IL/WI District Conference 2018

We had the privilege of hosting the Church of the Brethren IL/WI District Conference Friday evening and Saturday. Below are delegates during their commissioning.

 Our Moderator Paul Kohler, Moderator-elect Leslie Lake. Seated is clerk Kristi Kellerman.

The Saturday noon meal at the elementary school was a big hit. Below are some of the diners.

Badge-watchers Clyde and Nancy Fansler

Part of the serving line: Stacie Warren, Beth Sawyer, Kay Van Matre

Fall Beauty

It's definitely fall. The gorgeous tree by the parsonage performed its color miracle and is now dropping its leaves rather quickly. The sunny, cooler days of fall with the beautiful foliage is hard to beat, and it is a perfect time to appreciate the beauty of God's world. 

Want to appreciate fall more? Come join us tonight, Friday, November 2, for worship, starting with a hymn sing at 7:10. This is the start of our district conference with folks from around Illinois and maybe a few from Wisconsin joining in to worship God in song and word.

If not tonight, join us any Sunday morning at 10:00 for worship. We would love to see you! Sunday School is at 9:00. A Bible study is Tuesday morning at 9:30. All are welcome.

Last weekend was our all-church wiener roast. We met at the Hissongs, and the fire felt really good! Fortunately, we were able to eat inside their garage, a nice spot out of the wind.

Not everyone is pictured here, but you get a sense of the event. It was fun to have the Sager boys and Stanton girls in the group--they were too busy running around for pictures, except for the tree climber! Thank you, Hissongs, for hosting us!

This evening is Love Feast, a sacred ordinance in the Church of the Brethren.

Today is World Communion Sunday, one of the twice yearly dates that we celebrate Love Feast.

Tonight at 6:00 we will share a meal, wash each others' feet, and share the bread and cup, following Christ in what he did for and with his disciples. This is a humbling experience, reminding us that we have a journey to walk as we seek to follow Christ.

All are welcome. Come join us as we celebrate and worship the Lord together.

Surprise Party AND Love Feast

Last evening we succeeded in surprising Pastor Tim and Betty Sue for a 40th anniversary celebration. (Their actual anniversary is October 7, but next weekend will be a busy weekend.)

We all had a great meal at Yoder's in Arthur--about 21 of us--and then we enjoyed a lovely cake in their honor. Congratulations on 40 years together!

Love Feast is coming up next Sunday, October 7.

This is a very important part of Church of the Brethren life when we celebrate footwashing (Jesus did this for his disciples at the Last Supper) and the bread and cup (again, as Jesus did with his disciples).

All are invited to join us as we participate in this meaningful celebration of Christ's life and service. We will meet in the Fellowship Hall at 6:00.

Community & Global Work

Our Women's Fellowship does a number of service projects during the year, including making quilts/blankets for charity, care packages for college students, and hygiene kits for those who have been through disasters.

Below are some of our women assembling the hygiene kits. We are sending off a total of 59 that will go to our Church of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, MD, where they will be ready to be shipped out by Church World Service, either here in the U.S. or anywhere around the world where they are needed.

Come, join us. We'd love to see you. Worship is at 10:00 each Sunday with Sunday School at 9:00.

Bible Study is each Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

Coming Up

We are having a luncheon at Judy's Kitchen on Thursday, July 26. If you'd like to join us, contact Nancy Fansler please.

Vacation Bible School is at the Brethren Church, July 22 - 26. Check it out and send your child. This is for the whole community.

Our church will have a rummage sale and a food stand during the town rummage sales the last weekend of this month. Come and see what we have.

During the Decatur Celebration, we will be parking cars at The Appliance Center lot. Help us out by parking there when you go to the Celebration.

Most importantly, please come join us for Sunday School and worship! Sunday School is at 9:00 a.m. and worship follows at 10:00. We are always happy to see new faces.

Summer Days

If you didn't come to our Strawberry Fest, you missed out. It was a delightful evening with a Fellowship Hall full of people, lots of fresh strawberry pie, Texas sheet cake, angelfood cake, ice cream, fresh strawberries. Plan to come next year!

We invite you to come to Judy's Kitchen on July 8. We will be waiting tables that day to raise funds for our church.

Also, the Village rummage sale is the last weekend of July. We will have our annual food stand, but this year we will also have rummage in the church fellowship hall.

In the meantime, it's summer!

That doesn't mean church can't be included in weekly plans. Come join us for Sunday School at 9:00 and worship at 10:00 every Sunday. We will be happy to see everyone.