Apr 28th, 2020
MC Sask Shorts
MC Sask presents MC Sask Shorts
Short video reflections with titles
such as Leaning, Hope in the Dark,
and My Lord is With Me all the Time.
News
Updates & Announcements for Bulletins
Click on the dropdown boxes below
Bulletin announcements - cut & paste (dropdown)
Please remove any announcements that are not listed below
In M
C Sask Shorts’ first interview, Dave Feick, executive director at The Micah Mission, talks about restorative justice and finding cause for hope in the midst of COVID-19. Check it out here
Calling All Kiddos!!! You are invited to a weekly MC Sask digital Sunday school at 9:30am. This 20-25 minute Zoom gathering will include a song, a story, and a time to share and pray (and show off your weekly craft). Shared leadership will be needed. If you are interested in a) signing up your kids, b) leading some of the sessions, or c) have some questions, please contact Josh Wallace at churchengagement@mcsask.ca.
14th Annual RJC Golf Classic - As golf courses begin to reopen with distancing rules, RJC invites you to participate in an 18-hole round of scramble at any course in support of the school from June 8-30. This event will include an online silent auction and prizes. Visit rjc.sk.ca/golf for more information and rules.
RJC Graduation Exercises - Sunday, June 21. A virtual baccalaureate service will be held at 11:00am, followed by a virtual graduation ceremony at 2:00pm. Decade grads are encouraged to connect with their classes virtually or in a way that adheres to provincial physical distancing rules. Visit rjc.sk.ca for links, information, and updates.
The final service for Superb Mennonite Church is available to watch at http://mcsask.ca For a PDF transcript click here.
Even during pandemic, we still love our neighbours. How has your congregation been seeking to care and support your community in the midst of COVID-19. Ministries Commission invites any folks (not just pastors) involved in MC Sask congregations to share their stories of the surprising and everyday ways we’re walking with our neighbors in this season. You can access these stories at http://tiny.cc/mcskpandemicneighbours to share with your congregation. To submit a story, fill out the brief Google form at http://tiny.cc/neighboursform.
Shekinah Retreat Centre is having its (virtual) Friends of Shekinah Fundraiser on June 28. Please save the date and watch for more information
Weekly Prayers
MC Canada Call to Prayer
"This nationwide call to prayer is a call for the church to boldly stand against racism that rips apart the social fabric of both of our countries.
As a church, we speak for a God who made all persons in the image of the Creator’s likeness.
We are called to raise our voices and prayers and denounce the evil that racism inflicts upon our fellow human beings."
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan is asking all congregations to set aside a specific time of prayer on Sunday, June 7,
to join our sister churches in Mennonite Church USA as they lament the injustice and violence suffered by people of colour in the U.S.
Read the full nationwide call here: Nationwide Call to Prayer
MC Canada updates & announcements
MC Canada Worships – Pentecost Sunday May 31, 2020
Theme: “Will the Fire Change You?
Text: Acts 2:1-4
Springstein Mennonite Church from Springstein, MB., invites you to join in worship as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. Our theme is taken from this spring’s Leader magazine resources written by Joani Neufeldt of Lethbridge, AB.
(service includes communion, please be prepared with bread/cracker and wine/juice.)
www.mennonitechurch.ca/worshipservices
Witness worker writes paper commemorating 70th anniversary of Korean War
Bock Ki Kim, Witness worker in South Korea, has been asked by a group of Methodist pastors and scholars to contribute to a book commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. They want the perspective of a peace church and the introduction of peace theology. Please pray for insight and inspiration as Bock Ki meditates and writes on this important topic.
AIMM asks for prayer amid COVID-19 in Africa
Mennonite Church Canada ministry partner Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission asks us to pray for our African sisters and brothers as COVID-19 continues to spread. People visit markets to buy food almost daily because most don’t have fridges or other ways to preserve food from day to day. Pray for provision, for protection, for courage and strength during this period of isolation. Pray that hospitals and medical staff provide the best possible care despite the lack of ventilators and other important medical tools.
Give thanks for connections of Chinese small groups to Mennonite Church
Join George Veith, Witness worker in China, in prayers of thanksgiving for the good connections small groups in China are making through Chinese colleague Pastor Yin Hongtao from Mennonite Partners in China. These groups describe their study of Anabaptist writing as a “coming home to a faith tradition we didn’t know existed”. They are excited to be connected to Mennonites worldwide to learn together what it means to be faithful followers of Jesus in the 21st century.
Make June a Jubilee!
June is Indigenous History Month—a time to intentionally reflect on Indigenous-Settler relationships both past and present; a time to grow in right relations with host peoples and the lands in which we live. We encourage everyone to pick up a great book—like Chelsea Vowel’s Indigenous Writes, or Barker and Lowman’s Settler—to learn more about how we can pursue paths of decolonization (see www.commonword.ca/go/1512). To celebrate this time, all proceeds from purchasing ISR resources from CommonWord—like Unsettling the Word and the TRC Trilogy—will go to Mennonite Church Canada’s Jubilee Fund, which supports Indigenous communities who are repairing and renewing relationships with ancestral lands (see www.commonword.ca/go/2042).
Last chance to register for Indigenous theological online gathering (June 4-7)
Want to explore Indigenous and decolonizing theology that’ll help you live into right relations? Next week, the North American Institute for Theological Studies (NAIITS) is meeting by Zoom for its annual symposium, from June 4-7. We would love to see a good number of participants from our regional church bodies join in this community of learning. ISR has several scholarships to help cover half the cost of registration. For more information and a schedule, visit https://naiits.com/sym2020.html#2. Contact Steve Heinrichs (sheinrichs@mennonitechurch.ca) if you would like to receive support from Mennonite Church Canada to attend.
News from our partners
Book a peacemaking preacher!
If your congregation is connecting online, Christian Peacemaker Teams would love to be a part of your virtual gatherings. We have CPTers from around the world available to either give a 10-minute sermon relating peacemaking and faith or a 5-minute highlight on CPT’s ongoing work and how your support makes their work possible. Be inspired by stories of change and and help support collective efforts to transform violence and oppression. To set these up, please email Julie at outreach@cpt.org or visit our website https://www.cpt.org/participate/outreach
Commonword
Worship Calendar:
May 31 Pentecost - www.commonword.ca/go/1759
Jun 7 Trinity Sunday - www.commonword.ca/go/1769
Jun 20 World Refugee Day - www.commonword.ca/go/1770
Jun 21 National Indigenous Peoples Day - www.commonword.ca/go/1474
Jul 30 International Day of Friendship - https://www.commonword.ca/go/771
Aug 6 Hiroshima Day - https://www.commonword.ca/go/772
CommonWord online service continues during the pandemic
Self-isolation should not mean a lack of reading material. Loan items ship free.
www.commonword.ca
Featured resources
Pandemic materials for home and congregation - https://www.mennonitechurch.ca/outbreakresources
Including:
- Preaching to the Screen webinar – www.commonword.ca/go/2043. MennoMedia’s Leader magazine hosted a discussion with a panel of Anabaptist pastors and church leaders to unpack practical advice as well as theological considerations for effective online preaching.
- Hope Unleashed – www.commonword.ca/go/2044. A Mennonite Church Manitoba collection of congregational resources for use during the pandemic.
- Caring for the Mental Health of Youth and Families during Physical Isolation – www.commonword.ca/go/2045. Includes ideas from MCEC youth ministers, workers and sponsors, online resource suggestions and links.
- Technology Best Practices for Virtual Meetings – www.commonword.ca/go/2046 and Work Tools - www.commonword.ca/go/2047. Created by Crystal Washington, a technology strategist and certified futurist, for Mennonite Church USA.
- Copyrights During COVID-19 – www.commonword.ca/go/2048, and Ways to Sing Together if you are gathering online for worship – www.commonword.ca/go/2038. By members of the Voices Together hymnal committee.
New from Herald Press
New from Herald Press – I am Not Your Enemy: Stories to Transform a Divided World by Michael T. McRay – www.commonword.ca/go/2049.
Get Our Weekly Emails
Stay up-to-date by getting our weekly newsletters.
We will highlight local, provincial and national events, current news and stories.