BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH
WORSHIP SERVICE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
July 27, 2025
Our faith in a God of love leads us, by the power of the Spirit,
to follow Jesus in doing justice, loving mercy,
and walking humbly with God.
To livestream the worship service:
On Sunday morning, around 9:20 a.m. 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 below 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/Q4gzwR52utc?feature=share
BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH
July 27, 2025
Christ Candle Lighting
Centering Music–Adagio (Mozart)–Mary Jo Preheim
Welcome–Dorothy Nickel Friesen
*Hymn–Holy, Holy, Holy!–VT 76
Children and Youth Conversation–Tim Hodge
Worship Music–Sing Ye a Joyful Song (Dvorak)–Doyle Preheim
Scripture Reading–Luke 11:1-4, Matthew 6:7-13–Justin Zerger
*Scripture Response Hymn–Praise God–VT 71
Sermon–Pray, then, in this way . . . –Joanna Harader
*Hymn–Be Thou My Vision–VT 549
Prayers of God’s People
*Hymn–My Jesus, I Love Thee–VT 133
Those with July birthdays are welcome to come forward during this hymn to receive a birthday blessing.
*Benediction
Postlude–Maestoso (Handel)–Mary Jo Preheim
* You are invited to stand
VT—Voices Together
Audio visual—Ken Lamp
The Week at BCMC: July 27—August 3, 2025
Sunday, July 27, 2025—Worship 9:30 a.m.
https://youtube.com/live/Q4gzwR52utc?feature=share
Monday, July 28, 2025
10 a.m. Library Committee in Room 14 and the Library
Sunday, August 3, 2025—Worship 9:30 a.m. with sermon by Rev. Dr. Mandy Todd. Rev. Dr. Mandy Todd serves as the Director of Engagement & Development at Kansas Interfaith Action, and as Pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Lindsborg. Mandy is a Kansas native who grew up in Junction City, KS and attended Bethany College, earning a BA in Music Education. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and has over 20 years working in local congregations in Colorado and Kansas.
Mandy has a Masters degree in Theological Studies from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO, and a Doctor of Ministry in Public Theology from Drew University in Madison, NJ, where her research focused on the intersection of social justice, spirituality, and the arts. Mandy currently lives in Lindsborg with her family.
BCMC Offering for July 20: General $4,357; MCC $10; Kitchen Fund $13; Betty Schmidt Memorial $100.
Upcoming Memorial Services
· August 15, 2 p.m. Sharon Stucky Memorial at Kidron Bethel Village, Kidron Hall
Memorial Services at BCMC:
· August 16, 11 a.m. Marion Deckert Memorial
· August 30, 11 a.m. Keith Rhoades Memorial
Send some camp mail! Senior High Camp is This Week!
As a congregation we are fortunate we have youth attending camps. As our youth form their faith in these special places, we encourage you to send letters of encouragement while they are there.
July 27-August 1 Maisie Brubacher, Lucy Burch, Collin Gaeddert, Adah Hodge, Ani Koontz, Adam Oswald, Mara Oswald, Abram Wall, Mabel Wall @ Camp Mennoscah, 9458 SE 40th St., Murdock, KS 67111.Thank you for encouraging our youth to explore their faith!
Wear your camp t-shirt to church on August 10 for our Camp Sunday celebration! As part of worship that day, we will see some photos of Bethel College Mennonite folks at Camp Mennoscah this summer and give thanks for the ways camp helps us to connect more deeply with God, each other, and creation.
BCMC Mission quilters are looking for more hand quilters for our group. Experienced quilters are welcome and we are willing to teach new quilters. We meet on Mondays from 1-5 p.m. Carol Flickinger comes in to read to us for one hour while we quilt. We also have a snack at 3 p.m. If you are interested, please contact Rose Haury at : haury@juno.com or 316-253-6221. Please join us.
BCMC will be putting together Mennonite Central Committee school kits in August. If you would like to donate money for this special project, place your donations in the designated fish bowls at the back of the sanctuary. Please make checks payable to “BCMC” with “school kits” in the memo line. Donations will be accepted through July and into August.
Subscriptions—“Rejoice” and “Anabaptist World”
· It’s time to renew the BCMC group subscription for the devotional magazine “Rejoice”. The September-October-November issue will be in your mailboxes here at the church (or mailed) in late July, early August. If you wish to renew or want a new subscription to “Rejoice”, place a check for $36.63 in the offering plate or bring to the church office.
· It’s also time to renew for “Anabaptist World”. If you wish to renew through the BCMC Group subscription, please remit $54.00 payable to BCMC in the offering plate or bring to the church office.
From the Education Service and Scholarship Committee: BCMC is helping to support seven students at Bethel College this coming academic year! We are grateful for the choice our high school and college age youth are making to attend Bethel. As a result, however, the scholarship fund needs $3000 to make up the difference between the church’s budget amount and what will be needed for this year. Please consider supporting Bethel in this way. Make checks out to BCMC with Bethel College Scholarship Fund in the memo line. Thank you.
From Pastor Joanna Harader–Thoughts about MennoCon25
I attended my first Mennonite Church USA Convention in San Jose, California, in 2007, where I roomed with the pastor I had recently served under as an intern, Kathy Neufeld Dunn, and a sweet lady I had never met before named Marlene Faul. At that point I was a fairly new Mennonite and had only been a pastor for about a year. I hardly knew anyone at the convention and still had a lot to learn about Mennonite practice and polity.
MennoCon 25 was my 10th Convention! I now know more than anyone really should about MC USA polity, and I know enough people at Convention to consistently sidetrack me on my way to wherever I’m going and to keep me up way too late every night. It was a gift and a joy to connect with so many beloved friends, to learn from the offered seminars, and to worship with Mennonites from across the country.
This felt like a particularly important time to gather around shared Anabaptist values of peace and justice; an especially critical time to re-commit ourselves to following Jesus. With our national atmosphere of increased (illegal and unconstitutional) immigration enforcement and detention, I am proud to have been part of the delegate body that overwhelmingly approved a Churchwide Statement on Immigration. In a country that (twice) elected a president found guilty of sexual assault, I am glad to be part of denomination that is taking steps to prevent and address abuse by those in power.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have been part of MennoCon 25. There are certainly particular pieces I carry with me from worship, seminars, and conversations throughout the week. And it was an incredible joy to get to travel with and connect a little bit with our amazing youth. The deepest gift of the Convention, though, was the reminder–in my mind, my body, and my spirit–that I am not alone in my desire and efforts to follow Jesus’ way of peace and justice in these difficult days. We, as a congregation, are not alone. We are joined by others on this difficult and joy-filled path as we seek to follow Jesus together. Thanks be to God.
Pastor Joanna with a few of her friends at MennoCon.
Standing With Immigrants: What people of faith can do to help the strangers living amongst us. Shalom Mennonite Church will be hosting Sandrine Lisk, Esq., managing attorney of Immigration Law & Advocacy, Wichita, July 30, 7 p.m. at Shalom Mennonite Church, 800 E. 1st, Newton. Come learn how we can support and advocate for immigrants in our community. Bring your questions and share your stories with others who are concerned about the state of immigration in our country in light of Jesus’ call to love our neighbors. As a tangible way of supporting immigrants among us, donations will be collected for a scholarship fund supporting immigrant high school graduates and international students. Checks can be made payable to “Wichita African Business & Professional Network”.
Know Your Rights virtual training, Aug. 14 & 15 led by Mennonite Central Committee Central States Immigration Program Coordinator Abraham Diaz Alonso. This virtual training will help facilitate information to vulnerable immigration populations. For more information go to the Mennonite Central Committee website and click on Events.
Readers for a new one-act play needed. Lauren Friesen has written a new play on Erasmus and is inviting interested persons who would like to be readers for a rehearsed staged-reading of the play. One rehearsal on Monday evening Sept. 15 (7 – 8:30 p.m.) in Kidron Hall (3001 Ivy Drive) and the staged-reading with audience on Tuesday, Sept. 16 (7 p.m). The play is approximately 40 minutes long. Ten characters (three female, six male, one stage-manager with lines). Notify Lauren if you are interested. If I get an avalanche of responses, I’ll need to be selective. No cost to you and no residuals, either. Contact Lauren at Lfriesen@umich.edu
Western District Conference Assembly will be held August 8-9 at Hesston Mennonite Church. Would you consider being a delegate for Bethel College Mennonite? Contact a Gifts Discernment Committee member or the church office to indicate your willingness to participate. (GDC members: Jeannette Stucky, Jerry Buller, Dick Koontz, and Francis Toews)
For the Western District Conference Assembly:
Registration is now open at https://mennowdc.org/2025-wdc-annual-assembly-registration/ Please register soon. Join us at Hesston Mennonite Church, Hesston, KS August 8-9, 2025. For more information visit our Assembly webpage: https://mennowdc.org/2025-annual-assembly/
Online registration is open for the Womens & Girls Retreat Sept. 6-7 at Camp Mennoscah sponsored by Western District Women in Mission. Speakers are Pastor Katherine Goerzen (Tabor Mennonite Church) and Pastor Laura Goerzen (First Mennonite, Newton). For a detailed schedule
go to westerndistrictwomeninmission.org, register and pay online, or print out forms to register and pay by mail. Registration is due Aug. 29. Questions: Email westerndistrictwomen@gmail.com Share the news and bring a friend!
Western District Conference invites you to visit our website to read the latest news, stories and announcements.
The 2025 issue of “Mennonite Life”, Bethel College’s annual online journal, is now live at ml.bethelks.edu, with a theme of anniversaries – 150 for immigration to the Great Plains of North America, 500 for Anabaptism. There are articles and reviews by Susan Fish, Ardie Goering, Don Goertzen, Peter Goerzen, Jeff Gundy, Michele Hershberger, Melanie Howard, Melanie Springer Mock, Justina Neufeld, Ken Rodgers, Mary Schertz and John Thiesen.
Sat., Aug. 2: Kauffman Museum first-Saturday bird walk, 7 a.m. start time in the museum parking lot at the corner of Main and 27th streets in North Newton. Experienced birders lead a walk of 1-1.5 hours in Chisholm Park and on Sand Creek Trail
Dear Bethel College Mennonite Church Congregation,
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks for the many ways you supported us during the funeral services for Keith Woolery. Your kindness and generosity were deeply felt during every step of the process. We are especially grateful for the members who served as ushers, attended the guestbooks, and worked behind the scenes in the kitchen to prepare and serve lunch. Each role—whether visible or quietly carried out—helped create a welcoming, comforting space for family, friends, and community to gather, grieve, and remember Keith’s life with love and dignity. The BCMC community embodies the spirit of service and compassion, and we are so thankful for the way you came together to care for us during this difficult time. Thank you. —The Woolery Family (Donna, Jesse, and Danielle)
Planning a small group retreat or church leadership getaway?
Consider the North Newton Family Retreat as your next destination! This spacious home in North Newton, Kansas features 5 bedrooms with 9 beds and 3 full bathrooms—comfortably sleeping up to 12 guests. It’s an ideal setting for meaningful connection with close friends or focused planning time. Generous common areas provide the perfect space to gather, relax, and recharge.
For questions or to make a reservation, please contact Amy Funk at 316-284-7208 or newtonksvacationrentals@gmail.com. Scan the QR code for full details and availability!
North Newton Family Retreat is the personal residence of Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) missionaries Laura and Nick Sharp. During their year of service in La Mesa, Colombia, they’re offering their home as a short-term vacation rental to help offset living expenses back in the U.S. Your stay helps support the meaningful work taking place in Colombia. Rental proceeds help cover personal expenses not included in their MMN budget (mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc.).
For Mennonite Mission Network “News and Beyond” press here
For Mennonite Mission Network “News from Around the World” press here
Just Peace Pilgrimages
- Civil Rights Pilgrimage — This special pilgrimage, tailored specifically for young adults, will be led by MC USA executive director Glen Guyton. Join for a unique multiracial pilgrimage through the southern United States with opportunities for shared learning and deep understanding of the racial divides that our society perpetuates.
Date: October 28 – November 2, 2025; register by September 15.
- Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples — You and your community are invited to engage with contemporary Indigenous realities, explore the histories of Indigenous Peoples, and examine the complexities of Indigenous-settler relations. What might it mean for your community to stand in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and actively contribute to the work of truth telling and repair?
Date: October 7 – 11, 2025
To register for these pilgrimages or to inquire about scheduling a group trip, email Stephanie Weaver at StephanieW@MennoniteMission.net.
To learn more about these and six more pilgrimages, visit MennoniteMission.net/JustPeace
Mennonite Church USA Announcements
Last year, MC USA awarded Justice Fund grants to nine congregations involved in dismantling racism, addressing police brutality, reimagining policing and combating poverty. Read their inspiring stories and learn more about how your congregation can apply for the grant. Applicants planning to use the funds for immigration or climate justice will receive priority in 2025. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/justice-fund-2025
The big dove is here! MC USA has launched an online storefront featuring hats, sweatshirts, mugs and more. Check out the selection of merch that displays Follow Jesus, the MC USA dove and a retro line of gear from past conventions. Every sale helps support MC USA ministries! bonfire.com/store/mc-usa-gear
Watch the Church Vitality webinar, discussing changes to MC USA abuse prevention and accountability policies here: mennoniteusa.org/webinar/prevention-accountability
Menno Snapshots
After her uncle died, Linda Lehman Thomas, a spiritual director for the Mennonite Spiritual Directors Network, sought out a spiritual director to heal childhood trauma, but it affected her life even more deeply than she expected. Read more about her experience in her Menno Snapshots blog here: mennoniteusa.org/meeting-spiritual-director
Beryl Jantzi, Everence director of stewardship education, shares three tips on how people can enhance their act of giving deeper. Read his Menno Snapshots blog here: mennoniteusa.org/menno-snapshots/spiritual-worship-includes-finances
Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request: Join Mennonite Mission Network in praising God for the three-way learning partnership that builds up the body of Christ through Meserete Kristos Seminary, with two campuses in Debre Zeit and Nazareth, Ethiopia; Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, in Elkhart, Indiana; and Mission Network. Pray for deepened faith on both the African and North American continents.
Western District Conference Prayer Request: Pray for WDC’s emerging congregations and ministries during this time of political turmoil: for courage, wisdom, and a faithful witness to Christ’s peace. -WDC Church Planting Commission
Bethel College Mennonite Church is an open and affirming congregation
centered in the life and teachings of Jesus. Embracing the divine within each person, we warmly welcome any and all into fellowship without regard to race, ethnic background, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, economic status, marital status, or age.
