As we continue to seek God’s way on our Lenten journey, we will gather for a Maundy Thursday worship service, April 14 at 7 pm in the sanctuary. We will share in Christ’s body through communion and also share resources by contributing financially to the Deacon’s Caring Fund. Please join us in-person or virtually for this time as we remember and enact Jesus’ last supper.
For your calendars
There will be a memorial service for Larry Friesen, Saturday, April 16 at 3 pm in the BCMC Sanctuary. You are welcome to attend in person or view the service live-streamed through the BCMC website.
Plan to attend the congregational meeting April 24, in the sanctuary at 1 pm. The meeting will also be live-streamed.
BCMC Offering for April 3 2022 General Fund $12,107; Sr Hi Youth $25; Living Stones $2,058.12; Flower Fund $88; Women’s Fellowship $340
Church Retreat at Camp Mennoscah
Come one, come all – to the 2022 BCMC Camp Mennoscah Church Retreat! This year’s retreat is on May 7-8 (Mother’s Day Weekend), and we hope that you’ll be able to join us for some fun, fellowship, fishing, and festivities in the glory of God’s fantastic creation. Meals and lodging are both available, and pre-registration is strongly encouraged. There won’t be worship in the BCMC building on May 8, so even if spending the night isn’t for you, please consider making the trip out on Sunday morning to worship – where we will hopefully be celebrating the act of baptism again.
If you have any questions or would like to help out in anyway, please reach out to Adam Robb (adamandjillrobb@gmail.com) and if you’re planning to attend, please use the link here https://forms.gle/FAhg5S Zorn’s rH6 to sign up! Thanks, and we hope to see you there!
This week at BCMCSunday, April 10, 2022—Palm Sunday
9:30 am Worship Service (in person and live streamed)
The church nursery is staffed during worship and Sunday School
Children and youth Sunday School classes! 10:30-11:30 am
Preschoolers – Room B4 Middlers (3rd-8th graders) – Room 26
High School – Room 24 Koinonia (college students welcome!) – The Agape House The Agape Class will meet in Room B8
Adult Classes (If meeting): Bible Study (Rm 14); Catacombs (Rm B5);
Fellowship (B7); Fine Arts (Rm 22); Issues and Christianity (Rm 23); Book Study (Rm 20); Open Circle (Room 21); Seekers (Rm 28); Sojourners (Chapel)
Monday, April 11, 2022
Deadline for commission and committee members to have their Annual Reports into the church office for the Annual Report Booklet (for the April 24 Congregational Meeting)
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
9-11 am Community Playschool
4 pm Lent Prayers by Zoom
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
7-8 pm Youth Group in Fellowship Hall
7 pm Wednesday Night Club for 3rd to 8th Graders
7:30 pm Chancel Choir in the Sanctuary
Thursday, April 14, 2022—Maundy Thursday
4 pm Staff Congregation Relations Committee meeting in Room 14
6:15 pm Chancel Bells in Room B7
7 pm Maundy Thursday Service in the Sanctuary
7:30 pm Finance Committee meeting in Fellowship Hall
Friday, April 15, 2022—Good Friday
Saturday, April 16, 2022
3 pm Memorial for Larry Friesen in the Sanctuary—You are welcome to attend in person or view the service live-streamed through the BCMC website
Sunday, April 17—Easter Sunday
9:30 am Worship Service (in person and live streamed)
BCMC Library News
The current Library Theme is a timely topic, Stories from Ukraine. We have several books that are new to our Ukraine collection and should be added this week. Come check out what our library has to offer!
The Library Committee would like to extend our puzzle sale as a mini fundraiser to support the buying of more books! If you have a puzzle that is in excellent/very good condition, please consider donating it to the library and we will sell it for $5! Let’s rotate our jigsaw puzzles, have fun, and support the library!
Dr. John and Clara Schmidt – former members of Alexanderwohl and First Mennonite – were Mennonite medical pioneers in Paraguay, S.A (1941-2001). Their 60-year saga of service and adventure is now documented in a new book, CALLED. The authors, Marlena Fiol and Ed O’Connor, will share a behind-the-scenes look at what motivated them to write the book, where the seven years of research took them, and some of the reactions they’ve received to the book from a wide range of readers — including family members and leaders of the Mennonite Central Committee. Join this live virtual event via Zoom or watch on Facebook Live.
https://www.facebook.com/events/726332378727712/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3RlXxVnSQ6e1pS17yjyvRg
Community Playschool Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the Corporation of the Community Playschool, Inc. will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, April 11, 2022, Fellowship Hall, Bethel College Mennonite Church. This meeting will be open to members of the corporation which includes members of sponsoring churches. All are welcome!
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| Camp Mennoscah is having a Verenike Casserole Fundraiser on April 30! If you enjoyed the meal last year, this will be very similar–more details will be coming soon!Meal: verenike casserole, seasoned green beans, zweiback, and fruit crisp.Summer youth camps and retreats are a vital and living part of faith formation for youth and young adults. Your meal donation will support Camp Mennoscah’s mission to love one another, build relationships and follow Jesus Christ. |
UPDATE for Summer Youth Camps!! If camp happened today, masks would be optional. Campers would stay in cabins. Campers/staff who are not fully vaccinated would need to provide a negative COVID test. Activities would be done together, though additional activities may be done outside. See www.campmennoscah.org for more information.
UPDATE for groups!! You are invited to set your own precautions based on the comfort level of your group. Please note the RV electrical hookups are not available due to safety concerns.
Other events and happenings:
- April 23 is a Work and Play Day at Camp Mennoscah! We’re starting at 8:30am at the maintenance shed. We’d like to complete the amphitheater project, but we need a crew with trucks and dirt haulers/diggers! Contact Camp Mennoscah at 620-297-3290 to register or for more information.
- Volunteer a day or more at camp! Bring a crew and tackle a project at camp. Projects for all ages and sizes of groups are available. Contact us at 620-297-3290 or olivia.bartel@campmennoscah.org.
- Nursesneeded for Summer Youth Camps! Your time and skill give campers a week of growing in Christian fellowship and experiencing God’s great creation. Nurses need RN certification or equivalent. Nurses are needed for June 12-18, June 19-23, June 23-25, July 3-9, and July 24-29. Contact us at 620-297-3290 or olivia.bartel@campmennoscah.org.
The Rocky Mountain April 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”.
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 Women in Mission invites all women to a virtual “Meet-up” on Tuesday, April 26th, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Please join us as we hear from Barbara Gingrich, Cheryl Kaufman, and Cindy Thompson from Lorraine Avenue Mennonite Church in Wichita about their Knit4Peace project. Then, Sarah Augustine will discuss her personal life journey and book she authored called The Land is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery (Herald Press, 2021). Sarah is a Pueblo (Tewa) descendant and founder and cochair of the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition and Executive Director of a dispute resolution center in central Washington State. She is a columnist for Anabaptist World and co-hosts the Doctrine of Discovery podcast with Sheri Hostetler. Following the event, you will be invited to participate in an online survey to provide your ideas about future Western District Women in Mission activities. We hope you will be willing to share your input on how WDWM plays an important role for women today. To register for this event, please email westerndistrictwomen@gmail.com by Monday, April 25 and you will be sent the Zoom link.
How Can We Help? On April 21, 7 pm the WDC Immigration Task Force invites you to learn the latest on how to support new migrants and refugees near you and learn about how to join the mission of two organizations who have been working at refugee resettlement and immigration justice for many years. We will be glad to network briefly with each other about our congregation’s work in this area. Guest speakers will be Charity Stowell (MCC Newcomer Connections Coordinator) and Jen Rafter (International Rescue Committee Development Coordinator). To receive the Zoom link, please register by emailing wdc@mennowdc.org by April 20.
“Race is one of the hardest topics to discuss in America. Many White Christians avoid talking about it altogether. But a commitment to peacemaking requires White people to step out of their comfort and privilege and into the work of anti-racism. Dear White Peacemakers is an invitation to White Christians to come to the table and join this hard work and holy calling.” —from the back cover.
Join us to discuss dear white peacemakers by Osheta Moore via Zoom on Thursday, April 28 from 7:00-8:00pm. Contact the WDC Resource Library at crlib@mennowdc.org to register for the discussion or borrow a copy of the book.
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| Save the Date – Saturday, April 30 there will be a book sale outside the WDC Offices in North Newton, KS with donations and old library books looking for new homes. Watch for more details next week! |
BETHEL COLLEGE ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Sun., April 10 – Bethel College Women’s Chorus concert, 4 p.m., Administration Building chapel (may be different from some previously printed material)
- Mon., April 11 – Bethel College presents Suffering Church: How Theatre Can Help Us Learn from Those Who Leave, an original play by Karen Robu, D.Min., director of theater at Bethel and associate minister at Plymouth Congregational Church, Wichita, 7 p.m., Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center. The play contains mature subject matter and is not intended for young audiences. This performance is supported by the Greer Endowment at Bethel College.
- Weds., April 13 – Bethel College faculty jazz recital: Joel Boettger, saxophone, 7 p.m., with William Flynn, guitar, Steve Hatfield, drums, and Chris Shaw, upright bass; Administration Building chapel
- Tues., April 19 – Bethel College Orchestra concert under the direction of Kristopher Hilding, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Hall.
- Fri., April 22 – Bethel College student Bryce Wilson, junior saxophone recital, 7 p.m., Ad Building chapel
For Mennonite Central Committee “In Touch” press here
For Mennonite Mission Network News and Beyond press here
Join Mennonite Central Committee and Church World Service from 1:00-2:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 12 to learn more about the refugee resettlement process in the U.S., challenges and opportunities refugees encounter when they settle into their new community, and the ways in which churches can get involved. Register here for this virtual learning event https://bit.ly/3tPpTXh
MENNONITE CHURCH USA ANNOUNCEMENTS
MC USA has launched a new curriculum entitled, Diversity: God’s Design. This multi-media study calls young adults to celebrate their unique gifts and the intentional diversity of God’s creation. The four-week curriculum uses biblical reflections to introduce the importance of intercultural competency as part of Christian growth and formation. Find it here: mennoniteusa.org/diversity-gods-design/
Pastors & Leaders | Deep Faith 2022, a joint conference of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and Mennonite Church USA Faith Formation, looked to the Early Church for inspiration to lead with hope today during the Feb. 21–24 gathering. View the videos of the conference’s plenary sessions here. ambs.edu/pastorsandleaders
Menno Snapshots
Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) invites you to join Mennonite World Conference in offering a prayer for all Ukrainians, including our Mennonite siblings in Ukraine. Read the prayer here: mennoniteusa.org/prayer-request-ukraine
Menno Snapshots
Sibonokuhle Ncube, a speaker who preached at the Pastors & Leaders | Deep Faith 2022 conference, wants to congratulate church leaders on their direction and wisdom through this unprecedented and ongoing pandemic context! As the existential circumstance has raged on, the battle to bring equanimity between desperate demand for hands on deck and a constrained supply for super-powered leaders has raised the profile of church leaders. Read more from her blog here: mennoniteusa.org/run-fight-endure
Menno Snapshots
In his blog, “Repairing the Earth: A biblical call to peace giving,” Everence’s Beryl Jantzi writes, “We’re all familiar with the concept of peacemaking. But have you considered peace giving? Looking back over Old Testament practices and Jewish history, we come across an ancient concept called ‘tikkun olam’ which means repairing the earth.” Continue reading here: mennoniteusa.org/repairing-earth-biblical-call
Menno Snapshots
Sue Park-Hur, the denominational minister for Transformative Peacemaking for Mennonite Church USA, shares stories of her experiences as an Asian American woman in her Los Angeles neighborhood. “As I was walking around the neighborhood this morning, I prayed. I asked God to give me an imagination where sidewalks and other public spaces can be a safe and shared place for everyone.” Continue reading here: mennoniteusa.org/sidewalk-stories
Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request: Christy Harrison and Peter Sensenig, jointly serving with Eastern Mennonite Missions and Mennonite Mission Network, traveled to Benin and Chad in preparation for a new ministry among Muslim and Christian believers. Pray for them as they complete their assignment at Paris (France) Mennonite Center and discern God’s leading into their next ministry location.
Western District Conference Prayer Request: Pray for all WDC congregations as we journey through this Holy Week, remembering Jesus’ death and recognizing his presence in places of suffering and grief in our communities and world today.