All are welcome to participate in the upcoming “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” event, sponsored by Women’s Ministries. This is a great opportunity to share a meal with others at mystery locations. Watch for bulletin inserts where you can sign-up to volunteer your home or to be mystery guests and bring dishes to share. Dates for the dinners are: Thursday, March 1- Sunday, March 4. For questions, contact Judy Stockstill (241-2978 or judy.r.stockstill@gmail.com).

On Monday, January 16th, at 7:30pm, a program “Stone of Hope” will be presented for the community in the McPherson High School Theatre. This program will be a celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. The theme, Stone of Hope, comes from the MLK quote, “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” Our speaker, Sandra Price Byrd will be bringing a message of Hope for all. There will be a variety of musical talent in the program, including performances by the McPherson High School Jazz Band under the direction of Kyle Hopkins. The public is invited to this free program.

October was a busy month for the preschoolers. The younger classes went “off to college”! They visited the English dept with Becki Bowman, Lucy’s mother; drama dept with Jd Bowman, Lucy’s dad; computer lab (repair) with Andy Ullom, Jonathan’s dad one day and biology dept the other; the dining hall for snack where Summer’s dad works; and the auto restoration dept with Chris Paulsen, Elley’s dad. The next day the younger classes traveled to the museum and Lakeside Park. The children made cookies which they enjoyed and also shared with the firefighters when they came to visit.

The older classes took a tour of the McPherson Fire Station. What an exciting time – firefighters, weight/exercise room, living quarters, fire pole, firetrucks, and Patches and Pumper! The children had an opportunity to sit in the firetruck and try on a firefighter’s helmet. They drew and wrote thank you notes to the firefighters.

In November we are looking forward to parent/teacher conferences on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 14 and 15. Thanksgiving vacation will be November 23 through 25.

We are very thankful for the support of our church family.

Carol Temple, Director

Dear Church Family,

I would like to thank everyone for the nice remembrance and reception on Sept. 11 in recognition of my resignation from the music program of the church. I have thoroughly enjoyed my 40 plus years working in the various capacities and I really appreciate the commitment of all those that participated in the many groups. Thank you, also, to all of you for the support given to me over the years. The cookbooks were very thoughtful and I love to cook, so I’m anxious to get in the kitchen and try some new recipes. And, thanks to the Worship Team for the nice reception with the great snacks. The picture, so wonderfully crafted by Bob Dell, is fantastic and a really neat memory of my musical journey at the McPherson Church of the Brethren. It will be a very pleasant reminder for years to come of my many musical experiences at the church. Thank you all so much for your support and best wishes!

Winona Godfrey

The McPherson Church of Brethren together with other faith-based organizations and churches will be participating in an event for International Day of Prayer for Peace (IDPP) on Wednesday, September 21st 2011. The theme for On Earth Peace’s 2011 IDPP campaign is “Seek the Peace of the City … for in its peace, you will find peace” Jeremiah 29. For more information contact the church’s peace coordinator through email at ayellaa@gmail.com.