Our Vision Statement: ‘With the heart and mind of Christ, we transform the world.’

In today's e-Bulletin

Bring photos of your pets to Mass
Volunteers needed for key committee positions
Pub Fellowship
LAST WEEKEND to donate items for the ISAAC Newcomer Winter Gear
...and more

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Sunday, October 4, 2026

To forget to celebrate

is to forget to imitate the God

who created us and then

relaxed and said, “That’s good.”

—Joan Chittister

Join us tomorrow at 12:30 pm in the Sanctuary or on Zoom for Sunday Mass with Mother Rosean Amaral presiding and delivering the homily.

Thank you to Art Bavoso and Lynne Barnes for serving as our lectors and also for Joan Chapman Smith and Katie

Laurie for serving as our Eucharistic Ministers.

We are grateful to our marvelous Music Ministry, led by Bill Smith, for providing spirit-filled song.

To join us via Zoom

Zoom Link: Here
For Zoom App: 431 502 8167

Here is the worship aid (view or print) to assist with prayer.

Zoom attendees: if you have any prayers you want to offer, it's helpful to put them in the 'chat box' early.

Celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis!

Bring your photos of your pets to our 12:30 church service TOMORROW, Sunday, October 4th,so that Mother Rosean can bless them - one and all!

Mary of Magdala Announcements

Weekly Morning Peace Prayer

Join us in a prayer for peace in the world and within ourselves. 20 minutes every Monday via Zoom. (Families invited!)

Monday Morning Peace Prayer

At 9:30 am on this Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 844 1669 8343,

Passcode: 557026

Faith Family Hospitality Coming Up!

Our next rotation of Faith Family Hospitality ( Family Housing Network) will be the week of October 18.

That means our nights are Monday 10/19 and Tuesday 10/20.

Mark your calendars. It's most likely that we will still be meeting at Christ United Methodist Church, as in the past. Stay tuned, as there is a remote chance we will be in the new facility.

But before that we have two wonderful opportunities to get up to date, as it has been quite a while since our last weeks in April. A lot has happened, and we may be a little rusty.

1. Annual volunteer training (online) - 10/5 at 6 PM (the link will be sent out).

2. Tour of the new central location at 811 East Myrtle at 4:30 PM. This is a great opportunity to see the facilities we will be using in the future. It will also help you to be acquainted with the kitchen, etc.

The sign up genius can be found here. Please consider helping as a cook, an evening host or an overnight host.

Rocky Mountain ECC Regional Council

Three opportunities to volunteer !!

House of Laity Steering Committee

Mary Lu Stensen from Light of Christ will be stepping down from serving as a regional representative to the ECC House of Laity Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee meets once monthly on Zoom to discuss ECC issues and concerns that pertain particularly to the lay members of the ECC. Ideally, the representative should be a lay delegate to the Synod. If you are interested in serving our region in this capacity, please contact Tom Moos (970 219-9441 or tjmoos@aol.com). Mary Lu is happy to provide training and guidance.

Board of Directors Member in the Colorado Council of Churches

The Colorado Council of Churches (CCC) is an interdenominational organization working together for justice focusing on affordable housing and housing justice, criminal restorative justice, education of children, Environment, Health Care, Poverty, Immigration, Racism, Sexuality, Families and Abuse.

The CCC has historically also been the primary organizer of the Easter Sunrise Services at Redrocks. As vicar for ecumenical engagement, Fr Michael Nicosia served on the Board and eventually became Chairman, raising visibility for the ECC especially in the Denver area and northern Colorado. Bishop Kae Madden has continued to be an ECC presence as an Adjudicator but is not a member of the Board.

The region is looking for someone to take Fr Nicosia’s place. Although many representatives to CCC are clergy, being ordained is not a requirement. If interested, please contact Tom Moos (970 219-9441 or tjmoos@aol.com) or Mother Rosean.

Serve on the Bishop Call Committee

(Representative of Mary of Magdala)

Our region needs to have a local bishop election in the spring of 2027. Our Rocky Mountain Regional Council is beginning to assemble a Local Bishop Call Team to run the process of this election including clarifying the ministry description, running a nomination process, vetting candidates who accept their nomination, organizing gatherings of some sort so people can get to know the candidates, and implementing a local election. The call committee would be working with the Regional Council but would be doing a lot of the work as a team.

The goal is to have someone from each of the 5 communities on this team. Mother Rosean and Tom Moos are already on the regional council and so cannot serve on the call committee.

Please take some time to prayerfully consider this finite role representing Mary of Magdala. Most of the work of this team will be done on Zoom and we expect there to be 1-2 meetings per month from October through May, and some work outside of those meetings.

We are not starting the process from scratch. An election happened in 2021 and that process is well documented. If you feel called to be part of this team, let Mother Rosean or Tom Moos know. If you do not feel called to this team, you do not need to respond. (970 219-9441 or tjmoos@aol.com).

Last Call

Make a Reservation for Table for 4 - TODAY!

It's time to make a reservation for a Table for 4 for the last time for 2026.

If you are looking for an opportunity to meet with friends or want to meet new friends at Mary of Magdala all you need to do is select the "sign up button" to join a Table for 4. You will be connected with 3-5 others to go out for a meal, coffee, or whatever you all decide to do sometime in October/November.

The goal is to be paired with others you have not been paired with before depending on who signs up. All are welcome to join us for some fun, laughter, and good food.

For questions contact Joan Chapman Smith at jcs1320@gmail.com

Another Great 301 Shared Sunday Coming

Adult Forum, Shared Service and Chili Potluck - Sunday, October 18

On Zoom and in-person

9 am Shared Adult Forum: will be led by Nizhoni Valdez, Executive Director of the First Peoples Community Center in Fort Collins. She will share information about the vision, mission and activities involving this non-profit organization founded in 2026.

10:30 am Shared Worship

11:30 am Shared Meal It’s fall, y’all, so you know what that means! Time to bust out some of those delicious chili recipes!

➡️➡️Sign up to bring a dish to the shared meal HERE.

301 Faith Partners

Another great event!

For those attending our annual Oktoberfest, THANK YOU!. It was a fun and successful event. Read below the note from Habitat regarding the 301 Faith Partners event.

"Just a quick note to thank you all for your help in getting the word out regarding Oktoberfest. It was another highly successful event! The turnout was outstanding, the food was incredible, and the costumes/dress added a lot to the night. It was a great evening of community, fun, good beer, and helping Habitat.

Oktoberfest raised $10,030 this year! Thank you all for your help in making this event a success!!

Have a blessed week"

Chad Bauer

Faith and Legacy Giving Manager

Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity

301 Faith Partners Pub Fellowship on October 8th

Next Thursday, October 8th at 3:30 PM we will meet at PURPOSE BREWING, located at 4025 South Mason St. This is a small batch craft brewery. "Explore the many influences of wood (barrels) as a vehicle for contributing tremendous complexity to beers fermented and aged within it."

Adult Education
***SAVE THE DATE***
America the Beautiful?

History and faith as guides to understanding

the United States on its 250^th anniversary

October 29, 2026, 7-8:30pm

Trinity Lutheran Church, 301 East Stuart, Fort Collins, CO 80525

The 301 Faith Community will offer an Adult Education Evening Seminar

co-led by two members of Mary of Magdala, ECC: Ruth M. Alexander,

Professor Emerita of History (CSU) and Jared Orsi, Professor of History

(CSU).

Jared and Ruth will share historical and ecumenical Christian perspectives

that deepen understanding of the complexity and contradictions in US

history, the existential challenges of the present day, and reasons to remain

committed to communities of faith and civil society. They will reference the

materials below. Participants are invited to review them in advance. (Click on each link.)

Please RSVP to motherrosean@gmail.com

LAST WEEKEND to donate items (in the Trinity Fellowship Hall) for the ISAAC Newcomer Winter Gear and Hygiene Kit Drive is

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4

Final pickup of donated items will be 9AM on Monday, October 5.

Each year ISAAC works with the Poudre School District's Newcomer office to provide newcomer middle and high school students with winter gear and hygiene kits. Here is the list of items needed.

If you purchase coats, choose dark or neutral colors and buy youth sizes (12, 14, 16) and adult sizes (S, M, L) for women or men.

The drop off locations are: First Presbyterian, Trinity Lutheran Church, and Fort Collins Friends Meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEW OPTION: You can use the Amazon Gift Registry link to purchase items for ISAAC.

And at the end of the day, if you do not have time to shop, here is the link to donate! Be sure to write in 'Newcomer Teens' under additional comments.

We also need volunteers to help us sort and prepare the items for distribution on October 5, 6 and 7. Here is the link to help sort the donated items.

Questions? Contact Judy Matthews at soc-ecojustice@stpauls-fc.org

301 Quilters

On Sunday, October 18 at the joint service, part of the service will be a Blessing of the Quilts.

Each year, before we take all the quilts made in the previous year to Denver to be shipped to Minneapolis, we pray over the quilts.

Then, the following weekend, October 24 and 25, we’ll have a Quilting Bee after each service.

You are invited to join us in the fellowship hall to tie knots into a quilt to help finish it.

All ages can participate; if you can tie a shoe, you can help!

Everyone, and we mean EVERYONE, can be part of this ministry. You can pray with us on Oct.18; you can tie knots on Oct. 24 or 25; you can donate fabric or bed sheets, you can take a kit home to sew a to;, you can come any Friday to Room 2 and help.

We thank you for your support of this ministry.

Men's Spirituality Group

The men's spirituality group will continue meeting on
Mondays at 6:30 PM in Room 5.

Carrying on the work of Fr. Richard Rohr (book reference) and Illuman, we will utilize the power of ritual, image, and story to expand the depth and breadth of love in ourselves to make a difference in the world, using a circle of structured sharing.

For anyone interested, please reach out to Peter here .

Chapter Two Book Club

Here are our upcoming dates and books. All meetings will be at 6 PM in the Fireside Room at 301 E Stuart St.

Thursday, October 22nd

The Things We Never Say by Elizbeth Strout

Thursday, November 19th

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

This is the chosen book for Fort Collins Reads in 2026. There is a local event with the author on November 8th. There are still tickets available for purchase here.

We won't have a December meeting because we have a longer book for January.

Thursday, January 28th, 2027

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

Future Book

We don't have an assigned month to read it yet, but there is another local author event in April 2027 for Loveland Loves to Read with Marjan Kamali, the author of The Lion Women of Tehran. You can get tickets for the author event now. And we will read this together in either February or March 2027. Thanks to Bonnie for highlighting this one for us!

And a favor to ask: Madeline Fairfax won't be able to make it on the Nov. 19th date, so if there is someone who already has a key who would be able to unlock and relock the doors, or she can lend her key for the week if you don't already have one, she would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you all for being so willing to participate in our small group and share your thoughts and book recommendations! Happy reading!

Trinity Readers

Members of all of the 301 Faith Partner churches are invited to join the Trinity Readers on the first Monday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in the Fireside Room for a book discussion.

On Monday, October 5, we will discuss the novel Penitence by Kristen Koval, a suspenseful novel, written by a Colorado lawyer. It is a story of family secrets, illness, tragedy, and death. The story explores personal and family relationships and how complex they can be. When a thirteen-year-old shoots her fourteen-year-old brother, the lawyer wrestles with forgiveness and acceptance of "the worst we have ever done."

Questions? Call Cheryl Smith at 970-218-5750.

From our Larger Community

The Murphy Center's Little Purple House Awareness Campaign

from September 20th to World Homeless Day, October 10th

We have placed 984 little purple houses throughout the Northern Colorado community as part of a homelessness awareness campaign.

Why? There are currently 984 adults and children--known to us by name--who are currently experiencing homelessness in Northern Colorado and are in a pool of people seeking a housing resource..

Our unhoused community members are often hidden in plain sight--just like the little purple houses we have placed in public locations throughout our community! We hope each one found serves as a reminder of the very real human being the house represents and inspires you to join us!

There is a basket of houses on the Social and Eco Justice table in the Fellowship Hall.

Put the house on your desk, windowsill or other place where it will serve as a reminder of the need and inspire you to take action
Share it with a friend or hide it somewhere else for someone to find and keep the awareness campaign going
Post a photo of the house you found on social media and use our hashtag #littlepurplehouse24 or #mcpartners and share where you found it
Add the location where you found your house to our interactive map

ISAAC is proud to sponsor Teatro Latino’s fall events. Come and learn stories about our local Latino community. The Fort Collins Welcome Center is located at 7 Old Town Square, Suite 100.

Service Recordings

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The recording of readings and homily for September 27th can be found here . Associate Pastor Jane Reina presided and delivered the homily.

Missed a homily or readings? Here is the link to past recorded services.

Prayer Requests

Praying for peace, health and well-being through challenging times.

+ Tyler Dahlquist, Kerrie Anderon's great niece's husband

+ Carlos Orsi, son of Jared Orsi, member

+Fr. Don Sutton, Pastor Emeritus, St. Paul, ECC, Denver

+ Jennifer Geraci, for discernment, member

+ Sean Raynes, grandson of Sandra Life

+ Rachel Devlin, daughter of MaryLou and David Devlin, members

+ Audrey Coleman, mother of Laura Williams, friend of ECC

+ Cindy Cloyd, member

+ Peter Postma son of Sharon Troyer, friend

+ Karen Neuman friend of Lisa Jones, member

+ Yvonne Keefe, member

+ Hannah Zehner, daughter of Cheryl

Zehner, member of ECC, East Rochester, NY

+ Cathy Engel, member

+ Lili Grimm, niece of Rosanna Bateman, member

+Ryan Mayer, nephew of Denise Mayer, member

+Deborah Hughes, for healing, spouse of Laura Templet, member

+Len Russ, member

+Fr. Frank Quintana, ECC priest

+Zoe Wahl, sister of Kristina Bulik-Hocum, member

+Courtney and Cache, family of Jean Christin, member

+Jane Kommrusch, spouse of Richard Kommrusch, member

+Jeff Klein, son of Debbie Klein

+Mary Powers and Katie Richards, members healing from long COVID

+Milo Pasquale Cushman, brother of Liz Urban, member

+Julie Lucas, daughter of Bruce & Carol Yeazell

+Pastor Rick Reiten, Pastor at Trinity Lutheran

~~~~~~~~~~~

A blessed and peaceful repose of souls for those who've passed and comfort for the friends and families.

+ Karen Johnson, member of Church of the Holy Family, ECC

+ Jim Barnes, spouse of Lynne Barnes, member

+ Audrey Coleman, mother of Laura Williams, friend of ECC

+Donna Colhour, mother of member Mark Colhour.

+Larry Johnson, father of Russ Johnson, member

+Lois Hug, mother of MaryAnne Heyman, member

+Richard Life, member of Mary of Magdala

+Donald Sherlock, brother-in-law of Dori Healy

+Joseph Grant, nephew of David and Cindy Cloyd

+Dennis Healy, Tom Healy's brother and Dori's brother-in-law

+Jim Carroll, husband of member Dori Carroll

Please send prayer requests to marymagdalafc@gmail.com. Prayers will be listed for one month unless requested for longer. Prayers for the repose of souls will be listed for six months unless requested for a longer time.

Upcoming Mass Times

Wednesday Mass -

October 7 at 11:00 am

In person in the Fireside Room
No Zoom available
Mother Rosean presiding

Sunday Mass

October 11, Synod Mass (from Minnesota) via Zoom only

--> 10:00 am Mountain Time <--

Zoom link available soon

No 12:30 pm Sunday Mass

Wednesday Mass -

October 14 at 11:00 am

In person in the Fireside Room
No Zoom available
Mother Rosean presiding

Sunday - 301 Faith Partners

Shared Service

October 18 at 10:30 am

No 12:30 pm Sunday Mass

In the Sanctuary and on Zoom
Mother Rosean presiding

... and More

Did you miss an article or announcement?

Past e-bulletins are posted on our website here. Below are links to some key articles:

August news from the House of Laity here.
Prayer request for Poland here.
Read the ECC statement on immigration here.
Ongoing Giving Opportunities in Fellowship hall; see list here.
Dedicating Altar Flowers? Contact Joan Stepleton at JoanStepleton@gmail.com or 864-650-2816. A $25 dollar donation is kindly requested.

Mary of Magdala Parish Community

Members: Need to view, update information or download a copy of the member directory? Just click here.

-->If you are in need of a picture for the directory, contact David Cloyd via this email. Put 'Need Picture for the Directory' in the subject line and include your name and telephone number in your email <--

CONTRIBUTIONS TO MARY OF MAGDALA

If you would like to contribute to Mary of Magdala,

click here to schedule a single or recurring Sunday offertory.

All are invited and ALL are welcome to join our parish community. Here is the webpage with more information on membership

Our Vision – ‘Our guiding Light’

Weaving a tapestry of love, hope and justice for the world.

The ECC Regional Website - View here.

Newsletters of Trinity Lutheran Church and the St. Paul's Episcopal

Click here for the Trinity Lutheran Church monthly newsletter, "Tidings". And here is St Paul's weekly bulletin.