We are grateful for the lifetime faith commitments these persons have made through their dedication to Christ’s ministry and mission lived through Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, United Church of Christ. As part of Heritage Sunday, we honor the following individuals who are reaching membership milestones during worship service:

Roberta Braunlin

Valerie Pelz

Joyce Augspurger (1963)

Kris Conner (1963)

Sam Lipscomb (1963)

Jan Gibson (1964)

Betsy Graham (1965)

Dan Kaufman (1966)

Judy Kaufman (1966)

Jim Schmidt (1966)

Judith Beineke (1967)

Lowell Beineke (1967)

Judson Chasey (1967)

Linda Escosa (1968)

Carol Patterson (1968)

Andrea “Ty” Ratajczak (1968) Debra Compagnone (1969) Ann Filler (1969)

Shelly Woehnker (1969)

Marty Kabisch (1970)

Joan E. Weber (1970)

Carole Green

Diane Lasley

Cheryl Milligan

Ruth Anne Sprunger (1953) Bethany Binkley (1956)

Ross Binkley (1956)

Barbra Bugg (1956)

Robert Kabisch (1956)

Larry McDonald (1956)

Louise Misegades (1956)

Paul Lewark (1956)

William Spindler (1956)

Rose Pyle (1956)

Nelda Sonday (1957)

Ross Sonday (1957)

Gordon Walter (1957)

Karl Bandemer (1958)

Clyde Dively Jr. (1958)

Karen Jenkins (1959)

Carol Lehman (1959)

Steven Rinehart (1960)

Shirley Slater (1960)

Ruth Bracht

Helen Mowan (1947)

Virginia Laudadio (1948)

Carol Lewark (1948)

Lois Teders-Horn (1948)

Gale Cunningham (1949)

Joan Hartwig (1949)

Doris Grandos (1943)

Mary Shultz (1937)

Harriet Siples (1938)

Robert Pugh (1940)

Sunday, September 19, Rev. Timothy Murphy will be leading week two of a discussion on addressing institutional racism at Plymouth Church. After reviewing the projects Plymouth has undertaken over the past year to address institutional racism within our structure, attendees will examine an anti-racism continuum and explore next steps and possible projects to continue dismantling institutional racism here.

Sunday School has returned! Our classes meet at 9:00 am every Sunday morning.

Preschool and Elementary students will meet outside as long as the weather permits. In case of bad weather, we will meet upstairs in Room 204. Middle and High School students will meet in Room 205.

The Safety Committee, Deacons' Worship Board, and Executive Council of Plymouth Church have reviewed and approved a Safe Church Policy to be presented to the congregation for final approval at a future congregational meeting. To introduce the congregation to this proposed policy, there will be several after-church gatherings to review the proposal and ask any questions you may have. The second workshop will take place Sunday at 11:15 am following worship in the Folsom Room.

Sunday, September 19, shortly after the worship service, Plymouth's maintenance manager John Hoelderle will be conducting a training on the Plymouth kitchen equipment for anyone who'd like to learn. Please meet in the kitchen after service. If you have questions, please contact John at (260) 423-9424 (ext. 314) or [email protected].

We plan to meet on the third Tuesday of each month, and our first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 21, from 12:00 pm to 1:15 pm, when the book will be Flight Behavior, a novel by Barbara Kingsolver.

Wednesday Night Live has returned for its regular weekly programming. The schedule and some locations have changed slightly from previous years.

5:15 pm: Children’s Choir (TBD)

6:00 pm: Dinner (Folsom Room and/or Shedd Park)

6:45 pm: Plymouth Bell Ensemble (Sanctuary Balcony)

Sign-up sheets are in the Folsom Room to indicate if you will be there for the weekly dinner. Please write your name, number of members of your household, and mark if you are requesting a vegetarian option. Masks will be required indoors except when eating. Plans are fluid based on local COVID cases so watch for e-blasts on any changes of plans. We look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday, September 25, 9:00 am – 11:00 am, E&M will be collecting for the good people of the YWCA and the women and children who use their services.

We are collecting the following items:

Collection will be held rain or shine at the Folsom Room entrance. We hope to see you at the porte-cochère! If you cannot make it on Saturday, you can drop your donations in the E&M donation bin in the Folsom Room, near the porte-cochère doors, any time through Sunday, September 26.

WELCOMING GROUP will meet Sunday, September 26, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. If you have been attending Plymouth for six months or longer, and your faith journey is leading you to explore becoming a member, this is a one-time required session. Whether you are confident, confused, or curious, our time together is focused on orientation, conversation, interpretation, and exploration. It is an opportunity for you to ask questions and to meet others who are considering affirming their formal relationship with Plymouth Church, UCC. Please contact Rev. Timothy C. Murphy, [email protected], or (260) 423-9424, ext. 315, to register. An accurate number is needed for the light lunch that will be provided by Congregational Life Board.

Take an enchanting musical journey from 9th century Islamic Spain to present-day America on Saturday, October 2 at 6:30 pm, here at Plymouth Church. Arabic music & poetry tell the story of Ziryab, a former Baghdad slave whose musical talent with the oud brought him fame throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and al-Andalus, where Christians, Jews, & Muslims co-existed for centuries in a diverse society. Ronnie includes his own story as a Muslim Palestinian-American growing up in Chicago. Free, open to the public. Supported with a grant from National Endowment for the Arts, Indiana Arts Commission, and Fort Wayne Arts United. Masks required.

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals study of Sister Joan Chittister’s bold book for our time, "The Time is Now: A Call to Uncommon Courage," begins October 3, in Chapel Class. Order a copy of this book from your favorite new or used bookseller now to receive it in time.

Due to numerous long standing announcements with various links, Plymouth Church has decided to condense our bulletin by using Linktree. After an announcement has been in the bulletin for two weeks, its link will be moved here, if applicable. Simply click the button below to be taken to a landing page with all of our links.

Sandy Moliere and Jan Younger are currently in the process of putting up the newly printed name tags. The good news is that we have lots of Plymouth people. However, the stands are crowded and the name tags are often difficult to reach. A plan is in the works to correct this issue but it will take some time to put it in place. In order to create space for new members, as well as fitting in the rest of us, those couples with different last names will both go under the name earliest in the alphabet in most cases. A few unrelated people with the same last name will be on the same hook. We look forward to making this less crowded and easier to for all to find their tags. Until then, we request patience and understanding! Please contact Jan at (260) 637-4367 or Sandy at (260) 485-9862 if you have questions.

Due to privacy standards, Parkview and Lutheran Hospitals do not provide lists of congregation members who have been hospitalized to churches. This protects your medical and religious privacy and allows their chaplain staff to better serve the needs of patients and families. However, this also means that Plymouth pastoral staff do not know if you are in the hospital unless you actively reach out to us. If you would like us to call and check in on you or a loved one while in the hospital, please call the church at (260) 423 – 9424. You will be prompted to dial the pastoral care emergency extension and record a brief message. Please leave your name, what hospital you or a loved one are in, and the room number so pastoral staff can contact you. If you don’t have a room number, let us know the hospital, and make sure that you or the patient are listed in the hospital’s directory, if possible.

Each Sunday, after we hear the scripture in worship, we “play” with the story. As adults, our play often involves using our imagination to picture Biblical times, listening to our pastor mull over the passage, and responding through our quiet thoughts or our songs and prayers.

This year in Sunday school, our kids will also have a chance to “play” with Bible stories. Unlike adults, who often play in their thoughts, kids tend to play in tactile ways. They reenact the Bible stories, they draw pictures of Bible places, they add imaginative bits of their modern life into their play.

“Godly Play” is a system of storytelling and playful response. It’s been used at Plymouth in the past, but it’s been a while, and the best way to understand the process is to see it in action. So on Wednesdays beginning Sept 8, all ages are invited to a Godly Play Sampler. While we will follow the same structure as our childrens’ sessions, these Wednesday settings are set up for all ages. We won’t ask adults to role-play that they are children -- along with the story props and play dough there will be space for adults to reflect through quiet space, journaling, and discussion.

If you could use a mid-week space to reflect playfully on scripture, or if you are curious about this year’s Sunday school program, join us for one or more of these sampler sessions.

E&M still has plenty of shirts available (although we are temporarily out of 3XL in both colors)! You may get your shirts in the Folsom Room this Sunday. The options are navy with green lettering or purple with gold lettering; we think you’ll agree that they are colorful and represent us well. There is no set price. Suggested donations are $5 for children’s sizes and $10 for adult sizes, to help offset the cost, but this as a “pay what you can” situation – if you’d like a shirt, have one! If you are making a donation and the table is without personnel, please give your donation to our receptionist, Jake, in the front office, who will add it to our collection so far.

Most sizes are still available for pickup, but at last check-in, we were out of 3XL in both colors, so E&M will be delighted to order more shirts as needed. If you would like a shirt, but don’t see your size available, please email January ([email protected]) and let her know the size and color you would like. Available youth sizes are XS – L, and adult sizes are available up to 6XL. Please note: 3XL is out of stock in navy blue and 2XL is out of stock in purple for our supplier, with an unknown date of availability. Otherwise, you should be able to order any size up to 6XL in either color.

Our fundraising campaign to eliminate medical debt for our neighbors is still going strong, but not for much longer! The last day of our campaign will be Sunday, September 26. If you have been meaning to contribute, you have time, but there’s no time like the present!

As of this writing, our campaign total is $18,738.95 – which is an incredible amount of goodwill and money. We are *so close* to our goal! Remember, any donation is a great donation; $1 forgives $100, $5 forgives $500 – you can do so much good with so little.

Our fundraising goal is $20,000 – or $2,000,000 in medical debt relief – but if we end up raising more than that our joy will increase with our giving. Please feel free to share the link with your friends and family – the more the merrier! Click the button below to visit our fundraising campaign page. There is also a link on our “Contribute” page at plymouthfw.org. Scroll down and click on “Campaign." Information can also be found on Facebook. Thank you!

Now that events and meetings are returning to the building, it is important that you contact Tina Puitz, Office Manager, to make sure the time, date and room for your event is available. You may also be asked to complete a building use form. By contacting the office, your event will be entered onto the calendar and your meeting space will be ready when you arrive. Even if your event is returning after the long break due to the pandemic, you must still contact Tina. Also, if you will be selling anything or money will be coming to the office, please coordinate with Tina so office preparations can be made. Contact Tina at 260-423-9424 or [email protected]. Thank you.

Due to numerous requests, Plymouth has decided to open our sanctuary on Thursdays from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm for a time of personal prayer. Please enter through the Berry Street Office entrance and check in with our receptionist. Contact our receptionist Jake Slone at (260) 423-9424 or [email protected] with any questions.

If you have a need to visit the office, we’d love to see you! Our office is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Appointments are no longer necessary to visit the office during these days. On Fridays, our office will be open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm by appointment only. Contact the office at (260) 423-9424 or [email protected] with any questions.