Sojourning Together!
The Newsletter of Sojourn Mennonite
Worshiping at Westminster Presbyterian
1709 West Elizabeth
Ft. Collins, CO
November, 2014
Loving God, loving people, speaking the voice of peace
November Worship Schedule.
Nov 9
5:00 Worship – Susan sharing.
“The Joy of Giving”
Text: Phil. 4:15-19
6:00 Pot Luck for those wishing to stay. (please bring
food to share and table service for your household)
Nov 23
5:00 Worship -- Steve sharing
“Living with Gratitude ”
Text:Luke 17: 11-19, Psalm 106
6:00 Potluck for those wishing to stay (please bring
food to share and table service for your household.)
Nov 30
First Sunday in Advent
5:00 Worship – Susan sharing.
“Revealing Hope “
Text: Mark 13:24-37
Bring treats for a Bountiful Table.
(See note below)
6:00 Pot Luck for those wishing to stay (please bring
food to share and table service for your household)
Child care is provided for preschoolers during all worship
services.
Each meditation is followed by a time of interactive sermon
discussion. Dress is always casual. Come as you are.
The Bountiful Table.
Our Thanksgiving celebration on Nov 23 will include a Bountiful
Table. We celebrate God’s bountiful goodness to us at
Thanksgiving and Easter. All are invited to bring treats to share: a
fruit plate, cookies, cheese, chocolate, etc. We will arrange these
on our worship table, and after the sermon and responses, all will
be invited to help themselves to this bounty. God’s goodness to
us all knows no end!
Advent Worship.
As is our custom, we will meet at our normal time (5:00 p.m.) for
worship each Sunday of Advent, the four Sundays before
Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent this year is Nov 30. We
will use the Gospel of Mark, emphasizing the themes of hope,
peace, joy, love. Our services will be slightly more formal and
include more liturgy than we typically have.
Join us as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, and
invite your friends. This is often a time when folks think about
attending church.
Sojourn Small Groups
Immigration Group
The Sojourn Immigration Small Group meets first and third
Wednesdays at 7:00. The next meeting is at the Goerings. We
are currently reading Christians at the Border by
M. Daniel Carroll R, and searching for ways to be informed and
active on this issue in our community. Contact Steve if you are
interested.
Susan has also been attending the meetings held by the group of
Fort Collins residents who are asking Pete Turner to change the
name of his restaurant, “Illegal Pete’s.” Those objecting
understand the use of “illegal” in this context to be demeaning and
hurtful. The restaurant is scheduled to open in Old Town in 2
weeks. The local newspaper has had several articles about this
controversy in the last weeks, and an excellent article can be
found at:
http://www.collegian.com/2014/10/fort-collins-residentsrequest-illegal-petes-to-change-name/98204/ Please consider
sending a letter or e-mail to Pete Turner requesting this change.
He has said he will make a decision on Wed of this next week.
Susan can give you additional information if you are interested.
Men's Breakfast Group
The men’s group meets at the Rise restaurant, 2601 S Lemay
(Please note location change) every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the
month. This tends to be social group – usually no heavy agendas,
though we do have conversations about important issues in our
lives and in men’s lives. In November, we will next meet on
November 13, 6:30-7:30 a.m. Watch for a re-scheduled date due
to Thanksgiving. This is an open, drop-in group; everyone is
welcome.
Inquirers Group.
This is an invitation to all participants at Sojourn Mennonite to join
us for an Inquirers Group that typically meets 1st and 3rd Sundays
from 5-6:30 p.m. Contact Steve for location. The Inquirers Group
is a faith formation group looks at the core beliefs of
the Mennonite Church, as well as the ministries, beliefs, practices,
and community life of Sojourn. This is not a membership type
group; however, Sojourn does encourage people interested in
formally joining to participate in this group experience. We invite
new attendees who wish to know more about Mennonites and
Sojourn, as well as those who have attended here longer term and
simply wish to refresh their knowledge of Mennonite beliefs and
also to meet our newer attendees. All faith questions are
welcomed. We talk about visible faith issues of our day. Steve will
lead this group.
Spiritual Direction Group.
Spiritual direction involves seeking and learning to notice God’s
presence in our lives. A trained facilitator meets regularly with a
directee and encourages him/her to slow down, and acknowledge
the Holy. Often this is done individually. A spiritual direction
group brings together up to three people who meet monthly for
this purpose. The group members also form deep bonds and
learn from each other as they share. Susan will lead a group of
three people. We will meet monthly for a year. Each meeting is
two hours. See her if you have questions or are interested. If
enough people are interested, a second group will also form.
Meeting dates will be determined by the group(s).
Call Steve or Susan (970-568-8724) if you are interested in a
Small Group. Please note that we try to keep Sojourn website
updated with any changes about group meeting dates and times.
Let Steve know if you look there and do not find the information
you need.
Sermons, Blogs, and Website
Each week following worship, the pastors’ sermons are posted on
the website. Sermons can be found on our website:
www.sojournmennonite.org. Click on the page titled "Life in
Community" and then on the "Sermons" link. Susan’s blog is also
on the website. Click on “Our Blogs” and then on Susan’s blog
below.
Pastors’ Reading List.
Scattering Seeds. Cultivating Church Vitality. Stephen Chapin Garner
Let the great World Spin. Colum McCann
A Dog Named Leaf. The Hero from Heaven Who Saved My Life.
10% Happier. Dan Harris
It’s all too much. An Easy Plan for Living Life with Less Stuff.
The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman
Our God is Undocumented. Meyers and Colwell
The New Jim Crow. Michelle Alexander
Good to Great and the Social Sector. Jim Collins
Racism Explained to My Daughter. Tahar Ben Jelloun
Let the Great World Spin. Colum McCann
Colorado Relief Sale. This annual event took place Oct 17-18 in
Rocky Ford, CO. It will be some weeks before the totals are
shared; however, Susan informally tallied the quilt auction results.
There were 81 quilts; 10 sold for more than $1,000 each, and the
total for all quilts was $29,500. In addition to the quilt auction,
there is a general auction, kids auction, food sales, craft booth,
quilters corner, etc. Proceeds from this sale go to a myriad of
Mennonite Central Committee projects: schools, school supplies,
water projects, relief kits following natural disasters, comforters,
etc. Aid is distributed to those in need, regardless of religion.
Leadership Decisions. All are welcome to join us at our monthly
meetings to make decisions for the group. We met last on Oct 29.
at the Goerings. Decisions and conversations included:
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We opened with a time of sharing our most significant life
experiences in the last month, and how God felt present or
absent for us in that time.
We reviewed the Congregational Information Form which
is being submitted as part of the pastoral transition. We
decided to rework the 20 Pastoral Task section as a group
such that the most important tasks more accurately reflect
highest values and needs of Sojourn in the future.
Steve shared a possible organizational structure for
Sojourn involving a leadership group and passion-driven
ministry teams. This structure was approved.
Steve proposed that we have a three-fold covenant with
various levels of commitment. This was affirmed subject to
the details to be articulated.
Bob reported that we have been running a monthly deficit.
in the range of $200-$250/month (updated since our
gathering). Bob and Steve will work on a fall stewardship
effort.
Sojourn has been awarded an additional Mountain States
Conference Seed Committee grant which will be used to
update our website and establish a google/facebook ad.
Steve hopes to have this finished in November, before
Advent begins.
Service Opportunities at Sojourn. (Also Look at our Small
Group Ministries.)
Catholic Charities-The Mission Homeless Shelter. We serve
the 4th Wednesday of each month. For Nov 26, we need 3-4
people to be present to cook and serve from 5:30-7:30. Our
October tasks were easy: re-heating huge vats of a hamburger
casserole and corn, and setting out cookies, rolls, and fruit.
Thanks to Bob, Susan and Susan’s friend, Nancy!
Are there folks who would like to go to Catholic Charities but have
not been able to go because too many others want to go? Let
Susan know; we can probably pick up another shift during the
month. Rumor has it the 5th Wednesdays and Fridays are now
open…
Who are we? Sojourn Mennonite is a new Anabaptist faith
community supported and initiated by Mountain States Mennonite
Conference. We are an unabashedly Anabaptist, inclusive and
progressive Christian community. We encourage each other to
follow Jesus as we live an inward-outward journey
About the pastors: We, Steve and Susan, are newly un-retired
pastors who moved to Ft. Collins from Columbus, OH in July
2012. We love Colorado, having lived here most of our adult lives.
We are really interested in getting to know you. What do you long
for in your life? What is satisfying to you? What is important to
you in a faith community? What do you have to offer us? What
do you need from us? How can we serve Fort Collins and you?
Worship always includes an interactive time or response time to
the message. What you think is important to us. We’d love to
learn to know you over coffee or dinner. Call or write us!
Sojourn Mennonite (sojournmennonite@gmail.com)
Steve Goering (goering.sw@gmail.com)
Susan Ortman Goering (sogoering8@gmail.com)
970-568-8724
www.sojournmennonite.org
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