Wow! ECM at K-State is celebrating 101 years of ministry! Join us on Sunday, May 8th at Long's Park as we welcome guests from ECM and celebrate with them. And then on Sunday, May 15th we'll have guests from ECM with us at 9:30 a.m. (church basement or via Zoom) to share about what ECM is up to and answer our questions. We're excited to welcome these partners in campus ministry and deepen our relationship with them.

You can learn more about ECM on their website (https://www.ecmatkstate.org/) and you're encouraged to sign up for their e-mail list and/or follow them on social media. ​

It's time for our annual Blessing of the Animals and Worship in the Park. Join us at (shady) Long's Park on Sunday, May 8th at 10:45 a.m. for this special service. Childcare staff will be on hand to care for young kids who want to explore the playground or the rest of the park.

After worship we'll have a good ol' fashioned potluck and friends from ECM at K-State (our campus ministry) are coming to visit with us so we can help them celebrate 101 years in ministry.

Things to bring to the park:
- your own lawn chair, if you have one
- a potluck dish to share
- your own tableservice, to reduce our use of disposable dishes
- your pet (or stuffed animal!) for a blessing
***If you have any questions about accessibility at the park, please let us know.

For those worshiping at home, please use the regular Zoom link. If you have an animal you'd like blessed at home, please reach out to Pastor Caela so she can arrange a visit.
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With gratitude to our local educators, the School Staff Appreciation Committee wrote a letter that was shared with all administrators and board members in USD 383. 

When Jesus's friend Lazarus died, he wept. Our faith compels us to mourn and bear witness to the pain that the COVID pandemic has caused. As the United States approaches one million deaths from COVID and the Deacons would like to invite you to join us in installing a temporary memorial on our church lawn. We have purchased 1,000 white utility flags (each flag represents 1,000 lives lost). When the U.S. reaches one million deaths - likely sometime in the next few weeks - we will invite people to stay after worship one Sunday to place the flags in the church yard, along with signs explaining the memorial. In doing so, we invite the community to join us as we remember, grieve, and bear witness to the image of God in every life lost. ​

We all know that those who work in our local schools have been under an incredible amount of stress lately and we would like to show them some love. You are invited to join us for a School Staff Appreciation Week, March 7-10. We will be hand-delivering small gifts of appreciation to USD 383 middle and high schools and writing thank you notes to school staff.

Here’s how you can participate:

1. If you’d like to help offset the costs of purchasing items for the goodie baskets, please make a special donation no later than Feb. 27th. You can write a memo on your check OR put a note in the “special instructions” box if you donate via PayPal. Checks can be mailed, dropped off at the office, or put in the offering plate. 

2. If you are interested in shopping for gifts or hand-delivering the gifts, please contact the church office no later than Feb. 27th.

3. We encourage EVERYONE to think of a teacher, staff member, former teacher, neighbor who works in the schools, etc. and commit to sending them an email or handwritten note during the week of Mar. 7-10. These notes mean more than you can know. 

4. Please continue to stay informed about actions in our local school board and in the state legislature that affect our schools. Contact your elected officials and/or consider writing letters to the editor to speak up about how much we appreciate our local school staff and encouraging them to create policies that support all educators. 

"The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." Inspired by a visit to Bethlehem, Phillips Brooks wrote these words for a children's Christmas pageant in 1868. All these years later, Advent is still a time of gathering our hopes and fears and sharing them with God.

Please visit 700 Poyntz between Dec. 1st - 25th to share your Christmas prayer. Hopes, fears, and everything in-between are welcome. Paper and pens are available for you to write your prayer and add it to the growing prayer chain. ​

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.