A memorial service will be held for Kenneth Schmidt on Saturday, June 11 at 11 am. You are welcome to attend in person or on line. Kenneth Schmidt is the son of Betty Schmidt of BCMC.
We offer sympathy to the family of Dean Koppes. Dean died at Kidron Bethel Village on May 30. Dean was a long time member of BCMC. Please remember his wife, Linda, in prayer. You can click on this link for Dean’s obituary.
https://petersenfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituaries/dean-wilke-koppes/
We offer sympathy to the family of Orletta Wiebe. Orletta died June 8 at Schowalter Villa, Hesston. A memorial service is being planned and the date will be announced later.
Brad, Megan, Lincoln, & Lawrence Kohlman would like to invite our BCMC family to an ice cream social in our backyard – 707 Wheat Lane, Hesston, KS! Come & go from 6:30-8:00 pm on Sunday, June 12.
We’ll have water, ice cream with toppings, and yard games. Bring a lawn chair and another drink if you’d like and join us for a fun evening!
RSVPs appreciated to meganbkohlman@gmail.com.
Farewell Reception for Pastor Renee Reimer
Join us for a come-and-go Farewell Reception for Renee Reimer on Monday, June 13, from 5 – 7 pm. We’ll be outside on the church lawn, wind and weather permitting.
This Week at BCMC: June 12-19, 2022
Sunday, June 12
10:30 am Faith Formation—Visitors welcome!
Adult Classes (If meeting): Agape Class (Rm B8) Bible Study (Rm 14); Catacombs (Rm B5); Fellowship (B7); Fine Arts (Rm 22); Issues and Christianity (Rm 23); Mosaic (Rm 20); Open Circle (Room 21); Seekers (Rm 28); Sojourners (Chapel)
An Invitation from the Seekers Sunday School Class
Today Seekers Sunday school will meet in the Fellowship Hall. Kamala Platt will read from her poetry book: “Gravity Prevails: and so does love”. Everyone is welcome
6:30 to 8 pm Come & go ice cream social at Brad, Megan, Lincoln, and Lawrence Kohlman’s house, 707 Wheat Lane, Hesston
Monday, June 13
5-7 pm Come and go reception for Pastor Renee Reimer
Tuesday, June 14
12 noon Mid Kansas Investment Club meeting in Fellowship Hall
Sunday, June 19—Juneteenth
9:30 am Worship with sermon by Nathan Koontz
10:30 am Faith Formation
Library Committee Announcement
The Library theme for June and July is Caldecott and John Newbery Award Winners. We have many of these award winning books that would be of interest to both adults and children. Come check them out.
We are also continuing to accept and sell puzzles. Not only are they on the cart, but also below the new book section on the west wall. Just leave a suggested donation of $5 in the envelope and enjoy. We have a long list of books that we would like to add to our collection and this is a great way to support our efforts.
To fellow worshipers of Bethel College Mennonite Church:
The screen study committee is grateful for the strong support that our fellowship has given to installing a screen in our sanctuary. We continue to believe that it will enhance worship and provide enhanced experiences for conferences, weddings and other events.
We have been receiving gifts and commitments to cover the requested 1/4th of the total cost of the project prior to beginning installation. To date, we have received a little less than ½ of the required $11,250.00. McClellan Sound has advised us that there will be a significant price increase for the projector and screen in the middle of June. So there is some urgency for us to fulfill the balance of the “tithe” very soon so that we can begin the installation. We request and encourage those able to contribute toward the project to do so very soon. These contributions can be in the form or cash donations or pledges to be completed at a later time.
Thanks, Bill Swartley, Church Board member
Faith Formation Commission recognizes that attending summer camps is not cheap, but that it is an extremely valuable part of faith formation for our young people.
We have some scholarship funding available to assist families with covering the cost of registering for the 2022 camping season. We also hope to have funds available after the camping season to provide some amount of reimbursement to all families with campers. Please contact Mary Ellen Hodge or Pastor Todd Schlosser if you’d like assistance with camp registration this summer. These funds are only available to campers who camp at Mennonite camps. We encourage you to get registered early for an awesome summer of camping experiences!
If anyone at BCMC would like to support our young people attending camp you can feel free to donate to our Mennonite Camping Scholarship Fund by writing a check made out to BCMC (with Mennonite Camp Scholarship in the memo line) and drop it off on Sunday morning or in the church office.
Pride Month at BCMC
During June Pride month celebrating LGBTQIA persons, we have pride flags flying all around our church campus. In addition, these flags are in celebration of the recent resolutions passed at the MCUSA Special Delegate Assembly that open up access to the LGBTQIA persons in MCUSA and acknowledge previous harm that has been done to them by the church. Also throughout the month of June, the BCMC Supportive Communities Network banner will be at the front of the sanctuary. Finally, members from our congregation will also be attending a Unity March and potluck on June 25 in Wichita sponsored by Wichita Pride. Go to their website for more details. If you are planning on attending, please contact Nathan Koontz so he can get you a button.
Life Enrichment returns to Bethel College with the start of the fall 2022 semester – but It will be on a different day. Life Enrichment resumes Thursday, Aug. 25, and will be on Thursdays thereafter. Place and time remain the same: Krehbiel Auditorium, 9:30 a.m. See https://www.bethelks.edu/academics/convocation-lectures/life-enrichment for more information, and look for a brochure coming later this summer.
Bethel College’s Prison Theater Project is currently in process, with director John McCabe-Juhnke, Bethel students and several men from the Hutchinson Correctional Facility minimum-security East Unit. The public performance at HCF is Friday, July 1, and the project is looking for an audience. If you’d like to go, contact Offender-Victim Ministries in Newton at 316-283-2038 (Mon.-Thurs.) before June 24.
Western District Conference invites you to visit our website to read the latest news, stories and announcements and share them with your congregation!
June WDC Resource Library Final Thursday Book Discussion: “At no other time in history or place in the world have so many people understood themselves to be suffering from mental health problems.” In Not Quite Fine: Mental Health, Faith, and Showing Up for One Another, author Carlene Hill Byron calls and equips the church to step up for such a time as this. Join us Thursday, June 30 at 7:00pm via Zoom to discuss the book. Register by emailing crlib@mennowdc.org
Summer Story Hour–God Rocks! – All children ages 3-8 in the central Kansas area are invited to God Rocks! Summer Story Hour at the WDC Conference Resource Library 2517 N. Main in North Newton. Fun Stories and Activities with Leader, Marjie Warkentine and Resource Library Director, Jennie Wintermote. Mondays at 10:00am on June 27, July 11, 18, 25 & August 1 & 8. Register for Story Hour here.
For Mennonite Mission Network News and Beyond press here
For Mennonite Central Committee In Touch press here
For Mennonite World Conference press here
For Anabaptist Disabilities Network Connections press here
To register for Anabaptist Disabilities Network Webinar “Dementia and Congregational Care” press here
For Mennonite Education Agency New Scholarship to Dismantle Racism press here
The Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp June newsletter is here! (Press on the word June)
MENNONITE CHURCH USA ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) has named Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz as denominational minister for Peace and Justice. In this role, she will resource conference ministers, conferences and pastors with opportunities to strengthen capacity and engagement in Christ-centered peace and justice, as well as serve as a liaison and coordinator for peace and justice initiatives throughout MC USA. Read more here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/news/peace-justice
Menno Snapshots
Sue Park-Hur, director of racial/ethnic engagement for Mennonite Church USA, reflects on the 1992 L.A. Riots/Uprising. “Even after 30 years, we still have a difficult time agreeing on how to name the event, because it impacted the various communities so differently.” Read her reflections here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/gathered-to-remember-testify
In times that “try our souls,” it is easy to be tempted into the narrative that there is a good and a bad side. In her Menno Snapshots blog, Carolyn E. Yoder wrestles with what it means to be an Anabaptist in times like these. “These are the times that try our nonresistant/nonviolent souls. May they also be the times that accelerate the rising consciousness of another way to meet evil in the world.” Read more here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/times-that-try-our-souls
A longtime Anabaptist and war tax resister, Harold A. (“H.A.”) Penner, shared a letter that he and his wife, Barbara, sent to the Internal Revenue Service, that said, “We conscientiously object on religious grounds to the payment of that portion of our federal income taxes that supports war making and militarism…” Read the full letter here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/tax-resistance-letter
In her Menno Snapshots blog, Kate Wentland discusses her experience cooking traditional Ukrainian foods with friends. “My friends and I cooked together to eat in solidarity, to talk about the war and what it means to offer a peaceful witness, and to donate together.” Read more here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/ukrainian-dinner-party
Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request: Mennonite Voluntary Service participants, serving through Mennonite Mission Network, are in their final months at their unit houses and volunteer placements. Pray for them as they bring closure to relationships in their hosting communities and find ways to implement what they have learned, as they move into their futures.
Western District Conference Prayer Request: Pray for WDC congregations in pastoral transition, that they would experience God’s faithfulness, love and guidance during times of change and uncertainty.