Christ in all. Communion for all. Connecting with all.
Join us to connect with others from the church, meet new friends, have fun, or gain new insights about faith!
After the church service on Sunday, February 12th, there will be a congregational meeting. In this meeting the church will be presented with the 2023 church budget and will vote on its approval.
Join us for National Public Health Week (April 4-10, 2022) in West Willow. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the West Willow Health and Wellness program (part of Journey of Faith's mission work!) and raise awareness about the services and resources available in Washtenaw County.
You’ll get to meet and learn more about what your neighbors and others, who are committed to public health and every resident’s wellbeing, are doing to build a strong foundation for a healthier community and healthy change by embracing the power of community to help change systems for the better.
*Monday April 4th - 5:30pm-7:30 Mental Wellness: Redefining the Meaning of Health
*Thursday April 7th- 5:30pm-7:30 Accessibility: Closing the Health Equity Gap
*Friday April 8th- 10:00am- 3pm Vaccine Clinic & Community: Collaboration & Resilience
All events take place at:
New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church
2345 Tyler Rd., Ypsilanti, MI 48198
Call 734.985.0549 for more information or to connect with a student intern
Join us on March 3 to mark the beginning of Lent, the season during which we travel the road of self-reflection and repentance that will bring us to Easter.
If you would like a little more context for the stories we’ll be engaging with this season and a place to explore their relationship to your life, you can join us on Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm on Zoom:
We’ll be using A-J Levine’s book Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginners Guide to Holy Week as our guide, so if you’re able to purchase it and read along, that’s encouraged (but not required).
This month will entail working for the betterment of our greater community by preparing our space to be sanctuary for others during the month of March when we will host the Daytime Warming Center. If you are joining us in person, you may want to dress ready to cook and clean. If you are joining us online, spread the word about how to support our work by sharing our call for camp-ready-food, the volunteer needs of the Daytime Warming Center, or posts from Day Time Warming Center on Facebook with anyone you think might be able to help!
This January and February we’ll be digging into the parables of Jesus, primarily using the work of Rabbi Amy-Jill Levine. The small group will begin meeting on Zoom, Wednesday, January 19th at 7:30pm.
On Christmas Eve, we are invited home to the familiar songs and the familiar story of Jesus’ birth. We hope you will join us at the church for a reminder of the light of the world, born in our midst.
On Thursday, December 23 at the Daytime Warming Center, we will be hosting our annual Christmas Store. Our friends who are houseless or insecurely housed are invited to ‘shop’ for Christmas gifts for themselves or loved ones from the donated (new and unused!) items we’ve been collecting over the year. We can use gifts (ideas: children’s toys, backpacks, thermoses, blankets, lotions, candy, gift cards to restaurants and grocery stores) and volunteers (especially to help wrap). Contact Homelessness Ministry Coordinator Rose Marcum-Raugh with questions.
For those who have experienced loss, the holidays can be a particularly painful time, stirring up grief in acute ways. This Longest Night service will provide space for prayer, reflection, and remembrance amidst the holiday hustle and bustle. In this pandemic season of life, grief and loss has been magnified and nearly universal, and we long for calm, quiet, and healing.
For those who have experienced loss, the holidays can be a particularly painful time, stirring up grief in acute ways. This Longest Night service will provide space for prayer, reflection, and remembrance amidst the holiday hustle and bustle. In this pandemic season of life, grief and loss has been magnified and nearly universal, and we long for calm, quiet, and healing.
For those who have experienced loss, the holidays can be a particularly painful time, stirring up grief in acute ways. This Longest Night service will provide space for prayer, reflection, and remembrance amidst the holiday hustle and bustle. In this pandemic season of life, grief and loss has been magnified and nearly universal, and we long for calm, quiet, and healing.
Journey of Faith will host the Daytime Warming Center this year for the entire month of December. Two highlights that everyone should know going into this season! One, while we are the 'hosts,' the Daytime Warming Center is supported in the form of volunteers and in-kind gifts by many churches, community groups, and individuals from throughout the county; it's something we all make happen, together!
Two, the Daytime Warming Center is committed to self-governance by the people who use the shelter. They hold regular community meetings, and every single person has the power to raise an issue or question at such meetings. A powerful model for ministry.
You can find everything you need to know about the Daytime Warming Center 2021 at this link. You can find all the ways you can help out or volunteer for the Daytime Warming Center 2021 along with links to the sign ups by clicking here. Note: The Daytime Warming Center staff, with the approval of Journey of Faith's building team, has chosen to *not *require masks, and focus instead on ventilation and encouraging distance and vaccinations. Policing for mask-wearing proved incredibly exhausting for the staff last year, especially as the members of the community gathered have no 'home' where they can be both warm and mask-free. If this is a concern for you, never fear. Still check out the links above as there are many other ways to volunteer and give without having to step foot inside.
Camp Ready Food Drive
This year for Hunger and Homelessness Awarenes Week, Journey of Faith is opening up a food drive for our homelessness and eldercare ministries, accepting both in-kind and cash donations. Each of these ministries works to ensure that guests have access to food, regardless of their situation. If people need food, we want to make sure they have it.
We're focusing on what we call 'camp ready' food: food that can be eaten with minimal/no cooking and has minimal storage requirements. This type of food is often very hard to find at food pantries, making it especially hard on people living in their cars or at camps to get adequate nutrition in a day.
Check out the list below for food ideas and/or the link to give money so that we’re able to buy this food in bulk. You can make a cash donation by clicking here.
Possible Camp Ready Food Donations
Canned meat, like tuna, chicken, and Vienna sausages
Shelf stable milk (individual serving sizes)
Protein drinks
Peanut butter (individual serving sizes)
Granola bars/protein bars
Fruit and veggie pouches
Nuts (individual serving sizes)
Pop-top canned veggies
Noodle Cups
You can make food donations by dropping food off at Journey of Faith (1900 Manchester Road, Ann Arbor) Monday-Friday 10-4pm. If you drop off food outside of these hours, leave the food on the wheelchair ramp on the southwest side of the building. We check the ramp everyday.
On November 21, bring your cleaning gear! Our building, and especially our shower and laundry, see a huge increase in use during the month of December. During worship this week, we will be sorting donations, prepping freezer meals, and cleaning the space to prepare for the coming of the Daytime Warming Center. There will likely also be an opportunity to go out into the community to spread the word of this work and find partners.
This year for Hunger and Homelessness Awarenes Week, Journey of Faith is opening up a food drive for our homelessness and eldercare ministries, accepting both in-kind and cash donations. Each of these ministries works to ensure that guests have access to food, regardless of their situation. If people need food, we want to make sure they have it.
We're focusing on what we call 'camp ready' food: food that can be eaten with minimal/no cooking and has minimal storage requirements. This type of food is often very hard to find at food pantries, making it especially hard on people living in their cars or at camps to get adequate nutrition in a day.
Check out the list below for food ideas and/or the link to give money so that we’re able to buy this food in bulk. You can make a cash donation by clicking here.
Possible Camp Ready Food Donations
Canned meat, like tuna, chicken, and Vienna sausages
Shelf stable milk (individual serving sizes)
Protein drinks
Peanut butter (individual serving sizes)
Granola bars/protein bars
Fruit and veggie pouches
Nuts (individual serving sizes)
Pop-top canned veggies
Noodle Cups
You can make food donations by dropping food off at Journey of Faith (1900 Manchester Road, Ann Arbor) Monday-Friday 10-4pm. If you drop off food outside of these hours, leave the food on the wheelchair ramp on the southwest side of the building. We check the ramp everyday.
On November 21, bring your cleaning gear! Our building, and especially our shower and laundry, see a huge increase in use during the month of December. During worship this week, we will be sorting donations, prepping freezer meals, and cleaning the space to prepare for the coming of the Daytime Warming Center. There will likely also be an opportunity to go out into the community to spread the word of this work and find partners.
This week begins a national campaign to spread the word about homelessness, how it affects people in our community and what we can do about it. Washtenaw Housing Alliance has put together a wonderful webpage filled with the facts. The Shelter Association of Washtenaw County is raising money through a walk downtown, the Hustle for Housing.
In coordination with Peace House Ypsi and West Willow Health Initiative, we’ll be kicking off a food drive early in the week. Then we’ll be heading ‘into the community’ on Sunday, Nov. 14th during worship to serve our friends who are houseless and housing insecure. More details to come!
The New Beginnings Homeless Ministry is hosting a Benefit Concert at Journey of Faith on Friday, October 29, 2021, 4m-8pm. See our Facebook page to get more details!. Free Admission. Artists will be accepting donations.
Mark your calendar. Save the Date!
Fall Bonfire, October 23. 2021 at Pastor Alex’s house in Ypsi. More details to come.
Join our partners at Purple House (3501 Stone School Road, Ann Arbor) on Sunday, October 10, 2021 at 12:30pm for good food and community. Food will be provided by FedUp Ministries Food Truck. Showers and laundry will be available (to sign up, contact Rose 734. 945. 7825). If you need bus tokens to get to Purple House, be at Blake Transit Center at 2pm by the route 5 stop.
Monday nights, 7:30-8:30pm, Zoom
Our small group, focusing on our fall series, Healing Spiritual Wounds, began this Monday evening. A few questions have come up:
Can I still join, even if I missed the first session? Yes! We’d love to have you join. Ideally, we’ll have a regular group, as a way to build community and trust, but there’s still room to jump in now.
Do I have to read every chapter?/Will it be a book discussion? No and no. Reading the book will help you engage with the material, but the questions for discussion will not be based on reading comprehension. Each week, we’ll check in and then we’ll talk about how the issues raised in the book-- issues of spiritual woundedness-- relate to our own lives and the lives of others.
I’m not spiritually wounded. Will I still be able to participate? Yes! It’s important to bear witness to the damage that the church has done and to join the work of building a better church.
I am spiritually wounded, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to share. That’s completely fair. We want you to do what’s best for your healing. If you choose to participate, you’re always welcome to pass or listen quietly to the conversation.
Our fall worship and faith formation series will be based on the book, Healing Spiritual Wounds: Reconnecting with a Loving God After Experiencing a Hurtful Church. Many of us have been hurt by the church, by leaders of the church, by people who claim to be Christian, and by the societal narrative of Christianity. Some of us may even understand ourselves to have been hurt or let down by God. This series will engage with these wounds, allow space for sharing our stories, and open us up to the possibility of healing.
And if you are a person who does not understand yourself to have been hurt by the church, this series will be an invitation to listen with humility, that we might, together, build and rebuild faith communities less likely to recreate these wounds again.
If you are interested in participating in a small group alongside the worship series, please fill out the following form, so we can narrow down a day, time, and mode of meeting. Thank you!
Bible study gatherings will resume on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 2pm on Zoom. You can access Zoom by clicking this link https://zoom.us/j/7349714245 at the appropriate time. You can also call in via phone by calling +1 312 626 6799 and then entering room # 734 971 4245.
Former church musician, Estar Cohen, has one more performance that she'd love to see folks at. Thursday Sept. 16 at Ziggys in Ypsi with the Estar Cohen Project.
It will be a significant Regional Assembly on September 11 when we decide on a new partner covenant with the Illinois/Wisconsin Region. Regional Minister Eugene James will challenge us as Michigan Disciples with his sermon lifting up our theme "For the Love of God."
Click on the link below to register today. Registration is $15.00. Your online registration covers your full participation, link to the Zoom Assembly Room, and a digital copy of the Assembly docket. Print dockets will be available for an additional $5.00, to cover printing and mailing.
All members of Michigan Disciples congregations are encouraged to participate. Each local church is asked to select their voting participants who, along with clergy with standing, will vote on actions to be taken.
Payment online is by credit card. If you need to pay by check, contact the Regional Office for a print form: ccmr@michigandisciples.org.
Our fall worship and faith formation series will be based on the book, Healing Spiritual Wounds: Reconnecting with a Loving God After Experiencing a Hurtful Church. Many of us have been hurt by the church, by leaders of the church, by people who claim to be Christian, and by the societal narrative of Christianity. Some of us may even understand ourselves to have been hurt or let down by God. This series will engage with these wounds, allow space for sharing our stories, and open us up to the possibility of healing.
And if you are a person who does not understand yourself to have been hurt by the church, this series will be an invitation to listen with humility, that we might, together, build and rebuild faith communities less likely to recreate these wounds again.
August 20-22, 2021
Registration: $155
Commuting (includes meals): $85
Registration Deadline: August 5
Registration Form
With 2020 behind us and an opportunity to gather again as Disciples Women, we are looking forward to socializing at beautiful Crystal Conference Center in Frankfort, Michigan, under the theme, “I Have Called You by Name.” Join with others from the Michigan Region as we unite in fellowship and friendship and learn to develop as Women of Faith. Enjoy bonfires, vespers, spiritual sessions, worship, and free time. Bring a friend or family member! Retreat Facilitators will be Revs. Shirley Martinson and Brenda Etheridge
On Saturday, August 14th from 9-1, we’ll be having a New Beginning Homelessness Ministries Clean-up Day. If you are able, we’d love to have your help organizing clothing donations, art supplies, and helping with general indoor clean-up in the basement at the church.
Join us for this opportunity for Disciples to connect, learn, worship, and imagine new ways of gathering as church.
Through Bible study, worskshops, and worship, this online event will focus on the covenant we share as Disciples and the promise of Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
For more information and to sign up/get updates, click here.
The Board will hold its rescheduled Annual Meeting of the congregation on Sunday, July 11, 2021 at 1:00PM. At this meeting, we will be presenting reports of our financial status. We will also be considering a budget, leadership for the coming year, and by-laws that are being developed. We look froward to having as many people present as possible that day! We welcome congregational support and input! In an effort to be more inclusive, we will be holding this meeting via Zoom at 1pm. Zoom Meeting ID: 7349714245.
The Board will hold its Annual Meeting of the congregation on Sunday, June 27, 2021. At this meeting, we will be presenting reports of our financial status. We will also be considering a budget, leadership for the coming year, and by-laws that are being developed. We look froward to having as many people present as possible that day! We welcome congregational support and input! In an effort to be more inclusive, we will be holding this meeting via Zoom at 1pm. Zoom Meeting ID: 7349714245.
This date is in keeping with a proposal that had previously been considered by the congregation to change our fiscal year from the calendar year to a July 1-June 30 one. Such a change would affect financial reporting and terms of office.
For the past year, the Board has engaged in the practice of discernment to inform us as we move forward in our process of transition. You may recall that at our 2020 Annual Meeting, we embarked on this transition with a vote to suspend our by-laws.
During this time, we have been working with a bookkeeper and with staff of NEW Center, an agency that offers consulting services to non-profit organizations. With their help, we are developing financial policies, and they are helping us organize our financial records to provide transparency and accountability. Future plans include hiring a bookkeeping service.
Throughout this period discernment, the Board has made several observations.
First, our on-line worship has extended the reach of our congregation beyond the regular attendees and our shut-ins. When we met on Pentecost Sunday for the first in-person worship in 14 months, two people were present who had found us on Zoom. Although they had never previously been to the church to worship, both enthusiastically participated in leadership of the service that day.
Second, while we in the congregation were seldom in our church building during the pandemic, our doors were opened wide, through our homelessness ministries, to more people than ever before. We were able to provide a food pantry as well as clothing and coordination to accommodate housing needs.
Third, people in the community recognizing the essential nature of our homelessness ministries were supporting us financially.
As the Board recognizes the ways we have widened our reach through worship and through our ministry in the community, we acknowledge the importance of extending our reach by expanding our leadership pool to include participants in our ministries, recipients of our services and other community partners. We want to invite them as companions in faith to join us on our journey of faith.
At our Annual Meeting, we will be presenting reports of our financial status. We will also be considering a budget, leadership for the coming year, and by-laws that are being developed.
We look froward to having as many people present as possible that day! We welcome congregational support and input!
Blessings—
Rosalie Karunas, for the Board
U.F.O.s have been in the news a lot lately! (Like here.) We’re wondering: how (if at all) would your faith/understanding of ‘God in the Universe’ change if we made contact with sentient alien species?
If you are able, bring a chair and bug spray! 421 Campbell, Ypsilanti, MI.
"Lord, fill us with your peace. So that as we journey onwards we would pour out your love and grace to others. Amen."
1900 Manchester Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Phone: 734.971.4245 | Email: jofdisciples@gmail.com
