Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser - Sunday, November 12th

Fire up the griddles because we're planning our annual Pumpkin Pancake Fundraiser! In the Fellowship Hall after service, our kids and youth will get to help make and serve pancakes to the congregation to help raise money to go to Camp Adams next summer. Our kids will begin preparations during service and then serve during Fellowship Time. Families note: a few kids/youth will still be able to sell wreaths during this time and are welcome to rotate if they want to take part in both fundraising events.

Response to Racism New Logo

We asked Beaverton High School’s art department to make us a Respond to Racism (R2R) logo to use in our communications. We gave them our Bethel tree logo with colored leaves as inspiration. They have given us a beautiful logo of many skin toned hands as leaves of our Bethel tree. Like in the original tree logo, the path doesn’t end at the tree but continues. Just like our faith journeys, we always continue the path, striving to grow in our understanding and practice

Peace & Blessings

City of Beaverton - 2022-2023 Social Services Grant

Dear Bethel Congregational UCC, Thank you for the time and energy you put into your application to the City of Beaverton's Social Service Funding Committee (SSFC). We greatly appreciate the support that your organization provides to the Beaverton community. Beaverton City Council voted to fully fund Bethel, $6,000 for BHS homeless teens food bags for Winter and Spring break for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, starting July 1.

We, at Bethel, are grateful for this grant to help us feed these teens

Phase Forward Covid Update Report

Masks in Worship:
The Phase Forward Team recently met to work through the complicated subject of when to require masks at Bethel. We tried to balance the need for safety with the desire to have face coverings be optional. We reviewed the Covid numbers for our area, along with CDC guidelines, and came up with the following:

• If the CDC community risk level for Washington County is “Low”, masks will be optional. Even though it will be up to each individual, it is likely some folks will still choose to wear masks. We will honor people’s personal choices, whichever option they choose to make.

• If the CDC community risk level is “Medium” or “High” we will require masks.

• Right now, Washington County is in the “Medium” risk level and masks are required. When the current outbreak fades we hope to again be in the “Low” category.

• CDC updates its ratings every Thursday, but you won’t need to research the CDC community risk level before coming to worship. Instead, you should come prepared to wear a mask. There will be signage in the Narthex saying whether masks are required or optional that particular Sunday.

When it’s best to worship remotely:

• We would love to see you in church, but if you have any Covid symptoms like congestion, runny nose, cough, sore throat, fever, shortness of breath or fatigue, please stay home and worship remotely.

• Also, please worship remotely if you have been exposed to someone within Covid within the last 5 days.

The Phase Forward Team will continue to meet to make assessments and adjustments to our policies as time goes on. We thank everyone for being flexible and respectful of everyone’s masking choices.

Thank you for your understanding, support and involvement with Bethel.

Mental Health Awareness is Not Just for Sunday

On Sunday, February 6, 2022, Chris Bouneff, the Executive Director of the Oregon chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) was the guest speaker at Bethel UCC as part of their Mental Health Awareness Sunday. Please click here to download various behavioral health support resources for Oregon and Southwest Washington.

In addition to being the Executive Director, Chris oversees NAMI’s statewide public policy and education efforts, among his other duties. Chris previously served as board president of NAMI Oregon and was active in public policy issues.

NAMI Oregon is a grassroots, membership-governed organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals living with mental illness and their families and other loved ones through education, support, and advocacy. NAMI is composed of members with direct lived experience with mental illness — people who live with illness, family members with a loved one who lives with illness, or people who are often both. NAMI members and leaders use their lived experience and expertise to spread acceptance and to improve services for all people affected by mental illness.

Prior to his current position with NAMI Oregon, Chris served as director of marketing and development for De Paul Treatment Centers, an addiction treatment provider for adults, youth and families located in Portland. Chris has spent a career in communications, marketing and advocacy with various agencies, including Trillium Family Services, one of Oregon’s largest children’s mental health care providers. He also served in similar positions with the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and Boise State University. Prior to that, Chris worked as a reporter covering public policy and enterprise stories for various newspapers and magazines across the West.

He was born and raised in Portland and attended the University of Oregon, where he graduated with a degree in journalism.

Habitat for Humanity - Critical Home Repair Services Available to Income-Qualified Beaverton Homeowners

We would like to spread the word about a great program made available by Habitat for Humanity Portland Region: Habitat for Humanity Portland Region has partnered with the City of Beaverton to provide Community Development Block Grant funds for home repair activities to low income Beaverton homeowners! If you are a Beaverton resident in need of critical home repair, please reach out to Habitat for Humanity Portland Region to learn more. You may visit their website at https://habitatportlandregion.org/ or call 503-844-7606 (ext 110).

Vacation Bible School

Bethel will be hosting Vacation Bible School for all children who have completed Kindergarten - 5th grade the week of August 9 through 13. This summer, our VBS will be held outdoors from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Everyone in attendance will be required to wear a mask, and all of our teachers and volunteers have been fully vaccinated. Children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or friends are all welcome.

To register please click on this link and complete the registration form: https://forms.gle/9qEAg7cuyvo6YdHG8

This summer, we'll be following the series Knights of North Castle:

North Castle is hidden in a frozen land. The King’s valiant knights are on a quest in search of the king’s armor. But the armor isn’t what they think it is. Knights of North Castle invites children to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power by exploring how we put on the armor of God. They’ll explore Old and New Testament stories and discover different pieces of protective armor — the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Justice, the Shoes of Peace, the Shield of Faith, and the Helmet of Salvation — at work in the lives of familiar Bible characters, and explore how that armor works in their own lives as they follow and serve God.

If you have any questions about VBS or safety protocols, please contact Beth Astarte at ba@bethelbeaverton.org. 

Hybrid Worship at Bethel

We are delighted to announce that we will begin in-person (hybrid) worship on Sunday, June 27! We will be using a sign up system to assist with planning, safety, and to make sure we are adhering to occupancy requirements. To sign up for an upcoming June or July worship date, visit our sign up form here: https://forms.gle/w17UFoCY5ANzgXZ46

After you have submitted your request, the office will follow up with a confirmation email on Friday prior to that week's service. This is so we can accommodate the largest number of people depending on how many requests we receive for socially distanced seating, which will determine the attendance capacity of that service.

Things to know about hybrid worship and safety:

• Everyone is required to wear a mask that covers both the nose and mouth.

• Please maintain social distancing when not seated in Sanctuary.

• We are providing both socially distanced (required for children and adults who are not vaccinated, and available for those would would prefer to stay socially distanced) and non-socially distanced seating (everyone in group must be vaccinated). Ushers will guide you to your seats.

• No congregational singing in the Sanctuary.

• Pastor David will greet congregants OUTSIDE after worship. Please plan to do your personal socializing outside.

• Our services will continue to be live-streamed to Zoom and Facebook. There will NOT be a coffee hour in the Fellowship Hall after worship. We will continue to offer breakout rooms on Zoom after worship.

• If you have reason to suspect that someone in your household may have or have been exposed to COVID-19 or you are experiencing symptoms of illness, we ask you to please worship from home.

If you need to make a modification to your sign up for an upcoming Sunday service after the office has closed on Friday at 3:00 p.m., please email Beth Astarte at ba@bethelbeaverton.org.

If you have any additional questions, please email the office at office@bethelbeaverton.org.

Bethel Awarded City of Beaverton Grant!

The Outreach Committee is happy to report that Bethel has been awarded a City of Beaverton grant for $5000 to help finance the 2021-22 Beaverton High School winter and spring break food bags for homeless students. This is our second year of being awarded this grant! A special congratulations to our Outreach committee chairs Fran Jensen and Nancy Winston.

Bethel Received a Social Services Grant Award!

Bethel Received a Social Services Grant Award! Outreach Committee is happy to announce that Bethel was chosen as one of the recipients of the 2020-2021 Social Services Grant. Not only were we awarded an initial $5,000, which was what we applied for, but we were later notified that an additional $15,000 would be awarded to Bethel - available funds were remaining after all of the initial awards were given out, and food programs were prioritized for the additional available funds. Amazing news.

We will be using the $5,000 original grant funds to purchase additional foods to boost the nutritional value of the Winter and Spring Break food bags for Beaverton High School Homeless students. Congratulations and special thanks to those who worked so hard on this grant: Fran Jensen, the grant's author, as well as Jim Keniston, Kelsey Brielle Rundorff, Nancy Winston, Megan Cohen from the City of Beaverton, and the Outreach Committee. Fantastic job.

Bethel's Response to Racial Injustice

Bethel’s Senior Pastor Rev. David Randall-Bodman shares this pastoral response:

I have given considerable thought and prayer to a pastoral response to the murder of George Floyd and the resulting expression of public protest. The situation we find ourselves in has a long history. The outrage being expressed across the country is a symptom of a very complex system of institutional racism that has plagued our country since 1619 when the first African Americans were brought to this country and forced to serve as slaves.  Everything from economic disparity, home ownership, opportunity to vote, mass incarceration, and access to quality education and healthcare, and disproportionate representation in traditional positions of power and authority have contributed to where we find ourselves today.

Here’s what I believe:

Racism is real.

Current and past claims of injustice are legitimate.

Injustice against African Americans and other people of color will stop when whites see it, own it and make “justice for all” a priority not just an empty phrase.

Baby steps toward stemming the tide of racial injustice demand spiritual and emotional strength:

To acknowledge our own (white) privilege;

To stop dismissing and taking offense when African Americans speak their truth;

To listen with open minds and hearts.

In his sermon “The Cross and the Lynching Tree: A Requiem for Ahmaud Arbery” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6985UG0Z3k), The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III observed that over the course of American history, every time black resistance to racial injustice has been expressed, it was met with white resentment laced with violence. (A visit to the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture drove that point home to me last August.) He also made the brilliant connection:  we are suffering from two viruses – COVID-19 and COVID-1619 (the virus of racism that has continued to morph over hundreds of years).

I want to share a personal example.  When I attended Union Theological Seminary, I was deeply influenced by African American professors, Rev. Dr. James Cone and Rev. James Forbes.  Even more so, I was shaped by the friendships I had with fellow African American students: Robina Winbush, Gary Simpson, Greg Groover, Mark Chapman, and Kelly Brown-Douglas (my Systematic theology tutor). I would never have begun the hard work of acknowledging my white privilege had I not been loved enough by my professors and colleagues to show me.  

It is easy to dismiss racial injustice until you witness it. In seminary, I confessed to an African American friend that I just really didn’t get why black folk believed they had it so much harder than white folk.  He suggested we go to a nearby grocery store to buy groceries.  

As we approached the store, he told me that we’d go in together and then split up to do our own shopping.  He suggested we meet in about 10 minutes toward the back of the store.  When we found each other, he faced me and asked, “Is there a guy about 15 feet behind me?”  “Yeah” I said.  “Well he’s been following me around ever since I entered the store.  Anyone following you?”  “No”…it hadn’t even occurred to me that someone would be following me.  My friend said, “He’s a plain clothed store security officer.”  “Keep shopping,” my friend said, “let’s meet up at the cash registers in a few minutes.” We met at the check-out line.  “You go ahead of me” my friend said.  I unloaded my groceries and paid for them by personal check.  “Thank you” the clerk smiled at me as she gave me my receipt. My friend then unloaded his groceries and prepared to pay by check (By the way – we both had checking accounts from the same bank).  The clerk glared at him and said “I’ll need to see three forms of ID and two of them have to be photo ID’s.”  He looked at me and said, “Are you starting to get it?”

My friend and I had both graduated from prestigious liberal arts colleges.  Both students at the seminary a few blocks away.  Both from middle class, professional families. We were dressed and groomed almost identically.  The only difference was the color of our skin. He was tailed by a security officer and forced to prove his identity, while I experienced neither.

If you are a black person, you’d know that this sort of thing happens all the time. If you are a white person, you’d be inclined to think this was an isolated incident.  Surely my friend wouldn’t experience this every time he shopped?  This is an example of the blindness of white privilege.  Because we take so much for granted, we are stunned when we discover that not everyone enjoys the same privileges; and what’s worse, rather than being given the benefit of the doubt, they are considered guilty until proven innocent.

I find racial injustice deeply troubling. If you are like most kind-hearted people, you want to be a positive force for justice, but you may not know what to do or what to say. That isn’t a good enough excuse to do nothing or to stay silent.

My African American friends and colleagues would rather I/we try to be a force for good….to support the hard fight for racial justice in America, than to be paralyzed by our own fear that we’ll say or do the wrong thing.

With God’s help, we’ll be a force for good.

Sabbatical Supply Minister Dianne Rodriguez and Office Administrator,Courtney Czarnecki,

Introducing Sabbatical Supply Minister Dianne Rodriguez

We are delighted to introduce our sabbatical supply minister, Dianne Rodriguez, who will be joining us starting June 1st! 

After graduating from New Brunswick Theological Seminary in May of 2005, Pastor Dianne Rodriguez was called as minister to First Parish Church, U.C.C. in Jamesport, NY on Long Island. That same year she was ordained as a U.C.C. minister, of Word and Sacrament. Prior to this call she served at Bethany Congregational in East Rockaway for two years as a licensed minister and Spiritual Director. During these years she volunteered at Christa House, a resident home for those dying of AIDS. She also worked with a colleague to help facilitate spiritual gatherings for those with brain trauma. She completed a three year spiritual formation certification as a Spiritual Director from the Cenacle Retreat Center in Ronkonkoma, NY. 

Spiritual direction brought a discerning depth into her ministry at First Parish Church, U.C.C. as she helped the congregation discern God's will and vision of what it meant to be a church in the 21st Century. In addition to working with her own parish Dianne collaborated with a lay leader from Bethany Congregational, U.C.C. to explore developing a Spiritual Lifelines ministry which would serve to help enrich the spiritual life of a congregation challenged by our ever changing world. Dianne was overjoyed having been given the opportunity to serve at Forest Grove UCC for 3 months as sabbatical supply pastor several years ago. Upon her return Dianne completed Intentional Ministry Training which is part of a transitional ministry training through the Interim Ministry Network.

In her last eight years at First Parish Church, U.C.C. she helped the congregation discern a Spiritual Renewal Ministry, that actively seeks to model and be a community in which spirit and service come together. Dianne was the settled part time pastor at Hubbard UCC in Hubbard Oregon, helping the worshiping congregation close on January 6, 2019; and birth The Heart2Soul Spiritual Project. She has had an ongoing spiritual direction ministry and is affiliated with The Interfaith Spiritual Center. After having moved to Oregon, Dianne has completed restorative justice training at Resolutions Northwest, facilitated women's retreats, leadership annual visioning retreats, and serves on the committee on ministry of the Central Pacific Conference.

Pastor Dianne is loved and supported by her husband of 39 years, Lazaro, her son David and daughter-in-law Katrina, and her two grandsons Xavier and Quintin. As a former dancer Dianne has a great appreciation and love for ballet and all the arts that can be used as instruments of God experience in body, soul, and mind.  Her special interests in life are reading, bicycle riding on her yellow and hot pink Del Sol, beading, nature, the arts, theatre, music and dance, Feldenkrais body awareness movement classes, gardening, traveling and dining with friends. Her passion in ministry is rooted and founded in spiritual direction.

Staff Announcement - Courtney Czarnecki, Office Administrator

Hello to the congregation of Bethel UCC! I wanted to introduce myself to you in this week’s Highlights, and I look forward to meeting you in person as I settle into my role as your new Office Administrator!  My name is Courtney Czarnecki, and I relocated from Seattle, WA, where I was born and raised, to Portland this past summer. While in Seattle, I worked as an office administrator and program coordinator in the nonprofit sector, mostly working in the arts and humanities. As I job hunted in Portland, my new home, I had my heart set right away on this position at Bethel and was very moved by the dedication to community support and direct outreach that Bethel provides to its community, along with the uplifting values of the congregation and the perspective Rev. David Randall-Bodman shares as Senior Pastor. I knew it would be a great fit, and it has been a wonderful first couple weeks of training and getting to know the community! When I’m not at work, I’m usually trying to cook a new recipe, reading a classic novel, taking a long walk, sewing, or exploring Portland. Being a lifelong learner and staying curious are so important to me, and I love to learn and talk about travel, culture, philosophy, literature, theology, history, science, you name it! Please stop by the office any time to say hi, and I am so grateful for the warm welcome I have received.