March 15 - 22, 2024

Below are weekly programs. You can find brief descriptions of these weekly programs on our website:

SUNDAY Morning Worship, 10 am in person and via Zoom

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

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

https://zoom.us/j/262314649 (Not Palm Sunday or Easter)

MONDAY - FRIDAY, 8 am Morning Devotion

https://zoom.us/j/94276813637

Below are the upcoming non-weekly events on the calendar happening at McFarland UCC for about the next month. All events are on the McFarland UCC calendar with Zoom links and additional information in the details/description area. Click the event on the McFarland UCC calendar to see the details.

Tuesday, March 19, 6:00 - 7:30 pm, Spring Equinox Fire Ceremony, Outdoor Firepit

Tuesday, March 19, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Ecojustice/Green Team Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room

Thursday, March 21, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, NION Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room NOTE: Changed from Wednesday to Thursday

Sunday, March 24, 10:00 am, Palm Sunday Service (In person & Online)

Wednesday, March 27, 6:30 pm, Alabaster Wednesday Service (In person & Online)

Thursday, March 28, 6:30 pm, Maundy Thursday Service (In person & Online)

Friday, March 29, 6:30 pm, Good Friday Service (In person & Online)

Sunday, March 31, 10:00 am, Easter Sunday Service (In person & Online)

Tuesday, April 2, 6:00 – 7:30 pm, Racial Justice Team Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room

Saturday, April 6, 9:00 - 11:00 am, Befrienders Orientation (In person & Online)

Sunday, April 7, 10:00 am Worship, Birthday and Communion Sunday

Sunday, April 7, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Teen Youth Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, April 9, 6:00 - 8:30 pm, Shamanic Journeying with Jessica Riphenburg, Sanctuary

Wednesday, April 10, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Contemplative Service with Prayers for Healing, Sanctuary

Wednesday, April 10, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Befrienders Training (In person & Online), Fellowship Area

Thursday, April 11, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, SaLT Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room

Saturday, April 13, 10:00 - 11:30 pm, Love Has the Final Word, Multipurpose Room

Sunday, April 14, 5:30 - 6:45 pm, Younger Youth Meeting

Postcard Writing Campaign to Get Out the Vote

MUCC is partnering with Reclaim Our Vote, a campaign of the Center for Common Ground, to encourage under-represented voters to vote. We will send 300 postcards by May 9th to people of color in Georgia who are registered to vote but have not voted in the past couple of election cycles. The Georgia primary is May 21.

After Sunday services in March (except for Easter Sunday!), you are invited to write postcards, following a template provided to us by Reclaim Our Vote. We will have postcards, pens, markers, and the script on the tables outside the sanctuary for anyone interested in writing a few postcards.

These handwritten postcards have an impact on the people who receive them. We understand that information is power, and we work to empower voters. Join us!

Join us for services...

We need greeters/ushers for Easter Sunday!

Questions? Contact Becky Cohen

Easter Sunday Activities

Rise and Shine! Join us before Easter Sunday morning worship for a light breakfast of fresh fruit, juice, hot beverages, and sweet treats (kringle and donuts) that will be available starting at 9 am. Breakfast will be available until 9:50 am.

For the younger members of our congregation, there will be an Easter Egg Hunt about 9:30 am. The older youth will hide eggs on the church grounds. Younger youth are asked to bring a basket or bag from home to collect those hidden treat-filled eggs. Our younger kids will gather in the fellowship space at 9:30 am for instruction about the Easter Egg Hunt.

Easter Plants

Easter plants have been ordered for Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024. Please consider donating toward a plant in honor or memory of someone special. After Easter Sunday, donated plants may be taken home to enjoy or to plant in a garden. Please sign up by Noon on March 27.

Donations for Easter plants are accepted via check or cash (Note: "Easter Plant") or online (use General Fund and Note: "Easter Plant"). Questions? Contact Kathy Schwenn or Jean Duchrow.

Racial Justice Opportunity

American Players Theater

August 3

Submitted by Joan Jacobsen

The American Players Theater (APT) recently published the 2024 season information. One of their productions this year, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, provides a unique racial justice learning opportunity for members and friends of our congregation. Two years ago, almost 30 members and friends attended a performance of A Raisin in the Sun followed by a picnic supper and group discussion on the APT grounds. All agreed the experience was a wonderful way to continue learning about racial disparities and to improve ourselves, our community, and beyond.

We plan to attend the Saturday, August 3, 2 pm performance. After watching the performance, we will gather on the APT grounds to share food and fellowship while discussing our reactions to the play.  

Depending on the number of participants and availability of tickets, we plan to take advantage of APT’s “Four Packs on the Hill” pricing (individual ticket prices would be no more than $35). Tickets need to be ordered by mid-April to secure discounted pricing.

If you are interested and want to reserve your seat, please contact Joan Jacobsen (joan@mcfarlanducc.org or 608-669-7944) by Wednesday, April 17. Joan will follow up regarding ticket(s) payment.

Thank You

Submitted by Lydia Mikelbank

Thanks in part to your generous donations of cereal. My advisory at McFarland High School won the Cereal Box Challenge for The McFarland Food Pantry with a grand total of 220 boxes! We were rewarded with a Starbucks treat, but the real reward was helping the hungry. Our advisory appreciates all of those who donated.  

Prayer Requests

If you would like to request prayer (besides during worship service) you may do so on the bulletin board by the entrance doors for the Care Team. Questions? Contact Jean Duchrow or Lavon Geasland.

Weekly Creation Care Tips -

Reduce/Reuse/Recycle

Submitted by Ecojustice Team

This week’s Tip: “For pollinators’ sake, don’t spring into garden cleanup too soon!" Our friends, the pollinators, are directly involved with at least 30% of our food needs. Their winter home is in hollow stems & leaf piles, and their alarm clocks won't coax them out until the temperature remains consistently 50 degrees, usually late April or into May. So, hit the snooze button on removing garden "litter" and find something else to tinker with or go for a walk to enjoy the early warmth.

General Fund Summary March 2023 - February 2024

A Few Words from Pastor Bryan

...and Alfred Hitchcock (!)

Most of us are familiar with the well known verse from Psalm 46:10—“Be still and know that I am God.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about “being still” lately. It's amazing how hard it can be to slow down and to let our beings just "be still and know." Not "be still and think." "Be still and know."

Many of us find it easier to think about being still than to actually BE STILL. And most of us have a much easier time thinking about things than "knowing" something with peaceful clarity.

I can overthink just about anything. The more I think about it, it's a great way to avoid having to deal with the responsibility of knowing anything. See what I mean?

Most spiritual teachers who focus on the importance of meditation and “stillness” are trying to help us actually think less.  Slow down the mind. Bring the hamster wheel to a stop. And of course the moment we actually try to do that we realize that it’s pretty much impossible to stop generating thoughts completely. The best we can do is learn to release them—let them go—and not follow them down one rabbit hole or another. Not be attached to our thoughts. Much easier said than done, and that’s why meditation is a practice. We never "get it right." It's not about getting it right.

Thinking of course is a wonderful thing to be able to do, and not to be taken for granted. Those of us who have spent time with loved ones who struggle with their cognitive abilities know how precious it is to be able to think clearly. Thank God for these amazing human brains we have and for all that our capacity to think opens to us and makes possible. And I’m reminded also of what Jesus considered the most important commandment—to “Love God with all our hearts and strength and MINDS.” I want to learn how to love God with all of my mind as well as with every other part of my being.

But there are so many points at which thinking doesn’t get us to where we need and long most to go with God, with each other, and with life in general. There are certain crucially important things that we are not going to “figure out” primarily by thinking the right thoughts. And as my beloved teacher Richard Rohr often says, “the ego hates this.” Our small selves love to figure things out. That way we can control it. Be in charge of it. Analyze and critique it. Feel good about having achieved or earned or accomplished it. Be better than someone else at it. Be proud of it. Own the title and the intellectual property rights to it. Possess it.  Monetize it. Maximize it. Protect it. (Geez this list is endless…)

I’m not sure who first spoke these wise words, but it’s been said that “we don’t think our way into a new way of living--we live our way into a new way of thinking.” Good food for thought (oops there I go again). Again, it’s not that thoughts aren’t important. In fact so much of what goes on in our lives flows from our thoughts. But when it comes to certain things—certain all important questions—like, “What am I being led to do with my life?” Or, “What is the next important step I need to take in my spiritual journey?” Or, “How will I ever know or get the clarity I need regarding this or that?”--well, the responses we need to those kinds of questions sometimes come more from deep and spacious listening than from trying to make it happen by thinking or concentrating more or taking in more information.

As I was reflecting on all of this (thinking?), I decided to just get still for a bit and listen. As I did, all of a sudden a Scripture verse I hadn’t considered for a long time just kind of “dropped in.” I can’t really explain “dropped in” to you. All I know is that I wasn’t trying to figure it out. I wasn’t looking for it. I just got quiet and still in the loving Presence of God and relaxed. And this verse suddenly emerged in my consciousness. It’s from Isaiah 30:15;

In returning and rest you shall be restored;

     in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.

Oh of course I could launch into a bit of a sermon now…  But I’m just going to say this much. Sometimes what we need most is to DO NOTHING. You know--“Don’t just do something. Stand there.”  Sometimes what we need is to “return” to God, rest, be quiet, and trust that what we need will just plain be given to us in God’s perfect way in God’s perfect timing.  Yes, that might mean waiting a bit longer than we want to or think we should. It might mean trusting that God knows better than we do what we truly need the most, and waiting for God to make that clear. It might mean letting go of the way in which we think things are supposed to happen, or of how we think God will speak to us, or how we strategically planned and even paid for something to happen. It might mean quietly listening and resting and trusting God in Silence instead of talking about it or reading another book or article or watching another video about it.  (I watch a lot of instructional and inspirational videos!)

Many scholars have observed that maybe the Sabbath—a day of solemn rest and a strict prohibition against all “working and making” had to be one of the 10 commandments and a strictly enforced absolute rule simply because it is the hardest thing of all for most of us to do—the thing many of us refuse to do or just can’t bring ourselves to do--to actually believe that there are some things that can ONLY BE GIVEN and that won’t come from our human initiative and ingenuity.

I’m going to let Alfred Hitchcock have the final word here. I can’t remember where I heard this story (probably some video), but it was told by an actor who once worked on a film directed by the immortal Alfred Hitchcock. They were filming a scene and the director just wasn’t satisfied with how it was going. They tried take after take after take. The actor said he himself knew that something just wasn’t flowing. The day went on. The actor was getting frustrated, but he really wanted to get it right and not stop until he did. Finally, Director Hitchcock said, “This is enough for today. We’ll resume tomorrow.” But the actor pleaded and said, “No, let’s keep going. I’ve almost got it. Let's not stop now. I know I can do it now.” But Alfred Hitchcock took him aside and quietly said, “No. You’re pushing.” And then Hitchcock spoke these words that the actor said hit him like a sacred proclamation from an oracle. He said, “You're pushing. IT never comes from pushing.” The actor who recounted this story said it was the best advice on the “magic” of acting that he’d ever received. There is a time to stop pushing. A time to cease. To rest. Regroup. Be still. Trust. And then return...

Tenacity, persistence, commitment, and hard work all have their place.

But some things—some of the most important things—never come from pushing. Only from deep stillness and listening for what might drop in.

“In quietness and strength…”

Much love to you all,

Pastor Bryan