We Believe What We Want to Believe

Leadership Team Report

Summary Report

Issues that LT has discussed over the past month include:

· Community Guardian Program for Ada County – Marika Clark met with LT and explained the program discussing both the indigents served by the program and the volunteers sought. LT asked Marika to speak to the congregation as the program seems like one the congregants will want to know about and potentially participate in. Marika will speak during the Sept. 30 worship service

· Updated Directory – Charlie will develop a form for getting information from the congregants about hobbies/vocational skills to be included in new directory. Charlie will do an intergenerational in September to disseminate and collect the forms.

· Worship Plans – Linda will be working with the Jeremiah texts for the next couple of months for her sermons. Sept. 30 will be blessing of the animals.

· Zambia Grant Review – Gary Nafziger-Meiser wrote a grant to the Fransen Foundation for the Zambia project. LT reviewed the grant which is due 8/31/07.

· Sanctuary/Homeless Shelter Update – The shelter is moving into a building behind Corpus Christi and Ed Keener has asked to talk with the congregation about the shelter. LT will be in conversation with Rick Skinner and Paul Hatab about how the church can best help Corpus Christi and work with Ed’s request.

Leadership Team –DC Whitenack, Charlie Honsinger, Ernie Bachman, Joyce Bowman, Linda Nafziger-Meiser

Worship Time Change! Sept. 9

Sunday School – 9:30 AM

Worship – 10:30 AM

September Birthdays

2 Joyce Bowman

4 Kathy Railsback

4 John Vance

11 Patrick Honsinger

11 Lindsay Nolt

12 Alan Hausrath

17 Chad Summervill

23 Kristin Bachman

25 Isaiah Bowman

25 Janet Buschert

Sunday School Plans

Sunday School will begin again September 9. Thank you to those who have agreed to serve as teachers.

Preschool and Kindergarten:

Mary Whitenack, Kathy Railsback, Matthew Miller and Juana Nolasco

2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th Grade:

Christine Hatab, Charlie Honsinger, John Vance

5^th, 6^th, and 7^th Grade:

Gary Nafziger-Meiser, Jonathan Bowman, Paula Bachman

Youth Schedule and Teachers:

Sept 9-23 Coffee and news with Joyce and Rick

Sept 30 – Oct 28 Guest speakers and discussions with Renee Vance and D.C

Nov 4 – 18 Christian Humor with Roger and Pam

Dec 2 – 30 Thought provoking films and discussions with Rick and Joyce

Jan 6- 27 Drumming (possibly with John John)

February 3 assessment of how it’s going

Church Business Budget Meeting – Sept. 9

There will be a short business meeting to discuss the proposed budget after worship September 9.

2^nd Sunday Soup – September 9

Host Mary Whitenack

Vegetables Joyce Bowman

Bread Terri Oesch

Cleanup Craig, Megan & Atalie Oesch

Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale Annual Meeting

September 22, 5 PM

Everyone is invited to attend the Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale Annual Meeting and Banquet on Sat. Sept. 22 @ 5:00 p.m. at Hyde Park Mennonite Church. Guest speaker for this event will be MCC West Coast Director, Sheri Plett Wiedenhoefer. The purpose of this event is to increase awareness of Mennonite Central Committee's (MCC) role in helping to provide world relief and to raise some funds to help cover operating expenses for the 2008 Idaho Sale. Dinner will be provided. A $5.00 per person donation is suggested for the meal. Also, a live auction of hand-crafted items will be a part of the event. Please come and help to support the on-going efforts to hold a relief sale in Idaho. If you have questions, contact Rick Bollman at 378-8109.

Joint Worship Service – October 14

Hyde Park will host a combined worship service with Emmaus Christian Fellowship and Evergreen Heights Mennonite Church on Sunday, October 14. There will be a potluck after worship.

CROP Walk for Hunger – October 21

Everyone invited to participate in the CROP walk this year to help raise funds for world hunger. Registration is at 1 PM with the walk at 2 PM. Contact Mary Whitenack at 322-4537 for more information.

Planning Ahead….

Mennonite World Conference, July 13-19, 2009

The next Mennonite World Conference will be held in Asuncion, Paraguay. It will include Assembly Gathered, Global Youth Summit, Global Church Village, tours, and special activities for children and youth. Assembly Gathered will be held in a Pentecostal facility that is being built to accommodate 10,000 persons. Each day will include worship, songs from around the world, prayer, Bible study, eating together, playing, and visiting. There are about 32,000 baptized Mennonites in Paraguay. Registration forms will be available April 2008. For those from North America, it is estimated that $2,500 - $3,000 will cover the costs of travel, registration, food, lodging, and some local touring. For more information you can go to their website at www.mwc-cmm.org.

Church Secretary Hours –

Kathy has changed her hours for working at the church to be here all day on Friday. She will check emails throughout the week and will stop by for an hour or so sometime before Friday. But if you want to be in touch with her, please email at hydepark2@mindspring.com or leave a message at the church.

Church Use – Take Notice!

The church building continues to be used several times throughout the week. This fall the Children’s Dance Institute will continue to use the facility a couple of times each week; there is a music theatre group for children a couple times a week; and a children’s art class that meets one time each week in September. If you want to use the church or come into the building, please check the schedule first.

Tracking Volunteers at the Church

Please record your name and hours whenever you volunteer at the church. There is a log on the back door of the sanctuary as well as in the kitchen. Thank you for your help with this.

Yard Sale at Church – September 15

Idaho Earth Institute (IEI) will be hosting their annual yard sale at the church from 8:30 – 3:00. The yard sale supports the work of IEI which encourages individuals to live more sustainably on the earth. See back bulletin board for sale flyer.

Secure Your Future Workshops

Sept. 17 & 24 and Oct. 16 & 23

Workshop sponsored by the University of Idaho Extension office that will help you take major steps to safeguard your family’s inheritance. Cost is $15 for individual and $25 for couple. See back table for brochure.

Environmental Stewardship Conference

September 20-22 at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Boise

The conference includes workshops and roundtable discussions as well as a hands-on outreach on September 22. Cost is $99. See back bulletin board for flyer and more information.

Church Women United – October 5

To promote better understanding of our own and others’ faith CWU is sponsoring a visit to places of faith in Boise: The Synagogue, The Mosque, Church of Christian Science, St. John’s Cathedral, and Cathedral of the Rockies. Lunch will be catered for $10. Meet at the parking lot of Cathedral of the Rockies, 717 N 11^th Street. There will be a short business meeting and election at Cathedral of the Rockies at 2 PM. For reservations or information contact: Betty Luginbill, 375-3230 (Betlug@aol.com) or Linda Porter, 884-3168 (portel@cableone.net).

Managing Conflict – 3 Day Intensive

The Landing Community Center is offering this workshop in the Treasure Valley. Dates are Oct. 16-18, Nov. 13-15 and Dec. 4-6. Cost is $345. See back bulletin board for flyer and information.

Contemporary Quotes from July-August Worship

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss gazes back into you. –Nietzsche

"If we take the world's enduring religions at their best, we discover the distilled wisdom of the human race”

"the greater the continent of knowledge, the longer the shore of mystery"

In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing. -- Antonio Porchia, Voices

Today, see if you can stretch your heart and expand your love so that it touches not only those to whom you can give it easily, but also those who need it so much. -- Daphine Rose Kingma

"Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries." -- John Albert Michener

"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. " --Laura Ingalls Wilder

We avoid the things that we're afraid of because we think there will be dire consequences if we confront them. But the truly dire consequences in our lives come from avoiding things that we need to learn about or discover. -- Shakti Gawain

Character isn't inherited. One builds it daily by the way one thinks and acts, thought by thought, action by action. If one lets fear or hate or anger take possession of the mind, they become self-forged chains. -- Helen Douglas

November Ten Thousand Villages.................................................................... $400

December Zambia Project................................................................................ $1,340

January Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference....................................... $400

February Corpus Christi House...................................................................... $750

March Columbia Sister Church, Justapaz................................................... $1,725

April Youth Fund..................................................................................... $863

May Mennonite Church USA.................................................................. $75

June Congregant Emergency Fund.......................................................... $150

July Mission Travel Fund....................................................................... $450

August Corpus Christi House, $100 TOTAL............. $625

Sister Church, $500

Mission Travel $25

September Mennonite Central Committee

Mennonite Central Committee

MCC seeks to demonstrate God's love by working among people suffering from poverty, conflict, oppression and natural disaster. MCC serves as a channel for interchange by building mutually transformative relationships. MCC strives for peace, justice and the dignity of all people by sharing our experiences, resources and faith in Jesus Christ.

· MCC sends people, food and material goods to communities recovering from war and natural disasters.

· MCC encourages and supports local churches and community groups in their efforts to provide food, health care, education, employment and social services.

· MCC helps people develop skills for creating peace in their families, neighborhoods, villages, towns and nations.

MCC encourages exchanges of visits, gifts and prayers between supporters and those with whom we work around the world. These exchanges highlight for everyone the gifts, needs and wisdom of others.

In recent years about 17 percent of the MCC budget has gone for administrative costs such as office maintenance, staff salaries and overhead for MCC, MCC Canada, MCC U.S. and the provincial and regional offices.

See the website at mcc.org

Rice is the staple food for nearly half the world's people.

Church Calendar

September 9............. Sunday School begins at 9:30; worship at 10:30

Church Budget Business Meeting after worship

2^nd Sunday Soup

September 22........... Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale Annual Meeting, 5 PM, Hyde Park

September 23........... Communion Sunday

October 12................ Joint worship service with Emmaus Christian Fellowship & Evergreen Heights

................................... Mennonite Church at Hyde Park

............................................... Potluck after worship

October 21................ CROP Walk

Recipe Sharing – If you have a favorite recipe you would like to share, please share it with Kathy to include in a future issue of the Olive Branch.

Below is a recipe shared by Linda Nafziger-Meiser

Chocolate Pudding

Eggfree, dairy free, gluten free, fast and easy—and very good. It only takes about 10 minutes to cook but will take all your attention for that time; it does not do well with being ignored and tends to get sulky and lumpy if you do.

In heavy-bottomed saucepan (2-3 qt size),

heat and stir over medium-low heat just until chips are melted;

            you don’t want the mixture to get too hot:
    1 12-oz bag good chocolate chips (2 cups)
    1 qt. vanilla soy milk
    1/2 cup fructose or sugar
Take off heat and set aside.

In small mixing bowl, put

1/3 cup cornstarch

and add about a cup of the warm chocolate/milk mixture (if it got hot, let it cool; if you add it to the

cornstarch while hot it will lump).

Whisk thoroughly with a french whisk, and then for insurance I run it through a sieve back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk/chocolate mixture.

Put it back on medium heat and whisk it constantly taking care to stir up from the whole bottom of the pan (another lump-avoiding maneuver); continue to heat and stir on medium heat until it thickens and begins to bubble.

Take off heat immediately, add
2 tsp. good vanilla
and set pan in a sink of cold water up to the level of the pudding inside the pan. Stir it every minute or so to avoid a skin forming for the first 7-8 minutes. Eat warm or chilled with whipped cream, cherry pie filling, teddy grahams, shredded coconut, or just plain. Enjoy! Linda

The Olive Branch

September 2007 Edition

Leadership Team Report

February 3 assessment of how it’s going