BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH
WORSHIP SERVICE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
October 19, 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 for Sunday, October 19:
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/8IP0gIAHO5g?feature=share
BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH
October 19, 2025
Christ Candle Lighting
Centering Music—I Come With Joy [VT 478] (arr. D. Wagner)
Will Wiebe-Friesen
Welcome & Prayer—Nathan Koontz
*Hymn—God of the Bible—VT 420
Children and Youth Conversation—3rd Grade Bible Presentation— Joanna Harader and Jill Robb
Worship Music— Followers of the Lamb (arr. Dietterich)—Chancel Choir; Joel Garber, director; Will Wiebe-Friesen, accompanist
Scripture Reading—Matthew 18:15-22
*Hymn—Spirit of the Living God—VT 740
Sermon—Tax-Collectors and ‘Will-Have-Beens’—Trent Voth
*Hymn—Could It Be That God is Singing—VT 42
Prayers of God’s People
*Hymn—Go, My Friends, in Grace—VT 810
*Benediction
Postlude–The Morning Trumpet (arr. D. Hustad)
*You are invited to stand
VT—Voices Together
Keyboard- Will Wiebe-Friesen
Audio visual—Ben Lichti
The Week at BCMC: October 19—26, 2025
Sunday, October 19, 2025
Worship 9:30 a.m.
Live-Stream Link: https://youtube.com/live/8IP0gIAHO5g?feature=share
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
6:30 p.m. Hospitality Commission—Room 14
7 p.m. Faith Formation Commission—Room 21
7 p.m. Women’s Fellowship Meeting for men and women in Fellowship Hall—We’re excited to welcome Pablo Escanilla, a 24-year-old from Zaragoza, Spain, and a former Master’s colleague of Sarah Turner, who is here in the U.S. learning about the beef industry. At home in Spain he works on his family’s cattle operation. With over 50 years of family experience and more than 4,000 animals raised each year, Pablo brings a wealth of knowledge about modern cattle production and global agriculture. Come join us to hear his story, learn about his family’s work, and be inspired by his passion for learning and the agricultural community.
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
7:30 p.m. Chancel Choir rehearsal—Sanctuary
Thursday, October 23, 2025
6:30 p.m. Chancel Bell rehearsal—Room B7
Saturday, October 25, 2025
2 p.m. Memorial reception for Lela Schmidt—Fellowship Hall
Sunday, October 26, 2025
9:30 a.m. Worship with sermon by Nathan Koontz; music by Chancel Choir
A reception honoring Lela Schmidt is Oct. 25, 2 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Bethel College Mennonite Church. All who knew her are welcome to attend. (Lela died Sept. 17.) She was a long-time member of BCMC and Lela and her husband Martin served as custodians at Bethel College Mennonite Church for 18 years. Lela also was a beloved volunteer for Community Playschool at BCMC for over 38 years. She is survived by her sons David Schmidt and Butch (Denise) Schmidt, daughter-in-law Melissa Schmidt, 9 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Community Playschool at PO Box 364, North Newton KS 67117.
We offer sympathy to Carol and Jerry Buller and their sister-in-law, Shirley Unruh on the death of Shirley’s husband, Carol’s brother, Paul Unruh, Oct. 14, in Greensburg, KS. A visitation will be Fri., Oct. 24, 5-7 p.m. at the Greensburg Mennonite Church. The memorial service will be Oct. 25, 10:30 a.m. at Greensburg Mennonite Church. Paul and Shirley are wider-fellowship members of BCMC.
From the Finance committee
As the 3rd quarter of the financial year of our church ends, we offer gratitude for the generosity shared in donating monetary offerings toward our annual budget. Each gift is important to the process of fulfilling our mission. A brief report is listed below.
The following is a BCMC financial report of the general fund income and expenses on September 30, 2025 (75% of the year).
Total income $ 341,795 61% of budget
Total expense $ 398,763 72% of budget
Net income/expense -$ 56,968
BCMC Offering for October 12: General $13,137; Wed. Supper $47; MCC Meat Canning $300; Bethel College Scholarship Fund $1,000; Kitchen Fund $30; Solar Fund $2,050; Betty Schmidt Mem. $35; Doug Penner Mem. $135.
Pastor Joanna Harader will be on vacation October 20-26.
You are invited to a Rethinking Justice Workshop on Saturday, November 8, from 8:30-11:30
a.m. This event is organized by a new interfaith justice ministry organization in the area and
hosted here at Bethel College Mennonite Church in the fellowship hall. It promises to be a great
opportunity to root ourselves in the biblical call for justice as we connect with like-minded people
of faith in our area. Please register here.
You are invited to an ONLINE meeting on Monday evening, October 20, 5:30 p.m. of the Kansas Repair Communities (organized to work at dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery). This group will focus their advocacy efforts on the topic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People during the next Kansas legislative session. Agenda on Monday, October 20: educating ourselves; how to involve more congregations and community organizations; report on a conversation with the KS Governor’s Office on Native American Affairs.
Topic: Kansas Repair Communities
Time: Oct 20, 2025 05:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86801290060?pwd=G7BANGajGWgOX5kZBjjcWIIbHVdzpC.1
Meeting ID: 868 0129 0060
Passcode: 902505
From the Indigenous Task Force
November 11 in-person meeting at BCMC Fellowship Hall with author Laurie Dove to discuss her book, Mask of the Deer Woman. Laurie has provided us with study guide questions for our discussion. Read the book and invite your interested friends to read it and join us in this discussion on November 11.
For the Study Guide press here
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Messy Church session on October 8. We talked about what the reign of God is like and made our own bird nest artwork–check it out in the Gathering Place! And mark your calendars for our next Messy Church on Wednesday, November 12: supper at 6 followed by all-ages Bible learning and activities.
Bethel College Mennonite’s Faith Formation Commission handed out ten dozen donuts to Bethel College students on Fri., Oct. 10. It was a great way to connect with and encourage our neighbors. Thanks to you all for your continuing support of the many ministries of this congregation!
Six beautiful dogs (and their people) were blessed this past Sunday afternoon (October 12) at our pet
blessing service. Thanks to everyone who came–and especially to Lawrence Kohlman who
suggested the event and handed out treats to the pets.
Mennonite Central Committee Meat Canning is Nov. 5, 6, & 7
Sign up to be one of the volunteers at the mobile meat cannery in North Newton on November 5, 6 or 7 at https://tinyurl.com/MeatCanning2025
Camp Mennoscah Announcements
· Camp Mennoscah’s Annual Meeting will be held at Hope Mennonite Church, 868 N. Maize Rd., Wichita, today, Oct. 19, 6:30 p.m. All are invited to attend in person or by Zoom. To join the Zoom Oct. 19 go here: (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83727344903?pwd=NRqvZwzuai9X8QoeCfU9GVFWYToKDZ.1) A silent auction for a few items will take place. (This link is in the Oct. 18 church email.)
· Welcome to Eric Litwiller! Eric is the new Development Director for Camp Mennoscah. He has already started making contacts. Eric can be reached at eric.litwiller@campmennoscah.org
· Verenike Casserole Meal Returns! Camp Mennoscah will be having a Verenike Casserole Fundraiser Nov. 8 at Faith Mennonite Church. Reserve your meals at https://forms.gle/DMurJFkp5P7Fb3C86 (Link is in church email.) The meal has verenike casserole, seasoned green beans, zweiback, and fruit crisp and will be available at Faith Mennonite Church between 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Nov. 8. You can drive-thru and pick up your meals or dine in. Watch Camp Mennoscah’s Facebook page and check your email for any changes.
Suggested donation of $20 per meal or $40 per pan.
· Retreat Center Work Day on Oct. 25! Please call or text Tom Gaeddert at 316-288-7766 to participate. The retreat center at Camp Mennoscah has provided many folks with the opportunity to participate in a multitude of camp activities and we are looking to jump start the renovation project with new management, fresh volunteers, and renewed financial assistance. To complete the project, we need your help whether you have construction skills or not! We’d like to create a list of people who we can email for specific work day projects as they come up. Donations are also greatly appreciated and can be sent directly to camp designated for “Retreat Center”. Thanks for your help!
Prairie View@ Anabaptist 500 Observance – October 24 – Newton Campus
500 years ago January 21, 1525, a group of radical reformers in Europe implemented their values and baptized each other. This event ignited the Anabaptist movement that gave rise to the Mennonite tradition of Christian pacifism out of which Prairie View was formed. October 24 Prairie View will have a day of celebrating and being challenged by this radical history. We will honor the past and look forward to how our values can be implemented in the future in order to “Heal Haunted Histories” present in our day. We look back in order to strengthen our values as we move forward with confidence and faith.
To register, contact Brad Schmidt at schmidtbd@pvi.org or call Michelle Lee at 316-284-6350. See the flier on the church bulletin board.
Bethel College Announcements
· Now in the Regier Gallery in Luyken Fine Arts Center: “Made for you by a professional seamstress,” fiber art by Karen Reimer, through Oct. 27. Gallery hours are Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 2-4 p.m.
· Sun., Oct. 19 & Mon., Oct. 20: Annual Menno Simons Lectures, with Dr. Kat Hill. The overall theme is “Diasporic Lives: Mennonites, Migration and the Search for Home.” First lecture: Oct. 19, 7 p.m., “People, Places, Pasts: Mennonite Meanings of Home Across Time and Place”; second, Mon., Oct. 20, 11 a.m., “Diasporic Lives and Dispersed Archives: Reading the Records of Mennonite Belonging”; third, Mon., Oct. 20, 7 p.m., “Contested Homes and Conflicted Belonging in Mennonite Pasts.” All in Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center, with audience discussion following each lecture. Free and open to the public.
· Tues., Oct. 28: Bethel College Chamber Orchestra concert, Kris Hilding, director, 7 p.m., Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center
· Sun., Nov. 2: Bethel Sings, a concert featuring all Bethel College vocal groups, Dr. Russell Adrian, director, 4 p.m., Bethel College Mennonite Church
· Registration is now open for Bethel College’s Worship and the Arts Symposium, “Preaching Good News in a Troubled World,” Nov. 2-4 on the Bethel campus. There is no fee, but registration is needed to get accurate numbers. Go to https://www.bethelks.edu/academics/worship-and-the-arts-symposium/ and click the “Registration” button. The focus of the 2025 symposium is homiletics, with Dr. Luke Powery from Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C. Of particular interest to pastors but open to everyone is a preaching masterclass from 9 a.m.-noon on Tues., Nov. 4. The featured visual artist is Merrill Krabill, Goshen, IN, a former professor at Bethel and now retired from teaching at Goshen College. Use the link above to see a complete schedule.
Life Enrichment is a series designed for adults age 60 and over. Sessions are in Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center at Bethel College. Wednesday, October 22 at 9:30—11:50 a.m.
9:30 a.m. “The Dutch Golden Age: Mennonite to the Core,” Dr. Lauren Friesen, North Newton, writer and retired professor of art, theater, and religion.
10:50 a.m. “Music in Prisons,” Holly Mulcahy, Wichita, concertmaster, Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and executive director of Arts Capacity.
Food Fund-raising Events Coming to the area:
· Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church, 43 13th Ave, Inman, invites you to their annual Mission Supper Sat., Oct. 25, 5– 6:30 p.m. with curbside pick up or tables outside and inside if you want to stay and eat. Text or call 620-585-6733 to order a meal of German sausage, mashed potatoes, creamed peas, zwiebach and pie. Payment is by donation with all proceeds going towards McPherson Housing Coalition.
· First Mennonite Church of Halstead invites you to their Annual Hog Roast Sun., Oct 26 from 5-7 p.m. at Scout Park Gazebo, 3rd & Locust, Halstead for a pulled pork supper with fixins along with music by Prairie Highway. Meal donation proceeds will go towards Camp Mennoscah. Bring lawn chairs. If inclement weather, it will be moved inside the church at 4th & Santa Fe.
· The Mennonite Men of Tabor Mennonite Church will be hosting their annual Chicken BBQ Thurs., Nov. 6, for a Dine-In or To-Go event from 5-7 p.m. This years’ donations will go to Mission Partners Joseph and Rachel Givens and Bethesda Home. Location: 891 Chisholm Trail, Newton. RSVP is not necessary.
A Fair Trade “pop up shop” is coming to the area just in time to start your holiday shopping! Paula Brunk Kuhns, owner of Just Cause, a fair trade store based in Portland, OR, will be setting up her store at Hesston Mennonite Church, 309 S Main St. Hesston for a 2-day event, Oct. 24-25. The store will be open from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. each day. Find beautifully crafted baskets, jewelry, home decor, kitchenware, metal art, cards, Christmas nativities and ornaments, and so much more from over 30 countries around the world. When you shop Fair Trade, you’re not just buying a beautifully crafted item, you’re partnering with artisans around the world as they preserve their craft, support their families, and build a sustainable future. Each piece holds a story, and you become part of it. This is also a fundraiser for the Hesston Mennonite Church Youth Groups.
The Goessel Arts Fund Committee is hosting an Arts Soirée Sunday, Oct. 19, 2-5 p.m. at Tabor Mennonite Church north of Newton. There will be an art show in the hospitality hall that will feature local and regional artists. A concert at 3 p.m. in the sanctuary will include performances by the Salina Symphony Brass Quintet, Holly Swartzendruber (soprano), and a piano duo extravaganza that will feature Goessel area pianists Russell Adrian, Marcia Brubaker, Jason and Renae Peters, and Karen Unruh performing works for 4-10 hands! Following the concert at 4 p.m. refreshments will be served in the hospitality hall. The Goessel Arts Fund Committee is a subsidiary of the Goessel Community Foundation.
| Western District Conference invites you to visit our website to read the latest news, stories and announcements. |
For Mennonite Mission Network “News and Beyond” press here
For Mennonite Mission Network “Seeds of Peace” press here
Support hope for migrating people
Mennonite Mission Network invites prayer and urgently needed financial support for Joseph and Rachel Givens, who serve with the Maria Skobtsova Housing Association in Calais, France. Their ministry offers vital shelter and care to migrating people seeking refuge as they journey to England. Visit MennoniteMission.net/Givens and click “Give Now.” For more information about their immigration ministry, contact Elizabeth Eby, ElizabethE@MMNWorld.net.
For Mennonite Men “Engage” press here
For Mennonite Women USA “Grapevine” press here
For Paris Mennonite Center Update press here
Mennonite Church USA Announcements
Menno Snapshots
Seventy-five percent of the worship music at MC USA 2025 Convention came from Voices Together. Band leader and guitarist, Randall Koehler, shares how this hymnal shaped Follow Jesus ’25 — and offers 16 songs that invite us deeper into worship. Read his reflections and explore the music here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/menno-snapshots/songs/
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, MC USA’s denominational minister for peace and justice, responded with a prayer of lament to the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Read and pray along with the prayer here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/menno-snapshots/prayer-of-lament/
Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request: Juan Pacheco Lozano has been named Mennonite Mission Network’s new Regional Director for Latin America. Pray for wisdom and energy, as Juan continues to build the ministry of fostering relationships with Mennonite churches and partners across twelve Latin American countries.
Western District Conference Prayer Request: Pray for WDC’s ministry partner Camp Mennoscah, as it holds its annual meeting today, and seeks to be a place where people of all ages come to renew themselves, their relationships, and their connections with God and nature.
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.