Bulletin notes

Sunday, July 7, 2024

If you have a bulletin announcement to share, email a succinct blurb to [email protected] by Wednesdays at noon. 

Virginia Mennonite Conference

REGISTRATION CLOSING SOON! Living Stones: 2024 Summer Delegate Assembly will be held at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church July 18-20. Zoom registration opens June 1. General Registration closes July 8.  virginiaconference.org/events

• Workshops @ Living Stone 2024: Open to anyone, VMC is hosting 12 workshops on July 18 from 9 – 3. Topics include: Race, Faith and Finance, Inner Healing, Celebrate Recovery, Will Our Children Have Faith? The workshops are free, but registration is requested. virginiaconference.org/events.
• VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! The VMC Team is looking for volunteers to serve at Summer Assembly July 17-20, 2024. We are looking for the following volunteers
  • 5-7 volunteers for set up on Wednesday afternoon (July 17)
  • 1 volunteer for registration on Friday (July 19th) and Saturday mornings (July 20th)
  • 3 volunteers for tear down/set up on Thursday evening (July 18th) 
  • 3 volunteers for the prayer team
  • 3 ushers
  • 10 volunteers to tear down on Saturday to make the church Sunday ready
• If you would like to participate or would like more information, please contact Sarah Layman at [email protected]. 

NEW! Mt. Clinton Mennonite Church is celebrating 150 years (1874-2024)! Come join us as we celebrate God’s faithfulness on September 8th for a Harmonia Sacra at 7 pm. Stay tuned for more events to follow!

Watch the recorded Pre-Assembly Webinar from June 10. Craig Maven, Chair of the Denominational Affiliation Work Group (DAWG), will have a question and answer time about the motions we will vote on at this Summer Delegate Assembly; these motions and other information about summer assembly are available here, and a recording of the webinar is available here. Delegates are highly encouraged to watch this webinar so they can begin discerning how to best represent their congregation.

The next concert in the Soil and The Seed Project’s free ORDINARY TIME CONCERT SERIES will be on July 27 at 6:30pm.  The concert features Jess Ray, a singer-songwriter and producer, based in her home state of North Carolina. She blends fresh sonic style with timeless truths, delicately weaving it all together with the realities of the human experience. The concert series is for KIDS, FAMILIES, and EVERYONE seeking a beautiful place to listen to beautiful music that helps us all recognize God in the ordinary. (In the church calendar year, Ordinary Time is the season between Pentecost and Advent.)  Bring lawn chairs, blankets, a picnic dinner (as you wish), and lots of friends to share the evening with in the serene natural beauty of the amphitheater at the Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center.  View more details and the full summer line-up!

Pathways 10.1 is now online. Look for hard copies in your mailbox or at your church. https://virginiaconference.org/read-pathways/

Mennonite Church USA

NEW! Is your congregation on the map? Interfaith Power and Light’s (IPL) Congregational Solar Map, that is! 1,300 congregations have listed their solar projects with IPL, including 24 Mennonite congregations. Collectively, these congregations have a combined capacity of 105 megawatts of solar energy, approaching the amount of Facebook, the 10th largest commercial user. Together, faith communities are making an impact for our climate’s health! If your congregation has solar and has not yet registered with IPL, fill out this Solar Congregations Information survey to put your congregation on the map!

Cooked: Survival by Zip Code: From June 15- July 15, congregations can stream the film Cooked: Survival by Zip Code for $50 (a 50% discount) through a partnership with Interfaith Power and Light. The film delves into the story of the worst heat disaster in U.S. history in 1995 in Chicago, when 739 residents—mostly elderly and Black—died over the course of one week. With summer 2024 predicted to be the hottest on record, the film offers a timely look at how issues of climate, structural racism and poverty are linked in devastating ways. Consider hosting a screening and discussion with your congregation!

For those participating with The Corinthian Plan (TCP), the new Wellness Incentive year began March 1, 2024 (through February 28, 2025). To learn more about steps toward good health and how to earn $300 per participant and spouse go to TCP Wellness Incentive webpage.

Peaceful Options for Training and Careers (POTC) has launched a website where young adults across the U.S. can find information about non-military careers, service and training opportunities. Learn more here: mennoniteusa.org/news/potc-website/

Mennonite Church USA’s Safe Church ministry is strengthening its commitment to ensuring safe spaces for all members by offering background checks for church employees and volunteers through an agreement with Safe Hiring Solutions. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/news/background-checks. To view the latest webinar hosted by Nancy Kauffman with Ben Woodward-Breckbill and Michael Danner, click here.

Read and subscribe to Equipping, Mennonite Church USA’s quarterly resource newsletter for pastors and ministry leaders. View the most recent issue here: mennoniteusa.org/equipping-april-2024 Subscribe to Equipping here: mennoniteusa.org/equipping-subscribe

Mennonite Church USA is launching two new podcasts, aimed at encouraging and equipping today’s pastors and congregational leaders. Learn more here: mennoniteusa.org/news/podcasts

Agencies

NEW! Knotting Comforters: A group will be knotting comforters for Mennonite Central Committee, August 1-2, 2024 from 9 am – 2 pm at VMRC Village Hall.  Comforters bring warmth and comfort to those displaced by war.  Bring a packed lunch and join us.  All supplies for knotting will be provided!  For questions email Deb Layman – [email protected] , Lavonne Lehman – [email protected] , or Betty Brunk – [email protected].

Commissioning Service for Bethlehem/Jerusalem Solidarity Delegation.  A Commissioning Service will be held at Community Mennonite Church at 7:00 PM on Thursday, August 1, for a Bethlehem/Jerusalem Solidarity Delegation sponsored through Virginia Mennonite Missions and traveling to the Middle East from Friday, August 2 through Monday, August 12.  This ten-member delegation will be co-led by Dorothy Jean Weaver (NT Professor Emerita, EMS) and Kevin A. Clark (Retired Campus Pastor, EMS), long-time Middle East tour leaders through Eastern Mennonite Seminary and Virginia Mennonite Missions.  The delegation will meet with Palestinian and Israeli organizations and churches with whom Dorothy Jean and Kevin have built up long-standing relationships over past years.  The delegation welcomes your presence and your prayers at this Commissioning Service, as they prepare to set forth on this ministry of compassionate listening.

Mennonite Women of Virginia invites you to a Prayer Breakfast, Saturday, July 20, 2024 at 6:45am at Ridgeway Mennonite Church for breakfast, fellowship, and prayer before the events of Virginia Mennonite Conference Assembly begin that day. We will have the opportunity to hear about Bethany Tobin’s work for the Lord. Cost is $12. Pay at the door via cash or check. Please RSVP through the conference registration or via this link form.jotform.com/241636107132043 Questions? Please email [email protected].

Save the date for the Virginia Mennonite Men’s Fall Workshop on Saturday, November 2, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church. Mark Sensabaugh will lead the workshop “Achieving Relational Wholeness.”  Don’t miss this excellent opportunity to explore how to develop life-giving, Christ-centered relationships. Link to sign up coming soon!

Preorders are now open for the Anabaptist Community Bible. The commemorative study Bible, releasing in January 2025, will be available in three editions: genuine leather, soft touch, and hardcover. While presales last, discounts are being offered for all three editions. Purchase at mennomedia.org.

AMBS: Spiritual Direction: Foundations. Strengthen your skills in offering spiritual direction through the first level of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary’s supervised spiritual direction program. This course, which consists of weekly Zoom meetings and additional work done online, will help you grow in confidence and competence as a spiritual director. The seminar begins Sept. 3; apply by July 15 to save $200. ambs.edu/seminars

The Shenandoah Valley MDS unit has been investigating local projects. First is a house we plan to refurbish North of Harrisonburg. Secondly we are looking into building houses lost in forest fires in Virginia and West Virginia. If you would like to bless people financially mark your giving MDS and give through your local church. If you would like to help on the projects contact your church contact person or Woody Driver  (Shenandoah Valley MDS chair) at 540-820-9676.

Upcoming Events

Jul 18-20 2024 Summer Delegate Assembly

Feb 1 2025 Winter Delegate Assembly