Want to know what activities are scheduled over the next few months at Bethel? Check out our online Activities Calendar or pick up a 3-month schedule in the Narthex on Sundays. A great big THANK YOU to Jan Hodge for creating this easy guide. Be a part of the Bethel fun!
Join us for worship THIS Sunday, Aug 27 at 10am. We will have special musical guests joining music director, Owen Hofmann-Smith to form a full worship band. We will welcome Eddie Parente on fiddle, Laith Thoma on guitar, Jacob Estep-Ignacio on drums and Amanda Hofmann-Smith on vocals performing sacred music written by Dolly Parton. You won't want to miss it.
It's almost time to go back to school and sales are starting. We are collecting pens, markers, 3-ringed spiral notebooks (college ruled) and backpacks for Beaverton High School homeless students. We would also appreciate any kind of toiletries- shampoo, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, razors. These can be travel sizes. There is a donation box outside the chapel. Thanks!
Mark your calendar for August 24 when Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty will hold their annual meeting at the Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ in Beaverton, Oregon.
The featured speaker will be Gov. John Kitzhaber. Governor Kitzhaber, has served the State of Oregon for over three decades as a member of the legislature and as a three-term governor. He is a hero among death penalty abolitionists as the person who first declared a moratorium on executions in November of 2011. That halting of executions continues today. The governor will speak to his earlier fateful experience with the death penalty and proclaim his outspoken passion for abolition now.
08/17/2017, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
The Rosetown Ramblers is a square dance club for the LGBTQ community and allies in Portland, Oregon. They have been active in Portland since 1983. They welcome all square dancers, regardless of age, race, color, gender, religion, ethnic background, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. So lace up your dancing shoes and get ready to square dance!
You are cordially invited to a 80+ Birthday Celebration on Sunday, July 30 at 10:00 am Service & 11:15 am Fellowship Time. Bethel will honor all our Elders who are Celebrating their 80th (or up!) Birthday with a Special Worship Service and Fellowship Time! We will be having Birthday Cake and Tea Sandwiches in your honor. Please join us!
At the 31st General Synod of the United Church of Christ held earlier this month in Baltimore, Rev. Jean Doane was appointed to serve on the board of directors for the Common Global Ministries Board (CGMB). CGMB is a joint ministry between the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ denominations. The news was shared with Jean by Rev. Jim Moos, Executive Minister, UCC Wider Church Ministries and Co-Executive, Global Ministries...
Come meet with Bethel’s Social Justice Advocacy Team on Sunday, July 23, 11:30-12:30 in the Narthex Room to help plan this fall’s Social Justice Forums. Past forums have provided information on homelessness, affordable housing, the 2016 ballot measures, The New Jim Crow, and immigration. So far, suggested topics for our fall forums include health care, disability discrimination, housing/evictions, sexual assault prevention, and Israel/Palestine.
You are cordially invited to a 80+ Birthday Celebration on Sunday, July 30 at 10:00 am Service & 11:15 am Fellowship Time. Bethel will honor all our Elders who are Celebrating their 80th (or up!) Birthday with a Special Worship Service and Fellowship Time! If you would like to be part of the worship service call BETHEL at 503-646-1191, ask for Beth, or leave a message. We will be having Birthday Cake and Tea Sandwiches in your honor. Please join us!
Lynne Elbert, on behalf of the Diaconate, Staff and Membership of Bethel
Want to know what's going on at Bethel this summer? Click below for a complete list of activities for July-September or pick up a copy at the Welcome Table this Sunday!
The annual Portland Pride Parade will happen THIS Sunday, June 18 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. Plan on meeting at Bethel at 8:45 AM to ride the MAX downtown. Click on the link to read about our participation: http://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/362840-242869-lgbtq-friendly-church-to-march-in-pride-parade
Bethel will host two presentations on immigrant rights on Sunday, June 11, in the Education Hall. John Herrera, Program Manager of Immigration Legal Services at Catholic Charities, will present in English at 11:45 AM and in Spanish at 12:45 PM. The public is invited, including Bethel’s members, friends, ESL students, and Food Cupboard clients.
New Members to be received by the congregation THIS Sunday at 10 AM: Peter and Susan Bauer, Janice Burris, Michael Clark and Bryan Sebourn, Travis Cook and Samantha (Sami) Faile, Laurie Davis, Christine Erickson, Sean Fernandes, Barbara Hess, Neomie Lemke, and Paige Unangst.
For the next couple of Sundays, we are going to be building a representation of our church home and we need YOUR help! In the Narthex before service and in the Fellowship Hall after service, there will be Lincoln Logs (yes, we get to play with Lincoln Logs!) Please think about what makes Bethel feel like "home" to you and then write that word on one of the small logs. We will use those logs to "build" our home with all the qualities you write.
We will also have a basket of logs in the office if you are here during the week and would like to write on one of the logs.
Let's have some family fun!
Would you like to stay connected with members and friends of Bethel and be supported in your faith journey? If so, please join our closed Facebook group called Bethel UCC Misfits. Click to go directly to the page, then click join to be added to the group.
This is a safe place to share your triumphs and your struggles as we cultivate and grow in our faith journeys together. If you have any questions, please contact Beth.
Bethel is full of talented people. We see all sorts of wonderful artistic presentations on Sunday mornings but there are other talented folks who will knock your socks off with strange and wonderful acts that you would never have expected. The Bethel Talent Show is just the place to see such wonders. Mark your calendars! It'll be held on Sunday May 21 at 3 PM.
Do you have a secret talent that you've been waiting to unveil? Now's your chance! Please submit your idea for an act to music director, Owen, along with stage space requirements and sound/video tech needs.
Easter baskets, eggs and gifts are an important part of our celebration of Easter. A tradition at Bethel is to provide an Easter gift to the church to strengthen our mission. We call this the Easter Offering – a financial gift in addition to your regular offering/pledge. Easter envelopes will be available Sunday morning, or you can give online. Please prayerfully consider contributing to the Easter offering so we can proclaim to our community through our acts of loving kindness that “Christ Is Risen…Christ is Risen Indeed!”
Bethel begins the celebration of Holy Week with a very special Palm Sunday service culminating in a beautiful celebration of Easter and the risen Christ followed by a fun Easter egg hunt for all ages. You and your family are invited to join us for any and all of these Holy Week activities:
We will gather at the Front entrance of the church and in the Narthex for a congregational procession into the sanctuary with palms waving! Director of Music, Owen Hofmann-Smith has prepared a processional song for all ages. Beth Astarte will offer a dramatization of the first Palm Sunday with a “character from the crowd.” Worship will conclude with the building and procession of the cross (made from the trunks of our Christmas trees).
Join us for the Maundy Thursday worship service the Thursday before Easter. This year is different than what we've done in the past. You'll have the opportunity to hear from some of the people who were touched by Jesus in the days leading up to and including Holy Week. Jesus' final days in this human life is a story of a journey through a "Dark Wood" for all those who surrounded him. Together, we will participate in the story by reenacting the Last Supper as well as other aspects of those final days. Come and be a part of this special time as we prepare for the days leading up to Easter.
Bethel will once again serve as the gathering place for the Walk. The Walk is a one mile pilgrimage through downtown Beaverton, with stops at several different “stations”. Each station examines a different aspect of Life, Peace and Justice through Scripture, personal witness and prayer. Representatives from various churches will lead us to each station. Walking between the stations, participants will carry a large cross to remind them of the cross that Jesus carried over 2000 years ago and which is still being carried today. The Walk of the cross is a great way to identify with Jesus’ historic walk, to consider the “crosses” of social justice to which Christ continues to call us, and to sing and pray with sisters and brothers from various Christian traditions.
Sunday, April 2, the Faith Development Committee will host a Baked Potato and Salad Bar after church. This is our fund raiser for Camperships. A volunteer offering will be taken. Each week at Camp Adams costs $395. This is a great bargain, and our Bethel kids LOVE camp. Camperships make sure all kids can attend. Plan to join us after church and support the kids at camp.
Sunday, April 2 is GRUBBY SUNDAY. Wear your work clothes to church.
Inside we are cleaning the kitchen, dusting, washing windows, vacuuming, organizing, and cleaning carpet spots.
Outside (rain or shine) we are edging, weeding, trimming, digging, and pressure washing. Bring your tools and garden gloves if you have them…but we have many tools in our shed that you can borrow. LABEL YOUR TOOLS.
After you have enjoyed a baked potato lunch, you will move to the Food Cupboard area where you can choose a job from the job wall. Many jobs can be completed by one person, but it’s always okay to work with a partner. When you find a job that fits you, take the card off the wall and put it on the round table. Some jobs will have you reporting to an area to help the person in charge.
Let’s get our church home spruced up for Easter!
