Did you know??? An update of the ministry of Hesston Mennonite Church January 18, 2015

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1 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Galatians 5:22-23 An update of the ministry of Hesston Mennonite Church January 18, 2015 Annual Business Meeting Jan 25 Some important decisions need to be made regarding: Affirming nominees for Council and Commission leadership roles Our annual budget Financial giving policies Student financial aid Our role as a congregation in relation to Mennonite Church USA You have opportunity to be part of the process by attending the 2015 Annual Business Meeting on Sunday, January 25 in the community center following the MYF Potato Bar fundraiser lunch. Your voice is important in shaping the vision and mission of Hesston Mennonite Church. The Anabaptist Vision and Discipleship Series (AVDS) conference is Feb at Hesston College, "Overcoming Evil: Ordinary People Making a Difference." Keynote speaker Father John Dear, internationally known voice for peace and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will lead participants to understand Biblical foundations for justice and the peace of Jesus to overcome the evil common to us all. Hesston Mennonite Church is an AVDS sponsor, which provides the discounted $35 registration fee to any HMC participant. Additional information/registration at or call Registration brochures are in your mailbox or register on-line. Nationally recognized artist Ted Swartz of Ted & Co. TheatreWorks brings the scriptures alive in "I'd Like to Buy an Enemy," a hilarious and poignant satire that explores peace, justice and the American way. The play is part of the 2015 Anabaptist Vision and Discipleship Series (AVDS), Sat., February 14 at 7 p.m., Hesston Mennonite Church. Tickets are $12 or free with conference registration. MYF Potato Bar Lunch Jan 25 Plan to attend the Sunday noon MYF Potato Bar Lunch in the community center immediately following worship. The meal is by donation toward MYF participation at Mennonite Church USA youth convention this summer in Kansas City Did you know??? Know Jesus 2015, is a weekend retreat for Jr. High (6 th 8 th grade) students to worship together and learn more about their Anabaptist roots. Organized by Western District and South Central Conference Youth Ministry Committee, it will be hosted by Hesston College and Hesston Mennonite Church January 31-February 1, Medicines to Honduras - Many thanks to the Hesston Mennonite Church family for donating medicines for Clinica Esperanza. Our daughter Erin has been working with the clinic since October 15, and when we went to visit over Christmas, we collected about 100 pounds of vitamins and medicines for the clinic. We, along with Tara Hershberger, flew to Roatán on December 14 delivering three suitcases of medicines collected by church members to visit Erin and support her volunteer work at the clinic. In addition to seeing the clinic, we joined the founder, Miss Peggy to deliver children s vitamins to the east side of the island. Along the way, we visited an iguana farm, four other clinics, the only hospital on the island, and remote Garifuna communities. Erin also took us snorkeling in the coral reef, a glass-bottom boat, a dolphin show, and an exotic flower garden. JD was unable to join the family for the trip due to his service in Denver being very busy just before Christmas, but he is planning to visit Erin in March. Please continue to pray for Erin and JD as they represent our church in ministries far from home. Del and Michele Hershberger Hesston Mennonite Church A community of God s people, seeking and following the way of Christ, experiencing and sharing the good news of healing and hope. 1

2 2 Dorcas Circle Thursday, February 5, :00 a.m. 3:00 p.m. Education Hall 9-11:30 a.m. A variety of work projects. 11:30 a.m. Devotions Rae King Lunch 1-3:00 p.m. More activities Meal: Sloppy Joes provided. Dorcas is going GREEN Bring your own table service. Hostess: Jan Diller Project: Hesston Resource Center An offering will be taken for the Harvey County Safe House. Come all or part of the day. We invite you to come chat, encourage each other, sing, work, pray and eat together. Congratulations! Benjamin Myron Klassen arrived on January 9. Parents are Kyle and Courtney Klassen of Highlands Ranch, CO. Grandparents are Myron and Shelley Klassen Gratitude Statement Thank you to whomever returned my coat! New in the Church Library Welcome to Iran Beyond All Dreams At Home in Last Chance Where Courage Calls Harvey County Homeless Shelter Maria Day E & W Shellenberger Elizabeth Camden Cathleen Armstrong Janet Oke Volunteer Training Dates January 22 February 10 and 26 March 10 and 26 6:30 p.m. at the Shelter, 900 West Broadway, Building 7, Newton, KS Rural Ministry Seminar - Jan 24 8 a.m. - noon at Whitestone Mennonite Church This seminar is presented by expert S. Roy Kaufman, M.Div., retired pastor and author of Healing God s Earth: Rural Community in the Context of Urban Civilization, and will explore the unique mission of the church in a rural context. Includes are lecture, case studies, discussion groups, and a catered lunch. Registration: NO FEE contact the Hesston Mennonite Church office by January 8 so we know numbers attending from HMC. AMBS-Kansas Center, in conjunction with Central Plains Mennonite Conference and Western District Conference are hosting the event. See for more information. Club 56 Club 56 (5 th and 6 th graders) begins its 2015 schedule on January 21 with supper at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Center along with the SHINE! participants. Following supper they will move to the education hall basement for additional activities. Future meeting dates are: Feb 4, Mar 4 and 18, Apr 1, 15 and 29 and May 13. Ron LeFevre is providing leadership for this group. An Opportunity to Serve Locally Our family recently had the opportunity to help Marla Schmidt who is associated with EWARM (Episcopal Wichita Area Refugee Ministry) set up an apartment for a refugee family. It takes a lot! Furniture, kitchen items, linens had all been gathered, along with bath soap and toothbrushes, etc. And that needs to be done for each group that comes in. I began wondering whether we could notify area churches and ask if people who are downsizing might be willing to donate those kinds of things. But in order for that to work, we would need two or three teams of folks with pickups or vans who would be willing to go and get things, then transport them to Wichita. If you would be willing to be part of such a team, please call Bev Wiebe, Elder Minutes December 4, 2014 Meeting was opened in prayer by Julie Lehman. Devotions were led by Leo Schmidt from stories from church history book. We prayed together at the end of his sharing. Minutes from previous meeting were reviewed and accepted Elders meeting upcoming schedule: No meeting on Dec 18 and no meeting on Jan 1. Will meet next on January 15. Darren is also writing an elders report for the year to be shared at the annual business meeting. Darren will us this report for our review and comments. Pastor report Clayton: Clayton is going to meet with the youth about the letter from leadership on the topic of discussion on difficult issues. Plan is to discuss this as a group and then attend the meeting during the Sunday school hour. Spent time discussing his report. Pastor report Amy: Reviewed report. Pastor report John: Reviewed report. Discussed our thoughts and feelings about John's time on sabbatical. Several ideas about the past, present, and future were discussed. Galatians 5:22. Forum reflections and preparation for upcoming forums. Spent time discussing the first forum on difficult conversations. Spent time talking about things we can do differently in the next two, and what we are hearing. Closed meeting with prayer. Jay Unruh recording in touch is published 1 st and 3 rd Sundays monthly items should be in the church office by noon Wednesday prior to publication. 309 S Main.Hesston.KS Telephone hesstonmc@hesstonmc.org. Website:

3 Coming Soon to Hesston Mennonite While the first offering of adult elective Sunday school classes is underway, the next set of classes will be starting March 8. Here is a listing of what is upcoming. More information and possibly another class offering will be shared in the next In Touch. The Sermon on the Mount and the Plain for the 21 st Century Shape Knowing Your Spiritual Gifts Faith Stories Persons sharing their faith development stories Simply in Season celebrating eating local Strengthening the Marriage Relationship Kansas Mennonite Disaster Service News Kansas Mennonite Disaster Service s annual business meeting is being hosted by Hesston Mennonite Church on January 18 th in the Community Center at 2 pm. Come learn what the Kansas MDS Unit has done in 2014 and meet the board members. Following are excerpts from a letter that was sent out by Jordan Miller, KMDS board chair: Friends of MDS: The Kansas MDS Unit currently owns, operates and maintains the following equipment: 1995 Ford Van, 1998 Ford Van, 2003 Ford Truck. It was suggested in the fall of 2013 that a van replacement fund be started to replace one or both of the vans currently in our fleet. Both vans have 190,000 miles on them and have been very well maintained and are currently used to transport volunteers to various locations in the United States & Canada. Since we started keeping track in 2004, these vans have been driven a total of 179,791 miles and have transported 1,185 volunteers. Over the past decade, time that volunteers have donated is valued at around a million dollars. We are actively seeking funding for the replacement of either van to help us continue the ministry that the Kansas Mennonite Disaster Service Unit has been a part of since It is wonderful to have persons share the vision of providing reliable equipment for transporting our valuable volunteers to the various work sites. Current funds will be used to replace the second van (first van has been purchased). Your participation in this endeavor is greatly appreciated. Checks may be written to Hesston Mennonite Church, designated for MDS Van Replacement Fund or written to Kansas MDS with the van fund designation. If you wish, your donation can be given directly to me, or placed in the VAN BANK in the church foyer, or mailed to KMDS, 312 N. Main St., Hesston, KS Thank you. Don Horst, KMDS Treasurer Church Council Minutes January 8, 2015 Sharing: Pat Miller read some of her favorite sayings, quotes and verses from her daily calendar. This time was closed by the group praying the Lord s Prayer. Agenda: Issues for Council Discernment 2014 Financial Budget Review Gerry Selzer reported that the 2014 budget income totaled $704,666, and the expenses totaled $685,708. There were a few line items which had funds that were not spent, and those dollars were not transferred to their corresponding reserve fund. This leaves $18,958 remaining that could be spent on some Outreach transfers to external agencies that have not yet happened. There are six agencies to which the full budgeted amount has not been sent, and two agencies to which we have not sent any funds. The amount not funded equals $25,031, $7,073 more than the amount still available to give. Council discussed options for handling this: The recommendation from the Finance Commission is to reduce the gifts to the external agencies. In choosing this option, we take responsibility for not meeting our budget. Following discussion, Gerry Selzer moved that we reduce the transfers to the external agencies by the appropriate amount to meet the 2014 budget. Ken Rodgers seconded. Following discussion, all voted in favor. Council discussed options for how to make this reduction. Ken Rodgers moved that funds be given as budgeted to the two agencies that have not received anything yet, and that the reduction be taken from the six agencies that were not fully funded. Pat Miller seconded. All voted in favor. Debt Reduction Ted Stuckey reported that the congregation gave $878,000 in 2014 in total giving, compared to $836,000 in In 2014, $111,000 was received for debt reduction, compared to $53,000 in It was suggested that this generosity of the congregation be celebrated at the Annual Meeting. In 2014 huge steps were taken to lower our indebtedness by $300,000. Council discussed the possibility of launching a challenge to have the debt paid in three years. We also need to begin thinking about what we want to do when the mortgage is paid, envisioning about what comes next Budget Proposal Ted Stuckey reviewed several changes in the proposed budget. Two major areas that have significant changes are the mortgage payments and the Outreach budget. Outreach will be affected by how designated gifts are handled under the new Giving Policy. All designated gifts will be above budget. The proposed budget is reduced from $721,000 in 2014 to $691,200 in Gerry Selzer moved to accept the 2015 proposed budget as written to recommend to the congregation at the Annual Meeting. Kent Rychener seconded. Discussion followed regarding the elimination of funds in the Pastoral Internship line item. To allow for the possibility of having a pastoral intern, the $1,500 could be added back in the budget, reducing the Contingency line item. The group again discussed the possibility of a congregational debt reduction challenge and envisioning process. Gerry amended his motion, moving to accept the 2015 proposed budget to recommend to the congregation 3

4 at the Annual Meeting with the addition of $1,500 to the Pastoral Internship line item and reduction to the Contingency line item by that amount. He also moved that we work towards the goal of paying off the debt within three years and beginning the envisioning process for post-debt congregational life and calling. All voted in favor. MCUSA Convention/Delegates to KC John Murray reported that MCUSA is requesting that we identify delegates earlier than usual so that they can do some preconvention work with them. John reviewed the responsibilities of delegates. If any Council members are interested, let John know. He will follow up with the Elders as well. Gifts Discernment John Murray reported that the following persons are open to serving on Church Council beginning in February: Phil Diller, Vice Chair; Kendra Alison, Member at Large; Mitch Stutzman, Worship. These names will be announced to the congregation two weeks prior to the Annual Congregational Meeting with an affirmation vote taken at that meeting. The Commission is still working to fill the Secretary and Fellowship & Service positions. Darlene Buller, Recording Secretary Upcoming Area Events Now- Hesston College s Regier Friesen Gallery Feb 20 Emporia State University art professor Stephanie Lanter communicates connection through sculptures in her show titled Connectivities. Regier Freisen Gallery is located in the Friesen Center for the Visual Arts and is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mon-Fri. Jan 18 Kansas Mennonite Disaster Service Annual Meeting 2:00 p.m., Hesston Mennonite Church community center. Come join us as we review activities from the last year and highlight projects in our region. Questions? Contact Jordan Miller or Jordan@millerconstruction.org. Freedom Riders 3-4:30 p.m. Krehbiel Auditorium, Bethel College, N Newton. A suspenseful film that documents the mob attacks on black and white volunteer seeking to integrate interstate transportation during the summer of Discussion led by Dr. Gretchen Eick retired professor of history, Friends University, Wichita. Reflections by Dr. Galyn Versey project director, Research on Black Wichita who participated in the 1958 Wichita Dockum Drug Store sit-in. Jan 21 "Beat the Winter Blues" 5:30-8:00 p.m. at Hesston High School. Everyone is welcome to this FREE community-wide event. Includes a free meal served by the Hesston Area Senior Center, performances by the HHS Jazz Band, Brazilian Blues Band, A Terra Plana and the Hesston College Gospel Choir. There will be visiting and fun throughout the evening. You are even encouraged to bring a fun or crazy winter scarf to trade at the "scarf tree". Sponsored by the Hesston Inter-generational Committee with a grant from the Hesston Community Foundation. Come out and join us for all or part of a fun evening! Jan. 24 An introduction to Centering Prayer 3-5:30 p.m., Agape Center in the Richert House on the Bethel College campus. Leader is Laurinda Wade, Wichita, spiritual director and Centering Prayer retreat leader. Centering Prayer is drawn from an ancient form of Christian prayer that involves silence and contemplation. Free workshop--please contact Nathan Koontz, 2nathankoontz@gmail.com; Melanie Zuercher, mzuercher@bethelks.edu; or Karen Andres, davidkaren@powwwer.net. (For help locating Agape Center at Richert House, see Jan 26 Dyck Arboretum of the Plains-2015 Winter Lecture Series 6:30 p.m. with Roy J. Beckemeyer speaking about "Buried Treasure under the Prairie". The lecture will take place in the Prairie Pavilion, with a soup supper preceding it at 6 p.m. in the Visitor's Center. The cost of the lecture is $2 per person, or supper and the lecture is $7. Interested persons should call by noon on Friday before the Monday lecture for supper reservations. Jan 31 Transportation Annual Kansas Day Celebration - Kauffman Museum 11 a.m. presentation by Amelia Earhart historical interpreter Ann Birney, Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center (free); noon, special Kansas Day luncheon in Schultz Student Center cafeteria (no ticket required for children 4 and under); 1-4 p.m., craft and educational activities in and around the museum (free). If interested in the luncheon, Andi Schmidt Andres at asa@bethelks.edu or call her Tues.-Fri. at Wonderful Music is Coming! Musicians and choirs are coming from many parts of the world to be part of "PA 2015" this summer in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. "It's the closest to heaven I've ever been," is an often-heard comment from many who have attended past Mennonite World Conference global Assemblies. If you have not yet registered to attend this event on your own continent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many please consider doing so today. For full information and registration details, go to This is the first Assembly in North America in 25 years. Given the current pattern of holding Assemblies every six years in either the global South or North, it could be close to 30 years before this event is once again held in North America. Come and join the music! in touch is published 1 st and 3 rd Sundays monthly items should be in the church office by noon Wednesday prior to publication. 309 S Main.Hesston.KS Telephone hesstonmc@hesstonmc.org. Website:

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