Important announcement regarding worship on Sunday January 25:
Due to the forecast calling for snow and extreme cold throughout the night and Sunday morning we are canceling in person worship and Sunday school for January 25, 2026. Deciding in advance gives our worship team time to plan for a live worship gathering over Zoom which will take place at 9:30a January 25. Contact the church office at office@columbusmennonite.org if you would like to join by Zoom and have not otherwise received the link.
Reminders January 22-25
Opportunities to Serve Form DUE THIS SUNDAY: Looking for ways to volunteer, live your values, and be connected within the Columbus Mennonite community in the new year? Follow this link to complete the 2026 Gifts Discernment & Opportunities to Serve Form. Thanks to the 52 people who have already submitted their responses! All CMC attenders are invited to complete it – the responses are a huge help to leaders throughout the year. Please submit by Sunday, January 25, 2026.
Coming of Age Notes of Blessing DUE THIS SUNDAY: Everyone in the congregation is invited to write notes of blessing for our Coming of Age participants. Notes can be affirmations of the young people’s gifts, a favorite scripture, words of encouragement, or other things you wish to pass along to our young people. They can be handwritten or filled out digitally. More information (including names of the young people) can be found on the digital form HERE. Notes are due by Sunday, January 25th.
The due date for submissions to the next Lamplighter newsletter is this Sunday January 25. Please send any contributions to lamplighter@columbusmennonite.org.
Office reminder: Pastor Joel is on a partial medical leave with a flexible schedule as he recovers from surgery.
General CMC Announcements
Consider inviting interested friends and family to experience a great meal and a program put on at CMC by our friends at HEAL Palestine. A catered Middle Eastern meal, a short presentation by a man who will have just returned from the Middle East, music (CMC’s part), and a dabke dance group are the featured entertainment. Suggested donation is $20 for adults, $10 for kids, and $30 for a family of 3 to eat, drink and be merry together with neighbors from the Levant. Larger families can adjust their donation accordingly. Those who want will have a chance to try dabke, as well! Please register HERE. The event is a fundraiser for HEAL Palestine, which is a nonprofit that serves the people of Palestine in a variety of ways, including bringing young people in need of amputation care and various therapies to Columbus.
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Calling all performers! Our annual coffeehouse evening is coming up on February 7th from 6:00-8:00 pm and we would love to showcase your talents. This year, we will be trying a more conversation oriented drop-in format and are asking for individuals or groups that could provide 10-15 minutes of background music while we visit and share drinks and snacks. (If you don’t want to do multiple songs, grab a few of your friends to share the time!) Contact Katrina Gingerich pianist.katrina@gmail.com or Chris McCarthy tckmccarthy@gmail.com with each person’s name/instrument and any equipment you’ll need! We look forward to sharing a relaxing evening of music and conversation with you.
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Did you leave a public library book at church? A graphic novel (See You in My 10th Life) was left in the church library recently, and it belongs to Columbus Metropolitan Library. If it is yours, please contact Laura at office@columbusmennonite.org to claim it. Otherwise, we will return it to a Columbus Metro Library branch next week. Thank you!
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Are you missing a ring? We will hold it in the office for 2 weeks. Come and claim it!
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Looking for a creative project this winter? Kevin Condon (CMC Building Caretaker) would like some volunteers to help with creating decorations for a new cart for the Piecemakers! See more details HERE and contact Kevin if interested at 614-557-3031 or kcondon7984@gmail.com.
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Invitation to join CMC bi-monthly discussion about Richard Rohr’s daily meditations: From noon to 1PM on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month there is an online group discussion – led by Robin Walton – that focuses on one or more of the daily meditations from the Center for Action and Contemplation, which is the organization founded by the Franciscan priest Richard Rohr. These discussions began at CMC during the pandemic. You are invited to participate whenever you like. It’s not necessary to participate each time, and there’s no need to register. The link for the noon-to-1PM discussion on Wednesday, January 28 is HERE. Going forward, you will be able to find the link for the meeting in the calendar list in the CMC Thursday email.
To learn more about the meditations, which are written by Rohr and many others, go to the website of the Center for Action and Contemplation, www.cac.org. On the home page, you can click on “Learn More” under DAILY MEDITATIONS to open the current day’s meditation. To subscribe to the daily meditations, scroll down to the end of the meditation. Questions – contact Jim Leonard, 614-309-2577.
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Wild Church is a group that meets in a variety of outdoor settings for informal worship about once a month. Interested? Contact Sarah Werner sarahwern@gmail.com
Events and Opportunities in the Wider Community
Celebrating 50 years of More-with-Less! Herald Press and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) invite you to share stories of food, joy, and resilience to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the More-with-Less cookbook. This beloved cookbook’s call to thrift, Christian compassion and abundant living is just as urgent and relevant today as it was in 1976. Go to https://bit.ly/MoreWithLess50 to learn more and to submit stories, blessings or ideas for simple approaches to sharing food and fellowship. Please share your story by Feb. 15 for a chance to be featured in the 50th anniversary edition or additional digital resources—and receive a chocolate oatmeal cake recipe as thanks! CMC note: Not sure what More-with-Less is, but curious? Email Laura at office@columbusmennonite.org, and we’ll connect you with a loaner copy of this classic Mennonite cookbook!
Calendars
Sunday, January 25
9:30 am Worship Service ZOOM-ONLY DUE TO WINTER WEATHER (no in-person service)
*Sunday is the DUE DATE for Coming of Age Blessing Notes, Opportunities to Serve form, and Lamplighter submissions*
CMC Activities Next Week
Wednesday, January 28
12:00 pm Rohr Discussion Group via Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86487158321
Thursday, January 29
4:00 pm Set up for Piecemakers in the fellowship hall
Friday, January 30
6:30 am Men’s Breakfast via Zoom https://zoom.us/j/313623317
9:00 am Piecemakers in the fellowship hall
Saturday, January 31
6:00 HEAL Palestine event in the fellowship hall and sanctuary
Sunday, February 1
9:30 am Worship Service
Cookie Sunday following worship
Office Contacts and Schedules for January 25 – February 1
Laura: office@columbusmennonite.org, 216-870-0119, Mon: working from home, Tues-Fri: 8:30a – 2:30p
Mim: mim@columbusmennonite.org, 614-745-5150, Tues: 9:30a-3:30p
Mark: mark@columbusmennonite.org, 419-392-0610, Mon-Thurs: 9:00a-3:00p, Fri: Sabbath
Joel: joel@columbusmennonite.org, 614-940-7839, schedule is TBD, partial medical leave
Upcoming CMC Special Events
Jan 31 HEAL Palestine Fundraiser Meal and Concert
Feb 1 Cookie Sunday
Feb 7 Open Mic Coffeehouse
Feb 18 Ash Wednesday Service, Lent begins
March 6 & 7, 2026 Knotting Party and Soup-er Pie Supper
Last Sunday | January 18
Attendance: 229
Offerings Received (last week): $8,915.00
Offerings Received (January): $23,408.00
Offerings Needed (January): $44,795.00
Christian Education Classes
Christian Education classes for children, youth, and adults will NOT meet this Sunday January 25 due to winter weather. They also will not meet on February 1 (due to Cookie Sunday). Classes will resume on February 8. See below for descriptions of classes for this season.
Unless otherwise noted, classes will meet on the following Sundays: Jan 11, 18, 25; Feb 8, 15, 22; Mar 8, 15, 22, 29; April 12, 26; May 10, 17. Due to Cookie Sundays, holidays, and other special events, most classes will not meet on Jan 4, Feb 1, Mar 1, Apr 5, Apr 19, May 3, or May 24. Contact the class leaders for schedule updates as the season progresses.
Children/Youth Classes
Children’s Classes (Pre-K through 4th Grade): Children meet together for a snack, story time, and a self-directed creative response time. All children gather in Room 1, then younger children (Pre-K to 1st Grade) move to Room 2, and older children (2nd to 4th grade) move to Room 4.
Junior High (5th – 8th Grade): Please note the Junior High class will not be meeting this week (January 18) but any youth in this age range are invited to join the High School class in Room 25.
High School (9th – 12th Grade): High school youth meet in Room 25 for conversation around a wide variety of topics, including an exploration of the stories and scriptures used during worship.
Adult Classes – Beginning in January
My Soul Cries Out (Jan-May): This informal gathering will provide space for lament, connection and creativity in the midst of political turmoil and widespread fear. Each gathering will ground itself in a particular intention such as lament, nourishment, humor. We will offer an opening ritual, followed by moments of meditative quiet, open conversation, crafting/creating/coloring options and a closing ritual. Participants are encouraged to engage in the ways that feel most personally restorative. Join every week, or drop-in as you wish. Facilitated by Cindy Fath and Adam Glass in Room 21. Note: Laura Steiner will be substitute facilitator for Jan 18.
Four Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Jonah, and John (Jan 11-Feb 8): In this brief (four-week) Bible study, we’ll get acquainted with a sampling of 4 minor prophets, two real and two nominal: Hosea, a real 8th Century BCE prophet of Israel; Joel, a real 5th Century BCE prophet of Judah; Jonah, a 5th-4th Century anonymous story about an unknown 8th Century BCE prophet to Israel; and John, a 1st Century CE post-prophetic apocalyptic “prophet.” Facilitated by Jim Fredal in Room 22. Meets Jan 11, 18, and 25 and Feb 8.
Adult Classes – Beginning Later in the Winter/Spring
Lent Devotions Class (Feb 15-Mar 29): A class that explores themes to match our Lenten series. More details to come. Facilitated by Joel Miller in Room 22. Meets Feb 15-Mar 29 (no class Mar 1).
End of Life Class (Spring): What kinds of things do we need to be thinking of in regard to the final chapter of our lives? There’s all kinds of planning to think about: medical, financial, burial, funeral, living situations, in-home care, reliance on family vs complete autonomy. How do we prepare ourselves? Let’s start talking about these issues, learn what we can, share with each other our hopes, fears and dreams. Facilitated by Verdene Thompson and Robin Walton. Class schedule and room location TBD, likely beginning in April.
Additional classes may be added as the season progresses. More details to come!
Donations and Giving
Interested in giving financially to Columbus Mennonite? Follow THIS LINK to donate online. Donations are also accepted by cash, check or Zelle. Contact the church office or financial team if you need assistance with setting up Zelle or any of the payment options. Thank you for your gift!