the border wall along the Mexico/U.S. Borderlands. Participants will increase their understanding of the social, economic, political and theological significance of migration in border communities. The tour is Oct. 28-Nov. 4, leaving from Tucson, AZ. For more information contact Saulo Padilla, MCC U.S. Immigration Education Coordinator at saulopadilla, or go online to learn more and register
Leave or stay? Many Syrian families face that question as international humanitarian assistance dwindles and the patchwork of resources they used to rely on wears thin. Your gift of money helps Mennonite Central Committee
continue to provide food, water, rent assistance and winter supplies so families that decide to stay in the region can survive the cold weather ahead. Please give online at mcc.org/syria-iraq; by phone at 1-888-563-4676; or by check, sent to MCC U.S., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA 17501. Thank you!
The Annual meeting for Mennonite Disaster Service Region III will be held October 30-31, 2015 at: The Ark on Table Rock Lake, Conference Center, 1190 State Hwy. East, Eagle Rock, Missouri 65641. You are invited to attend. Check with your Church office for a registration form.
Harvey County Homeless Shelter: Save the date for a volunteer appreciation event Sat. Nov 14th, 6pm.
2nd Annual Ten Thousand Village Festival Sale: Friday, November 27 through Saturday, December 5 (except Sunday) with daily hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We will be located at Peace Connections this year which is located at 612 North Main, Newton. Our goal is to place new items on the shelves everyday.
Bethel College Fall Festival: This year at Fall Festival, Saturday, Oct. 10, at Bethel College, you can Dart for Art, see a play (Friday or Sunday, too), enjoy the Thresher Shop grand opening, shop at the Market on the Green and walk Sand Creek Trail. Plus food, reunions, children’s park, music, sports – and the launch of a new book, Museum Mysteries, written and illustrated by Uncle Carl’s Camps summer day campers, at Kauffman Museum! Check it out at www.bethelks.edu/fallfest (click “Schedule”).
The Bethel College Women’s Association Market on the Green Committee is asking for donations of ethnic foods, poppy seed rolls, zwiebach, homemade noodles, pies, and other baked good and home grown produce for the Bethel College Fall Festival on Saturday, October 10. Please bring your items to the large Market on the Green tent on the north side of the Green anytime Saturday morning after 7:30 am. In addition to baked goods and home grown produce, we will be selling other items including a Large Canvas Tote Bag, a Threshing Stone charm, the limerick book of Bethel life and lore, Stadium Seats, Cookbooks, and the CD “Nights of Wonder,” which features music selections from previous BC Christmas Fests.
Hesston College:
Regina Calcaterra, author of Etched in Sand will discuss her book and advocacy work with foster care at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5 in the Hesston Mennonite Church sanctuary, 309 S. Main. The book, which was chosen as the college’s 2015 First-year Experience (FYE) common read, traces her and her four siblings’ childhood experiences with abandonment, physical abuse and a fear of the foster system that was put in place to protect them.
A follow-up question and answer session will be held 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6 at the Hesston Public Library. Both events are free and open to the public. Copies of the book are available at the Hesston and Newton Public libraries for any who wish to read her account prior to the presentations.
The Hesston College Music Department will present Joseph Haydn’s The Creation for the annual Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday, Nov. 26, at 7:30 p.m. Community members are invited to join the college choirs,
under the direction of Russell Adrian, by singing in the chorus. Participants must use the red New Novello choral score, ed. Pilkington, which can be purchased at the first rehearsal for $25. Six weekly rehearsals will begin on Thursday, Oct. 15, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus. More information and a complete rehearsal schedule can be found at www.hesston.edu/creation, or by contacting
Russell.Adrian, 620-327-8143.
Getting ready to retire? Everence will present an informational seminar, “Retiring soon? Make sense of your Medicare and Social Security choices” at 11 a.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on four upcoming Mondays – Oct. 5, Nov. 2 and Dec. 7. Everence Financial Advisor Robert Wall will speak on Medicare and Social Security, provide instructions on how to enroll, explain the options if you continue to work and answer related questions. The seminars will take place at the Everence office, 371 N. Old Highway 81, Hesston. To reserve your spot, contact Tanya Burns at (620) 327-4043, (877) 467-7294 or tanya.burns.
Oct. 4 bulletin and Announcements
