Congregational Announcements
Congregational Meeting: Plan to stay at church after the worship service and after Faith Formation on November 6! The Mennonite College Task Force will host a fundraising meal at noon, followed by our Annual Congregational Meeting. During this meeting, we will affirm people to serve through the ministries of the church commissions, we will discuss and approve a budget for 2017, and we will receive an update from the Finance Task Force. The Tabor Trading Post will also kick-off at that time (please see display in foyer for more information).
Everyone please bring your appetite & generous donation to the Mennonite College scholarship fund raiser meal at noon, Nov. 6. Our current students at Mennonite colleges are Sarah Booth (Hesston College) Reece Hiebert and Luke Unruh (Bethel College).
Meat Canning this year will be on November 7 and 8 at the MCC Center in North Newton. Sign up on the bulletin board to volunteer. Donations are welcome. Checks can be made out to Tabor Mennonite Church, earmarked “MCC meat canning”, and placed in the truck in the foyer. Contact Kenton Nickel with any questions.
Library Committee meeting on November 15 at 7:00pm in the Library.
Tabor Thanksgiving Service: Come join us on Wednesday evening, November 23, at 6pm for a Thanksgiving meal and service in the fellowship hall. During the service we will hear several stories of Thanksgiving. If you have a Thanksgiving testimony that your would like to share, please talk to one of the pastors.
Healthy Sexuality: Beginning in January, we will be engaging in a worship series focusing on healthy sexuality. The worship series will be in 6 parts: 1) Goodness of Bodies; 2) Healthy Intimacy; 3) Gift of Singleness; 4) Mutual Love and Respect in Marriage; 5) Lament of Sexual Abuse; 6) Church as God’s Family. This series will not speak to same-sex covenanted relationships, as has been the practice of the church when speaking of sexuality in the past few decades. We as pastors and deacons feel that it is important to have conversations around healthy sexuality within the church, especially given the prevalence of sexual abuse in the church and world. As people who know the Creator who created our bodies very good, it is important to speak to healthy sexuality within the church, to provide a witness that is different from that which we hear in the culture around us. More information on this series will come in the December Newsletter.
November Wellness Challenge: Congratulations to Carol and the other participants of the October crunch challenge for truly having abs of steel!
The November NEAT Wellness Challenge is available on the bulletin board under the red wellness display. This month’s challenge is about improving your non-exercise activity or those things that require us to move throughout the day. Grab a log and find out what it’s all about! Our year-long fitness challenge “Tabor Goes Mobile” participants have logged over 7000 miles! Join the Tabor Church Group at www.mapmyfitness.com.
Community Announcements
The Fourth Annual Goessel Community Thanksgiving is next Sunday, November 13, 5:00-6:30 p.m. It’s going to be a wonderful evening of good food and fellowship for all of us! We still need a few more people to sign up to bring a food item. We want to make sure that there will be food for everyone who comes. Sign-Up deadline is TODAY, November 6. Bring your turkey or ham to the church kitchen and put it in the refrigerator TODAY. Salads, breads and desserts may be brought to the church kitchen by noon on Sunday, November 13, or to the Goessel Elementary school by 4:00 p.m. on that day. If you have questions, contact a member of the Meal Planning Team: Keith and Barb Banman, Becky Wedel, Linda Peters, Kim Voth, or Lynette Duerksen. Invite your friends and neighbors to join us for a great Thanksgiving dinner! The meal is free. If you so wish, you may give a donation to support the ministries of Goessel Ministerial Alliance. Thank you, everyone!
– If you are willing to setup tables for the event, please meet at Goessel Elementary School on Saturday, November 12 at 9am.
– Please pick up some postcard invitations to pass out to neighbors/friends who you think would be interested in coming to the meal.
The Goessel Ministerial Alliance is excited to announce that the Christmas Giving Tree project will be happening again this year. The tree will be at the Citizen’s State Bank. Flyers on how you can help make it a great Christmas for children in our community are in your mailboxes today.
Conference Announcements
Prayer Requests:
« Western District Conference: Pray for our leaders and congregations to follow the way of Jesus in love, justice and peace in this election process and beyond.
« Mennonite Mission Network: MMN requests prayer for Mennonite Voluntary Service participants Stefan Baumgartner, Laura Hassel, Meg Short and two associate house members as they live in community and work alongside their neighbors to share God’s love in San Francisco.
« Mennonite Education Agency: Thank God for the gifts of Bethel College vocalists – all five choral ensembles present “Bethel College Sings” this afternoon for the campus and community.
« Mennonite Church USA: Be in prayer for the meetings of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board, taking place Nov. 10-12 in Newton; the MHS Board meeting Nov. 17-18 in Columbus, Ohio; and for all the work of the church wide staff.
« Mennonite Disaster Service: Please pray for those still recovering from the June flooding in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The flooding, the worst in centuries, caused major destruction and damage especially in the town of White Sulphur Springs where more than a dozen people died and 200 homes were damaged or destroyed. MDS volunteer have been working there since June. Long-term work begins next week so continue praying for the community and its members as well as the volunteers working and restoring hope to residents.
Western District Announcements:
-Did you know? The Resource Library subscribes to more than 10 magazines/journals that are available to you for checkout? This includes the children’s bilingual magazine High Five (from Highlights), Children’s Ministry, Group, Sojourners, Christianity Today, Christian Century, and of course Mennonite periodicals like The Mennonite and Mennonite World Review. Come in and read (or checkout an issue today).
-On display this month at the Resource Library: Fall books about leaves, apples, pumpkins, and Thanksgiving. Coming soon, Advent resources for families, individuals, and congregations!
-All are invited to Trinity Mennonite Church, 211 S Elm, Hillsboro, KS, for an Election Day Prayer & Communion Service on November 8 at 7:00 pm.
-You are invited to join First Mennonite Church’s Choir (Newton) in singing Handel’s Messiah on Sunday, December 18 at 7 pm. Rehearsals: Sundays, November 20 – December 11, 2-3:30 pm and Wednesdays, November 2-December 14, 7:15-8 pm. Bring your own book or purchase one for $10 at the first rehearsal. Contact: Kay Schroeder, 316-283-0273, kays.
Mennonite Church USA Announcements:
-AMBS Church Leadership Center – Webinar: Introduction to Anabaptism -Thursday, Nov. 3, 2–3:30 p.m. EDT. Lois Barrett, Ph.D., AMBS professor of theology and Anabaptist studies, has been teaching about Anabaptism for more than 20 years. In this webinar she will give an overview of Anabaptist beliefs. Anabaptist theology is not some kind of generic theology with a few Anabaptist distinctives added, as if we were putting parsley on a casserole. To continue the analogy, we will be considering a whole different style of cooking rather than adding just a few extra ingredients. In other words, we will be looking at how to take an Anabaptist view of all of theology — and what difference that makes for believers, for the life of the church and for its relation to the world. Participants in the webinar will look at a few clusters of theological topics, with opportunity for questions after each cluster. For more information, visit this link: https://www.ambs.edu/churchleadershipcenter/Webinars.cfm
-Anti-Racism Training in Newton: February 17-19, 2017 at the Newton Recreation Commission, 415 N Poplar, sponsored by Newton Community for Racial Justice (NCRJ). Cost per participant: $250 (register by January 9)/$300 (register after January 9). More information at: rootsofjusticetraining.org
Bethel College
-Bethel College Sings, featuring Women’s Chorus, Men’s Ensemble, Woven, Open Road and Concert Choir, Sun., Nov. 6, 3 pm, Bethel College Mennonite Church
Retirement income seminar: Everence Financial will present an informational seminar, Creating your retirement income strategy, at 7 p.m. on the following Mondays: Nov.14 and Dec. 12. Everence Financial Advisor Robert Wall will speak about having enough for retirement, making your savings last and coping with the financial markets. There will also be time for your questions. The seminars will take place at Everence Financial,371 N. Old Highway 81, Hesston. To reserve your spot, contact Darlene Buller at (620) 327-4043,
darlene.buller.
Nov. 6 announcements
