Newsletter for October 14, 2018

The Bearing Fruit

October 14, 2018

Upcoming Events:

Oct 14  – Halcyon House Service

Oct 14  – DT Rehearsal, 5pm

Oct 17  – Monthly Quilting/Potluck, 10am

Oct 17  – DT Rehearsal, 7pm

Nov 8-10 – WMC Dinner Theatre

Nov 24 – Saturday Kitchen, UP Church

Washington Mennonite

▪ Offering for 10/7/18 - Regular offering: $1166.00

▪ Dinner theatre is fast approaching. The church refrigerators will be utilized to their full capacity during that time. If you are storing something in the fridge, you will want to remove it soon to give space for dinner theatre foods. If it is not removed, we will assume it can be used or thrown out. Thank you for your assistance! :)

SundayS

Iowa MCC Relief Sale

▪ Come to Crooked Creek Christian Camp in Washington, Iowa on Sunday, October 28 at 4pm to Sing for Relief!  Enjoy music, wood-fired flatbreads, fresh cider, a campfire and other fall activities as we kick off festivities for the 40th anniversary year of the Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale! All donations will go towards the expenses for the 2019 Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale. 

SundaySucIowa Mennonite School

▪ Iowa Mennonite School (IMS) is pleased to announce that the Operating Board has appointed a Search Committee that will aid in the process of selecting the next principal. We are pleased that Dwight Gingerich has stepped up to serve as Interim Principal for the 2018-2019 school year. It is now important to search for the next leader for IMS.

The Search Committee consists of IMS board and community members: Jared Widmer, chair; Stacy Ropp Miller, Joel Beachy, Beth Swantz, Mayeken Kehr Yoder, and Fred Gingerich, chair of the IMS Board is an ex officio member.  Elaine Moyer, consultant from Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) serves as a support for the committee.

The first step in the process is to listen to the community. There are two ways you can be involved. A survey is ready for your input at tinyurl.com/IMSSearch. In addition to the survey, we will be conducting focus groups. Sign up for a focus group at tinyurl.com/IMSfocusgroup. Your voice and participation is a valued and an integral component for the committee to be successful in the selection process. The more feedback received the better!

Contact the school office (319-656-2073) if you would like a paper copy of the survey, or for help signing up for a focus group.

We are excited about the future and ask that you be in prayer for our Search Committee and the future principal of Iowa Mennonite School.

▪ TODAY | Come hear the Intro to Music students, Choral & Concert Choirs, and the Symphonic Band at our Fall Music Concert starting at 3:00PM in Celebration Hall. Also after the concert 6th-8th graders, transfer students and their families are invited to our Harvest Party hosted by the IMS FFA. Games, activities, and food will be available. Join us for the concert and stay for the fun with our FFA!

▪ IMS Fall Preschool | IMS Child Development students will lead preschool aged children in developmentally appropriate activities. Each date will have a different theme that these activities will be centered around. The fall dates are Oct 18, Nov 1, and Nov 15 and all dates are 10:30-11:30AM. Please contact the office 319-656-2073 to reserve your spot.

▪ Fall Drama | Little Women directed by Michael Swartzendruber will be performed in Celebration Hall on November 3 at 7:00PM and on November 4 at 3:00PM. Call the office (319-656-2073) to reserve your tickets! 

SundaySucCentral Plains Conference

▪ Central Plains Mennonite Conference Prayer Request:  Pray for Central Plains congregations who are seeking long-term pastors

Mennonite Agencies

▪ Resilience: Nepal - Join MCC on an epic trekking journey through Nepal, April 1-19 of 2019. Participants will spend twelve days hiking through Nepal to see how MCC partner organization Shanti Nepal is working with community strengths at the grassroots level to address vulnerabilities to natural disasters and visit KOSHISH to see how they’re supporting mental health and rehabilitation for those living with severe trauma and psychosocial distress. MCC is seeking college students, trauma studies researchers and practitioners, mental health professionals, engineers and ANYONE who enjoys hiking and is interested in learning more about what resilience looks like in the context of MCC in Nepal! Contact jordanpenner@mcc.org and check mcc.org/nepal-learning-tour for more information.

▪ A Loaded Conversation an invitation to talk about guns: Guns are part of our lives, whether or not we own or use them. With encouragement and input from pastors and others in the church, MCC U.S. has created this resource to help congregations stay at the table to address the topic of guns. This print resource includes a conversation guide, ways to engage, Bible studies and worship resources. Download the resource and find more ways to engage on the topic at mcc.org/loaded-conversations.

▪ Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request:  Join Mennonite Mission Network in praising God for Southern African Development and Reconstruction Agency’s Conflict Transformation program and its success in training peer mediators in high schools. Pray for the youth who build peace in violent situations, and for trainers Dan and Kathryn Smith Derksen as they work alongside SADRA’s director, Oscar Siwali.

Area Announcements

▪ Wellman Mennonite Church will host a fund raiser on Sunday Oct. 14th. The fund raiser is for IMS tuition for the Jimenez family. The Jimenez family will be providing the meal. We will be serving from 11:45 to 1:30. Free will donation.

▪ You are invited to First Mennonite Church of Iowa City, Wednesday, October 17, 7pm to worship with Parables, a student worship ensemble from Goshen College who will share music, original dramas and personal stories. A free will offering will be taken.  

▪ Kalona MOPS Haystacks Fundraiser – Oct 21, 2018 from 11:30-1:30pm at Upper Deer Creek Mennonite Church.  For more information, see the bulletin board in the foyer.

▪ Join Bob & Kristie Black, Paul & Julie Roberts & other fine Bluegrass musicians as they lead a Community Hymn Sing on Sunday, Oct 21^st from 2:00-4:00pm at the St Michael’s Church in Holbrook (7 miles S of Amana interchange on I-80).  Free admission.  For more information, contact Stephen Hanson, 319-936-8674.

▪ Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Church presents “4 Chair Discipling” on October 27, 2018 from 8:30am-4:30pm.  Anyone who wants to be challenged to be and make disciples should attend!  Cost is $25 per person.  See the poster in the foyer for more details.

▪ Pillow Cleaning: Get your feather or foam pillows cleaned, sanitized, deodorized and NEW TICKING on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM at Kalona Mennonite Church, 902 6^th St. Sponsored by the Kalona Mennonite WMSC

▪ All we needed to know we learned in a one-room school,” is the focus of the fall meeting of the Mennonite Historical Society of Iowa. The meeting will be Monday November 19, 2018, 7:00 p.m. at Kalona Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall.