Table of Contents
THIS WEEK @ FMC – February 8-14, 2023
I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.
God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always. — Psalm 121 (The Message)
SUNDAY MORNING Worship at 9:30am
The link to join is on our website: www.hutchfmc.org Join 5 minutes early for announcements.
COLD, FLU and COVID-19 safety suggestions for ourselves and others
Along with recommending that everyone traveling on planes, trains, buses, and other public transportation wear masks, the CDC also recommends that as COVID-19 numbers and other illness spike, wearing a mask indoors in public spaces is a good idea. Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Get tested if you have symptoms. Stay home if you are not feeling well.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12 – Parables of the Kingdom
Matthew 13:24-43; (Psalm 84:1-7)
- Preacher: Jim Unruh
- Worship Leader: Calvin Buller
- Children’s Time: Heidi Unruh
- Scripture Reader: Jennalee Boggs
- Organist: Pauline Buller
- Ushers: Glenda & Rick Hooper
- Nursery Attendant: Jonathan Wenger
- Sound Tech: Adam Pounds
- Live Stream Tech: Joel Iwashige
SHARING JOYS & CONCERNS
During each worship service, you are invited to text your prayer joys and concerns – usually to Pastor Tonya. You are also invited to send prayer joys & concerns during the week. The recording of our worship service is public, so let us know if you’d prefer your request to only be shared via email during the week.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announcements are scrolled Sunday mornings before and after worship. There will be no spoken announcements unless there are pressing announcements that did not make it into the PowerPoint. Please send any announcements you’d like to have included to the church office by Thursday each week.
OFFERINGS
We welcome, and are grateful for, your financial donations to our ministry here in Hutchinson. Instead of collecting an offering during worship (except on special occasions), an offering box is placed at the back of the sanctuary for your Sunday morning donations. You can also now make a donation directly from our website (www.hutchfmc.org) using a credit card or your banking account. You are also welcome to send a check to 52 Rambler Rd Hutchinson KS 67502.
APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY PASTOR-CONGREGATION REVIEW – Feb 19
The Appreciative Inquiry will take place during the worship service on February 19. The morning will begin with a shortened worship time beginning at 9:30am as usual. We will move to small group conversations centered around six Appreciative Inquiry questions written especially for FMC for this review. In order to allow enough time to complete the Inquiry process, there will not be Sunday School. The Appreciative Inquiry questions were sent by email on Tuesday and copies are also available in the foyer. Please take time to consider your responses in advance. We highly value the input of everyone who participates in the life of our congregation and strongly encourage all to be present on February 19 to participate in the Appreciative Inquiry process. Rev. Lee Lever, our Western District Consultant, will collate the responses anonymously, write a report, and share the results with us by the end of April. (Junior and Senior Youth are invited into the process and children will be offered care in the Common Grounds room.)
If you join us for worship through livestream, please note that, on February 19, you will find a Zoom link in the Comments section of the livestream. Plan to join us there for a small group conversation.
CALENDAR – LOOKING AHEAD
- Feb 9-12 Pastor Tonya gone on vacation
- February 12 Senior Youth Super Bowl Subs Fundraiser
- February 13 Craft Night
- February 18 Singing Group @ Wenger’s (5:30 potluck/6:30 singing)
- February 19 Worshipful Work – Appreciative Inquiry review . . . your hopes and dreams for FMC
- February 22 Ash Wednesday Worship (evening service) with Community Church of the Brethren
REMINDER: If you are last one out of the church building, be SURE the doors lock behind you.
DEEPENING in Christ…
PRAYER GROUPS
- A Prayer group meets Thursday mornings from 10-11am in the Prayer Room. All are welcome.
- A small ecumenical Centering Prayer group meets on Thursdays (in person @ FMC) from 12:30-1:30pm. If you’d like to learn more, contact Pastor Tonya.
LPC: Listening-Prayer-Conversation Groups
Two monthly LPC (Listening-Prayer-Conversation) groups are offered each month: one on the second Tuesday from Noon-1pm and another on the second Wednesday from 6:30-7:30pm. The Wednesday group includes a Zoom option (contact Pastor Tonya for the link). The hour is simply structured to create space for listening to scripture and Spirit, praying with and without words, and conversation with God and others. The next gatherings are Tues Feb 14 at noon, and Wed Feb 8 at 6:30pm.
WINTER-SPRING 2023 WORSHIP SERIES – GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
This winter and spring (through Easter) we will be listening to the Gospel of Matthew, using the Narrative Lectionary. We encourage you to spend time reading along in Matthew as we journey through the Epiphany season, and then Lent (beginning Feb 22) which will lead us to Easter Sunday on April 9.
WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL @ 11:00AM (except for the 5th Sundays of the month, and no Sunday school on February 19)
Preschool-8th Grade: SHINE! Curriculum: Fall of a Kingdom
- Preschool-Kindergarten (basement – rooms 1&2)
- 1st-5th (basement – rooms 5&6)
- 6th-8th (upstairs to the right)
Senior Youth: 9th-12th grade (upstairs to the left)
ADULTS:
Bible Study using the Salt & Light study guide meets in the Prayer Room in the basement. Copies are available in the classroom.
The Adult Discussion/Study class meeting in the fellowship hall and on Zoom (contact Pastor Tonya for the zoom link.
“Younger Adults” Class meets in the adult education room in the basement.
UPPER ROOM and REJOICE! devotional magazines
This new year brings opportunity to begin a new tradition . . . begin each day with a reading from one of the devotional magazines—REJOICE! or UPPER ROOM. New issues are available above the mailboxes. Please let us know if you would like a copy mailed to you.
STRENGTHENING Community Connections…
CHURCH OFFICE HOURS
- Tuesday and Thursday 9:00am – 2:00pm
- Wednesday – 10:00am – 1:00pm (NO office hours on the 4th Wednesday of the month)
PASTOR TONYA’S HOURS/SCHEDULE
- Monday: Day Off
- Tuesday-Friday: generally working 8:00am-5:30pm
- “In Office” Hours: 9-2 Tuesday and Thursday; 10-1 on Wednesday
- Available other times by appointment.
- Available evenings and weekends (cell phone is most reliable)
- 4th Wednesdays (8-5pm) set aside as “Day Apart with God” for silence, reading, prayer
- & journaling – will NOT be checking email or responding to texts/calls (except for emergencies)
***A note about Pastor Tonya’s schedule:
Thursday February 9-Sunday February 12 gone on vacation to visit family in Ohio
SUPER BOWL SUB SANDWICHES FUNDRAISER
If you signed up for Super Bowl Subs prepared by our Senior Youth Group, please pick them up in the foyer on Sunday following the worship service.
PASTOR-CONGREGATION RELATIONS COMMITTEE (PCRC) MEETS FEB 17
PCRC current members are: Jolene Yoder (chair), Peggy Stucky, and Kevin Martin Nisly. This committee meets quarterly to check in with both pastors, offering support and sharing any feedback/comments received from the congregation in the time between meetings. In doing so, they tend to the relationship between congregation and pastor(s). If you have items to communicate to the PCRC, please do so before their next meeting the afternoon of February 17.
VALENTINES for our young adults in college and service assignments
Share your encouragement and support with our young adults in college and service assignment by sending a card this Valentine’s Day. Select a card from the baskets on the table in the foyer or create or purchase your own. Pick up an address sheet and send a note. Be sure to mail it this week!
CRAFT NIGHT @ FMC
Craft night returns as a regularly scheduled event on the 2nd Monday of each month. Mark your calendar for the next one on February 13, 6:30-8:00pm in the church library. Bring your project – knitting, crocheting, other crafts – and enjoy this time of friendship and ministry together. Any questions . . . contact Cheryl Warkentin or Diane Ziemer.
SINGING GROUP ON FEBRUARY 18 @ 5:30/6:30PM
Join others at the Wenger’s for an evening of food (potluck at 5:30pm – bring a dish to share), fellowship, and singing (singing begins around 6:30pm) from our new hymnal, Voices Together. We won’t be limited to Voices Together, but this will be a good time to do some exploring of this new resource! Everyone is invited, whether you consider yourself a ‘singer’ or not. Hymnals will be provided as needed. Feel free to bring additional instruments (to add to piano and voices!).
ARMS WIDE OPEN – FMC’s history book
The amazing story of First Mennonite Church’s 100 years is told in the history book prepared for our centennial celebration. Copies of the book are available for $25.00 (cash or check). You can also now purchase a book online at a price that includes the cost of shipping (click on the “DONATE” button on our website to find this option). Check with the church office to pick up a book.
STRETCHING to Serve as Christ Served…
SUNDAY MORNING DONATIONS FOR RENO COUNTY FOOD BANK:
FEBRUARY: Canned Meat/Tuna
Personal care/hygiene items such as these are appreciated anytime: toilet paper, laundry detergent, bath soap, Kleenex, deodorant, disposable razors, paper towels, shampoo, dish soap, hand/body lotion, tooth paste and tooth brushes. Travel size – new & unopened – are desirable.
MENNONITE FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITIES announcements
Join the Liverwurst and Fried Mush Tradition! Mark your calendar for Friday, February 24, 2023, serving 5-8pm at Journey @ Yoder. All proceeds help provide care for nursing home residents who have outlived their financial resources.
SALTHAWK COMMUNITY SUPPORT announcements
Donations of Chapstick and deodorant are always needed. You can place these and other toiletries, along with any teenage appropriate clothing/shoes (a recent specific request was hoodies) in the basket at church or drop off directly at Trinity United Methodist Church. Financial donations for ongoing program costs are also invited throughout the year.
CARE PORTAL MINISTRY
CarePortal creates connections between children and families in need and those who would like to help them. Caseworkers identify the needs, submit requests through the online system known as CarePortal, local church and nonprofit representatives and individuals are notified of the needs, and then help is provided. Russ Gaeddert is the new Care Portal contact person for our congregation. He has started forwarding the needs that he receives from local case workers to the FMC email group. If you would like to help, you will respond to Russ and he will assist with making the connection so that the family is helped.
Thank you so much for the tremendous aid that you all have given in the past and for the ways you will help in the future!
MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE announcements
SAVE THE DATE! Come join the fun at 15th annual MCC Comforter Blitz on March 6, 7 and 8 on the Journey @ Yoder Campus, one mile north of Yoder, KS. Times are Monday and Tuesday 9-5 and Wednesday 9-4. No sewing skills are required, we will teach you. Lunch is available by donation each day, or you may bring your own sack lunch. Bring snacks to share during the workday. This event is hosted by Kansas Friends of MCC to make comforters for relief to be sent to refugees or places after natural disasters. Please contact the MCC Central States office with questions at #316-283-2720, or check the Comforter Blitz Facebook Page, “Kansas MCC Comforter Blitz”.
MCC Central States annual meeting, March 4 from 1-3 p.m. at MCC in North Newton, Kansas. This will primarily be an in-person event, but if you would like a link to join via Zoom please email tinaschrag@mcc.org for the link.
Volunteer with MCC Thrift today! You can support the relief development and peace work of Mennonite Central Committee AND your local community when you volunteer at your local MCC Thrift shop! By volunteering, you’ll make friends, gain work experience, and help make a difference in your community and around the world. From sorting to pricing to working the cash register, we’ve got a job that’s right for you. Sign up to volunteer thrift.mcc.org/volunteer or contact Delon Martens to volunteer in our local shop.
KANSAS MENNONITE RELIEF SALE announcements
WANTED — Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles, RVs, Campers, Tractors, Modern Farm Equipment, etc. for the Kansas MCC Sale. Items you no longer need can help Feed and Clothe thousands in desperate living conditions. ALL donations are Tax Deductible. Call Jerry Toews for info: 620 367 8257. Help make a difference.
26th Annual KS MCC Run for Relief on Saturday, April 15, 2023. The entry form and sponsor form are available on the table in the foyer. Online registration is at. https://runsignup.com/Race/KS/Hutchinson/KMRSRunWalkForRelief5k Watch for updates on their Facebook page (Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale-Run/Walk for Relief 5K).
QUILTER’S CORNER welcomes your donated QUILT-RELATED items . . . used/unused/unfinished, no longer needed, to generate funds for MCC relief work around the world. Suggested items:
- Finished/unfinished quilt tops
- Finished/unfinished quilt blocks
- Old and damaged quilts
- Quilt supplies and tools
- Linens
- Cloth sacks
- Quilt books
- Quilt magazines (2013 – current)
- Quilt patterns
- Notions
- Fabric – cotton
Items may be dropped off at the MCC Center in North Newton with boxes/bags labeled Quilter’s Corner. OR you may place them in the designated basket in the church foyer.
MCC and MCUSA are partnering in a new webinar series
Beyond incarceration: A hard look at dismantling the prison system and building healthy communities, invites us to learn about the ways the faith community is actively understanding and working against these complex systems of confinement. The webinars will take place on Feb. 7, Feb. 21, March 7, and March 21 at 6:30 p.m. CST/5:30 p.m. MST. They will be followed by learning tour opportunities in different parts of the U.S. Registration link: mcc.org/beyond-incarceration-webinars
CAMP MENNOSCAH announcements
Summer Youth Camp Registration is now open! We welcome you to register here for the upcoming summer season! Detailed information about our Summer Youth Camps and our Program Directors can be found here, on the Camp Mennoscah website.
Spring Scrapbook and Craft Retreat registration is open! Dates are March 10-12, and March 17-19, 2023.
Croppers and crafters of all skill levels are welcome. Participants at the Scrapbook and Crafts Retreats will have lodging in the Retreat Center and work space at the Dining Hall. Grade 3 and above are welcome with an accompanying adult. Further details available on the website or at 620-297-3290.
BETHEL COLLEGE announcements
Now in the Regier Gallery in Luyken Fine Arts Center at Bethel College – “Farm to Table,” ceramics by Stacey Stanhope Dundon,through Fri., Feb. 24 (artist lecture and reception Feb. 23). Gallery hours are Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun. 2-4 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 19 – KIPCOR Film Series presents No Time to Waste: The Urgent Mission of Betty Reid Soskin, 2 p.m., Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center. This film looks at the legendary 101-year-old park ranger’s inspiring life, work and determination to restore critical missing chapters of America’s story. An audience talkback will follow the screening. Free and open to the public, with a freewill offering taken to support KIPCOR and the film series.
Sun., Feb. 26 – Bethel College Concert Choir Tour Send-off Concert
HESSTON COLLEGE announcements
February 28 – McPherson Valley Wetlands: Past, Present and Future
Join the Dyck Arboretum Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. to learn about the McPherson Valley Wetlands. Historically there were thousands of acres of wetlands in the McPherson Valley Wetlands that held extreme importance to migratory birds. Hear the full story of this unique wetland ecosystem and the plans for its restoration from a Public Land Manager perspective. Jason Black will be presenting. Learn more about this event and register at dyckarboretum.org/events.
March 1 to 5 – Spring Musical
Hesston College Performing Arts will present the musical The Apple Tree by Bock and Harnick, the same duo that wrote Fiddler on the Roof, in the Black Box Theater in Keim Center March 1 to 5. The Apple Tree is a series of three musical playlets – The Diary of Adam & Eve, The Lady or the Tiger, Passionella. Learn more at hesston.edu/fine-arts.