Christmas Cookie Potluck - Sunday, December 15th

Calling all cookie lovers and baking enthusiasts!

Once again, it's time to share and enjoy your favorite Christmas cookie and candy treats. On Sunday, December 15th, we'll be gathering in the Fellowship Hall after worship for the annual Christmas cookie potluck. Bring a big batch of your signature cookie to share and bring a variety home with you for your family to enjoy. Smells of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and more are in the air. If you have questions, please contact the office. 

If you have gluten free, or other allergy free recipes, they would be most welcome. Please label your offering so we know which have nuts, etc. 

Any leftovers you are welcome to bag and take home. 

The Perfect Gift for the person who has everything!

This year, consider a unique gift for your friends and family as part of the Habitat for Humanity Portland Region Gifts that Build program. These gifts of kindness will help build a Habitat for Humanity home for a local family.  We will provide you with a specially designed greeting card (see examples below), a commemorative ornament, and the joy of knowing that a hardworking family will soon have a decent home of their own. Give a gift of any amount!

How Gifts that Build Works:

Paul Griffo will host a Gifts that Build table in the Fellowship Table on December 5th and December 12th following church service. You can obtain the greeting card(s) and commemorative ornament(s) then. Alternatively, you can also contact Paul Griffo at paul.griffo@msn.com / (503 707-0226) of your interest and how many cards/ornaments that you wish to gift. Paul can arrange to deliver the card(s) and ornament(s) to you either at church or to your home. Under either option, make check payable to “Habitat for Humanity – Portland Region”.

How Habitat Works:

After acquiring land and materials, volunteers and the future homeowners work side-by-side to build homes. Habitat sells the homes to pre-qualified families using a 1% down payment and 0%-interest mortgage. Payments are set below 30% of each family’s monthly income to ensure long term affordability. Because Habitat acts as the lender, 100% of the mortgage principal payments return to Habitat to help build more homes! Reach out to Paul Griffo or Leon Taylor (mr.leon.taylor.new@gmail.com) with any additional questions and thank you for supporting Habitat for Humanity Portland Region!

Blue Christmas Service, Dec. 1st, 2:00 pm

Each year during Advent, Bethel offers a quieter, more meditative worship service. The holidays can be a difficult time for those who are coping with illness, grief, loss, 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, and dealing with the continued uncertainty of the election results and how to have a safe holiday celebration, 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. The Blue Christmas Worship Service will take place Sunday, December 1st at 2 pm as a hybrid service. 

Stewardship Series 2024

Each year we engage in a Stewardship campaign to request a financial pledge to support our mission and ministry for the upcoming new year.  The campaign begins October 27 and ends November 17. On November 17th, we will receive our pledges of time, talent and treasure during worship. 
Our theme for this year is “Imagine Together.” This theme is grounded in our belief that God speaks to us through prophets of ages past and through visionaries and leaders today. God speaks in our hearts “with sighs too deep for human words” (Romans 8). And God speaks through spirited debate as we seek to discern the right thing to do. In all these ways, God stretches our imagination for what’s possible and what’s necessary. 
Together: God calls us into community. We follow Jesus as siblings in faith. United with other believers, we form a Christian movement living the way of Jesus. Faith is not a solitary life but one that brings our hearts close to others. As a statement of faith from the United Church of Canada affirms, “we are not alone; we live in God’s world.” 

The spiritual practice of generosity arises from imagining all that God calls us to do as a community. Our donations to our congregation make it possible to turn what we imagine into a reality. Through our annual commitments to our congregation, we imagine together all that we can do. 
                         Imagine Together!

PUMPKIN PANCAKE FUNDRAISER- after service Oct 27th

For Kindergarten through 12th grade

Fire up the griddles because we're planning our annual Pumpkin Pancake Fundraiser! After service, our kids and youth will get to help serve pancakes to the congregation to help raise money for our kids and youth activities like the Pumpkin Patch. The Faith Development Committee will begin preparations during service and then kids can help serve during Fellowship Time. Be sure to bring your appetite!

Pink Out - October 20th

As we live into the teachings of “Our Family Tree” sermon series, this Laity Sunday we lift up awareness of Breast Cancer. We hope you can help in our efforts to focus on the good we can do rather than being sabotaged by fear, anger or despair.

U.S. breast cancer statistics:
   People of every country, race, ethnic group, and income level are affected by breast cancer. In the U.S., the percentage of women diagnosed with breast cancer has been slowly rising for the past couple of decades.

A woman in the U.S. today has a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer over her lifetime and a 1 in 39 chance of dying from breast cancer. 
     Nearly 30% of women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer later develop metastatic breast cancer. 
     U.S. men make up 1 of every 100 breast cancer diagnoses in the country. 
     There are about 4 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S., including women receiving breast cancer treatment. 
While the percentage of women dying from breast cancer has gone down in recent decades, black women remain more likely to die from breast cancer than women of any other racial or ethnic group.

This information is provided by Breastcancer.org.
The Ways you can help:

•      Come dressed in your favorite shade of pink 

Following service, we will have a Tea Time Fellowship where a representative from Pink Lemonade Project will speak. If you are able, donations to Pink Lemonade Project will be gladly accepted. https://pinklemonadeproject.org/

Building a Healthy Male Spirituality – A Half-Day Retreat - Oct.19th

Saturday, 9:00-Noon in Fellowship Hall

  The national political arena has brought into sharp relief toxic versus healthy male spirituality. Many of us who identify as male know what it is like to struggle with age old norms about what it means to be a “real man”. “Real men” don’t cry. They don’t share feelings (unless it’s anger). They are strong and never admit weakness or vulnerability. They devote their time and energy into their work and career advancement at the expense of deep relationships. Winning and succeeding are the forces that drive them. Failure is not an option and to be avoided at all costs.

These cultural norms, of course, don’t align with our Christian values. Many of us who identify as male have found ways to listen to and be shaped by the messages from our culture and our Christian faith. In other words, we are pulled in two directions at the same time. We have a foot in both worlds.

The purpose of our retreat will be to discuss these two arenas and seek ways to develop a “male” spirituality that combines positive attributes of culturally defined maleness (strength, courage, tenacity, drive) with the positive attributes of our Christian faith (compassion, empathy, grace and humility).

Finally, in today’s world, with the acknowledgement of great gender fluidity, if this article resonates in your head and heart, you are welcome to attend. If you have questions, Pastor David will be happy to discuss them.

Please RSVP to drb@bethelbeaverton.org We would like to provide coffee and bagels, and a head count would be a great help. 

"Youngish Adults" and Families Pumpkin Carving & Painting Night Friday, October 11th 6:30-8:00 pm

Our Youngish Adults Group and families are invited for an evening of Halloween Fun in the fellowship hall! Come prepared to carve or paint a pumpkin and enjoy a family friendly Halloween flick. Pizza will be provided and we encourage you to bring a side like a salad, drinks, or dessert. This is a kid friendly event!

If you don't have a pumpkin of your own to bring, please let us know in your RSVP so we can provide one for you.

Please email Erin Barber at eb@bethelbeaverton.org  if you plan to attend by Wednesday October 9th.

Fall Series - Our Family Tree

This fall our Sunday worship series is designed to lean into the roots and wings of our larger church family – The United Church of Christ. To stay grounded and hopeful in the anxious climate leading up to election day, we will rely on the network of relationships that we share with other progressive Christians. And keep our focus on the good we can do rather than being sabotaged by fear, anger or despair.

For years, the United Church of Christ has offered a worship planning calendar. Rather than having one overarching theme, the worship calendar lifts up the vast array of special needs within our diverse congregations. Here is a listing of annual special ministry needs: American Indian and United Samoan Ministries; Children’s Sabbath; World Communion (including the Neighbors in Need All Church offering); Disabilities and Access Sunday; UCC Higher Education Day and All Saints Sunday.

We will be doing our own version of special ministry needs. Drawing from the UCC worship planning calendar.

Know that our gathering to worship on Sunday mornings will continue to be relevant, comforting, supportive and inspirational.

ALL COMMITTEE FAIR Sunday September 22nd after service

Have you ever wondered what goes into a Sunday morning here at Bethel? Or how we come up with all the different events we do? Or how YOU can be a part of it? Come to our All Committee Fair following service on September 22nd in the Fellowship Hall to learn more!

We have many committees to thank for the amazing things Bethel does from Growth to Faith Development to Communications and Facilities (just to name a few). All this work is run by people who believe "church" is a verb. 

We invite you to come and learn more at this fair and see if there is a place for you and your unique gifts. You'll receive a punch card and get a stamp at each committee you visit, and if you visit all of them you'll earn a special prize!

Reach out to Erin Barber at eb@bethelbeaverton.org to learn more!

Volunteer Sign-ups - Sundays in the Narthex................... Saving Treasures for the Rummage Sale? Oct. 4 & 5th

Every Sunday, you can pick up a sturdy box at the Rummage Sale display in the Narthex. Please take it home and fill it up with “treasures” you no longer need or want. If something isn’t useful or bringing you joy, do you really need it taking up space in your home? 

SOME of what we can take: 
•    Clean, with no holes, clothing and accessories/shoes...kids, women’s, and men’s. We don’t have the manpower to clean clothing and shoes, so cleaning them before you put them in a donation box is very helpful. 
•    Jewelry 
•    Collectibles... If you are donating collectibles and have some idea of your item's value, please let us know. It could save someone hours of research. 
•    Books…nothing damaged or missing pages; no tech/computer manuals, medical advice, or textbooks older than 5 years; no travel guides older than 3 years; no encyclopedias or yearbooks
•    Toys and kids’ gear 
•    Household items...kitchen items, dinnerware, cutlery, bathroom items, tools, holiday decor, linens, pictures/frames/mirrors, luggage, etc. 
•    Working electronics / small appliances (Please attach any power cords to your item. They tend to get separated easily.) 
•    Sports Equipment 
•    Garden items 
•    Items for pets 
•    Furniture...if it can be moved by two strong adults.

WHAT WE CANNOT TAKE: 
-Mattresses (including crib mattresses) 
-Big boxy TVs
-Car seats
-Tires 
-Open toiletries
-Used underwear/bras/swimsuits
-Any item too large to be moved by two strong people 

The Rummage Sale display on Sundays has pictures of past Rummage Sales in case pictures “speak to you” more than lists. Those dates and times to bring your boxes and other items are printed for you to pick up at the Rummage Sale table. 

We need everyone to work a 2-hour shift (or more) to make this a successful event.  Please sign up on Sundays starting in September for at least one shift.
Just to get started we need:
-Many hands on September 29th after church to help bring up things from the basement or that evening after Faith Cafe leaves around 6:00ish to get the tables and racks set up. 
- Work a shift on Sept 30th or Oct 1 from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm receiving donations, unpacking boxes, and putting things out on tables.
- Work a shift on Oct 2nd from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm receiving donations, unpacking boxes, and putting things out on tables. 
- Price items on Oct 3rd from 9:00 am to whenever it’s all priced. 
- Work the Sale on Friday or Saturday October 4th and 5th…by working the floor, cashiering, working the hold area, greeting shoppers, etc. 
-October 5th at 3:00-5:30 pm to clean up.

September 15th: Stump the Pastor and Our Homecoming Potluck

September 15th will be an exciting Sunday here at Bethel, starting with our annual Stump the Pastor sermon. 

Do you have a theological question, or a question about the life of faith or the way the church works that you’ve always wanted to ask but were afraid to ask it? September 15th is your chance! Pastor David will offer an instant sermon with impromptu answers to your questions.
For the rest of the month, we will have a submission box and paper slips for questions out front in the Narthex on Sundays, or you may submit your questions via email to Erin  (eb@bethelbeaverton.org) Please send your questions to us by Wednesday, September 11th.

Then following this service we will have our Homecoming Potluck!  Do you have a favorite chili recipe to share? Or a favorite side to go with chili? We're getting fired up for all the fall favorites so please bring a dish to share to help us celebrate the start of a new school year and enjoy fellowship together with Pastor David's return. Please email Erin in advance to help coordinate our meals!

New Bible Study Coming Up - September 15th

Let Justice Roll Down - God’s Call to Care for Neighbors and All Creation

Join Anderson Campbell, Victory Nichols, and Paige Unangst as they facilitate discussion using a bible study written by Patricia K. Tull. Starting September 15th from 9:00 – 9:50 am in a to be determined room at Bethel and going through to November 10th. Each lesson is stand-alone so come for one or all sessions. Bible Study booklets will be available in the church office. Please RSVP to Erin Barber at eb@bethelbeaverton.org so we have an idea of how many people are coming and can make sure we have enough booklets.  

Join us Sunday, August 18th for a Presentation about the Philippines after service

On Sunday, August 18th during fellowship time we will hear a presentation from Izzy Fawson (they/them) about issues of injustice in the Philippines, alongside Copeland Downs (he/him), who works for the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines. Izzy is partnering with our Respond to Racism committee to bring this information to us as part of R2R’s mission to keep educating the church on issues related to race/discrimination. There will be a brief time to grab our refreshments and visit before we settle in for the presentation in the fellowship hall. Education is a crucial first step in developing awareness and providing help so we hope you will join us!

To understand more, check out this information: Why does the Philippines have the most number of Christians in Asia?

Join us for a Bethel Buddy Walk

Our Called to Care Team has been organizing walks to get out and about and enjoy the beautiful weather and each other's company. Whether you're a long-time member or just starting to get to know us, you are invited to come along!

Every Monday, you can join us for The Bethel Walk. We meet at 9:00 am near the food cupboard entrance on 7th St and take a walk around Bethel's neighborhood, occasionally stopping for some local coffee and treats. 

Then on Tuesday July 30th at 9:30 am April Campbell will lead a walk on a short section of the Fanno Creek Trail. Meet at the cul-de-sac on 105th (near the CHP Group building).
                6600 SW 105th Ave
                Beaverton, OR 97008
The trail is all paved except for a few composite bridge crossings and is mostly flat. There is a natural turn around point about a half mile in to make it a 1 mile walk but we can make it shorter at any time by simply turning around.
And there is usually plenty of street parking or parking in the nearby building lots.

We hope you'll join us for the fresh air and a nice walk!

Want more buddy walk updates? You can sign up in the narthex on Sunday before service or by emailing Erin at eb@bethelbeaverton.org

NEW - "Mugs with the Moderator" on Thursday August 1st, 7-8:30 pm

If you enjoyed our “Pint with the Pastor” hangout, then you'll love "Mugs with the Moderator." Join us on Thursday, August 1st from 7:00 - 8:30 pm for this special treat of Root Beer Floats!

Our Board Moderator, Jim Heider will be providing the ice cream and soda for our beverages. And if root beer floats don't fit your taste, feel free to bring your own drinks too. If you’d like to bring a snack to share that would also be welcome.
 
We’ll gather outside at Bethel around the tables with purple umbrellas and enjoy conversation and fellowship together.
 
If this appeals to you, please RSVP to Erin by Tuesday July 30th at eb@bethelbeaverton.org

Hymn Sing 0n July 28!

  On July 28th, we are going to have a good ole' hymns and songs service! Rev. Linda cannot be with us, so we're going to sing our way through the service.  Please submit your favorite 3 songs or hymns to mm@bethelbeaverton.org.  We'll be singing the ones that get the most votes, but there's lots of time so we can sing many! Please provide title, and if available, New Century Hymnal or Sing, Prayer and Praise song number. Submissions accepted through Sunday, July 21st. 

SATURDAY JULY 20th - All Church Painting Party

Due to the popularity of the Youth Group Painting Party last April, we are providing an All Church Painting Party on Saturday, July 20th at 3 - 5 pm in the Fellowship Hall.
We will be using already painted canvases to add creative updates through painting, markers, and collages. Some blank canvases will be available. Feel free to bring personal projects to work on beside us too. All ages welcome! 
Email Erin Barber at eb@bethelbeaverton.org to RSVP by Wednesday July 17th

Pride Beaverton - Next Sunday, June 30th Road Closures

We're looking forward to celebrating Pride in our community next week! The celebration will take place in the Farmer's Market Parking Lot between SW 3rd St and SW 5th St off of SW Washington and SW Hall Blvd.

The Pride Parade will begin at 11 am which means the parade route will require road closures at 10 am.

For those attending church in person, you will want to give yourself extra time to find parking Sunday morning, as SW Washington will be blocked for the parade line-up all the way to 9th St.
Our worship service will wrap up a little early so that we can head outside to show some love and cheer on the parade as it passes by. 

For more event information, follow this link: https://www.pridebeaverton.org/

Vacation Bible School Sundays Begins June 23rd

We're excited to have Vacation Bible School (VBS) all summer long again! Our Summer schedule will not follow a strict pattern as we navigate vacations and weeks at Camp Adams so mark your calendar to know what Sundays to expect VBS.
  This year our theme is Renew where we will learn how and why to care for God's creation through The Parable of the Sower. We will offer a multigenerational session for our kids to learn from one another and grow together.