"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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SUNDAY, 11:30 a.m. Bible Study in person and on Zoom
https://zoom.us/j/262314649 (no Bible Study Feb.9th Because of Trish Kalhagen's presentation in the sanctuary after worship)
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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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Thursday, February 20, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Creation Care Team Extra Meeting, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Friday, February 21 - Sunday, February 23, Weekend Confirmation Trip
Sunday, March 2, 10:00 am, Birthday & Communion Sunday
Sunday, March 2, 5:30 - 7:00 pm, Older Youth Group at MUCC
Tuesday, March 4, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Racial Justice Care Team Monthly Meeting, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Wednesday, March 5, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Ash Wednesday Service, (In person & Online), Sanctuary
Sunday, March 9, Daylight Saving Time starts
Wednesday, March 12, 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Contemplative Service with Prayers for Healing (In person & Online), Sanctuary
Thursday, March 13, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, SaLT Monthly Meeting, (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Sunday, March 16, 10:00 am, Confirmation
Wednesday, March 19, 6:00 - 7:30 pm, A Outreach Funds Quarterly Meeting (Rescheduled from March 5 due to Ash Wednesday Service), (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
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Thank you to this weekend's volunteers!
Greeters/Ushers: Lisa & Mariana Schweitzer
Hospitality Hosts: Judy Hogan, Karen Lynch, Lynne Toseff
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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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February 18 - Luke House at 310 S Ingersoll St, Madison. Volunteers are needed for various positions. Christ the King hosts the 3rd Tuesday of the month. We have really enjoyed the confirmation class students who have joined us the past few months. Thanks for being there.
Questions? Lynne Toseff Cell: 608-556-0719
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Gaza and the West Bank
Register and Learn!
Thursday, February 20, 6:30 pm - Zoom with Dr. Peter Makari
Click here to register
Dr. Peter Makari serves as Global Relations Minister for the Middle East and Europe for GLOBAL MINISTRIES of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In that role, he is deeply immersed in the situation and ongoing developments in Israel/Palestine and the Middle East. Having recently returned from Jerusalem and Jordan, Peter’s presentation will provide an opportunity for us to hear, first-hand, about the latest developments in Gaza and the region.
Saturday, February 22, Noon - Zoom with Usama, a Palestinian from Bethlehem
Click here to register
Usama (last name omitted to protect him) will discuss what life is currently like under occupation in the West Bank. Several members of the UCC WI Palestine Working Group know Usama and highly recommend this presentation.
Usama is a committed Palestinian civil society activist, serving as the Citizens Diplomacy Project Coordinator at Wi’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center. Attendance is free, but donations are welcome.
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What's Next Gatherings
Join us for coffee and cider! If you'd like to share treats, you may bring some. Updates will be shared on recent news, information, and protest events. A Talking Circle will again be led by Art Shegonee. The theme is "Unraveling of our Democracy! We Are The Guardrails! What can you do?"
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Sat., Feb. 22, 2025, 2-5 pm at McFarland UCC - If you'd like to share treats, please bring some.
- Sat., March 22, 2-5 pm at Arbor Good Neighbor House, 2509 McDivitt Rd. Madison (off Todd Dr on the West Beltline)
- Sat., April 26, 2-5 pm at Arbor Good Neighbor House, 2509 McDivitt Rd. Madison (off Todd Dr on the West Beltline)
- Sat., May 10 - 16th Annual Wisconsin Grassroots Festival at Mcfarland High School
Contact Dawn Shegonee (remember this is a link to email Dawn) if you'd like additional information or have questions.
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Weekly Creation Care Topic
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
This week’s Tip: Love All of Creation; Happy Valentine's Day! “The environment is where we all meet, where we all have a mutual interest. It is the one thing all of us share.” The First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969, Lady Bird Johnson, strongly advocated for protecting wildflowers & planting millions of them along highways. Her quote about the environment highlights how the outdoors connects everyone. from Enviroment.co
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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan...
and Victor Hugo & Betsy Pool
Okay I have a very simple but beautiful quote about Love from Victor Hugo's Les Misérables; (Happy Valentine's Day everyone) that was shared this morning by Joanie Ouellette, a regular attendee at our Morning Zoom Devotional group. After that simple quote there is an extremely profound "channeled message" from a woman named Betsy Pool who lives at an intentional spiritual community in Italy. Betsy's message is a deep and penetrating word that I find really helpful in terms of what's going on in the world these days and how we as people committed to Love can be showing up and responding. But...
If you're tired of thinking about the world, just go with Victor Hugo and skip the second part! Personally, I need them both.
Here's the Victor Hugo quote. God says...
“I have been loving you a little more every minute since this morning.”
I shared with our morning group after Joanie read this quote that it reminds me of something author, evangelist, and former Catholic Priest Brennan Manning once said. He said that God, every morning, can't wait to hear the sound of our voice when we wake up. We are adored and cherished that personally and intimately and personally by God. That's the God of Jesus. But can you dare to take that in? Can you let it be the Truth? I know it can sound selfish and almost narcissistic to believe that God knows each of us and loves each of us individually in that way. People sometimes say things like, "Oh I never pray for myself. God's got better things to do than tune into every thought or need of mine." But no. According to Jesus--God knows and cares about each of us in intimate specificity. God gets us. God gets you. God is actully within you, feeling the things you feel. If you've had a lousy Valentine's Day--God understands every nuance of that. If you're struggling terribly with something, God understands and knows exactly what you're facing and dealing with. So maybe that's what you need right now. To just let yourself be held and loved and understood and nurtured by God. I hope you're able to do that right now.
Okay now Betsy Pool for those who want more. Here's a link to her entire message. It's worth reading.
I'm going to just share a bit here. But to me what she's taking us deeply into is the broader aspect of the power of Love (God). The Love that calls us into action in the public sphere. She is convinced that we are now experiencing the beginning of a Fascist takeover of the United States. Or at least an attempt to do so. I can't take much more space here to comment on it, but in the past months I've been saying that our "job" and calling as followers of Jesus is to show up in this world--no matter what is going on-- with the energy and substance and power of Christ-Love and to not let the agendas of those committed only to selfishness of one kind or another intimidate us or cause us to lose our Center. As Dr. King put it famously, "only Love can drive out hate." So here's a part of Pool's quote. I think you'll get the resonance with things we've been saying in our church these days, and why being the kind of loving community we are at this point in history is so powerful and vitally important.
I'll sign off here.
Hope to see you in church soon,
Bryan
In service to Love, From Betsy Pool
How to hold Fascism
Fascism thrives in the space where fear and division reign. Its power does not come only from its leaders but from the field it creates—a field of contraction, isolation, and disempowerment. To meet it effectively, one must neither submit nor react in opposition, but instead generate a field of greater coherence, resilience, and life-affirming force. This is the strategy: not to resist fascism’s power, but to outgrow it, to make it obsolete by shifting the energy upon which it feeds."
Guidance: 1
Strengthen the Alternative Field. Fascism does not arise in a vacuum; it takes hold where people feel disoriented, afraid, or powerless. Instead of focusing energy on opposing it directly, generate and strengthen the field of an alternative reality—one based on coherence, mutual support, and sovereignty of thought and being. Build small, resilient communities of people who share a vision of freedom, love, and intelligence. Not just politically, but energetically, relationally, and practically. The more people feel part of something alive and empowering, the less fertile ground there is for fascism to take root. Be a living alternative. Live in a way that is deeply sovereign, deeply human, and deeply connected. Fascism offers control in response to fear. Offer vision and belonging in response to uncertainty. "The strongest resistance is not opposition—it is the refusal to shrink. Expand in ways fascism cannot touch."
(select here to ready Betsy Pool's entire message)
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