Bulletin notes

Sunday, July 28, 2024

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

Virginia Mennonite Conference

NEW! Park View Mennonite Women will hold an all-day comforter blitz on August 7th, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the fireplace room. Bring a dish to share for our noon potluck. Folks of all ages / genders from our participating churches (PVMC, Mt. Clinton, and Community) as well as others in the area are invited to join us. There will also be a table for stringing school kit bags.

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!

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! Shine: Offer input for new youth curriculum! The Shine team is creating new resources for youth and we want your help! Please complete this brief survey here (and share the link with others responsible for ministry with youth in your church). Note that we use the term “youth” broadly to include both middle and high school youth. Please respond by Monday, July 29. We look forward to hearing your feedback!

NEW! A recording of the webinar, Climate Resiliency as an Act of Love, is now available on YouTube. Featured panelist Josh Richardson, pastor of St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship and founder of Brugmansia Ministries, helps congregations understand weather and disaster risks and points to resources for making your congregation a place of refuge and resiliency. MC USA partnered with One Home One Future to produce this webinar.

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!

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! Rashard Allen, the Director of Music and Worship at Neffsville Mennonite Church in Lancaster, PA, will be performing a ministry fundraising concert of African-American sacred music on Thursday, August 1st, at 6:30PM at Park View Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, VA. Rashard leads seminars in the Biblical and theological foundations of Christian worship for churches and conferences that otherwise would not be able to afford such training and helps leaders to apply those principles to their particular worship context. He has also started a Global Worship Training ministry Faith and Learning International. You can read more about the ministry’s goals here: https://faithandlearning.org/projects/global-worship-training/.

NEW! Mennonite Women of VA invites you to register for the Women’s Fall Retreat at the Marriott in Short Pump, November 8-10th! Enjoy time away from the business of life to spiritually connect and spend time in fellowship with other ladies. This year, LaShonda Russell will be presenting on Embracing God’s Story: A Journey of Faith, Trust, and Renewal. To register view the brochure via this link, Facebook, or contact us at [email protected]. EARLY REGISTRATION ends 8/5/24. Invite all your sisters!

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 by VMMissions, 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 and Kevin Clark, long-time Middle East tour leaders through Eastern Mennonite Seminary and VMMissions. The delegation will meet with Palestinian and Israeli organizations and churches with whom Dorothy Jean and Kevin have long-standing relationships. The delegation welcomes your prayers and your presence at this Commissioning Service as they prepare to set forth on this ministry of compassionate listening.    

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.

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.

Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir Auditions. If your child enjoys singing, they will love being a part of the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir!  We are a nationally acclaimed children’s choir based in Harrisonburg, VA that values education, fun, musical excellence and community.  SVCC is now holding auditions for performing choirs (ages 7-18).   Call 540-432-4650 or email [email protected] for more information and to schedule an audition!  Visit our website, www.svcc.org

Upcoming Events

Feb 1 2025 Winter Delegate Assembly