"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 weekly programs. You can find brief descriptions of these weekly programs on our website: | |
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WEDNESDAY Eve., 6:30 pm Midweek Inhale Spiritual Practices
Note: There will be no Midweek Inhale until Wednesday, June 28.
https://zoom.us/j/123020606
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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, June 11 5:30-6:45 pm, Younger Youth Meeting
Wednesday, June 14 6:00-7:30 pm, Outreach Funds Committee Meeting (In person & Online) Contact treasurer@mcfarlanducc.org for online info (NOTE: This meeting time is in the process of being rescheduled if possible. Look for an email if you're on this committee)
Wednesday, June 14 6:30 pm, Daniel Cooperrider Book Talk, Lake Farm Park, Madison
Sunday, June 18 10:00 am, Outdoor Worship Service (In person & Online) Indoors if inclement weather.
Sunday, June 25 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, McFarland Pride Festival (McFarland UCC is a sponsor)
Thursday, July 13 6:00 – 8:00 pm, SaLT Meeting (In person & Online) - Multipurpose Room
Sunday, July 9 9:00 am, Worship Service TIME CHANGE due to Sikh Temple opportunity (In person & Online)
Sunday, July 9 11:00 am, Sikh Temple service with meal to follow (6970 Century Ave, Middleton). Carpooling available.
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June 11th Is Confirmation Sunday!
With Special Guests Christopher Grundy & Andra Moran
This coming Sunday will be a very special worship service for us, because our 6 Confirmation Students will complete their confirmation program during worship. The 6 young people participating are Gwen and Claire Hofmeister, Gavin Lyon, Easton Becher-Etnier, Danielle Hoffmann, and Lydia Mikelbank. In addition to hearing from these amazing young people, we will also be blessed to have Christopher Grundy and Andra Moran sharing some music with us! Be sure not to miss this beautiful service of celebration of the spiritual journeys of these amazing young people.
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Green Team Book Read:
Speak with the Earth & It Will Teach You
By Daniel Cooperrider
Join us for the final book discussion on "Clouds" with author Daniel Cooperrider on Wednesday, June 14th, at 6:30 PM. The event will take place at Shelter #2 in Lake Farm Park, Madison. Whether you've attended previous sessions or not, you're welcome to join this engaging discussion. Even if you haven't read the book or only read parts of it, you can still participate. Please remember to bring your own chair for seating. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Canceled Meetings
The June meetings for the Ecojustice/Green (6/18) and NION (6/20) teams are both canceled. The next NION meeting will be Thursday, July 20. The next Ecojustice/Green team meeting is yet to be determined so please watch the calendar.
The Racial Justice meeting on July 4 is canceled due to it being a holiday. The next Racial Justice meeting will be on August 1.
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Change of Time for Service on July 9:
Visit Sikh Temple
We are excited to announce a change in the service time for July 9, 2023! In an effort to foster community engagement and cultural exchange, we have decided to adjust the schedule to accommodate a special visit to the Sikh Temple, 6970 Century Ave, Middleton. Our service will now begin at 9:00 am, allowing us to carpool (if desired) together to the Sikh Temple and attend their service at 11:00 am.
The Sikh Temple graciously extends an invitation to our congregation to experience their traditions and join in their worship. This visit presents an excellent opportunity to deepen our understanding of each other's beliefs.
Following the service, we will have the privilege of sharing a meal that is available each week for everyone at the Sikh Temple. Last year a tour of the temple was even offered.
We sincerely invite all members of our congregation to join us on July 11, as we come together in unity and celebrate the richness of diversity within our community. Please mark your calendars and spread the word!
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Outdoor Worship Services
Get ready for an incredible spiritual experience as outdoor worship services take place once a month this summer! Mark your calendars for June 18, July 23, August 20, and September 17. (In case of inclement weather, services will be indoors of course.) These services offer a refreshing change of scenery from the usual church setting, allowing you to connect with your faith in the great outdoors. Bring a chair (if you can) and don't miss out on Pastor Bryan's inspiring sermons while you embrace the tranquility of the natural surroundings!
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McFarland Pride in the Park Sunday, June 25
Every Sunday morning, members and visitors are welcomed with the words “No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here”. These are the words of an Open and Affirming church within the UCC denomination; for more information, see the Open and Affirming (ONA) Coalition website.
In support of our commitment to ONA, MUCC leadership endorsed being a sponsor and participating in McFarland’s first Pride Festival, Pride in the Park, on Sunday, June 25 at Arnold Larson Park https://nadinemobley23.wixsite.com/mcfarlandpride. This family-friendly event will begin with yoga at 9 am followed by multiple activities from 10 am – 4 pm including live music by David Landau, food carts and vendors, crafts, face painting, storytime, and a DJ.
We are seeking volunteers to be at the MUCC vendor table at Pride in the Park from 10 am – 4 pm on Sunday, June 25. This is a great opportunity for us to share with the rest of McFarland what a wonderful, friendly, and open church community we have at McFarland UCC. If you are available to spend an hour at our table, please contact Joan Jacobsen at treasurer@mcfarlanducc.org or 608-669-7944.
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General Fund Summary June 2022-May 2023 | |
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A Few Words From Pastor Bryan
My daughter and her boys have been here in Madison this past week for a visit. Given that they are a family of 6, it's rare that they are able to travel all the way from the Boston area. The only reason it happened this time is because my 9 year old grandson Bryan is on an elite hockey team that travels all over the country playing in tournaments this summer, and he has a tournament this weekend in Chicago.
Emma's boys are now ages 5-11, and they are all about sports. But the youngest child, Jack, who was born 5 years ago on my 60th birthday, is clearly drawn to music like a moth to a light. His birthday present to me was to sing the song, "Wherever Love Is" for me when I was visiting them on his and my birthday on May 18th. Here's a link to the video of him singing that I posted on Facebook.
But this past week Jack discovered the guitar. He couldn't get enough of it. In the photo here you can see how things went. While his brothers and parents were playing sports of one kind or another in my back yard, Jack was practicing his stage act. At one point he took a break and told me rather matter of factly--"Grandpa, you know I'm going to be a famous singer someday." He reminded me of his mother when she was about 3 or 4, after she helped me write the song, "Wherever Love Is," telling me, "Daddy, when I get big I'm going to be a writersong." (that's 3 year old for songwriter). And by the way, if you look closely, you'll see the guitar strap with the connecting "B's" on it that my mother needle-pointed for me shortly after I decided to make songwriting my primary focus in ministry. And that's Emma in the background. I love how the generations are present in the picture.
It's kind of amazing how our various gifts and aptitudes and deepest passions often emerge very early in life. So much of who we are most deeply and truly seems to be with us in all of its uniqueness very early on. This is one of the reasons I love the Enneagram as a tool for understanding our own particular gifts and predispositions. We truly are "wonderfully made" as the Psalmist reminds us. But we are also very different from each other. That's by design.
One of the things I appreciate more and more as the years go by is how crucial it is for each of us to be who we truly are, in all our uniqueness, and to embrace and enjoy being who we are while at the same time also making sure that others also get to enjoy being and bringing who they are to life as well. To me, the community of faith--the Church for us--is a circle of VERY different people with many different gifts, perspectives, and predispositions. I love how the Church (at its best) welcomes us just as we are, and how our faith encourages us to belong together even though we may differ greatly from each other. In fact, and here's the most challenging part, we ALL need people who see things completely differently than we do WAY more than we tend to even want to realize. The apostle Paul used the metaphor of the human body to describe the way we are "many members of one body."
So what is your gift? Your unique passion? Your way of processing things and seeing things and understanding what matters most? PLEASE bring it to us. We need you and your gifts in order to be the most beautifully diverse and active "Body of Christ" we can possibly be. And of course this means that sometimes we'll see even extremely important things very differently from each other. Folks--that's not a problem (unless we turn it into one). God designed things to be that way! We are not even meant to always agree. BUT--and here's the hard part--we are ALWAYS meant to bring our varying viewpoints together in a circle of deep love and mutual respect. As I often quip, that means we'll all have an equal opportunity to "not get our way at some point." That's how community works. In fact that's how relationships work, because that's how Love works. It's a beautiful thing. Just not always an easy thing.
So some play guitar and sing, like my grandson Jack. He probably will never remember NOT being musical. It's just there. In him. Through him. Other's build things, read everything they can get their hands on, can't stop asking questions, can't be in nature enough, love animals, make people laugh, love structure and rules, can't stand structure and rules--you get the point.
As we say at the beginning of each worship service--whoever you are, wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here. We want and need you to be your uniquely God-given self here in community with us.
Hope to see you Sunday!
Pastor Bryan
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608-838-9322
5710 Anthony St.
McFarland WI 53558
mcfarlanducc.org
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Pastor Bryan Sirchio
608-577-8716
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