"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, On hiatus for summer
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 15, Strengthen the Church & Noisy Collection for Youth
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
Tuesday, July 1, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, POSTPONED to 7/15-Social Justice Collective Team Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Wednesday, July 2, NO Office Hours
Thursday, July 3, NO Office Hours
Sunday, July 6, Communion and Birthday Sunday
Sunday, July 6, 5:30 - 7:00 pm, Teen Meeting
Tuesday, July 8, 5:30 - 8:30 pm, Jim Martin Visitation
Wednesday, July 9, 9:00 - 10:30 am, Visitation, 11:00 am Memorial Service, followed by light lunch
Thursday, July 10, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, SaLT Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Sunday, July 13, Befrienders Commissioning during worship
Tuesday, July 15, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Social Justice Collective Monthly Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
Thursday, July 17, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Creation Care Meeting (In person & Online), Multipurpose Room
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Thank you to this weekend's volunteers!
Greeters/Ushers: Dawn Cogger
Hospitality Hosts: Lynn Belleau, Diane Mikelbank
| | 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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No Kings Rally in Madison
TOMORROW-Saturday, June 14, 2025
2-5 pm CDT (Speakers begin at 3 pm)
State Capitol
MUCC carpool: If you want to carpool, meet at 12/noon in the church parking lot and leave at 12:15 pm.
Meeting Place: MUCC members will gather at the YWCA, 101 E Mifflin St, Madison. Meeting time is approximately 1:15 pm. A city parking ramp is nearby.
On June 3, the Social Justice Collective met and decided to participate in the No Kings Rally Madison event on Flag Day, Saturday, June 14, thus expressing our disagreement with the actions of the US government and Supreme Court on several issues. The No Kings is a national day of action and mass mobilization. The No Kings Day actions are set to occur during the military parade being held in Washington, D.C. We intend to show up using signage that is non-politically oriented, reflective of our McFarland United Church of Christ (MUCC) beliefs, is scripture-grounded, and not negatively centered. We do not want to remain silent bystanders. We invite interested MUCC members or friends to join us.
No Kings Rally background: On Saturday, June 14, people are being urged to rally by taking to the streets nationwide. The No Kings Rallies seek to build movement and momentum with a day of resistance. The No Kings Madison Rally features local speakers who support Democracy. A guiding core principle behind all the No Kings Rallies is a commitment to nonviolent action. The organizers expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values. Link to No Kings Rally
*Other rallies happening earlier: Madison-based groups such as Indivisible, 50501, Women’s March, and other community partners are coming together to create an “unforgettable day of resistance” here in Madison. This event runs from 12-2 pm at the UW Library Mall. You can choose to attend this event on your own. Link to Indivisible
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No Kings Rally in McFarland
TOMORROW-Saturday, June 14, 2025
10-12 pm
Arnold Larson Park
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Strengthen The Church
June 15
The Strengthen the Church Offering furthers the work of our conferences and the national UCC as we work together to strengthen and renew existing congregations, fund leadership development, and provide exciting new programs for youth and young adults. The offering is divided with 50% staying regionally within your conference and 50% supporting the National Ministries.
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Noisy Offering!
Sunday, June 15
Bring your loose change to church with you! The teen/youth kids will walk around during church collecting all loose change for their summer trip.
Photo: Ash Ismail on Unsplash
| | Attention Earth Day Artists: Please pick up your art lying on the fellowship area windowsill before Sunday, June 15. | | |
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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Summer Solstice Fire Ceremony: A Unifying Christian & Shamanic Fire Ceremony
Friday, June 2oth, 6:30-8:30 pm
Experience a powerful Summer Solstice Ceremony at our church fire pit, led by Pastor Bryan, Trish Kalhagen, and Shamanic Practitioner Jessica Riphenburg. These gatherings bring together a diverse community for a special time of healing, uplifting, connection and hope as we celebrate the longest day of the year. Feel free to bring a lawn chair, or use one of our folding chairs. All ages are welcome, and invite a friend! The event is free, with an opportunity to make an offering to support Jessica's work.
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Sound Bath - Chakra Balance and Affirmations
June 22, 1-3 pm
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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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.
| | Visit our booth at Pride in the Park on June 29! Questions? Contact Lynn Belleau 608-217-0697. | | |
Weekly Creation Care Topic
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
This week’s tip: A Cool local nature outing for the whole family! "The International Crane Foundation's Crane Discovery Center is the only place where you can see all 15 of the world's crane species. Open daily from May 1 to Oct. 31, from 9 am to 5 pm. Located in Baraboo amid the farmlands of southern Wisconsin, the headquarters is just ten minutes from the Wisconsin Dells and the surrounding Baraboo Hills. For a reasonable fee and free parking, visitors to the site may enjoy learning about the world's cranes by taking a tour or wandering the grounds on their own, hiking on nature trails, and browsing nature-themed items from around the world in the gift shop." Click here to visit their website.
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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
No Kings…
It Is Time To Take A Stand…
Because of the brevity of this format—I mean these articles are supposed to just be “A Few Words…”—I have to be terribly blunt and succinct here. Maybe that’s just as well. As always, feel free to disagree or push back if you like. I’m always more interested in respectful conversation than in one-sided proclamations.
But as your pastor and as an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I do need to speak clearly now. Or write clearly.
If you’ve been around these past 7 years you know how deliberate, prayerful, and careful I am when it comes to speaking out on issues of justice that have political implications. As I stated just recently in a sermon, I believe strongly in the separation of church and state. As Tony Campolo used to joke, “Mixing the church and state is like mixing ice cream with cow manure. It may not do much to the manure, but it sure messes up the ice cream.” We have to be extremely careful how we approach the relationship between religion and government. If you want to dive deeply into this topic I strongly suggest reading Shane Claiborne’s powerful book, Jesus For President. Shane and co-author Chris Haw explain why the God of the Bible NEVER wanted the people of Israel to have a King. But the people of biblical Israel (who by the way are NOT synonymous with the modern nation state of Israel) were overcome by their own fear and insecurity and rather than choosing to trust in God, they rejected God’s intention and instead embraced a militaristic king whom, they hoped, would somehow protect them from all that they feared. The temptation and inclination when the world feels threatening and uncertain to trust more in perceived might than “right” is a very old and understandable human dynamic. And a very present one. And as always, a very dangerous one.
While I believe strongly in the separation of church and state, I do not believe in the separation of faith and politics. I agree with Texas congressman and seminarian James Talarico that Jesus’s commandment to “love our neighbors as ourselves” is pretty much a mandate to connect our faith with political policies and decisions that directly impact how we live together and treat each other. Political decisions are often matters of life and death. They impact access to basic needs such as health care, employment, discrimination, housing, the right to vote, the ability to earn a living wage, and basic human rights. God cares about politics because God cares about the well-being of everyone, the earth, and especially about how the most vulnerable people among us are treated.
So now for the blunt part. In the name of the God of the Bible and as a follower of Jesus, our government and the policies of President Trump have violated not just the constitutional checks and balances that make our nation the beautiful (though thoroughly imperfect) experiment in democracy that it is—but several of this administration’s policies are now also in direct violation of the justice, compassion, love, humility and truth that Scripture tells us God requires from humans, and that is at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus.
I don’t have space here to get into detail, but the violations of the Constitution are blatant and obvious. Our nation was founded because our ancestors refused to bow down to a King, and insisted that in our way of government no one would be "above the law." That’s why we have the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and all the founding documents that represent the best of who we are.
But as people of faith and followers of Jesus, it is the deliberate cruelty and violence and disrespect toward the most vulnerable people economically and socially among us to which our faith calls us to express a resounding, “No. We will not comply with this. It will not be done in our name.” Or to state it positively, “We stand for love, justice, and compassion.”
That’s what I will be peacefully expressing as I and many from our congregation and scores of other churches and faith communities in our area participate in the “No Kings” rallies on June 14. We will show up in the spirit of love and respect for all people that Jesus calls us to be about. We will be peaceful. We will discourage and not participate in any expressions of dissent that are disrespectful or violent. But we will be there, because it is time to clearly say that this administration has taken us to a place of cruelty and injustice that we simply cannot passively tolerate. We need to let our government know that we will not be intimidated, we will stand with those who are being mistreated, we will not live in fear, and we will not remain silent.
Participating in a rally in the streets may not be your way of expressing your faith-based dissent. I encourage you to find your own. Pray. Send loving energy of Light and Love and Justice to everyone, and to President Trump and his circle especially. And if you are, based on your faith, in favor of what President Trump is doing, I welcome mutually respectful conversation. I will lovingly share with you how and why my understanding of Scripture and the Love of God leads me to write what I have written here. If I am missing something essential, I will welcome having that pointed out to me. I will welcome learning from and with you. I mean that.
I’m going to close by sharing the text for a “faith-based” response to the issue of immigration that I wrote last year for a brochure created by the Wisconsin Conference of the UCC Working Group on Immigration Justice." It’s just one example of how/why I believe our faith leads us now to push back (lovingly, respectfully, and peacefully) against the current administration’s policies of systemic and deliberate cruelty.
Hope to see you in Church Sunday!
Pastor Bryan
From The WI Conference UCC Brochure On Immigration Justice
Leviticus 19:33 (NIV)
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”
Isolating Scripture texts, especially from books like Leviticus, can be problematic. But if we are looking for a text to guide how our faith calls us to relate to and with immigrants among us, Leviticus 19:33 is among the best. Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:35 remind us that our treatment of the “stranger” (or refugee or immigrant) is synonymous with our treatment of Christ. More than anything, Scripture reminds us that all humans are created in the image of God, and should be treated with justice, kindness, and dignity (Micah 6:8). One of our primary roles as people of faith is to make sure that immigrants are not objectified, dehumanized, or denied due process. Immigrants who live among us and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We need to hear and respond to their human stories, the cruel, unjust, and desperate situations and conditions they are often fleeing, and the dangerous and costly journeys many have taken to reach our borders. It is possible to have both a secure and just border policy and also greet all persons with the welcome, compassion, and justice that is at the heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
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