Note of Thanks
Once again, we had an amazing weekend at Camp Washunga! The weather was really hot but it was nice to cool off in the pool! The food and snacks were delicious and the discussion was life-giving. Please ask the junior highers for more highlights and memories from their time at camp! Thank you to all who prayed for our junior highers leading up to and during that weekend. And a big thank you to those who donated snacks or hammers, or money to allow us to attend. We are blessed to be a part of a community that supports its youth! ~ Laura Unrau and Michelle Unruh, camp directors
Congregational Announcements
I (Pastor Phil) have been invited by the Western District Conference (WDC) Gift’s Discernment team to join the WDC Executive Board for a 3-year term. With the affirmation of Tabor Deacons, I have accepted this invitation and will be on the ballot of people to be affirmed at WDC Annual Assembly on Saturday, July 28 at Eden Mennonite Church. If you would like to read more about the Executive Board, please visit http://mennowdc.org/executive-board-commissions/
Technology Updates: Tabor recently received an upgrade in internet speed, which allows us to more easily upload our sermons and worship services to the internet. Sermons can be found on our church website soon after the worship service. The entire service video will be uploaded, but kept as an unlisted link. If you would like to watch an entire worship service, simply send an email to Kim Funk (kfunk) and she will email you a link to the service. From now on, we will only make DVDs and CDs of the worship service by request. We will no longer make copies to be checked out. Please visit with Pastor Phil if you have any questions.
Vacation Bible School: There are a few items still needed for snack time during VBS. Please sign up. Your help is appreciated.
Summer FF begins June 17: Sign up on the bulletin board to help with summer faith formation for our children. Activity/craft leaders and helpers are needed as well as snack provisions. Carol Duerksen will be the storyteller for the summer. Thanks for sharing your gifts with our children.
—All high school youth through adults will meet together using Mennonite Central Committee’s curriculum, Preventing Gun Violence.
A schedule for Summer Faith Formation for adults and children is in the June Newsletter.
Registration for Western District Annual Assembly on July 27-29 is now open. See sign up sheet on the bulletin board. Deadline to sign up is Sunday, July 8. If you would like to attend, registration expenses will be covered by Tabor’s Worship Planning Team. Assembly will be held at Tabor Mennonite on July 27, Eden Mennonite on July 28 and Alexanderwohl Mennonite on July 29. If you would like to serve as a Tabor Delegate, please check that box on the sign up sheet.
Do you or someone you know need a little help? If so, there will be a commodity distribution on June 22, 2018 at Goessel Mennonite Church from 5- 6 p.m. If you have any questions regarding qualifications or income guidelines please contact Jenny Girard @ 620-747-0046 or 367-8492. (If someone you know is housebound, arrangements can be made for someone else to get commodities for them).
Conference Announcements
Prayer Requests:
« Western District Conference: Give thanks for God’s faithfulness with Manhattan Mennonite Church, as they celebrate their 40th anniversary today.
« Mennonite Mission Network: Addressing violence on the Colombia-Ecuador border, the three Mennonite conferences in Ecuador are calling their national government to work for peace and to respect the human rights of all people. Delicia Bravo Aguilar and Peter Wigginton of Mennonite Mission Network ask us to join our brothers and sisters in praying for peace.
« Mennonite Education Agency: Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA • Pray for those who are exploring a faith-rooted approach to social activism at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute. May their spiritual formation practices nurture a life of community leadership, engaged ministry and social action.
Western District Conference:
—The 2018 WDC Annual Assembly will be held on July 27-28 in Kansas. Detailed information, including an online registration form, is now posted at: http://mennowdc.org/annual-assembly/#2018annualAssembly.
—Summer Reading for All Ages in All Places! The Conference Resource Library invites everyone to participate in the summer reading challenge! Grow in faith this summer as you read. Summer reading programs for children and adults with prizes. If you live at a distance, we will mail books to you, or start the Box of Books program at your church! Kids (ages 0-12) sign up at: https://goo.gl/forms/uDbWczCjQqZ1Mo6t1. Adults (ages 12 and up) sign up and download your reading challenge at: https://goo.gl/forms/uUVW6calQ1s7sN632.
—Sunday, June 17, Southern Hills Mennonite Church of Topeka will host a celebration of 30 years of joint ministry by Cynthia and Roger Neufeld Smith, who began ministry at SHMC September 1988 and will take new positions summer of 2018 with Mennonite Mission Network as Service Adventure leaders in Jackson, MS. All are welcome to attend the special worship service at 9:30 am, noon meal, and 1 pm program by representatives of community and WDC. Friends from a distance are encouraged to send notes of appreciation for the Neufeld Smiths’ ministry to: SHMC, POB 5067, Topeka KS 66605, Attn: Lila Bartel.
—Mennonite Church of the Servant will show the video, “Hawo’s Dinner Party: The New Face of Southern Hospitality” on Friday, June 22, at 7 pm. The story of Hawo, a Somali refugee and former nurse, and the handful of local residents who come together to help create a more integrated and thriving community, puts a human face on the complex issues we face in this time of increasing globalization and changing demographics. The church is located at 2401 N. Woodland, Wichita.
Camp Mennoscah:
—Construction on the Camp Mennoscah playground is continuing, and we need your help! June 1-2 will be playground assembly at camp, and the week of June 3 will continue the work. Contact the camp to let us know which days you can be there, and we’ll get back to you with more details.
—I am in search of tin cans for one of the crafts this summer!! Any empty can (only one lid removed) from canned foods would work! Preferably the “normal” sized cans (~14-20oz) would be best. Little cans from items like tuna and chicken are too small. I will need approximately 60 by the first week of camp, and about 120 plus, total for the summer. Any help collecting these cans would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks, Carley Sullivan (Camp Mennoscah Crafts Leader)
—Still room at the camp! Camp Mennoscah has both room and scholarships for more campers. Grab your friendly neighborhood friend, a cousin, or someone who would benefit from a week of worship and fun! Register online at office with questions.
— We have two weeks of camp that need kitchen helpers: June 24-30 and July 15-21, two of our biggest weeks of camp, need 2-3 more people each week. You do not need to be a professional chef or have more than a basic understanding of cooking/baking.
Information for all events at Camp Mennoscah or to register:
Online at www.campmennoscah.org
Telephone: 620-297-3290.
Email: office.
Contact: olivia.bartel.
Mennonite Central Committee:
—Calling all MCC volunteers!! Join us for our annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration on June 13, 5 pm – 7 pm at MCC in North Newton, Kansas! All relief sale volunteers, all meat canning volunteers, participants in the Flatlander Bicycle Ride or the Harvest Giving Walk, all of you who make comforters on your own or at a Comforter Blitz, if you’ve packed a kit at MCC or volunteered your time at an MCC thrift shop or in the MCC Warehouse – YOU’RE INVITED! We want you to join us, enjoy a delicious meal of burgers, hot dogs, salads, chips and ice cream for dessert! Please RSVP by June 11 to patsydirksen, 316.283.2720.
—MCC Mini Comforter Blitz, June 22 & 23 at MCC in North Newton! Join in the fun at this Mini Comforter Blitz on Friday, June 22 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday, June 23 from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.. Come and go as you are able, bring your friends and family! Bring snacks to share if you’d like. Please bring a sack lunch/supper, drinks will be provided. Contact katemast with questions and visit mcc.org/comforter-blitz for details!
—Supplies are running low in the MCC Material Resources Center in North Newton and we could use your help! The current material resources needs are: shampoo for relief kits (1-2 bottles, totaling more than 20 oz), toothbrushes for relief and hygiene kits (in originally packaging), small, metal pencil sharpeners (one or two holes) for school kits, dark colored hand or bath towels for hygiene and relief kits. Visit katemast or call with questions at 316-283-2720 .
—Sexualized violence and the church webinar, June 13, 2 pm – 3 pm: Mennonite Central Committee is offering the third webinar in our three-part series this spring for churches and individuals to learn about addressing sexualized violence within the church. This webinar focusing on Healthy masculinity will cover how the church can prepare men to talk to their sons about healthy masculinity and what men should tell boys about sexual violence. Speakers will be Glen Guyton, the new Executive Director for MCUSA and Isaac Villegas, pastor at Chapel Hill (North Carolina) Mennonite Fellowship . Learn more and register for the webinar at karinkaufmanwall with questions.
Dove’s Nest and Mennonite Women USA are joyfully partnering to sponsor a unique summer event: Empowering Women: Claiming Healthy Personal Boundaries July 26-27 in Omaha, Nebraska. We are excited about this opportunity to resource both women and girls (age 13-18) and are grateful for supporting funds from the Schowalter Foundation. For more information and registration: https://dovesnest.net/Claiming-Healthy-Personal-Boundaries
Summer is here and the Newton Et Cetera Shop is a great place to spend your time! You’re invited to become a summer volunteer if you’ve got a few hours to give back to our community once a month or once a week. Students, educators and everyone else is welcome to pick up a volunteer application, download one at newtonetceterashop.com/volunteer, or fill one out at our new volunteer orientation on Tuesday, June 5, 6 p.m. We need volunteers to help with clothing, dolls, electronics, bikes, housewares and as clerks. Evening and Saturday spots are available, as well as weekday shifts. Newton Et Cetera Shop is an MCC Thrift Shop, and gives away 100% of its proceeds.
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary:
—Earn an MDiv at a distance! Develop your leadership abilities from an Anabaptist perspective while staying in your current vocation. AMBS’s MDiv Connect program offers you in-depth biblical and theological study, spiritual formation and vocational internships — right where you live. Generous need-based financial aid is available. ambs.edu/mdivconnect
—Journey: A Missional Leadership Development Program. Explore your call to ministry in this 2-1/2-year distance-friendly nondegree AMBS program that features a five-unit online curriculum, biweekly mentor-mentee meetings and one visit to the AMBS region per year. Participants receive a certificate upon completion. Register by Aug. 7. ambs.edu/journey
The West Zion Mennonite Church, Moundridge, will continue their Concert Series with an event on Sunday evening, June 10 at 7 pm. Performers will include Christopher Shaw, Organ; Joey Menninger, Viola; RoJean Loucks, Celtic Harp; the Flannelbacks, a men’s vocal ensemble; and Donna Stucky, Piano.
During the free concert a free-will offering will be received. After the concert, there will be a time of fellowship, with refreshments served.
Kidron-Bethel Parkinson’s Support Group will meet Tuesday, June 5, at
2 pm in Menno Hall. Dennis Schmidt will share “My Journey with Parkinson’s.” All are welcome.
