Quarterly Women's Gathering - September 15

Quarterly Women's Gathering - September 15

Bethel’s Quarterly Women’s Gathering is Saturday, September 15, 2018, 9 AM – 1 PM. Please join us and bring a friend for “Casting Your Cares.” (Yes, we're holding on to summer with a beach theme.) We will be exploring what is ready to be released this fall so we can be beacons of God's love. Lunch is provided. Bring a breakfast snack item like muffins or fruit, or a dessert for after lunch. RSVP to Paige Unangst, text: 503-567- 9946, email: paige@unangst.net Let us know if you need child care.

Compassionate Communication

Compassionate Communication

Are you looking for ways to transform the world to a more kind and compassionate place, but don’t know where or how to start? Do you consider yourself a spiritual person but would like to live a more spiritually connected life? Are you wanting to have more authentic relationships with others at home, at work, or in your community, but just don’t know how? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then Bethel UCC’s Compassionate Communication Learning Community (CCLC) is the place to be. We are a community of learners learning in community. Compassionate communication (also known as Nonviolent Communication) is more than just a process for communicating in a way that enables us to connect with others more authentically and more honestly. It is a way for us to manifest our spirituality in terms of compassion – the kind of compassion that supports incremental, wholistic and transformational change on three levels: within one’s self, among and within others, and societies at large. Compassionate communication is a habit of mind and a life-long practice with a spiritual basis.

Gun Violence Forum

Gun Violence Forum

On Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 11:30 AM the Social Justice Advocacy in Action Committee will present a Gun Violence Social Justice Forum. Speakers will include Bethel's own Diane Imel and Vivian Knudsen plus a presentation and Q&A with Ceasefire Oregon. A light lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to office@bethelbeaverton.org if you require childcare.

Guest Speaker Rev. Tara Wilkins - Sunday, August 12

Guest Speaker Rev. Tara Wilkins - Sunday, August 12

Rev. Tara Wilkins will be speaking at Bethel THIS Sunday, August 12. She has served as pastor of Bridgeport United Church of Christ since August of 2012. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Community of Welcoming Congregations in Oregon and SW Washington. Rev. Tara has earned a solid reputation in the Pacific Northwest as an inspiring speaker, workshop leader and preacher and is often a guest lecturer at colleges and universities. She is a fierce advocate and justice warrior, proclaiming an inclusive Gospel that honors the many paths to God. Pastor, leader, activist, writer, contemplative, and mother are just some of her roles, but her favorite job is being Gram to her 9 grandchildren.

Bethel Beaverton Bash

Bethel Beaverton Bash

Join us after church on September 9 for the Third Annual Bethel Beaverton Bash. There will be carnival games, sno-cones, face painting, bouncy house and even a dunk tank where you can "Dunk the Pastor" and others. There will be a table with information about the various committees at Bethel along with fun, food and fellowship. This year, we are having a Hawaiian theme so dig out your favorite Hawaiian attire and join us! We are looking for volunteers for set-up and clean up. Please contact Beth Astarte if you're available. Check out the Facebook Event!

Congregational Resolution on Healthcare

Congregational Resolution on Healthcare

The Social Justice Advocacy in Action Committee and the Mission and Outreach Committee have endorsed a resolution in support of Health Care for All Oregonians. The Health Ministries Team at First Congregational UCC Corvallis is proposing the resolution for consideration by individual UCC congregations and by the Central Pacific Conference when it meets in September. The Mission and Outreach Committee has asked the Board to adopt this resolution prior to the CPC annual meeting.

To this end, an informational meeting has been scheduled for Sunday, August 19, 2018 at 11:30 AM in the Fellowship Hall. The guest speaker for our February healthcare forum, Dr. Mike Huntington, will return to Bethel to provide more information and answer our questions about the resolution. Congregational feedback will be collected at the meeting and via email prior to the August board meeting. Please download and read the resolution HERE and plan to attend the meeting on August 19. Thank you!

What is Yours to Do For the Planet?

What is Yours to Do For the Planet?

For 17 year old Aji Piper, it is his role to join with 20 other youth to sue the federal government. "Their complaint asserts that, through the government's affirmative actions that cause climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources." (https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/us/federal-lawsuit/)  This lawsuit began in 2016 and has already weathered the federal government wanting the case to be dismissed. Gratefully, federal judges both on the original case and for the appeal saw merit in allowing the youth to continue with their lawsuit. After all, they only want clean air to breath, safe water to drink and healthy soil to grow the food they eat - they want the planet to be around for them and future generations.

Earth-Honoring Faith Continues

Earth-Honoring Faith Continues

THIS Sunday, July 8, we continue our special summer sermon series called "Earth - Honoring Faith." To help create our earth honoring sanctuary space, please bring something that represents the earth - plants, flowers (potted please), branches, pine cones, moss, rocks - whatever you can find. This is our opportunity to co-create a garden. There will be a special time during the service where we will ask people to come and place their items in front of the communion table. Your participation in the creation process and helping us remember all of the beauty of the earth is greatly appreciated.

Join Us for Earth-Honoring Faith

Join Us for Earth-Honoring Faith

THIS Sunday, June 24, begins a special summer sermon series called "Earth - Honoring Faith." How does our relationship to God - the Creator - affect the way we live on the earth? What if we lived truly connected to God's Creation? God created all things and called them "good." Throughout the series, we will look at the ways we live with the community of earth in a way that deepens our reverence for all of life. How does living in reverence for all of life inform our actions for justice and the ways we care for the earth?

Urgent Action Needed to Protect Immigrants

Urgent Action Needed to Protect Immigrants

The House of Representatives is voting this week on two pieces of legislation that will increase restrictions on legal immigration to the United States and take away trafficking protections for children. Act now – Tell your Representative to vote against the Securing America’s Future Act (H.R. 4760) and Speaker Ryan's Border Security and Immigration Reform Act.

These bills would radically change our immigration system in dangerous ways.