Local Events and Opportunities
In the spirit of the holidays, sweetFrog is inviting choirs to come sing Christmas carols in our stores and enjoy a free cup of yogurt on us. We would also like to donate 25% of the store’s sales from the night of your choir’s performance back to your church as our way of saying thank you for sharing the holidays with us. Another fun thing we are offering is a chance to be featured in sweetFrog’s holiday video where we showcase carolers from all of our locations nationwide. This is such a fun event and we have hundreds of choirs lining up to participate in over 300 sweetFrog stores throughout the country. I really hope you will decide to participate as well. Please let me know a good date for your choir to Come to my store and I will make sure you are the only choir showcased on that night. We are booking dates now for choirs to come in between black Friday and Christmas. Once we pick your day, I will send you a flyer to post around your church and hand out to your congregation so they know to come support your choir and support this special fundraiser for your church. Contact Rachael Lacy at 106258harrisonburg@sweetfrog.net
MUSIC TO BLESS THE SEASON… Winchester Musica Viva, will be performing Handel’s Messiah at the Park View Mennonite Church, 1600 College Avenue, on Saturday evening, December 19, starting at 7:00 pm. The choir is a group of about 25 singers, all of whom sang in college choirs and have found places to continue singing. Some are musicians, some are music educators, some are lawyers, dentists, counselors, mothers and fathers; all love to sing. Winchester Musica Viva (a chamber choir), soloists and professional orchestra and conductor Ken Nafziger (EMU faculty member and Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival conductor). Tickets available only at the door – $15, any students free with student ID.
Pleasant View invites you to the 21st Annual Banquet. Join us for a delicious meal, captivating fellowship, and an inspirational program 6:00pm Saturday November 21, 2015 at the Eastern Mennonite High School Dining Room 801 Parkwood Dr., Harrisonburg, Va. The program, Teachers of the Soul, will be presented by Dave Gullman and our Pleasant View Worship Team. Please RSVP by November 11, 2015 to Pam Miller at 540-896-8101 or pmiller@pleasantviewinc.org. A free-will offering will be received to support individuals with intellectual disabilities served by Pleasant View.
Valley music aficionados will have a rare opportunity Sunday, Nov. 22, as the Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Chorus (SVCC) perform together for just the second time. The concert is 4 p.m. in Eastern Mennonite University’s Lehman Auditorium. A $7 donation is requested to benefit scholarship students in the Preparatory Music Program.
Stories from Syria: You are invited to Park View Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall, Sunday, Nov. 22, at 6pm to hear three CJP students from Syria, or who have lived in Syria, as they share their personal experiences, and giving an update on the present situation in that country.
Windward: exploring your missional call. Steer into the wind with a 24-hour (evening to evening) retreat offering a space to discern what God is saying to you about your missional call. Leaders Linford and Janet Stutzman will share expertise as cross-cultural mission workers and as leaders of university students sailing and studying in the lands of the Bible. Join us December 4-5, 2015 at Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center, 712 Massanetta Springs Rd, Harrisonburg, VA. RSVP and find more information at vmmissions.org/serve/windward> Cost is $60/person or $100/couple for all sessions, including meals and lodging.
Appalachian friends take the stage at EMU in Tony-nominated musical ‘A Year with Frog and Toad.’ The Tony-nominated Broadway musical “A Year with Frog and Toad” will be performed in Eastern Mennonite University’s MainStage Theater on Dec. 3, 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee Dec. 5 at 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through the EMU box office at 540-432-4582 or emu.edu/box-office/.
Emulate Chamber Ensemble to perform. Emulate is an intimate vocal ensemble from Eastern Mennonite University specializing in jazz, modern, and contemporary concert literature, both secular and sacred. Emulate will present a concert of Medieval, Renaissance, and Contemporary carols interspersed with the complete performance of Tomás Luis de Victoria’s O Magnum Mysterium Mass. Concerts are free; any donations are welcomed for EMU's music scholarship fund. Seasonal concerts are on: Dec. 3, 7:00 p.m. at Martin Chapel on the EMU campus (1181 Smith Ave, Harrisonburg, VA); Dec. 4, 7:00 p.m. at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren (420 College View Drive, Bridgewater, VA); Dec. 5, 8:00 p.m. at Bruton Parish Episcopal Church (331 W Duke of Gloucester St, Williamsburg, VA)
The Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir will perform a Christmas concert entitled, "Angels Sing” on Sunday, December 6, at 4:00 P.M., Lehman Auditorium, Eastern Mennonite University Campus. SVCC has 140 singers ranging from ages 7-18. Special guests include members of the Staunton Academy of Ballet and guest instrumentalists from James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University. To purchase tickets online: http://www.emu.edu/box-office/
A Christmas Open House will be held at Gemeinschaft Home (a therapeutic facility seeking to prepare non-violent, non-sexual offenders who have been released or diverted from incarceration for re-entry into their communities) on Sunday, December 6 from 2-4 pm at 1423 Mt. Clinton Pike. Come and enjoy Christmas music, refreshments and hospitality. Take a tour of the historic home and meet staff and our Board of Directors. At 2:30 there will be a short presentation on our programs and about the new Day Reporting Center. This event is open to all.
Shekinah and Cantore invite you to their fifth annual Christmas Coffeehouse at Park View Mennonite Church on Friday, Dec. 11 and Sat. Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. Live music and refreshments are provided and donations gratefully accepted. Proceeds benefit Gemeinschaft, a therapeutic, transitional home for individuals recently released or diverted from incarceration.
Immanuel Mennonite Church will be hosting a Longest Night service on Thursday December 17 at 7pm. The service will include music, scripture, silence, and candle lighting. In this service we especially acknowledge the darkness of grief and loss in our lives that longs for the coming Light of Christ. The service is also sponsored by Harrisonburg Mennonite Church and Park View Mennonite Church.
Experience one of the world’s 'best kept secrets.' Ethiopia is sometimes referred to as the tourist world’s “best kept secret”. Designed to lift the covers, our next Experience Ethiopia Tour is open for you. Be our guest and we will introduce you to the unique and little known history, culture, and religions of Ethiopia! You won’t be disappointed! This tour is sponsored by Meserete Kristos College, directed by Darrell & Florence Jantzi, and interpreted by Carl & Vera Hansen. Plan now to join us February 2-20, 2016 for an experience of a lifetime! For more information contact Darrell Jantzi at jantzi@golden.net or phone (519) 669 4356, or Carl Hansen at carlverah@yahoo.com or phone (540) 830 0902.
Registration is now open for the upcoming Nazareth/Bethlehem Work Group (May 6-23, 2016) sponsored by VMMissions as a Partners in Mission program. The work group will engage in work projects at Nazareth Village (Nazareth, Israel) and at Diyar Consortium, a ministry of Christmas Lutheran Church (Bethlehem, Palestine). The group will be co-led by Dorothy Jean Weaver (Eastern Mennonite Seminary) and Lee Martin (Mount Clinton Mennonite Church). Registrations will be accepted on a "first come, first served" basis. For more information, contact Dorothy Jean Weaver at (540) 432-4276 or at weaverdj@emu.edu.
"Markets, Museums, Mosques, and Ministries in West Africa" a learning tour to Burkina Faso, Benin, and Ghana, July 11-25, 2016, will be led by James and Jeanette Krabill along with Ed Bontrager. The Krabills were missionaries in West Africa for some 20 years, and now James works with Mennonite Mission Network as Senior Executive for Global Ministries. For more information, contact Ed Bontrager at eebontrager@comcast.net or call 540-438-8304. The full itinerary is online at www.travelventuretours.com
Job and Volunteers Opportunities:
Our Community Place seeks a full-time Media & Events Coordinator. Our Community Place is a community center in Harrisonburg, Va., that is open to anyone in the world, and is particularly dedicated to including in it's work and activities individuals dealing with poverty and difficult life circumstances. We are seeking an enthusiastic, organized, and compassionate person with considerable skills in the areas of organization and implementation of events, written communication, web site maintenance, and social media.
Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center is accepting applications for Program Director. The Program Director is part of the leadership team and oversees our summer camp ministry, our challenge course, our pool, and some non-summer programmed retreats. Desirable qualifications and experience include: Bachelor’s Degree and/or equivalent experience, experience in program design and ministry, experience in a leadership role at a summer camp, certifications necessary to lead/teach in ropes course operation and aquatics/lifeguarding. This is a year-round position, weekends required. Compensation is dependent upon experience and includes benefits. On site housing is provided and is required. Interested? Submit a resume, cover letter, and completed application to Bob Briscoe: director@wcrc.info. Application is online at www.wcrc.info/employment.html
Virginia Mennonite Missions Prayer Request:
November 29
Ask God to surround Vince and Lavonne Ramella with a sense of His strength and faithfulness as they seek God's promises for the people around them in Kosovo.