"I will put my teaching in their minds and write it on their hearts..."
Jeremiah 31:33
| | | Calendar of Upcoming Events | | |
Below are the weekly programs. Brief descriptions of these weekly programs are on our website.
Clickable links are in blue, underlined, and italicized.
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SUNDAY Choir Practice, 9 am in person, Sanctuary
Contact Tom Ludwig, if interested.
| | Below are the upcoming non-weekly events on the calendar happening at McFarland UCC for about the next month. 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. | | |
Sunday, June 1, Communion and Birthday Sunday
Sunday, June 1, 5:30-7:00 pm, Teen Youth Meeting at McFarland UCC
Tuesday, June 3, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Social Justice Collective Team Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Wednesday, June 4, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Befrienders Training (In person & Online)
Friday, June 6 - Sunday, June 8, Wisconsin Conference UCC Annual Meeting.
Sunday, June 8, Confirmation Sunday
Wednesday, June 11, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, NO Befrienders Training
Thursday, June 12, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, SaLT Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Sunday, June 15, Strengthen Our Church Collection
Wednesday, June 25, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Befrienders Training (In person & Online)
Friday, June 27, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Dances of Universal Peace
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Thank you to this weekend's volunteers!
Greeters/Ushers: Dawn Cogger, Cameron Macdonald
Hospitality Hosts: Martha Olsen, Amy & Peter Cavi
| | Resolve to get involved at McFarland UCC! Volunteer on Sunday. Join a ministry such as Racial Justice, Creation Care, Befrienders Care Team, SaLT, Youth ministry, Building & Ground Team, or others. Find out more by clicking here. | | |
News at McFarland UCC
Note: Clickable links are blue, underlined, and italicized.
| | Attention Earth Day Artists: Please pick up your art after the Sunday, June 1 service. Dawn Cogger will be at the Earth Day Art display to assist in removing your art. The art will then be left on the windowsill until Sunday, June 15. Please be careful handling each art piece. | | |
Our Congregation's Statement On Israel/Palestine
The Social Justice Collective group drafted a statement that summarizes our position on Israel/Palestine. Click here to read the statement. All members and friends are invited to read the statement and offer their responses, critiques, suggestions for revisions, etc., by Sunday, June 1, 2025. Responses should be emailed to any of the following persons: Pastor Bryan, Harriet Taylor, Marcus Murphy, Rachel Saladis, or Donna Grossman.
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"The Eternal Song" Documentary
June 3-9
For tens of thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have lived in deep kinship with the natural world while stewarding ancestral lands and wisdom. Our “modern” Western mindset, shaped by colonization, capitalism, and individualism, has cast a collective fog of amnesia, leading us to believe we are separate from Earth, each other, and the ancestral realm.
The Eternal Song is a new 90-minute documentary by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, the film directors who brought us Where Olive Trees Weep about the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people, which we had the opportunity to view last June. For three years, the film directors traveled into the heart of Indigenous lands and communities, collecting testimonies on the impact of colonization and the healing of those deep scars. They describe that their hearts were shattered and remade from witnessing landscapes of deep suffering and resilient beauty.
Weaving together Indigenous voices across generations and communities, the documentary uses storytelling as a conduit for ancestral wisdom. It is a prayer for collective remembering, an invocation to the rhythms of the Earth. The film invites you to wade through the depths of our collective past, to grapple with historical traumas, and imagine pathways to collective healing.
The film is available for viewing from June 3 – June 9. Registration is required to view the film via Zoom. Note that registration asks for a donation, but you can donate what you can (even $0 works).
| | Bob and Carol Naylor would like to make you aware of this opportunity! | | |
Noisy Offerings!
Bring all your loose change to church with you on Sunday, June 15.
The teen/youth kids will walk around during church collecting all loose change for their summer trip.
Photo: Ash Ismail on Unsplash
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An Evening of Dances of Universal Peace
Join Robin and Michael for an evening of connection, community, and solace as they lead us in powerful body prayers on Friday, June 27, from 6:30-8:30 pm at McFarland UCC!
The Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) are a spiritual practice in motion; they draw from sacred phrases, scripture, and poetry of the world's many traditions. The Dances blend chant, live music, and evocative movement into a living experience of unity, peace, and connection. This taste of our true nature opens the possibility of a deep spiritual revolution within each person.
We will join together in a circle, hand in hand, symbolizing the love, unity, and interconnectedness of all people. The circle represents wholeness, equality, and harmony.
Questions? Trish Kalhagen 608-921-1123 or chmusi...@yahoo.com
All are welcome! Come as you are. If you are physically limited, we welcome you as you are, and we accommodate you as needed. In this practice, there are no performers, no audience, and no experience necessary, as each dance is taught and guided.
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BIO
Robin and Michael are a DUP leader/musician duo from Madison, Wisconsin. Robin is a certified DUP leader in her 30th year of dancing in the circle. Michael is an accomplished guitarist and DUP musician. Together, Robin and Michael lead the Dances in community circles, events, and dance camps across the country and in Mexico. Click here to learn more.
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Car Wash Fundraiser
Saturday, July 19
9am-1pm
Bring your dirty vehicles!
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Weekly Creation Care Topic
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
Tip of the Week: June 5th is World Environment Day. Led by the UN, the 2025 theme is Ending Global Plastic Pollution, #BeatPlasticPollution. (Remember that words/phrases in blue, italic, and underlined are links.) "Change happens through all of us. The choices we make can shape industries, shift markets, and redefine our collective future. Together, we can deliver an end to plastic pollution that protects people and the planet.” One simple start: Choose to buy products with the least amount of plastic packaging.
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Lost and Found
Several water bottles, a hat, and a towel are looking to return "home." Please claim your items by June 17, or they will be donated.
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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
Back From Vacation… barely!
And Our Final 8 Sundays Together
Well I had a lovely vacation attending my nephew’s graduation from West Point last weekend and then visiting my daughter and her family. The West Point experience was profound, and it was touching to be with my younger brother and his family for this moving ceremony. From left to right in the picture above is my sister-in-law Wendy, 2nd Lieutenant Noah Sirchio, my brother Kris, and my niece Sophie who just finished her first year at the University of Georgia.
Do you know what the West Point motto is? It is, "I will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do." These young men and women take this motto very much to heart. It is a powerful thing to be among 1000 graduating students who have spent 4 years of incredible discipline, commitment, and fidelity to a code of conduct and pledged their willingness to die for their principles.
The graduation ceremony also included a keynote address from President Trump. He did a great job when he stayed with the teleprompter and prepared speech and focused on the cadets and their accomplishments. And then he went off script and did his thing. Maybe you read about it or heard some of it. I have nothing further to say other than that President Trump is a beloved child of God.
It was wonderful seeing my daughter and her husband and four boys as always, but it ended somewhat surprisingly. Last Monday I suddenly developed some lower abdominal pain that kept me up through the night and got bad enough to land me in the hospital for Tuesday and Wednesday. I had an inflamed colon and they did some tests and have pretty much ruled out all the scary stuff thankfully. Still waiting for a biopsy result, but the doctors said things looked promising. I was released Wednesday evening and drove home from the Boston area yesterday. But after not eating for close to 4 days and going through several tests and procedures I will confess I’m a bit ragged. I’m fine and so glad to be home safe and sound and to have access to great health care and all of that. But I’m pooped and am going to surrender and go to bed VERY early tonight and hopefully feel more like myself tomorrow.
So I’m not going to write much now, except to say that I’ve been thinking lots about these last 8 Sundays we have to worship together, and how to best use the sermon times. June 8th is both Confirmation Sunday and Pentecost, so worship on that Sunday will focus on those wonderful events. The rest of the Sundays I’m going to either use to preach on a topic one of you requests (feel free to let me know if there’s something you’d like me to address before my last Sunday on July 20th) or focus each week on what I consider to be one of the most important points I’ve felt led to make as pastor of McFarland UCC these last 7 church calendar years we’ve been together. Kind of a recap of what feels most important to emphasize about being the church of Jesus Christ at this point in history. Just one point each week. That doesn’t mean the sermons will be short—but who knows! I might surprise you. I’m pretty sure there will be at least a few pithy quotes from Richard Rohr, but beyond that, I’m still thinking and praying about it all.
I’m curious what you think the 5-7 most important points might be…
I’m looking forward to this, and I hope you don’t miss any of them!
See you soon,
Pastor B
P.S. The picture below is of my 4 grandsons eating some decadent desert from "Crumble Cookie" last Monday. This was right about the time my stomach started going crazy! No correlation I'm sure... From left to right that's Jack (7), Patrick (13), Alex (10), and Bryan (11). Their dad and paternal grandfather are as bald as I am, so their enjoying their hair while they can!
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