Hopedale Mennonite Church

08/27/2026

Mid-Week Connection
Reflecting on Sunday, August 23, "Creating a Community of Healing"

It was a special gathering we had on Sunday to have not only one guest sharing with us, but two! Along with our speaker for the day, Jeanne Davies from Anabaptist Disability Network, we heard from Lawrence Matthews, on behalf of Mennonite Disaster Service. Lawrence was with us, in part because MDS regional meeting was at our church on Saturday morning. He shared a Mission Moment and had a table set up to share more about MDS with those interested on Sunday.

Jeanne helped many of us think about disabilities and the church community through her message and Sunday school time. There is too much to summarize here (and I think I'm still processing it all) so I would highly encourage you to watch the recording. A few thoughts that are still lingering with me are that we are made to think that disability is a problem in somebody that they or we should try to fix, but when we look at how we've built up our society, we see that it was only made for functioning one way. As a church, part of God's people, we should ask then what does it look like to make accommodations beyond what society offers? But this isn't just about making physical changes to our building or changing things in our worship style, this is also about building relationships and creating a place of belonging. The church needs each other just like Jesus showed us, welcoming people on the margins. When we listen to everybody and see the gifts that each person brings, we can be a community of healing. Jeanne said the church is called to be "a community of healing through relationship with God and with one another, and a model of right relationship to those around us."

The songs in our worship time on Sunday shared a theme of singing as it brings us together in God's kingdom. The sending song, "Draw the Circle" brought our whole bodies into worship as we formed a circle around the sanctuary and were able to see what it means to expand the circle as all are welcomed in God's family.

"Draw the circle, draw the circle wide. No one stands alone, we'll stand side by side. Draw the circle, draw the circle wide."

The video recording from worship on Sunday is available on the YouTube channel.

Looking Forward to Sunday, August 30: "Growing Faith by Worshiping Together"

We're wrapping up the Growing Faith series from the summer on Sunday as we focus on worshiping together. We're going to think about what it means to worship together on Sunday as well as apart during the week. There may be a chance for some interactive worship offerings beyond the usual of sharing time and singing together. If you'd like to engage with this topic a little more in preparation, I encourage you to look through the Psalms and fine a line/verse about worship that draws your attention.

Scripture: John 4:19-26

Worship & Sunday school recording from Sunday, August 23, 2026 at H...

08/20/2026

Mid-Week Connection
Reflecting on Sunday, August 16, "Growing Faith by Learning Together"

As we thought about "Growing Faith by Learning Together" this Sunday in worship, we called wonder and wisdom the keys to learning. Wonder is the spark of curiosity that leads us to ask questions and pursue learning and wisdom is the result of reflection, discernment, and gathered knowledge. The beauty of learning together is that we can benefit from each other's wisdom and wonder.

We especially associate children with wonder and so as adults in the church we have a special opportunity to learn from them and to welcome their wonder. Sometimes their wonder might ask questions for which we don't have an answer, sometimes it might mean saying the obvious rather than overcomplicating it, and sometimes it might mean living in Jesus-like ways unashamedly, not hindered by fear. As Jesus welcomed the children and said the kingdom belongs to them, so should we welcome the ways they teach us.

Wisdom, which is often associated with older ages, is just as important as wonder. Wisdom is gathered from life experiences and years of learning. It is a magnificent gift. But sometimes wisdom is used with aggressiveness or pride towards young people. When wisdom is shared with humility and based primarily in the truth of God's love and faithfulness, it becomes a welcomed chance to learn. For young people this is particularly true as we tell the stories of faith in scripture and throughout our own past. We can all grow faith when we hear the stories of God's people, of faith and trust, of love and forgiveness, of grief and joy. And as we do this, we acknowledge the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." These words form our basis for wisdom and for sharing our stories and they remind us over and over to listen and respond, listen and respond, listen to God and respond to God.

Faith grows best when wonder and wisdom are brought together. That is the benefit of a church like ours, where all ages are intertwined. We are all given the opportunity to participate and learn about God's kingdom together. From an article about renewing older churches is this quote which I think we know is true in our church: "In a world often divided by age, the church is a place where an eighty-year-old and a ten-year-old can become friends... These relationships open the door for young people to find mentors who pray, encourage and support them, while this same relationship gives older adults renewed purpose and joy. This is not a program; it is simply the church being the church."

Quote source: A Renewed Church Can Happen Here – Canadian Mennonite Magazine

The video recording from worship on Sunday is available on YouTube https://youtu.be/Klksr4cOZbc?si=nlggoI9BqVsoS4NG

Looking Forward to Sunday, August 23: Creating a Community of Healing

We are looking forward to having Jeanne Davies from Anabaptist Disabilities Network with us on Sunday. She will be sharing a message in the worship time and sharing further in the Sunday school time. Below you can find out more about each of those times.

Worship: Creating a Community of Healing
Jesus went up to Jerusalem at the time of a festival. On his way, he visited a healing pool named Bethesda where many disabled people were gathered. There Jesus encountered a man who received more than he ever expected. As followers of Jesus, how might we create pools of healing – faith communities that welcome, support, and affirm?
Scripture: John 5:1-16

Christian Education: Embracing Neurodivergence
“Neurodivergence” refers to minds that work in ways that are not considered “typical.” Someone may describe themselves as “neurodivergent” if they have autism, ADHD, an intellectual disability, or other conditions that affect their ability to interact with other people or navigate the world. Each person who identifies as neurodivergent experiences life differently and has their own unique needs and gifts. We’ll discuss some common experiences of neurodivergent children and adults, barriers to belonging, and how our congregations might offer hospitality and a place to belong.

08/14/2026

In case you were planning to go greet the students, this event has been cancelled.

Our 100 Caring Adults event at Olympia West today is cancelled.

08/12/2026

Mid-Week Connection
Reflecting on Sunday, August 9

Sunday morning we gathered to worship God together with praise, thanksgiving, concerns, tiredness, and more. Jim Callahan shared the message, based on several different scriptures, reminding us of our command and response to praise. Jim shared about how we are meant to praise God, not at just the right time, not when things finally slow down, all the time. Because of God's active grace and irrevocable love, we are able to praise even in the middle of it all. We are thankful for Jim for sharing this message and working these scripture passages together: Isaiah 56:1, 6-8, Psalm 67, Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

The video recording from worship is available on YouTube https://youtu.be/aPhO7dErkMY?si=0ZgdxZIdPgiKOSEo

Looking Forward to Sunday, August 16, "Growing Faith by Learning Together"

Our first instinct when it comes to a theme about learning is likely to think about all the children and students who are starting school in the next few days and weeks. But even when we're past schooldays we're still capable of growth and learning, in life and in our faith. We'll use the words 'wonder' and 'wisdom' this Sunday to dive into learning together as a faith practice.

The following quote from Dr. William Brown, though it is a bit of a tongue twister, is a good starting place for our thoughts, "The ancient sages claimed that wisdom is nurtured best by a sense of wonder. Without wonder, wisdom withers. On the other hand, without wisdom, wonder tends to wander, aimlessly and naively. Wonder and wisdom fit hand in glove. Without a sense of wonder, faith and practice become routine, lukewarm, trivial."

(Quote source: https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2015/08/cultivating-the-wonder-of-god-an-interview-with-dr-william-brown/)

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4–9

08/07/2026

This is real life together.
We share our burdens and our joys.

On the cross are prayer flags we made back in June during worship one Sunday. On the poster are the things we are celebrating together, part of our series of Growing Faith Together.

Right next to each other in the foyer we see concerns and joys.
Right next to each other in life we experience sorrow and delight.
Right next to each other we live as a church, proclaiming God's abundant love.

07/05/2026

We're joining together with the community for worship in the park this morning. It begins at 9:30 am, please bring a lawn chair.

06/17/2026

Mid-Week Connection:
Reflecting on Sunday, June 14: "Growing Faith by Talking Together"
(from Jessica Litwiller)

Summer is the perfect time to consider what it looks like to grow our faith no matter where we are. Whether we're in the church building or not able to attend we can maintain practices that foster growth in our faith. This is the focus of the new series that began on Sunday in worship and will continue on the Sundays I speak throughout June, July, and August. The first practice we studied is "Talking Together" and we paired it with the scripture of Jesus talking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. We noticed several elements from the scripture that are key to helping us talk about faith with each other, our families, our friends, and even strangers we meet.

First, we noticed that Jesus met the disciples where they were, both physically and emotionally. As we think about this in our own lives we are reminded that faith conversations can happen anywhere (inside & outside the church building) and that we can welcome various feelings from our conversation partners even if they are uncomfortable ones like confusion and sadness. Jesus didn't try to fix the disciples complex feelings but, using the authority only He holds, He did use the walk with them as a chance to explain all the scriptures.

Second, we paid attention to the question Jesus asks the disciples when he approaches them, "What are you talking about?" We can ask ourselves, "What are the conversation that shape our lives?" to help us ponder how much we're practicing faith conversations. This is something we can practice and so the following prompts and questions were shared to help us do so:

--Where did you meet God this week? What was God doing? How did you know?
--What obstacles kept you from God this week?
--What witness would you like to be able to make this week? About what issue? Will you make this witness with words or with your body?
--What do you hope for this body of believers in the next month? How might this body be Christ to you? How might this body be Christ to your community?
From https://practicingourfaith.org/practices/testimony/

Conversation starters for people of all ages:
--Ask about highs and lows for the day or week
--Talk about something from worship that stuck with you
--Share a wonder about God
--Talk about important faith moments, memories, or traditions
--Memorize or read scripture together

And the final element to notice is that Jesus joined the disciples for the journey ahead. This is to say that their is importance in relationships and, though not every conversation will lead to a lifelong relationship, we should anticipate connectedness with people we know we'll see again. Faith conversations can continue and grow in depth over time as we commit to each other.

It seems obvious that we should be talking together about our faith but sometimes we fall out of practice. Pursuing this practice will help us experience the transformative power of conversation in the Christian discipleship journey, like it did for the disciples on their way to Emmaus. And, as the church community practices this, we become a place where people see Jesus in our listening, where questions are nurtured, and where stories keep faith alive.

A recording from worship is available on YouTube and can be found by clicking this link https://youtu.be/3aS95tz8bhQ

Looking Forward to Sunday, June 24: "Wilderness Adventure"
(from Jim Callahan)

Hagar was thrown into the wilderness with nothing. She was an enslaved concubine with a status lower than livestock. She had no claim to the covenant of the Jewish God, but our God showed up for her anyway. In her story, we hear a woman who is cast aside not once, but twice and yet, as she was sent into the wilderness as an outcast and into a place barren of hope and humans, God answered her. And she became the only person to name God. El Roi, the God who sees. God saw her, and God sees us. God’s attention is not bound by human categories of worthiness, and Hagar’s story proves it out before Israel had the first temple.

Scriptures to read in preparation for Sunday:

Genesis 21:8–21 — Hagar and Ishmael are cast out into the wilderness, where God hears the dying boy and saves them both.

Psalm 86:1–10, 16–17 — A cry from the margins: “I am poor and needy” — met by a God who is good, forgiving, and abounding in steadfast love.

Matthew 10:24–39 — Jesus tells his disciples that faithfulness will cost them everything, but they need not fear because not one sparrow falls without God’s knowledge.

Recording of worship from Hopedale Mennonite Church on Sunday, June...

06/13/2026

Mid-Week Connection
Reflecting on Sunday, June 7: "Journey with Jesus"

It was nice to have a worship gathering this past Sunday that was sort of relaxed compared to a typical Sunday morning worship. Our technology was limited to the ceiling lights, air conditioning, and the portable microphone/speaker set-up. We began worship at round tables in the fellowship hall where we had a call to worship, songs, and prayers. Instead of a formal message we entered the journey with Jesus as groups from three different stations. The stations each focused on a different part of Jesus' life using several scriptures.

One station about Jesus healing read Luke 6:17-19, Luke 7:21-23 and reflected that "When we can only see our pain, Jesus sees us, calls to us, reaches his hands out to us, and raises us into freedom and joy. When others, even those who are meant to care for us, turn us away, Jesus invites us in." At this station we had the chance to respond by writing some simple prayers for ourselves, family/friends, or the world on fabric strips which were sewn to ribbon and now are hanging on the cross in the foyer.

Another station considered the calling of Jesus' disciples and how Jesus is still calling people to be disciples. As we considered the many questions the twelve disciples might have had when Jesus called them we heard "Jesus is still going around collecting faithful workers and saying, “Hey you, I can see you are a faithful worker. I can see you trying to live. I can see you trying to love. Come and work with me. I am going to teach you a thing or two about a new kind of living and loving.” And then he just keeps walking, leaving us to run after him with all our questions buzzing in our heads." To respond we wrote down questions that we might ask Jesus.

The last station available was about food and many of the meals Jesus ate. Along with hearing summaries of the stories of Jesus eating with various people, we were reminded "Meals are a powerful expression of welcome and friendship. They are central to the ministry of Jesus because they embody and enact the grace of God. Jesus fills our physical, emotional, and spiritual hunger. Food also reminds us of our dependence on other people. It connects us to a network of farmers, traders, storekeepers, cooks, families. Above all it reminds us of our dependence on God. We need nourishment to sustain us." We responded to this by each person adding different fruits to a bowl, making a fruit salad that was shared during fellowship time.

Worship continued with singing, sharing, and prayer and it flowed easily into fellowship time. Below are a few pictures of the morning. (There is no zoom recording this week.)

Looking Forward to Sunday, June 14: "Growing Faith by Talking"

This Sunday will begin a new worship series that I (Jessica) will be using when I'm speaking in worship during the months of June, July, & August. We'll think about different practices that help grow our faith, both from church and from home (or away). What better time than summer to consider how we engage and grow our faith, even when we're traveling or away from the church family and building.

Scripture for Sunday: Luke 24:13–35

06/05/2026

Based on the radar and forecast please drop off children for VBS at the CLA High School (building with the green roof).

06/05/2026

I keep forgetting to post about our VBS offering. It is going to Love Packages this year, an organization that takes used Bibles and Christian materials and helps get them around the world. Find out more here https://lovepackages.org/about-us-2/

If you'd like to give toward our $501 goal please let us know and we'll add your intent to the total tomorrow.

Love Packages is a non-denominational, not-for-profit ministry that equips pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and teachers all over the world with free bibles and Christian literature. Everything we send is donated from individuals, ministries, and publishers in the U.S. Our mission is simple: Keep...