Bethany Congregational Church Volume 5 February, 2015 Number 2 Foxborough, Massachusetts All-Church Lenten Study During the season of Lent, followers of Christ often seek to join Jesus for 40 days and spiritually walk in his footsteps. We are taking this journey together this Lenten period by doing a study called The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus. This study, by minister and author Adam Hamilton, begins with Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River and temptation in the wilderness and ends with the week leading up to his death in Jerusalem. In between ...”we'll walk among the ruins of Capernaum, where Jesus made his home during his 3 years of public ministry. We'll climb the mountain where Jesus may have given his most famous sermon. We'll take a boat onto the Sea of Galilee. We'll see Jacob's Well, where Jesus offered an outcast a drink of living water.” These events and locales will come alive for us in our readings, and also in a short video each week filmed in the Holy Land. Participation is easy - join one of the small groups by contacting Deb Byron ([email protected]) by February 1. The cost for study materials is $22. Each week you'll read a short chapter in the book and come to your small group to discuss it and view the video. Also, a 40-day devotional book entitled The Way: 40 Days of Reflection will provide you with daily readings from the Gospels and brief reflections on their meanings for your life today. Don't wait – sign up today to refresh and deepen your faith walk! (See the schedule on page 6 to pick your time and location). “Shrove Tuesday” – “Fat Tuesday” “Mardi Gras”! It all just means … Pancakes! Tuesday, February 17th at 6:30 p.m. at the Church! $5.00 Tickets available at Coffee Hour and in the Church Office. “God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts!” 1 Dear Bethany Family, February we begin our new month of the Seven Spiritual Practices, and our focus will be on missions. Jesus instructs his disciples to care for the poor, look after the widows, provide for orphans, help the sick, visit those in prison, and share with each other in order to care for and preserve the wellbeing of one another. These teachings are grounded in the Old Testament in the Laws of Moses. When Ruth gleaned Boaz’s field, the law required the field owner not to do a second harvest of the field. After the workers picked the grain, any grain heads left could be harvested by those who needed charity. Mission work is a central theme throughout the whole Bible. In the modern age much mission work is done by 503C not-for-profit charities. The traditional model of charity work done by the Church is at a disadvantage to laws and restrictions. For instance churches are persuaded by IRS restrictions to be politically neutral in order to maintain tax exempt status. However a 503C can be a non-religious, tax-exempt organization and can be politically active. Mission work is more than providing resources, it is creating pathways. This is one reason why we have seen the emergence of so many not-for-profit charities being able to do more than many churches. Last month our focus was on the spiritual practice of discipleship. Discipleship we defined as mentoring. It is the process of offering encouragement and guidance to others to help them be successful. Jesus guides us with encouragement and instructions of how to live a life that is overflowing. Success is not material means; Jesus defines success as obtaining salvation. A Mission focus is the next natural step in our seven part series on spiritual practices. Jesus was on a mission to bring the lost back to God. He accomplished this by providing for their physical, mental, and spiritual needs. Mission work is doing discipleship with a hands-on approach. As St. Thomas of Aquinas put it, “Preach the gospel and when necessary use words”. What sets Christian mission work apart from charity is the fact that it is our love for Christ that we provide for the well-being of others. With every person we work with, we should communicate that we do this in remembrance of Christ. It is out of sacrificial love that we make the effort to go the extra mile in the ways we care for each other. Many desire to offer a helping hand, Christian mission work is done with the hands of Christ. Even when they are raw and pierced, we do not give up because we know Christ never gave up on us. I hope and pray all of us in the month of February will take the time to discover the joy of working with the various ministries at Bethany. This is a wonderful month to discover the love of God in working with others. It is through the sacrificial efforts of Christ that we have received salvation. It is through the sacrificial efforts of the Church that many are saved. And it is in our personal commitment to love the Lord in the ways that we care for each other that God is glorified. Be prepared for the 4th Sunday of Mission Month as we come to “Missions 401”. I have a big reveal to go along with it and I look forward to sharing it with everyone at Bethany. Pastor Derek White 2 February is “Missions Month” and there will be a guest speaker each Sunday, representing mission opportunities available to Bethany members and friends. -Sunday, February 1st – Eric Delong will represent Harvest Hands Ministries. Eric’s presentation will include a power point presentation of the framing, construction, and closing-in of the second story of the second dormitory at Resplendor De Vida Children’s Home in Juarez. He will speak of additional opportunities to help in the Harvest Hands Ministries programs. We will have the opportunity to join Eric and His Providence Church in Seekonk, in June 2015, on a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico. -Sunday, February 8th – Deb Snow will represent LYNN Ministries, which serves over 150 people each month. She will explain what LYNN Ministries is about and what it does to help the homeless and the needy in Brockton, Attleboro, and the surrounding areas. Deb will inform us of the many opportunities to serve others by volunteering to help the people in need in our surrounding communities, especially during the winter months. -Sunday, February 15th – Jessica Fothergill, Associate Director of the Center for Student Missions in Boston, will speak to the congregation on CSM’s mission work in Boston. CSM provides missionrelated projects throughout the city of Boston, serving the poor and needy. CSM exists to bring students and adults into the inner city for ministry. Jessica will explain the short-term mission trips available in Boston and the mission outreach opportunities available in soup kitchens, food banks, homeless shelters, childcare facilities and youth facilities that could use our volunteer help. -Sunday, February 22nd – Our speaker will be from Heifer International and will talk about how to bring clean drinking water to people through their “Gift of Clean Water” which provides wells in villages where there are not the resources for uncontaminated drinking water. Each Sunday in February, during Coffee Hour, Mission Outreach will have an area set up so that we will have the opportunity to ask questions and chat with our guest speakers. Please check out the Mission Outreach bulletin board each Sunday for opportunities to volunteer as individuals or in groups. New opportunities will be posted weekly. Let us show God’s love by serving others in Jesus’ name. Carol Ann Fraser Mission Outreach Chairperson 3 Discipleship Opportunities Little Footsteps Preschool, a ministry Contact Deb Byron at byron@bethanychurch. org for more info. of Bethany, is beginning enrollment for our fall classes. We have halfday classes for children ages 2.9 – 5 years old. Contact our Director, Nancy Kaeser, at [email protected] to schedule a tour, or visit our website at www.littlefootstepspreschool.com Mentoring 101 Join Pastor Derek for a small group study based on John Maxwell’s book “Mentoring 101”. The focus of this four-week study is to better understand mentoring relationships. We meet on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Parlor. Upper Room Devotional Bible Study Junior High meets from 5-6:30 and Senior High meets from 6:45-8:15. This year’s theme is “One Voice”. We hope to see you there! Our program schedule "The Fridge Flyer" for the Winter Season of BYG is included in this Bethany Bell. Contact Anne Marie Holloway, our Director of Youth ministries at [email protected]. Join Carol Fraser every Thursday at 7:00 p.m. to read and discuss teachings and insight from The Upper Room devotional. All are welcome! Coffee & Chat Are your kids getting to the stage where you’re doing less “mothering” and more worrying? Do you want to talk with others experiencing the challenges of parenthood and find Christ-centered support? Join Libby Carter at the Commons Eatery in Foxboro before church Sunday mornings from 7:45 until 8:45. Deep Freeze! Youth of Bethany In Grades 6-12! Registration for Berea's Deep Freeze weekend Retreat is upon us!! Please see our Director of Youth Ministries, Anne Marie Holloway for Registration Forms. Deposits are due at time of Registration: $50.00. No additional registrations will be accepted after Wednesday February 25th. Contact Anne Marie at [email protected] for more information. Basket Cases Help gather donations and package them up in beautiful gift baskets for families of New Hope Shelter in Attleboro who often arrive with just the clothes on their backs. Contact Cindi Bell at 401-405-1921 for the monthly schedule. Book Discussion Group Mission Outreach News Held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m. in the Parlor. Contact Jane Michelmore at 508-543-7187 or Deb Byron at [email protected]. Mission Outreach’s Community Dinners have been a great blessing for our community, and we thank all the cooks and servers and cleanup crew that have volunteered. If anyone is interested in being a volunteer at any of the dinners that are served the second Saturday of each month, please contact Jane Michelmore at 543-7187. Our next serving date is Saturday, February 14th – join us for a “sweetheart” of a meal! Parlor Chats with the Elders – come sit and chat about any church issue that’s on your mind. Perhaps you have questions we can answer. Now’s your chance! We meet the first Sunday of the month in the Parlor between the two services so that everyone can come – join us for our next get together on February 1st! 4 Book of Life ●Nursery Volunteers 9:00 a.m. Service 2/1 Mary Lou Pike 2/8 Lily Marszalkowski 2/15 Aurora Pop-Vicas 2/22 Matt Rogers Chancel Flowers January 11th, given to the glory of God and in memory of their loved ones, by the Nevers family. January 18th, given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Richard Leggee by his family. January 25th, given to the glory of God and in loving memory of their parents, Helen & George Byron and Dorothy & Donald Johns, by Debbie and Dick Byron. 10:30 a.m. Service 2/1 ** 2/8 Lily Holloway 2/15 Brenna Murphy 2/22 ** ●Service Readers 9:00 a.m. Service 2/1 Mark Hawrylciw 2/8 John Michelmore 2/15 Deb Graham 2/22 Heidi Hobbs Deaths Our sympathy is expressed to Wilda Leggee and her family on the death of her husband, Richard Leggee, on December 18, 2014. Our sympathy is expressed to Pamela Ketterer and her family on the death of her father, Paul Anderson, on December 30, 2014. Our sympathy is expressed to David Hammond and Laurel Reid and their families, on the death of their mother, Jean Hammond, on January 6, 2015. Our sympathy is expressed to the family of Anita Heroux, who died on January 11, 2015. She was the mother of Ann Conaty, and the grandmother of Arianna Boling and Nathan Anctil. Our sympathy is expressed to Bev Leete and her family, on the death of her husband, Jim, on January 25th. 10:30 a.m. Service 2/1 Sarah Murphy 2/8 June Carlsen 2/15 Ron Sullivan 2/22 Pat Scagnoli ** We have an opening, could YOU help? The deadline for the next edition of The Bethany Bell is Friday, February 20th at 8:30 a.m. Material may be submitted to [email protected]. Thanks! The Bethany Bell is now posted on the Bethany website, “bethanychurch.org” the last week of each month, for the following month. To have the newsletter emailed directly to you, go to the website and click on the link at the top of the homepage to subscribe. The Bell will be emailed to you as soon as it’s done -- and you don’t have to remember to go out to our website to read it! WORSHIP VOLUNTEERS ●Ushers/Greeters 9:00 a.m. Service 2/1 Pamela & John Winslow 2/8 Dorothy Vosburgh & Roland Demers 2/15 Ann & George Conaty 2/22 Lynn & Dave Burns 10:30 a.m. Service 2/1 Deb & Phil Graham 2/8 the Rogers Family 2/15 Beth & Jim Durham 2/22 Lois & Bill Sullivan 5 Christmas Fair News Save the Date! Saturday, December 5th, 2015! Reminder! I heard those groans! But it’s not too soon to start thinking about Christmas Fair, 2015! Here are things to keep in mind during the year: -Start a pile in your closet, garage, attic, or cellar, of gently-used items for “Gramma”! -Pick up an extra souvenir of anyplace you visit this year, and donate it to the Fair! -Keep an eye out for cool ideas for crafts, or new recipes for the Bake Table and Candy Table. Pintrest and Etsy are good sites on line to scan for ideas! The Church Fair Funds Disbursement meeting is scheduled for Sunday, February 8th in Room 303. If you will be requesting funds, please complete a “Funds Request Form.” This form was designed to organize the request process and ensure that everyone is prepared with the same type of information. Copies of the form are available in the Church Office. The deadline for submission of the request form is February 1st. Schedule of Times/Places for our All-Church Lenten Study – Sign up now! Sundays 2/22-3/29 Mondays 2/23-3/30 Tuesdays 2/24-3/31 7:00 pm Wednesdays 2/25-4/1 10:30 am 7:00 pm Bethany parlor (Leader - Anne Marie Holloway) Childcare Deb & Ted Mertz' Sandy & Paul Carroll's Bethany parlor home home (Leader - Deb Byron) (Leader - Ellen Dean) (Leader – Lynn Burns) Childcare 10:00 am 7:00 pm 7:00 pm Thursdays 2/19-3/26 7:00 pm Steve & Anne Randall's home (Leader – Steve Randall) Childcare Bev & Tom Crocker's Glenda Haney's home home (Leader – Glenda (Leader – Bev Crocker) Haney) The Food n’ Friends Program Presents: The Wake of Matty O’Malley News “The funniest wake you’ll ever attend!” Below are dates for anyone interested in serving with LYNN Ministries in Attleboro or Brockton: 2/7, 2/21, 3/7, 3/21, 4/4, 4/18, 5/2, 5/16, 6/6, 6/20, 7/4, 7/18. They are especially looking for people to cook. Contact Angela Maynard at 508-543-2256 to sign up, or for additional information. Saturday, March 14th at the Elks Hall, 887 South Main Street, Attleboro Irish Music & Dancing Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner Tickets are $45 or $425 for a table of ten Call the Attleboro Area Council of Churches at 508-222-2933 or attleborocouncilofchurches.org to order tickets. 6
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