RidgeVIEWS

Volume 15, Issue 1 January 2015 The monthly newsletter of Ridgeview Mennonite Church

I always find it interesting, as a year draws to a close, to spend some time thinking back over the various events and activities that occurred and marveling at how wide-ranging and unexpected many of the happenings were. Following a year such as this one, where a sabbatical was part of what transpired, the richness and wonder of all that came to pass is even greater.

When 2014 began I had not imagined myself sitting in Bedouin tents in Palestine sharing a simple meal with new friends from around the world and learning about their daily struggles. I had not contemplated the fresh joy of interacting with my son and son-in-law as we worked to replace an old, basement bathroom in our home. I had not remembered what life felt like when one is detached from the technology and ever present connectivity that has become second nature until I spent five days in a cabin in the mountains surrounded by books, trees and si-lence.

To me such reflection speaks clearly to the random wonder of life and our need to be open to what may lay before us and the untold and unexpected places where God is at work. I would invite each of you to also spend a few moments reviewing the year gone by and contemplating the places and events where God’s presence showed through in surprising ways. Such moments are not only discovered at the polar highs and lows of life but can be just as readily observed in our daily routines. What and where were the moments of wonder for you these past twelve months?

At the same time such an acknowledgement of the points of God’s movement from the past should enable us to prepare ourselves for those same kinds of places and events in the year to come. By this I do not suggest we can ever be fully prepared for God’s in-breaking into our well-ordered and manicured lives but perhaps we might be a bit more open to seeing the world around us through the eyes of God if we can hold onto the memories of the year gone by.

Let us all covenant together at the beginning of a new year to heighten our awareness of God’s presence in our lives and those of our sisters and brothers. Let us consciously look for and recognize them for what they are when they occur and let us give voice to their wonder, grace and hope for the building up of the kingdom here on earth. The season that is passing at the moment centers on the good news of God’s activity on earth through the birth of a child at a point in history. God’s active engagement in this world and the potential for life and change which that brings remains good news today. May we have the keen eyes and supple hearts necessary to sense God’s presence in the year ahead. Pastor Mick

DECEMBER OFFERING REPORT Year to date budget $72,000.00 Year to date receipts 75,887.62 Education fund $3,877.08

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ALIVE WITH 55

Approximately 75 seniors met for our Christmas celebration on December 9. We enjoyed over an hour of singing, stories, jokes, etc. with Ken Mast and his group, The Good News Singers. This mixed quartet has been together only a short time but they bring together many years of experience in singing. We enjoyed many traditional hymns as well as Christmas songs. Ken and Mel Lapp made a great duo with Mel playing his guitar as they sang sever-al songs they used many years ago in the Sandy Hill Quartet.

Mim Martin and helpers Joanne, Sherlyn and Rose again provided us with a delicious Amish turkey dinner. Fellowship around the ta-bles was another highlight of the day.

There will not be a meeting in January and February, but we look forward to March 10 when Pastor Mick will share his experience of working with the Christian Peace Makers Team in Israel and Palestine. Reba Ranck

KITCHEN KETTLE VILLAGE had ap-proached Ten Thousand Villages asking if they would want to set up a store in one of Kitchen Kettle houses along Rt. 340 in Intercourse. Ten Thousand Villages said “yes” and so in June 2014 a six month lease

was signed and then there were three weeks to set up the store. Jennifer Bentivogli., along with her staff got to work.

Jennifer is supervisor of the store and Beth Boll is manager. The store has been very successful and a three year lease has been renewed with Kitchen Kettle. Congratulations to Jennifer and Beth and all who helped make it work!

If you have not visited the store, stop in...browse and buy! Everything is hand-made by artisans in countries where often it is hard for people to earn a living, so when you shop there, you are helping people have the opportunity to earn a liv-ing. Loretta Lapp

Thanks for all the hats, mit-tens, gloves, and scarves. They will be distributed to

local agencies.

JANUARY INGATHERING for Bridge of Hope

Recognizing the importance of read-ing in education and family activities, our Family Building Services promote literacy and help children develop a love of reading and learning. Each child whose mother commits to reading aloud to him or her on a regular basis receives a new book each month from Bridge of Hope Lancaster & Chester Counties.

Currently, we are in need of new or very gently used:

Board books Elementary books

Pre-school books Youth Adult & teen books

Books Needed

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Jan14 “FACTS ON THE GROUND” Pastor Mick will, through story and visuals (various PowerPoint displays), relate learnings and experience as part of a recent Christian Peacemakers delegation to Israel/Palestine. How do we understand a situation so far removed from our experience as a peo-ple operating out of a westernized, democratic mindset? What might our re-sponse be if forced to live under oppressive and restricting realities for dec-ades? What does the future hold for this region of the world?

“GLOBAL ANABAPTIST” A six-part series on the global Mennonite, Brethren in Christ, Mennonite Brethren, & Conservative Mennonite Conference churches that comprise Mennonite World Conference. Take advantage of this opportunity and learn more about our sister churches around the globe so we can be better informed hosts for PA Assembly 2015. A guest speaker will share regarding the church on each of the five continents on five separate evenings. The series will conclude with a discussion of shared convictions of Anabaptist-related churches around the world. Gain a deeper understanding of how our sisters and brothers have found and sustained their faith. Learn their histories and the issues they face today. Many of them have stories different than our own and we have much to learn from them. Following are the dates for the discussion on each continent and each evening’s presenter. Jan 21 – NORTH AMERICA – Ron Byler, Executive Director of Mennonite Central Committee US Jan 28 – EUROPE – Liesa Unger, co-pastor of a Mennonite church in Germany and Chief International Event Coordinator for Mennonite World Conference Feb 4 – ASIA - Gerry Keener, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Eastern Mennonite Missions Feb 11 – LATIN AMERICA – Elizabeth Soto – Moderator of Mennonite Church USA and Coordinator for Field Education and Advisor for Cross Cultural Education at Lancaster Theological Seminary Feb 25 – AFRICA – Nelson Okanya, President of Eastern Mennonite Missions

March 4 – “What we Believe Together” Our six-part series on Global Anabaptist concludes with a review of the book What we Believe To-gether. This book is an expansion of a statement adopted by Mennonite World Conference General Council in 2006 that names seven shared convictions of Global Anabaptists. The book, written by Al-fred Neufeld from Paraguay with unusual insights and examples from around the world, is available in the church library and recommended reading in preparation for PA 2015. The discussion will be led by Dick Thomas.

Feb 18 – Ash Wednesday Service "Upside down and inside out" is the theme for our Ash Wednesday service and time of Lent. God keeps working in us changing our expectations and understanding; it can be a process like "inside out and upside down." After a brief time of wor-ship as a group, people will be invited to enter a time of reflection and prayer as they move from station to station in the auditorium concluding with the offer of ashes, oil and pray-er. How will God re-make, re-shape, and re-cast us during the time of Lent this year?

Mar. 11 – Know how? Show how! Share your talent or hobby or collection for a delightful evening of entertainment and dis-covery. Whether your particular talent, hobby or interest is in music, poetry, drama, dance, juggling, video creation, photography, painting, or a collection, or other—surprise us! Ta-bles will be made available to display hobbies, creative works or collections and the show will begin at 7pm. Submit your name with your plans to the church office (ridgeviewchurch@netlinx.net) by March 1.

Wednesday Winter Family Nights January 14—March 11

6:15 Dinner 7:00 Activities

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Steps to Pennsylvania 2015 prepare for Mennonite World Conference July 21-26, 2015 Harrisburg PA

Explore https://www.mwc-cmm.org/pennsylvania-2015 to…. • register • join the Prayer Network • Volunteer • Begin reading Global Mennonite History series (books are in our library)

Monday, January 12, 7:00 p.m. Forest Hills Mennonite Church An evening discussing the important book, What We Believe Together byAlfred Neufeld Led by Richard Thomas, Phyllis Pellman Good, and Devin Manzullo-Thomas

Saturday, January 31, 7:00-8:30 PM Neffsville Mennonite Church Admission. Annual Music Night, featuring Bryan Moyer Suderman and other

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR AWARD

Janet Shirk was nominated, voted and chosen “Employee of the Year” at Lancaster Regional Medical Center, Lancaster, where she has worked over 40 years as a nurse. She, along with husband Dennis, will have an all-expense paid four day weekend to Nash-ville, Tennessee, where she will be honored along with hundreds of other hospital employees who also won awards. She also received a cash gift. Congratulations, Janet!

The newest member of our Ridgeview Church family….Olivia Lynn Horst, daughter of Na-than & Sarah, born December 20. Congratu-lations!

BIRTHDAYS 1 Ray Bauman Anne Marie Smoker 3 Robyn Reiff 5 Katelyn High 6 Debbie Denlinger Mick Eldridge 8 Steve Kauffman 9 Bob Sloyer Ashley Smoker Jim Yoder 12 Harry Sauder Melissa Siegrist 14 Loretta Lapp Sadie Shertz 17 Patty King 20 June Gehman 26 Bernice Lapp Dennis Shirk Ruth Stoltzfus 27 Abby King 29 Erica Martin Janet Shirk 30 Julie Knauer 31 Beth Alderman

ANNIVERSARIES 1 Ben & Ruth Stoltzfus 5 Eli & Betty Smucker Merv & Cordelia Stoltzfus 6 Eric & Beth Alderman 7 Reuben & Esther Smoker 12 Jon & Jacqueline Hoover 15 Donald & Kathy Martin 16 Jake & Loretta Lapp

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ridgeviewchurch@frontiernet.net Mick Sommers, Lead Pastor ridgeviewmick@netlinx.net

Nelson Yoder, Associate Pastor ridgeviewnelson@netlinx.net

Carol Wenger

Minister of Youth & Young Adults ridgeviewcarol@netlinx.net

Joyce Shirk, Administrative Assistant

ridgeviewchurch@netlinx.net

Everyone is welcome to submit material to the RidgeVIEWS, the newsletter of Ridgeview Mennonite Church. Ridgeview connects persons and groups in the congregation together and with the broader Mennonite Church. It strengthens the congregation to answer the call of God to learn and share together God’s love with all of creation. Priority will be given to articles that serve this purpose, with Ridgeview staff providing editorial responsibilities.

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER INFORMATION DUE JANUARY 26

Ridgeview Mennonite Church 3723 Ridge Road

Gordonville PA 17529 717 768-3143

ridgeviewchurch@netlinx.net www.ridgeviewmennonite.net