• Encounter: All Friendship Mennonite attenders are invited to “Encounter” on Sunday, Nov. 24th at 7pm at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights (parking is in the back). Encounter is a monthly gathering of prayer, singing, silence, and conversation. This intergenerational fellowship group welcomes Christians of all types, seekers, and other people of good will to build community with one another. Encounter is an effort to work against the fracturing of our world by creating a space of care and healing built around God’s love. See Anita or Ted with questions.

• No Sunday School next week: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, there will not be Sunday school classes on Sunday, December 1.

• Cookie Crawl: Bedford, Ohio churches welcome you to come make new memories at the first ever Cookie Crawl! This event will take place on Sunday, December 15 from 2-4pm and is hosted by six different churches/service organizations in Bedford. Tickets are $10 (16 years+) and family tickets are $30. All proceeds from the event will go towards the local Meals on Wheels. Please see the flyer in the foyer for more information and for instructions on purchasing tickets.

• Missions Month: November is Missions Month at FMC. Each week there will be a special collection after our weekly offering that will go towards a mission organization that FMC supports. This year, all of our mission month donations will go towards Mennonite Disaster Services for hurricane relief. An anonymous donor has offered to match dollar for dollar donations made up to $10,000. Please consider giving to this important cause.  

• Congregational Meeting: Please join us today for a (provided) luncheon and congregational meeting following the worship service. We will be discussing the information presented to us by our recent guest speakers from Allegheny Conference and the Central District Conference.

• Encounter: All Friendship Mennonite attenders are invited to “Encounter” on Sunday, Nov. 24th at 7pm at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights (parking is in the back). Encounter is a monthly gathering of prayer, singing, silence, and conversation. This intergenerational fellowship group welcomes Christians of all types, seekers, and other people of good will to build community with one another. Encounter is an effort to work against the fracturing of our world by creating a space of care and healing built around God’s love. See Anita or Ted with questions.

• Mennonite Action Emergency Mass Meeting: Mennonite Action is holding an emergency mass organizing call on November 21st, 2024 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. Last November, we gathered to pray, grieve, and organize on Mennonite Action’s very first virtual mass call. Over 800 of us came together because we needed this community space to help process our shock, horror, and deep grief as the genocide in Gaza unfolded. This year, in the wake of the election, we will gather to recommit ourselves to this movement for peace, justice and liberation. We will gather to process our fear and our grief about the future for our own communities and for Palestine. To sign up, visit mennoniteaction.org/call For more information about Mennonite Action, visit mennoniteaction.org
• Missions Month: November is Missions Month at FMC. Each week there will be a special collection after our weekly offering that will go towards a mission organization that FMC supports. This year, all of our mission month donations will go towards Mennonite Disaster Services for hurricane relief. An anonymous donor has offered to match dollar for dollar donations made up to $10,000. Please consider giving to this important cause.  

• Congregational Meeting: Please join us next Sunday, November 17 for a (provided) luncheon and congregational meeting following the worship service. We will be discussing the information presented to us by our recent guest speakers from Allegheny Conference and the Central District Conference.

• Missions Month: November is Missions Month at FMC. Each week there will be a special collection after our weekly offering that will go towards a mission organization that FMC supports. This year, all of our mission month donations will go towards Mennonite Disaster Services for hurricane relief. An anonymous donor has offered to match dollar for dollar donations made up to $10,000. Please consider giving to this important cause.  

• Missions Month: November is Missions Month at FMC. Each week there will be a special collection after our weekly offering that will go towards a mission organization that FMC supports. This year, all of our mission month donations will go towards Mennonite Disaster Services for hurricane relief. An anonymous donor has offered to match dollar for dollar donations made up to $10,000. Please consider giving to this important cause.  

• MMN Prayer Request: Join Mennonite Mission Network in praying that this Tuesday’s elections in the United States will take place without violence and that the leaders who are elected will lead the country in ways of justice and peace.

• MC USA: Join MC USA’s Climate Justice Coordinator Karla Stoltzfus Detweiler in imagining a sustainable future for ourselves, our children, and our planet by participating in an online book study of the compelling and timely book, “So We and Our Children May Live” by Sarah Augustine and Sheri Hostetler. Drawing from Scripture, science, Indigenous wisdom, and personal stories, the authors invite us to open our hearts and our culture to deep, Spirit-led transformation. Register here: mennoniteusa.org/climate-justice-book-study

• Guest Speaker Doug Luginbill: is in his 9th year as Conference Minister of the Central District Conference. He primarily works out of his home in Bluffton, OH where he lives with his spouse, Paula (Lehman) Luginbill. Doug graduated from Bluffton University with degrees in Religion and Sociology and from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary with an MDiv. They have two adult children, Jonathan and his spouse Kara, and Carissa and her spouse Wendell. They live in far-away places that are beautiful to visit; Colorado and Montana. Doug served for six years as executive director of Camp Friedenswald, 14 years in congregational ministry in Ohio and Kansas, and six years at Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio. In his free time, he enjoys gardening, hiking, singing, and long walks with Paula.

• Missions Month: November is Missions Month at FMC. Each week there will be a special collection after our weekly offering that will go towards a mission organization that FMC supports. This year, all of our mission month donations will go towards Mennonite Disaster Services for hurricane relief. An anonymous donor has offered to match dollar for dollar donations made up to $10,000. Please consider giving to this important cause.  

• Pastor Alvis Vacation Dates: Pastor Alvis will be on vacation from Oct 12 to Nov 2. During this time, the Tuesday Bible Study will not meet.

• MMN Prayer Request: Today, Mennonite Mission Network’s Mennonite Voluntary Service participants from Arizona, California and Colorado are concluding their five-day fall retreat in Salt Lake City, Utah. Pray that they may return to their learning and service placements inspired and energized by the renewal they experienced in worshipping together and in sharing their experiences.

• Guest Speaker Amy Yoder McGloughlin: is the Conference Minister with Allegheny Mennonite Conference.  Before moving to this Conference Minister role earlier this year, Amy served as Pastor at Frazer Mennonite Church in the Philadelphia suburbs and Germantown Mennonite Church in Philadelphia.
• MMN Prayer Request: Praise God for continually carrying Laura Schlabach, of Mennonite Mission Network, through challenging situations in Mongolia, while she serves outside of her comfort zone on JCS International’s three-person executive director team — which is looking for a third person. Pray that JCS will find a full-time executive director and that Laura will find time for rest and renewal.

• My Coins Count: Next Sunday is our monthly My Coins Count collection. Please bring your change (or checks) to church. This collection goes towards the mission and ministry of the Mennonite Central Committee.

• Pastor Alvis Vacation Dates: Pastor Alvis will be on vacation from Oct 12 to Nov 2. During this time, the Tuesday Bible Study will not meet.

• Guest Speaker Rev. Chibuzo Petty: Chibuzo N. Petty is a minister, organizer, and author living in Cleveland, Ohio with their wife and two daughters.

• Pastor Alvis Vacation Dates: Pastor Alvis will be on vacation from Oct 12 to Nov 2. During this time, the Tuesday Bible Study will not meet.

• Mennonite Public Educators: Mennonite Education Agency has partnered with Mennonite Public Educators to offer an exciting opportunity for all public-school educators to gather virtually for a time of mutual support, encouragement and learning! The next meeting is Thursday, October 17 at 7p.m. ET on Zoom. This meeting’s theme is: How do we, as educators and peacemakers, live out our values in a polarized political environment during an election year? Registration for this event can be found using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MD8Ey8yu0Y4Fh7tZVfpuN7y3Jt-0nItF2Pc8JkoboGs/viewform?ts=66f86630&edit_requested=true

• MMN Prayer Request: On Tuesday, participants will embark on Mennonite Mission Network’s first Just Peace Pilgrimage to South Africa. Pray for them as, for the next two-plus weeks, they will immerse themselves in the country’s struggle against apartheid and wrestle with the church’s role in upholding racial segregation in South Africa and the United States.

• Note from the Treasurer: After a great month in July, August giving was down. Budgeted monthly offering is $8,300 and August giving was $5,200.

• Pastor Alvis Vacation Dates: Pastor Alvis will be on vacation from Oct 12 to Nov 2. During this time, the Tuesday Bible Study will not meet.

• MMN Prayer Request: Yesterday, students at the Mennonite Evangelical Theological Center of Asunción (CEMTA), in Paraguay, concluded a two-day spiritual retreat. Pray for the retreatants as they incorporate what they experienced into their daily lives. C. Paul and Hildi Amstutz, of Mennonite Mission Network, have led these annual retreats for 13 years. Praise God that CEMTA sees the value of these retreats and includes them as part of the students’ first year of studies.

• Retreat Picnic this Afternoon: Join us this afternoon at our retreat property in Geauga county for a time of fellowship and fun. Arrive at 4pm to enjoy fellowship, hiking and games. Dinner will begin later in the evening. Please bring your own table service and a dish to share.

• Pastor Alvis Vacation Dates: Pastor Alvis will be on vacation from Oct 12 to Nov 2. During this time, the Tuesday Bible Study will not meet.

• Conference Affiliation: On Oct 6th Pastor Alvis will lead a session during the Sunday School hour for us to brainstorm questions we want to ask representatives from Allegheny and CDC to help us discern our affiliation when they come visit us on Oct 20th and Oct 27th respectively.

• MMN Prayer Request: Mennonite Mission Network requests prayer for Anicka Fast, as she fosters collaborations that cross academic disciplines and national boundaries, and as she teaches global church history and archiving skills throughout Africa. Pray for her as she edits a new Mennonite World Conference Global Anabaptist-Mennonite history series, in addition to teaching and traveling.

• Encounter Invitation: All Friendship Mennonite attenders are invited to “Encounter” on Sunday, September 22, at 7pm at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights (parking is in the back). Encounter is a monthly gathering of prayer, singing, silence, and conversation. This intergenerational fellowship group welcomes Christians of all types, seekers, and other people of good will to build community with one another. Encounter is an effort to work against the fracturing of our world by creating a space of care and healing built around God’s love. See Anita Yoder if you have questions.

• Retreat Picnic Next Sunday: Next Sunday, join us at our retreat property in Geauga county for a time of fellowship and fun. Arrive at 4pm to enjoy fellowship, hiking and games. Dinner will begin later in the evening. Please bring your own table service and a dish to share.  

• My Coins Count: Next Sunday is our monthly My Coins Count collection. Please bring your change (or checks) to church. This collection goes towards the mission and ministry of the Mennonite Central Committee.  

• Youth Activities Invite: It’s no secret that the youth and children of FMC are actively involved in tons of extra-curricular activities. As a way of supporting our youth and children outside of church, we invite children and their families to notify Pastor Alvis of a few of the extra-curricular events that they would like members of the congregation to be able to attend (games, concerts, plays, etc.). Families should send the dates/times/locations of a few of these events to Pastor Alvis so that he can put together a schedule to share (strictly) within the congregation.