August 25 - September 1, 2023

Below are weekly programs. You can find brief descriptions of these weekly programs on our website:

SUNDAY Morning Worship, 10 am in person and via Zoom

https://zoom.us/j/97010988439 Password: betogether

SUNDAY , 11:30 a.m. Bible Study in person and on Zoom

https://zoom.us/j/262314649 Note: No Bible Study 8/27 so that all interested can attend Tcheki and Jeffrey's presentation on zoom

and in person.

MONDAY - FRIDAY, 8 am Morning Devotion

https://zoom.us/j/94276813637

WEDNESDAY Eve., 6:30 pm Midweek Inhale Spiritual Practices

https://zoom.us/j/123020606

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.

Friday, August 25, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, All Ages Fun Night and Camp Fire (unless too hot) at church. Bring a game if you have one, including cards! The Corn Hole Championship Tournament continues...

Sunday, September 3, 5:30 - 7:00 pm, NO Teen Youth Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, September 5, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, Racial Justice Team Monthly Meeting (In person & Online)- Multipurpose Room

Saturday, September 9, 10:00 am, Love Has the Final Word Group Meeting (In person only)- Multipurpose Room

Thursday, September 14, 6:00 – 8:00 pm, SaLT Monthly Meeting (In person & Online) - Multipurpose Room

Sunday, September 17, 10:00 am, Outdoor Worship Service (In person & Online) Indoors if inclement weather.

Tuesday, September 19, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, Ecojustice/Green Team Monthly Meeting (In person & Online) - Multipurpose Room, Rescheduled from 8/15

Thursday, September 21, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, NION Monthly Meeting. In person and Online

Saturday, September 30, 10:00 am, Racial Justice Ministries trip to visit the Black Holocaust Museam in Milwaukee, followed by lunch at a black owned restaurant in Milwaukee. More details to come in the Pulse in the weeks to come. We will likely leave McFarland around 8 a.m. and return mid afternoon.

Friday, August 25th

6:00 --8:00 p.m.

All Ages Fun Night!

Our July "All Ages Fun Night" was a blast for those who made it, and I know a bunch of folks were out of town. So let's do it again! Hopefully some of you families with younger kids will be able to come this time. We're going to have root beer floats and s'mores if it's not too hot for a fire.

Come and enjoy a chance to play some games and get to know each other. There may be a beginner's poker game and instruction if there's interest. I know some of you are avid card players, so feel free to bring your cards and cribbage boards or whatever you enjoy most. And assuming someone can bring a corn hole set or two we'll continue that championship match!

NOTE: Younger Youth Programming will kick off again in September (Most likely the evening of the 17th but parents will receive a note soon from Pastor Bryan asking about best times to meet) with a fun Outdoor Bible Story theme event that Sheryl Rowe is working hard on. More info to come via email about this to parents of younger youth.

This Sunday, 8/27 at 11:30 a.m. at Church (and on zoom)

Tcheki and Jeffrey’s Journey to WI

On Sunday, 8/27, our church community will have the opportunity to hear about Tcheki and Jeffrey’s journey from Haiti to McFarland. After worship service, they will share why they left Haiti and the multiple circumstances they found themselves in, including walking through a jungle and Mexico, on their way to the US.

Some new Haitian friends of theirs will interpret for them, and you will have a chance to engage them in a bit of Q & A after their presentation.

After Tcheki and Jeffrey’s presentation, plan to stay for a “Taste of Haiti." Haitian food samples prepared by Tcheki, Jeffrey, and others for everyone to taste and enjoy will include:

• Seasoned pork and chicken (using epis for seasoning-this is a special Haitian pesto-like seasoning)
• Seasoned rice
• Fried plantains
• Two salads (one with potatoes, carrots, beets and the other with shredded cabbage and carrots)
• Bonbon Siwo, a Haitian gingerbread cake

Will you help...

Fill a Need?

Per Becky Cohen, ushers are needed on September 3rd and 10th. SignUp Genius is the place to let you know you'll fill those dates or others.

Love Has the Final Word Support Group Announcement

There is a support group for adults that have been estranged from family members that will begin this fall. Being estranged from a family member means that the relationship has been cut off or lost for whatever reason.

Sessions will be held on the second Saturday of September, October, and November here at MUCC at 10 am. (Sat Sept 9, Sat Oct 14, Sat Nov 11)

Contact: Trish Kalhagen or Araceli Wehr

MUCC Choir

Submitted by Tom Ludwig, Choir Director

The MUCC choir will resume rehearsals on Sunday, September 10. We rehearse every Sunday at 9:00 am, and we sing at about one worship service per month. We welcome back previous singers and always welcome new ones!  You do not need to have any experience or the ability to read music.  The only requirement is enthusiasm!  If you have any questions, please talk to me or email me at tludwig.rn@gmail.com.

Outreach LGBTQ+ Community Center’s food pantry

This pantry is in need of cleaning supplies. If you would like to help, please bring cleaners and supplies to church this Sunday (Aug. 28) or next Sunday (Sept. 3). There will be a basket in the sanctuary to put your donations in.  Questions?  Call Judy Taber at 608-215-4161.

A Few Words From Pastor Bryan

...and Meister Eckhart

A number of you who were able to be with us last Sunday for our outdoor service told me how much you enjoyed, "asking the trees to teach us," and listening for what they have to say. It was and is a different way of inclining our spiritual eyes and ears to the presence and voice of God--less about intellectual content and more about just being quietly aware of the Divine with all of our senses and sensibilities wide open.

The Theologian and mystic Meister Eckhart (that's him in the photo) once said, 

"Anyone who truly knows creatures may be excused from listening to sermons, for every creature is full of God, and is a book." 

St. Francis is usually acknowledged as the source of this quote:

"Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words."

Sometimes words get in the way of the Word. Sometimes what we really need is to just open our eyes and look at the trees, the birds, the sky, or someone we love. Or maybe to really "see" someone we're having a hard time loving.

...and then to just be open to whatever God might be trying to say, and willing to risk trusting that what we're thinking or noticing or feeling actually IS God communicating with us.

Sometimes is really is that simple.

Enough said.

Pastor Bryan