There will be a Habitat morning work day on Saturday, February 16 at the Denney Road site from 8 to noon. This is a chance to show your skills working to build homes for families who otherwise couldn’t afford a home of their own. The site is well-marked and on the Scholls Ferry end of Denney. Steve Thomas will be signing up a work crew on the next several Sundays after church or contact him at caroleth@aol.com or (503) 645-1997.
2019 Annual Meeting-All are Welcome
Mark your calendars, Bethel’s annual meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 27th after worship. In our tradition, the annual meeting provides a living example of how UCC congregations govern themselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The moderator (the chief lay leader of our organization) presides at the meeting. Reports from the various committees and teams are reviewed and accepted. A mission revenue and spending plan (a.k.a. the church budget) is presented, discussed and adopted. Past year successes and challenges are highlighted. Priorities and goals for the upcoming year are shared and celebrated. A slate of officers and lay leaders will be presented by the Nominating committee.
If you are new to Bethel, this is a GREAT way to understand how our church “works”. The meeting is open to anyone who would like to attend. For issues that require a formal vote, the official members of the congregation qualify to express a “yes”, “no” or “abstain”. Bethel friends who have not formally joined the church are encouraged to ask questions and share their insights and perspectives with respect to the topic “on the floor”. While essential decisions need to be authorized by a formal motion and vote, Bethel strives to make decisions through a process of dialogue and consensus. Deepen your understanding and investment in Bethel’s ministry by participating in the annual meeting January 27! Grace abounds….
Faith Cafe this Sunday
Greetings, Volunteers: Happy 2019! The holidays were wonderful, but it's time to get back to business!!
Bethel's next opportunity to provide volunteers for Faith Cafe will be this Sunday, January 13. Please let Peter Bauer (peterwbaueriii@comcast.net) know if you are able to help out. If you would like to help with cooking (2 pm arrival) or set up (3 pm arrival), please put that in your email to Peter.
After January 13, Bethel's next turn will be March 3. Thank you!
Founded in 2005, Faith Cafe serves a free hot meal each Sunday at 5:00 PM and on the last Thursday of each month at 5:00 PM.
Faith Cafe offers a free, hot home-style meal every Sunday at 5:00 pm at Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ.
Faith Cafe is also open the last Thursday of every month for dinner at 5 pm.
We are located at 5150 SW Watson Ave. in Beaverton.
Calling All Hockey Fans!
Put Saturday, January 19th, on your calendar for a thrilling Winterhawks hockey game with the Everett Silvertips. To sign up for this outing, contact Jim Butler(jbcubsfan@msn.com), or he will also have a signup sheet near the church entrance on Sundays. Adult tickets will cost $19.50 each, as always, kids are free. Deadline to order tickets is January 9th. Tickets will be available Sunday, January 13th
Bread, Bath and Beyond
You are invited to join us in the new year as we explore a new series from Worship Design Studio called Bread, Bath and Beyond. The new year always brings opportunity to move beyond our limitations… to find new beginnings and be better than we were before. We use this cultural word-play to remember that the most basic transforming experiences of our faith–communion and baptism–are the starting points for life “beyond” our limitations. Let’s make this year one of amazing transformations–for our lives, for our community, for our world beginning January 13.
John Nilsen Trio
John Nilsen Trio to Play at Bethel UCC the Last Sunday of 2018. For about the last eight years, the John Nilsen Trio has been performing at the Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ during the holiday season. This year is no different and on December 30 at 10 am, they will be at Bethel again. The John Nilsen Trio is based in the Portland area and consists of John Nilsen, Jason Moore, percussionist and Jeff Leonard, bass player.
John Nilsen was born in Seattle, Washington and moved to Portland, Oregon when he was four years old. He began studying classical piano from his mother at age six and started playing the guitar at age fourteen. He attended Southern Oregon College (Southern Oregon University), graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and was honored by the institution in 1995 with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Nilsen founded the Magic Wing recording label in 1987 that has a catalog of eleven successful titles, all having international distribution. Nilsen and Jason Moore met in Ashland in 1987 and became his percussionist and in 1992, Jeff Leonard joined the group as the bass player.
This is a wonderful opportunity for the entire family to end the year, enjoy some great music and worship together on Sunday, December 30, 2018 at 10 am at Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ, 5150 SW Watson, Beaverton, Oregon.
Christmas Eve Services
2019 Schedule
Christmas Eve Family-Friendly Service
Join us in the sanctuary for a celebration of Christmas that is fun and festive for families with young children, or children of any age. Our early Christmas eve service on December 24 at 5 pm will include a participatory reenactment of the Christmas story as recorded in Scripture. With carols, costumes and prayers, this service provides a wonderful opportunity to worship on Christmas eve at an earlier hour.
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Starts at 10:00 PM in 2019
You are invited to join us December 24 for a candlelight service as we continue our theme of Angels Among Us. Listen to readings, sing carols and hear beautiful music by our Chancel and Handbell Choirs. The service will end at midnight on Christmas Day with the lighting of candles and the singing of Silent Night. It is a wonderful way to celebrate God's love through the birth of Jesus!
Christmas Pageant - #GotMyWings
Make plans now to join us on Sunday, December 23 at 10 am when the children and youth of Bethel present #GotMyWings. You will want to find out if Gabriel gets his wings after delivering messages of hope, peace, joy and love this holiday season. Owen Hofmann-Smith and Beth Astarte have once again teamed up with an original script and music along with some all time favorites! You won't want to miss it! If you would like to help with the pageant, please contact Beth.
Blue Christmas
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. This time of year, the culture around us seems to demand hearty good cheer at all times. When we are grieving, in pain, trying to make ends meet, or reeling from the violence and hatred in our nation and in the world, we may feel out of step and off balance.
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 candlelight, music, and, if desired, the ancient practice of anointing with oil.
This year's Blue Christmas Worship will take place on Sunday, December 9 at 2 pm in Bethel's sanctuary. The pastor and Called to Care members will be available after the service for any who wish to stay to speak privately with someone. For further information, please contact Pastor David.
Affordable Housing Social Justice Forum
On Sunday, September 30 at 11:30 AM the Social Justice Advocacy in Action committee will host a forum on Affordable Housing featuring guest speaker Komi P. Kalevor, Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Washington County. And Bethel members Paul Griffo and Carolyn Rundorff will update us on the latest volunteer opportunities with Habitat for Humanity and Family Promise. Don't miss it!
Compassionate Communication - Outside My Own Little World
This Fall we will begin the sermon series, "Outside My Own Little World" from Worship Design Studio. It seems the world these days teeters between those who seek to protect “their own” and those who dare to declare that all are worthy of compassion and care. In this series, we will remember why we are a Body together—being the hands and feet of Christ in a frightened and hurting world. What better way to do that then joining Bethel's Compassionate Communication Learning Community (CCLC). The CCLC is designed to help us get out of our own little world and really see people for who they are and where they are at. Learn about making observations without judgments and interpretations, embracing feelings as need messengers, identifying needs - ours and others and getting to the "ask." We will experiment with a blended learning style that will have an online component as well as in-person practice opportunities. It will be held September 10 - November 12. Click here for an overview. Be sure to register for the class by emailing Beth. The overview and orientation is September 10 at 7 pm in the conference room.
Blessing of the Animals
All are invited to join us for the Blessing of the Animals service on Sunday, September 9, at 10 am. The service will be held in Beaverton's Veteran's Memorial Park located at 7th and SW Watson. All are welcome to attend and bring their pets for a blessing. If your pet isn't comfortable around lots of people and pets, you are invited to bring a photo. Some children even bring their favorite stuffed animals -- all options are encouraged.
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
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
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.
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
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!
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.
Mendicant Pilgrimage
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.