East Zorra Mennonite Church
Volume 66 Sunday September 17, 2023 No. 38
The Parables of Jesus: The Unseen Kingdom
Prelude: Chantelle McNeish Accompanist: Chantelle McNeish
Worship Leader: Bevin Witmer Song Leader: Myron Ruby
Greeters: Naomi & David Witzel Offering: Leadership
Audio/Visual: Todd Bender/Brian Wagler Message: Pastor Mike
Coffeetime: Kristen & Daryl Cressman
Prelude
Welcome & Announcements
Call to Worship & Prayer
Songs of Gathering & Praise
VT #76 “Holy, Holy, Holy!”
VT#428 “Praise with Joy the World’s Creator”
Offering – Leadership
Time with the Children
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:31-35
Message – Pastor Mike
Song of Response
VT# 549 “Be Thou My Vision”
Prayer of the Church – Pastor Ray
Sending Song
VT# 835 “Go Now in Peace”
Benediction
Postlude
Today
11 a.m. Attention Parents: During Coffeetime please take advantage of the opportunity to fill out registration/waiver form for your children in the basement. Our Safe Church Policy requires that parents complete a separate form for each child involved in Sunday School, Junior Youth, and MYF who are under the age of 18.
Attention Volunteers: All adults wishing to volunteer with children, youth, and vulnerable persons must have a Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC) on file in the church office as well as a completed Volunteer Commitment Form (VCF) for the current program year. Please contact Lisa in the church office to find out if your VSC is still current at office@ezmennonite.ca or for more information on how to get this process started. The VSC will need to in place before you volunteer. The VCF forms are available this morning during coffeetime.
11 am Junior Sunday School will meet in the green space for games and devotion.
Adult Sunday school begins this morning following coffee time in the basement.
This fall we will question and discuss together the parables and teachings of
Jesus from our reading guide with an ear to trying to understand who is this God
Jesus is revealing and what does this mean for how we live?
Ushers Meeting
This Coming Week
Tuesday September 19th
1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Prayer Shawl Knitting at church
Wednesday September 20th
7 p.m. Worship Committee Meeting
Thursday September 21st
9:30 – 11 a.m. E Z Play Group
7 p.m. Mission Committee Meeting
Friday September 22nd
7 p.m. MYF Welcome Night
Next Sunday – September 24, 2023
The Parables of Jesus: The Prodigal Son
9 a.m. Morning Prayer Gathering in the boardroom
Prelude: Worship Band Accompanist: Worship Band
Worship Leader: Brendan Leis Song Leader: Lindsay Zehr
Greeters: Jess & Tyler Yantzi Offering: Local Ministries
Audio/Visual: Dathan Bender/Brian Wagler Message: Pastor Ray
Coffeetime: Gloria & Tom Roth
EZMC Announcements
We will be printing an updated EZMC Church Family Photo and Address Directory in October 2023. If you moved or have a new phone number since the printing of the Church Directory in October 2022 and have not given your updated information to the church office, please do so. If you were not in the last directory but would like to be included, please contact the church office. Please send your photos to Lisa, preferably in digital form (jpeg) by email at office@ezmennonite.ca.
Deadline to submit is Friday September 22nd.
Items for the EZMC October 2023 calendar are due to the church office by Friday September 22nd.
Tuesday September 19th 1:30 – 3:30 should be prayer shawl knitting. I will be away but would love if you met at church to knit. In October, the date will be Oct 17 and we will again meet at my home. New knitters always welcome. Jean
A few Opportunities to Serve!
Christian Education Programs Beginning Soon!
It’s that wonderful time of year when our Christian Education Programs will soon begin! Junior Christian Education Team JCET is very excited about our new curriculum (https://thinkorange.com/252-kids-ministry-curriculum/) that will help us teach children about Loving God, Loving Life and Loving Others based on Matthew 22:37-39!
If you are interested in being involved in the Junior Christian Education ministry by teaching or assisting in a class, please be in touch with one of our leaders named below. We need teachers and helpers from nursery to grade 8! If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to Jess Yantzi, Holly Barron, Erin Yantzi, or Sue Martin (phone numbers are in the directory).
Volunteers Needed for the Nursery
We are exploring the possibility of returning the Nursery during worship time this Fall. For that to happen we need two volunteers each Sunday. If you are willing to help with this important ministry but have not completed your Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC) we can provide the information you need to complete that. Your help and support for this ministry is very much appreciated. Please contact Lisa Suderman, our Office Administrator, if you are willing to help or if you have further questions.
Sunday Afternoon Services at The Maples and peopleCare
The ministerial is planning to offer bi-weekly Sunday afternoon services, at our 2 long term care homes in Tavistock, this Fall. The services (2:30 at peopleCare and 3:15 at The Maples) are 30 minutes services of readings and singing. We need your gifts and help to allow this to happen. Please reach out to Pastor Ray if you would be willing to help with a service or help to co-ordinate a service. Sharing your gifts in this way would be very much appreciated.
Greeters – More volunteers are welcome. As a greeter (individual, couple, or family) you would stand at the top of the stairs outside the parent’s room and greet people as they arrive Sunday morning. We would encourage you to be here by 9:30 or shortly after when you serve in this role. Would you or your family be willing to serve as a greeter and be scheduled in for a few Sunday mornings through the year? Contact Lisa Suderman, our office administrator, if you are willing to help with this ministry.
Beyond Our Church Community
Thursday October 12th High Noon Lunch @ Grace United Church in Tavistock.
Socialize over a nutritious home-style lunch at 12 and then stay for music with Dwight Steinmann and Jim Bender. Cost: Freewill offering.
New Hamburg Thrift Centre is in desperate need of volunteers in different areas. There is concern that going into the fall there simply won’t be enough help to sort the volume of wonderful donations. Please see the poster on the bulletin board for more information on how to become a volunteer.
The Wednesday September 20th 9 am – 4 pm. “Up the Nith” heritage bus tour led by Fred Lichti is now full. There are still seats available on a second tour, Saturday October 14, 2023. (the seats are filling fast)
Through stories and stops along the way, learn about the oldest Amish Mennonite settlement in Canada and today’s diversity of congregations–from the “tradition minded” Old Order Amish to the “change minded” Mennonite groups of Amish heritage. Cost-$85 per person includes lunch at Schmidtsville Restaurant. Pre-payment required. The tour starts and ends at Crosshill Mennonite Church. To register contact Rosie Lichti – frlichti@bell.net
Offices and Thrift Shops closed on Monday September 25th
All MCC Ontario office and thrift shops will be closed on Monday, Sept. 25 to recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Learning resources are available on our website.
Peace Week at MCC – September 21-30, 2023
MCC is partnering with the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement to host three peacebuilding events during Peace Week. Training Active Bystanders equips you to recognize and prevent harm-doing. A blanket exercise at 50 Kent Ave., Kitchener will take place; it’s an experiential journey through 500 years of colonization. “Doing good…better” is a new, free event in Niagara that will help you unpack invisible assumptions that may be hindering lasting peace and justice. Learn more at mcc.org/events.
Monday September 25th 7 – 8:30 p.m., Online MCC Ontario Annual General Meeting. We deeply appreciate your support, and how you are impacting so many lives in Ontario and around the world. Join us on September 25 for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) as we share MCC Ontario’s financial outcomes and a snapshot of our strategic plan progress. Official Congregational Representatives and Delegates who register as such are entitled to vote. Visit mcco.ca/AGM for details.
National Truth and Reconciliation Day – Learning Resources
This year MCC Ontario’s theme for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is Connecting the Practice of Peace to Truth and Reconciliation. We want to dig into our relationships and responsibilities as peacebuilders in the context of Truth and Reconciliation. To understand this, we need to understand the stories that brought us to where we are today. Find resources that explore individual and Mennonite history as settlers on our website.
Monday October 2nd Hidden Acres Seniors Fall Retreat
The theme is Songs that Shape and Reshape Us. Our resource person is Ingrid Loepp Thiessen. Doug Cressman will accompany the singing.
Cost is $50 per person, registration is limited. Please find a copy of the brochure on the main bulletin board.
We Own this Now
October 12, 2023 at 7:00 pm, Steinmann Mennonite Church, 1316 Snyder Rd W, Baden
October 15, 2023 at 7:00 pm, Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, 110 Doon Rd, Kitchener
Starring Ted Swartz and Michelle Milne, We Own This Now is a play that looks at love of land, loss of land and what it means to “own” something. We Own This Now examines how the Doctrine of Discovery is still being used and causing harm today. Presented by Ted & Company TheatreWorks. Tickets are $15 each ($10 for students). Get yours at mcc.org/we-own-this-now.
Saturday October 14th Save the date: Empty Bowls for Haiti 5 pm and 7 pm, Steinmann Mennonite Church, Local potters donate hand-crafted bowls and local restaurants provide a wide variety of delicious soups. Funds raised strengthen communities in Haiti. Tickets are $35 each. Go to mcc.org/events to buy your tickets today!
Save the Date: MCC Peace Conference
November 18, 2023 at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, 110 Doon Rd, Kitchener
The MCC Peace Conference is your chance to see, hear and experience first-hand how you and MCC are changing lives and communities through peacebuilding. This event will inspire and inform through general sessions, workshops and conversations with messengers of peace. Stay tuned for more details.