FMC Connections - First Mennonite Church Newton

FMC Con n ectionsFIRSTMENNONITECHURCH,NEWTONReflections on Celebr ations by Dewayne PaulsOur Mission is toglorify God:OUR VISION: Together inChrist: rooted deeply, reachingwidely, loving wellOUR MISSION: With Jesusas our center, we are called tobe: Faith-Focused—Growingspiritually, anchored inGod’s love and faithfulness Mission-Minded—Sharinghope and grace throughSpirit-inspired, passiondriven faith in action July/August 2018Volume 28, Issue 7Community-Connected—Worshiping together,welcoming, accepting,encouraging, and invitingall to follow ChristInside this issue:VBS2Outreach, Missions, andPeace Commission7Here aresome ofmy personalreflections onwhat FMC celebrations havedone for me and hopefullyfor the church as well. Someof our church celebrationswere at times when ourchurch was going throughdifficulttimesand weneededreminding ofGod'smany blessings. Many of thecelebrations were closedwith a communion service.The celebrations could nothave been accomplishedwithout the help of many ofyou. It is amazing how manypeople have been a part ofthe hours of planning it takesto have a celebration.“Many Gifts—Same Spirit.”Sunday morning's theme was“God's People are our People” and the evening themewas “We are God's Family.”The Sunday evening meal wasserved by Hope MennoniteChurch.Ourfirstcelebrationwas in1990with the theme of CelebrateGod's Blessings. We learnedto know each other by bringing tools of our trade to useas centerpieces. The themefor the Saturday evening mealwhich was served by theFaith Mennonite Church was“PraiseEvents” washeld in 1993with a largetent in theeast parking lot of the church.The tent was filled to overflowing.In 1991the celebrationwas a reunion ofthe New Directions whichhad been a singing group directed first by Vyron Schmidtand later by Roger Smith,both of who had been youthdirectors of FMC.The Hobby Fair was in 1992during the time we wereworking with outreachthrough the LIFE (Living inFaithful Evangelism) program.Many people filled the basement rooms with their hobbies.Verney Unruh retired in1998. The church celebratedhis retirement.In 2000we celebratedwith“Blessingand Beginnings.”Fun Fest was held in 2002.The community was invitedto share in this event withinflatable rides and games setup in the west parking lot.Over 900 persons attendedthe event on Saturday despitethe 100 degree temperature.Numerous thank you cardswere received from community persons attending.The125thanniversary ofthechurch was celebrated in2003. A bus ride with narration was provided to varioushistorical areas around Newton that had been instrumental in starting FMC. Historical skits were given. Theworship service gave praiseto God for all the blessingsgiven to the church.In 2016 and 2017 severalmini-celebrations were held.The first was celebrating thecompletion of the Nebraskahouse. The evening celebration was held at Son WrayRanch. Another celebrationwas in the form of a serviceproject to the Wichita Food(Continued on page 4)

Page 2FMC ConnectionsVacation Bible School 2018Together In Christ“How good and pleasant it iswhen God’s peoplelive together in unity.”Ps. 133:1Vacation BibleSchool at FirstMennoniteChurch is alwaysa whirlwind ofactivity, and thisyear was no exception!The first group of stations addressed the topic of being“rooted deeply” in Christ. TheParable of the Seed and theSower was told using examplesof the various soils in clay pots.The children planted flowers toOn Friday evening the children,beautify the church as well astheir families, friends, and churchtheir own seeds. They createdmembers enjoyed hot dogs,their own “dirt cup” snackshamburgers, watermelon andcomplete with crushed cookiesfellowship in the church parkingand pudding dirt and gummylot. Shortly after the meal wasworms.finished, many chose to head tothe city pool for an evening ofNext, the childrenfree swimming. It was a wonlearned about variderful way to cool off on a hotous examples ofsummer day.what it means to“love well.” TheOn Saturday the children werepoor traveling vicled through a day of Bible stotim in the Goodries, crafts, and activities cenSamaritan storytered on the theme, “Togethervisited VBS andin Christ,” the key message ofshared how blessed he wasour church logo. Singing songswhen someone finally stopped torelated to the theme started thehelp him. They were encouragedday off right, as well as memoryto think about ways to showwork and an opportunity tolove to those around them. Thelearn about how the logo wasmodern-day story, Enemy Pie,created. The children learnedwas also read and the childrenthat perseverance is an imwrote thank-you notes to someportant attribute; much trial andof the ladies from Casa Bataniaerror went into completing awho were kind enough to prelogo that represented ourpare and serve a delicious lunch.church well. Each participanttie-dyed a white t-shirt which“Reaching widely” is also a parthad the church logo printed onof living together in Christ. Thethe front.VBS kids discussed what thatwould look like in theirschools, neighborhoods, state,country and the world. Theycreated welcome hats afterhearing the story, Mr. Brown’sFantastic Hat, and put togetherMCC Hygiene Kits.As if the day wasn’t eventfulenough, it ended with time forice pops, jumping in thebounce house and watergames on the front lawn. Inaddition to the many activitiestaking place at VBS, the children created original leaves tobe included on a banner representing the logo. The banner will be shared with thecongregation later this summer.Once again, we acknowledge itwould not have been possiblewithout those who volunteered to help out with VBS.Thanks is extended to thosewho donated items, plannedlessons and activities, helpedsupervise children, preparedand served the Friday eveningcook-out and Saturday lunch,and who upheld Vacation BibleSchool in prayer.

Volume 28, Issue 7Page 3July 2018Mon1Casa Betania Service 4PM2Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PMFH reserved 9-10:30AMPrayer Meeting 6:30 PMTue3Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PMWed4Church Office closedThu5Rm 225 reserved 5:30PMFriSat671314Ladies Exercise-FH 7PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PM8Casa Betania Service 4PM9Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PM10Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PM1112Rm 225 reserved 5:30PMFH reserved 9-10:30AMPrayer Meeting 6:30 PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PMChurch Board 7PM——————YOUTH GROUP MISSION ————15Casa Betania Service 4PM16Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PMFH reserved 9-10:30AMPrayer Meeting 6:30 PM17Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PM18Worship Comm. 12Noon19Rm 225 reserved 5:30PM20212728FH/Kitchen reserved 12-6PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PMCaregiving Comm. 7PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PMPrayer Room 7PM reservedProperty Comm. 7PM22Casa Betania Service 4PM23Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PMFH reserved 9-10:30AMPrayer Meeting 6:30 PM24Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PM2526Rm 225 reserved 5:30PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PM29Casa Betania Service 4PM30Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PMFH reserved 9-10:30AMPrayer Meeting 6:30 PM31Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PMAll events must be scheduled in the Church Office and cannot be scheduled more than six months in advance.

Page 4FMC ConnectionsHappy Birthday-JulyIf you see these people, Clay Nye—7/14wish them a HappyMyrna Grochowsky—7/15Birthday!Rhonda Brown—7/16Randall Goering—7/16Paige Weaver—7/2Wendy Funk Schrag—7/16Nancy Pauls—7/3Cora Voran—7/16Ray Franz—7/7Evelyn Smith—7/17Kacie Schmidt—7/7Michael Garcia—7/18Kaven Denno—7/8Evelyn Pankratz—7/18Rebecca Epp—7/8Nancy Entz—7/21Stephanie Brown—7/9 Willis Harder—7/25Donnie Kingsley—7/9 Jackson Hiebert—7/29Janet Regier—7/10Larry Entz—7/30Steven Voth—7/11Pat Litsey—7/31Delora Decker—7/12 Dana Neff—7/31Paul Buller—7/13Bank. In March wecelebrated ourdiversity of talentswith music andsharing ofour hobbies and crafts. An AugustSunday was spent with a Children'sDay celebration. Youth participated in the morning worship. In theafternoon there were games for thechildren and the evening was spentwith hay rack rides and a cookoutat the Don Horst farm.Our most recent celebration was atCamp Mennoscah. The followingare some reflections of personswho attended.“I have often wished that ourchurch would have such a weekendretreat at the camp. This weekendwas truly such a time of celebrationfor me. To see so many peoplefrom our congregation come together for Saturday and Sunday wasvery special.”“The day was a large success, memorable and a gift to our congrega-Remember to pray for each other!Happy Ann iversary-JulyChuck & Bev Regier—7/2Brody & Haleigh Machmer—7/2Ken & Neva Frey—7/6Ryan & Angela Nye—7/11John & Jan Sommer—7/12Randy & Lynnette Doty—7/14Marvin & Carol Gerbrand—7/14Nathan & Marissa Murphy—7/26Ken & Amy Regier—7/30tion in the midst of other challenges.”“I think the weekend came at such animportant time for our congregation.We have been through a lot, and thetime at Camp Mennoscah was a respite from it all—a time of enjoyingeach other and God's creation and thegift of faith with the baptisms.”“To worship the Lord at a placewhere so many of our youth havefound their faith in the Lord was sucha blessing for me. To see the range ofage from [the littlest ones] to a few ofthe ones from the oldest SundaySchool class all enjoying God's greatoutdoors was pretty fantastic.”“Worshiping outdoors has a wholedifferent atmosphere. It was a veryenjoyable and relaxing time and conversation comes easily.”the really delicious andthoughtfullypreparedmeals. Thehomemade pies were simply amazing.”“How are we going to top thisone!”Many enjoyed being able to visitwith persons whom they don't getto visit with very often.The baptism and worship waslisted as a highlight. Being a part ofthe baptism at the river togetheras a church family was special.“Amid conflict whether great orsmall, do not be discouraged, Godis over all. Count your manyblessings, name them one by one,and it will surprise you what theLord has done.”--from the song“Count Your Blessings.”“It was our first time at Camp Mennoscah and our first time camping as afamily! The campground was amazing.Our kids’ favorite part was the riverand the pool, but they also really lovedthe big campfire and all the fun activiGod has truly been and continuesties with their friends. I appreciatedto be good to us at FMC.

Volume 28, Issue 7Page 5August 2018MonTueWed1Thu2Sanctuary reserved 8:30AMFriSat34101117182425Rm 225 reserved 5:30PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PM5Casa Betania Service 4PM6Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PMFH reserved 9-10:30AMLadies Exercise-FH 7PM7Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PM8Worship Comm. 7PM9Rm 225 reserved 5:30PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PMChurch Board 7PM12Casa Betania Service 4PM13Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PMFH reserved 9-10:30AMLadies Exercise-FH 7PM19Casa Betania Service 4PM20Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PM14Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PM1516Rm 225 reserved 5:30PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PM21Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PM22Ladies Exercise-FH 7PM23Rm 225 reserved 5:30PMLadies Exercise-FH 7PMCaregiving Comm. 7PMProperty Comm. 7PM26Casa Betania Service 4PM27Rm 225 reserved 6:15 PMWorship in the ParkNo Sunday SchoolLadies Exercise-FH 7PM28Rm 224-225 reserved5:30PM2930Rm 225 reserved 5:30PM31Ladies Exercise-FH 7PMAll events must be scheduled in the Church Office and cannot be scheduled more than six months in advance.