Equipping No. 122, January 2012
a resource packet for equipping Mennonite Church Canada pastors and leaders

	Leanne Plett Equipping Coordinator

Here to serve

This month I am turning over this space to Arlyn Friesen Epp, Director of Mennonite Church Canada’s Resource Centre. Arlyn writes:

“I thank my God every time I remember you… because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.” – Philippians 1:3-5.

These are inspiring words of encouragement for my work at the Resource Centre. I’d like to briefly share with you some of the feedback we received from users on 2011. One pastor wrote, “Just to let you know, once again you picked some excellent resources to highlight. The only downside is that I spent the last half hour following your links...” Another wrote, “Thanks so much for your prompt and thorough reply. What a world it would be if everyone was so efficient and effective!” These are only excerpts from two of the many longer messages I received from across Canada. In 2012 I hope that Mennonite Church Canada’s Resource Centre is – or will become – your first stop as you and your congregation seek to grow in your walk with Jesus.

And, as always, we love to hear from our congregations! If there is something you’re looking for but can’t find, or need to talk to anyone about the resources in this Equipping, please don’t hesitate to email our office at office@mennonitechurch.ca or call 1-866-888-6785.

We always love to hear from you!

Leanne Plett – Equipping Coordinator

Printer Friendly Bundle ** [1,840 KB PDF file - Help with PDF files] - Large file, best with High Speed Internet

Mennonite Church Canada

• Climate Justice: Recognizing our responsibility as global neighbours - Willard Metzger (for pastors, leaders, bulletin boards, newsletters, youth, young adults)
• Climate Justice:
  • Climate Justice cover memo from Willard Metzger
  • Canadian Interfaith Call for Leadership and Action on Climate Change (for congregation-wide distribution)
• Prayer, Notes & News - January 2012 (for bulletin announcements, newsletters, worship planners, leaders)
  • PDF to print
  • Web page to view
• Staff Christmas card (for pastors, leaders, bulletin boards, church office staff)*

Christian Witness

• January Celebration Story - Praise dance builds relationship (for bulletin boards, worship planners, church newsletters, mission committees)
• Witness Worker Update booklet* - for security reasons of some workers, we cannot make this item available online. Feel free to share within the congregation. You can request additional copies at www.mennonitechurch.ca/tiny/1651 (for bulletin boards, mission committees, leaders, libraries)

Christian Formation

• Resource Update No. 11 (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians, bulletin boards)
• From the Denominational Minister - Karen Martens Zimmerly (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians, bulletin boards)
• Special Sunday Worship Resources (for pastors, worship planners, teachers, education committees)
  • Mennonite World Fellowship Sunday, January 22, 2012 [.doc - file] (online only)
• Online Children’s Stories (based on lectionary readings, online only) (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians)
• Lent booklet - Sign Up and Follow Jesus (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians)
• Season of Prayer - Remembering God’s Future (for families, worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians)
• Children’s activity booklet - My Worship n’ Color Book (for children, worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians)

Church Engagement

• Posters - additional copies to the ones sent in your previous Equipping (for bulletin boards)
  • Live for Peace poster - pacifist not passive-ist (for bulletin boards)
  • Live for Peace poster - more mistletoe and less missile-talk (for bulletin boards)

Extending our Faith

• MennoMedia - Winter flier and order form* (for pastors, leaders, educators, Sunday school teachers)

Note about Resources

All new resources are continuously being added to the Resource Centre Catalogue, where you can use keyword searches to find the resource you need.

*Hard Copy Only

**Note about Printer Friendly Bundle

We’ve bundled together all the electronic files into one document. If your traditional distribution method is via hard copy, you can now print the entire file in one step, rather than printing a bunch of files individually. Some items, such as brochures, booklets, or other materials not conducive to regular printing or with restricted copyright will continue to be available via hard copy only via our four-times-per-year hard copy editions of Equipping. Other items not in regular 8.5" X 11" form are still available as individual downloads.

Note about PDF documents:

Trouble cutting & pasting from Acrobat PDF files? The newest version of Adobe Reader lets you select the exact amount of text you want, even from documents that contain columns (older versions of Reader selected text line by line across all columns – a process that would jumble text and challenge even the most patient user). Download the latest FREE version of Adobe Reader with this link.

• To select text from a PDF document, choose the “I” beam Select Text tool from the Adobe Reader tool bar at the top of the screen, and highlight the text you want to copy from the document. Copy it. Then paste it into your bulletin or other document.
• To select images from a PDF document, choose the "Select Image" tool from the Adobe Reader tool bar at the top of the screen, and highlight the image you want to copy from the document. Copy it. Then paste it into your bulletin or other document.