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July 2007
Worship Themes
July 1 - “It’s About Us” Jeremiah 6:13-16; Luke 12:13-21 Corey preaching July 8 - “Obedience to God” Luke 5:1-7, Hebrews 10:35-36 Fred Schmidt preaching July 15 - “Finding Your Passion” Grace Brunner preaching July 22 - “Live the Call” Ephesians 4:1-6 Corey preaching July 29 - “Speak Lord!” I Samuel 3:1-21 Peter Goerzen preaching
“Important Family Reunions”
- Ephesians 4:12
The family reunion image fits perfectly with church conferences. In the month of July, I will be attending two very important family reunions: the Mennonite Church USA Convention in San Jose “Live the Call”, and the Western District Conference in Tulsa, “Speak Lord!” These gatherings have been planned for and prayed over for years and they both will help us know who has joined our growing and changing family. In San Jose, the 850 delegates registered will be the smallest number since our denomination’s beginning in 2001. That is in part, because 45% of MC USA lives East of the Alleghenies and only 5% live West of the Rockies. At Tulsa, we will again feel the growing Hispanic flavor of our changing WDC, where God’s Spirit seems to be moving strongly in Texas. Just like at family reunions, there will be story telling, praying, eating, laughing, singing and doing some business. At San Jose, we will address the health care situation, review our denomination after 6 years, and vote on joining Christian Churches Together. At WDC, we will gather to listen to God’s Word, check in with our relationship with South Central Conference and see what God is calling us to do and to be next. I look forward to these two trips. Yes, they cost some money. Yes they take time. Yes, they are exhausting. But these reunions will be good for me to go and listen and share what God is doing here at Tabor. Part of my voice is to make sure our big family doesn’t forget who we are and to remind us of the larger church that we are a part of. I look forward to both these experiences. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians was that God gave spiritual gifts “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all come to unity and knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity...in Christ.” (Eph. 4:12-13) This continues to be the goal of conferences. As you experience your family reunions this summer, remember how God is uniting the Mennonite Church this summer as well! Praise God for the gift of family! -Pastor Corey
Summer Sunday School "Practicing Our Faith" Gather around tables in the fellowship hall, with a cold drink and an open heart this summer to hear stories about how many folks Practice Their Faith through their lifestyle choices, vocations and day to day living. This series will begin on Sunday, July 8 and run through August 26. Learn about healthy living, retirement planning, caring for children via education, the ministry of nursing and social work and much more. Weekly topics and presenters will be listed in the church bulletin. All adults are invited to attend! The Junior Sunday School classes will continue to be combined for the summer. GatherRound provides a summer curriculum designed for combined classes. We will be learning about parables. Join us! Prayer and Envisioning Team
The Tabor prayer and envisioning team will meet to begin dreaming about our future at Tabor on July 25th. The members are Harlin Unruh, Barb Abrahams, Steve Janzen, Gayle Funk, Carrie Sommerfeld and Pastor Corey. The group will be reflecting on the changing needs of our members, the demographics of our communities, and the structures of our current ministries. Above all, we want to be in prayer for our future, a future that God is already aware of. The group will keep you posted as to what we are learning, discovering and hearing.
About 25 people who studied Return to Earth gathered at Jerry and Leann Toews’ farm for an evening of reflecting, eating and working on June 20th. Some helped to sew the burial clothes that will be placed in the boxes where unidentifiable native American remains will be placed and given a proper burial. Others walked to Rod Abraham’s wood shop and assembled two boxes (thanks to Jude Krehbiel’s superb navigation of the instruction sheet). Anyone who went through the class and still wishes to help with either sewing burial clothes or building boxes, talk to Wilma Schmidt or Jerry Toews. If others would like to study the “Return to the Earth” curriculum, let either Marlene Bogard or the pastors know about it.
So where is this new irrigation system that was put in for our lawn and landscaping around the church building? It’s in the ground! Thanks to the expertise of Mike Unruh and his crew, lines were laid and sprinkler heads installed almost without notice! Thank you!! The system will soon be hooked up and ready to go. Thanks also to LeRoy Funk and LeRoy Goertzen who kept the church lawn watered and green during hot summer months for so many years. Serving happens many times in many ways!
Testing . . . Testing . . .
We are very blessed to have so many people at Tabor who are committed to sharing their musical, reading, and/or dramatic talents during the Sunday morning worship services. All of these impact the message of Jesus Christ in significant and wonderful ways! Because of the number of people involved on a given Sunday it seems reasonable to set a schedule for the persons involved to have time for a quick run through or sound check before the service. There is a schedule posted by the sound board in the back of the sanctuary. It is important for you to sign up a week in advance if you want to be assured of a time slot and/or need assistance at the sound board. Blessings to all who serve in this way. Second Annual Mennograss
The second annual Mennograss in the Tabor Park was not held in June this year, but will be in August, together with the Miller BBQ. So, make plans to come to the park on August 26th, for some good burgers and some good bluegrass music! More details will come later. Historical Moments What do Here Comes Topsy thru the Window, The Old Chief goes a Courting, The Miller Boy (I don’t believe this refers to Pastor Corey), and Susan Brownie have in common? Some might think they were names of stories or books. Good guess, but not the right one. Now, if you are thinking games you are on the right track. Several weeks ago I was doing some research at the Mennonite Historical Library at Bethel College and came across a term paper that had been written in 1942 by our very own Milton Schmidt. The following information is taken from this paper which is entitled, The General History of the Tabor Church and Vicinity. Actually the titles listed above are names of games that were played when young people gathered together on Sunday evenings. Usually church activities were held at least three Sundays a month. On the remaining fourth Sunday young people gathered together and played these party games or swinging games. These gatherings were called “Crowds”. Milton indicates that this activity was sometimes frowned on by the ministers and some of the older members of the church, although he doesn’t say why. One could assume it might have had sometime to do with the “swinging part” being similar to dancing. Even so, they were a great way for young people to interact. Invitations were generally issued after church and passed around by word of mouth. When the weather was warm they met outdoors. Winter meetings, if held, were usually at someone’s home. Some places may have even included a fiddle band along with general singing. Interestingly enough, refreshments were never served. It’s hard to believe there was a gathering of Mennonites with no food. Apparently, the boys had other reasons for coming then just to play swinging games. Milton indicates that, “the fellows would shine up their buggies and curry their horses and entice the girls to ride with them. It was always a game for the boys to see how many different girls they could take home.” (Perhaps this was another reason the ministers and older people may have questioned these gatherings.) By 1940 this custom had died out, primarily because the youth began to find other activities to take its place. If anyone has information or pictures of these gatherings I would be interested in hearing from you. Wouldn’t it be great if someone still knew how to “swing” to one of these games? Who knows, it might just be time for the boys to shine up their cars and take the girls for a ride. Also, while reading through early church meeting minutes I came across the motion to celebrate or observe Sylvester Evening. Can someone tell me what Sylvester Evening was? -Ilona Abrahams TGYF The TGYF has not been meeting throughout the summer. However, Doug has been continuing to work with those interested in learning how to play guitar. We also had an organizational meeting to prepare for our service trip, which is July 14-19. We will be going to San Antonio and working with the DOOR program. At the meeting we talked about various scenarios that we might encounter. We also took a quiz to test our knowledge about San Antonio. ~Kristin Unruh, Reporter Karen’s Sabbatical Update Pastor Karen experienced a minor setback in her Sabbatical goals for the month of June. She was scheduled to spend time in June learning about spiritual direction with Kathryn Damiano in Wichita, but through circumstances beyond her control, this experience will happen at a future time through a different class. So, she has been reading and reflecting and retreating during these past few weeks. In the month of July, Karen will be taking a class at the seminary in Elkhart (July 9-20) and we look forward to seeing her in August! Miller’s on vacation The Miller family will try and get away for a little trip to South Dakota and then Kansas City during the week of July 11-18. In case of an emergency, Denise Nickel is the deacon chair and we have asked Grace Brunner if she could be available, if such a need would arise.
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