The Rabbi Moti Rieber, executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action (KIFA), will be in our pulpit on Sunday, November 15th with an update about KIFA’s work. Kansas Interfaith Action is a statewide, multi–faith issue–advocacy organization that “puts faith into action” by educating, engaging and advocating on behalf of people of faith and the public regarding critical social, economic, and climate justice issues.
KIFA (pronounced “KEE–fa”) supporters are shaped by the values of our diverse faiths, which connect us to an age–old concern for justice, peace, and human dignity. Rooted in faith, we join hands across difference to work for moral public policy in Kansas.

You are encouraged to invite your friends to join us for worship on November 15th! Please visit https://www.kansasinterfaithaction.org/ to learn more about KIFA. ​
 
Rabbi Moti will also join us for Fellowship Hour on Zoom on the following Sunday, Nov. 22nd. Join us at 11:45 a.m. that day on Zoom to chat with Rabbi Moti and learn more about KIFA. 
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As we anticipate we may not know the outcome of the 2020 presidential election for some time after November 3rd, we plan to gather in silent prayer each week on Thursday over the noon hour in City Park. We hope this will be a safe place where people can feel the warmth of a faith community in a time of uncertainty. We gather as a group of people from diverse faith backgrounds and perspectives.

JOIN US NEAR THE ROSE GARDEN IN CITY PARK

Please drop in or come every week. We ask that everyone who attends wears a mask and stays more than six feet away from others who do not share their household. This will be a silent event.

We hope to have a designated chaplain present at each gathering if you need someone to talk/pray with. We will also be sharing a weekly video on the Facebook event page that will introduce a prayer/spiritual practice from a different faith tradition. It is our hope that these videos will assist you in your own prayer time at home or when you come to the event.

This will not be a partisan or policy-oriented event. It is solely an opportunity for people to bring their hopes and prayers for our nation. Even as we may have different faith practices or political beliefs, we can be united in our desire for our nation to find peace in a tumultuous time.

Our planning team reports that numbers of meals being served throughout MHK have gone up considerable with some Common Table venues regularly providing over 100 hot meals in the evenings. In September we served 235 hot meals to go; 244 lunches; 48 meals for the Pawnee Crisis Stabilization Center, for a total of 527 meals provided. We are now preparing 75 hot meals and 60 lunch sacks. That is counting on 60+ first servings and 11 meals to Pawnee. Cooks give out seconds when food is available. We continue to receive donations from local partners and members of our congregation and are so thankful for your support. 

A special shoutout this month to Reggie Moore who serves as our staff host. Reggie is present each Sunday evening to greet our guests and hand out meals. Because Reggie serves in this role at several other Common Table sites he provides a friendly and known face for our guests and consistency from site to site. We are so grateful for Reggie's service and we rely on your financial donations to fund this staff position. 

​Second Helping takes many, many people working behind the scenes to plan the menus, procure the groceries, prepare the lunches, bake homemade desserts, cook the food, and serve it. There are many ways to be involved with Second Helping - from coming in to cook to cooking at home, buying supplies or making a cash donation.

Want to help? Here’s how:
• Sign up to make desserts for 60 with the UCC Sign-Up Genius (you could do 30 and have a friend do 30)
• Help cook and prep on Sunday – contact Di
• Fix sack lunches during the week – contact Linda
• Porch drop fresh fruit (lunches), cookies, instant oatmeal, breakfast bars – contact Linda
• Bake dinner rolls, muffins or other goodies to include with our suppers – contact Linda​
• To make a cash donation to the Second Helping, please donate via PayPal and indicate "Second Helping" in the memo OR mail your check to 700 Poyntz, Manhattan, KS 66502 with "Second Helping" in the memo. 

​If you are reading this before Oct 13, it's not too late to register to vote! Make sure your vote counts by planning your voting experience. Share your plan and these resources with family, friends, and neighbors.
 
Please let Carol Sevin (csevin@gmail.com) know if you would like to meet with a member of the Justice and Witness Board to go through these steps, we’re here to help!

 
Justice and Witness Board election guide:

1.     Register and check your voter registration at ksvotes.org by Oct 13.

• If voting by mail: use ksvotes.org to request a mail-in/advance ballot by Oct 27

2.     Learn about the candidates and issues that will be on your ballot

• Riley County Official Election Information
• Other websites for election research: vote411.org, votesmart.org
• Riley County Commissioner Candidate forums
• 2pm-5pm 10/18 League of Women Voters Forum 
• Kansas Interfaith Action Voter Empowerment Events - Thursdays, Oct. 15, 22, and 29 at 7pm on KIFA's Facebook Live

3.     Vote

• Advance voting begins Oct 14
• Your mail in ballot can be delivered at any polling station including early voting, let us know if it needs a ride! Also let us know if you need a ride on Election Day.
• Polls open from 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. on Election Day

 
Contact Carol Sevin or 336-575-4804 if you'd like this message as an email or to volunteer to deliver ballots or drive voters.

​

The Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the UCC gathers in October each year. Our congregation sends our authorized ministers and lay delegates each year. This year, the gathering is happening ONLINE which means ANYONE in our congregation who wants to attend part or all of the gathering can do so for free. Pretty  neat! 

Events will be happening throughout the week, beginning Monday, Oct. 5th and ending with a special all-conference worship service on Sunday, Oct. 11th (you don't need to register for the worship service). 

You can see the schedule and fill out a registration form on the Annual Meeting website. You will want to register as a VISITOR and there will be no cost to you. Several of the speakers are folks that Pastor Caela has known personally for a number of years and they are GREAT speakers. We will also be gathering with our German partners from Baden. We hope you'll take advantage of this unique opportunity. Please contact Pastor Caela if you have any questions. 

We continue to be so thankful for everyone who is a part of our Second Helping meal every Sunday evening. We serve a carry out hot meal and a sack lunch to anyone who needs is every Sunday at 6:00 p.m. This effort takes many, many people working behind the scenes to plan the menus, procure the groceries, prepare the lunches, bake homemade desserts, cook the food, and serve it. Whew! There are many ways to be involved with Second Helping - from coming in to cook to cooking at home, buying supplies or making a cash donation. If you'd like to get involved, please let us know. 

Our planning team reports that numbers of meals being served has gone up a bit in the past month. In August we 
257 meals for guests, 91 meals for the Pawnee Crisis Stabilization Center, and 243 lunch bags. That’s 348 hot meals and a total of 591 meals. In August we also received a lot of food donations. Yay! We received large food donations from local partners as well as members of our congregation who regularly purchase supplies for lunches. Thank you to everyone who donated in August. 

To make a cash donation to the Second Helping, please donate via PayPal and indicate "Second Helping" in the memo OR mail your check to 700 Poyntz, Manhattan, KS 66502 with "Second Helping" in the memo. 

Here are some photos of all those wonderful food donations this past month!

Pre-registration for this online event is required. Fill out this brief registration form and the organizers will send the Zoom link to you.  ​http://bit.ly/MHKVoices

The first Second Helping To Go meal was served to our guests on March 15, a cool cloudy evening that was just several degrees above freezing.  Sharon Purvis and a team from the First Christian Church initiated our first Covid-19 protocols, with Linda Thurston as church host.  As virus-related mandates changed, Second Helping operations changed. Our operations have streamlined and become more efficient. We are now managing the meals with only three volunteers – a Head Cook and assistant cook (co-habiting individuals) in the kitchen and one volunteer in the front room putting together the to go bags. Reggie, our permanent host, then hands the bags to our guests.  He also distributes disposable masks for those who don’t have one. Volunteers come in and make the lunches during the week.  And others bring supper desserts, cookies for lunches, and items like dinner rolls, muffins and biscuits for the Sunday meals.
 
Since our first To Go meal in March, we have provided 825 Sunday suppers and 720 lunch bags.  (through June only).  Wonder what we serve?  Here are some examples of 2nd Helping meals:
            Oven-fried chicken, green bean casserole, pineapple slaw, dessert
            Pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salad, baked beans, dessert
            Meat loaf, mashed potato casserole, corn, coleslaw, dessert
            Roast turkey, cheesy broccoli-rice casserole, 3-bean salad, dessert
 
A huge thank you to the head cooks, supper crews, bakers and others who have contributed to our Second Helping mission and feed those in our community who need a hot meal on Sunday nights. And thanks to Jackie Hinrichs-Toburen for picking up our grocery orders, Sue Zschoche for ordering service supplies. We are using recyclable or compostable products, thanks to funding from the Manhattan Community Foundation via Common Table.
 
Thank you to  these volunteers:
 
Cooks:
Sharon Purvis
Craig  and Tracy Weston
Di and Jackie Hinrichs-Toburen
Brent Maner and Janine Stines
Bob and Melissa Atchison
Amanda and Nick Campanella
Gretchen and Jim Lewis
Karen and Rod Franz
Krista Danielson and Daniel Rolles
Amanda and Nick Campanella
 
Sunday supper crew:
First Christian church
Kim Zito
Stephanie Swank
Brandi McDonald
Carolyn Myers
Debbie Smith
DeAdre Strouts
Maureen Wells
Bob Caffey
Krista Caffey
Mennonite church volunteers
Martha Mather
William Carter
Elin Maki
Alexis Wilson
Judy Aherns
 
Bakers:
Shari Tedford
Linda Thurston
Janice Dinkel
Cindy Shuman
Donna Schenk-Hamlin
Sarah Kaufman
Gayle Doll
Kerri Keller
Ann Smit
Emily Brueseke
Cassidy Moreau
Sara Kearns
Jennifer Edwards
Amanda Campanella
Linda Lewis
Sophie Rolles
Jane Marshall
 
 
Lunch duty volunteers:
Judy Ahrens and Carolyn Myers
Shari and Randy Tedford
Linda Thurston and Jane Marshall
Jennifer Edwards
Gretchen and Jim Lewis
Brent Maner
Martha Mather
Carol Sevin
 
Want to be part of this awesome group?  To volunteer for Sunday supper, contact Di Hinrichs-Toburen.  Interested in lunch duty or baking?  Contact Linda Thurston. If you are willing to make Sunday dessert for our guests, sign up on the church Sign-up  Genius.  If you are unable to volunteer, donations are always welcome.  Our numbers are up and we are not receiving donated food at this time. Another BIG THANK YOU to all 2nd Helping volunteers and to those who donate in so many other ways!

Kansas Interfaith Action invites you to join us for our 2020 Annual Event, on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at 6:30 pm. This year, we will gather virtually.

Our featured speaker will the the Reverend Dr. Cassandra Gould, Executive Director of Missouri Faith Voices.

We are honoring Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan, who is stepping out of the role of KIFA Board Chair after nearly 5 years.

Rep. Don Hineman will receive the “Legislator of the Year” Award.

The program begins at 6:30 pm.
​
For more information and to purchase tickets please click here. If you are unable to attend, but wish to support the work of Kansas Interfaith Action with a tax-deductible donation, please click here.

The Manhattan Public Library is a treasure trove of awesomeness. Books, magazines, movies, video games and more! During COVID-19 many folks who haven't taken the leap to learn how to access their online resources are starting to think, "Hmmmm. Maybe I should learn how to check out an e-book or audiobook!"

We are so pleased to have some of the staff of MPL join us for this Facebook Live event at Noon on Wednesday, May 13th. The video will be live on the First Congregational UCC Manhattan KS Facebook Page.

Pastor Caela will be talking with them about how to check out e-books, read magazines, listen to audiobooks, watch movies and MORE without ever leaving your couch. Once you've started accessing these online resources, you'll be so glad you did.

Let us know your questions ahead of time by posting them on our Facebook Event Page (or e-mailing Caela) and be sure to invite your friends. ​

MISSED IT? PDF HANDOUTS HERE:
Learn to use Sunflower eLibrary 
Learn to use Hoopla