The following is a snapshot of congregational life at First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana, IL  provided by Rebecca Bare. If you would like more information on news shared here, please contact the congregation directly. We’re sure they’d love to hear from you.

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First Mennonite Church Champaign/Urbana

The summer worship theme has been grace. Guest preachers were Randy Nelson and Cindy Breeze.

A group of pilgrims walking on the Potawatomi Trail of Death spoke at FMC on June 4, about the trail and their experiences.

Hazel Malekin participated in the Illinois State Special Olympics in June.

On June 11, 49 bells were chimed to honor the Pulse Night Club victims and other victims of gun violence.

The dedication of two Habitat houses, which FMC members helped build, was held on June 11.

Seven people attended the Central District Conference annual meeting at the end of June. Nine people, including three youth, were delegates to the MC USA convention in July. The youth and their sponsors planned the worship service on July 23.

On July 16, Menno Mugs were given to three members who are moving on: Paul Duncum is returning to Australia and Claire and Seth Morgan are moving to North Carolina for more schooling.

July 30 was the 5^th Sunday of the month, so a number of people attended breakfast and Sunday School with other churches. Worship service began at 10:45.

Important Events

Births

Victor Peña Martin to Jeronimo and Pam Peña Martin on June 8

Marriages

Joyce Wyse and Bharat Philiph on June 17

Tiskilwa, Illinois – August 4, 2017 – Plow Creek Fellowship, an intentional Christian community established in 1971, a mile south-east of Tiskilwa, Illinois, is announcing the close of its operations at the end of 2017. At its peak the community had up to a hundred participants in worship and common meals. Plow Creek Fellowship has been widely known for its u-pick strawberries and its sales of garden-fresh produce at area farmers’ markets.

Plow Creek Fellowship members shared in a common treasury. It was closely affiliated with Plow Creek Mennonite Church, a member of the Mennonite Church, USA. The Fellowship was guided by a commitment to share life, needs and resources according to the teachings of Jesus and the practice of the early Church as told in Acts 2-4. Peace-making and solidarity with refugees gained the community both respect and criticism. Over the years, many weary city-dwellers took retreats at Plow Creek, appreciating the natural beauty of its woodland trails, starry nights, campfires, and good pot-luck food. Plow Creek Fellowship was the site of several summer camp meetings for Shalom Mission Communities of which Plow Creek Fellowship was a member. One camp meeting in 2008 hosted a music festival with inspiring teachings for more than seven-hundred campers.

One of Plow Creek Fellowship’s most well known members was writer and pastor, Rich Foss, who, for a decade, wrote a weekly column in the Bureau Valley Chief until his death in January of 2017. Rich’s passing, plus the deaths of David Gale and Jim Harnish in late 2016, left only a dozen members who concluded that it was time to close up community operations and pass the property on to another non-profit ministry. This turned out to be Hungry World Farm, an offshoot of Willow Springs Mennonite Church.

Hungry World Farm is a new organization applying for not-for-profit status. It will receive the Plow Creek Farm and transition it into a new ministry utilizing the facilities and farmland. The idea of Hungry World Farm began through local conversations and a review of other farm-based ministries that teach about growing and consuming healthy food. Dennis Zehr of Coneflower Farm, Tiskilwa, and Calvin Zehr, Pastor of Willow Springs Mennonite Church, Tiskilwa, created a proposal which Plow Creek Fellowship accepted.

Hungry World Farm will focus on the following activities: educating people about food production, distribution, and consumption; addressing spiritual hunger in people’s’ lives; training local and international interns in farming techniques; and providing retreats for holistic growth and health. The transition will officially take place at the end of 2017.

If you would like to explore ways to partner in this new organization, or for more information, please contact Cal Zehr, 815-646-4819, hungryworldfarm@gmail.com.

Contact Information:

Mark Stahnke, Plow Creek Fellowship, stahnke1@gmail.com  – 19201 Plow Creek Rd., Tiskilwa, Illinois 61368, 815-646-4851

Cal D. Zehr, Willow Springs Mennonite Church. hungryworldfarm@gmail.com – 16621 Kentville Rd., Tiskilwa, Illinois 61368   815-646-4819

The IMC office on 214 S. Sampson in Tremont, IL was closed on July 1, 2017. Holly and I are now working out of our home offices in Tremont and Morton respectively. What does this mean for you?

• Our mail box hasn’t changed. Send all correspondence and contributions to PO Box 3, Tremont, IL 61568
• To reach Holly Mason, or for all general questions, call (309) 340 – 4503.
• To reach CEM, Michael Danner, call (309) 992-8000

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you engage the conference moving forward.

• If Holly or Michael do not answer please leave a clear message. They are attending to other conference related business. They will get back to you as soon as possible.
• If your call is urgent, please state that in your message! 
• If the purpose of your call is not urgent or confidential and can be put in an email or text please do so. It is sometimes quicker for them to respond in those formats.
• Michael and Holly are not in the same physical location. You can’t call one to reach the other.
• Michael and Holly meet weekly in person and check in daily via #slack, email, and phone. 
• The IMC office is “open” Mon. – Fri. 10am – 3 pm.
• If you are calling outside of those hours please call Michael’s number. This is especially true on Friday afternoon through the weekend. 
• The online IMC directory is the quickest way to find basic contact information for pastors, congregations, IMC leaders, and MC USA related organizations. If you can’t find what you need there, please call, we’re glad to help. 

Following these simple guidelines will help you communicate with the IMC staff most effectively.  It will help us work more efficiently as we respond to a variety of needs – both planned and emerging.

We appreciate your patience as we live into this new work approach.  If you have suggestions for improving communication throughout the conference, please send them to imcinfo@mennonite.net.

Pastors and Leaders,
It is time for the annual update of the IMC Directory and the Ministerial Leadership Database. This not only updates the IMC Directory and
Ministerial Database for U.S. and Canada, but also provides the content for the Mennonite Church USA directory.
If you can send me any updates I will be sure to post the new updates on the Ministerial Leadership Database.
CONGREGATIONS – please be sure to send me your membership totals (congregational members).
PASTORS – please update not only the church section but pastor information as well.
You can access the IMC Directory directly on our website. I try to make changes to that directory frequently the link is:
https://illinoismennonite.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017-2018-Directory.pdf
   It may be easier just to copy and paste the information from the directory into an email, make the necessary changes and email them to me.
Please check your information in this directory and let me know if any changes need to be made, or if it is ok the way it is. I look forward to
hearing from you. These changes need to be sent to me by no later than August 3.
If no corrections are needed please just replying saying all information is correct.

Blessings,
Holly Mason, Executive Assistant

hmason@mennonite.net, 309-340-4503

The following is a snapshot of congregational life at Cazenovia Mennonite Church of Cazenovia, IL  provided by Susie Jauch. If you would like more information on news shared here, please contact the congregation directly. We’re sure they’d love to hear from you.

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 Cazenovia
Father’s Day, June 18, we worshiped at the Washburn Park. We had a potluck meal followed by a ballgame. It was a very pleasant day and we all enjoyed the fellowship.
Bible School was held the week of June 12-16. The theme this year was “Raindrops to Rainbows” All of the stories were weather related. The attendance was 72 children along with many teachers and helpers. The donation of $600.00 was sent to Kenya for famine relief. Our thanks to all the people who made this program a success.
A total of $3,568.00 was donated to our camp fund. We were able to send ten children to Camp Menno Haven, and we had enough left over to send $800.00 to Arizona to help send Native American children to a similar camp there.
The Mission Talk Force sent the following donations: $1,000.00 to Justin and Codee Delagrange to Ecuador: $1,000.00 to Jon and Lindsay Birkey in Arizona and $750.00 to Tanzania orphanage which Marli Kennell works with in Asia.
Doug Hicks presented the morning message on July 7. His text was Romans 6, focusing on being slaves to God, not sin.

Important Events

Births
Isabel Ann to Derrek and Kelly Kennell on May 24

Anniversaries
Kelly & Derrek Kennell, 10, June 9; Dennis & Nelda Kennell, 35, June 19