Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, What is the church? My earliest memory of being taught the meaning of church was learning a familiar children’s rhyme. As hands are clasped together with fin- gers entwined between opposing palms, the rhyme begins: “This is the church.” The forefin- gers are then liſted together. “This is the stee- ple.” Thumbs are then drawn apart. “Open the doors.” As the hands are opened wider fingers are wiggled back and forth. “See all the peo- ple.” It occurred to me as a child that the “church” was made of the “people.” As it turns out, that simple children’s rhyme has it right. The church is people drawn together by God. Later, in confirmaon class, I was reminded of this when the pastor taught us to avoid using the phrase “I’m going to church.” “The church, he taught us, wasn’t a place. Rather, the church is an event-a gather- ing of people, a fellowship, and a “community of saints.” So, why does God gather us togeth- er? How are we a community of saints? Saints are “holy ones,” i.e. people set apart by God for a special purpose. As Peter’s epistle reminds us, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy naon, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2: 9). God calls us together so that we might together be the church, the presence of Christ in the world. Yes, part of being the church is gath- ering around Word and sacrament where we encounter the risen Christ. But it is so much more than that. Church doesn’t end on Sunday. We at Bethany understand our mission to be a “community making Christ known. We are gath- ered and then sent into our wider community to be the voice, the hands, and the heart of Christ. As one of my favorite hymns (“To Be Your Pres- ence,” ELW 546) reminds us, making Christ’s presence known means showing compassion, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and speaking for the weak and oppressed. May God give us bold voices, strong hands, gentle spirits and generous hearts that we might embody the love of Christ in all we do. In Christ, The Bethany Messenger Volume 2016 Issue 2 February ADULT COLORING NIGHT Treat yourself to some free time to color, relax, enjoy some music, wine, cheese and fellow- ship! We will supply coloring sheets, colored pen- cils and markers. You are also welcome to bring your own supplies. This event will be held in the Small Community Room on Friday, February 26th from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Please sign up in the Narthex and bring a friend! There will be door prizes.
Transcript
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
What is the church? My earliest memory of being taught the meaning of church was learning a familiar children’s rhyme. As hands are clasped together with fin-gers entwined between opposing palms, the rhyme begins: “This is the church.” The forefin-gers are then lifted together. “This is the stee-ple.” Thumbs are then drawn apart. “Open the doors.” As the hands are opened wider fingers are wiggled back and forth. “See all the peo-ple.” It occurred to me as a child that the “church” was made of the “people.”
As it turns out, that simple children’s
rhyme has it right. The church is people drawn together by God. Later, in confirmation class, I was reminded of this when the pastor taught us to avoid using the phrase “I’m going to church.” “The church, he taught us, wasn’t a place. Rather, the church is an event-a gather-ing of people, a fellowship, and a “community of saints.” So, why does God gather us togeth-er? How are we a community of saints?
Saints are “holy ones,” i.e. people set apart
by God for a special purpose. As Peter’s epistle reminds us, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2: 9).
God calls us together so that we might together be the church, the presence of Christ in the world. Yes, part of being the church is gath-ering around Word and sacrament where we encounter the risen Christ. But it is so much more than that. Church doesn’t end on Sunday. We at Bethany understand our mission to be a “community making Christ known. We are gath-ered and then sent into our wider community to be the voice, the hands, and the heart of Christ. As one of my favorite hymns (“To Be Your Pres-ence,” ELW 546) reminds us, making Christ’s presence known means showing compassion, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and speaking for the weak and oppressed. May God give us bold voices, strong hands, gentle spirits and generous hearts that we might embody the love of Christ in all we do. In Christ,
The Bethany Messenger
Volume 2016 Issue 2 February
ADULT COLORING NIGHT Treat yourself to some free time to color, relax, enjoy some music, wine, cheese and fellow-ship! We will supply coloring sheets, colored pen-cils and markers. You are also welcome to bring your own supplies. This event will be held in the Small Community Room on Friday, February 26th from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Please sign up in the Narthex and bring a friend! There will be door prizes.
The Bethany Messenger Page 2
Empty Spaces Indicate that Volunteers are Needed—Please see the sign up sheets
VOLUNTEERS: These assignments are arbitrari-ly made based on past willingness to serve. If you find that you cannot serve on a Sunday when you have been scheduled, please try to find a replace-ment. Also, it is important that you call Robin in the office (860-635-4618) by Thursday, when oth-er arrangements have been made, so the changes can be put into the Sunday bulletin.
The 2016 Coffee & Flower Sign-up Sheets are availa-ble on the revolving kiosk in the narthex. Please
take a look at the sign-up sheets to see if there is a convenient date for you to sign-up for.
Volunteers for March 6th
Assisting Minister: 8:00 a.m.— Tom Byrne 10:30 a.m.— Linda Samuelson (3/6 & 3/13) — Liz Friedmann (3/20 & 3/27)
Altar Guild: Cathy & Joe Mroczka
Ushers: Steve & Stevie Richheimer and Russell Smith
Altar Flowers:
Coffee Hour: 8:00 a.m.— 10:30 a.m.—
Nursery: Ava Zawadzki
Counters: Russell Smith & Elaine Jarvis
Assisting
Minister: 8:00 a.m.— Deb Gustafson 10:30 a.m.— Jerry Griscom
Altar
Guild: The Krampitz Family
Ushers: John Trousdale
Coffee
Hour: 7
8— 10:30— John & Donna Sera
14 8— 10:30—
21 8— 10:30— Mike & Nancy Balinskas
28 8— 10:30— Elaine Jarvis & Aimee
Nursery: 7 Andrew Ahrens
14 Samantha Barrett
21 Matt DeBlock
28 Beth Harrison
Altar
Flowers: 7 Frank & Barbara Scholl
14 Gus & Janice Eifrig
21
28
Counters: Terri Clark & Ann Naughton
Page 3 The Bethany Messenger
Statistically Speaking... Attendance... 2015 2016
The
March
Messenger
Deadline is:
February 15th
Is Your Pledge Up to Date?
8 am / 10:30 am 8 am / 10:30 am
Jan. 3 16 / 64 27 / 90
Jan. 10 40 / 91 38 / 87
Jan. 17 32 / 28 27 / 94
Jan. 24 22 / 81 Snow / 45
Jan. 31 33 / 110
Cromwell Scout Pack 36 holds a bottle drive the first Saturday of each month. It runs from 9:00 am—11:00 am. There is also a bottle bin at Pierson Park all year round.
If you need bottles picked up, please contact Laura at: [email protected] of call her at 860-993-5017.
BETHANY LAUNCHES HOMEBOUND MINISTRY TEAM
A new ministry to increase interaction with Bethany’s homebound members is underway. While Pastor Paul will continue to visit all mem-bers who are homebound, the new ministry team will also make regular visits to offer conversation, prayer, and Bethany news. We will recognize and pray for God’s blessing on those who will carry out this ministry on February 14 at the 10:30 service. For further information, con-tact Linda Carlson at [email protected] IT’S BAKED POTATO SUNDAY!!! Join the Bethany Lutheran youth for an-other Fabulous TEXAS Fundraiser! We will host a “Loaded Baked Potato” Gathering after 10:30 worship on Palm Sunday, March 20, 2016 The youth will bring in all the fixin’s for you to load up a yummy baked potato! All proceeds go directly to our #RISEUPELCA Youth Gathering trip, in Houston Texas July 2018 Minimum dona-tion $3.00 for any/all toppings $5.00 for Chili The youth will bring in all the fixin’s for you to load up a yummy baked potato! All proceeds go directly to our #RISEUPELCA Youth Gathering trip, in Houston Texas July 2018.
The financial books have closed for the year 2015 — but it’s not too late to make sure that your 2015 pledge is up to date. Please mark any 2015 pledges with “Annual Pledge—2015” on the envelope so it gets applied to the correct year.
WE DID IT ! The Goat Project was a big success, not only in terms of the money raised $425 but also in terms of the number of people who participated
Thanks to the efforts of Gus Eifrig and all the members of Bethany we now have enough money to sponsor four goats which will be given to a worthy person in Namibia to begin or start a herd. Goats are critical to the life of this emerging third world county; efforts to enhance the life of people there has been an ongoing project of Bethany and the ELCA. These goats are given in honor of Vicar John as part of his “going away” celebration and now it is completed. Saints Alive was the moving force behind this project and is in keeping with our goal to not only be a social organization for seniors but a group dedicated to service as well. To Gus, Saints Alive and all who contributed to this project a very hearty “Thank You! And God Bless. Our February meeting is scheduled for February 18th when we will be celebrating Valen-tine’s Day and will be re-introducing our poplar “Game Event” See you then! A reminder: our programs are always open to all who would like to come.
Our planned programs are listed below and we urge anyone who would like to attend our meetings and programs (senior or not) is most welcome.
DATE EVENT REFRESHMENTS
2/18/16 Games ?
3/17/16 St. Patrick’s Day / Make Easter Baskets ?
4/21/16 Pizza Party/Music @ home of A. Nelson Allan Nelson
5/19/16 Birthday Party/Car Show Jack Reisch
6/16/16 Chafinch Island Picnic Everyone
7/21/16 Wadsworth Concert Box Lunch
8/18/16 Baseball Game Buy
9/15/16 Planning Session Allan & Ellen
Service Projects: Greeters—Funerals, etc. Easter Baskets
Historic Projects Coffee Hour
Goats for Namibia
Page 5 The Bethany Messenger
FIRST COMMUNION INSTRUCTION Instruction for those children preparing to receive Holy Communion for the first time will be offered on Sunday, March 13 during the Sunday school hour. A follow-up session, including preparing communion bread, will be held on Sat. March 19 at 9:30 a.m. First Com-munion will be celebrated on Passion/Palm Sunday, March 20 at the 10:30 service. As we are reminded by Martin Luther in the Small Catechism, “a person who has faith in the words ‘given for you’ and ‘shed for you for the forgiveness of sins’ is really wor-thy and well prepared” to receive the sacra-ment. There is no minimum age requirement to receive Holy Communion. If you have any questions about your child’s readiness please speak with Pastor Paul. Those interested in learning more about our church’s practice of Word and sacrament may find a down-loadable version of “The Use of the Means of Grace” on-line at www.elca.org (search “Use of the Means of Grace).
The Executive Board of the Middlesex Hospital Vocal Chords is requesting applications for its annual grants to be awarded to deserving Middlesex County students pursuing a career in nursing or music. They must have been accept-ed at an accredited college or university with one of these majors. The Review Committee will consider aca-demic record, extracurricular and community ser-vice activities, the student's ability to articulate his/her career goals and the recommendations of the references. The grants will be a minimum of $1000 each and will be paid directly to the recipi-ent at the Spring Concert at Portland High School on Saturday, April 30, 2016 at 7:30pm. Applications are available at the guid-ance office or at Middlesex Hospital Vocal Chords. Deadline is Friday, April 1st. Any questions, call 860-277-3913. Sandy Zajac MHVC Publicity Co-Chair
From the NE Synod ELCA: “Thank you for your recent mis-sion support donation. Your contributions help the ministry of our synod continue with strength, your significant gifts as a faith community reach far be-yond the walls of your congregation. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to know personally your vibrant community of faith, thank you for letting others lights shine by your generosity. Blessings, Sara Anderson (on behalf of the NE Synod Staff)”
From Amazing Grace: “During 2015 a to-
tal of 11,694 households were served at Amaz-ing Grace Food Pantry and over 375,000 items of food were distributed through the year. Each month an average of 975 people came to Amazing Grace to select food—free of charge—for their families. We very much ap-preciate your generous gifts of food items dur-
ing 2015. The number of pounds of food donated by Bethany in 2015 was 387. We are extremely grateful for your commitment. Mimi Rich, Coordinator
From the Town of Cromwell, Hu-man Services Department: “I cannot begin to thank you enough for your do-nation of Food for our Thanksgiving and
Holiday Programs. Your support allowed us to provide food and toys for many Cromwell resi-dents. This year we were able to give 254 food baskets to needy families, seniors and individu-als, as well as, toys to 140 children. The suc-cess of our Holiday Programs is because of you. This town is fortunate to have people like you who come to the aid of their neighbors. Sincerely, Joy Hollister, Director”
The Women of Bethany Lutheran Church are cordially invited to attend the 2nd & 3rd planning meetings for the WELCA Spring Gathering to be held on:
April 30th, 2016
th at Gloria Dei Lutheran
Church, Bristol .
The next meeting will be held at Gloria Dei Church on: Jan. 16
th from 10-12 m (Snow
date: Jan. 23rd
from 10-12 pm) Refreshments will be served!
The 3rd and last planning meeting will be held at Gloria Dei Church on: Feb. 27th from 10-12 pm (Snow date: March 5th from 10-12 pm) Refreshments will be served!
If you are unable to attend the planning meetings but are willing to volunteer, please contact Tracy Carlson at 860 620-4166 or tcarlson01 @snet.net.
Bethany Lutheran Preschool We are super busy in our pre-school classes even during the shortest month of the year! We will all make predictions as to how much longer we have until Spring! All classes will have Valentine's Day celebrations! The Four years will be making a friendship fruit salad for a healthy snack! The Four year old classes will con-tinue to work on their letters of the week, make number books and prepare for parent/teacher conferences which will take place later this month. We love having our little friends stay at school and join us for lunch bunch on Wednes-days! The Three's will continue to learn new skills and do many science experi-ments using ice and snow. Hoping everyone stays warm and Spring arrives soon! Sharon Emmett, Preschool Director
It seems that we have just had Christ-mas and Epiphany but with Easter coming ear-ly this year (March 27) we will begin our Len-
ten season with Ash Wednesday services in just a few weeks. We look forward to this time of devo-tion and reflection and in the music depart-ment to planning for a glorious Easter Cele-bration. Our choirs are already preparing mu-sic for Lent and for Easter and what a won-derful time to become a member of one of our choirs and growing list of dedicated sing-ers in preparation for this wonderful time in the life of the church. Bethany Choir meets weekly at 9:00AM and Joyful Noise meets after church on selected Sunday’s. We are most understanding of schedules and if you can’t commit to every Sunday we welcome you to come as you can. A tradition at Bethany is the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus at the conclusion of the Easter Worship. If you have sung this mag-nificent piece and would like to join in singing with us, we will be rehearsing a 10:00 AM on Easter Sunday right before the service an you are most cordially invited to join us in song. We currently are blessed to have a number of our young people studying and become proficient on a variety of instruments and we will hearing more from them as the season progresses. If you play an instrument and would like to play in church and if you haven’t al-ready spoken to me, please do. We would love to have you in our musical family.
Wednesdays in Lent The Christian Clergy Council of Cromwell invites
you to share a simple meal of soup and bread, break open the Scriptures & pray together:
February 17—St. John Church (from Pride t6o Humility) February 24—Bethany Lutheran Church (from Greed to Generosity) March 2—Covenant Village Event Center (from Fear to Trust) March 9—Hilltop Covenant Church (from Judgment to Welcome) March 16—First Congregational Church (from Bondage to Freedom)
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You are cordially invited to B3S-"Brown Bag Bible Study." This is an opportunity to explore the lectionary read-ings for the upcoming Sunday in a deeper way than is possi-ble in a sermon. No past bible study is needed. Come as you are and let's take a look at the texts over lunch. Join us every Wednesday, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The coffee pot will be on!
SIMPLY GIVING Would you find it helpful to have your offerings debited directly from your bank account as you proba-bly do with other obligations? Betha-ny offers electronic giving for those of you who wish to have your contribu-tions transferred electronically to the church’s account. If you travel, this is particularly helpful in keeping up with your intended offerings. One simple, easy to use authorization form can begin or change your electronic contri-bution amount. Contact Robin in the church office Monday thru Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., 635-4618, for more de-tails.
Churches, because of their heavy weekly check volumes, were among the earliest organ-izations to embrace electronic giving as a way to automate contributions. Today, electronic giving in all its forms provides convenience for frequent check writers and donation consistency for churches. A less frequently discussed benefit of electronic giving is its positive impact on the environment. An enormous amount of natural resources are consumed in the produc-tion, transportation, processing and disposal of paper checks.
That’s why paying bills electronically always ranks high on any list of actions an individual can take to improve the
environment. The trend toward electronic payments has already produced more than a 50% decline in check use since the year 2000. As you consider the payment method you use to make your regular offering, we hope that you will think about the unique connection between financial stewardship and environmental stewardship. Scan this QR Code or locate the DONATE button at www.bethanylutherancromwell.org for learn more.
