Join us on Zoom at 11:45 a.m. for our November Congregational Meeting. All are welcome to attend and members will also be invited to vote. We will be previewing the 2021 budget and approving the slate of officers for 2021. Documents for the meeting will be e-mailed to all members before the meeting. You'll find the Zoom link here.

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.

Rev. Liz Miller of Edgewood United UCC in Lansing, MI created this resource for her congregation and gave permission for us to use it. Thank you, Rev. Miller! We will be sharing these each day on our social media or you can download the full calendar here. 

Our Board of Justice & Witness has prepared helpful tips for ensuring you are able to cast your vote this year. You'll find it here. 

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.

​

Communion at Home: 10:45 a.m. during our regular online worship service (bring your own elements)

Drive Through Communion: 12:15-12:30 p.m. OR 1:00-1:15 p.m.

• ​Enter parking lot from the Poyntz Entrance, but do not park.
• Turn right at the end of the parking lot onto the alley behind the church building.
• Receive prepackaged communion from your car from our pastors.
• Continue on to Juliette (turn right if you’d like to pass the small groups gathered on the lawn. Feel free to honk and wave at those gathered as you go past.)
• Those who are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19, are awaiting a test result for COVID-19, have been exposed to anyone who has COVID-19 or is awaiting a COVID-19 test result, or fall into any other category that should be quarantined according to our health department may not attend.    
• Those attending Drive Through Communion may not get out of their vehicles.

Communion on the Lawn: ***advance sign up required***
Group A

• Staggered arrival between 11:45 a.m. -12:00 p.m.
• Park and wait in your car until the greeter asks you to visit the check in table
• 12:00-12:30 p.m. - Communion and Fellowship on the the Lawn

Group B

• Staggered arrival between 12:30 - 12:45 p.m.
• Park and wait in your car until the greeter asks you to visit the check in table
• 12:45 - 1:15 p.m. - Communion and Fellowship on the the Lawn​

In case of inclement weather, an announcement will be made on our website, e-mail list, and social media on Sunday morning. 

For Communion on the Lawn: please bring a face mask and lawn chairs/blanket for your family. When you arrive, please stay in or right next to your car until the parking lot greeter invites you to proceed to the sign in table. At the sign in table you will sanitize your hands, pick up prepackaged communion elements, and the usher will assist you in finding your assigned spot (marked by a cone). We will have two “seatings” - Lawn Group A  at 12:00 p.m. and Lawn Group B at 12:45 p.m. See detailed schedule above. 

As we continue to learn more about the coronavirus, we are learning more about how we can safely be together. Our congregational leadership has carefully planned traffic flow and requirements for Communion on the Lawn with community health in mind. We ask that everyone carefully read the health guidelines when you sign up. When you reserve your spot, you are agreeing to care for the health of others by following the guidelines. If you have any questions, please reach out to the church office. 
​
Sign up for Communion on the Lawn at uccmanhattan.org/sign-ups OR by calling the church office. We've made a short video tutorial to help you with the online sign up process. 

1. Those who are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19, are awaiting a test result for COVID-19, have been exposed to anyone who has COVID-19 or is awaiting a COVID-19 test result, or fall into any other category that should be quarantined according to our health department may not attend.    
2. Masks will be worn for the entirety of the event (except to be removed very briefly while receiving the Communion elements). If you do not have a mask, one will be provided to you at the check in table. 
3. When you arrive: please put on your mask before exiting your vehicle. We ask that you wait in or right next to your car. A greeter will let you know when it’s time to proceed to the check in table. 
4. At the check in table, sanitize hands using the provided sanitizer before you pick up your prepackaged Communion elements. 
5. The greeter at the table will assign you a designated space. An usher will show you to your assigned space. Please place your chair or blanket right next to the cone. 
6. Everyone must stay in their designated space and maintain at least 8 feet distance from those they don’t live with. We know it’s hard to see each other and not hug or shake hands. But we also know that we can do hard things! 
7. The usher will dismiss you at the end of our fellowship time and we ask that you proceed to your car and depart. Please be sure to leave at least 8 feet of space between you and other people as you get into your vehicles. If you need to leave earlier, please just catch the usher’s attention to do so. 
8. Note that the building will not be open at all during this event. 

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!