Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship
February 14, 2010

Gathering Hymns What is this place HWB 1
                         We gather together HWB 17

Welcome 
(Visitors are invited to fill out a welcome card and place it in the offering basket.)

Call to Worship
Leader: Let's go up the mountain.
People: Let's go up to the place where the land meets the sky,
               where the earth touches the heaven,
Leader: to the place of meeting,
People: to the place of mist,
Leader: to the place of voices and conversations,
People: to the place of listening.

Opening Prayer

Hymn How wondrous great HWB 126

Scripture Exodus 34:29-35

Offering Prayer

Offering

Scripture Luke 9:28-36

Children's Story

Hymn Eternal Light, shine in my heart HWB 518

Sermon Life transfigured

RESPONDING

Response Hymn Immortal, invisible, God only wise HWB 70

Blessings As You Go for Nick M.

Sharing Joys, Concerns and Reflections and Introduction of Visitors

Prayers of the Community

Benediction

Hymn Go, my friends, in grace STS 57

A supervised nursery, located next to the main entrance, for newborns through age 3 

Children's Circle, which meets in the basement during the second half of the worship service, for children ages 3 through 7

Sunday, February 14 Second Sunday Potluck , all are welcome!

New City Presbyterian continues their weekly 5pm worship services in our building on Sunday evenings. To aid in the process of leaving the church in a clean and orderly condition for them , please set in order the books in your pew and remove bulletins and any stray items from the worship area. Thank you.

Tuesday, February 16 OH Conference Cluster Meeting @ Oak
Grove Mennonite Church (7pm)
Thursday, February 18 Worship (7pm)

Sunday, February 21 Guest Speakers Les and Gwen GZ
Sunday, February 21 Bowling with HCATF , time and place TBD
Tuesday, February 23 Community Meal (5pm)
Wednesday, February 24 Council (6:30pm)
Saturday, February 27 Council Retreat (9am-1:30pm)
Saturday, February 27 Book Club (6pm, see NOTES for details)

Wednesday, March 3 City Gospel Mission

Next Sunday is the first of the season of Lent . Our Lenten worship theme this year is "Holding on and letting go," a reminder to hold on to what is most important and let go of that which hinders our walk with God.This week's lectionary readings for meditation are: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13 .
We will not be holding an Ash Wednesday service, but you may wish to attend a local service at another congregation to receive the imposition of ashes.

Nick M.will be participating in the Equality Ride for the next two months. This bus trip visits universities all across the country with policies that expel students who come out as GLBT. The mission of the Ride is to reach out to these schools, from a place of non-violence and engage in productive and meaningful dialogue with the hopes of changes in, minds, and policy.

Donations collected for the MCC Haiti Relief fund totaled $955.00!
Thank you for reaching deep in your pockets and showing your support.

HCATF is requesting that anyone interested in bowling on February 21, please contact Jerry S. or Jean S.. We are currently looking into Western Bowl, meeting at 12:45pm @ Quizno's for lunch. Bowling alley is subject to change due to tournaments. We will keep you informed.

Church Council has reviewed the Safe Sanctuary draft proposed by the Safe Sanctuary committee, and affirmed the draft at the January Council meeting. Council is ready to get congregational feedback in the form of brown-bag lunches on Feb. 28 and March 14. Members of Council and the Safe Sanctuary committee will be leading discussion groups in which all teens and adults are invited to raise questions and concerns about the Safe Sanctuary Plan. Please mark your calendar to join a brown-bag lunch one of the two dates. Once these questions and concerns have been addressed, and any necessary modifications made to the Plan, at a later date this winter/spring, Council will be asking for congregational approval of the Plan.
If you are unable to attend a scheduled brown-bag lunch, and have questions/concerns about the Plan that you would like answered, please contact any member of Church Council: Beth B., Rosella C., Jim M., Anne H. or William B.. Do not wait to ask your questions until the congregational approval meeting (late winter/early spring), as Council hopes to have all questions/concerns raised before this time. Hard copies of the Safe Sanctuary Plan are in each mailbox. Please read this document thoroughly prior to attending one of the brown-bag lunch discussion meetings.
Please note that there is also a set of supporting documents which have been drafted by the Safe Sanctuary committee. The supporting documents are working documents which are not a part of the Plan per se, and require no congregational action . These supporting documents provide one way to implement each part of the Plan and have been drafted in an attempt to make initial implementation easier for the permanent Safe Sanctuary committee. However, the committee and Council welcome feedback and suggestions on any of these working documents. Hard copies of these are available by the church mailboxes and anyone is welcome to take a copy.

It's not too late to register for the MCC Great Lakes annual gathering! On February 26-27, you're invited to join other MCC supporters for a time of worship and learning together at Reba Place Church in Evanston, Illinois. This gathering will feature speakers Steve Steiner (recently returned from an MCCtour in Sudan)Jenny & Joel Bishop Kempf (MCCservice workers in Mozambique). With workshops, worship services and plenty of fellowship, it promises to be a wonderful event. For more information and online registration, visit our website: greatlakes.mcc.org or call our office at (574) 534-4133.

The church office has a new copier! We are looking to give away our previous copier , a Canon Image1620, along with a storage stand, a nonprofit organization or worthy cause that would benefit from its use. Please talk with Violet or Pastor Joel if you know of a group that could put it to use.

Book Club will meet on Saturday, February 27, 6pm at Jim & Joy M.'s home. A meal will be served. The book to be discussed is "Alex & Me" by Irene Pepperberg.

You are invited! Come join hundreds of Anabaptist board and staff leaders, nurses, physicians, pastors, chaplains, social workers and other professionals at Mennonite Health Assembly in Norfolk, Virginia, March 4-7, presented by MHS Alliance and MMA. For conference details and registration options, please visit www.mhssonline.org . For immediate information, see the posted brochure in the foyer.

Camp Friedenswald is hosting its Spring Scrapbook Retreat on March 5-7. Don't miss this fun weekend of scrapbooking, papercrafting, and stamping! For more information or to register, please contact Portia at 269-476-9744 or infofriedenswald.org . You can also check for updates on vendors and workshops at www.friedenswald.org .

The opportunity for our church to help with the IHN homeless project is here again! First Unitarian (Reading & Linton) is still the host church. We need to provide an Overnight Host (8:15pm to 7:30am) for Tues., March 30; Wed., April 7; Tues., May 25; Wed., June 2; and Thurs., June 3.You would work with a host from First Unitarian. Also a laundry coordinator is need for the week of April 3 - 10. This involves picking up laundry (sheets & pillow cases) on Sun., April 3 to take home, wash, dry & fold; then return to church within one week . If you have questions on any of this and are willing to volunteer contact Mary W. .

All of our church IHN volunteers are invited and urged to attend the Potluck Training Lunch at First Unitarian on Sunday, March 7 at 12:30 pm. Please bring a dessert to share.

Try on service this summer with Youth Venture
Get ready for a new adventure and be a part of what God is doing around the world. If you are between the ages of 14 and 22, and are interested in spending some time serving and learning alongside other young adults, Youth Venture may be for you. Youth Venture gives you a chance to try new things, meet new people, and learn about a new culture through the eyes of a local church or host community. During summer 2010, you can travel with teams and a leader to locations like Bolivia, Botswana, France, southern California and Montreal, among others. For more information about Youth Venture, visit Service.MennoniteMission.net or e-mail ArloaBMennoniteMission.net.

Prayers for Faith and Learning:
Thank God for the dedication of Bethel College nursing faculty and students as junior nursing majors participate in the annual lamp lighting service today. Pray for Phyllis Miller who continues as interim director of nursing, and that a permanent director may be found to lead the
program.

Prayers for the Mennonite Mission Network:
On Friday, Bethesda Health Center will celebrate 20 years of offering healing and hope to some of Benin's most marginalized people. Pray that the good news of God's love may be shared with all who attend the ceremonies government officials and those who live on the streets.

Journey Groups

Art & Spirituality
February 21, 5:30pm @ home of Patti G.

Spiritual Journey
February 16, 6pm @ Peace House

Men's Group (Open)
TBA

Open Group (Open)
TBA