Atlantic Coast Conference

Bulletin Announcements

November 30, 2014

Centered

Christ

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Building

Connections

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Sharing

God's

Love

Thank you! Church Administrators, Church Secretaries, Bulletin Editors and Pastors for the link you provide keeping our members informed and involved in God's Mission near and far.

God bless you!

Conference Related Publications:

June Kansas City 2015 Convention Newsletter

November Mennonite Education Agency Prayer Publication

Pastors, Church Administrators and Secretaries, Bulletin Editors:

These bulletin announcements are meant to be a helpful resource for those of you who put your congregations' bulletins together on a weekly basis. If there are ways we could present this information more effectively please don't hesitate to pass on your ideas or give feedback.

Some churches forward the following information and community life announcements to their attenders using email while others post various events in their weekly bulletin, on their church website, or Facebook page.

Please let us know if there are additional ways we can assist you as we serve together.

Peace and Laughter,

Brook Musselman

Atlantic Coast Conference Coordinator

(717) 394-8107

brookm@atlanticcoastconference.net

New Conference Announcements

New PA State Child Abuse Laws

Many new child abuse laws will take effect in Pennsylvania on December 31 that will have an impact on churches and ministries with children's programs.

Contact Brook Musselman in the conference office if you're interested in learning more about resources to help your church remain compliant and develop practices to make your church a safe place for all.

Weekly Prayer Item

This week, we invite your church to join the conference in praying for ACC churches and ministries as they prepare for the new Pennsylvania State child abuse laws to take effect next month.

Pray for wisdom and guidance for our leaders as they continue to develop policies and practices to keep the vulnerable safe, while offering forgiveness and redemption to those who have caused harm in the past.

Have a prayer request to share with the conference? Email brookm@atlanticcoastconference.net to share.

Previously Published Conference Announcements

Shop AmazonSmile!

Shop smile.amazon.com and choose to support Atlantic Coast Conference of the Mennonite Church and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to ACC.

MC USA and MWC Announcements

MC USA Convention: Kansas City 2015

Visit Mennonite Church USA's Kansas City convention website: www.mennoniteusa.org/convention. As planning

continues, this website will be the one-stop-shop for many

details you'll need to know to start planning your participation in next year's convention. Please bookmark it, forward the link to others and check back often to see the

promo videos and find out the unique things we are planning for Kansas City 2015

November newsletter for

Kansas City 2015 available!

This issue is full of helpful information to help you prepare for our time together next summer, including:

Instructions for registration, which begins on Jan.2015
Information about programming for people of all ages
Helpful tips for fundraising and an out-of-the-box idea from Goshen College to help your youth group get to KC2015
A listing of convention worship speakers

Newsletter

Mennonite Church USA Executive Board Staff wishes you a blessed Thanksgiving

Mennonite Church USA Executive Board Staff wishes you a blessed Thanksgiving. At this time of year, we want to let each of you know how grateful we are that you have chosen to be a part of this church and journey with us. May you also find time to celebrate all God's good gifts in your life this weekend!

Conference Related Ministries

12th Annual Candlelight Carol Sing

Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Historic Germantown Meetinghouse

6133 Germantown Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19144

We will gather in the 1770 Meetinghouse to mark the Christmas season by singing carols together. Mennonites of diverse backgrounds will lead us in an evening of carols and hymns. Refreshments will be served afterwards. All are welcome!

In partnership with Historic Germantown, we will be collecting small size toiletries to be shared with Face to Face Germantown.

For more information on the history of Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust, see � www.meetinghouse.info.

MCC Seeks Donor Relations Database Coordinator

MCC is currently seeking candidates for a full-time Donor Relations Database Coordinator for our Akron office. If you know of anyone who may be interested, please share this announcement with them. The full Assignment Description is available at http://mcc.org/get-involved/serve/openings/donor-relations-database-coordinator

Daily Advent Devotionals from Goshen College

GOSHEN, Ind. - As churches and individual Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christ's birth, Goshen College will again offer an online spiritual resource at www.goshen.edu/devotions to help believers make time and space in their hearts and minds to welcome Advent and celebrate Christmas.

Beginning Nov. 24 (the Monday prior to the first Sunday in Advent) and culminating on Christmas Day, Goshen College students, faculty and staff will provide weekday reflections based on the Sunday's upcoming lectionary Scripture passages, available online at www.goshen.edu/devotions, by daily email or via an RSS feed. Many writers will reflect on the Advent theme: "Oh, That You Would Reveal Your Mystery," taken fromLeader magazine, which is produced jointly by Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA. This year's Advent worship resources were written by a team from Mennonite Church Alberta.

Year-end Giving Opportunities

Giving Tuesday: Follow the shopping of Black Friday and Cyber Monday with giving to EMM on Tuesday December 2. Give to make Jesus known. Give early. Give together. Help make a big dent in EMM's end-of-year giving goal, all in one day! Give at emm.org/donate.

Friendship Community:Your donation will help provide Residential and Support Services to individuals with disabilities in Lancaster County! Join in at extragive.org and search for Friendship Community

MCC Updates

MCC urgently needs relief kits, hygiene kits and comfortersfor its relief work, especially in the Middle East, specifically Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Gaza. Because of such a demand, stocks of these items are in low supply at the Material Resource Center warehouse in Ephrata.

http://mcc.org/get-involved/kits

Click here to download a bulletin insert about MCC's Christmasgiving opportunities to share with your congregation.

If you would prefer to have printed inserts sent to your church, please contact MCC East Coast at (215) 535-3624 or eastcoast@mcc.org.

The Craft Stand coordinators want to remind crafters to begin creating for the 59th annual PA Relief Sale which will be held the third weekend of April, Friday and Saturday, April 17-18, 2015, at the Farm Show Building in Harrisburg, PA. We are seeking crafters who work with fabric, wood, paper, yarn, thread, or jewelry to make and donate quality crafts. Yes, the sale is almost five months away, but well-made crafts take lots of time! Please see the Craft Stand poster (on bulletin board) for additional details. Drop offs: anytime at Ephrata MCC Material Resources Center or bring to the Craft Stand at the sale. Feel free to call or email us with your questions or comments. Remember: all proceeds benefit MCC.

Janet Runion Patton: 717-272-1708, cjpatton99@aol.com;

Ruth Runion Slear: 717-533-9423, singchorale@hotmail.com

Lancaster Area Anabaptist Relief Meeting
All are welcome to attend the annual Lancaster Area Anabaptist Relief Meeting hosted by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite Disaster service (MDS) at the MCC Material Resources Center (517 W. Trout Run Road, Ephrata) on Monday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m. You'll hear updates from both organizations, and we will also remember Peter and Elfrieda Dyck, who devoted their lives to the ministries of the church, on this 100th anniversary of Peter's birth. Refreshments and a time of fellowship will follow the meeting. Please contact Ken Sensenig at (717) 413-3967 or KLS@mcc.org with any questions.

Lancaster Mennonite Schools

Hallelujah Chorus

You are invited to participate in a spontaneous singing of the Hallelujah Chorus on Saturday, December 13 at 11 a.m. in the food court at Park City Shopping Center, Lancaster. If you would like to sing, please respond by sending your name and voice part to mccl@lancastermennonite.org or by calling (717) 455-7025. An optional rehearsal will be held on Tuesday, December 9 at 7 p.m. at Neffsville Mennonite Church. To review your voice part, please visit www.mennonitechildrenschoir.org.

Creating Congregational Cultures of Generosity

Please save the date for a 1 Day Creating Congregational Cultures of Generosity (CCCG) workshop for 2015 here in the Lancaster market. It will be Saturday, May 16, 2015. It will be held at the Lancaster Mennonite Conference meeting rooms at 2160, Lincoln Highway East, right beside the Everence office. Beryl Jantzi, Everence Director of Stewardship, will be the presenter for this workshop.

Attached is the CCCG overview PDF that you can begin to use to share more about this with your pastors and let them know this is in the works. We will have room for 10 teams. Any pastor that is interested in having their church participate in this 1 day CCCG should contact me to get on the list.

Overview

Eastern Mennonite Seminary:Lancaster Events

Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Relations in Israel and Palestine

Instructors: Elias George and David Miron
Location: Parish Resource Center, 633 Community Way, Lancaster, Pa.
Dates: Tuesdays, 7:00pm - 8:45pm, January 13, 20, 27;

Feb. 3, 10, 17
Information and to register: Call Parish Resource Center,

(717) 299-1113

No Longer Alone Ministries

Paths to Discovery Support Group meets the first Thursday of each month, 11am - 12:30 pm, 630 Janet Ave, Room B103, Lancaster. Paths also has 3 other meeting places and dates in Lancaster. FMI please call 390-4891.