This is the day we take time to remember and honor all of our departed loved ones with lighted candles. Please contact the office and let us know if you have had a loved one who has passed since last November. We will have a table in the Narthex for you to bring a picture of you loved one and place it on the table
YouTube playlist for this series can be found at - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkolLLTsvkiql8D7bbO1c9-AP-StIKG3R
Bethel’s 2018 All-Church Rummage Sale generated over $6,500 to be applied toward the cost of the Fellowship Hall air conditioning. We had record donations as well as record profits. Most of the items not sold during the 2-day sale were taken to Value Village in Tigard. The payment we received from them exceeded $600, also a record. Additionally, we donated hardware and home goods to Habitat for Humanity, household items to the Community Warehouse, miscellaneous items to Good Will, shoes, canvas bags and back packs for Faith Café clients and children’s furniture to the Unity of Beaverton Church – for their rummage sale.
Many thanks to our leader, Susan Scott, to members of the Rummage Sale Planning Team and to all of you who contributed time and labor. It was truly a community effort. A special thank you to those who donated items for the sale.
We have already begun to plan for next year’s All-Church Rummage Sale. Please contact George Patch (gpatch@hotmail.com or 503-625-0910) if you would like to join our planning team.
This week, Jean Doane is excited to introduce you to two of the newest Global Ministries Mission Co-Workers, Rev. Dr. Larry Colvin and his wife Debbie Colvin. Larry and Debbie began work in Ghana on October 1, 2018. Larry was the Regional Minister for the Disciples of Christ Mid-America Region, while Debbie, a Certified Medical Assistant, was practice manager at a kidney dialysis clinic. Our partner organization in Ghana, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, requested that Larry serve as a theology professor at Peki Seminary on the campus of Evangelical Presbyterian University in Ho, Ghana and that Debbie work with the public health ministry of the EP Church. Jean met Larry and Debbie at the Global Ministries Board meeting in Cleveland in November, 2017, when they were hoping that fund raising efforts would be sufficient to allow them to begin their work in Ghana. Thanks be to God, they received enough pledges to begin serving in Ghana. Funding for their mission follows the same Personalized Fundraising model that funded the work of Rev. Erik Free and his wife Kim Free in Mozambique. Through Mission and Outreach Committee, Bethel made annual contributions to the work of the Frees, and Erik and Kim spoke at Bethel after returning from 3 years in Mozambique. Jean and Jim Doane personally made annual gifts supporting the Frees and they are doing the same for the Colvins. Jean says, “Our hope is that people at Bethel will continue where we left off with the Frees by providing on-going support for Larry and Debbie during their 3 years in Ghana. This will help the congregation have a focus for involvement with Christianity in the world context.” More information about the Colvins and Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, including information on how to donate to their ministries, can be found at https://www.globalministries.org/colvins
Important Dates:
10/16/2018: Voter Registration Deadline
10/17/2018: Ballots mailed
11/6/2018: General Election
Check your voter registration status: https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/vr/showVoterSearch.do
Find out your precinct, register online and more!
Washington County: https://www.co.washington.or.us/elections/
Multnomah County: Multnomah County Elections Division
View the Online Voters’ Guide: http://oregonvotes.gov/voters-guide/english/votersguide.html
General Election Information:
League of Women Voters: https://www.vote411.org/
Rock the Vote: https://www.rockthevote.org/voting-information/oregon/
Ballotpedia – measure information and sample ballet lookup:
VoteSmart: https://votesmart.org/elections/voter-registration/OR#.W7t2_5WWxZU
Oregon Ballot Measures SJAA Forum: Please join the Social Justice Advocacy in Action Committee for a discussion of Oregon Ballot Measures on October 28, 2018 at 11:30 in the Fellowship Hall. Carolyn Rundorff will moderate.
YouTube playlist for this series can be found at - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkolLLTsvkiql8D7bbO1c9-AP-StIKG3R
YouTube playlist for this series can be found at - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkolLLTsvkiql8D7bbO1c9-AP-StIKG3R
VOTE411.ORG
Want to know what is going to be on YOUR November ballot? VOTE411.org will go live in early October. Find nonpartisan information on candidates and ballot measures on your ballot.
PAPER VOTER'S GUIDES
Want nonpartisan voter information for all of Oregon & Multnomah Co? Look for the English and Spanish guides at LWV Election Forums, all branches of the Multnomah County Library, Multnomah County Elections Office, New Seasons, college/university and community college campuses, Gresham City Hall, and other locations.
CANDIDATE & BALLOT MEASURE FORUMS, 7 TO 9 PM, OCTOBER 2 & OCTOBER 9
Hear from candidates and advocates at nonpartisan Election Forums at Multnomah County Board Rm, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Videos available on Iwvpdx.org a few days later.
Tuesday, October 2 - Portland Commissioner, Position 3; Oregon Ballot Measure 103, no tax/fees on "groceries"; Portland Ballot Measure 26-201, surcharge for clean energy projects.
Tuesday, October 9 - Multnomah County Auditor (in partnership with City Club of Portland); Metro Ballot Measure 26-199 & Oregon Ballot Measure 102, affordable housing bonds; Oregon Ballot Measure 105, repeals law limiting enforcement of federal immigration laws.
INTERVIEWS with CANDIDATES for OREGON LEGISLATURE
In early October watch Video Voters' Guide Recordings of interviews with state legislative candidates running for election in Multnomah County at lwvpdx.org.
October 16 is the last day to register to vote. October 17, ballots mailed to voters. Change your address on an existing Oregon Voter Registration up to election day, Nov. 6. Other Election Information - oregonvotes.org and lwvpdx.org
For the next eight weeks, our Sunday morning worship will focus on the theme, “Outside My Own Little World”. Each week there will be a participatory component to worship. You will be invited to come forward and add to the building of a “Vision Board.” A vision board brings a visual collage of our thoughts, dreams and visions for Bethel’s ministry. A question or prompt will appear in the Weekly Highlights the Friday before Sunday. You’ll have time to ponder your response. When you arrive Sunday we will have the materials necessary to post your contribution to the Vision Board. This Sunday, September 23 – Theme: “I Try To Stay Awake!”Question/Prompt: What would you change about Bethel to get us “Outside Our Own Little World?”
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
