Equipping No. 123, February 2012
a resource packet for equipping Mennonite Church Canada pastors and leaders

	Leanne Plett Equipping Coordinator

Between Epiphany and Lent

As you contemplate the passing and the approach of significant seasons in our church year, I offer you another edition of Equipping, chock full of stuff you can use right away. One item I especially wish to highlight is the message from Dave Bergen regarding Children’s Church Resources. He’d like to know whether such resources are useful, and solicit feedback from Sunday School leaders/ parents regarding some new kids’ resources we have been working on (please see his request below). Is your congregation planning to use these items with your children? If so, are the resources helpful? Resources of any kind can be time and cost intensive. We’d like to know if we’re hitting the mark, or not. We would be extremely grateful if you can help us solicit feedback

In the meantime, I wish you a rich time of reflection and inspiration as we move into Lent and the Great Resurrection Story. And, thanks again for helping to ensure this resource packet reaches the right people in your congregation. 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.

Leanne Plett – Equipping Coordinator

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

Assembly Package* (for pastors, leaders, bulletin boards, newsletters)

• 2011 Assembly Minute Book
• 2012 Assembly Cover Letter
• 2012 Assembly Poster
• 2012 Assembly Delegate Certificate
• 2012 Assembly Bulletin Insert

* A special Assembly hardcopy package will be coming soon in the mail

Mennonite Church Canada

• Happy Endings - Willard Metzger (for pastors, leaders, bulletin boards, newsletters, youth, young adults)
• Prayer, Notes & News - January 2012 (for bulletin announcements, newsletters, worship planners, leaders)
  • PDF to print
  • Web page to view

Christian Witness

• Celebration Story - Awesome Experience! (for bulletin boards, worship planners, church newsletters, mission committees)
• The Character of Grace - Tim Froese (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians, bulletin boards)
• Resources for Israel/Palestine and cover letter (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians, bulletin boards)

Christian Formation

• Resource Update 2012 No.2 (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians, bulletin boards)
• Childrens Church Resources (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians, bulletin boards)
• Special Sunday Worship Resources (for pastors, worship planners, teachers, education committees)
  • Many People’s Sunday, May 6, 2012
• Mennonite Spiritual Directors of Eastern Canada Lenten Guided Prayer resource. (see link below) (for small groups, prayer and study groups, Christian Education leaders, pastors, etc.)
  • Register (by January 29) to receive Lenten prayer sheets based on the Gospel and Psalm readings – for individual and group experiences. Cost is $40/congregation.
  • For more information about the resource and the registration process, download free sample materials at www.mennonitechurch.ca/tiny/1693.
• Online Children’s Stories (based on lectionary readings, online only) (for worship planners, teachers, pastors, education committees, librarians)

Extending our Faith

• Parish Paper (for leaders, educators, pastors)
  • January Parish Paper - How to Perfect Your Leadership Triangle
  • February Parish Paper - How to Manage Change Resistance

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.

**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.