"I will put my teaching in their minds and write it on their hearts..."
Jeremiah 31:33
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Calendar of Upcoming Events | |
Below are the weekly programs. You can find brief descriptions of these weekly programs on our website. Clickable links are in blue and italicized. | |
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SUNDAY Choir Practice, 9 am in person, Sanctuary
Contact Tom Ludwig, if interested
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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. | |
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Sunday, September 22, 5:30 - 7:00 pm, Teen Youth Meeting
Wednesday, September 25, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Befrienders Training, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Thursday, September 26, CANCELLED - Creation Care Ministry Team Meeting
Friday, September 27, 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Fall Equinox & Fire Ceremony with Jessica Riphenburg, Outdoor Firepit
Tuesday, October 1, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Racial Justice Care Team Monthly Meeting, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Wednesday, October 2, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Befrienders Training, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Thursday, October 3, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Justice & Peace in Palestine (In person & Online), Sanctuary
Sunday, October 6, 10:00 am, Birthday, Communion, Worship & Neighbors in Need Collection Sunday
Sunday, October 6, 5:30 - 7:00 pm, Teen Youth Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, October 9, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Healing Prayer Service (In person & Online), Sanctuary
Wednesday, October 9, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, NO Befrienders Training
Thursday, October 10, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, SaLT Monthly Meeting, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Sunday, October 13, 5:30 - 6:45 pm, Monthly Younger Youth Meeting
Wednesday, October 16, 7:30 - 9:00 pm, Befrienders Training, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Thursday, October 17, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Creation Care Team Meeting, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Wednesday, October 23, 7:30 - 9:00 pm, Befrienders Training-last class, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
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News at McFarland UCC
(Note: Clickable links are blue and italicized.)
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Special Service This Sunday!
September 22, 2024 10 a.m. (in person and zoom)
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Rev. Phil Haslanger and his talented guitarist and vocalist friend Michael Bryant will be leading the majority of our worship this Sunday, September 22nd. This very special service is called, "One Light, Many Candles."
The program was created by Betty Stookey and Noel Paul Stookey ("Paul" of Peter, Paul and Mary). That's them in the photo above. No--THEY won't be with us in person, though they are aware we're doing this!
Pastor Phil (photo below) was an interim pastor at our church a decade or so ago. He and Michael are honored to be able to continue this exploration of the shared foundation of love across diverse world religions through music and words. This is going to be a really special service focusing on the One Love at the heart of all spiritual traditions. Don't miss this!
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THURSDAY, SEPT. 26 | 7 PM | ZOOM
On Thursday, September 26 at 7 pm, the Interfaith Peace Working Group of Wisconsin will offer a live, hour-long Zoom session on the crisis in Gaza.
The session will begin with a presentation by Dr. Peter Makari, one of the most well-informed Church leaders in the United States on developments in the Middle East and Gaza.
As Global Relations Minister for the Middle East and Europe for the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Peter works closely with the Middle East Council of Churches and with faith communities internationally. Having recently returned from Jerusalem, Peter’s presentation will provide an opportunity for us to hear, first-hand, about the latest developments in Gaza. A question-and-answer session and discussion with Dr. Makari will follow the presentation.
This event is designed to assist spiritual leaders and members of churches and other communities of faith and conscience to understand, from a faith perspective, what is taking place in Gaza. It also offers an opportunity for people and communities of faith to consider what they can do to realize the widely shared hopes of people for peace, an end to violence, and reconciliation in Gaza and Israel/Palestine.
We present this hour-long event in the spirit of faith, hope, and love and welcome all who are hoping and praying for peace to participate in it.
This event is free and no registration is required. The link will be provided .
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Fall Equinox Fire Ceremony with Jessica Riphenburg
Friday, September 27, 7-9 pm
We hope you’ll join us for this unifying, unique Fall Equinox Fire Ceremony.
Pastor Bryan Sirchio and I (Jessica Riphenburg of Be The Light) will weave our spiritual views and practices into this healing, uplifting ceremony around the outdoor fire pit.
BRING:
🔥Rattle, shaker, or drum if you have one. A bottle with pebbles, dried beans, etc works well too! I’ll have many shakers for you to borrow if you don’t have one of your own.
🔥Camping chair
🔥Warm layers and/or blanket
🔥OPTIONAL: a pen and journal
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Justice and Peace in Palestine
Thursday, October 3, 6:30-8:30 pm
Join Harriet Taylor for a talk focusing on Justice and Peace in Palestine.
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Neighbors in Need Collection - October 6 | |
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Mt Morris AME Church Invitation
Racial Justice Ministries members and others are building a relationship with S.S. Morris Community AME Church, a primarily African American congregation in the area. Their pastor invites us to join in their 38th church anniversary celebration October 6 at 3 pm. Pastor Bryan will be offering a prayer at the October 6th service in honor of S.S. Morris's anniversary celebration also.
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SaLT Spot
September 5, 2024 meeting highlights:
- The September 29th church service will include a mid-year budget update as well as an update from the Outreach Committee.
- Racial Justice and Creation Care Team are each planning a movie night for this fall. Watch The Pulse for more details.
- A sub-committee was developed for the creation of formal policies to guide leadership teams on future decisions.
- SaLT previewed the MUCC Directory, which the ICON sub committee has been working on.
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CROP Hunger Walk
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Over the years, McFarland UCC has supported John and Jean Sheild and their commitment to the CROP Hunger Walk. Just as last year they are doing a "virtual" walk to raise money. If you choose to support John and Jean Sheild and the CROP Hunger Walk, you may make a donation online with the link below or mail a check made out to CROP to First Congregational Church, Attn: Jeff Rabe/John & Jean Shield, 1609 University Ave., Madison, WI 53726 by Wed., October 16. Jeff Rabe is the chair of the Madison Area CROP Walk and has agreed to take care of the "paperwork" for John & Jean. Questions? Jeff Rabe 608-232-2142 or jrabe@firstcongmadison.org
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Weekly Creation Care Tips
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
This week’s Tip: As we consider World Peace Day on Sept 21, it is worth quoting JUAN MANUEL SANTOS CALDERÓN, President of Colombia & Nobel Peace Prize laureate who spoke at a UN meeting (click here for meeting coverage and press release) emphasizing that climate change and security cannot be treated as separate issues. He quoted the Kogi, who are indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada, (which has one of the most biodiverse mountain ranges in the world) after a visit there: "Peace among humans will not be successful unless you make peace with Mother Nature too." He also stated that "even though conflict and displacement driven by climate change have a disproportionate effect on women, they have shown great leadership in finding solutions, from resolving local water disputes in Yemen to resisting environmental crimes in Colombia. “Peace can only be maintained if the very forests, soils, and rivers that communities depend on are protected & managed sustainably.”
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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
...and Pope Francis
You know I can't remember who first said this or where I first heard it, but I often return to this simple statement;
"I'd rather light a candle than curse the darkness."
I just love that.
This past week I listened to a very powerful podcast by one of my current favorite spiritual teachers named Danielle LaPorte. I shared an excerpt of it with our morning devotional group on Thursday. It spoke to me deeply and helped me a lot, and here's a link to what I shared in its entirety. It's worth taking a few minutes to read.
In a nutshell, what Danielle did was express the difficulty many people are having these days and why so many people are burning out and just feeling as though the perfect storm of unprecedented problems that we're facing in our world at this point is "just too much." She names the fact that many strong, together, resilient, deeply committed people are struggling now. She helps us realize that if we're having a hard time in some inexplicable way these days, we are not alone. There are good reasons for it. She does an amazing job of naming the issues, and then an even more amazing job of reminding us of all the things we can choose to do to face it all with courage and grace. I found it deeply helpful and inspiring.
A lot of people ARE struggling. Or just checking out and trying to avoid the negativity wherever possible. We need to do what we can to protect ourselves from the toxic energy.
But I want more than that. I don't want to just protect myself from the problems. You know what I want? I want to be a part of LOVE's resilient and amazing response to it all. In other words, I want to live what I claim to believe as a follower of Jesus. Among other things, I'm going to choose to trust what Scripture says about Jesus in John 1:4-5;
"What has come into being in Christ is life, and the life is the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it."
Yes, there are some amazing problems we're facing, and sometimes they get me down also. I'm not immune. None of us are. But this is where our spiritual lives and grounding in the Spirit of Christ really CAN make a difference. By the grace of God, as we're feeling the full reality of being humans at this point in history, we can also choose to redirect our focus on the simple Truth that no darkness will EVER overcome the Light.
Can we dare to believe that? There will be times when the evidence of the world's brokenness will make it hard to believe that the darkness is not winning. But it's not. That's the Gospel. That's the "Good News." I'm not into reducing things to "win/lose," because ultimately the Love of God is about "win/win." But sometimes I just want to agree with author Rob Bell's simple book title; "Love Wins." Because it does and it will.
And how's this for a mind blowing "win" for the Love of God... Or maybe we should call it a long overdue correction inspired by the Spirit. Just this past week, Pope Francis, in a speech primarily to children in Singapore, spoke the words you'll read in the next paragraph. Brace yourself. Reversing almost 2000 years of the Roman Catholic church's complicated and at times brutal history of disrespecting and even warring against other spiritual and religious traditions, these words came out of the pope's mouth;
"All religions are paths to reach God. They are—to make a comparison—like different languages, different dialects, to get there. But God is God for everyone. If you start to fight saying 'my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn't', where will this lead us? There is only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sheik, Muslim, Hindu, Christians; they are different ways to God."
I'm still kind of stunned to read these words. And overjoyed. The world is changing my friends. For the better.
Yes, we are facing lots of extremely dangerous problems these days. That's a trite understatement. The voices of unhealthy and divisive and tragically dangerous and misguided power seekers are still loud and way too proud and in our faces daily. But here's why I am feeling joyful and buoyed and full of hope. Light workers of all kinds, from every tradition and from every part of the planet--are coming together now as never before. The lines that used to separate us are either being crossed or erased altogether at a stunning rate. People are realizing that we MUST learn to come together in love and mutual respect if this planet and humankind are to have a future. People are changing their minds and hearts. EVEN institutions like the Roman Catholic Church are evolving, changing, healing, becoming more inclusive, rethinking old doctrines, correcting themselves, becoming part of the solution rather than the problem, and deliberately choosing to be on the just and loving side of history. Things are changing.
Yes, there's so much work to do. But we're doing it. Churches like ours are part of this beautiful movement through which communities and circles of Light and Love are finding each other and magnifying the brilliant energy of Divine Love.
The Light IS overcoming the Darkness.
Let's light lots of candles together.
Hope to see you soon,
Pastor Bryan
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