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Out of an abundance of caution and in deference to the World Health Organization, we will not be having public gatherings for the church through January and our building is closed. Our November 22 Sunday worship service is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGbeX8GnfOw
We will move to online worship services until further notice. Please be in prayer for our national and civic leaders and all our health care providers during this challenging and uncertain time. May the words of the Psalmist encourage you, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change…”. Who we are at First Mennonite Church of Iowa City ... We believe that God calls us to be followers of Jesus Christ and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to grow as a community of grace, joy, and peace, so that God's healing and hope flow through us to the world. We strive for Open Hearts. Open Minds. Rooted in Christ. At First Mennonite Church (FMC) we are a historic peace church, striving to be an Anabaptist community-- young, old, families, friends-- that, by the grace of God, is shaped by the life of Christ, which acts with the compassion of Christ, and worships in the name of Christ. Please explore our website and get to know a little bit about us, keeping in mind that there is no substitute for experiencing our services and activities in person. We welcome you to join us in the hope you too might experience God's astounding grace and the call to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. |
UPCOMING SERVICES at the church building:
All services at the building are cancelled until further notice. Sermon & Service Archives
Church Calendar Contact Us Look for us on Facebook: First Mennonite Church, Iowa City In response to racism ...
from Prayers of lament: Responding to the violence of racism: Lament by Clara Weybright God, we lament the damage that our silence in the face of racial violence has done, for the sins of racism that run through our lives like so many threads in a cloth. Forgive us for the times we have given in to our discomfort, for the times we have forgotten our own privilege and failed to stand with our black siblings. Help those of us who experience white privilege every day remember that, with our privilege, we are imbued with the responsibility to challenge and hold one another accountable. Give us the courage to educate ourselves, to listen well, and to use our voices when it is most needed. http://mennoniteusa.org/menno-snapshots/lament-violence-of-racism/ In response to Gun Violence ... Lord, hear our grief…We pray for the lives lost in Gilroy, California, El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois, which join the climbing number of those lost to gun violence in America. Comfort the mourning, the grieving, the broken-hearted. Compel our prayers to turn into actions. May the triggers of our streets be beaten into plowshares. May the triggers of our hearts be met with the open arms of our neighbors. May we trust in the transformative power of your refining fire. Forge us to be instruments of your peace. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. May our posture be of a readiness to steady a plowshare. May we take hold of your olive branch that plots for peace. May the plowshare break the earth of senseless violence. May the furrows bring us a harvest of solace, a never-ending rest from violence. May we sit under the vine and fig, on earth as it is in heaven. May it be so. Amen -- By Mennonite Church USA Staff with Michael Martin, director of RAWtools Action items for churches to #Bringthepeace in response to gun violence
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