May 5 - 12, 2023

"I will put my teaching in their minds and write it on their hearts..."
Jeremiah 31:33
mcfarlanducc.org

--- Calendar of Upcoming Events ---

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

SUNDAY Morning, 10 am Zoom Worship

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

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

https://zoom.us/j/262314649

MONDAY - FRIDAY, 8 am Morning Devotion

https://zoom.us/j/94276813637

WEDNESDAY Eve., 6:30 pm Midweek Inhale Spiritual Practices

https://zoom.us/j/123020606

Below are the upcoming events on the calendar that are not weekly. 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.

Saturday, May 6 9:00 – 11:00am, Meet and Greet Harriet and Andrea, Fellowship Space

Saturday, May 6 8:00am – 12:00pm, Spring Clean Up (Inside & Outside) with lunch to follow


Sunday, May 7 5:30 – 7:00pm, Teen Youth Meeting with Lake Edge UCC (in person)


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


Sunday, May 14 6:30-7:30 pm, Confirmation Class Meeting


Tuesday, May 16 6:30 – 7:30pm, Green Team Meeting (In person & Online) Multipurpose room


Thursday, May 18 6:30 – 7:00pm, NION Monthly Meeting (Online only)

News at McFarland UCC

MUCC Spring Clean Up 2023

Saturday, May 6th, 8:00-12:00

(Rain Date is May 13th, Same Time)

Lunch at Noon


 Feel free to bring any tools that you would like to use for these tasks.


Inside:

  • Clean windows.
  • Touch up paint on walls.
  • Remove spider webs.
  • Steam clean sanctuary chairs.


 Outside:

  • Clean windows.
  • Trim trees/bushes.
  • Cut down dead trees in our woods and clean up.
  • Pick up sticks from yard and rake where needed.
  • Spread black dirt/seed/straw cover.
  • Stain shed and paint garage door.
  • Remove Christmas lights from pine tree.
  • Put out lawn furniture (swing, picnic table).


Come enjoy the fellowship and help us clean things up. Come for whatever portion of this you can.

Meet and Greet -

Harriet and Andrea Are Coming!

Our McFarland UCC community has had the delightful opportunity to get to see and know Harriet Taylor and Andrea Burgard of Silver Spring, Maryland when they began to attend worship, Bible study, and morning devotions via Zoom.


All are invited to attend a “Meet and Greet” with Harriet and Andrea on Saturday, May 6, 9 am – 11 am in the church fellowship space. Refreshments will be served. Stop by and say hello.


Harriet and Andrea will be attending worship on Sunday, May 7 to participate in all of Sunday’s activities, including Bible study and becoming members during worship.


If you have any questions about Harriet and Andrea’s visit in May, feel free to contact either Joan Jacobsen (608-669-7944) or Julie Woodward (608-669-7844).

Change in SaLT Leadership

The Servant and Leadership Team (SaLT) would like to share with everyone that the team has undergone a change in leadership. Heather Blackmore, who was serving as this year’s Moderator, stepped down due to personal reasons and Colleen Krattiger agreed to assume this position for the remainder of Heather’s term. Colleen was already serving in a SaLT ‘Member At Large’ position for this year’s term and the decision was made to leave her position open for the remainder of this year. Colleen was the MUCC Moderator in 2021 and as a result, we believe she will be able to seamlessly transition into this leadership role. Should anyone have questions or concerns about this change, please feel free to touch base with Pastor Bryan or any member of the leadership team.

Green Team Book Read -

Speak with the Earth and it Will Teach You by Daniel Cooperrider



Memorial UCC in Fitchburg has invited MUCC to join them in book discussions. 


Please join us in reading this book. “It is not enough appreciated how much of an outdoor book the Bible is,” wrote author Wendell Berry. Author Daniel Cooperrider illustrates his point with beautiful narrative- - like a stroll through the woods - - Speak with the Earth analyzes the Bible’s treatment of nature and intersperses this analysis with the author's own reflections on experiences in nature. 


Daniel Cooperrider is a local UCC Pastor.

You can read his bio here - https://www.danielcooperrider.com/bio.

You can see a trailer on this book here - https://youtu.be/5VLET7Rrltg 



Book discussions

Rivers -Sunday, May 7 at 11:30 ish at Lake Farm County Park, Madison

Mountains - Wednesday, May 17 at 6:30 at Memorial UCC, Fitchburg

Trees - Wednesday, May 31 at 6:30 at McFarland UCC, McFarland

Clouds - Wednesday, June 14 at 6:30 location TBD

Enneagram Personality Presentation Now Available on McFarland UCC Website

On Tuesday, March 28th Steve Davidson did an Enneagram Personality Presentation. The recording of the evening's program and the handouts and PowerPoint slides used are all available on the McFarland UCC website.

A Few Words From Pastor Bryan


...And Valerie Kaur


As an Enneagram type two, I know I am hardwired and predisposed to value love above just about everything. So there's that...

But it is also true that the Bible tells us that "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). Additionally, it tells us that when Jesus was asked to pretty much sum up the entire focus of Scripture, he said, "Love God with all your mind, heart, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31). In other words, the Divine message to humankind really is all about Love. I would add Truth as another core pillar of biblical faith. Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:32) Love and Truth. If we embrace and embody Love and Truth, we will always be on the right track. A Spirit-centered track. We will, even with our inevitable missteps and detours, always be on the way to solutions rather than deepening divisions and exacerbating problems. We will always be connected to the heart of God and empowered by the Spirit of God.


As we all know, love is a word that also often gets tossed around rather loosely. So much so that it can lose its meaning. That's why when I'm talking about the Love that is the very essence of our faith tradition, I'm referring to the kind of love Jesus taught and lived out so powerfully. It's the kind of love that is extended to everyone and everything--including one's most ruthless opponents, and including those who have hurt us the most. And also, always, to ourselves as well. Yes I know, this kind of Love is challenging and costly. In fact it is downright impossible to live this out unless it is the Spirit of God offering this Love in and through us.


This past week in our Morning Zoom Devotions I shared some quotes from an amazing book by a very powerful young human rights attorney and activist named Valerie Kaur. Valerie comes from the Sikh religious tradition. It is a beautiful religion, and thanks to our own Martha Olsen, we are in touch as a congregation with the Sikh Temple in Madison. We're hoping to develop an ongoing partnership with this Sikh community and designate a Sunday this summer during which a number of folks from our church will go to their temple on a Sunday to worship with them and enjoy a meal afterward.


But back to Love. Valerie Kaur's book focuses on what she refers to as "Revolutionary Love." Followers of the Jesus we embrace will recognize the teachings of Jesus present at the heart of Revolutionary Love, even though Valerie does not connect them directly to Jesus. She bases them on the Love that is at the heart of all major religious traditions.


I think this Divine Revolutionary Love is what this fractured but beautiful world of ours needs more than anything else at this point in history. I have grown accustomed to people saying things like, "Yeah, well, love is nice and all that. But love will never be taken seriously in the so-called real world. Don't be naive. You've got to be realistic."


I have reached a point in my journey at which I'm just not buying that anymore. Love IS realistic. Love IS pragmatic. In fact it is the only "force" or energy that is strong and deep enough to transform human hearts and to restore a commitment to the common good and the well-being of the earth. Hatred, greed, and ego are what do not "work." Revolutionary Love is the only thing that that gives me hope, and that I know has the power to bring the world more into alignment with God's Dream and Intention.


So let's Pledge to be about Revolutionary Love together. Nothing else has the "soul force" needed to heal and unite the world, and nothing else is worthy of our best gifts and deepest allegiance.


I've posted Valerie's "Declaration of Revolutionary Love" from her website below. I love it.


Hope to gather in this Spirit of Revolutionary Love with you all this Sunday, and every Sunday.


Truth and Love,


Pastor Bryan



Valerie Kaur's, "The Declaration of

Revolutionary Love"


We pledge to rise up in Revolutionary Love.


We declare our love for all who are in harm’s way — refugees, immigrants, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, queer and trans people, Black people, Indigenous people, Asian Americans, Latinx people, the disabled, women and girls, working-class people and poor people. We vow to see one another as brothers, sisters, and siblings. Our humanity binds us together, and we vow to fight for a world where all of us can flourish.


We declare love even for our opponents.  We oppose all policies that threaten the rights and dignity of any person. We vow to fight not with violence or vitriol, but by challenging the cultures and institutions that promote hate. In this way, we will challenge our opponents through the ethic of love.


We declare love for ourselves. We will protect our capacity for joy. We will rise and dance. We will honor our ancestors whose bodies, breath, and blood call us to a life of courage. In their name, we choose to see this darkness not as the darkness of the tomb – but of the womb. We will breathe and push through the pain of this era to birth a new future.

608-838-9322 
5710 Anthony St.
McFarland WI 53558
mcfarlanducc.org
-
Pastor Bryan Sirchio
608-577-8716
Follow Us
Facebook  Twitter  Instagram  
Visit our website