"I will put my teaching in their minds and write it on their hearts..."
Jeremiah 31:33
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Calendar of Upcoming Events | |
Below are the weekly programs. You can find brief descriptions of these weekly programs on our website. Clickable links are in blue and italicized. | |
Below are the upcoming non-weekly events on the calendar happening at McFarland UCC for about the next month. All events are on the McFarland UCC calendar with Zoom links and additional information in the details/description area. Click the event on the McFarland UCC calendar to see the details. | |
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Wednesday, May 1, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Befrienders Training (In person & Online), Fellowship Area
Saturday, May 4, 1:00 - 4:00 pm, Blood Drive, Multipurpose Room
Sunday, May 5, 10:00 am Worship, Birthday and Communion Sunday
Sunday, May 5, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Teen Youth Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, May 7, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, Racial Justice Team Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Wednesday, May 8, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Healing Prayer Service (In person & Online), Sanctuary
Wednesday, May 8, 7:30 - 9:00 pm, Befrienders Training (In person & Online), Fellowship Area
Thursday, May 9, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, NO SaLT Monthly Meeting (Canceled)
Saturday, May 11, NO Love Has the Final Word (Canceled)
Wednesday, May 15, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Befrienders Training (In person & Online), Fellowship Area
Thursday, May 16, NO NION Monthly Meeting (Canceled)
Sunday, May 19, Strengthen Our Church Collection
Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Creation Care Ministry Team Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Saturday, May 25, 8:00 am until done, Spring Cleanup with luncheon provided
| Prayer Requests? Contact Jean Duchrow or Lavon Geasland. | |
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News at McFarland UCC
(Note: Clickable links are blue and italicized.)
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Blood Drive on May 4, 2024
All:
Our McFarland United Church of Christ is hosting a Blood Drive with ImpactLife on Saturday, May 4. It will be held from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. This Sunday we will be promoting the May 4th Blood Drive. Look for a signup table which will be set aside. We can assist you in signing up in Fellowship Hall after service. Signup times are scheduled every 10 minutes. Simply select a time and then enter your contact information. Donation time takes about 45-60 minutes depending on the person.
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Please consider donating!
Your blood donation is life-changing and life-giving!
Thank you!
Becky Cohen, Moderator of MUCC
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“Where God Is Still Speaking: Listening in New Ways”
The annual Wisconsin UCC Conference will be held Friday, June 7, through Sunday morning, June 9, at Green Lake Conference Center. We are seeking a few interested members to attend this conference opportunity. Last year MUCC sent five members and yes, newer members are encouraged to participate. Funding for registration plus meals
has been budgeted; shared rides may be available. The early (discounted) conference registration deadline is May 4th. When attendees are identified, then rooms can be reserved for a Friday night stay.
Please consider attending the conference. Contact Becky Cohen, moderator, or Ginger in the church office if interested.
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Mother's Day
May 12
Share your personal "mother figure" with us! For Mother's Day, we'd like you to submit a picture of whom you see as a "mother figure" in your life. These will be shared during Mother's Day Sunday worship service in a slideshow. Be sure to identify the "mother" in the picture with their name, as well as your name. Leave pictures on the office desk or email them to Ginger in the office by Tuesday, May 7. If you'd like the picture back, please indicate so. Questions? Lavon Geasland or Martha Olsen.
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Spring Cleanup Day - May 25
Our spring cleanup day will be May 25 starting at 8:00 am. Tasks will be inside and outside, and coffee, pastries, and lunch will be served. All are welcome! People may come for as long or as little time as they are available. All help is welcome, as many hands make light work. More details to follow.
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Weekly Creation Care Tips -
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
This week’s Tip: Reuse. Bring reusable bags to the grocery & any other store, refuse a bag if you only have 1 or 2 items; carry bags in your car to always be ready. More than 500 billion plastic bags—one million bags per minute—were produced worldwide last year. Many plastic bags have a working life of a few minutes, followed by an afterlife of centuries. Even after plastics disintegrate, they remain as microplastics, minute particles permeating every niche of life on the planet. (Earthday.org)
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Pastor Bryan Will Be On Sabbatical Leave The Month of May
Yes that's right! I'll be gone in May for a month of Sabbatical leave. I'll be hanging out once again at my brother's condo in South Carolina for a while, and then visiting my daughter Emma and her family outside Boston and then my son Sam and his family in Colorado. Road trips!
If You Need Pastoral Care When Bryan's Gone: Thanks in large part to Jean Duchrow and Lavon Geasland, we have a bunch of "Befrienders" and Care Team members who will be available to provide spiritual support if any specific need arises. Just contact Jean or Lavon or call our office manager Ginger Hummer if you or someone you know needs support. Pastor Kris Gorton of Memorial UCC in Fitchburg will also be available for more extreme circumstances that might require an ordained pastor's presence.
Here's the contact info for these persons:
Jean Duchrow: jeanduchrow56@gmail.com (608) 335-3772
Lavon Geasland: lgeasland@yahoo.com (608) 298-7094
Ginger Hummer: ginger@mcfarlanducc.org (608) 838-9322
Kris Gorton: pastorkris@memorialucc.org (608) 438-6307
Worship Leaders in May:
May 5th--Cameron Macdonald will preach; Rev. Lori Powell will be lead liturgist and celebrant for Communion.
May 12th--(Mother's Day) Martha Olsen and Lavon Geasland
May 19th-- (Pentecost) Lori Powell
May 26th--(Memorial Day) Tom Ludwig
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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
...and Brian McLaren
Well it's hard to believe I'm actually going to be gone for a month. I'm looking forward to the break, and I must say it feels great to not feel exhausted or as though I'm limping into this time away feeling depleted. I actually feel great.
But time away will be delightful and renewing I'm sure. As much as I love what I do, it will be a healthy thing for me to be able to unplug from being on call 24/7 and from all the other things I do on a regular basis. I'll look forward to "just being" for a while, and I'm deeply grateful to have this opportunity to rest and be still and spend time with loved ones I simply don't get to see enough.
I think it will also be good for all of you to get a break from me! Or at least just enjoy a change of pace both in terms of leadership in worship and from my energy and presence. Let this be a reminder to you all that YOU are this church. Sure, I play a significant role, but the church is not about the pastor. It's about the community. Pastors come and go, and while I have no plans to be gone anytime soon, my days here are numbered. That's the simple truth. So let this month be a reminder of that in a good way. Enjoy what this church feels like in my absence. Celebrate the simple fact that nothing that goes on in our congregation requires my presence to be vital and alive. Enjoy the inspiring leadership and messages that you'll receive from those among our own community who will preach and lead worship. And please, SHOW UP for church! The best gift and even compliment you could give to me and my ministry would be for church attendance to remain steady when I'm not here. Let's let this time away from each other deepen our appreciation of each other and the blessing it is to have this time together. I know I'll be thinking of you all and praying for you and thanking God I have you to come back to in June.
So the next 4 issues of The Pulse won't have a "Few Words From Pastor Bryan" article at the bottom. If you have something you'd like included in the The Pulse please be sure to send it to Ginger Hummer to include.
I'm going to leave you with a beautiful benediction of sorts that my dear friend Brian McLaren wrote in his book, Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It. I shared this with the Morning Zoom Devotion group this morning as my last reading before going away for a month.
Love and blessings to you all, and enjoy the beautiful Month of May! It's my favorite, because my kids were both born on May 10th, and my grandson Jack was born on my 60th birthday, which is May 18th. He'll be 6 this year and he and I will be together to celebrate. In case you're wondering how old I'll be, I"ll be a day older than Tom Ludwig.
See you soon. I'll miss you but yup, "I'll get over it." :) And so will you.
With so much appreciation and affection,
Pastor Bryan
A Benediction From Brian McLaren ...
“You, be gracious to you. May God give you grace never to sell yourself—or God—short. Grace to risk something big for something good. Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth, And too small for anything but love. So may God take your mind and think through it. May God take your lips and speak through them. May God take your hands and do good with them. May God take your heart and set it on fire. Finally, I offer this simple benediction, modeled on the beatitudes, to remind you that your honest doubts are not a curse but, rather, a blessing indeed: Blessed are the curious, for their curiosity honors reality. Blessed are the uncertain and those with second thoughts, for their minds are still open. Blessed are the wonderers, for they shall find what is wonderful. Blessed are those who question their answers, for their horizons will expand forever. Blessed are those who often feel foolish, for they are wiser than those who always think themselves wise. Blessed are those who are scolded, suspected, and labeled as heretics by the gatekeepers, for the prophets and mystics were treated in the same way by the gatekeepers of their day. Blessed are those who know their unknowing, for they shall have the last laugh. Blessed are the perplexed, for they have reached the frontiers of contemplation. Blessed are they who become cynical about their cynicism and suspicious of their suspicion, for they will enter the second innocence. Blessed are the doubters, for they shall see through false gods. Blessed are the lovers, for they shall see God everywhere. As a Reflection”
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