Newsletter for March 25, 2018

The Bearing Fruit

March 25, 2018

Upcoming Events:

Mar 29 – Maundy Thursday Service,6:30pm

Mar 31 – Saturday Kitchen, UP Church

Apr 4    – Church Council Meeting, 5pm

Apr 8    – Amanda’s Ordination, Potluck

Apr 11  – Spring Business Meeting, 7pm

Washington Mennonite

▪ Offering for 3/18/18 -  Regular Offering: $6,011.65; Saturday Kitchen: $100.00

▪ We are not able to locate the following Washington Mennonite Church papers: 1) Bylaws and 2) Letter from IRS stating the church tax identification number. If you have a copy at home or know where they might be located, please contact Mary Lou Farmer, Treasurer, as soon as possible. Thank you.

▪  “Dear Sisters and Brothers at Washington Mennonite, Thank you so much for the generous contribution you made to the Villatoro Family Fund in response to our fundraiser!  It has been encouraging to see the faithful support of so many people.  Please continue to pray for a place for the family to reunite.”  - God Bless You, Shana Boshart for Friends of Pastor Max

▪ Maundy Thursday Service:  Sign-up sheets for our Maundy Thursday Service are on the table in the foyer.  We still need fruit and vegetable trays, oil lamps and a clean- up crew.  Find the sheet on the foyer table and sign for what you can bring or if you can help clean up.

▪ Saturday Kitchen:   WMC will be serving the noon meal at Saturday Kitchen March 31^st.  Sign-up sheets for workers are on the table in the foyer.  We are still needing persons to set up the dining room for the Saturday Kitchen noon meal and we also still need persons to clean up following the meal.  Thank you in advance for your help.  – Phyllis Litwiller, Gloria Widmer and Sue Widmer

Crooked Creek Christian Camp

▪ Save the date for Crooked Creek Wild, May 5, 2018!  Registration is open NOW!  www.crookedcreekcamp.org /crooked-creek-wild.  The challenge-course run begins at 10:00am with a free-will donation lunch to follow.  More details and photos of last year’s event online.

Iowa Mennonite School

▪ Senior Recital | Monet Slabach daughter of Lance & Nichole Slabach, will present her senior recital in Celebration Hall at IMS at 7:00PM on Saturday March 31. Hors d’oeuvres will follow the recital.

▪ Food Drive | The IMS National Honor Society (NHS) is planning a food drive for the local food pantries March 19-30. Food can be donated to IMS throughout that time. Tables for food will be set up on the various nights events are being hosted at IMS.

▪ Pre-Registration | March 26 from 4:30-7:30PM. This is your opportunity to turn in your applications and meet with Guidance Counselor, Dwight Gingerich to set up a preliminary schedule for the fall. Please contact Candi Schmieder at cschmieder@iowamennonite.org or 319-656-2073 ext. 20 to set up a time. 

SundaySucCentral Plains Conference

▪ Central Plains Mennonite Conference Prayer Request:  This month and next, Dave Boshart and Tim Detweiler are leading interested pastors in a four-part discussion of Brad Roth's book, God's Country: Faith, Hope and the Future of the Rural Church. Pray for those gathered to discuss the book, and for the unique challenges of our rural congregations. 

Mennonite Agencies

▪ Lunch & Learn at MCC with Joanna Shenk! Join us on Thursday, April 5 from noon to 1 pm at MCC in North Newton, Kansas to hear Joanna share about her new book, “The Movement Makes Us Human an Interview with Dr. Vincent Harding on Mennonites, Vietnam and MLK.” Lunch will be provided by Mojo’s Coffee Bar. Please RSVP for lunch by April 3. For the first time, we’re offering an opportunity for you to join this event virtually, on any computer or device. Visit mcc.org/lunch-learn for information about Joanna, the book and about how to join the event from your home or office! Questions or to RSVP: 316.283.2720 or patsydirksen@mcc.org.

▪ Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request:  Last month, soon after Deb Byler began a Mennonite Mission Network assignment in Guatemala, she had a medical emergency that necessitated surgery in Chicago. Pray for health and energy for Deb as she prepares to return to work with women’s leadership development in the Kekchi Mennonite Church.
 

Area Events

▪ Community Good Friday Tenebrae Service: Join local Mennonite churches as we worship together this Friday, Mar 30, 7pm at Celebration Hall in Iowa Mennonite School. High school students will share testimonies relating to Jesus’ last seven words before his death on the cross. Child care will be provided for ages 3-8. Student speakers are Brandon Jimenez, Joya Schrock, Jacob Boller, Edna Villatoro, Cameron Roser-Peet, Isaac Miller, & Emma Beachy. Offering Baskets will be in the foyer to support the ministry of Iglesia Zoar in Flores de Mayo.

▪ Stewards of the Earth – An Earth Day Conference – Iowa Wesleyan University invites you to attend the 2018 Manning Lecture and Earth Day Conference on Sunday, April 22 at 1:20pm in the Chapel Auditorium.  Professor Robert Grant will deliver the keynote address, “Eco-Librium: A New Stewardship of Creation.”  The lecture will be followed by two workshop sessions including: Composting in your Backyard; Planting for Pollinators; Recycling for Everyone; the Quilt Game for Climate Change; Organic Farming; Wind and Solar Energy; Water Quality in Iowa; Stewardship and the Bible; Reducing Your Ecological Footprint; Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic, and much more!  Free and open to the public.  For more information joy.lapp@iw.edu or 319-385-6403.