Worship This Sunday

In Advent

Our world is saturated with ideas and conceptions of love, but most of them leave us feeling empty and cheap. What would it look like to let go of these misapprehensions of love and try on God's love for the world?
Almost exactly three years ago, Tom Hind’s “Service in Song” was the liturgy on the last Sunday before worship moved online. This Sunday, we celebrate its return! The service includes communion, so if you’re participating online, please have your elements ready.
Livestream link
Bulletin
Service in Song Booklet
Reading Sheet

 

In Hope

As we continue our theme around death this Lenten season, this week we look at Jesus' death itself. Jesus claims that through him there is eternal life. But what does that mean, and why did he have to die so that we might have this new life? To look for answers, we'll go back in time as the Ancient Israelites wandered in the desert to see how a some snakes might give us the key to Jesus' claim that through him there is eternal life.

Livestream link
Bulletin

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Special Offering

This week is our offering to One Great Hour of Sharing, which supports UCC missions around the world, including to refugee resettlement, disaster relief, and sustainable development. For those writing checks, please add "OGHS" in the memo line.

 

Adult Ed: Welcome Rachel Bauman

This week Rev. Rachel Bauman is joining us! She is the Associate Conference Minister of the Southwest Association of the UCC Wisconsin Conference. Sound like a mouthful of words? It is!-- and that's why Rachel is joining us-- to give a glance at UCC denominational structure and what is Rev. Bauman's role as an Associate Conference Minister. She'll especially be shedding some light on her work with church transitions, like our interim transition here at Community of Hope. Join us in welcoming Rev. Bauman to MCC! Zoom link. (Meeting ID: 895 8482 5739, Passcode: 881545)

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In Faith Formation This Week

We will continue to learn about what the Lord’s Prayer for our everyday lives. This week we’re focusing on “Give us this day our daily bread.” From Illustrated Ministry, “Just like the opening of the Lord’s Prayer emphasized Our Loving God (rather than My Loving God), this part of the prayer also connects us with each other. As we pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ we are asking that everyone receive daily bread.”

 

Oh Goodie! Goodies!

Some wonderful donations have come in that will be enhancing the MCC library shelves. But others of the materials don’t need a home here, so maybe you want to claim a book for your own home.
Also, if you’re enjoying Tom Hind’s music this weekend, we found some CD’s of the MCC Garden Song from 2008. Those will be on the table in the Blessing Room.

 

Lenten Midweek

There are just two more Wednesdays in Lent, but there’s still time for you to join in a variety of MCC opportunities:

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Lunchtime
Noon to 1:00pm, each of the remaining weeks, we will continue following a study by Worker Justice Wisconsin on worker justice issues in the Madison area, with lunch. Meet in the Shalom Room or on Zoom (Meeting ID: 830 2293 2967, Passcode: 172423).

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Evenings a la Carte
(pick one, two, or three)
* Holden Evening Prayer at 6:00pm in the Covenant Room or via Livestream
* Simple supper at about 6:30pm in the Shalom Room

* Book discussion on Dear Church: A Love Letter form a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the U.S. from about 7:10-8:15pm. Next week we'll discuss chapters 8-9.

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Volunteer During Lent
Lenten midweek services were not auto-filled in the current volunteer schedule, so we encourage you to login to the online scheduler and claim the slots where you’d like to offer assistance.

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Midweek Meal Contributions?

Pastors Jen and Nick have been delighted to prepare meals for the Lenten midweek gatherings, but they’re not trying to hoard all the hospitality fun. If you’d like to help contribute something for one of the two remaining weeks (or Maundy Thursday’s meal), let them know!

 

Easter Flower Orders & Your Memorials

Now is the time to share your donations in support of the lovely Easter garden in both worship spaces as part of our celebrations of resurrection and new life. Any contribution you’d like to make will support this display of abundant life. You can send it to the office, leave checks to the MCC marked “Easter Flowers,” or pay through PayPal. The deadline is Sunday, April 2. We also again welcome any names you would like to remember in the Easter bulletins in hope of the resurrection to eternal life. Email those requests to the office or look for an insert to fill out in your bulletin.

 

Transitions at the MCC

Last week, Pastor Jen gave a sermon about all the transitions we are facing in our individuals lives and our church. It is a time of change, not just for folks at Hope, but for everyone at the MCC. People at Hope had a chance to light candles to remember and honor the transitions that they are honoring and thinking about.

We invite everyone to take a moment to contemplate the transitions you are experiencing as a spiritual practice this Lent, whether those transitions are happening in your personal life, in the church, or out in the world. What change is on your heart and mind? How are you finding comfort and support in a time of transition?

You are invited to light candles of your own or find another ritual that works for you. Take a moment for yourself. Here is a link if you would also like to listen to Pastor Jen's sermon.

 

Road Ahead Review Implementation Updates

Want to know what’s going on with the Road Ahead Review Implementation team? Click HERE!

 

Recap from the First Nations and the MCC Group

On March 5, our First Nations group led Adult Led with updates on their work and connection Aldo Leopold’s land ethic. We showed a video created in 2021 for Teach the Truth Wisconsin truth videos which provides contributions from Aaron Redd (on Doctrine of Discovery), Cheyenne Larson (Sunday School hears and responds to a Native person's story of being taken from home to a Boarding School) and Sonja Keesey-Berg (a beginning outline of how your MCC and First Nations TF looks ahead). Rebecca W eise and Martha Frey shared some Land Acknowledgement Statements, including the most recent draft of an MCC Land Acknowledgement Statement. We concluded our time together by participating in reading the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. Robin Wall Kimmerer asked us to "Imagine raising children in a culture in which gratitude is the first priority.” The suggestion was made to use any portion of the Thanksgiving Address in our personal table grace or private devotions. Connecting to the Native People will help us move forward with greater heart and understanding in finalizing the MCC Land Acknowledgement Statement and also in creating an outdoor education space for all of us, and those to visit.

 

Advent Benevolence Allocation Subcommittee - Sunday After Worship

It’s the time of year to make recommendations about how to allocate Advent benevolences. 85% of Advent offerings fund the MCC, and 15% goes to support outside ministries/efforts. 7.5% of that is mission support for the synod and broader ELCA. The other 7.5% is allocated to organizations that fit the vision of the MCC. The benevolence allocation subcommittee meets just one time, which will be downstairs after worship this Sunday. If you’d like to be part of sharing this goodness and giving away money, you’re welcome to join!

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Awaken Dane – Featuring a Familiar MCC Face

There’s a new video to share about the work of Awaken Dane (and recruit congregations for future cohorts) that debuted last weekend at the Kingdom Justice Summit. It features reflections from our own Dean Ryerson. Watch it here.

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Save the Date: MCC Women's Salad Supper

The annual Salad Supper will be held the evening of Tues., June 20. The speaker will be Adrienne Brannen of Days for Girls in Madison, which is an organization focused on increasing access to menstrual care and education by developing global partnerships, cultivating Social Entrepreneurs, mobilizing volunteers and innovating sustainable solutions that shatter stigma and limitations for women and girls. And of course there will be great company and lots of tasty salads!!