BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR AUGUST 20, 2023
To livestream the worship service:
On Sunday morning, around 9:20, go to BCMC’s webpage at bethelcollegemennonitechurch.org and click the green button labeled LIVE STREAM on the right side of the screen, which will take you to the worship service. If you get a message in the black box that the video is unavailable, click the gray box belows that says “View Live Stream on YouTube”. Anytime after the service concludes, you can watch a recording of the service at your convenience by clicking the same green LIVE STREAM button. Again, you will probably have to go to the gray box that says “View Live Stream on YouTube”. That will transfer you to the BCMC YouTube Channel. You will have to click on the tab “Videos” to see all of the BCMC videos. Click the red button to see the bulletin/order of service.
OR – click on this link for this Sunday: https://youtube.com/live/bQ5WBCgc7UI?feature=share
BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH
August 20, 2023
Prelude—Von Gott will ich nicht lassen (J.C. Bach); Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (Johann Gottfried Walther); Nun bitten wir (Dietrich Buxtehude ; Ein’ feste Burg ist under Gott (Walther)–Karen Schlabaugh
Christ Candle Lighting
Welcome and Prayer–Ada Schmidt-Tieszen
*Hymn—Praise With Joy the World’s Creator— VT 428
Children’s Conversation—Kevin Neufeld
*Hymn—O Praise the Gracious Power—VT 87 Congregation sing verses 1-2,6-7; Octet sing verses 3-5; All sing refrain
Scripture Reading—Psalm 67; Matthew 15:10-28—Mike Ingenthron
Message—Is That Sarcasm I Hear?—Nathan Koontz
*Hymn of Response—Together—VT 389 Octet verse 1, Congregation only verse 2, Octet verse 3, All verse 4
Prayers of God’s People
*Hymn—Sing a New World Into Being—VT 809
*Benediction
Postlude— Allegro (J.S. Bach)—Karen Schlabaugh
* You are invited to stand
VT—Voices Together
Keyboard- Karen Schlabaugh
Audio visual— Francis Toews
YouTube Link: https://youtube.com/live/bQ5WBCgc7UI?feature=share
This Week at BCMC: August 20—27, 2023
Sun., August 20, 2023
9:30 a.m. Worship with sermon by Pastor Nathan Koontz
YouTube Link: https://youtube.com/live/bQ5WBCgc7UI?feature=share
10:45 a.m. You are welcome to join the Indigenous Justice Task Group in Fellowship Hall
AUGUST 20/AUGUST 27 Repair Network Discussions:
The BCMC Task Group for Indigenous Justice, in its continuing work on dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery as a call for the Christian Church, invites the congregation to two post-worship discussions in the Fellowship Hall on August 20 and August 27. We will discuss the Repair Network, a coalition of 30 churches across the U.S. that supports church communities in education, solidarity and reparative action alongside Indigenous Peoples. We will share the seven steps recommended by the Repair Network to join and how BCMC has been working on those the past couple of years. We will also talk about what it would mean for BCMC to become a part of the Coalition. Please join our discussions with your ideas, comments, and questions.
Mon., August 21, 2023
10 a.m. Staff meeting in Room 14
Tue., August 22, 2023
7 p.m. Creation Care Committee meeting in Room 14
Wed., August 23, 2023
7 p.m. Youth Group meeting
Thurs., August 24, 2023
6:30 p.m. Chancel Bell rehearsal in Room B7
7:30 p.m. Hospitality Commission meeting in Fellowship Hall
7 p.m. Deacon Commission meeting in Room 14
Sun., August 27, 2023
9:30 a.m. Worship with sermon by Pastor Roger Neufeld Smith; August birthday recognition
10:45 a.m. The Indigenous Justice Task Group in Fellowship Hall
Senior High Youth Group 23-24. As we begin a new year of youth group activities, our first task is to renovate our meeting space (room 24). Plans include painting the walls, increasing/improving the seating, and adding technology. We need your help. We are searching for good quality two person love seats. If you have a love seat to donate, please contact George at 316-587-6910 or george@bethelcollegemennonitechurch.org, or catch me in person. Thank you
For your calendars on September 17: A mentor/mentee event in Fellowship Hall with pizza and games from 2 to 4 p.m.
Children and Youth of BCMC: Read a book. Earn a Book on or before August 27: Summer vacation is almost over, but you can still earn a book for the New Hope Shelter for each BCMC library book you check out, read, and return. And parents, grandparents, and friends of youth, you can help by checking out a book from the children’s collection and reading it too, or with a child. The challenge is to fill a whole shelf of books for homeless children and youth. Visit the table outside the door to the children’s room of the BCMC church library for more information.
The August/September Library theme is called “What’s For Dinner?” In the doldrums of this extreme heat, come check out one of the library’s books on food: either to find a new dish to prepare or sit back and enjoy a new read in the cool comfort of your own home. We’d love to help you find your next read.
Roger’s Whereabouts : Roger plans to be back in the BCMC office on Wed., Aug. 23. Email roger@bethelcollegemennonitechurch.org or text or call (785-220-1968.)
BCMC Offering for August 6, 2023: General Fund $10,956.33; Caring Fund $250; Library Reserve Fund $5; VBS Fund $701.88; Living Stones $8.33; Kitchen Fund $6; Women’s Fellowship $50; Esther Thieszen Memorial $400; Metta Lieb Memorial $200.
We had hoped to make it “4 in a row” but ;unfortunately July was a down month. Our receipts were $4000 below expenses for the month and are currently about $12000 below expenses ‘’year to date. As we go into the later parts of the year, we need to make the church budget a priority in our thoughts and prayers. We all know the challenges and we certainly have the ability to accomplish the goal. As usual, thank you so much for your efforts. —Finance Committee
A Celebration of Life/Memorial service for Frances Siemens will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 9, at Bethel College Mennonite Church. Frances Eleanor (Schultz) Siemens died July 25, 2023 at Kidron Bethel Village. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Bethel College.
We will be welcoming new members to Bethel College Mennonite Church this fall. If you are interested in becoming a member, or transferring membership, or learning more about membership at BCMC, please contact Elizabeth Schmidt, Congregational Care Coordinator. She will be happy to visit with you!
CARD SHOWER FOR MARLES PREHEIM
Marles Preheim, former BCMC choir director and Bethel College choral professor, is turning 90 on August 25! His family suggests that a card shower would be most welcome! He is currently living at 3056 Ivy Ct., Apt. 21, North Newton, KS 67117 and has a new email address:
mcpre@united.net
“ANABAPTIST WORLD” SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL
It is time to renew the BCMC group subscription to Anabaptist World, a monthly magazine featuring voices from across the Anabaptist-Mennonite world. If you sign up with the congregation’s plan, you receive this publication at the discounted rate of $39. If interested in joining the group plan, please contact Monica Lichti in the church office AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. New subscribers can also receive a one-year subscription for the discounted rate of $39. To subscribe: email the church office: office@bethelcollegemennonitechurch.org
Bring in or mail your $39.00 payment to the office or place it in the offering plate on Sunday. Be sure to mark your checks with “Anabaptist World” in the memo line. If you are currently receiving Anabaptist World through the BCMC group subscription plan it will expire November 25, 2023. Anabaptist World would like us to renew the subscription now so that you will receive the magazine without interruption.
LINK TO SERMON
On Sunday, August 13, the live-stream suddenly stopped towards the end of Pastor Nathan’s sermon.
Here is the link to the full sermon from Sunday morning: https://youtu.be/itWaR1LJxig
JOIN A BCMC CHOIR
Chancel Choir: BCMC’s Voluntary adult Chancel Choir will begin our 2023-24 season with the first practice on August 30. The choir will meet in the sanctuary at 7:30 pm. If you like to sing and like to sing with others, come and help to “Make a Joyful” noise.
Chancel Bell Choir: The BCMC Bell Choir will begin practicing on August 24. We meet at 6:30 p.m. in Room B7. If your music abilities include reading music and know how to count, you are invited.
You’ll want to mark your calendars for the BCMC/Bethel College Ice Cream Social set for September 17, 6:30 p.m. on the BCMC front lawn. Come to enjoy ice cream with Bethel students and faculty. The Bethel College Relations Team (Darlene Dick, Ron Flickinger, Tim Hodge, Matt Koontz) ask that you bring a dessert or toppings to go with the ice cream.
WESTERN DISTRICT CONFERENCE WOMEN IN MISSION
This year’s registration form and brochure for the Western District Women in Mission Women’s & Girls Retreat Sept. 9-10 at Camp Mennoscah is available to download, print and send in at https://www.westerndistrictwomeninmission.org/events. We hope you can join us! This year’s theme is Women Talking, Listening, and Creating, with our scripture theme being 2 Peter 1:12-21. We’ll be diving into some fun activities around storytelling, listening, story-catching, and story-keeping in a variety of formats. Registration is due by September 5. For questions, e-mail westerndistrictwomen@gmail.com.
Bethel College Announcements
· Fri., Aug. 25 – “Drinking from a New Well,” ceramics by Tom and Pam Voth, opens in the Regier Gallery in Luyken Fine Arts Center at Bethel College (reception Sept. 21). Gallery hours are Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 2-4 p.m.
· SAVE THE DATES: Sun., Sept. 10, Dr. Caleb Stephens presents his film Eat, Protest, Lift, and a convocation lecture Mon., Sept. 11, at Bethel College
Western District Conference Announcements
Western District Conference invites you to visit our website to read the latest news, stories and announcements.
Save the Date! The 2024 Western District Conference Annual Assembly will be held on August 2-4, 2024 at First Mennonite Church, Beatrice, NE. We hope to see you there and thanks to all who came out or attended virtually this past weekend!
Camp Mennoscah Announcements
- 75th Anniversary of Camp Mennoscah Kick-Off! Be on the lookout for more information. Camp Mennoscah is beginning the celebration of its 75th Anniversary this fall. An event to kick off the celebration will take place at Camp on Saturday, September 23, 2023. Mark your calendars, save the date, and watch the Camp Mennoscah Facebook page and Website at www.campmennoscah.org for details.
- Need a bunk-like bed? Camp Mennoscah will be taking apart the bunks used with the large tents since there has not been a recent need for them. These bunks have the lower bed at essentially ground level. If you would be interested in purchasing one, contact us at 620-297-3290.
- Registration for the Fall Scrapbook and Crafts Retreats is open. The retreats are scheduled for Nov. 3-5 and Nov. 10-12. All retreat activities will happen at the Main Camp facilities with cropping and crafts in the dining hall and lodging in the bunkhouses. You are welcome to bring a camper/RV and use a gas generator (no hookups available). The Retreat Center will be undergoing HVAC renovations. Single rooms are not available. Contact us at 620-297-3290 with questions or issues. We’ll see you in the fall!
M&M Project Update: Over the Halfway Point!
Thank you all so much! The money continues to come in for Camp Mennoscah’s M&M Project! Thanks to all of these faithful supporters for giving to this effort!
As of this writing, Camp Mennoscah has received more than $56,000 toward our goal! That means we are over halfway to the $100,000 our donor is offering to match!
Now is the time to join the effort. If you haven’t taken any action yet, we are sure you will want to be in on this opportunity to continue our Mission at Camp – to be a place where all can renew themselves, their relationships, and their connection with God through Jesus Christ.
Churches are invited to put together a fundraising event this year that would specifically benefit the M&M Project.Churches are planning events for the summer and the fall. If you would like camp representation at such an event at your church, we are more than happy to see what we can do! And we’ll advertise for you on our website and Facebook page. We know you have great ideas!
Hope Mennonite in Wichita is holding an event on August 27 and the proceeds will go to Camp Mennoscah. Details can be found on their website: www.hopemennonite.org.
For more information, please check out the Camp Mennoscah Website, or contact Tammy at the addresses below. Checks can be made to Camp with “M&M” in the memo, or you can give online.
Tammy Duvanel Unruh
Development Director, Camp Mennoscah
tammy.d.unruh@campmennoscah.org
316-207-3472
or
Camp Mennoscah
PO Box 65 Murdock, KS 67111
620-297-3290
Everyone is invited to Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church (43 13th Ave, Inman) on Saturday, Sept 2 for our Community Fun Night! The Fun will begin at 5:30 pm with a free cornhole tournament (arrive early, limited to 18 teams), inflatables, face painting, a car show, and food for sale. Tom Gaeddert (Faith Mennonite, Newton) will provide live music from 6:30 – 7:30 pm and the evening will end with a movie on the lawn at dusk. This year’s movie will show you a whole new world with a little magic. Come celebrate the end of summer with friends and fun at Hoffnungsau.
Historian and pastor John Sharp will be at the Newton Public Library, at noon Sept. 8 in the Bessmer Room, for a special discussion of The White Mosque: A Memoir. This is part of the library’s regular Nonfiction Book Club series, but anyone is welcome to attend. Sharp is a recently-retired historian who taught at Hesston College, and a former director of the Mennonite Church USA Historical Committee and Archives. In 2016, he led a tour group, which included the author Sofia Samatar, that followed in the footsteps of 19th-century Mennonites who traveled from Russia into Central Asia, where their charismatic leader predicted Christ would return. Samatar was fascinated not only by the hardships of the Mennonites’ journey, but by its aftermath: the establishment of a small Christian village in a Muslim region that is now part of Uzbekistan – named Ak Metchet, or “The White Mosque”, after the whitewashed church the Mennonites built there. The White Mosque is the memoir Samatar wrote following her tour experience. It is a historical tapestry of border-crossing travelers, students, wanderers, martyrs and invaders, as well as a record of the strange shifts, encounters and accidents that combine to create an identity. Sharp will share his deep knowledge of this “Mennonite Great Trek to Central Asia,” answer questions and help facilitate discussion of the book. Copies of The White Mosque are available for borrowing at Newton Public Library. Ask at the public service desk or call 316-283-2890.
LABOR DAY WORK & PLAY RETREAT at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp – If you, your family or a group of friends want to enjoy the holiday weekend at RMMC, there are 16 spaces available to register. The weekend is offered as a day of work and play (Sat. or Sun.) with a Monday morning sendoff after breakfast. This year (September 1-4, 2023), we’ll be serving (foodservice & HK) along with additional work projects in preparing our facilities/grounds for the coming winter.
ET CETERA VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
Are you looking at giving back to the community, to the region, or the world? Then volunteering at Newton Et Cetera Shop is where you need to be! August 24, 6:30-7:30 pm.
Enter through the back door.
For Mennonite Disaster Service On the Level press here
For Mennonite Mission Network News and Beyond press here
Mennonite Church USA Announcements
Mennonite Church USA Executive Board is strengthening its ongoing commitment to creation care and climate justice by expanding its Peace & Justice ministries to include Mennonite Creation Care Network. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/news/mccn
Menno Snapshots
During her “Called to be Bad” MennoCon23 seminar, Mariah Martin, a pastor at Faith Mennonite Church and the host of the “Called to be Bad” podcast used the media platform as a case-study to explore the life-giving possibilities for virtual community. Read more about her podcast here: mennoniteusa.org/called-to-be-bad
“Living into Repentance and Transformation” a seminar that took place during MennoCon23, allowed for curiosity about questions of repentance and transformation through table talk and group conversation. Randy Spaulding, pastor of Boulder (Colorado) Mennonite Church, invited ideas, stories, actions and creative possibilities ahead of the seminar. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/living-into-repentance-transformation
Jessica Griggs, blog editor for MC USA, talked to Sarah Nahar, a non-violent action trainer and inter-spiritual theologian, ahead of the Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit. Watch the video and read the article as Nahar answers questions about climate justice and her work on this subject: mennoniteusa.org/climate-justice-poop-loop
MennoCon is a formative event for many youth and young adults as they journey in their faith. Rylee Weishaupt, future Hesston College graduate, reflects on the conventions she has attended as a youth and the ways these events have impacted her. Read her story here: mennoniteusa.org/transformed-through-mennocon
Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request: Pray for Christy Harrison and Peter Sensenig, and their three children, as they complete their North American Ministry this week and go back to Chad on Friday. Pray for safe travels and a joyful reunion with friends, as they return to teaching at Shalom Evangelical Theological Seminary (Peter), working in maternal and child health (Christy) and school (the children). The family serves jointly with Eastern Mennonite Missions and Mennonite Mission Network.
Western District Conference Prayer Request: Pray for WDC children, youth and their families, teachers and mentors as a new school year begins, and give thanks for the WDC Resource Library that offers faith formation resources for all ages!