WESTERN DISTRICT CONFERENCE

SPROUTS

October 15, 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 (Publications)

 IN THIS ISSUE:

*Pastoral Openings
*News and Transitions
*Announcements

Pastoral Openings

Congregational Information Forms can be viewed at:  www.mennowdc.org (Pastoral Openings)

Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, KS  – Interim Associate Pastor of Christian Formation (no CIF)

Faith Mennonite Church, Newton, KS – Pastor

Hope Mennonite Church, Wichita, KS – Pastor

Kingman Mennonite Church, KS – Youth Pastor (1/2 time)

News and TransitionsJaime (Pastor of Iglesia Menonita Casa Betania, Newton, KS) and Suhelen Cazares welcomed Eva Etelvina, their third child, into their family, on September 15.

Willard Stucky, retired pastor, passed away on September 22 at Kidron Bethel Village in North Newton.  He served Mennonite churches in Deer Creek, OK, Liberal, KS, Turpin, OK, and Fort Collins, CO.  He and his wife Marj were also directors of Camp Mennoscah for ten years.
WDC Announcements1.  Have you purchased your tickets to “A Peek into the Church’s Journey with Sexuality”?  This show, featuring Ted Swartz of Ted & Co. Theaterworks together with Keith Graber Miller, will be presented on Friday, October 25 at 7 pm at Bethel College Krehbiel Auditorium.  Tickets are $10, all seats reserved.

2.  Remember – register by this Friday, October 18, for the WDC Reference Council – “The Church and Homosexuality:  A Conversation That Can Hold Us Together”.  It will be at Faith Mennonite Church (2100 N. Anderson, Newton KS) on October 26 from 8:30 am to 5 pm.  Anyone with interest in this topic may attend.  Register online mennowdc.org (Events) or call 3156-283-6300.

3.  Out of the Pew, on November 16, is a day for high school students in Western District and South Central conferences to get out of their pews and get serving their communities.  Find us on Facebook.  See all information at www.mennowdc.org (Events).  Register by November 1.

4.  Pastors’ Day Apart will be Thursday, November 21 (8 am – 3 pm) at Grace Hill Mennonite Church, rural Whitewater, KS. Check out all the information and register online at:  www.mennowdc.org (Events). 

5.  Advent and Christmas worship service resources are available in the Fall, 2013 Leader, published by MennoMedia.  Beyond this issue, there are lots more ideas for children’s stories, advent retreat, hanging of the greens, prayer cards and more at:  http://www.leaderonline.org/supplement.htm

And beyond that, there are additional materials available only to those who are subscribers to Leader.  Find your passcodes and log in.

And even more…..contact the Conference Resource Library for additional readings, activities,prayers, songs and plays.

6.  Featured Resource from your WDC Resource Library:  Love to Stay:  sex, grace and commitment with Adam Hamilton.  This six-session DVD-based series draws on an extensive survey of thousands of couples and singles, the latest research in the field, wisdom from the Bible and stories from his own ministry and marriage to explore what it takes to create and sustain healthy, meaningful and romantic relationships over the course of a life time.  Hamilton is senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS.  We have several other studies that feature Hamilton.  Find them at our on-line catalog at mennowdc.org.

7.  Room for You–and a friend!  Both of Camp Mennoscah’s Scrapbooking Retreats still have room for you and a friend to attend.  The dates are November 1-3 and November 15-17.  We’ll have workshops, fellowship, worship, and hours of scrapbooking–all in the midst of our beautiful prairie.  You can’t get that just anywhere else!  Find more information at www.campmennoscah.org under Retreats or call us at 620-297-3290.

8.  Remember from last week when we talked about having a new chore each week for Camp Mennoscah volunteers to help with?  Our chore for this week is fishy, to say the least–cleaning and organizing our fishing equipment shed.  Spend a couple of hours doing this and then spend the rest of the day delighting in fun stuff.  Contact us at 620-297-3290.  We’ve got lots of fun things to do!


Mennonite Church USA Announcements

1. (Please run this announcement in your October 20 and 27 bulletins.)  NOW is the time to register (online) for Interterm courses at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary-Great Plains Extension.  Options:  Spiritual Practices Seminar:  Scripture with Kathryn Damiano, one credit or audit hour; January 10, 6:30 – 9:15 p.m., Jan. 11, 8:30 – 3:45 p.m.; Jan. 18, 8:30 – 3:45 p.m.  Also two, three-hour HYBRID courses Isaiah and Cultural Hermeneutics which begin Dec. 16 and end March 1 with one week on Elkhart campus (Jan. 13-18).  Early registration deadline is November 15.  See www.ambs.edu/GreatPlains for information or contact Dorothy Nickel Friesen, dnfriesen@ambs.edu, 316-283-7098, etc. 206.
2.  FROM AMBS Church Leadership Center:

“How to” Webinar: Learn how to participate in a webinar! 

Join us for a FREE 30-minute introduction to AMBS webinars through a practice webinar. You’ll see how easy it is to participate in these online seminars right from your home or office.

Wednesday, October 23, 2:00-2:30 p.m.

E-mail us by October 21 to let us know you want to join, and we’ll send you simple instructions.  

Please join us for these events…

Help Me See Jesus! Help Me See, Jesus!

Pastors Week January 27-30, 2014  

Increasingly the church in North America reflects the fractured, divisive nature of our culture. Helping the congregation to focus on Jesus is one essential leadership task in these times. Diverse points of view make the picture of Jesus clearer. Five AMBS professors will show how different lenses can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, help us to see Jesus. Get details

Webinar: Advent Planning: O The Mystery of God’s Dwelling!

Rachel Miller Jacobs

Thursday, October 17, 7:30-8:45 p.m. EDT

Get details and register by October 13

Believing Out Loud: Finding your Preaching Voice

Preaching Seminar (face to face, on campus)

Allan Rudy-Froese

Tuesday-Wednesday, November 5-6 and Monday, January 27

Get details and register by October 14

Webinar: Going All the Way, Love, Sex and Baptism

Irma Fast Dueck           

Wednesday, November 13, 2:00-3:30 p.m. EST 

Making long-term commitments is challenging these days. There is significant pressure to keep relationships unfettered. We will explore this current reality and consider how the church might nurture promises and commitments. Get details and register by November 7

(Note:  For those local to North Newton, KS, this webinar will be available in the AMBS-GP classroom for only $25.  Please feel free to forward this invitation to others, too! Payment can be made to AMBS-GP the day of the webinar, and no registration is required. Just show up! If you have questions, contact Dorothy Nickel Friesen dnfriesen@ambs.edu, 316-283-7098.)

Online Short Course: Exploring Peace and Justice in the Bible 

Non-credit, six weeks, $200

Perry B. Yoder

October 23-December 3 

Get details and register


3.  Sun., Oct. 27-Tues., Oct. 29 – Bethel College’s Menno Simons Lectures with Marlene Epp, professor at Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ontario, speaking on the overall topic “The Semiotics of Zwieback, Sauerkraut and Spring Rolls: Mennonites and Foodways.”  Oct. 27 lecture, 3:30 p.m., Bethel College Mennonite Church (note change in time and location); Oct. 28 lectures at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., Krehbiel Auditorium; Oct. 29 lecture, 7 p.m., Krehbiel Auditorium

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