Drawn into Peace: Worship and Workshop, December 15

 “The more we can make PEACE a personal project

the worldview of PEACE…will be felt in homes,    

in neighborhoods, in cities, in nations, and in our world,”

writes local author and illustrator, Wendy Anderson Halperin.

Wendy Anderson Halperin will lead a workshop called “Sitting in Peace,” at Florence Church of the Brethren Mennonite on Sunday, December 15, from 9 am to 5 pm.  Participants will transform chairs and tables they bring into original art: peace chairs and tables, potential holiday gifts.  The day includes worship, fellowship and hands on design and painting.  Children and participants of all ages – parents and grandparents, people of faith, teachers, artists and activists -- will be “drawn into peace” by choosing quotes and images that inspire peacemaking. 

“If we are to teach real peace in this world…we shall have to start with the children.”  Gandhi

 

Wendy Anderson Halperin, of South Haven, MI, is an acclaimed artist who has earned a reputation for her richly detailed, imaginative and expressive pencil and watercolor painting.  Her most recent picture book, PEACE, is a collection of quotes addressing the eternal question, “How can we bring peace to the world?”  PEACE is packed with quotes from peacemakers around the globe and throughout history.  The “Sitting for Peace” workshop invites children and all participants to choose quotes about peace to inscribe and illustrate as creative reminders of the power of choosing peace in daily life.

Registration is required (at no cost) by email: florence.brethren.mennonite@gmail.com Receive necessary information in advance to prepare a chair or table for the event.   A free will offering will be taken to support Halperin’s “Sitting for Peace Project.” http://www.drawingchildrenintopeace.com.

Florence Church of the Brethren Mennonite is a welcoming, progressive, rural peace church located at 17975 Centreville Constantine Road, Constantine, MI, and affiliated with the Church of the Brethren and Mennonite Church USA.  More information on Facebook and at florencechurch.blogspot.com

Pastor Nina B Lanctot

florence.brethren.mennonite@gmail.com

SITTING IN PEACE PHOTOS 

 

"Cider Dog"

"If life hands you apples, and pears, and lots of them -- make cider!"

When bounty, creativity, hard work and imagination -- and faith -- all come together, it is a joy!  Here is the convergence:

A bountiful apple and pear crop! Praise God!
Harvesting those apples and pears!
Making a special blend cider that all your friends will love!
Asking for cider donations for a "special project" -- a dog for Sara.
Sara McDonald's imagination of a service dog to assist her diabetes care.
A local organization that saves dogs from the humane society and trains them as service dogs.

Sara and her husband, Nathan Nichols, found a great organization in South Bend that hope to train their very first diabetic service dog for Sara:

Midwest Assistance Dogs is to help disabled individuals cope with life’s daily challenges through the assistance of a trained canine companion. Our mission includes acquiring, whenever possible, our assistance dog "trainees" from local animal shelters. By using shelter dogs we are able to fulfill our mission while at the same time provide a loving home to an animal that otherwise may have been euthanized.

Jerry Warstler loads the apples and pears to take to Millers' Cider Mill, Middlebury, IN

Apples and pears go in for washing and grinding.

 

Putting smashed fruit in layers in the press.

Squaring up the press.

Todd Warstler catches cider jugs off the line, lots of them, to load in the truck.

 If you would like to make a donation for CIDER DOG, contact Pastor Nina Lanctot at florence.brethren.mennonite@gmail.com.