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"You Are the Hands and Feet"

2025 Stewardship Campaign

“Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.” 

- Teresa of Avila

The 2025 Stewardship Campaign ends this Sunday, November 10,but we will continue to accept time and talent forms if you have not already submitted one. Forms have been mailed but you can also go online to fill out your 2025 pledge and indicate ways you wish to volunteer in the new year. Extra forms are available in the receptionist's office.

What is happening during Communion? How have different Christians understood it, and what do we at Plymouth think? Do the kinds of elements matter, who should preside, and who should be included or excluded? These and other questions will be explored in this two-week series on various Theologies of Communion, led by Rev. Murphy. Chapel Class is on Sundays at 9:00 am. The Zoom password is 461025.

Please note that there will be no sign language to accompany the worship service on Sunday, November 10. Cassidy will resume her signing on Sunday, November 17. 

Wednesday Night Live programming continues on Wednesday, November 6. At 5:00 pm there will be adult choir rehearsal. At 5:00 pm there will be our Children's Choir rehearsal and Bible Study with Rev. Sara at 5:15 pm, followed by dinner at 6:00 pm. Handbells will meet at 6:30 pm. All activities are open to anyone in the church, regardless of membership status. Come for activities, or just come for dinner and fellowship! The suggested cost for dinner is $10 per person, though no one will be turned away due to inability to pay. If you plan to come for dinner, please sign up in the Folsom Room in advance so our caterer knows how much food to prepare. Hope to see you there!

Click the button below to join Bible Study via Zoom. The passcode to join is 773232.

Our next week to serve dinner at Just Neighbors shelter is coming up on Sunday, November 10. Plymouth folks are encouraged to sign up to bring either a main course, side dish, salad or desert on any night that week. There will be a table to sign up in the Folsom Room this week and next week, or you can sign up online at the link below. Please consider signing up to help with this important ministry in our community. 

Mark your calendars for a Drumming Extravaganza on Tuesday, November 12 at 6:30 pm at Plymouth Church.

With a grant from Plymouth Church, Indiana Center for Middle East Peace is hosting the Drumming for Unity and Healing Tour featuring South Africa's Volmoed Youth Drumming Project --12 drummers who are part of a youth empowerment program in post-apartheid South Africa. Accompanying them will be Rev. Edwin Arrison and Rev. Rene August, two anti-apartheid activists, close personal friends with the late Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Also performing in the Drumming Extravaganza will be two local Fort Wayne drumming programs: the Fort Wayne Scottish Pipes and Drums, and members from the Taiko Japanese Drummers.

Free and open to the public. Fun for children and all ages!

Just Neighbors will be holding a fundraising dinner on Saturday, November 16 at 6:00 pm. This is an opportunity to support the cause of housing stability for families in crisis here locally and to hear more in depth about what Just Neighbors is doing, how they do it, and why they are engaged in this work. The event will include dinner, a presentation on the state of the mission, and plenty of time for networking and visiting with other guests from local organizations. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at the link below.

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them is the book to be discussed at the Women's Book Study meeting on Tuesday, November 19, in the Amistad Room. 

The title gives us a good idea of the book's theme. One shocking element is the extent to which Indiana was the Klan's primary birthing ground and center from the 1920s on. Yes, Fort Wayne is mentioned! 

WBS welcomes anyone who self-identifies as a woman to read the book and drop by to share their reactions. We will NOT meet in December. In January our book will be Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Grame, in February, Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult.

This year for Advent, Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals will be leading a book study on The First Advent in Palestine by Kelley Nikondeha. The book takes the reader through the birth narratives in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, detailing the struggles of the various characters and how they moved from despair to hope during the very first Advent in the land of Palestine. Throughout her explorations, Nikondeha features the stories of modern-day Palestinians, centering their voices to help us meet an Advent recognizable for today. This thought-provoking examination invites us into a season of discovery, one that is realistic and honest, and that still wonders at the goodness of God's grace.

The Advent book study will take place during the regular Wednesday Night Live Bible study time, and will be held December 4, 11 and 18. You can purchase the book at Bookshop.org, or wherever you buy your books. If you need assistance with the purchase of a book, please let Rev. Sara know and one will be purchased for you. 

Casting and coordinating is in full swing for the upcoming 48th Annual Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival. If you would like to be involved with this year's Festival, please email Kara Jaurigue at kkjaurigue@gmail.com. We still have room in the cast, or maybe you would like to sing in the Festival Choir?  

If you enjoy sewing, helping in the kitchen, working with children, or if you have a background in security, we have a place for you! If you'd like to be a Patron Donor, we would love to add you to our mailing list. The Boar's Head is funded by our Patrons and the free will offering we collect the night of the services, and we can't forget our fun Wassailers, who climb the pews singing and begging for your spare change! Tickets will be available to church members on December 8, 15, and 22 before and after church in the Folsom Room. The Public Box Office date is Thursday December 12 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm at the church.

Mark your calendars now! Our Festival Services are Sunday, December 29 and Monday, December 30 at 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm each evening. Come be a part of the holiday magic that is Boar's Head.

The food locker in our parking lot is visited often by those currently unhoused. This is a gentle reminder that donated items will be most helpful if they are easily opened, do not require other ingredients to complete (like boxed macaroni and cheese), and do not require heat to be enjoyed. Examples include: peanut butter, canned stew, meat, poultry, or seafood in pouches or with pull tabs, single containers of fruit (applesauce or pudding cups), jerky, peanut butter or cheese filled crackers, granola or protein bars. If you want to donate, please put the items directly into the locker. Thanks for your support of this important mission to our community.

Each month, the Plymouth Green Team is suggesting a task to help you be a more faithful steward of the Creation, while saving energy and money. The task for November is to install a programmable thermostat and set it to heat or cool your space only when needed.

Click the button below to learn the benefits of a programmable thermostat.

As part of our ongoing ONA commitment, we recognize that there is a spectrum of ways people identify when it comes to gender. Therefore, to help us all be more welcoming to our transgender and non-binary friends, starting this Sunday, we are giving out pronoun stickers for all to put on their Plymouth nametags (if you do not already have a nametag, or if you lost yours, just request one from Jake at the front desk, and be sure to let him know your pronouns). In addition, if you are not in the habit of wearing your nametag, we encourage you to do so every Sunday. A good rule of thumb is, unless you know everyone else's name, there are likely people who don't know yours, so help them out and wear your nametag (with your new pronoun sticker) so they can learn who you are. 

The Benevolence committee is in the early stages of preparing for the 2025 Benevolence Grant cycle. If you are aware of an agency or organization that does good work in the community or surrounding area, aligns well with Plymouth Church's four identifying covenants, and may be in need of additional funds for projects and programs, let the Benevolence committee know. Committee members Jim Lasley, Allen Haynes, Wayne Peterson-Stephan, Mark Friskney, Beth Walker, Susan Bolinger, and Cher Jackson would be happy to talk with you regarding eligibility and the grant process!

Volunteers for the 12th year of Study Connection at Plymouth Church are needed! You can be a tutor or a substitute to fill in on the few days when a tutor must be away. Contact Lucy Hess for more information on what is expected of a tutor and sub at lrh22@frontier.com or (260) 484-4430. Study Connection is offered at Plymouth every Wednesday from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm starting early October to mid-May.

To apply, click the button below to complete the volunteer sign up form. All volunteers must have a background check which is done by the FWCS. Everyone is welcome to be a special friend to an elementary age child. Providing support and encouragement is the main task for each tutor and sub. Being a tutor is a great way to make a difference in a child’s life.

Do you have some time available on Tuesdays and are looking for something to do? Would you like to aid your favorite Plymouth Receptionist in making sure that everyone is greeted with a kind and smiling face? Do we have the opportunity for you! Plymouth staff are looking for volunteers to cover for the receptionist during the staff meetings every Tuesday from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. It’s a quiet time for the church, the most you may have to do is answer a phone call or two, maybe complete a small project. 

To sign up as a volunteer, speak with Jake in the office or click the button below.

The following links can be found on our Linktree:

• Plymouth Directory Login
• Study Connection Volunteer Sign Up
• Chancel Flower Dedication Sign Up Form
• Donate
• Past Chapel Class Series
• Plymouth Google Calendar
• Plymouth's Social Media