Category: News

Dear Plymouth Members,

As you prepare to celebrate Christmas, please consider a Special Offering gift that supports our Just Peace covenant. This year’s Christmas offering recipients will be announced very soon. Keep an eye on our Plymouth Weekly emails for news about who these offerings will be going to.

To keep our Church Family safe and healthy, there will be no in person Thanksgiving services. You can give online or by mail. To keep our Church Family safe and healthy, there will be no in person Thanksgiving services. Please make your gifts online at plymouthchurch.com/give (see more details below).

If you would prefer to mail a check, please include the memo line “Christmas Gifts” and mail address it with the following:

Plymouth Church Attn: Nancy Bassett
4126 Ingersoll Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50312.

Thank you for your generosity,
Plymouth Board of Benevolences

Make a donation by check, electronic checking or the gift of stock. If you chose to make a donation by one of the above methods, please visit the Pledge page on our website. Select the middle Donate button. At the bottom of the form, you will see “This donation is for…” Select one of those offerings.

Make a one-time or recurring donation by credit card. If you chose to make a donation through PayPal, please visit the Pledge page on our website. Select the yellow Donate button on the right. You will be directed to PayPal. Input the total donation, and select to pay through your PayPal account or by Debit or Credit card. At the top of the form, you will see “Write a Note.” Select this and type in the “Christmas Special Offering.”

As we approach the end of 2020 and are nearly to our $20,000 goal, will you consider supporting AMOS financially this year and help us close the gap?

AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy) is a relational grassroots approach to organizing that empowers people to take action and change communities and lives. Through this process, we cut through divisions such as race, religion, and socioeconomic status, and discover the passions and concerns that unite us all. Hundreds of people enter public life and claim responsibility for their future here in central Iowa. Click here to read more.

The budget for AMOS is raised from the dues of its member institutions, individual support, and annual fundraisers (like this one). AMOS does not accept government funding. We rely on the leadership and guidance of trained and committed community organizers – like our AMOS lead organizer, Courtney Dufford.

This year, our fundraising goal is $20,000 and we have just over $4,000 left to raise. Consider supporting the organization standing for over 20 years in Central Iowa for local democracy and local accountability. Consider a donation to help us meet our goals to develop leadership, create and host training, and fund meaningful actions.  By organizing people and organizing money, we are creating lasting and meaningful change in our communities.

If you’d like to donate to AMOS this year, you can do so online at amosiowa.org/invest or make out a check to “AMOS” and mail to:

AMOS
c/o St. Theresa Catholic Church
1230 Merle Hay Rd
Des Moines, IA 50311

Thank you for your generous support!

Financial Peace University 2021

Start the New Year right! Find peace in getting your finances in order through proven steps. Financial Peace University Classes are Sunday evenings from 6-8 p.m., beginning Jan. 3 to Feb. 28, 202. For Plymouth members, the fees are $100 (originally $129) which includes all course materials and access to e-resources. Register before December 1, and receive a 25% discount. Class size is limited to 10 registrants.

Registration includes a spouse or a significant other attendance with the registrant. Register by December 30 to reserve your place to a happier and healthier future. To enroll or ask more question, please call or email Emily Tripp at 515.255.3149 or etripp@plymouthchurch.com.

Christmas Flowers

This year, Plymouth will be ordering a variety of flowers for Christmas. Since they will not be gracing the Sanctuary, we invite you to take them home or give them as gifts to friends & family. All plants are in 6” or 6.5” pots with a gold sleeve. All plants cost $12 each or $20 for any two plants.

Selection is first come, first serve. We will have:

• Red Poinsettias (30)
• Ice Crystals Poinsettias (red with white in the center of the petal) (20)
• Winter Rose Poinsettias (red with curly leaves) (20)
• Norfolk Island Pine (20)
• Amaryllis (10)
• Christmas Cactus (10)
• Cyclamen (10)
• Rosemary tree (4” pot) (10)

Check or exact change upon pickup is preferred. We don’t yet know what color the Amaryllis, Christmas Cactus, or Cyclamen will be.

Flowers were be available for pick-up on Thursday, December 10 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, December 12 from noon to 2 p.m. Pick up will be a ONE WAY ENTRANCE from Ingersoll Ave, through the bottom level of the parking garage and towards Grand Ave. Please be sure to wear a mask!

Thanksgiving Special Offering 2020

Dear Plymouth Members,

As you prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, please consider a Special Offering gift that supports our Just Peace covenant – working toward economic and social justice for our Des Moines Metro Area neighbors.

The projects selected for this year’s gifts are:

Pastor’s Discretionary Fund: 10% of the Special Offerings will be allocated to Plymouth Pastor’s Discretionary Fund. These funds are directed to urgent needs of community members, covering items such as rent assistance, utility cost, medicine, and bus/travel expense.

Family Promise of Greater Des Moines: 60% of the remaining collection will be given to support FPGDM, which provides support to families experiencing homelessness.

Food Buddies: 40% of the remaining collection will be given for  this Plymouth’s initiative with Hubbell Elementary School that provides for weekend meals for students experiencing food insecurity.

To keep our Church Family safe and healthy, there will be no in person Thanksgiving services. Please make your gifts online at plymouthchurch.com/give (see more details below) or mail your check with memo line “Thanksgiving Gifts” to Plymouth Church Attn: Nancy Bassett, 4126 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines, IA 50312.

Thank you for your generosity,
Plymouth Board of Benevolences

Making an Online Donation

Make a donation by check, electronic checking or the gift of stock. If you chose to make a donation by one of the above methods, please visit the Pledge page on our website. Select the middle Donate button. At the bottom of the form, you will see “This donation is for…” Select one of those offerings.

Make a one-time or recurring donation by credit card. If you chose to make a donation through PayPal, please visit the Pledge page on our website. Select the yellow Donate button on the right. You will be directed to PayPal. Input the total donation, and select to pay through your PayPal account or by Debit or Credit card. At the top of the form, you will see “Write a Note.” Select this and type in the “Thanksgiving Special Offering.”

Election Day Prayer

Are political ads and election anxieties getting to you? On Election Day, we will be surrounding our nation, our communities, and each other in prayer—even more than usual. Join us on Facebook Live at 6 a.m., noon, 5:30 p.m., and 9 p.m. as we pray the hours. We will pray for poll workers and voters, election officials and candidates, and all of us. We will pray for a safe and smooth process for all exercising their right to vote. We will pray for the future of our communities that we are building together. We will pray with the God who holds the whole world in her hands and is bigger than any election, as momentous as it may be. Ground your spirit and join us for prayer.

Congregational Care Callers

We are working to connect with every Plymouth household and we need your help! As part of Phase I, a group of volunteer Care Callers have been calling their fellow members since March, but our hope is to expand this group and make calls to all Plymouth households in Phase II of our Congregational Care Callers program.

Volunteers who sign up will be matched with a list of 10 households to call once per month for 2 months of calls, with the option to continue after that with the same or new people! Conversation guides will be provided. Help us weave the fabric of Plymouth together by volunteering to be a Care Caller! For more information and to sign up, click here.

Service of Gratitude Videos

Plymouth Church, what are you grateful for? 2020 has been a challenging year on many fronts. And yet! There are still things that make you smile, feel safe, evoke a happy dance, challenge you to grow, and let you know you belong and are loved. We want to hear about them! Before you share around your Thanksgiving table, share with us. Whether a 3-minute testimony or a 3-second gratitude blast of “I’m grateful for _____.”

You can submit your video offerings here.

All video submissions are due by Friday, November 13. Videos will be compiled into a Thanksgiving Service of Gratitude that will premiere Thanksgiving Eve. Let your voice and face and story be something another Plymouth friend gives thanks for! Got questions or want some coaching on how to craft your story? Contact Pastor Lindsey lbraun@plymouthchurch.com.

Thinking and talking are great ways to start, but maybe you can put our new Strategic Plan words into action and explore them further by participating in a seven-day challenge.

1. Complete any six of these items on any six days you choose during the month of November.

• After the election or anytime you feel frustrated or angry with someone, use this prayer:
                  , I acknowledge that of God in you. I accept that God cares
  for you as God cares for me. I release you from my anxiety and concern, imperfectly…and with baby steps. I choose to see you as God sees you−a unique human being with qualities and abilities that bless the world. I thank God for you.
• When you are feeling anxious or insecure about yourself, use this prayer:
  I acknowledge that of God in me. I accept that Go cares for me as God cares for everyone. I release my anxiety that I am less worthy than other people, letting go of that fear imperfectly…and with baby steps. I choose to see myself as God sees me−a unique human being with qualities and abilities that bless the world. I accept the challenge and the responsibility to become all of whom I am meant to be. I thank God that I am just the person I am.
• Send a note or email to someone you really appreciate, but might not know how appreciated they are.
• Bake something and share it with a neighbor.
• Order food from a locally-owned restaurant.
• Do an internet search for “Audrey Assad Your Peace Will Make Us One” and listen to this re-working of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
• Attend the AMOS Delegate Assembly on November 8 to celebrate the work of 2020 and look ahead to 2021. To join this Zoom event, register here or contact amosiowa@gmail.com.
• Record a three second “I’m grateful for….” video and share it with our staff by November 13, so we can include it in our Thanksgiving worship service this year.
• Consider an increase in your annual gift to the Thanksgiving offering.
• Watch our Special Thanksgiving worship service.

2. For the seventh day take a rest or sabbath.

Make space for an intentional break from your work, worries, stresses or whatever feels heavy in your life right now. Make the duration whatever length of time would feel like a true sabbath – five minutes, an hour, half a day or a whole day. We need to rest and recharge. We need sabbath in order to pursue Radical Love.

Award-winning
“Lost Nation: The Ioway”
Will Be Presented By
Fellowship Forum

DES MOINES– A forgotten story of American conquest and Native survival will come to light when the award-winning documentary “Lost Nation: The Ioway” is presented by Fellowship Forum on Sunday, November 1 at 10 a.m.  The virtual screening is free, and will be followed by a Q&A with Emmy-nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films.

In 1824, during the twilight of Native American dominion, two conflicted Ioway leaders met with William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) to sign a momentous treaty.  White Cloud (Mahaska) saw cooperation as survival for his people, while Great Walker (Moanahonga) regretted the loss of their ancestral homeland. This pivotal moment led both men to different tragic destinies in their battle with epic change.

Ioway Elders and tribal members join historians and archaeologists to tell the dramatic and true story of the small tribe that once claimed the territory between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers from Pipestone, Minnesota to St. Louis.  What was a quest for survival in the past, has become a a struggle to retain a unique Native American culture and language in the present.

Film critic Linda Cook of the Quad City Times gave “Lost Nation: The Ioway” 4-out-of-4 stars and said “The Rundle’s “Ioway” is perfectly complete… A fantastic documentary… You don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy this film.”

Movie reviewer Mike Schulz of the River Cities Reader wrote “Absolutely outstanding.  “Lost Nation: The Ioway” is fantastically informative, beautifully constructed, and thoroughly enjoyable…”

“Lost Nation: The Ioway” garnered several film festival awards including Best Documentary at the International Cherokee Film Festival.  It was an Official Selection in the Archaeology Channel’s International Film Festival and it won a Bronze Telly Award®.  Since its premiere in 2007, the film has screened in over 70 cities throughout the country, was released nationally on DVD and broadcast on PBS stations.

The film received grant awards from Humanities Iowa, the Kansas Humanities Council, the Oklahoma Humanities Council, Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The Rundles are the owners of Fourth Wall Films, an award-winning and Emmy-nominated independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.  The sequels “Lost Nation: The Ioway 2&3” are available on DVD. Visit www.IowayMovie.com for more information.

To join us on Fellowship Form visit the link below:
https://zoom.us/j/95654225091?pwd=UGxjOW53dmE1bjVRVnQ3TVArWkZkUT09