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 | | Friday 2/28/25 Come Worship With Us!Sunday School - 10am Worship Service - 11am |
| Worship Leader: Dee Dee Risher Speaker: Doran Stucky Music: David Himmer & Lauren Moyer Reader: TBD Children's Time: David Murphey Childcare: Nora Jacob Nissley and David Murphey Zoom Tech: Rob Wilkinson Greeter: Sue Bartholomew Money Counters: Becky Kreider & Ken Handrich Announcements: TBD |
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| Lent approaches Lent is a season of uniting with God. It is a time for atonement, at-one-ment, becoming one with God, the One who is All. In our readings for the season, Jesus laments that seemingly holy places (Jerusalem) and well-regarded people (religious leaders, the rich) have rejected this one-ness. He preaches parables of a God who relentlessly seeks to unite with us. He proclaims God's presence in acts of care and reparation. Our Anabaptist tradition teaches that we find oneness with God through submission to God's will (gelassenheit, or what in Arabic would translate as Islam). In Lent, we give up everything that does not bring us closer to divine grace. We find ourselves inseparable from God's presence in all of creation. Our salvation and sanctification involves our whole bodies, our whole world.
This week Doran Stucky will preach on Luke 9:28-45--which includes the Transfiguration story and the healing story that immediately comes after it. Doran will focus on preparing us for the start of the season of Lent; therefore, highlighting how Jesus turns his face to Jerusalem (Lk 9:51) as a model for our own Lenten journeys. Doran will also introduce the themes Pastor Jay intends to focus on during Lent this year.
ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL, 10am Working with MDS (Mennonite Disaster Service), sharing by Duane Hershberger and Phil & Dottie Baumgarten … SPECIAL PRAYER for THIS WEEK and BEYOND… Members of our community have volunteered to take turns worshipping alongside our siblings at Philadelphia Praise Center in South Philadelphia. Philly Praise is a predominantly Indonesian faith community and deportation threats have become real. Here is a prayer you can say:
Today, we remember ________ from our congregation and those from other congregations who are worshipping with our siblings at Philadelphia Praise Center. We remember the members of Philly Praise, and all our immigrant siblings who are under threat of deportation. Mother God, spread your loving wings over them and over all your children. Spirit of Strength, give them courage to peacefully engage any ICE agents who may attempt to enter your Holy Temple. Abundant Love, may their worship together be a rich table prepared in the presence of their enemies.
March 2: Wanda Kraybill March 9: Melissa Berkey-Gerard March 16: Kate Ingram, Alison Smithey, Jude Smithey March 23: still looking for a volunteer March 30: Dottie and Phil Baumgarten |
| COMING UP in our COMMUNITY Through March 11 - Jay is away - TOMORROW, Saturday 3/1, 5:30-7:30pm - Youth Group grades 5-12 - This Sunday, 1:30pm - West Philly Potluck at Thut Witmer home - This Sunday, 1-3pm - Kids’ Club Ice Skating at Simons Rec Center - March 5, 7pm - Ash Wednesday Service - March 7, 6-7pm - Building Our Tool-kits for Resistance & Reconnection, Rabbi Linda Holtzman in conversation with author Eliana Rubin. - March 9, 5:30pm - Interfaith Iftar at Masjidullah Details here - March 15, 3pm - Lois Miller Celebration of Life at Cathedral Village (details below) - March 15, 103:0am - The Cross of Christ in a World of Violence with the Alternative Seminary, (details below) Register here. - March 22, 9:30–11:30 - Anti-racism workshop at West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship (details below) - March 26, 5pm - "God's Love Knows No Borders" with Mennonite Action at Penn's Landing |
| Now that business is out of the way…. LET’S TALK ABOUT A NEW BABY!! |
| | Joy and Zach Burkholder are excited to share that baby Jackson has arrived safely! He was born at 7:58am on February 27th at 8lbs 3oz and 21inches! They will be at Abington Hospital until March 2nd.
Click below for more info, photos, and the opportunity to help them out with meals and other resources! |
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| | | Birthdays this week! TOMORROW March 1 - Hanna Ruth Monday March 3 - Andy Peifer 🎂 Y’all are so beautiful ! …. Happy Birthday! 🎂 |
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| | A community health note from GMC’s accessibility working group… As Pastor Jay remarked on Sunday, it seems like everybody at GMC has been sick lately. COVID, flu, colds, you name it, are circulating with a vengeance. Masks are very highly recommended, and GMC has plenty available for you to use. If you are feeling sick or have been exposed to COVID or other illnesses, please stay home and join us on Zoom. |
| | | Lois Miller Memorial Service You are invited to the memorial service for a long time member of GMC, Lois Miller. Saturday, March 15, 3pm (followed by reception/meal) Cathedral Hall, Cathedral Village 600 E. Cathedral Road Philadelphia, PA 19128 |
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| |  | | Join Mennonites from across Philadelphia in the annual offering of Mennonite Central Committee prison care kits for incarcerated people in Philadelphia prisons.
Ron Muse, a prison chaplain, says, “It’s amazing to see the inmate’s face when the officer who he once despised gives him a kit...you can literally see the wall of animosity being torn down.” Our offerings will help fund kits composed of basic toiletries and socks, underwear and t-shirts provide dignity and items that are very expensive to buy in prison. Gifts of prison care kits help MCC share God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by reminding current and formerly incarcerated people that their needs are not forgotten.
Last year on MLK Day at GMC, a short video was made about the project. |
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| Praying for victims of violence in our city The people who died from violence in Philadelphia this year were not members of our congregation. We acknowledge our relief that they were not - and that we all-too-humanly seek to separate ourselves from understanding and objecting to the circumstances that led to their deaths. Just as we would mourn for a family member of one of our own, let us mourn the violent deaths of Linda Beeks, 76-years-old and Demise Bruce, 26-years-old. Let us also pray for those who took their lives and for healing for our entire community. |
| |  |  | People in Jabalya, where thousands have returned to ruins, few buildings are left standing, and sewage is flowing in the streets. Photo by OCHA/Themba Linden
Israel's genocide in Gaza has killed over 48,365 Palestinians
JOIN the MENNONITE ACTION “GOD’S LOVE KNOWS NO BORDERS” DEMONSTRATION WEDNESDAY MARCH 26, 5-6:30PM PENN’S LANDING A note from Jeff Garis…"Earlier this week, I helped to facilitate a rally outside City Hall in opposition to deportation, racism, & fascism generally, where I was energized as I led a crowd of hundreds & hundreds of Philadelphians in shouting, "The people united will never be defeated." And one of the things that meant the most to me was seeing & hearing people from GMC & other Mennonite congregations around the city, joining with our friends, neighbors, & allies to speak out against the inhumanity on full display in our world. And that's one of the reasons why I was honored & excited to be invited to serve on an advisory committee for Philly-area efforts by Mennonite Action, a movement of Mennonites, Christians, & friends following in the example of Jesus Christ, who called us to live as active peacemakers, standing firmly on the side of the downtrodden & the oppressed. And that's why I'm asking you to mark your calendars & prepare your hearts to join me and others from GMC & other Mennonite congregations across the city at the site where the first Mennonite immigrants to North America set foot more than 340 years ago: PENN'S LANDING!”
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THE CROSS OF CHRIST IN A WORLD OF VIOLENCE
Proclaiming the Radical Gospel
in the Face of Empire and Christian Nationalism
AN ONLINE GATHERINGSaturday morning, March 15 10:30 am – 12:30 pm EST As we witness the growing power and influence of a militant white Christian nationalism in the United States, followers of Jesus must assert more urgently than ever the radical gospel of love, justice, and Beloved Community. Part of this task is reclaiming the core image of our faith: the Cross of Christ. The founder of our faith was sent to the cross as an execution by empire – yet for thousands of years, that same cross has been wielded by empire to justify and bless human violence. We will explore the history of “redemptive violence” that has flowed from theologies of atonement. We will revisit the crucifixion of Jesus in its historical context and explore the questions: How and why did Jesus die? How is his death related to his ministry in the Gospels? How did the early communities grasp his death, and how does it make us think differently about the Resurrection? We will reflect on how a more radical understanding of the passion of Christ can impact our discipleship, and particularly our efforts to witness to justice and shalom in a world of empire, violence, and degradation of creation. This session will be facilitated by Will O’Brien, coordinator of The Alternative Seminary. Registration is required. REGISTER HERE The cost is $20 (or whatever you can afford). Questions? Contact: willobrien59@gmail.com or 267-339-8989. |
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West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship Reparations Committee Invites you to a workshop led by Amanda K. Gross titled: Our Work to Do: Healing Cycles of Harm in the Service of Anti-Racist Solidarity, Healing, and Repair
Details: Saturday, March 22nd, 9:30–11:30am at West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship 123 S. 51st Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19139
Description: This two-hour interactive workshop will consider the strong embodied reactions that sometimes arise within racial justice organizing spaces, how these reactions are connected to unhealed cycles of harm, and how we can acknowledge and learn from them in order to deepen intrapersonal and collective healing, solidarity, and repair.
Please wear comfortable clothes and come prepared to engage with gentle movement and breathwork. All ages and abilities are welcome.
Additional opportunity: Luncheon following with further discussion about her book, White Women, Get Ready: How Healing Post-Traumatic Mistress Syndrome Leads to Anti-Racist Change.
RSVP recommended but not required. Please email Alice at ammoyer64@gmail.com if you plan to attend.
Books will be available for purchase at event and are also available at https://www.mistresssyndrome.com/book or by requesting it at your local bookstore
About Amanda K Gross and her book
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