This year we have TWO options for free devotionals to help guide your Lenten journey.
Devotional Booklets (hard copy or digital)
1) Our Lenten Devotional Booklets from A Sanctified Art are available for pick-up beginning March 2. You can pick up in the church lobby or in the plastic box outside the office doors. If you prefer a web-based version or would like a hard copy placed in the U.S. mail, please contact the church office. (This is the devotional that the Adult Sunday School class will use to guide their conversations throughout Lent.)
About the devotional: "Beginning with Ash Wednesday and concluding on Easter Sunday, this devotional follows Jesus through Luke’s Gospel. Each week offers commentary, poetry, visual art, hymns, and reflection prompts. We encourage you to walk through these weekly readings at your own pace throughout the season, following the rhythm that works best for you. The devotional features biblical commentary by our guest writers, Rev. Jeff Chu and and Dr. Mindy McGarrah Sharp, and art and reflections by our guest artist, Steve Prince." (from sanctifiedart.com) Daily Devotional Cards (via e-mail)
2) For those who prefer a daily devotional, we are pleased to offer Daily Devotional cards via email. Receive a daily invitation to a Centering Practice, Reflection Question, and Prayer. These cards were also created by A Sanctified Art and follow our Everything [In] Between theme. If you’d like to receive one each day in your inbox, please email [email protected] and we’ll get you added to the list.
Use one or both of these great resources to guide your spiritual journey this Lent. And....don't forget about the Spotify playlist for when you need some music.
All members of our boards and committees are invited to attend the 2025 Leadership Kick Off on Sunday, Jan. 12th immediately after worship. We will gather for lunch and then have a brief board orientation after the meal. If you're not able to make it in-person, you also have the option of joining us after lunch via Zoom. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience by using the online form below or calling the church office so we have numbers for lunch. The purpose of this gathering is to share tips and wisdom for the upcoming year and provide an opportunity for those who serve in leadership to meet one another and spend time connecting. We look forward to gathering with you! Please contact incoming moderator Lisa T. if you have questions. Please note: this year we are not breaking into small groups after the orientation time. January board meetings will be held at a different time. We will list those times here once we know them.
Christian Ed: Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom Deacons: Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 5:15 p.m. via Zoom Facilities: Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7:00 p.m. in Conference Room/Zoom Mission: TBD Justice & Witness (MIJT): Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom Cabinet: Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom Dec. 1 - Advent Begins with HOPE Don’t forget to pick up your free Advent devotional and calendar at the church building. Online version also available - just email the church office. Dec. 8 - Second Helping Celebration and Brass in Worship We’ll be joined by our beautiful brass ensemble during worship on December 8th. Join us at 10:30 a.m. for pre-service music in-person or via Zoom. We are also marking a momentous occasion in the life of our church - the transition from Second Helping to Common Table. The first Second Helping meal was held in November 1998. The final Second Helping meal will be held on December 29, 2024. During the first week of January, our meal will move to the Lincoln Center at 901 Poyntz. Dinner will be offered through Common Table seven nights a week - all in one location. Common Table will take over meal planning, grocery shopping, recruiting volunteers, and more. We hope, of course, that our Second Helping volunteers will support this new endeavor and our church plans to continue supporting Common Table financially, as well. We will celebrate 26 years of the Second Helping and pray for the future of Common Table on Sunday, December 8th during worship. Our Mennonite friends, who have been faithful volunteers at Second Helping, will also be marking this occasion during their worship service that same morning. Dec. 15 - Christmas Pageant It's our annual Christmas Pageant, led by the children of our congregation! Join us in person or via Zoom at 10:45 a.m. for this special service. The kids will be sharing scripture, story, and song. We can't wait to see what they've created! Dec. 22 - Lessons and Carols Join us in-person or via Zoom for our annual Lessons & Carols service, led by members of our vocal and bell choirs.. Many thanks to our musicians for sharing your gifts in this way. Dec. 24 at 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Worship Christmas Eve is a time for singing carols by candlelight and remembering the gift that came to us in a tiny town all those years ago. Join us at 7:00 p.m. on December 24th as we celebrate the birth of Christ by hearing the story once again and sharing Communion at Christ's table (open to all!). People of all ages are welcome at this service, in-person or via Zoom. Pre-service music will begin at 6:45pm. Dec. 29 Lessons & Laughter
Inspired by our theme and the tradition of Lessons & Carols, we have crafted a “Lessons & Laughter” creative liturgy for the first Sunday after Christmas. It interweaves joy and playfulness with scripture readings that emphasize all of creation rejoicing. The order of worship includes three lessons; in each lesson, there is a scripture reading, a hymn/song, and a creative response rooted in joy. Did you vote already? If so, you've done what you can do. No amount of doom-scrolling or refreshing your preferred news site will effect the outcome of the election. You can not single-handedly will the votes to be counted any faster by watching cable news. (No. Really.) We will have the church building open Tuesday: 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Wednesday: from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Wednesday there is also a KIFA prayer vigil over the noon hour, see details below. You're invited to drop in on Tuesday or Wednesday to center yourself, find some peace, pray, journal, keep your hands busy, or whatever else your spirit might need. You can also join the live Zoom room, if coming down to the building isn't an option. This is open to the public - no need to be a member of our congregation. Possibilities for quieting your inner anxiety monster:
Please enter our building through the double-doors located near the bike rack on the west side of the building. And please invite a friend who might also need space to find some peace. On Wednesday, Nov. 6th we are also encouraging people to join Kansas Interfaith Action from 12-1pm for an interfaith time of prayer, song, and holding space as we celebrate, lament, and reflect prayerfully on the outcomes of this historic election season. You can attend the KIFA event via Zoom by registering here. - OR - Come down to the church building at Noon on Wednesday and we'll log into the Zoom gathering together. Origami InstructionsOur online church directory, Breeze, gives us the option of sending text reminders and updates. Due to new federal compliance issues, Breeze has to get a confirmation from YOU that you are okay receiving these messages - even if you’ve already given your phone number to the church.
If you have an active cell phone number in our church directory, you will receive a series of two text messages from Breeze this week. Both messages will come from 87447 and will begin with "Breeze - uccmanhatta" (No, we didn't choose that name. Yes, it's fun to say.)
These messages from the church office might include important reminders (for example, if you are signed up for an event) or urgent information (like a weather cancelation, for example). You can always stop these messages at any time by responding STOP. If you have questions, please reach out to the office and we’ll do our best to help. Our congregation seeks vendors to assist with the following projects. Please click the links below to view the RFPs.
RFP: Project Manager Our church fellowship area is filled with good food smells and visiting voices every Sunday evening. And we’ve been especially busy this summer at Second Helping. Total number of meals served (counting second helpings and sack lunches) for June, July and August was 1,944, with an average of more than 150 meals per Sunday. First helpings (the number of people) totaled 967, about 76 per evening. Last year the average was about 64 first helpings per meal. We have been blessed with the generosity of cooks, crew, greeters, and dessert makers every Sunday this summer. Fresh produce (i.e. 200 pounds of tomatoes, 2 crates of fresh corn and other items from the Breadbasket; ten-gallon buckets of cucumbers, green beans and apples from community members; eggplants, beans, and other produce from church members) have enhanced our healthy meals and have provided items for the Free Table for our guests to take home.
Linda Thurston, 2H meal coordinator A little something to help… A couple of weeks ago, after the meal, one of our regulars came up to me to thank us for the meal. They also said – I know these meals cost a lot and I would like to help. A shaky hand reached out and gave me four crumbled $1 bills. I offered thanks and said it was our honor to serve the meals….”see you next week; we’re having chicken!” Linda Ready to pitch in - again? In the past several years every member of our church has helped with our Sunday community meals in some way – cash and food donations, preparing and serving the meals, making sack lunches and desserts, picking up groceries, coordinating lunches and volunteers. There are many ways you can continue to pitch in. First, we always need volunteers – talk to Les or go to the sign-up page on the church website. We also need donations of cash and food. Despite the blessings of Flint Hills Food Recovery, the Breadbasket, and USDA Food Bank and Soup Kitchen commodities, we still need dollars. Our biggest expenses are the sack lunches (we don’t get sandwich bread and lunch meat from any of our sources) and the recyclable/compostable items we use for serving Dine-In meals and To Go meals. Costs for these items usually runs more than $500 a month – significantly more that several years ago. Thank you for your prayers, your time and your cash. If you’re headed to Sam’s or Cosco…. Sam’s and Cosco have the large size cans and containers we love at 2nd helping. (How long do you think it takes to open 36 #300 cans of green beans?) Next time you head to one of the big stores, consider bringing home one or two of these items for Second Helping: Ranch dressing Baked beans Instant oatmeal Breakfast bars Snack crackers Mushroom soup Where does 2nd Helping food come from? We are blessed with regular donations and deliveries that provide much of the goods that go into our weekly Sunday suppers for 2nd Helping. Have you wondered where the items come from that the cooks and crew prepare every week? Here’s a list:
![]() Sep. 22 is Faith and Democracy Sunday and we are joining other UCC churches in blessing VOTE-ive candles during worship. Please bring your favorite candle to worship on Sep. 22 OR pick up one of the VOTE-ives we will supply (LED options, too!). After the service, we'll all take our candles home and light them each day as we pray using one of the resources below: 7 day resource (re-use each week) 40 day resource (one prayer for each day) On All Saints Sunday (Nov. 3), which is also the Sunday before the election, we will place an emphasis on those saints/cloud of witnesses who fought to win and safeguard our voting rights, and we will ask all who took part in the 40 days of prayer to return their VOTE-ive candles to place on the worship table/altar; we will light them as a sign of the many prayers that have faithfully surrounded this election. Please know that the prayer portion of this is in addition to: *making and enacting a plan to VOTE *each one, reach five efforts to help our friends and family identify their voting plans *encouraging your friends and family to check their registration status NOW *phone-banking, post-carding, letter-writing, door-knocking *engaging in challenging conversations (with a spirit of curiosity!) to help build more robust communities *checking in with newly-eligible young adults to ensure they know how to exercise their right to vote *collaborating with partner organizations to reach those who may experience obstacles to voting *volunteering at the polls Through collective prayer and action, we can experience the truth that we are not alone as we work to make a More Just World for all people and creation. Many, many thanks to the Potomoc Association of the UCC for inviting us to be a part of this effort. Some think of curiosity as just for kids or as a negative thing in our faith journey, but curiosity is valuable for ALL of us. Being curious about the world around us is a spiritual practice. We can be curious about other people which leads to empathy, community and a desire for social justice. We can be curious about God which leads to prayer and reflection. We can be curious about ourselves, leading to better mental health and healing. In this series, Be Curious: Surviving and Thriving in an Angry World, we will explore, experiment, and challenge ourselves to Be Curious! We will follow Jesus’ example, worshipping in curious new ways and asking plenty of questions. We will connect in ways that encourage curiosity about our community. We will be compassionate for others as we recommit ourselves to Loving Every Single Other. This divided world needs more curiousity. Let’s explore together!
For more information, contact Gretchen Lewis.
Church Choir Our choir rehearses each Sunday morning in the sanctuary at 8:30, and we'd love to have some new singers join us. Please see Gretchen if you are interested. We are looking forward to singing in worship this year. We are also looking forward to participating in a late September choral workshop with well-known contemporary composer and choral clinician Mark A. Miller. Dr. Miller will be in Wichita September 27 - 29 for a United Methodist Event, and Dr. Amy Rosine, choir director at College Ave Methodist, is organizing an ecumenical song festival here in Manhattan on the afternoon of September 29. She has called our local event: Songfest, Songs of Hope, Compassion and Joy. Further information will be upcoming about the time of the local concert. If you're interested in attending the workshop, talk to Gretchen for more information. Congregational Handbells The bell choir will resume rehearsals in September. The first rehearsal is Tuesday, September 3, at 5:00 pm in the sanctuary. If you'd like to ring with us, and you're free on Tuesday evenings, please reach out to Gretchen. We aim to offer a Handbell Prelude in worship once a month. First Congregational Mini Hymnal We had some excellent congregational singing this summer. I'd love to put together a kind of First Congregational mini hymnal of hymns you'd like to sing every two or three months. If you have favorite hymns to suggest, please send me some hymn titles. If we have a good response, we can select the 15 - 20 greatest hits, and put them in a rotation. Thank you! |
Connect |