"I will put my teaching in their minds and write it on their hearts..."
Jeremiah 31:33

April 14 - 21, 2023

You can find brief descriptions of these weekly programs on our website:
mcfarlanducc.org

SUNDAY Morning, 10 am Zoom Worship

https://zoom.us/j/97010988439 Password: betogether

SUNDAY , 11:30 a.m. Bible Study  in person and on zoom

https://zoom.us/j/262314649

MONDAY - FRIDAY, 8 am Morning Devotion

https://zoom.us/j/94276813637

WEDNESDAY Eve., 6:30 pm Midweek Inhale Spiritual Practices

https://zoom.us/j/123020606

Happening This Week

Chili Cook Off

Join members of our Racial Justice Ministries team on Saturday, April 15 at 2:00 p.m. for a Chili Cookoff and tasting at the Morris Community AME Church in Madison. Most of us will be the “tasters” for this event, although one or two of us might submit an entry. They are asking for a donation of $20 per person.


Send a note to racialjustice@mcfarlanducc.org if you are interested in attending, so that we have an idea how many people will be coming. We think this will be a fun event!

Younger Youth Meeting

Sunday, April 16⋅ 5:30 – 6:45pm

Younger youth (12 and under) meet to have play games, do a craft, pizza and a Bible story or teaching. Spread the word, bring friends, and let's have a blast together!

Sunday, April 16, 6:30--8:30 p.m. Confirmation Class Meeting. (The length is an extra hour this time because we're going to watch a movie together).

Green Team Meeting

Tuesday, April 18 at 6:30pm

The MUCC Green Team meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month and uses action and education to create a sustainable and just environment for this generation and for generations to come. The meetings are offered in person and via Zoom. Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/97010988439 (usual Sunday password)

NION Meeting

Thursday, April 20

6:30 – 7:00pm

NION stands for "Now In Our Name" and is our Immigration Justice and Compassion Outreach Group. We meet the third Thursday of each month via Zoom. Below is the zoom link

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83173630730

Opportunities and Things Coming Up

General Fund Summary April 22 - March 2023

Discussion with Author

Daniel Cooperrider about his book,

"Speak With the Earth and It Will Teach You"


MUCC has been invited to join Memorial UCC in Fitchburg in reading and discussing Rev. Daniel Cooperrider's wonderful book, "Speak With the Earth and It Will Teach You." The book offers an adventure through nature, with a call to care for creation, by considering The Bible from a different perspective than we may be used to doing. Meeting dates are yet to be determined but likely to start after Easter giving time to order the book and start the first section. W e anticipate meeting outside in nature to discuss the book, first section by a river. Details on when and where coming soon.


Daniel will be leading us in worship on April 23rd for our Earth Day celebration Sunday service and tree dedication at MUCC. More about this in next week's Pulse!

Saturday, May 6th, 8:00 -- 12 Noon, Spring Clean Up Day! Come enjoy the fellowship and help us clean things up. Come for whatever portion of this you can. More about this next week.

A Few Words From Pastor Bryan


And John Roedel



Well April is doing its thing! What a gorgeous week it's been. Just about everyone I know here in Wisconsin anyway is feeling the lift now that we've finally left the winter behind (yes I know, it could snow next week! Shhhh....)


We'll be focusing lots on the beauty of the earth, how Creation speaks to our souls, and on our call to care for the earth and deal with issues of climate change and eco-justice in the next few weeks especially at church.


Few things seem to speak more directly to our souls that the beauty of the natural world and art. Recently our own Trish Kalhagen shared an amazing poem with our morning zoom devotional group. I loved it so much I decided to share it with all of you this week. It's by a fantastic poet, writer, and comedian named John Roedel who refers to himself on Facebook simply as "a short writer."


So many people, when they find out I'm a minister, say things like, "The earth is my sanctuary. I feel closer to God outside in nature than in a church building." I get it. I've often joked with you all when the weather gets nice that if I weren't the pastor I probably wouldn't be in church either! I'm kidding, sort of. I totally understand the need and desire to spend long full days out in nature somehow, and for many of you Sundays are one of your only chances to do that. Well enjoy yourselves and I'll be the last person to lay a "we missed you in church on Sunday" guilt trip on you. But please just remember that a huge part of "being church" is being together in community. That can certainly happen outside as it does for us when we worship outside (we'll start doing that again one Sunday a month beginning in June), but just know that being together is one of the main reasons why church exists. We can all feel wonderfully close to God on our own out in nature or at home on our yoga mats or mediation cushions or your own favorite place to commune with God, and I hope we all do. But we also need to be together to share our lives, pray together, sing together, listen for God's Word together, and serve together. Church is more about community than just about anything. Creating a "people" who would love each other and be there for and with each other was at the heart of Jesus' message and mission. We can do things together than none of us can do on our own.


But back to nature (see what I did there? :)--this poem by John Roedel will speak to a lot of you I know. Thanks again to Trish Kalhagen for bringing it to our attention. I know I'll refer to it often in the years to come.


I hope to see you in church this Sunday, and every Sunday, but if I don't, I hope you're out somewhere having fun with loved ones and connection with God in the "church that has no doors."


Love to you all,


Pastor Bryan

**********************************************************************


Lately, When I Need To Pray

By John Roedel


Lately, when I need to pray

I go to the church that has no doors.

 

And where the walls are made of carved granite –

I sit under it’s moving roof on a pew that smells like fresh pine

 

And fold my hands quietly until God joins me –

 

Here in this most ancient of churches,

I watch a dozen fat rainbow angel dressed as trout dance in the baptismal font

 

And wonder when I too will be made anew –

 

There is a special kind of holy quiet here

that rings much louder than any fat church bell I have ever known

 

And the silence often rattled my ribs –

 

It’s choir loft is high up in a birds nest

And it’s confessional is a breeze that asks me to speak my sins

 

And I do, and then they are carried away –

 

The longer I sing psalms in this church

The shorter my memory for all of my past mistakes become

 

And that is when I hear the voice of Love speak

“oh tired light, oh wounded heart,

Oh my child of crumbling grace,

Come plant your feet in this Eden,

Come rest in this sacred space

 

Oh weary traveler, oh somber fire,

Oh shaking heart that is prone to fear,

Come lay in my ribboned water

Come to fully know that I’m right here

 

Oh wilting daisy, on dying star

Oh broken song that needs a name,

Come sit with me among the wild,

And then you’ll never be the same”

 

God and I take turns saying all we need to say to each other

 

I speak in short heavy jagged breaths and the Divine replies in thin long pauses

 

This goes on until the sun begins to set –

 

That’s when it’s time to leave

And even though I go home, I’m always still there

 

In the antiquated church

Of trees and valleys

Where foxes are lectors

Where horizons are steeples

Where clouds are vestibules

Where campfires are incense

Where time is a gospel

Where the great flow is a sacrament

Where forests are community

 

Where a little piece of me always still remains

Talking to the voice of whispering Love

As I watch trout be slain in the spirit

 

And I can’t stop marveling at the altar of creation

608-838-9322 
5710 Anthony St.
McFarland WI 53558
mcfarlanducc.org
-
Pastor Bryan Sirchio
608-577-8716
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