Please send your announcements to the office by Friday AM to be included in the bulletin.Speak with Pastor Joel before the Sunday service if you wish to voice your announcement at the end of worship.
         TODAY
Sunday, November 27     CMF welcomes guest speaker Steve Goering of Columbus Mennonite
                                                 First Sunday of Advent
Sunday, November 27      Book Club , after church
                 THIS WEEK
Saturday, December 3      CMF Work Day (8:30am-4:00pm)
         NEXT WEEK
Sunday, December 4          PJOS (8am)
Sunday, December 4          Vita Pontis potluck, after church
         COMING UP
Wednesday, December 7 City Gospel Mission
Thursday, December 8      Worship (7pm)
Friday, December 9            CMF Christmas Party (7:00pm)
Sunday, December 18        Congregational Meeting , after church


Pastor Joel's Whereabouts
Beyond congregational duties, here are some of Pastor Joel's present activities:
         RECENT
Tues Nov 15 Oakley Food Pantry
Wed Nov 23  Oakley Community Thanksgiving Eve service
Fri Nov 25     Vacation day
                  UPCOMING
Sun Nov 27   Pulpit exchange, preaching at Columbus Mennonite Church
Wed Dec 14  CDC Pastor/Peer meeting at First Mennonite, Bluffton
Fri Dec 16     Vacation day
         MONDAYS ARE A SABBATH
 

During the season of Advent you may wish to study the scriptures for the upcoming worship service. Next Sunday's scriptures are: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8; 2 Peter 3:8-15a.

Throughout the season of Advent we will again be taking up a children's special offering to support the Children's Home of Cincinnati through their adopt-a-class program. Bring change, bills, and checks for the children to collect each week. Last year we raised $621 and have a goal of $750 this year.

This season's theme, "Awesome Deeds We Do Not Expect," invites us to find concrete ways of welcoming the unexpected. The theme for the season is visually represented by the plant growing through the crack in the concrete. Something beautiful and awesome (plant) emerges unexpectedly in a very ordinary way (growth) and yet in an uncommon place (crack in the concrete.) In the same way, the beauty of Advent breaks through unexpectedly through the common "concrete" of our ordinary lives to represent the awesome beauty of hope in the birth of Christ.

We will be having a congregational meeting Sunday, December 18th immediately following the worship service to discuss continuing work and discernment flowing from our congregational visioning process.

CMF Facilities Work Day has been scheduled for Saturday, December 3, from 8:30am-4:00 PM. will have our usual variety of indoor and outdoor projects, which I again look forward to Bob W . identifying, prioritizing, and supervising. (Thanks Bob!) Please let Tim H . know if you can attend all or part of the day, Thanks!

The CMF Annual Christmas Party will be December 9 (Friday) and will start at 7:00pm. Dress for a short outdoor walk to Find-A-Way. Bring a beverage, a snack/dessert, and table games. Each person should also bring "something blue" for a blue elephant gift exchange.

Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust , whose mission is to protect and maintain the 1770 Germantown (PA) Mennonite Meetinghouse, the first permanent Mennonite settlement in North America, is seeking donations to support their work. If you have questions or would like to donate you can obtain more information by emailing gmhtmeetinghouse.info

The rental house at 3048 Minot Avenue is ready to rent! Please pass the word and let Jim Miller know of any interest. Jim will be setting up showings to prospective occupants. Thank you!

Shop at 10,000 Villages & Raise Money for IHN!
Get a jump start on your holiday shopping by joining IHN (Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati) at Ten Thousand Villages on Madison Road in O'Bryonville, where you can find the perfect gifts for the special people in your life. A percentage of the sales from the event will be donated to IHN!

Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit, fair trade organization, designed to benefit artisans. They market products from artisans in low-income countries and provide consumers around the world with products that have been fairly purchased from sustainable resources. Feel free to include this exciting news in your congregation bulletins and IHN information boards! We look forward to seeing you there!

When: Sunday, December 4, 2011
Time: 12PM to 5 PM, just make sure when you check out to indicate that you would like your purchases to benefit IHN.
Where: Ten Thousand Villages, located at 2011 Madison Road(located in O'Bryonville)
Why: Buying fair trade is a great tool to help people in the developing world gain self sufficiency. holiday season use your consumer power to use by buying fair trade or fairly produced products for your loved ones while helping IHN end homelessness.

         PRAYERS FOR FAITH AND LEARNING
Thank God for Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee, grad of EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. She rallied Liberian women to bring an end to the reign of dictator Charles Taylor and a brutal civil war.

         PRAYERS FOR THE MENNONITE MISSION NETWORK
Thank God for Union Biblical Seminary, a Mennonite Mission Network partner in India. Pray for rural Mennonite students, who face academic and cultural
challenges in the city, as they study the Bible and theology.

Book Club will meet on Sunday, November 27 after church at the home of Rod & Mary S.. The book to be discussed is "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. Please bring a dish to share.

Journey Groups

Art and Spirituality: Sunday , Dec. 18, 5:30pm @ Connie B.'s house
Men's Group (Open): Meets every third Saturday of each month--all men are welcome.
Coordinator: Jim M . . If interested and not on Jim's email list, please
ask to be added. Watch email for location. Jim would appreciate a
headcount midweek prior to the Breakfast. Time is 7:30am -???