Newsweekly 8/24/14

Newsweekly 8/24/14

Local Events

1. Pass the Peace: a benefit meal at Bowl of Good on Port Republic Road on Thursday, August 28, from 5-8 pm. Enjoy a meal for just $10 (including drink and dessert) while supporting the local non-profit Fairfield Center! Hope to see you there! For questions, please contact Lorie Merrow at 540-434-0059 or lorie@fairfieldcenter.org.
2. Ten Thousand Villages Harrisonburg Looking for Volunteers: Are you interested in volunteering in your community? Learning and spreading the word about FAIR TRADE? Come to our Volunteer Interest Meeting at 181 S. Main Street Harrisonburg, VA 22801, from 6 to 7 on Wednesday, August 27^th. Refreshments provided! Those who attend receive a Ten Thousand Villages coupon! If you cannot attend or want more information, please stop by our store or contact our Volunteer Coordinator at Harrisonburg@tenthousandvillages.com
3. You are invited to a delicious Ethiopian fundraising meal hosted by NEW (Nurturing and Encouraging Women) at Lindale Mennonite Church from 5:30 –7:00 PM on Friday, September 12.  With Ethiopian women as its focus, NEW supports efforts in evangelism, counseling, education, healthcare, poverty and hunger reduction and small business development.  RSVP to Leanne Benner at (540) 432-9064 or benbiz29@aol.com
4. Williamsburg Mennonite Church is holding a Fall Festival on Saturday, September 6, beginning at 8am. A variety of baked goods, food, plants, crafts, furniture, tools, jewelry, clothing & toys will be available. Come find a treasure! The proceeds are going towards the replacement of the church's roof. The church is located at 7800 Croaker Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188, between Route 60 and I-64. If you have something you'd like to donate, or need more information, contact office@williamsburgmennonitechurch.org or 757.566.3026.
5. Evening, once-a-month and online classes at Eastern Mennonite Seminary: Want to learn more about spiritual direction, trauma healing, youth ministry, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the New Testament, Mennonite History or the psychology behind religion? Courses on all of the above topics are offered this fall. Email semadmiss@emu.edu or visit emu.edu/seminary/courses/fall <http://emu.edu/seminary/courses/fall>  for more information.
6. A conference connected to a denomination provides opportunity for a regional group of congregations to engage in local missions. This happens as we engage in a unified corporate expression of being God’s hands, feet and voice on matters that are important to the Kingdom of God.  As Virginia Mennonite Conference approaches the end of the fiscal year with a deficit, please consider a gift by August 31 to help support the Conference mission so that we can end our fiscal year well.
7. Otterbein United Methodist Church will be holding a Divorce Recovery Workshop open to anyone in the community who is separated, in the process of divorce or in the process of adjusting to a divorce.  The workshop offers these persons a safe, loving and open place to go where others will listen if they want to share and try to understand. The ten-week sessions will be held 7-9 p.m. every Monday from 8 September – 10 November.  It is free of charge.   Registration will be held during the first two weeks and childcare is provided. The church is located of the corner of W. Market and High Sts in Harrisonburg.  To pre-register OR for more information call Otterbein at 434-7747.
8. Love to ride in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley? Save the date for Saturday, September 20, and join the 17th annual Bike Shenandoah. Choose one of five rides for all ages and abilities, and support the work of seven local and regional agencies! Learn more and register at bikeshenandoah.org <http://www.bikeshenandoah.org/>.
9. Cherith Fee Nordling will give four presentations in Harrisonburg on the theme "Being Human, Becoming Christian: an embodied reconciliation of heaven and earth," September 15-17. Is our embodied humanity a temporary curse or permanent, glorious reality? Does salvation seem to imply getting out of our bodies, or is it about finally being at home in our bodies and getting to be truly human forever? Too often, Christians are deeply ambivalent, or silent, about our embodied lives and whether they really matter in the end. Ironically, if we take Jesus’ humanity seriously, then we will begin to see that “in the end” God’s gift and goal is to give us our truly human, truly sexual, truly Christian lives back, then and now!   The four events are: a public presentation on Monday, Sept. 15, Park View Mennonite Church, 7:00 pm, a Pastors’ Breakfast:* Tuesday, Sept. 16, Fireplace Room at Park View Mennonite Church, 7:30 am (*RSVP to Sarah Showalter at sarah.showalter@vmmissions.org or (540) 434-9727 by Sept. 11 if you plan to attend.), a Seminary Chapel: Tuesday, Sept. 16, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, 11:00 am, and an EMU Undergraduate Chapel: Wednesday, Sept. 17, Lehman Auditorium, 10:00 am. Cherith Fee Nordling is Associate Professor of Theology at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.
10. Aging With Grace – Equipping Churches for Senior Ministry in the Age of the Baby Boomer” is an ecumenical, non-denominational Ministry event for Pastors, Chaplains and Church Lay Leaders. This Event will cover Medical, Spiritual, Financial and Aging-related issues – for the broadest possible attraction to Church leaders. The wide-open Religious spectrum represented by the Virginia Council of Churches attracts a diverse Spiritual audience. This one-day event will bring together over 200 Church Leaders from all over Central Virginia with one overall purpose; Equip Churches to better serve the Senior population of their church membership. Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 9 am -2 pm at Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center, Glen Allen, VA. For more information and register at http://www.vacouncilofchurches.org/
11. Looking for missional church resourcing with an Anabaptist perspective? Join us for the “Church and Post-Christian Culture” Conference, Sept. 19-20, in Carlisle, Pa., at Carlisle Brethren in Christ Church. Speakers include Anton Flores, Greg Boyd and Nelson Okanya.  Jesus, community and mission are the broad themes for plenaries and breakouts. Mennonite Church USA is a partnering denomination. Contact Skip Tobin for details regarding travel and hotel details at skip.tobin@vmmissions.org or (540) 434-9727 • (800) 707-5535. Learn more and register at missioalliance.org/event/church-after-christendom-christian-witness-in-the-way-of-jesus/ <http://www.missioalliance.org/event/church-after-christendom-christian-witness-in-the-way-of-jesus/>
12. It began over three decades ago. With a simple act of healing, a church movement burst forth in Nepal! Join Global Disciples for dinner on September 22 at 6:30 p.m. at VMRC’s Detwiler Auditorium to hear how God used this simple act of healing to ignite a phenomenal church movement that has transformed thousands of lives!Register online at GlobalDisciples.org or contact Laura at(717) 290-7550. A free-will offering will be taken.
13. The annual Harrisonburg churches CROP walk to raise funds for Church World Service’s program’s to combat hunger around the world will take place September 28, Sunday at 2 pm starting from Muhlenberg Lutheran Church in Harrisonburg.  This is a great activity for a family, Sunday School class or small group.  Even if you do not have persons to donate money for your walk it is a good way to educate people about hunger in the world and CWS’s programs to feed the hungry.  Some of the money raised will go to local agencies such as People helping People and the Refugee Resettlement Program.
14. The Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale will be October 3-4 at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg. The relief sales offers a little bit of everything—quilts, artwork, homemade food, antiques, crafts, music and activities for the whole family. We hope you’ll join us! Proceeds go to the work of Mennonite Central Committee. Keep collecting for Penny Power and consider matching your church’s total! Watch the new video from VMM on this year's Penny Power projects at vmmissions.org/support/penny-power/ <http://vmmissions.org/support/penny-power/>   Learn more about the sale at vareliefsale.com <http://www.vareliefsale.com/>
15. The Walk for Our Community Place will be October 18 at 9 am. Walk options are a 10K or 10 blocks. This Walk is a way for the community to help Our Community Place in its mission to promote personal growth and community well-being in the Harrisonburg area.
16. EMU Fitness Center has a Fall Membership Special! Get a three-month membership (Community Members-$55; Discounted Members*-$45). Offer expires September 30, 2014. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Specials cannot be “stacked.” Membership valid for three months from date of purchase. *Includes senior citizens, high school students, pastors, EMU alumni, retirees, dependents, spouses
17. “Black Mennonite Women Rock” Retreat: Sept. 12-14, 2014 at Camp Friedenswald, Cassopolis, Mich., hosted by Central District Conference. Women of all races and faith expressions are invited to be part of a weekend of upbeat worship, classic camp activities and exciting discussions of faith, race and identity—celebrating Anabaptist-Mennonite faith through an African-American cultural style. See www.mennoniteusa.org/central-district-conference-hosts-black-mennonite-women-rock/. Register now at www.friedenswald.org or 269-476-9744. Financial aid is available, and women age 25 and under are invited to come at no cost.

VMM Prayer Request:

August 24:

Please pray for Grace & Yugo Prasetyo and their ministry in Indonesia. Pray for their team as they adjust to the absence of long-time member, Lena. Ask for God’s comfort to be with Lena and her family as they deal with her mother’s health challenges.