CMC Newsweekly
3/22/15
Community Mennonite Church, 70 S High Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22801
540-433-2148
www.cmcva.org
[email protected]
WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY
Worship leader: Jan Jenner
Preacher: Jennifer Davis Sensenig
Song leader: Jay Hartzler
Attendance last Sunday = 205
Offering last Sunday = $4,860
YTD budget = $93,864
YTD giving = $81,447
Difference = ($12,417)
Upside down and inside out
Lent 2015
UPCOMING CMC EVENTS
Tues., March 24
Holy Week and Easter Activities

Thu., April 2, Maundy Thursday meal and footwashing, 6 pm
(please bring bread & soup to share)

PCRC meeting, 5 pm, Room 106


Financial Peace University - money
management class, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Room
109
Fri., April 3, Good Friday, Tenebrae Service, 7 pm (please bring
a flashlight or book light)

Sat., April 4, Easter Vigil, 10 pm, with Parkview at their building

Community Life Commission meeting,
7 pm, Louise Hostetter’s house
 Sun., April 5, Easter Sunday, Easter Breads 8:30 am (please
bring brunch items to share, sweet breads, fruit, egg dishes, etc)
and Worship at 10 am
 CMC Notices 
Educational
Grants:
CMC
provides
matching grants for undergraduate students
attending Mennonite colleges (EMU, Bluffton,
Goshen, Hesston) and provides some
assistance for students attending Eastern
Mennonite School. Application forms are
available on the kiosk in the Fellowship Hall.
The student and/or the parents must be CMC
members. These forms MUST be completed
and turned in to Millard Osborne by March 22
if you want this financial assistance.
Spring Reading List: Pastoral Team
members read three books from the
recommended reading list compiled by MC
USA in preparation for our churchwide
conversations in Kansas City (MC USA
Biennial Assembly in July 2015.) These
books focus on same-gender relationships.
You're welcome to borrow these from the
CMC library. You'll also find on the library
shelf the complete list of recommended
reading. Please let us know if you're reading
any of these materials and what you
think. Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the
Church's Debate on Same-Sex Relationships
by James Brownson; The Secret Thoughts of
an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s
Journey into Christian Faith by Rosaria
Butterfield; What God Has Joined Together?
A Christian Case for Gay Marriage by David
Myers and Letha Dawson Scanzoni. Pastoral
Team
Thank you to the church for the beautiful
plant that I received following the death of my
mother. The many kind words, cards, hugs
and prayers have also been very much
appreciated, as I celebrate my mom's life and
grieve the loss. Betty Shenk
Please notice a very insightful message
and pictures from Esther and David Stenson
in Egypt. We encourage to pray for all the
persons who are serving in other countries
and here in the states representing
Community
Mennonite
Church.
Joyce
Osborne
Hosting Ministry Inquiry Program Student:
CMC has the opportunity to host an MIP
student from Goshen College this summer for
10 weeks. Pastor Jennifer would be her
supervisor. If you are open to providing
housing during the summer, please contact
Pastor
Jennifer
for
more
details.
[email protected]
Our
congregation
has
been
processing the difficult subject of
child sexual abuse. We’ve learned
children often do not tell of their
abuse…and their experiences may lead
to questioning God’s existence. Later,
adult survivors may continue to carry this
burden, quietly and without support or
acknowledgement from
their
faith
communities.
As part of CMC’s
participation in the Safe Church program,
the Collins Center in Harrisonburg will be
hosting a retreat for adult survivors in
local congregations, Saturday, March 28
from 9am-3:30pm at the Collins Center
(new Ice House location). It promises to
be a rich day of reflection incorporating
art, movement, music, writing and
discussion in hopes of empowering and
supporting survivors, wherever they may
be on their healing journeys. An
informational flyer is in your CMC
mailbox along with a registration form on
the back. This retreat is free for any
member of CMC! If you know of a
survivor in another congregation, please
invite them to attend! Space is limited to
the first 30 people; registration is due to
the Collins Center by Monday, March 23.
Questions? Contact Ana Arias or any
member of the CMC Core Team (Marsha
Thomas, Greta Kreider, Harold Shank,
Betty Shank, Sara Kiser, or Jason
Gerlach).
Compassion
Funds:
Financial
hardships in our congregation arise for a
variety of reasons: medical bills, job loss,
unexpected major expenses, and
counseling/therapy. CMCers generously
support the Compassion Fund for mutual
aid among members, so that we can
ease these hardships among our
households. If you or a CMCer you know
has a financial need, Grants Committee
will review your need through a brief
application available on our website.
CMC households are eligible for up to
$600 twice annually in compassion funds
as administered through the Grants
Committee,
which
maintains
confidentiality. In situations of higher
need
the
process
includes
a
recommendation from Grants Committee
to Council. Pastoral Team
The
Mennonite:
Our
group
subscription plan to The Mennonite is
renewing. The Mennonite, magazine
for Mennonite Church USA, seeks to
fulfill its mission of helping readers
glorify God, grow in faith and become
agents of healing and hope in the
world through articles that challenge
and inspire, news that connects
readers to the larger Mennonite
community and much more. If you are
interested in joining our group plan,
please contact the church office at
[email protected] by March 31,
2015.
Adult Sunday School classes have a
home on our site for sharing class
information like handouts and schedules.
Check them out on the Adult Ed page:
http://cmcva.org/learn/adulteducation/ If you're teaching a class and
would like to get your materials up there,
please email me! Alisha Huber.
Parents, are you thinking about
summer camp for your children? CMC
offers
a
camp
scholarship
for
children/youth wanting to attend a weeklong Mennonite or Anabaptist summer
camp program. A good number of
children and youth from CMC families are
attending summer camp for faith
formation, discipleship and fellowship.
For some children, this is their only
formal program for Christian nurture in
the
summer
months.
Therefore,
Community Mennonite Church will pay
$75.00 of the total registration fee for a
child/youth registering for a week of
summer camp at a Mennonite or
Anabaptist related camp. Please indicate
on the registration form that CMC will
provide $75 camp scholarship. Inform the
church office of the child/youth attending
summer camp. Registration forms are
available on the kiosk in the Fellowship
Hall. For more information or questions
please contact the church office.
Save the date: Summer Bible School will
be held on Saturday, August 1st at CMC.
Betty Simensen
Continued next page …….
 CMC Notices 
Why don't my children (and grandchildren)
go to church? What can I do about it? Rev.
Dr David L. Lose, author, professor, pastor,
and president of Lutheran Theological
Seminary in Philadephia, will present on
Sunday, April 12th at 3 pm at Muhlenberg
Lutheran Church (MAC building). To register as
a CMC group, please contact Pastor Dayna
([email protected]).
The Shenandoah Valley Autism Partnership
(SVAP) and JMU will join in hosting the 8th
annual 5K Walk/Run for Autism Awareness
on Saturday, Apr. 11, at Eastern Mennonite
University. The event seeks to help support the
many area families touched by autism;
previous events have drawn more than 1,000
participants. Anyone is welcome to join "Team
Jacob" for the team rate. You can register
online at www.valleyautism.org before Mar. 26
for a free T-shirt. Any questions, contact Jenny
Hummel at [email protected] or 2349053 (evenings) or Jim Bishop, the event's
emcee, [email protected]; 434-6208.
Let's have lots of participation from CMC! Jim
Bishop
The Shenandoah Valley Choral Society,
directed by Curtis Nolley, will present its spring
concert, A Musical Garden, on Friday, April 17,
at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 19, at 3:00pm
at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren. The
concert features Gabriel Fauré's beautiful and
moving Requiem, as well as a selection of the
director's concert favorites chosen from the
past 15 seasons.
Tickets are available from Choral Society
members,
Red
Front
Supermarket
(Harrisonburg),
Bridgewater
Foods
Supermarket
(Bridgewater),
on-line
at
www.singshenandoah.org, and at the door.
Admission is $15 for adults/$12 for seniors and
students. Ray Horst
Mennonite World Conference Assembly will
be held July 21 - 26, 2015 in Harrisburg, PA.
MWC Assembly is held every six years and is a
reunion of the Anabaptist-Mennonite family
worldwide. Everyone is welcome to attend.
More information and registration is available at
www.mwc-cmm.org/pennsylvania-2015. Please
let the church office know if you plan to attend
([email protected]).
Mennonite Disaster Service is looking for
an assistant cook in Colorado from March 30
- April 3. If you are interested in volunteering
please contact Sam Miller.
Bridge of Hope Harrisonburg-Rockingham
(BoHHR) is accepting applications for a parttime (20 hours/week) Development & Special
Events Coordinator. BoHHR is a faith based
non-profit organization started locally in 2009
by a multi-denominational group of Christians
and is a Bridge of Hope National affiliate - one
of 23 in fourteen states and the only one in
Virginia. The BOHHR model is built on a
three-way partnership between one homeless
or at-risk single mother and her children, one
trained church-based mentoring group of eight
to twelve people and the BoHHR professional
staff. BoHHR moves beyond short-term fixes to
provide long-term, sustainable solutions to
families. This unique program offers families
an effective way to break the cycle of poverty
and homelessness by creating a secure home
environment and a community of supportive
friends who empower the at-risk family to attain
permanent housing, financial self-sustainment
through employment, life-changing friendships
and increased self-esteem. The Development
& Special Events Coordinator promotes giving
to BoHHR by building major donor
relationships and implementing successful
events and sponsorship opportunities. Email
your
resume
to
Melody
Cash
at
[email protected] by March 31.