A giant thank you to all of you for helping collect, organize, bag and drive food to Beaverton High School! This project is simply impossible without your help!
Is your hard work worth it? Mac and Nancy Macpherson came back from Beaverton High saying how thrilled and amazed the counselors were to see all this food (it filled two rooms). They couldn’t believe that a church the size of Bethel could do all this. The counselor reported that some family members were in tears...
Thanks to our awesome Bethel Family and our partners, we have enough food and bags for the Beaverton High School Homeless Teen food project. Now we are asking for bodies. On Sunday, Dec 17 around 7pm after Faith Café, we will move all the food into the fellowship hall. This is heavy work and a little chaotic. Join in if this appeals to you. On Monday, Dec. 18, we need food packers at Church by 9am. We also need drivers around 9:30 am to drive food to BHS. This is a fun community day so please join us if you are available.
Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ will be hosting a FREE Social Justice Forum on February 25, 2018 at 11:30 AM. We will screen the new documentary movie "Fix It - Healthcare at the Tipping Point" followed by a Q&A discussion with local healthcare activists. A light lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to socialjustice@bethelbeaverton.org.
A powerful documentary that reaches across the political and ideological divide, "Fix It" makes the case for business leaders support for major healthcare reform. The film was two years in the making, with more than forty voices advocating for reform, including: activists, health policy experts, economists, physicians, nurses, patients, business and labor leaders.
Each year during Advent, Bethel offers a quieter, more meditative worship service for those who are coping with serious illness, grief, loss, or any of the other difficulties and challenges of life. The Blue Christmas Worship Service gives us an opportunity to give voice to our pain and frustration, and the opportunity to allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us through candle light, music, and, if desired, the ancient practice of anointing with oil. This year's Blue Christmas Worship will take place on Sunday, December 10 at 2 pm in Bethel's sanctuary.
THIS Sunday, December 3 you'll have an opportunity to "Live Abundantly in Uncertain Times" by dedicating your pledge of time, talent, and treasure. Please bring your pledge card with you THIS Sunday. Extra pledge cards and hard copies of the Time & Talent will be available at the church. Remember you can complete your Time and Talent form online by clicking on this link. If you are unable to attend, drop them in the offering plate the next Sunday you're with us or deliver to the office.
Every 2nd and 4th Mondays from 7-8:30 pm, a group of people meet in the Conference Room at Bethel to practice our compassionate communication (NVC) skills. Come and be a part of the fun as we practice and hone our compassionate listening ears. No matter your level of experience or whether you've attended a group in the past, you are welcome to join us.
I hear the word faith quite often, especially here at church in regards to our religion; but what does faith really mean? According to my dictionary; Faith is something that is believed especially with strong conviction. What a vague definition! I needed to know more, so, like any good researcher I began asking questions; What does faith look like? What do others believe in? What does strong conviction look like? I looked at home, I looked at school, I even looked at gym practice. But I ended up right back where I started; here at Bethel.
So I asked other people what they believed in. Most people said they believed in God, or maybe their church. Some weren’t sure what they believed in.
I asked myself these questions too. What do I believe in?
As many of you know, we are Monique and Nikki Manley-Smith. We have been members here at Bethel UCC for close to a year and a half now (give or take). Which seems odd to think about because we feel like Bethel is so ingrained in our lives now that it’s hard to believe that there was a time (and it wasn’t that long ago) when it wasn’t. Today we are going to share with you the blessings of community that we have witnessed at Bethel. But before we go putting the horse before the cart how about we give you a bit of our history.
I, unlike Mo, did not grow up in the church. I actually found Christ while smack dab in the middle
When David asked me to share with you some of the reasons I’m so devoted to this church, I had my doubts. How to abbreviate almost 80 years into a few minutes was going to be tough, but I decided to tap into the passionate side (as David puts it) of my persona and share a few incidences that make this church, this Bethel, my faith community home and, indeed, an emerging pillar of Beaverton society. Let me give you a wee bit of my family history.
My mother, at 11 months in age and having lost her own mother to the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1917, was raised by the Designers who were next door neighbors and two of the original members of this church. They were also parents to 3 boys and 1 girls of their own. The family then was
THIS Sunday from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM the Beaverton Community Band will be performing a FREE public concert at Bethel UCC. An offering will be taken, and 100% of the proceeds will go to Bethel!
Invite a friend to attend THIS Sunday, and let's show the band how much Bethel appreciates them! If you've never seen the Beaverton Community Band before, here is a video from an earlier concert at Bethel. Click the link, you'll be impressed! https://youtu.be/4J-JIBjA1uk?t=131
I read this book, a birthday present from my son Michael, while flying to Cleveland for the Common Global Ministries Fall 2017 meetings. Why not get closer to God while a citizen of the City in the Sky, part of the one million people in flight at any given moment in time? Walter Brueggemann is one of my favorite theologians, an elder statesman of the United Church of Christ. In under 100 pages, he insightfully lays out the case for Sabbath observance as a revolutionary act, an act of resistance against the 24/7/365, BUY NOW culture of ceaseless activity and endless greed in which we live in 21st century America.
Brueggemann is a noted Hebrew Scriptures scholar. His analysis of the socio-economic realities surrounding the commandment to cease work on the seventh day reveals the depth and breadth of his knowledge of the ancient Hebrew texts. He makes a compelling case that
Download Bethel's new "Advent Events" document today!
