Author: tabormenno (S. Unruh)

Dec. 25 web.pdf

Note of Thanks

The Community Christmas Celebration with the McPherson Community Brass Choir and the Elbiata Singers from Goessel High School was enjoyed by approximately 365 people from our churches, the community, and the surrounding area on Sunday evening, December 11. The music was wonderful, joyful and inspiring. An offering of $1,500.20 was received. We are so grateful for this gift of support for the ministries of GMA in our community. Thank you for sharing with others in the spirit of Christmas! – Goessel Ministerial Alliance

Congregational Announcements

The Tabor Mennonite Youth Fellowship will share their annual living nativity, Night in the Barn, on December 17 and 18 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. The friendly goat, the large cow with her little calf, the peaceful sheep, and the baby and big donkeys that share their love of people – these are a few of the critters who will assemble in the barn of Maynard Knepp and Carol Duerksen between Goessel and Hillsboro. The story this year will be from the perspective of a sheep that witnessed the first Christmas, and is from a new book by Kim Funk called “Christmas at the Stable.” The come-and-go event includes Christmas carols around a bonfire, hot drinks and snacks. Admission is free and donations to the youth group will be accepted.

Wednesday Evening Ministries:

Children will practice for the Christmas Eve service from 6:30-7:30pm.

No supper served this week.

Education Committee will meet to assemble Christmas sacks. Parents are invited to help fill sacks while their children are in rehearsal.

Youth will meet at 6pm at Karina, Benny, and Emily’s house for a Christmas party. Please bring a white elephant Christmas gift ($5 or less) and Christmas goodies to share.

Christmas Eve Celebration Service: December 24, 7pm

Celebrate the coming of our new King! Come early to hear the piano and organ prelude by many different children. Children meet in the fellowship hall at 6:30pm.

Christmas Day Worship: December 25, 10 am

Come celebrate the birth of our King through scripture and song.

Prayer and Visioning Retreat: Come join us at church from 8-11:30am on Saturday, January 14 for a prayer and visioning retreat. Rolls and fruit will be served at 8am and then we will spend the rest of the morning praying and reflecting on how God has been at work in this past year and how we hope to join God at work in 2017. We strongly encourage all who are part of the Deacon, Trustee, Worship/Fellowship, Education, Outreach, and Finance teams to come participate in this retreat and we invite all members and attenders of the congregation to come as well. Let us embrace this opportunity to pray and discern together as a community! ~Peace, Pastor Phil

Save the Date for KNOW JESUS – January 28-29, 2017 – an overnight event for Junior High youth groups and youth (6-8th grades).

Location: Hesston College campus. Being planned by Western District Conference and South Central Conference Youth Ministry Committee.

Annual Report: Fiscal year end reports are due in the church office by the end of December. Please submit reports to the church office, email preferred: kfunk. Directory Updates and changes to the church directory are also requested at this time.

Healthy Sexuality: Beginning in January, we will be engaging in a worship series focusing on healthy sexuality. 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. 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 is in in the December Newsletter.

Community Announcements

Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum: Ben Schmidt, curator and archivist for the Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum, will be leaving our community and museum. He will be pursuing a Master of Divinity degree with an emphasis on Church History from Westminster Theological Seminary outside of Philadelphia, PA. Ben’s wife, Courtney, will be working as a financial aid assistant at the seminary. His last day with the museum is this next Thursday, the 22nd of December. The Board of Directors, while sad that he is leaving, is excited for him and his future plans. He did a very good job running the museum this year with a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and ideas. Keep Ben and Courtney in your prayers as they make this transition. Stop by the museum by Thursday to wish him well.

Red Cross Blood Drive: In this season of giving remember to sign up to donate blood by calling 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767) or visiting redcrossblodd.org. Another way to give is to sign up to help at the drive between 12:00-4:00 at Goessel Church on Wed. Dec. 28. All donors will receive a long-sleeve Red Cross T-shirt.

Support Bethesda Home: Just a bit of news to make your holiday even brighter!! Information received after newsletter was printed. There is no need to re-enroll in the Dillons Community Rewards program … it’s automatic! No additional action needed. Take this opportunity to encourage others to enroll and see how easy it is to sign up! The Bethesda account number is 10035. The more participants, the more Kroger donates to Bethesda. Contact either Terri Walker or Pete Flaming for assist with enrollment 620-367-2291. Just visit www.dillons.com/communityrewards for details. Joining Community Rewards does not affect fuel points or coupon discounts!

Conference Announcements

Prayer Requests:

« Western District Conference: Pray for WDC pastors and chaplains as they lead worship and offer pastoral care during the holiday season.

« Mennonite Mission Network: Tom and Disa Rutschman, serving with MMN, have shared Jesus as the Light of the World through many long winters on the Arctic Circle in Sweden. Pray that this year they may again create sparks of life through teaching in schools and the leadership they provide at Jokkmokk Free Church.

« Mennonite Education Agency: Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (IBA) Pray for the tutors and students of the 38 Anabaptist Biblical Institute-IBA study centers who meet weekly for their study sessions. May God grant the tutors wisdom, patience and lots of energy in their ministry of teaching. And pray that the students become essential instruments in the Hispanic churches as we build the Kingdom of God.

Western District Announcements:

—Know someone who’s hard to shop for? Celebrate Christmas by donating a book in their honor to the Resource Library. A registry list of Resource Library wishes can be found on Amazon at http://a.co/jasaOal (or call the library). Order straight from Amazon and have it shipped to the library, or buy local and mark the book on the Amazon site as “buying this gift elsewhere.” Also welcome are any Spanish language or bi-lingual resources. We would love new, or like new/excellent condition books. All Christmas gifts will be acknowledged with a special bookplate inside the book, just let us know who to honor.

—The Conference Resource Library is open Monday through Friday, 8am – 5 pm. As of January 4, Resource Librarian Jennie Wintermote will be in the library Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:00-Noon. (Other WDC Staff can assist you when Jennie is not here.)

—Western District Conference is on Facebook. LIKE us!

Camp Mennoscah: Camp Mennoscah will be taking down the old boys bath house and the whale on Dec. 20th. Never fear, friends! The bath house has already been replaced and plans are in the works for a new play structure. Contact us at office or 620-297-3290 to help.

Mennonite Church Announcements:

—The Mennonite magazine welcomes your original submissions of feature articles, poems, original artwork and photos for our February 2017 print magazine issue and corresponding online content focusing on the Mennonites, race, identity and faith. You can read the full details online at Editor by January 5.

—Do you have your summer vacation plans set yet? Why not spend it in Orlando, Florida? You can attend the Mennonite Church USA convention as well as visit your favorite theme park. The convention takes place July 4-8 with the theme “Love is a Verb.” Learn more at: http://convention.mennoniteusa.org/registration/ or find the convention on Facebook or Twitter.

—Registration for “Beyond Buried Treasure: Turning Hidden Resources into Assets” is now open. This second joint MHS Mennonite Health Assembly and Mennonite Education Agency Education Leaders Gathering takes place March 9-12 in Jacksonville, FL. For more information or to register, visit mhaelgconference.wordpress.com.

Bethel College is offering many of its classes for community audit. You pay $50 per credit hour (compared to the normal audit rate of $85 per hour) OR, if you’re age 62 and older, a flat rate of $30. For more information, go to www.bethelks.edu/audit, where there are links for interterm 2017 course schedule (enrollment deadline Jan. 4) and spring 2017 course schedule (enrollment deadline Feb 13).

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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 annc..pdf