PSALM 85, Copyright 2003, John August Swanson Trust, Serigraph, 24" x 28.75", JohnAugustSwanson.com

"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 is underway and will continue through Sunday, November 10. Time and talent 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.

The word "evil" conjures images of criminal masterminds, malevolent intentions, and senseless cruelty. We usually don't associate evil with cliches or unoriginal ideas. In Hannah Arendt's poignant and controversial book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, she depicts a Nazi war criminal as evil due to his inability to engage in critical thinking and question his orders. Arendt's troubling argument highlights the possibility of evil in ordinary life, in people just "doing their jobs." In this four-week series, we will discuss Arendt's argument on evil as banal and commonplace. We will also discuss the implications of Arendt's text for our church community and how we might identify and even challenge ordinary evils. Join in person or on Zoom Sundays at 9:00 am. The Zoom password is 461025.

There will be a congregational meeting on Sunday, October 27, following worship. At this meeting we will be presenting the slate of nominations for board members and officers for 2025, to be approved by the congregation. We will also recognize those board members and officers whose terms end this year. All Plymouth members should plan to attend. For the full slate of nominations, please click the link below. 

Please note that there will be no centering prayer on Monday, October 28. Centering Prayer will resume the following Monday, November 4 at 5:30 pm. 

Wednesday Night Live programming continues on Wednesday, October 30. 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. Timothy 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 Rev. Timothy's Bible Study via Zoom. The passcode to join is 773232.

Please note that there will be no sign language to accompany the worship service on Sunday, November 3 and Sunday, November 10. Cassidy will resume her signing on Sunday, November 17. 

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.

You are invited to a fun Fall Harvest Celebration with one of our Growing Hope Globally partners, Pleasant Chapel Church of the Brethren, in Ashley, Indiana on Saturday, November 9, with activities beginning at 10:30 am, with lunch at 12:00 pm. Plymouth members bring desserts. Farmers in Ashley dedicate a portion of proceeds from their farmland to Growing Hope Globally. Pleasant Chapel Church of the Brethren is located at 1993 County Road 8, Ashley, IN 46705. Growing Hope Globally is an organization truly committed to ideals of working in communities and allowing them to lead, while reducing food insecurity. If you would like to donate to Growing Hope Globally, click the donate button below.

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. Especially bring your children.

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.

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.

On October 9, 2024, Hurricane Milton landed on Florida’s west coast, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the region. As of Thursday, October 10, over 3.3 million customers are without power, and several communities have been devastated by tornados and flooding. As we continue to pray for and support those who have experienced unimaginable loss this past week, we invite you to support the UCC’s recovery efforts through the Hurricane 2024 Relief Appeal. The National Ministries of the United Church of Christ has a long history of supporting communities as they recover from disaster and their plight fades from the headlines. Your support of this appeal will ensure that communities are supported and accompanied for years as they rebuild.

Click the button below to make a donation.

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 League of Women Voters of Fort Wayne (LWVFW) has published local candidate information to the national League’s Vote411.org website. The site is a nonpartisan “one-stop shop” election resource that provides area voters with simple, accessible tools to help them navigate the voting process. People can visit the website to see candidate responses pertaining to local issues. It is also possible to confirm your registration using the site. All voters are encouraged to confirm their voter registration prior to the registration deadline for the upcoming election, October 7, 2024. Early voting begins on October 8. Vote411.org provides information on voting absentee by mail and early voting options.

The DVDs and CDs thank you for finding new homes for them! We appreciate your help.

We are missing a couple of books that no one actually signed out as part of our borrowing process. Look on your stack of books on your nightstand or next to your favorite reading chair and see if any of the following may be hiding there:

• 2 copies of “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Jason Reynolds
• 2 copies of “Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns” by Archie Bongiovanni

If you have borrowed any of these books, please return them as others are waiting to check them out. Thanks so much!

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 or two, maybe complete a small project. 

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

Masks are optional in worship and church programming. If you are feeling under the weather or prefer to wear a mask around others, it is an ongoing option. A high-quality mask provides good protection against infection even if others around you are not wearing one. We will continue to offer livestreamed and recorded worship services for anyone unable to attend services in person.

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