"I will put my teaching in their minds and write it on their hearts..."
Jeremiah 31:33
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Calendar of Upcoming Events | |
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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.
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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. | |
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Sunday, January 19, 4:00 - 7:30 pm, Teen Youth Group Trip to a MLK Jr. Worship service at SS Morris A.M.E. Church on Milwaukee St. in Madison.
Sunday, February 2, about 10:30 am/following service, Annual Meeting
Sunday, February 2, 5:30 - 7:00 pm, Teen Youth Group at MUCC
Tuesday, February 4, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Racial Justice Care Team Monthly Meeting, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Sunday, February 9, 10:00 am, Birthday & Communion Sunday
Wednesday, February 12, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Contemplative Service with Prayers for Healing (In person & Online), Sanctuary
Thursday, February 13, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, SaLT Monthly Meeting, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Friday, February 21 - Sunday, February 23, Weekend Confirmation Trip
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This Sunday Afternoon, January 19th, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Special Service of Music and Celebration in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. at SS Morris Church on Milwaukee St. in Madison.
Pastor Bryan and our Confirmation Class will be there!
Here's a link with more information. Get there early--it will probably be crowded!
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Thank you to this weekend's volunteers!
Greeters/Ushers: Kathy Paulson
Hospitality Hosts: Lynn Belleau, Maryanne Raese
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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. | |
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News at McFarland UCC
Note: Clickable links are blue, underlined, and italicized.
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3rd Tuesday Luke House with Christ the King
January 21, 2025, 5 pm
Anyone interested in joining in this mission of feeding the hungry and joining them at the table to share food and conversation, please join us at 310 South Ingersoll St in Madison. I'm happy to say that my neighbor and I are finally back in good health, and I will be there enjoying a great meal and getting more out of volunteering than giving. Thank you in advance. Lynne Toseff
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Guided Shamanic Journey & Potluck Socials With Jessica Riphenburg
January 26, 3-6 pm
Our friend and Shamanic practitioner Jessica Riphenburg of Be The Light Shamanic Healing, who has been leading our quarterly Solstice and Equinox fire ceremonies, is guiding anyone interested in a shamanic journey (even beginners).
A guided shamanic journey is similar to, yet very different from a guided meditation. Shamanic journeying is an active practice, and Jessica guides journeys in a way that opens a safe, pristine, calm, healing space for you to intentionally ask your spirit guides (Spirit / God / Universe / Oneness /
Divine / etc), for the information, wisdom, guidance, and healing that you are ready to receive as you seek to grow and evolve as a human.
Click here for more information (including what to bring) and to RSVP.
An RSVP is not necessary, however, in the rare chance the session is canceled, the only way to be notified is to RSVP no later than 1 hour before the event.
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Year-End Statements
Year-end statements will be going out before the end of the month via email. If there are any questions, please email the Financial Secretaries.
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Attend the annual meeting in-person or online at about 10:30am, following an abbreviated worship service.
Committee/Team annual reports, budget, financial, and other relevant meeting information are POSTED on the McFarland UCC website on a special 2025 Annual Meeting webpage (remember this is a link). A limited number of hard copies are available in the Fellowship area.
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Looking For Person or Persons
Hopefully, I have gotten your curiosity piqued. Pastor Bryan, SaLT (Servant and Leadership Team), and our office administrator are looking for a person or persons who are experienced personally and professionally in using, posting, and communicating on social media and would be interested in assisting MUCC to enhance our communication avenues.
Please contact Pastor Bryan to see if you are the person or persons to assist in giving MUCC better ways to communicate our ministries on social media.
Thanks much
Becky Cohen, Moderator
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California Wildfires Relief
We have seen the wildfires ablaze in Southern California. We have seen the shocked victims standing in front of a pile of charred rubble which was once their homes, neighborhoods, schools, businesses, parks, etc. McFarland UCC received an email from the Wisconsin Conference UCC to ask for consideration from members of our congregation to support wildfire relief.
If you are interested in making an individual contribution to wildfire relief and giving assistance to those in greatest need, the Wisconsin Conference of UCC has a Conference website we can go to at www.wcucc.org and click on the donate button. Our financial giving is one way we can act and express compassion and care to victims and families. Our Conference donations go to their partner, Church World Service during this crisis, directly providing resources such as temporary housing, food, and other needs.
Thank you for your consideration.
Becky Cohen, Moderator
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Church Directory
Invitations to access the McFarland UCC directory were emailed last week Thursday, January 9...It was legit. The provided link expired after 48 hours, but you may still log-in with the information provided in the email. Just click the 'Forgot your password?' link on the Icon login page and enter the church phone number and emailed user name to get started.
If you need help, you can start by watching this training video, which is also available on the church website's home page. The video explains how to log in the first time, how to find the people you would like to contact, and how to edit your personal information. If you have any questions, contact Ginger (office hours 9am-1pm W & TH) or reach out to Colleen Krattiger on Sunday mornings.
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Weekly Creation Care Topic
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
This week’s Tip: Justice: As Martin Luther King, Jr. Day approaches on Jan. 20th, The National Wildlife Federation writes that: “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood for the total equality of all races, classes, & nations. He believed that the government had a duty to protect its people from oppression, & to enforce laws preventing the exploitation of vulnerable people. As he said, ‘All life is interrelated,’ so it follows that the well-being of humans is deeply tied to the interconnectedness of healthy ecosystems that include abundant wildlife, healthy lands, clean water & air, & safe environments for both humans & wildlife to thrive.” Wild Tomorrow adds that while Dr. King was not known for environmental work, “an important part of (his) legacy was to set in motion the beginnings of the environmental justice movement, & to raise awareness of the interconnectedness of all life on earth. Dr King’s all-encompassing vision of justice was one where the nations & peoples of the planet are one. He saw social, economic, and environmental injustices as interlinked - including poverty, racism, and environmental justice.’ All of these problems are tied together.’” Continue to carry the light that MLK lit for us & ignite a light for others to follow.
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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan...
So January 20, 2025 is just about upon us now. How are you feeling about it all?
More than a few people I know have commented on the fact that President Trump will be inaugurated on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I’ve been thinking about that a bit, and actually I’m finding it hopeful. I’ll explain.
If you voted for Donald Trump and are glad that he’s about to become president again, then let me just say—and I really do mean this—I hope you’re right. If he winds up making great choices and changes on behalf of the entire nation, the world, and the earth, I will give him credit. I will admit that my own concerns were “off,” and thank you for seeing what I obviously did not.
I don’t think that’s likely to be the case, but I’m also going to take a cue from historian Heather Cox Richardson, who, when asked in a recent interview what we can do to respond to all the bad things that are coming our way with Trump as president, said,
“So I’m going to throw that back at you and say that I don’t think we can assume it’s not going to be good, because as an historian I will tell you we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. We don’t know what’s going to happen an hour from now. And I think that you never know what could happen. My example of that lately is, if you had asked most people who were paying close attention to foreign affairs what was going to be the most important thing going forward from 2024 to 2025, how many of them would have said that Bashar al-Assad would be removed from power in Syria—which was a total game changer. So you can’t really ever say we can assume what’s going to happen going forward because we just don’t know.”
Okay. We don’t know what’s coming our way or what world events may change everything. And I appreciate being reminded that thinking, assuming, and expecting the worst is rarely if ever a helpful thing to do. So seriously. I’m not going to assume bad things, and I’m not going to magnify negativity. I’m going to hope for the best.
But neither will I be in denial or be caught by surprise if there are some very painful things on the horizon as a result of the new administration’s stated goals and agendas.
Martin Luther King Jr., among other things, is one of history’s most powerful illustrations of the power of the Love at the heart of the Judeo-Christian vision to awaken people at just the right moment to take action and change the world. In the face of gross perennially entrenched injustice and against HUGE odds, he organized, strategized, and non-violently exposed and confronted the horrific power of systemic racism in our country—what author Jim Wallis refers to as "America's original sin"--and prevailed. I like the word “prevailed” here. It’s not about win/lose. It’s not inflated or overstated triumphalism. God knows it’s not as though racism was defeated. Far from it. But Love responded to the monstrous and widely accepted and vested presence of racism in and through the actions of Dr. King and all those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, and they brought the evil of racism to the surface where everyone with “eyes” could see it for what it was. And that turned the tide. It caused a new wave of coalitions for justice and activism to form and collaborate and increase in effectiveness. Tangible changes were made including voting rights laws. This was and is huge. And yes, some of those hard-earned changes are now in danger of being reversed, and that’s part of what’s at stake at this moment in history, among so many other things.
But why do I find all of this hopeful?
Because I think that some of what is heading our way is going to serve as a wake-up call to those who are committed to Love, justice, and the well-being of all. And I think we actually need a wake-up call at this point. I think we need more energy and strategic reflection and bold leadership and action regarding the urgent issues before us than perhaps ever in our lifetimes. As many have noted, we are at an inflection point. I think some of what we’re dealing with now is going to force churches and spiritual communities of all traditions, and people committed to Divine Love and Light from many different frameworks, to find each other, work together, get organized, strategize, and to non-violently confront horrific systemic injustices and policies that are about to be more clearly exposed than ever before.
And my beloved brothers, sisters, and siblings in the Spirit of the Christ—THIS is part of what the Church is here for! As Hebrew Queen Esther once put it, maybe we’re here “for just such a time as this.” To be a community of people working and risking together to boldly stand for Love and Compassion and Truth and Justice in the non-violent, loving ways that Jesus modeled for us. That Martin Luther King Jr. and all the other courageous civil rights leaders modeled for us. Or to put it another way, if you’ve been learning how to follow the Christ in Jesus more closely—which is what all the sermons and Bible studies and prayer and worship we engage in is ultimately about, then we’ve been preparing for THIS. We’ve been getting ready for this.
Do you remember Jesus’s most often repeated teaching?
It was simply this. Don’t be afraid. Fear not.
So I encourage you to approach Monday with hope and resolve instead of fear or worry. Don't be intimidated by any of it. As Heather Cox Richardson challenges, who knows--maybe it won't go as many of us are assuming it will. And maybe it’s going to be a storm of unprecedented proportions. But either way, we’re going to show up and be instruments of God’s Love and Light, and like those who marched and acted with Dr. King, we’ll sing and pray and laugh as we face whatever’s waiting for us.
Let’s do this. Let’s BE a Force for Love together on behalf of everyone and everything, and find JOY in the midst of it all.
Hope to see you Sunday,
Pastor B
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