Faith Leaders Call for an Immediate End to Inhumane and Unjust Policy

Faith Leaders Call for an Immediate End to Inhumane and Unjust Policy

Members of the Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ were among the 1200 who participated in yesterday’s action in Sheridan demanding that the Trump Administration end the practice of brutally dividing families seeking asylum. “As people of faith, we have a moral obligation to speak out against injustice. Our Christian tradition teaches us the importance of welcoming the stranger. The current policy of separating families is cruel and inhumane and must end,” said the Rev. Molly Carlson, Conference Minister for the Central Pacific Conference.

Beaverton School District Homeless Student Dashboard for 2018

Beaverton School District Homeless Student Dashboard for 2018

FROM: Lisa Mentesana, Homeless Education/Foster Care Program Specialist
RE: Beaverton School District Homeless Student Dashboard for June 1, 2018

As we enter into the last month of school please know that each student who has been identified as McKinney-Vento eligible during the school year has been given an opportunity to remain in their school of origin with academic and social service support. Our program helps to stop the mobility in education for these highly mobile students. Services include transportation to and from their school of origin and/or transition services into the school community closest to where they're currently living. We also provide social service support through resource brokerage to partner agencies. These valuable community partnerships help our students and families move toward long term housing stability. The positive in this difficult situation is that as a community we are working together to address critical gap areas of need in services as well as affordable housing options. Also, that while well over 2000 children and youth in our school attendance area are living with housing insecurity, they're not dealing with school instability due to the lack of permanent and/or inadequate housing.

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Mental Health Sunday at Bethel

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Mental Health Sunday at Bethel

Sunday, June 10 will be Mental Health Sunday at Bethel. Jane Zilk and Jean Doane are planning the worship service with a focus on mental health awareness. Mental Health Sunday is a way for congregations to begin or to continue to provide education and support to members around mental health challenges. We hope to break down the wall of silence and stigma around mental illness by speaking openly about personal experiences with such challenges. Jane and Jean led Bethel’s first Mental Health Sunday in April, 2016.

After worship on June 10, Rosemary (Rosebud) Kirwin-Alvord of National Alliance for Mental Illness Washington County (NAMI) will speak in the Fellowship Hall. Rosemary’s adult daughter has struggled with schizophrenia for many years. Rosemary has journeyed from disbelief and helplessness at the diagnosis, through study, to compassion and advocacy for both those with mental illnesses (brain disorders) and their families. She is a volunteer teacher of the Family-to-Family classes at NAMI Washington County.

Fundraising Concert for Bethel UCC

Fundraising Concert for Bethel UCC

The Beaverton Community Band will present its Spring 2018 Concert, “Dances and Fantasies,” at 3:00 PM on Sunday, June 10 at Bethel! Admission is FREE and donations will be accepted for the food ministries of the Bethel!

Our Theme, "Dances and Fantasies," will take the listener to the sands of Arabia in the 1920s, to the Bush

Country of Australia, to the Grand 19th Century palaces of Italy, to the Lothlorien Forest of Middle Earth, and to the lower east-side of New York City in the 1920s -- 1950s. We will get your toes tapping and itching to dance to a Mexican Fiesta, to the choreography of Jerome Robbins in his premiere ballet Fancy Free accompanied by the music of Leonard Bernstein, and to the tango from Ecclesiastes III, A Time to Dance! This concert will salute the great composers that influenced Academy Award winning movies, Broadway musicals, and the world of dance. This program has something for the young and the not so young.

What's Happening?

What's Happening?

Do you ever wonder what activities are going on at Bethel and just don't have time to wade through the myriad of calendar events? Well we have good news! One of our dedicated volunteers, Jan Hodge, has put together the Bethel UCC Activity Calendar. This rolling 2 month calendar groups events and activities by type - Family/Multi-Generational, Children/Youth and Adults. You can scan through the type of activity you're looking for and put what interests you on your calendar.

Beaverton Literacy Council Storybook 2018

Beaverton Literacy Council Storybook 2018

The Storybook is a yearly tradition for Beaverton Literacy Council. This book gives our students the chance to work on their writing skills and provides them the chance to see their improvement in mastering what they are learning. English can be very frustrating and the students have made a huge commitment to learn the language. This is published to showcase their writing and perspectives. 

The theme this year is “That was then, this is now…” We commend our students’ success and effort on this journey. The stories are published as written by the students with some spelling corrections, but no other editing or modifications. We are hoping you will take pleasure in reading the stories from our hard working students. Click here to visit the BLC website and read the Storybook 2018!

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Bethel Shows Pride 

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Bethel Shows Pride 

The annual Portland Pride Parade will happen Sunday, June 17 in downtown Portland. We would like a robust presence from Bethel to join with our sister UCC congregations. Pastor David will march again this year. If you would like to walk in our Bethel group, please RSVP to the office. Plan on meeting at the Millikan Way MAX station at 8:45 AM to ride the MAX downtown. Additional details will be provided to all those who RSVP. Click on the link to read about our participation last year: http://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/362840-242869-lgbtq-friendly-church-to-march-in-pride-parade

What is PFLAG?

What is PFLAG?

Founded in 1973 after the simple act of a mother publicly supporting her gay son, PFLAG is the nation's largest family and ally organization. Originally the letters of PFLAG stood for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Now PFLAG encompasses those two groups and  also serves as a source for information and support for our LGBTQ community. 

Uniting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) with families, friends, and allies, PFLAG is committed to

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THIS Sunday! Justice for Palestinian Children

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THIS Sunday! Justice for Palestinian Children

THIS Sunday, April 29, at 11:30 AM, Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ will host a social justice forum on the military detention of Palestinian children. Thomas Beilman, a Central Pacific Conference member who has recently returned from a fact-finding delegation focused on Palestinian children in Israeli military detention, will provide basic facts about Israel's system of military detention, including a short documentary film, "Detaining Dreams," featuring the stories of four Palestinian children and their families undergoing the ordeal of Israeli military detention. We'll learn all about the UCC Resolution which advocates for these children, as well as other steps already under way and gaining traction to help bring peace and justice to families who have lived their entire lives knowing nothing but the hardship of occupation.