WESTERN DISTRICT CONFERENCE
SPROUTS
February 5, 2013
A weekly communication for:
WDC Churches and Pastors
WDC Executive Board, Commission, Committee and Task Force members
Any content may be used in bulletins and newsletters and
forwarded to congregational leaders and members.
WDC Sprouts is also available at: www.mennowdc.org
IN THIS ISSUE:
*Pick My Brain
*Announcements
Pick My Brain
by Marlene Bogard, Minister of Christian Formation
1. Wow, we are SO excited about the NEW Year of the Bible Network website. It’s up and running and ready to help you plan your own Year of the Bible experience. Visit: www.yearofthebiblenetwork.org. I invite you to explore each drop-down feature, discovering resources along the way. You will be able to find website links, downloads, ideas for best practices and more. We will update weekly, adding YOUR ideas, as you submit them.
2. Start today. What new Bible reading or “engaging with the scriptures” practice will you begin for the new year, for Lent, or as you ponder a Year of the Bible experience? Don’t be shy – just plunge in. My commitment at this point is to memorize the Sermon on the Mount – anyone want to partner with me?
3. Talk to your friends, family and congregation. Plan to attend the BIG event on August 1-2 when WDC hosts a Year of the Bible Launch. Speakers, yes, but loads and loads of hands-on learning and immersing into the scriptures. You will come away excited and ready to plan your very own Year of the Bible for your congregation. Start NOW to plant seeds of interest and pull together a team you will bring to the YOB Launch.
4. Fantastic Planning Team for Year of the Bible: Cleo Koop, Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church, Inman, KS; Caleb Regehr, Inman area youth pastor and web wrangler; Jaime Cazares, Casa Betania, Newton, KS; Susan Jantzen, First Mennonite, Hillsboro, KS; Kathryn Bauchelle, Houston, TX Mennonite; Carol Duerksen, Tabor Mennonite Church, Newton, KS; Jeanette Leary, Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, KS; and Peter Goerzen, Grace Hill Mennonite Church, Whitewater, KS. Perhaps one of these folks called you recently to inquire about what is happening in your congregation. To make a better YOB website and event, we need to hear ideas from you. Submit them any time to me, mbogard@mennowdc.org.
5. The New WDC Garden: stories from the Western District Conference. Did you see it? This beautifully designed newsletter was created by Phyllis Regier and Nancy Funk. What a fantastic job they did. The lead article is on Year of the Bible….and provides an overview and insights to what we hope God will do with our efforts. It’s also available in e-form on our WDC website, www.mennowdc.org.
6. More Bible resources – to use now, to use for engaging with God’s word. Find these at www.mennowdc.org/library
How to Read the Bible Book by Book, a Guided Tour from Genesis through Revelation by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. Includes a section-by-section tour that helps you to see the larger landscape of the book and how the parts work together to form the whole. Wonderful, basic introduction and handbook for youth – adult.
Learn to Study The Bible: 40 Different Methods to help you discover, apply and enjoy God’s Word by Andy Dean. Try it, you will like it!
How to Pray with the Bible by Page Zayromski. Includes lively reflections and experiential exercises, step-by-step approaches to praying with scripture.
Plus – see this list from a previous edition of Pick My Brain: https://mennowdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/2012-12-04.pdf
WDC Announcements
1. The WDC Executive Board passed a new policy about resolutions in December. WDC encourages the development of resolutions that facilitate discernment, educate, build unity, and provide an area conference understanding while acknowledging dissenting voices. The entire policy is attached, and may also be viewed at: https://mennowdc.org/conference-life/annual-assembly/
2. Immigration and Christian Faith – “Live as children of light – for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Ephesians 5:8-11. Too long have brother and sisters in our churches had to struggle with their desire to live as children of the light, striving for what is good and true, while also having to deal with the darkness that surrounds being an unauthorized immigrant in the United States. Do they expose themselves and risk the consequences, or do they keep their secret and live in the darkness that secrecy brings? We pray that this tension between light and darkness will be relieved through immigration reform that is currently working its way through the federal government. In the weeks and months to come, let us do all we can to ensure that reform happens in such a way as to allow unauthorized immigrants to come out of the shadows. If you would like to learn more about immigration and the church, please consider attending a regional immigration event in Wichita on March 1-2 sponsored by the WDC Immigration Task Force, WDC Reference Council, Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Church USA. For complete information, see: www.mennowdc.org (Upcoming Events). RSVP by Feb. 22 at wdc@mennowdc.org or 316-283-6300.
3. The Western District Music and Worship Task Force invite all women to join in SINGING HEAVEN’S SONG, a festival of choral music for women’s voices, on March 3 at First Mennonite Church, Newton, KS. See attached information.
4. Wow! We’re already getting registrations forms for our summer youth camps at Camp Mennoscah! Olivia wasn’t prepared for such enthusiasm. Confirmation emails will be sent, but not right away. We beg for patience as we sort everything out. Feel free to contact us at 620-297-3290 with questions.
5. Stop by, say hello! Camp Mennoscah will be recruiting at area Mennonite colleges on February 11-13. We’re looking for summer staff and counselors primarily, but we’re ready to talk to anyone who would like to volunteer at Camp Mennoscah. We’ll be at Hesston College on Feb. 11, Tabor College on Feb. 12, and Bethel College on Feb. 13, typically over noon meal times. Camp Mennoscah is only one of many camps who will be at the colleges. Come see what other camps are doing, too!
6. Pull out those pictures! Camp Mennoscah’s Spring Scrapbooking Retreat is March 8-10, 2013. This is a good time to organize those holiday pictures or pictures from your last vacation. Beginning and advanced scrapbookers, digital and traditional scrapbookers–all are invited to join in the fun! Find the brochure at www.campmennoscah.org in the Retreats section or contact us at 620-297-3290.
KansasAnnouncements
First Mennonite Church, Hutchinson, invites you to “Wednesday Nights At First”, a 5-week series beginning Feb. 20, on the topic “Body Matters.” Come for dinner at 5:30 pm (donations accepted) and the program from 6:00-7:00 pm. Visit http://www.hutchfmc.org/wednesday-nights-first, email (office@hutchfmc.org) or call 620-662-9385 for further information. Nursery care is available, please call ahead to register children. A poster for this series is attached.
- Feb 20: Culture Matters: How cultural norms inform our assumptions of the body, health, and death. Presenter: John Miller
- Feb 27: Food Matters: How our systems for growing, processing, and marketing food are contributing to poor health. Presenter: Suzanne Miller, M.S
- March 6: Weighty Matters: How our choices can create or prevent disease. Presenter: Dr. Hagley, M.D., an interventional cardiologist at the Hutchinson Clinic and the Medical Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center
- March 13: Posthumous Care Matters: Disposition of the Body: Revisited. Presenter: Arlyn Miller, J.D.
- March 20: Dying Matters: Good enough to be at risk for death, good enough for hope for a longer survival. Presenter: Lois Miller, R.N.
Western District Conference
2517 North Main, PO Box 306
North Newton KS 67117
316-283-6300; FAX: 316-283-0620
Email: wdc@mennowdc.org
Website: www.mennowdc.org