"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. | | |
Wednesday, May 14, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, NO Befrienders Training
Wednesday, May 14, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, NO Contemplative Service with Prayers for Healing (In person & Online), Sanctuary (Start again in Sept)
Thursday, May 15, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Creation Care Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Friday, May 16, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Game Night for ALL Ages, Outside, inside if inclement weather
Saturday, May 17, 8:00 am - 12:00 pm or until done, Spring Clean Up, Outside & Inside
Sunday, May 18, 6:00 pm, Confirmation Meeting at McFarland UCC
Wednesday, May 21, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Befrienders Training (In person & Online)
Wednesday, May 28, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Befrienders Training (In person & Online)
Sunday, June 1, 5:30-7:00 pm, Teen Youth Meeting at McFarland UCC, 5705 Lacy Rd, Fitchburg
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)
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
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Thank you to this weekend's volunteers!
Greeters/Ushers: Lisa & Mariana Schweitzer
Hospitality Hosts: Joan Jacobsen, Julie Woodward
| | 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.
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Micah 6:8 Kids Club
Our final Micah 6:8 Kids Club project for the school year will be on Sunday, May 11. With our theme of kindness, justice, and humility, we will be working with two of the adult groups in church to try to bring some light and goodness to others.
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- Along with the Social Justice collective, the kids will decorate rocks with rainbows and a “You Are Loved” message for our church table at the Pride in the Park festival in June. The message stones will be laid out to be shared with anyone wanting one.
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- With the help of our Creation Care team, the kids will fold origami fish to be sent to the Sierra Club and then on to the DNR to show our commitment to keeping the Great Lakes a viable environment for the animals on our earth.
| | We hope you will bring your child to help create, and adults can join us in making these after church. | | |
Happy Mother's Day!
May 11
Mother's Day is not limited to biological mothers. It's an opportunity to recognize and appreciate all women who play a maternal role in our lives, including grandmothers, aunts, stepmothers, and mentors.
Motherhood is viewed differently across cultures, but it is universally respected. In many Indigenous cultures, motherhood is seen as a sacred and spiritual role, integral to the survival and flourishing of the community. For example, in many Native American traditions, mothers are seen as life-givers and caretakers of the land. The relationship between mother and child is viewed as deeply connected to nature and the Earth, with mothers holding a special, revered place in the community.
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Contemplative Service with Prayers for Healing
The monthly Wednesday evening Contemplative Service with Prayers for Healing will go on hiatus during May, June, July, and August. The team looks forward to offering a special service on a Sunday in June or July—stay tuned! On Wednesday, September 10, the service offered on the second Wednesday of each month will restart. If you have any questions or would like to join the organizing team, please contact Cameron Macdonald.
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God Is Love
McFarland UCC is selling black "God is Love" t-shirts! See the logo in the picture. Sizes are available from youth small to adult 5X. Pricing will be determined by the number sold. Order by May 15. We will ship if you are not local! For more information, please contact Judy Taber at 608-215-4161 or judy...@gmail.com.
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Shamanic Flow Journey and Potluck
Thurs., May 15, 6-8 pm
Are you ready to connect with your inner wisdom, receive divine guidance, and heal on a deeper level? Join us for a soul-nourishing experience in which we will take a shamanic journey together, share insights, and nourish our souls with community, food, creativity, and spirit.
Schedule: (Feel free to join for just the journey if you prefer)
- 6:00-7:10 pm: Shamanic Journey + Sharing Circle
- 7:10-8:00 pm: Potluck + Art Social
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Spring Has Sprung!!!
Let’s get together and have a Family Fun Night! Games, indoors and/or outdoors, depending on the weather! Bags (cornhole), cards (Euchre!), board games, snacks!! Bring a chair and a snack to share! We will make lemonade!! Friday, May 16th, from 6-8:30ish. Come one and come ALL! You don’t have to bring anything! Just yourself! Let’s just have fun together!!!! Questions? Ask Lynn Belleau 608-217-0697
Image by Alexa on Pixabay
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Spring Cleanup Day
May 17, 8:00 am-Noon
Join the Building and Grounds team on May 17 at 8:00 am to spruce up the church inside and out. Snacks and a light lunch will be provided. You don't need any tools, but you are welcome to bring a favorite rake, lopper, or rag.
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Sound Bath - Chakra Balance and Affirmations
Sunday, May 18, 1-3 pm
Fellowship Area
Judy Taber has a connection with Karen Jedele and helped coordinate this opportunity.
What is a Sound Bath?
A sound bath is a meditative experience where participants lie down or sit comfortably while sounds and vibrations from various instruments are played. These instruments can include singing bowls, gongs, chimes, drums, and other harmonic tools. The term "bath" implies that the participants are immersed in the sounds, allowing the vibrations to wash over them, promoting relaxation, stress reduction, and sometimes even spiritual or emotional healing. The intention is to create a therapeutic environment where individuals can let go of tension, quiet the mind, and enter a state of deep relaxation or meditation.
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Wisconsin Conference Annual Meeting
June 6-8
Transformation: Changing from Glory into Glory will be the theme of the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Conference at the Green Lake Conference Center on June 6-7.
Drawing upon 2 Corinthians 5:17, the theme acknowledges an anticipated change in the Conference structure and the dissolution of the current Associations.
Keynote speakers will be Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, General Minister and President of the UCC. "Our own" Rev. Jen Patricia Bloesch, pastor of Community of Hope UCC, Madison, will preach at the closing worship.
Please let Donna Grossman know that you'd like to attend!
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Weekly Creation Care Topic
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
Tip of the Week: Love your mom and Mother Earth, on Mother’s Day. Most of us tend to equate flowers with love; not all flowers are equal. Do you know that 80% of cut flowers are imported, which means high carbon emissions to grow, wrap in plastic, refrigerate, and fly them to the US, plus a high amount of chemicals so that they pass inspection without insects. A more sustainable approach is to consider: Potted Butterfly-Friendly Flowers for the Garden, Organic Wildflower Seeds, Perennial Bulbs that Bloom Each Year, Herb Planters for the Window Sill, Native Tree Saplings for the Backyard, or DIY Dried Flower & Twig Wreath. The American Grown label is a good choice for finding locally grown flowers, and they are fairly common at stores like Whole Foods and Costco. Read more about it at The Earthling Co.
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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
And Yuval Abraham…
Justice Is Not Neutral
Before I get into my main focus this week I just want to thank you ALL for the amazingly gracious, loving, and faithful ways you have responded to the resignation letter I sent out a week ago today. By all means if you want to get together with me and talk about any of it please be in touch. Our Servant and Leadership Team (SaLT) under the strong and inspired leadership of our moderator Donna Grossman is already in action taking steps to meet with our Associate Conference Minister Rev. Rachel Bauman to find a wonderful interim pastor and to begin the search for your next “settled” pastor. I have no doubt that you will all step up and into the challenges and processes involved and that God will lead you and us perfectly. We’ll have a beautiful next 3 months together and end our time together with joy and celebration.
And… we’re not done yet!
While I’m still here I’m HERE and our work together continues. Let’s do our best not to let my impending departure derail the powerful things the Spirit is doing in and through us now, and let’s keep living out our call together with enthusiasm and gratitude.
So about justice not being “neutral.”
Last Tuesday our Social Justice Collective group met, and we watched the Oscar Winning film on the situation in Israel/Palestine called “No Other Land.” Wow. Hard hitting. Not easy to sit through. It was about 90 minutes of raw footage of Palestinians being ruthlessly mistreated by Israeli soldiers and settlers. Devastating and disturbing. We watched this film together as part of our fulfillment of the pledge we made as a congregation after last year’s Wisconsin Conference UCC Annual meeting to study this issue and educate ourselves regarding the core issues of justice at stake.
After the movie was over, I shared that I probably would not have watched it all the way through if I’d been alone. It was just too much in some ways, and many folks are needing NOT to overwhelm themselves with too much “bad news” these days. We have to pace ourselves and not take in an overdose of negativity. But others shared that we owe it to ourselves to witness the brutal reality of what has been going on in Israel/Palestine for well over half a century. Our sense of responsibility to witness the cruelty was deepened when we reminded ourselves that these policies would never have been possible without our U.S. tax dollars funding and enabling the Israeli military all along.
We talked about the need to honor the people and position of Israel and to not be unbalanced in our study. While it was clear that our exploration of this prolonged violent conflict is leading us to sympathize most deeply with the Palestinian people, we affirmed the necessity of acknowledging the years of atrocity and suffering many Israelis have suffered as well, including the horrific events of October 7, 2023. We talked about the accusations that supporting the cause of the Palestinians is somehow “anti-semitic.” We agreed that all people are created in God’s image and deserve to be treated with dignity and justice. We reminded ourselves that the word “semite” is not synonymous with “Jewish.” Arabs are also “semites.” Taking a pro-Palestinian position is not literally “anti-semitic.” But beyond semantics, we agreed that our position is not in any way anti-Jewish, or even anti-Israel. Israel has a right to exist and we understand the fears connected to being surrounded by predominantly Islamic nations that have at times been antagonistic, hostile, and threatening to Israel's existence. We are simply against the actions of any nation or group to violently, cruelly, displace, steal land, harm, or “ethnically cleanse” another group. That would go for the expressed agenda of Hamas as well. But Hamas does not speak for the Palestinian people any more than the current government of Israel speaks for all Jewish people. Yes. It’s a complicated issue.
But it is time to state where we are as a result of our study. And this brings me to the statement that “justice is not neutral.” As Elie Wiesel, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s concentration camps famously wrote:
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
While Wiesel’s words are hauntingly true, we also believe that our faith calls us to take the “position” (not just side) of always honoring the humanity of everyone involved in any conflict.
Our group agreed that it is time for us to put a statement together that will succinctly state why the mandate of Scripture to “do justice” compels us to call for an immediate end to the brutal displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people. The simple truth is that these two groups--Palestinians and Israelis-- both deserve to co-exist. Neither of them are going away—certainly not without a vicious and prolonged fight that will continue to be handed on to generations until and unless real justice is done. It is time for the fighting to end and for a political agreement to be negotiated that will honor the legitimate rights, freedom, and well-being of both peoples. There is no GOOD reason why this cannot happen. God knows it is more than time.
Social Justice Collective participants Harriet Taylor and Marcus Murphy and I will get together and craft the initial draft of a statement to be shared with our congregation during worship on Sunday, May 18th. We will publish it in the Pulse and give you all time to read it and create an opportunity for anyone with thoughts or opinions to share in response to do so. We will not speak "as a church" until we have all had a chance to share our thoughts and positions.
The film featured the friendship between journalist Yuval Abraham (on the right in the photo above), a Jewish man, and Basel Adra, a Palestinian man. I close these “few words” by sharing the statement made by Yuval Abraham as he and Basel accepted the Oscar for best documentary of the year.
“We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger. We see each other, the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end. We see Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7th which must be freed. When I look at Basel I see my brother, but we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control. There is a different path. A political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people. And I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy of the United States is helping to block this path. And why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe? There is another way. It’s not too late for life for the living. There is no other way. Thank you.”
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