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On this last day of January 2023, I offer a short reading from the book Return to the Root: Reflections on the Inner Life by Joyce Rupp (2021 Sorin Books). This excerpt comes from a longer reflection titled “Worthwhile Resolutions” and is based on Psalm 139…
“Holy One, you created me in my mother’s womb.
You know the core goodness residing within me.
You also know my propensity for self-orientation.
You see how I want others to meet my expectations.
You know the thoughts and feelings that run rampant
when I encounter someone whose behavior I resist.
If I say, ‘Surely I can get this person to be as I want,’
nudge me with your grace-filled message:
‘Leave the other person’s transformation alone.
Tend to your own shortcomings that have to change.’
In this new year, guide me to a clearer awareness.
Lead me to move beyond a wish to modify others.
Focus my attention on how to approach what I resist.
May I become more alert and accepting of the reality
that the only person I am able to change is myself.”
– Joyce Rupp
I’m not sure if Joyce Rupp intended this or not, but I also hear in this prayer an echo of Jesus’ teaching at the beginning of Matthew 7, which we will take up this coming Sunday in worship:
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2 For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)
— Pastor Tonya
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 5 – The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:1-14, 24-29; (Psalm 37:16-18)
- Preacher: Tonya Ramer Wenger
- Worship Leader: Nick Krehbiel
- Song Leader: Pastor Tonya
- Children’s Time: Cathia Krehbiel
- Scripture Reader: Diane Ziemer
- Pianist: Shelley Kauffman
- Ushers: Cheryl Warkentin & Marlene Thode
- Nursery Attendant: TBA
- Sound Tech: Earl Ediger
- Live Stream Tech: Sadie Nisly
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.
2022 INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION REPORTS . . . a note from our treasurer
Since the IRS has raised the standard deduction threshold and those with IRA’s can send funds directly to charitable organizations to help meet their minimum required distributions, the need to receive your annual contribution report has been diminished for income tax purposes. Therefore, instead of stuffing mailboxes with annual giving reports, if you would like to receive your giving report from FMC, please let me know I will get you yours. You can reach me at mikedirks@earthlink.net or 620-474-1224.
Mike Dirks
APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY PASTOR-CONGREGATION REVIEW
The Appreciative Inquiry will take place during the worship service on February 19. The morning will begin with a shortened worship time in the sanctuary and 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 will be emailed or sent via regular mail the week of February 5, and copies will also be available in the foyer so you will have 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 who attend to participate in the Appreciative Inquiry process on February 19. 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.
CALENDAR – LOOKING AHEAD
- Feb 7 – WDC Pastor Day Apart Training @ Prairie View in Newton – Pastor Tonya participating
- Feb 9-12 – Pastor Tonya gone on vacatioin
- February 12 – Senior Youth Super Bowl Subs Fundraiser – sign up by Feb. 9!
- 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 – Ask 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)
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 upcoming schedule:
- Working most of Monday February 6
- Tuesday February 7 participating in WDC’s Pastor’s Day Apart in Newton at Prairie View 8-5pm
- Thursday February 9-Sunday February 12 gone on vacation to visit family in Ohio
BOOK STUDY GROUP – FEBRUARY 1 @ 1:00PM
The book study group is starting up again on Wednesday February 1 at 1:00pm. We’ll be reading and discussing Rachel Held Evans’ book A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master. If you need help getting a book, contact Pastor Tonya. Participants in the group will take turns facilitating discussions.
SUPER BOWL SUB FUNDRAISER – SIGN UP BY FEB 9 TO PICK UP ON FEB 12
Sign up is underway for your Super Bowl Subs prepared by our Senior Youth Group. Choose turkey or ham/salami ($8/sub). Every sub comes with a little baggie of veggies (but you provide your own condiments). Sign up by February 9 (youth will be in the foyer again this Sunday to take orders, or contact Jonathan Wenger or Tanya Martin Nisly). Pick up your sub(s) on Sunday February 12 after worship.
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 in time to be received by Valentine’s Day!
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.
NUMANA FUNDRAISER AS PART OF “KNOW JESUS” YOUTH RETREAT @ HESSTON COLLEGE
This coming weekend (Feb 4-5) our Junior High Youth – Duncan Krehbiel, Lily Nisly and a friend – along with sponsors Jonathan Wenger and Maggie Pounds will be participating in Know Jesus, a youth retreat sponsored by Western District and South Central Conferences at Hesston College. The conference theme is Discovering your Anabaptist Filter. Throughout the weekend the youth will learn what it means to be Anabaptist in the past, present, and future. This year the youth will also have the opportunity to pack 48,000 meals for families all over the world. Numana is an international hunger relief organization based in El Dorado, KS. Our congregation is invited to support this meaningful service project by raising funds for the food and supplies needed. The invitation is to raise $50/person attending – for us, $250. Please make your checks out to First Mennonite with “Numana” in the memo line. Thanks for your support!
CENTER FOR CARING, EMPOWERMENT and PEACE INITIATIVES (CCEPI) in NIGERIA
Community Church of the Brethren here in Hutchinson invites us to join them in a presentation by Drs. Rebecca and Samuel Dali, sharing about the work of the center. CCEPI helps victims of abuse and neglect, including the returning kidnapped Chibok girls. The Dali’s’ own life stories are ones of extraordinary resilience and courage. They did not succumb to their early life experiences; rather, through faith in God and a strong desire to live, they survived and are now making a difference in many others’ lives. Admission is free. Offerings to support CCEPI will be gladly accepted. Come on Friday, February 3, 2023, at 6:30pm to the Church of the Brethren located at 1600 N. Severance.
MENNONITE FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITIES announcements
Volunteer opportunity on Saturday, February 4. Help is needed to prepare walls and install paneling to protect spaces in the laundry area. Call Dan Warner, project coordinator, at 620-388-1410.
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”.
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! 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.
Tues., Feb. 7 – Bethel College Organ Recital Series presents David Pickering, organ, and Audrey Pickering, cello and organ, 7 p.m., in a program featuring works by J.S. Bach, Lübeck, Alain, Bloch and Gawthrop, Administration Building chapel
HESSTON COLLEGE announcements
February 6 – Sunflower Performing Arts: Our Song, Our Story
Join Hesston College’s Sunflower Performing Arts on February 6 at 7 p.m. in Hesston Mennonite Church for a great performance, Our Song, Our Story: The New Generation of Black Voices. Performing opera, art song, spirituals, and jazz, these world class black artists will pay homage to Marian Anderson and Jessye Norman who were at the vanguard of black classical singers. Tickets can be purchased online at hesston.edu/sunflower-performing-arts/ or by calling 620-327-8158.
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.