The last weekend in February was our annual retreat at Camp Friedenswald. The afternoon included watercolor painting, hiking, knitting lessons and napping, the evening featured many games. Kay Bontrager-Singer led our worship time on Sunday. 

On June 10, we gathered for worship at Pathways Retreat and celebrated Sally's licensing service. Doug Luginbill, conference minister, represented Central District Conference. Leadership Group gave Sally a blessing and presented her with necklace that Rachel Hershberger had made -- copper encircling a green marble.

On a cold April 1 Easter Sunday morning, we gathered in silence before sunrise, near a charcoal fire. Karla told the post resurrection story of Jesus and the disciples sharing breakfast on the beach, from John 21: 4 - 13, we sang, and then huddled around the fire. We decided to go the traditional early breakfast of fish and bread and went on to a potluck brunch at Faith House, and a celebration in song.

Contemplation and action. . .one Sunday in February, Ben reflected on the meditative aspects of working clay on the wheel, to the fascination of all.

Despite predictions of morning thunderstorms, we were able to have our Easter sunrise service. We gathered in silence before dawn, heard John 2: 4-14, sang together, and then had smelt (also known as "little fishies") cooked over a charcoal fire, bread, and hot drinks. Afterwards we gathered for an Easter hymn sing and brunch at Faith House.

We had our 3rd annual retreat at Camp Friedenswald on February 25 and 26. It fell during Goshen College's spring break, so we only had one college student present, making for a smaller group than in previous years. We still sang, played, ate, and enjoyed Sunday morning worship in the Nature Center. There was even a dusting of snow, an unusual event this winter. Below is a slideshow with a few scenes from our time together.

 We are in the midst of a congregational conversation about open communion, using the MC Canada resource Come, Lord Jesus, Be our Host, by Elsie Rempel. Here is the link. This takes you to a 60-some page pdf, but don't worry -- the suggested reading for any of our times is always short, from 2 - 10 pages.

We worked with her Session 1 at our March discernment meeting and during the weeks from just before Easter through Pentecost, we are drawing on her Session 2 for biblical stories where Jesus breaks bread with people. We'll be picking up her other Sessions at upcoming discernment meetings.

Resource Mapped to Worship Schedule.
Our interaction with this resource is not happening in a tidy linear fashion since the work with the biblical stories is spread over seven weeks and the discernment meetings are mixed in among them. To see a chronological presentation of what is happening when, go to our Worship Schedule. Suggested readings are in the Notes column.

Our Schedule Mapped to a Summary of the Resource
To see an overview of Rempel's Sessions, look here. Under each Session's title, you'll find a few lines summarizing what is covered in that Session. In the second paragraph (in italics), you'll find a sentence beginning "Background for. . ." This connects the Session material with the themes, questions and factors that we named at our last discernment meeting. This italicized section also tells you when and in what setting we are working with this material.