This week at Elkhart Valley (Oct. 30-Nov. 5)

Wednesday, Nov. 1
10:00 a.m. -- Bible Study in the church library
5:45 p.m. -- MeOhMy
6:30 p.m. -- Bible Study
7:30 p.m. -- Choir

Thursday, Nov. 2
7:00 p.m. -- Church Board meeting

Sunday, Nov. 5
9:30 a.m. -- Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. -- Worship
4:00 p.m. -- Harvest Celebration

Health Kit items
Next Sunday: Soap

Chocolate sale order forms are available from Class 14 members. Please return the forms to Judy Roush. Chocolate should be delivered before Thanksgiving.


Looking Ahead
Sunday, Nov. 5 at 4:00 p.m. we will have our Harvest Celebration. Come and enjoy food and fellowship as we give thanks for the Growing Project harvest.

Sunday, Nov. 19, we will worship with the Creekside Church of the Brethren. It will be a Thanksgiving worship followed by a potluck.

A place to get warm

On Saturday evening our family hosted a campfire and hayride. The partiers were a group of junior high cross country runners from a neighboring school. They were an active and cheerful crew!

As we prepared for the evening, Tim and I kept repeating the refrain, "It sure is a cold evening for a party!" As a few adults joined us in waiting around the fire while kids played, we kept up the refrain, "It sure is a cold evening for a party!" But the partiers were oblivious to the cold. We reminded them to consider coats; they did not need them. They ran around and played games among the trees of our yard. They ate a hotdog and raced some more. They clambered onto the wagon for the hayride and we described them as kittens or puppies, making a pile of people on the floor of the wagon, those in the middle working their way out to the edges and then diving back into the center to get warm. Always in motion.

One of the most poignant moments of the evening came when a chaperone from the back of the wagon reported an overheard comment, "This is the first time in my life I have had friends from school." No wonder they enjoyed each other so. They were probably a bunch of individuals discovering the joy of friendship. For many of them it was for the first time. It was great fun to watch. They played, they ate, they played some more with never a prickly moment. Just a good time.

May the church be for you a place to get warm, a place to savor friendship and especially joy.

Blessings for your week,
Pastor Beth

This week at Elkhart Valley (Oct. 23-29)

Wednesday, Oct. 25
10:00 a.m. -- Bible Study in the Library
5:45 p.m. -- MeOhMy
6:30 p.m. -- Bible Study
7:30 p.m. -- Choir

Thursday, Oct. 26
7:00 p.m. -- Church Council meeting

Saturday, Oct. 28
8:00 a.m to noon -- Fall Clean-up

Sunday, Oct. 29
9:30 a.m. -- Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. -- Worship
5:00 p.m. -- Service Project

Health Kit Items
This week: Washcloth
Next Sunday: Toothpaste

Looking Ahead

Sunday, Nov. 5, at 4:00 p.m. we will have our Harvest Celebration. Come and enjoy food and fellowship as we give thanks for the Growing Project harvest.

Sunday, Nov. 19, we will worship with the Creekside Church of the Brethren. It will be a Thanksgiving worship followed by a potluck.

Continuing the ministry

Dear friends,

When I opened the cereal cupboard in our kitchen this morning I had several choices. And I am very aware that if the shelves had been empty, I could have made a quick trip to the grocery for another box. There are many people in our community who are not faced with those choices. They have to take what ever is left on the Church Community Service's almost empty shelves. And there will be no more choices unless people like you and me share. Will you add a few items to your grocery list this week and bring them to church next Sunday for the food pantry. Some of the most helpful items are spaghetti sauce, pasta, canned meat, peanut butter, cereal, canned fruit and vegetables, and, of course, keep that toilet paper coming.

Jesus began his public ministry with the statement: "The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord's year of favor." (Luke 4:18) We are called to adopt the same and I believe one way we can continue the ministry is to share from our abundance with those who need food. Many of us will be coming past the church sometime this week. Drop off a gift for the food pantry. I will be happy to deliver it to Church Community Services.

Thank you for sharing,
Pastor Beth

Alternative Holiday Fair 2006

Did you see us on the news?

WSBT did a story on Elkhart Valley's Alternative Holiday Fair yesterday, which included an interview of our own event co-chair, Judy Miller!

In case you missed it, here are some photos from the event.






Thank you to Judy Miller and Jeff Stern-Gilbert for co-chairing this year's Alternative Holiday Fair, and to Ellie Burton and Pastor Beth for coordinating the food counter! We appreciate your efforts!

This week at Elkhart Valley (Oct. 16-22)

Tuesday, Oct. 17
7:00 p.m. -- Finance and Brethren Service Commissions meet

Wednesday, Oct. 18
10:00 a.m. -- Bible Study
5:45 p.m. -- MeOhMy
6:30 p.m. -- Bible Study
7:30 p.m. -- Choir

Thursday, Oct. 19
7:00 p.m. -- Deacons meet

Saturday, Oct. 21
8:00-2:00 -- Alternative Holiday Fair

Sunday, Oct. 22
9:30 a.m. -- Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. -- Worship

Health Kit Items
Today: Nail File
Next Sunday: Hand towel

Looking Ahead
Thursday, Oct. 26: Church Council Meeting

We can't get away with saying "I'm not rich."

We were privileged to enjoy a musical message this past Sunday. Thank you to Kathy Stump for making the arrangements for Doyle and Carolyn Ramsey to sing for us.

If we had read the lectionary gospel Sunday, we would have heard Jesus say, "It's harder for a rich person to enter God's kingdom than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."
One commentator addresses the text:

"I'm sorry to say, though, that there is no evidence whatsoever that there was ever any such 'Eye of the Needle' gate. It's a kind of ecclesial version of an urban legend -- invented, I would guess, as a metaphor that, as generations repeated the story, turned into a solid "archeologists have discovered" report. But it's fiction."

She goes on to say: "We can't get away with saying, 'I'm not rich.' Try entering your income in the Global Rich List and see where you end up. I'm back to full-time seminary/dissertating now, but the $36,000 salary I earned in my last full-time job would have put me in the top 4% of wage earners worldwide."

This seems an oh-too-appropriate text for us as we prepare to host our Alternative Fair this weekend!

Blessings for your week!
Pastor Beth

This week at Elkhart Valley (Oct. 9-15)

Announcements for the weekly bulletins are due by the Tuesday of each week. Articles for the November issue of Valley Views are due Oct. 22.

Health Kit Items
Today: Washcloth Next Sunday: Toothpaste

This week at Elkhart Valley
Tuesday, Oct. 10
6:30 p.m. -- Ministerial Commission
7:00 p.m. -- Trustees Commission

Wednesday, Oct. 11
10:00 a.m. -- Bible Study
5:45 p.m. -- MeOhMy
6:30 p.m. -- Bible Study
7:30 p.m. -- Choir

Sunday, Oct. 15
9:30 a.m. -- Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. -- Worship

Looking Ahead
Sunday, Oct. 15: Our worship service will be led by Doyle and Carolyn Ramsey. Kathy Stump has arranged for them to share their ministry of music throughout the service and provide the message in song. Invite a friend to join us for this special time of worship.

Saturday, Oct. 21: Elkhart Valley’s Alternative Holiday Fair, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 26: Church Council Meeting

General Board Prayer Calendar: Pray that the children of God all around the world may come to know Christ. May the contributions to the World Mission Offering be generous.

Glimpses of God's kingdom

Dear friends,

Yesterday we read from the gospel of Mark, the story of Jesus inviting children to come and receive a blessing despite the disciples' reservations. Then I found this paragraph on the Taize website about welcoming children and the kingdom of God into our lives.

"Welcoming a child means welcoming a promise. A child grows and develops. In the same way, the kingdom of God on earth is never a finished reality but rather a promise, a dynamism and an uncompleted growth process. And children are unpredictable. In the Gospel story, they arrive when they arrive, and in any case not at the right time for the disciples. But Jesus insists that they must be welcomed because they are there. In the same way, we have to welcome God’s presence when it presents itself, whether it is the right time or not. We have to play the game. Welcoming God’s kingdom like we welcome a child means keeping alert and praying so that we can welcome it when it comes, always unexpectedly, whether at an opportune moment or not."

Many times we find ourselves so focused on what we need to be doing that we miss the God sightings and kingdom glimpses that come our way. On this beautiful, busy Monday and throughout the week, make an extra effort to glimpse signs of God's kingdom and images of God's presence.

Blessings for your week,
Pastor Beth

This week at Elkhart Valley (Oct. 1-8, 2006)

Sunday, Oct. 1
9:30 a.m. Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. Worship
2:00 p.m. CROP WALK

Tuesday, Oct. 3
11:30 a.m. Class Meeting (15 and 16) -- Campfire by the cabin, hotdogs provided.

Wednesday, Oct. 4
5:45 p.m. MeOhMy
6:30 p.m. Bible Study
7:30 p.m. Choir

Thursday, Oct. 5
10:00 a.m. Cabin Crew Bible Study
7:00 p.m. Church Board

Sunday, Oct. 8
9:30 a.m. Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. Worship
11:45 a.m. Second Sunday Soup – Church Mission and Peace Evangelism

Health Kit Items
Today: Washcloth
Next Sunday: Toothpaste

Looking Ahead
Saturday, October 7: Camp Mack Festival. Volunteer to help with children’s activities or serve at our food stand.

Sunday, October 8: Second Sunday Soup begins. Following worship, meet in the Fellowship Hall for a light lunch (soup, bread, and fruit) and discuss the Perspectives essay Church Mission and Peace Evangelism by Robert Johansen.

Saturday, October 21: Alternative Holiday Fair

Thursday, October 26: Church Council Meeting

My gratitude list

It was a meandering trip to the church Monday morning because of the detours around road construction projects. As a fun diversion I found myself pondering things to be thankful for. Since there are many who suggest we would be far more healthy people if we would list five things to be thankful for each day, I decided to share my list:

Since I was listening to the news I can say with complete sincerity: I am glad I am not in the business of reading the news and trying to pronounce the multi-syllabled names of our world leaders!

Watching lightning streak across a very dark sky yesterday, I am glad the CROP WALK was Sunday. What a beautiful afternoon to walk and raise money for a good cause. Thanks to Evi and Kim, Judy and Jim, Madalyn and Kris and Steve and Carver, Rosalie, Ryan, Alex, Nolan and Jamie. And thanks to all who sponsered us in the effort to support the work of Church World Service.

I am grateful for the deacons who baked bread, filled juice cups, served us and cleaned up the leftovers Sunday as we celebrated with the world; Christ's invitation to the table and his saving and renewing place in our lives.

My list of thanks also includes all of you who pray for our congregation and its members and friends regularly. Thank you for Mary Earnhart for being always willing to set the chain in motion and for all who share in this valuable ministry of our church.

Thank you for all who are working behind the scenes to arrange an Alternative Fair for October 21. Even thought I believe in the need for simplifying my life, it is good to be a part of a church that encourages us to remember, the reason we celebrate has more to do with God's gift to us than our gifts to each other.

Should you be inspired to share your gratitude list, I would be happy to receive a copy!

See you Wednesday night at MEOHMY!

Blessings for your week,
Pastor Beth