Wednesday, Jan. 10, Topeka Statehouse
11:30am-1pm #KSPeoplesAgenda Rally (2nd Floor Rotunda) The Capitol Opens at 8:00am, Lobby Training 9:30-11am PLEASE REGISTER ONLINE: KansasPeoplesAgenda.org MAPJ Bus Available from Manhattan to Topeka: Sign up for bus here Facebook event This is an inclusive event and agenda planned by many Kansas organizations and hundreds of folkx from every region and walk of life. The rally will feature speakers sharing personal stories related to the issues, music and performance art. We believe that standing together to represent a broad fusion of concerns and demands from the people of Kansas is a way to build power and to be heard. We believe that art and music are part of our story as people. We will also be joined by many groups, faith traditions, organizations, and intersections, who stand as a moral witness to our movement and to our struggles and suffering. We represent people from all over the state in addition to many different experiences in Kansas. ![]() When I began serving as your pastor in the summer of 2014, we entered into a covenant of shared ministry together. Together, we agreed on guiding principles for my service alongside you as your pastor. One of the items outlined in my Call Agreement is that I will be on leave for a three-month paid sabbatical after every five years of ministry at First Congregational UCC. My first sabbatical will be in the summer of 2019. My sabbatical will be an important time for me to practice what I preach: that Sabbath is a commandment, not a suggestion. On a regular basis, I do my level best to hold myself accountable before God and you in terms of keeping Sabbath. I try not to respond to messages after hours unless they are urgent. I switch my phone to “do not disturb” after 10pm so that I won’t be awoken by the buzz of text messages (don’t worry, if you have a true emergency you can call me and I’ll still hear it). I work very hard when I am in the office so that I might be able to find time for rest, family, and recreation when I am at home. I give thanks that you support an environment that makes this possible. A pastor’s sabbatical is meant to be a time of intentional rest from the labors of day-to-day ministry in a congregation, as well as a time of intentional renewal and reflection. Additionally, pastoral sabbaticals are a gift to the congregation because they provide much-needed space for the congregation to re-solidify its identity apart from the current pastor. A well-planned sabbatical can opportunities for lay leaders and other staff to step into new roles and try out new forms of ministry. Sabbaticals are good for the pastor and the congregation. The past few months, I have been thankful to be in conversation with our Pastoral Relations Committee and Cabinet about the possibility of applying for a grant through the National Clergy Renewal Program, funded by the Lilly Endowment. This program seeks to support congregations and pastors during sabbatical periods, providing funding of up to $50,000 to be used to fund activities for the pastor and congregation - mutually enriching us during our time apart and helping us all renew our passion for ministry. You are invited to join the committee that is working on the grant proposal (Dale Stearns, Andrea Chamberlain, and myself) for a Listening Session in January (see invitation box below this article). At these sessions we hope to share more details about the grant and hear your ideas, too. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to be in conversation with any of us or with our incoming Moderator Dave Smit if you have any questions. Pastor Caela Listening Sessions for the National Clergy Renewal Program for Pastor Caela’s 2019 Sabbatical Sunday, January 14th at 9:30am Sunday, January 21st immediately after the Congregational Meeting Please attend either meeting to learn more about the Lilly Endowment’s National Clergy Renewal Program and share your ideas. The Lilly Endowment National Clergy Renewal Program at Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) seeks to strengthen Christian congregations by providing opportunities for pastors to step away briefly from the persistent obligations of daily parish life and to engage in a period of renewal and reflection. Renewal periods are not vacations, but times for intentional exploration and reflection, for regaining the enthusiasm and creativity for ministry, for discovering what will make the pastor’s heart sing. Pastors serve a variety of roles in their privileged position at the center of congregational life: preacher, teacher, spiritual guide, pastoral visitor, friend, confidant. The responsibilities are continual, and the pace and demands of parish life can be relentless, often leaving even the most dedicated pastors recognizing the need to replenish their own spiritual reservoirs to regain energy and strength for their ministry. Life-giving experiences—strengthening relationships, renewing a sense of call, meeting and serving the neighbor in a new way, finding joy and purpose in a simplified life, traveling to new lands and unfamiliar territories, creating opportunities where members of the congregation can exercise their gifts for ministry—are common themes of these renewal times. Profound discoveries that pastors and their congregations describe as “life-changing events” occur as they participate in this program. The Lilly Endowment National Clergy Renewal Program at Christian Theological Seminary will provide grants of up to $50,000 each directly to congregations for the support of a renewal program for their pastor. The costs associated with family members who accompany a pastor may be included in the amount requested for the pastor. Up to $15,000 of the grant may be used to help the congregation fulfill pastoral duties during the pastor’s absence and/or to support activities that enable the congregation as a whole to be renewed in its ministry. Learn more at http://www.cpx.cts.edu/renewal Are you excited and/or curious about the recent resistance actions in DC? Join Rachel Shivers, Carol Sevin, and Mark Nelson in the church conference room this Thursday at 9pm or Sunday at 4pm to hear and share stories, ask questions, gain insights and find out about how to join in next week's civil disobedience actions in DC (Dec 4-7).
Connect the mind, body, and spirit with our Sunday morning Advent class.
Donna Keyser and Deane Lehmann will facilitate free flowing conversation to center around: Holiday Traditions---cultural, community and family dynamics; How do we define mind, body, and spirit? How do they intersect, where are they separate? Concerning our Mission Statement---How are we loving ourselves? Sundays at 9:30 a.m., Dec. 3-17 On November 5, we join with Christians around the globe in remembering our saints on All Saints Day. We invite you to remember the saints in your own life by bringing along an item that represents the person you wish to honor. We will have a table set up in Pioneer-Blachly for your items. Your saint might be a relative or friend. They might be someone famous that you've never met. A saint is simply someone who has gone before us and has showed us how to live. We remember their lives and honor them the first Sunday in November. You may want to bring a photograph, keepsake, newspaper article, or some other memento. We'll have cards available for you to write the saint's name and we can all browse the items during Fellowship Hour.
Three upcoming opportunities to join Tai Amri Spann-Wilson for beginning or continuing your journey as a Peace Warrior.
ADULTS: Saturday, Oct. 14 from 2:00-5:30pm at ECM Are you a contemplative who wants to be the change you hope to see in the world? Are you an activist who wants to get to the radical roots of issues by changing not just laws and policies but wants our world to experience the “radical revolution of values” that MLK spoke about? The this course is for you. We will be exploring issues of justice and injustice while deepening our spiritual practice by incorporating exercises from Christian, Buddhist, Quaker, Sufi and African traditions. Come join us, especially if you are POC, LGBTIA, a Dreamer or a skeptic. (For ages 18 and up). | REGISTER NOW 9-12th GRADERS: Saturday, Oct. 21 from 2:30-6pm at First Congregational Are you one of those teens or do you know a teen who hears the call to step up and stand for peace? Now is the time to answer that call. The world needs us, all of us, to be the peace we want to see in the world, but there is a special need for youth. The StillSpeaking Youth Group of UCC Manhattan will be getting strong with exercises and practices that help us to be peace. This group if for youth of ALL religions, ALL genders, ALL sexual orientations, and ALL races. | REGISTER NOW 6-8th GRADERS: Sunday, Oct. 22 from 2:30-6pm at First Congregational Do you want to make a more peaceful world and become a more peaceful person? Do you know a young person who does? The StillSpeaking Youth Group ad UCC Manhattan will be working with 6th-8th Graders who want to learn how to be and create peace. | REGISTER NOW The fall Dinner and Conversation sponsored by Vitality will be on Friday, November 10 at 6 PM. The topic will be fair trade in Manhattan, with guest Amy Kay Pavlovich from the fair trade store, Connected on Poyntz. She’ll tell about her journey to developing 3 fair trade stores in Kansas and will have some of the goods from the Manhattan store.
Please join us for a concert of beautiful choral music on October 15, at 4:00 p.m. in our church sanctuary. Dr. Jeffrey Ward, the Director of K-State's School of Music, Theater, and Dance, will direct an ensemble of twenty singers in music by such diverse composers as Felix Mendelssohn, Herbert Howells, and Moses Hogan. Our own Bob Edwards is the organist, and participating choristers from our church include Jennifer Edwards and Gretchen and Jim Lewis. The choral concert will follow the pattern of a Vespers worship service, with Bible readings and a concluding hymn.
We're off to a great start this fall semester for adult Sunday School. About 15-20 of us have enjoyed working with Tai Amri for Peace Training these past few weeks. We've done a lot of deep breathing and holy sharing with one another. Our next class begins on Oct. 1st and we'd love to have you join us!
Dave Smit will be leading a seven-week class on "The Language of Faith." Class is each week at 9:30 a.m. and there are options available for all ages (the nursery is open and Sunday School is available for ages three and up). Grab a cup of coffee and join us! October 1 through November 12 (seven weeks) The Language of Faith Led by Dave Smit Ever hear the slogan, “Take people for what they mean, not for what they say?” It turns out the slogan is right. We understand each other in complicated ways that cannot be accounted for primarily by the words we use. The context in which we use words may be more important than the words themselves. In this class, we’ll examine how we talk about what matters to us, following the procedures of Hermeneutics, or the theory and practice of interpretation. We can call it Hermen, for short. We’ll begin by studying how we rely on context to understand each other’s everyday speech and writing, then move on to examine how we bring our own background and experience to written texts. With this as a framework, we’ll delve into how to effectively use terms such as “good” and “bad,” and “right” and “wrong,” how to appropriately interpret sacred texts, and how to share our faith with others who may think our beliefs and values are very strange. We’ll explore ways to make our judgments seem reasonable to people who disagree with us and our faith sensible to those whose beliefs are very different from our own. |
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