BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH
WORSHIP SERVICE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2024
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/YCmTrnD5WVU?feature=share
BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH
August 18, 2024
Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Christ Candle Lighting
Centering Music—Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (arr. Lau)–
Will Wiebe-Friesen
Welcome & Prayer—Adam Robb
*Hymn—Be Thou My Vision—VT 549
Children’s Conversation—Esther Koontz
Worship Music—Lead me Lord (Wesley)
Chancel Choir; Joel Garber, director; Will-Wiebe Friesen, accompanist
*Hymn—Come and Seek the Way of WisdomI—VT 196
Scripture Reading—1 Kings 3:3-14; Mark 10:35-45—Jeanette Stucky and Coralee Shenk
Sermon—The Glory of a Heart that Listens
Joanna Harader
*Hymn—Will You Let Me Be Your Servant—VT 778
Prayers of God’s People—Adam Robb
*Hymn—God of Grace and God of Glory—VT 716
*Benediction
Postlude–Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten (JS Bach)
* You are invited to stand
VT—Voices Together
Audio visual—Francis Toews
The Next Week at BCMC: August 18—25, 2024
Sunday, August 18, 2024—Welcome to Joanna Harader
9:30 a.m. Worship
YouTube Link for this Sunday:
https://youtube.com/live/YCmTrnD5WVU?feature=share
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
9 a.m. Women’s Fellowship Executive Board meeting in Room 14
7:30 p.m. Chancel Choir rehearsal in the Sanctuary
Thursday, August 22, 2024
4 p.m. Witness Commission meeting in Room 14
7 p.m. Deacon Commission meeting in Room 14
Sunday, August 25, 2024—Blessing of the Backpacks
9:30 a.m. Worship with sermon by Nathan Koontz
4 p.m. Newton Community Children’s Choir parents’ meeting in sanctuary
A reminder that the next Women’s Fellowship Executive Board meeting will be Wednesday, August 21 at 9 a.m.
Pastor Joanna will have office hours at the 1887 Cafe in the Schultz Student Center every Thursday morning from ten to noon. She would love for you to stop by for a chat!
The memorial service for Marilyn Stucky (Marilyn died June 20) will be Sat., Aug. 31, 11 a.m. at BCMC, with a lunch in fellowship hall following the service.
BCMC Offering for Aug. 11, 2024: General Fund $7,502; Mennonite Central Committee $200; Sr Hi Youth $200; Kitchen Fund $10; Solar Fund $80.
The Chancel Bells will begin practicing September 5 for our fall music. But, I need several players to complete the choir. This commitment ideally would be for the entire year, but I can work with a month at a time. We are easy to work with and very forgiving if you are a new player. Please consider making this contribution to the worship of our church. I am excited to get going again with some new music and some that hasn’t been done for several years. Our library has many options. Contact Verlene:
verlenegarber@gmail.com or 620-217-5266
If you’ve been a nursery volunteer in the past or would like to become a new nursery volunteer, please notify Sara Dick, new nursery schedule coordinator, at saradick1@gmail.com. The schedule is posted in the nursery and will be updated as folks volunteer. Please notify Sara rather than sign yourself up for shifts directly on the schedule, so she knows where we need helpers and where we’re all set. Thank you for caring for our youngest attenders and their families!
Greetings on behalf of Faith Formation!
The Sunday School teaching year will officially begin September 8 and we are in need of teachers and helpers to teach 3 age levels of our youth: pre-k, elementary, and middle school.
Sunday School Safe Sanctuary training will be September 1 during the Sunday School time in Fellowship Hall.
Even if you are the slightest bit interested, please listen to the call and email Jill Robb at jill@bethelcollegemennonitechurch.org
We offer sympathy to the family of Monica Gross. Monica died August 15 at Kidron Bethel Village Health Care. Please remember in your prayers Monica’s daughters Cheryl Britsch and Camille Tantibanchachai and their families. The date and time for the memorial service will be announced soon.
Save the Date: Peace Witness Event, Sept. 15-16
The BCMC Witness Commission is very pleased to announce plans for a peace witness event around Peace Sunday on September 15-16. Our church along with the Bible and Religion Department of Bethel College and in collaboration with area churches invites you to engage with Christianity and Democracy led by well known author, academic, and presenter, David P. Gushee (https://davidpgushee.com).
The 2024 issue of Bethel College’s online journal Mennonite Life can now be viewed at ml.bethelks.edu The issue includes articles by Rod Ratzlaff, Mark Jantzen and Rachel Pannabecker related to the 150th anniversary of Mennonite immigration to North America from the Russian Empire, as well as the text from last spring’s Bible Lectures by César García and Sandra Báez, several other articles, and book reviews.
Last Call for those who subscribe to the devotional Rejoice through the BCMC group subscription. The last issue of Rejoice (Sept.-Oct.-Nov.) is in your mailboxes or in the mail. Therefore, it is time to renew for the coming year. The bulk subscription price is $35.93. The devotional is mailed to BCMC and your copy will be either placed in your mailbox here at church, or mailed to you. If you wish to subscribe (even if you have not subscribed before) place your check in the offering plate or bring or mail to the office with “Rejoice subscription” in the memo line.
Now is the 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 $44. If interested in joining the group plan, 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 $44. To subscribe email office@bethelcollegemennonitechurch.org
Bring in or mail your $44.00 to the office or place it in the offering plate Sunday. 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 Nov. 2024. Anabaptist World would like us to renew the subscription now so that you receive the magazine without interruption.
Dear BCMC congregation:
The Solar Panel committee would like to bring you an update on our solar project.
1. About our pledges:
a. A total of $192,180 has been pledged — that is enough to pay for the entire project! A big thank you to BCMC! We are overwhelmed by your generosity!
b. To date $150,609.86 of the pledges have been received!
c. The remaining $41,109.14 pledges are expected to be received over the remaining pledge period for the years 2025 and 2026.
2. To follow the solar panels “at work”:
a. there is a link you can access to follow “minute by minute” how the solar collectors convert solar energy into electricity: Use the following link:
https://monitoringpublic.solaredge.com/solaredge-web/p/site/public?name=BCMC#/dashboard
b. This link will be available on the BCMC website in the near future.
c. Look at the bulletin boards in the Gathering Space for a large printout of the solar panels at work. Look for regular updates of these graphs.
d. Check out the solar equipment at ground level on the east side of the church. The “humming” you hear indicates that the inverters are at work.
3. The application for the 30% Federal Energy grant is in process. Applications for this energy grant can only be applied for once the project is finished. For BCMC the application will be processed in the next Federal tax cycle of 2025. The grant amount comes to about $58,000.
4. If you have questions concerning the BCMC Solar Panel project, please contact any member of our committee: Dwight Krehbiel, Margaret Toews, Lorna Harder and Hugo Boschmann
Looking ahead to November, the Library theme for the next few months will be Religion and Politics. We’ve pulled some books that might help answer questions about our current political climate. A partial display is behind the library desk.
Volunteer opportunity: The next volunteer training session for New Hope Shelter is on Monday, August 19th at 7:30 pm. BCMC is one of 24 area congregations regularly providing volunteers to New Hope, and about five times a year we fill a week’s worth of evening slots in coordination with Faith Mennonite Church. Volunteers provide food for an evening meal or spend time at the shelter with the residents, along with an on-site staff supervisor. More help is always welcomed, and can be regular or occasional. If you’d like to learn about the work of New Hope or consider volunteering, please plan to attend the August 19 session at 308 South Meridian Road, Newton, KS. New Hope serves homeless men, women, and children from Harvey, Butler, Marion, and McPherson counties. -Cynthia Linscheid
FreedUp: Everence® is offering a new stewardship training program. The FreedUp program is a way for everyone to get their finances in order – and gain a deeper faith perspective on your money. Everence facilitators will lead the group sessions, including the first get-acquainted session. There are two upcoming options for participants to choose from:
· Tuesdays at 2 p.m. ET beginning Aug. 20; ending Oct. 1 or
· Mondays at 8 p.m. ET beginning Oct. 7; ending Nov. 18.
Register at everence.com/partners.
We’re just a few weeks away from the Western District Women in Mission Women’s & Girls’ Retreat on September 7-8 at Camp Mennoscah with our theme of Peaceful Practices. Registrations are due by August 30. The retreat brochure and registration form are on our website at this link:
https://www.westerndistrictwomeninmission.org/events
If you plan to come Saturday morning to tie comforters, please remember that lunch is not provided, so bring a sack lunch. Questions? Send an e-mail to westerndistrictwomen@gmail.com.
Bethel College Announcements:
· Sun., Aug. 18 – Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum, 3 p.m., with Lorna Harder, professor emeritus of biology at Hesston College and former curator of natural history at Kauffman Museum, on the 40th anniversary of the museum’s tallgrass prairie reconstruction; museum auditorium (corner of Main & 27th streets, North Newton).
· SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, Sept. 15, Forum on Democracy and Christianity with David Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, 3 p.m., Memorial Hall at Bethel College; sponsored by Bethel College Mennonite Church and the Bethel Department of Bible and Religion. Gushee will also speak in convocation Mon., Sept. 16, 11 a.m., in Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center.
It’s almost here – 150th celebration on August 23-25, at Eden Mennonite Church. Throughout the last year we have celebrated with Zwingli movie, Ukraine speaker, Quilt show, plowing and planting with horses and binding and shocking wheat, Jerry Juhnke talking about genealogy, the historical drama, unveiling the memorial sculpture by Ann Zerger and Chip Parker, and now comes more to enjoy: seminars, Readers’ Theater, poppyseed break, threshing Red Turkey wheat, ethnic supper, entertainment. Children’s activities. We still have t- shirts and mugs and books for you to remember the weekend. And lots of meeting new and old friends under the banner of “Schweitzers AND Friends.”
Better register now. All the events will be recorded and put on the www.swissmennonite.org website so you can see anything you missed. I can’t wait. See you there. – Kathy Goering
Saturday, Aug. 24, will be the final Schweitzers & Friends 150th celebration Pioneer Event with a demonstration of threshing and milling of Turkey Red Hard Winter Wheat which was raised using horse drawn and vintage equipment, just west of the Moundridge Museum complex. We will be using a McCormick-Deering threshing machine powered by an antique tractor to thresh the bundles of Turkey Red we bound and shocked back on June first. There will also be an 1874 grist mill, milling demonstration providing a unique opportunity to have Turkey Red wheat flour available for purchase. Along with the threshing and milling events, Vintage Farm Equipment, with some of the great machines of the past, will be on display all day. These events will start with the farm equipment display beginning at 9 a.m., just west of the Moundridge Museum Complex. We will be setting up the threshing and milling demonstration all morning with our official start at 3 p.m. There will be limited bleacher seating and concessions (including K3 Creamery) available to help you enjoy these unique pioneer events and celebrate the 150th Schweitzers & Friends anniversary celebration. The whole community is invited to join us! —Glen Goering
A Message from the Mennonite Central Committee Peace & Justice Ministries
| Dear Bethel College Mennonite,Apache Stronghold invites you to join in a journey of prayer to save the Apache sacred land of Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Bildagoteel,from copper mining. The proposed mine would cause the sacred land to collapse, leaving a crater more than 1,000 feet deep and two miles wide. Apache Stronghold invites others to join on this prayer journey to “stop the shattering of the human existence and to protect Mother Earth.” On July 13, Apache Stronghold began the prayer journey with the Lummi Nation in Washington state. They are traveling across the U.S., visiting with Indigenous supporters and spiritual leaders for prayer and ceremony in 20 locations before reaching Washington, D.C. Apache Stronghold will gather for a final prayer vigil on September 11 at the U.S. Supreme Court, to be held in conjunction with the filing of their appeal against Resolution Copper. You can support the prayer journey in the following ways: Keep Apache Stronghold in your prayers.Sign the petition to support Apache Stronghold in their quest for justice.Write to your members of Congress and urge them to save Oak Flat.Join in person at points along the prayer journey. You can follow Apache Stronghold on Instagram @protectoakflat for more details or connect with them via email.Come to Washington, D.C., for events with Apache leaders from September 8-10, and the final prayer vigil on September 11. |
| In peace and solidarity, Daniela Lázaro-Manalo Racial Equity Advocacy and Education Coordinator Kirstin De Mello Climate Advocacy and Education Coordinator National Peace & Justice Ministries MCC U.S. |
For Mennonite Mission Network “News and Beyond” press here
Western District Conference invites you to visit our website to read the latest news, stories and announcements.
From Mennonite Church USA
Save the date! MC USA is pleased to announce that the 2025 biennial national gathering and leading faith formation event, Follow Jesus ‘25, will take place July 8-12, 2025, at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. Learn more here: mennoniteusa.org/convention
Menno Snapshots
Spiritual director Jane Hoober Peifer laments the difficulties of staying present while at her listening post. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/confessions-spiritual-director
Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request: Mennonite Mission Network requests prayer for Ben and Laurel Woodward-Breckbill, who are preparing to serve as directors of the Paris (France) Mennonite Center. Pray that God and God’s people will provide all the necessary resources, so that the Woodward-Breckbill family can begin ministry this month.
Western District Conference Prayer Request: Give thanks for WDC church communities observing the 150th anniversary of Mennonites coming to Kansas and Nebraska. Pray for God’s wisdom, both as we celebrate the gifts of the past and as we pursue paths for healing the harm and injustice that is also part of our story as Mennonites.
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.