December 16 - December 23, 2022

SUNDAY Morning, 10 am Zoom Worship

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

SUNDAY , 12 noon Zoom Bible Study  

https://zoom.us/j/262314649 Yes, we will have Bible Study Dec. 18th, but not again after that until Sunday, January 8th.

MONDAY - FRIDAY, 8 am Morning Devotion

https://zoom.us/j/94276813637

WEDNESDAY Eve., 6:00 pm Midweek Inhale Spiritual Practices

https://zoom.us/j/123020606 NOTE: There will be no Midweek Inhale again until January 4th, 2023

Sunday, December 18th,

10:00 a.m.

Morning Worship



(in person and on zoom as always)

https://zoom.us/j/97010988439

Password: betogether

4th Advent Sunday Theme is LOVE, and we'll be holding our Annual

"No Practice Christmas Pageant!"

See details below...

Also we'll have special music from Glenn Smeaton's brass & woodwind ensemble!

Sunday, December 18th During Worship We Will Enjoy Our annual "No Practice Christmas Pageant!"

If you are new to us this year, the "No Practice Christmas Pageant" is exactly as it sounds! After some opening music and lighting the 4th Advent Candle (the candle of Love), we act out the Christmas Story together and sing Christmas hymns and carols. We have costumes for all ages, and it's always fun to play around with this together. Don't worry--direct participation (putting on costumes, etc.) is completely optional! We always need people to just be the "townspeople of Bethlehem," who sing along and read some unison parts that are projected on the screens. It's a fun and festive time and a blast to get a bit silly together. Don't miss this!!

Wednesday, December 21

6 - 7 pm

Winter Solstice Fire Ceremony

As many of you know, throughout the past year we have been enjoying solstice and equinox fire ceremonies with our friend and Shamanic practitioner Jessica Riphenburg. Once again, we will celebrate the Winter Solstice together in this way. We will share prayers from the Christian tradition and a Shamanic fire ceremony ritual. Since it will be colder for this Winter Solstice celebration, we will limit the ceremony to one hour, and we will have a nice big fire to stand around together! Come join us if you can. You are welcome to bring a lawn chair, but we'll probably be standing as close to the fire as possible.

An Invitation to Share Your Favorite Nativity Sets With Our Congregation...

Still time to bring yours in! Nativity sets are a wonderfully diverse, creative, and inspiring artform . If you have a nativity set that you would enjoy sharing with our church family we would love to see it!

Contact our Worship and Arts Team coordinator Cindy Wendorf (cwendorf@aol.com) and/or Jean Duchrow (jeanduchrow56@gmail.com) if you have any questions about this. There is a table set up in the fellowship area with plenty of room on it for more sets.

Poinsettia Dedications 2022

Deadline Wednesday, December 21, 2022



Donate a poinsettia in honor or memory of someone important to you. We have purchased our poinsettias from the McFarland Lioness, so you'll also be supporting a great community organization!

We have 15 small plants (6 1/2" pots) with a suggested donation of $14 and 5 large plants (8" pots) with a suggested donation of $23. First come, first serve. 

There are 2 payment options: 1. Pay online into the General Fund with a memo "Christmas Flowers" or 2. Pay by check - drop in the offering plate or send it to the church with a memo "Christmas flowers."

Plants will decorate the sanctuary for Advent and Christmas Eve. You may take them home after Christmas Eve worship. Any plants left after worship on January 8 will either be disposed of or brought to shut-ins (if they're in good condition).

Click Here to go to SignUpGenius to reserve a poinsettia.

Saturday, December 24th Christmas Eve

Worship Service

6 pm

(in person and on zoom as always)

https://zoom.us/j/97010988439

Password: betogether

We will gather for our annual Christmas Eve worship at 6 p.m. on the 24th. There will be special music from the brass ensemble, Anne Gerke, Gabe Lemke, and our entire choir will sing together for the first time. Join us and bring your friends and family!

Note: Immediately after the Christmas Eve service we will set up our fellowship area for the Christmas Day Community Meal. If you can stick around for a few minutes and hlp us set up tables that would be great! 

We Will NOT meet for Sunday Morning Worship on Christmas Day!

Community Pot Luck Meal Instead

11 a.m. -- 1 p.m.

Our leadership team decided it would be best to not hold worship on Christmas morning and to encourage you all to enjoy that morning in whatever way you typically do. Thanks to SaLT member Lavor Geasland's wonderful suggestion, our church is going to sponsor a community potluck meal on Christmas Day. See the details below. Thanks to all of you who have volunteered to help host this beautiful event!

Elves Needed for

Community Christmas Potluck

Bring mashed potatoes, prepare a turkey, or slice up a ham (ahead of time)! Volunteers needed to set up, serve, clean up and transport guests. Help us spread some holiday cheer on Christmas Day!



Click here & sign up to be an elf

The UCC Christmas Fund Offering Is Coming Up!

Our congregation has been an enthusiastic "5 for 5" supporter of our denomination's 5 annual offerings. The next one coming up is taken each year during the Christmas season. Checks can be made out to our congregation with "Christmas Fund" in the memo line, or you can donate online by using this link.

(Select Here To Donate)

Thanks to our own member, former interim minister, and retired UCC clergyman Mike Bausch for reminding me of this offering coming up and for submitting the following explanation of what the Christmas Fund Offering is all about!

The Christmas Fund of the Pension Boards United Church of Christ has been caring for active and retired clergy and lay employees of the United Church of Christ for over 100 years, providing emergency grants, supplementation of small annuities and health premiums, and Christmas “Thank You” gift checks each December to our lower-income retirees.

United Church of Christ congregations and members have blessed the Christmas Fund with their generosity for many years. This year, your care and compassion will be especially appreciated by those servants of the church who are facing a time of need. Thank you!

FINANCIAL COMMITTEE NEWS

As we begin our financial planning for 2023 we are once again seeking financial pledges to help us have a sense of what degree of support we can count on in 2023.

An email was sent November 25 titled "A Letter From Our Church's Financial Committee" to everyone who receives the Pulse. This letter is now also on our website under the Donations tab.

Click here to be taken to the Letter and Form.

Link to a fillable PDF of the 2023 Commitment Form.

Please return Commitment Forms to the Financial Secretary via mail or email FinSec@mcfarlanducc.org by January 1, 2023. Thank you for your continued support!

Members of the MUCC Finance Committee

Geoff Brink    Joan Jacobsen    Barb Janoski     Carol Lemke   

Farrel Smith    Sue Haeffner

2023 Sunday Morning Ministries – Kitchen/Hospitality and Ushers

Here’s your opportunity to get involved and support some of the activities for Sunday morning – helping in the kitchen or being an usher. 



Kitchen/Hospitality Ministry Team

Team members are responsible for preparing beverages and snacks to be served prior to and after each worship service. This includes set up and clean up. The time commitment is from 9:15 am to about 11:45 am. The goal is to have a minimum of two individuals assigned each Sunday.

Once a month on the first Sunday, in addition to the usual beverage duties, the Kitchen Team is responsible for setting up and serving cake for our monthly birthday celebration. 

Ushers Ministry Team

The ministry of ushering is an important part of worship because it is one of the most visible ministries in the church. Ushers assist the congregation and pastor by greeting and welcoming all members and guests. They serve a role in ensuring the worship service runs smoothly and the sanctuary offers a place conducive for worship. Ushers also respond to requests and any special needs or accommodations of those in worship. Ushers serve from 9:30-11:15; preference is for 2 persons to greet and usher together

Signup sheets for 2023 are posted on the bulletin board near the front entrance and updated signup lists are now available in Sign Up Genius (under “Contact”) on the church’s website.

Link for Kitchen/Hospitality - For more information contact Joan Jacobsen (kitchen) at treasurer@mcfarlanducc.org

Link for Usher -For more information contact Becky Cohen (usher) at cohenrw@yahoo.com.

Lost and Found Items

-Brown/flower framed glasses

• -Gray Contigo water bottle

-Anytime Fitness water bottle

-XL blue MUCC sweatshirt

Lost & Found bin is located under the coat rack. Thank you!

SaLT Spot (Monthly Highlights From Our Servant and Leadership Team Meeting)

·       SaLT reviewed the great work of the Worship Arts Ministry Team, including the installation of three tracks, which will allow artwork to be hung by hooks. Additional tracks will be installed in the sanctuary.

·       Third Sunday Outreach will focus on the church’s youth programs.

·       MUCC will place an ad in the Thistle for the 6 pm Christmas Eve service and other holiday notices.

·       A review of the annual meeting for Sunday, January 22, 2023 was discussed.

Want to get more involved with MUCC?  Servant and Leadership Team?(SaLT) is seeking a Vice-Moderator for 2023. See any SaLT member for details. SaLT members include Ann Ross (Moderator), Heather Blackmore (Vice-moderator); Joan Jacobsen (treasurer); Diane Mikelbank (clerk); Lavon Geasland, Becky Cohen and Judy Taber (at large members).

A Few Words From Pastor Bryan



Someone asked me this morning how I'm doing emotionally with this holiday season. As the person put it, "How are you? What kind of mood does the Christmas season put you in? Happy? Sad? Quiet? Joyful? And not just the Jesus part. The general mood of the holiday. I know you love the spiritual part..."

I appreciated being asked that question, and I was a bit surprised by my own response. The truth is that for a while, I've not really been all that thrilled with this time of year. Oh yes I love the deeper meanings of the Christmas story. But as far as what happens in our culture this time of year, it often just feels too loaded emotionally, too complicated psychologically, and way too commercialized. All that together has often felt just too heavy at times to me. Not that I don't appreciate all the nostalgia and sentiment and warm family gatherings. I do. And I love all the giving, but I also don't enjoy giving gifts as much when I feel obligated to give them. It usually feels kind of tangled up for me, and I'm also often reluctant to get "too festive" because I don't want to bum out all the people who I know are struggling with losses or grief.

But I feel different this year. Don't get me wrong. I always come around to appreciating most of the beautiful things about this season. But this year feels different to me. I feel somewhat overwhelmed with gratitude and joy, and this morning after being asked that question I wondered why.

And then it hit me. Advent works! The time of preparation. Focusing on Hope, Peace, and Joy, and what those things really mean, and on how to be grounded in those themes as Christmas approaches.

What struck me most is all the ways that these beautiful themes are ultimately about choosing to focus on the "good stuff" rather than on the negative. And all the things my friend asked about--happiness, sadness, quietness, joyfulness--are part of the goodness. They all belong, and this season isn't about any one of them only. It's okay to be sad or introspective. In fact it's wonderful. It's all part of the journey. The fullness of life. There are good reasons for tears sometimes, and it's all part of the gift of being alive and fully human.

Oh I know it's not always that simple, especially when we're in the midst of something extremely painful, or fighting clinical depression or something extraordinarily challenging. But all three of my Advent sermons this year have been about deciding whether or not we really believe what we talk and sing about in church, and about choosing to "put our weight down" on the reality of God's presence and promises--especially when things aren't feeling positive at all.

Well I guess I really can't get away from "the Jesus part." But I'm glad I can't. The simple truth is that this year I'm seeing the Love of Christ everywhere, because I'm looking for it. I'm putting my weight down on it, and it is holding me (and the whole universe!) quite securely. I'm seeing what's already here, what's been with me and us all along, and what's still to come. I'm seeing people being given unexpected blessings when they need them most, and knowing at the moment it happens that it's a kiss from God. I'm seeing people find meaning and hope and reasons to keep their hearts open and to keep risking loving deeply. I'm seeing people reaching out to those who are facing extreme poverty and injustice and trying to help them have a more joyful Christmas and to know they are not alone or forgotten. I'm seeing people question the polarization and angry tone that's been too prevalent in our culture in recent years, and start to look for some different ways of having the conversations we most need to have. I can see God bringing healing and freedom and new life to a lot of people I know. I can see our own faith community growing in depth as well as breadth. It is sacred, and beautiful, and hopeful.

Advent works. This season is full of Love and Light. Christ is with us, and Christ is coming to us. All at the same time. Always. That IS my Story--our Story... and I'm sticking to it! Together with you that is.

I hope to see you at church on Sunday!

Pastor Bryan