Worship Service for December 5, 2021 – 2nd Sunday of AdventWorship begins with an Advent prelude at 9:15am. Advent resources are available on a table in the Gathering Place.
The Witness Commission Advent project will be to supply food items and in kind donations to the Bethel College Food Pantry. We will be collecting items at the table in the Gathering Space. Press here for a list of needed items for the food pantry.
bcmcXpress
We need to hear from you! Please complete the online bcmcXpress intent form (https://flinthillsdesign.wufoo.com/forms/bcmcxpress-2022-intent-to-give/) as soon as possible. The information received is necessary to plan the church’s budget for 2022.
From Michael Claassen, Finance Manager and the Finance Committee
Creche Making Project
Join us on Sunday, December 5th 4-6pm for aCreche Making Project (BCMC fellowship hall). Come and make your very own creche (nativity set) with a variety of art supplies that will be provided for all participants. Invite your crafty friends as we have PLENTY of shoe boxes. Faspa snacks will be provided and all ages are welcomed to attend.
This week at BCMCMonday, December 6
8—10 am Bethel College Classes in the Sanctuary
2—3 pm Bethel College Class in the Sanctuary
7 pm Facilities Committee meeting in Fellowship Hall
Tuesday, December 7
9—11 am Community Playschool
4 pm Reopening Church Task Force—Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, December 8
8—10 am Bethel College Classes in the Sanctuary
2—3 pm Bethel College Class in the Sanctuary
6:45 pm Menno Singers—Fellowship Hall
7 pm Youth Group
7:30 pm Chancel Choir—Sanctuary
Thursday, December 9
4:30 pm Women’s Fellowship Leadership Team meeting in Room 14
7 pm Finance Committee Meeting by Zoom
Sunday, December 12—Third Sunday of Advent
9:30 am Worship Service in the Sanctuary
10:30 am Faith Formation
From the Reopening Church Task Group:
Harvey County has recently experienced a significant rise in COVID-19 numbers. As of Monday, Nov 29, the 2-week positivity rate is 13.8%. Currently there are 144 active cases and 6 hospitalizations.
At this point, in-person church activities will continue as usual, with these cautions:
- Wear masks at all indoor church events
- Maintain 3-6 feet of distance from others when possible
- Greet each other in ways other than hugging or shaking hands
- In the sanctuary, please sit where you find blue tape on the pews (sit with your back to the tape), and refrain from entering rows that have been taped off.
- During worship, windows will be open (wider than they have been), so dress warmly.
- Use hand sanitizer
- If you are not feeling well or have a known COVID-19 exposure, please please participate in worship via livestream in the comfort of your home.
Thanks for your help in slowing the spread of COVID-19 in our community!
The Gifts Discernment Committee would like to thank each and every one of you who completed the Gifts Discernment Survey. The Committee will be meeting to collate the responses and share them with commissions and committees as appropriate. Thanks again for supporting BCMC’s efforts to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
The Library Theme for the rest of 2021 is Advent/Christmas. Be sure to look for these books in back of the desk by the computer and/or in the Children’s Room where Everybody Books and Young Adult books are located and Advent/Christmas books are displayed. Also, coming soon to the library is a section we are calling Pastors’ Corner. Books recommended by our pastors will be highlighted on a shelf on the north wall closest to the window where our DVD/CDs used to be shelved. These books could compliment sermon themes or are books that they have asked for or donated to the library. Happy Holiday Reading!
Kansas Mennonite Men’s Chorus
Attention singers, KMMC will be again singing this year after not being able to the last two years. If you would like to join us, please contact Joe Peters (316-288-7031) and sign up today. We are doing a two concert series this year. Our first concert is April 24, 2022 at Bethel College and our second concert will be May 1, 2022 at Bethany College. So please, if you have any interest in singing with us let me know and I will get you registered to sing for the 2022 concert season!
Bethel College Announcements
Sat., Dec. 4 – Five Places of Christmas, the annual holiday open house, includes Kauffman Museum and Goerz House on the Bethel College campus, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. No charge for admission. The Bethel College Women’s Association (BCWA) is the host at Goerz House, where there will be baked goods and other items for sale. Please plan to wear a face covering indoors and follow all COVID-19 protocols requested by the venue. (Other locations: Warkentin House, Harvey County Historical Museum and Carriage Factory Gallery, all in Newton.)
Tues., Dec. 7 – Bethel College Steel Drum Band concert, 7 p.m., Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center. Bethel’s current COVID-19 protocols require physical distancing to the extent possible and mask-wearing indoors with groups of 10 or more.
Weds., Dec. 8 – Singalong to Christmas portions of Handel’s Messiah returns in-person, 11 a.m., Memorial Hall, with chamber orchestra, soloists and student conductors. Scores provided. Bethel’s current COVID-19 protocols require physical distancing to the extent possible and mask-wearing indoors with groups of 10 or more.
Fri., Dec. 10 – Christmas Gala Jazz concert, 8 p.m., Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center. Bethel’s current COVID-19 protocols require physical distancing to the extent possible and mask-wearing indoors with groups of 10 or more.
Sun., Dec. 12 – Lighting of the Green returns in-person this year; 8 p.m. on the Bethel College campus.
Western District Conference invites you to visit our website to read the latest news, stories and announcements and share them with your congregation!
Western District Conference staff position opening: Western District Conference seeks an Administrative Assistant to work part-time (18 hours/week) with the WDC Associate Conference Minister (Texas-based), beginning February 1, 2022. Responsibilities include clerical and logistical support, communications, records management, and translation. Qualifications include strong organizational and computer skills, communication skills in Spanish and English, ability to collaborate as part of a team, intercultural competency, and willingness to promote WDC’s mission and priorities. For position description and application form, contact Sandra Montes-Martinez, Associate Conference Minister, at sandram@mennowdc.org or 214-907-6309; or contact the WDC office at wdc@mennowdc.org or 316-283-6300. Applications will be accepted until December 31 and will be processed in January 2022.
December’s WDC Resource Library Book Discussion will be Thursday, December 16 at 7:00pm via Zoom. Join us to discuss Tongue-Tied: Learning the Lost Art of Talking about Faith by Sara Wenger Shenk. We welcome those who have read the book and those interested in the topic. Copies of the book available through the library. RSVP at crlib@mennowdc.org
The McPherson Community Brass Choir under the direction of Jerry Toews will give their Christmas Brass Concert Sunday, Dec. 12 at 7:30pm in the Goessel HS gym in Goessel, KS. This event is sponsored by the Goessel Ministerial Alliance. Note the location change accommodating for social distancing. Come and enjoy a festive brass Christmas concert!
Immerse yourself into the Christmas message with music and song Sunday December 19 at 4pm. Hopeful Blues is honored to host Doxology Ensemble, a 12-voice male ensemble from the Anabaptist community near Hutchinson. Jointly, they will present a concert of sacred music, joining two unique ensembles for an afternoon of Christmas music.
Hopeful Blues, an eclectic instrumental group based at Hope Mennonite Church in Wichita performs a variety of sacred instrumental music from old world to contemporary. The Christmas selections will be a blend of contemplative and familiar.
Doxology Ensemble sings Acapella choral arrangements, both classic and modern. The Christmas repertoire includes arrangements of traditional carols, rousing spirituals, and soaring choral settings of scripture. After a two year hiatus, we are excited to be rehearsing again and are looking forward to sharing the joy of the Incarnation through song.
The Sunday (December 19) 4pm concert will be held at Hope Mennonite church, 868 N Maize Road, Wichita KS. Admission is free, donations are welcomed.
For Mennonite Men announcements press here
For Mennonite Church USA Webinar, “2022 Special Delegate Assembly: What it is and why it’s so important” press here
For Mennonite Creation Care Network newsletter press here
For Mennonite Mission Network “News and Beyond” press here
For news from Mennonites World Conference press here
For Mennonite World Conference Info – “Mustard Seed Faith That Moves Mountains” press here.
The fifth & final Neuf Memorial Run takes place on Saturday, January 8, 2022 on the campus of Bethel College. In addition, the Neuf 90K Challenge runs from December 9 through January 8. All proceeds support the Russ Neufeld Memorial Scholarship at Hesston College and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Visit runtheneuf.neuf.ca for more information and to register for the Run and Challenge.
| The Rocky Mountain December newsletter is here!Have a look at the latest/greatest happenings here at RMMC. For this and previous newsletters, please visit the camp website and click on the “News” tab under “About Us”. |
Mennonite Central Committee Announcements
The MCC Comforter Blitz Committee is looking for additional committee members! Would you be interested in assisting the making of comforters for Mennonite Central Committee, and helping to plan the annual three-day comforter making event in Yoder, Kansas? If so, we would love your skills and your voice! If interested, please reach out to Committee Chair, Kara Klingenberg at k.klingenberg@hotmail.com or call her at 620-983-9003 for more information. We are currently looking for a treasurer, advertising help, and anyone else who is interested in helping.
Have yourself a honkin’ good holiday, December 17 from 4-6 p.m.! MCC is thrilled to host this drive-thru event again this year. Order your charcuterie box(es) today to enjoy in the comfort of your home, spread Christmas joy and order extra to give as gifts! Suggested donation per box is $25. We’re also collecting items for MCC hygiene kits at this event. Place your order by 5 p.m. on December 9. Details and order form are on mcc.org. Questions? Please call 316.283.2720.
Mennonite Church USA Announcements
Register today! Join Michael Danner, Mennonite Church USA associate executive director of Church Vitality, on Monday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. ET for the first in a series of webinars to help conferences and congregations prepare for the 2022 Delegate Assembly (May 27-30, Kansas City, Missouri). He will provide an overview of MC USA’s structure and decision-making – including conversation about how the special session of the Delegate Assembly fits into the big picture. Register here: mennoniteusa.org/why-important-da22.
Your whole household can participate in Advent this year by using the Mennonite Church USA annual Advent at Home worship guide, “Dare to Imagine.” The guide is now available as a printable booklet and in an online format. Find it here: mennoniteusa.org/adventathome
Menno Snapshots
Talashia Keim Yoder, author of this year’s Mennonite Church USA’s Advent at Home guide, reflects on her and her family’s Advent traditions and how she has learned from her church family in her blog, “Dare to imagine the transformative power of Advent.” Find it here: mennoniteusa.org/power-of-advent.
Learn, Pray, Join: Cost of Poverty
Christina and Dustin Hite, Mennonite pastors, live in an intentional neighborhood in Austin, Texas, among people who have experienced chronic homelessness. Watch a short video by the Hites and read more about their ministry in their blog, “Broken systems and relational healing.” mennoniteusa.org/broken-healing
Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request: Delicia Bravo Aguilar and Peter Wigginton, of Mennonite Mission Network, request prayer for the churches in Ecuador that have suffered the loss of many leaders and members, due to COVID-19. While they continue to lament their losses, pray for their strength and resilience, as new leaders come forward to continue the reconciling mission of Christ.
Western District Conference Prayer Request: Pray for the WDC Church Planting Commissions as they envision new initiatives and partnerships for church planting in the coming year.