Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. This year for Ash Wednesday on February 17, we will be offering a procession in the sanctuary to receive ashes from noon to 12:30 pm and from 6:30 to 7:00 pm. As we did for All Saints Day in November, we will observe social distancing, require mask wearing, and use hand sanitizer upon entering and exiting the sanctuary.
We will process down the center aisle, which will be marked in six foot increments. At the base of the steps to the chancel, a table with ashes will be in place. On the table will be a sign with instructions about how to impose the ashes, and which words to use as the ashes are imposed in the form of a cross on the forehead, or on the back of the hand.
For public safety purposes, ashes will be available in our disposable communion cups. Each person, couple or family will be able to use their own individual portion of ashes mixed with oil. Couples or families are encouraged to give to one another the ashes.
Those attending the service by themselves will have the option of imposing their own ashes, or by visiting Pastor David or Beth at a separate station to receive ashes from them.
As you exit the sanctuary via the side door near the church office, you will have the opportunity to pick up a theme object (beach glass) that will serve as the anchor image for the Lenten worship theme: “Holy Vessels: A Season of Healing”. You will also have the opportunity to pick up soup made by Nikki Manley-Smith. The soup will be in individual containers and can be taken home. If you would like soup, please place your order with Nikki by February 10th by emailing mushmellowfrmhvn@comcast.net. She is offering two options that evening: chicken and dumpling or Hungarian mushroom (the mushroom soup is gluten-free and vegan). A free-will cash offering will be taken to cover Nikki’s costs and to thank her for her time and effort.
To help in the preparation of ashes, please RSVP to the church office office@bethelbeaverton.org if you intend to participate. Please indicate whether you will attend from noon - 12:30 pm or 6:30 - 7:00 pm.
Beaverton Resource Center - Opening Soon!
The new Beaverton Resource Center is opening in February. The Center has the goal to empower individuals and families in the Beaverton area dealing with hunger, homelessness and poverty to find help and create stability for a better tomorrow. The building, located on the Beaverton Foursquare Church site on Walker Road will house several agencies. They intend to build relationships with families in need rather than offering one-time help.
When the building opens safely, volunteers will be needed. The Center also needs financial support. Congratulations to Chairman Al Schmitt and the rest of the team! Visit their website at https://beavertonresourcecenter.org/
Bethel Donations Help Local Neighbors in Need
Thanks to the generosity of Bethel Church members, neighbors and friends, local non-profit “Family Promise” earned more than $7,700 in the past year from the returnable bottles and cans we donated.
In 2020, Bethel and two neighboring churches donated a record 73,000 containers, and earned a 20 percent premium (12c per container) from local recycling centers for the bottles, cans and plastics we redeemed during a two week “Holiday Premium” period between November 15-December 1. Due in part to our Covid-confinement during the past year, and the closure or recycling centers at most retail outlets, it has become more difficult to redeem beverage containers for their 10c deposit. Our donations to Bethel Church represented an increase of more than 27 percent during the past year, as most of us stayed home, drinking from 12 oz containers, instead of eating and drinking away from home.
A growing number of families in our community no longer have the luxury of having a home of their own, or a safe place to shelter. Family Promise of Beaverton works with homeless families in our community to get them back into permanent, sustainable housing and employment as quickly as possible. Through Family Promise, guests receive food, shelter, and comprehensive support services. Guests families also have the opportunity to develop enduring life skills through individualized case management by staff and through personal mentoring by volunteers. Lois O’Halloran, chairwoman of Family Promise Beaverton recently reported how her group has been working to help local families in need:
We have had three babies born in our program since COVID. Our most recent Mom lived in her car with her 3 year old daughter until she was 8 months pregnant in order to keep her baby in her tummy safe and her 3 year old safe. Once she heard about our program we were able to take her in and guide her to appropriate medical care. She had an emergency C-section. She and her newborn son have been hospitalized 7 times in the last month and each had an additional emergency surgery. They are both on a path to healing now. We are so grateful to all our donors that allowed us to be able to serve this mom. She is amazingly resilient and with the right tools will be one of our success stories. She is passionate about making a better life for her children. We are passionate about helping her.
Thank you Bethel! Our donations during the past year have not only made a tangible benefit to our community - they have also protected our own families and public health, cleaned out our garages, and benefited our environment. That’s certainly worth toasting! So drink up, and cheers!
Annual Meeting 2021 - All Are Welcome!
Mark your calendars, Bethel's annual meeting will be Sunday, January 31 after worship on Zoom and on Facebook. We will not be having a coffee hour or breakout rooms that Sunday. All members and friends of Bethel are strongly encouraged to attend. It is best if you can join the meeting via Zoom even if you watch the worship service on Facebook. If you still are unable to get on Zoom directly and need help, please contact Nancy Winston at winstonj@comcast.net.
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.
Bethel Movie Discussions
We will be resuming the Bethel Movie Discussions on Race series starting on January 21. Please join us for these thoughtful discussions every other week on Thursdays at 7 PM. We have selected a variety of films and media that focus on issues of race, social injustice, and identity. After viewing the films on our own, we join together over Zoom to reflect, converse, and learn together in community. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86401912246?pwd=eTZxNVpxR2ZDbGlkY2RQWW5scWxPdz09. The password is: 760759.
January 21 - YouTube - Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man video series.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/Eacho18/videos
We ask everyone to watch 4 videos of their choice from the series and come with a couple of questions and we'll all share what we learned from the videos we watched.
February 4 - Loving - Based on an historical supreme court case, an interracial couple fights the law that they cannot be recognized as married in the state of Virginia. (Can be rented on Amazon for $3.99)
February 18 - The Hurricane with Denzel Washington
March 4 - Valerie Kaur TedTalk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIrl_Ob0jvg) and her Revolutionary Love conversation with Rev. Traci Blackmon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RruA8N3fmj4)
Epiphany: Flip the Switch and Be the Light
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you… Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice…” - Isaiah 60: 1-6
As we begin our Epiphany series on being “light”-hearted, we begin to look at spiritual practices to get us moving out of the mid-winter darkness and into a new season of clarity and action. We will see how experiencing the everyday activities of our lives as blessings can offer us a chance to be filled with the Light of God in whom we believe. The first week, on Sunday, January 10, we affirm that the very act of “arising” each day is a gift from God. For the next few Sundays, we will learn how we can all Flip the Switch and Be the Light in relationship not only with the Spirit, but with our families, our communities and the world around us.
Renewal Ritual - December 29
Throughout Advent, we have been called to fill the night with music and light . . . believing in the light that came with the birth of Jesus. As we move to the beginning of a new calendar year, we want to carry the hope of Christmas with us remembering that Christ’s light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
2020 has been a tough year for many of us. Feelings of fear, anxiety, loneliness, grief and pain became all too familiar companions. As we approach the end of 2020, you are invited to participate in a Renewal Ritual – an opportunity to let go of anything that you do not want to carry with you into 2021 and to envision the experience you want for 2021. We will gather via Zoom at 7 pm on December 29th. You will want to have paper, pen, your advent wreath or other candle and a glass or metal bowl for burning (or a paper shredder or scissors or your fingers.)
You can join via Zoom using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82579532974?pwd=MmtaV1pKcjdvMUhiZElmN1dMdXNpdz09 (Meeting ID: 825 7953 2974, Passcode: Advent!)
A ritual is a rite that connects us with Spirit. We use rituals to help us feel connected to God and to celebrate important moments in the life of the church – lighting the Advent wreath, lighting candles on Christmas Eve and singing Silent Night, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, All Saint’s Day are just a few examples. For centuries people have used rituals to help mark a shift or change. So we use this opportunity to continue to allow Christ’s light to shine through us remembering as Paul reminded the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”
For this Renewal Ritual, we will focus on feelings and events from 2020 that we are ready to let go of and allow the light of the birth of the Christ Child to transform us so we can turn the page and begin anew in 2021. You may be wondering how this is different from Ash Wednesday when we give up to God those things we want to let go of. There isn’t much difference. And, on February 17, we will have other things that will rise to the surface for us to give to God. However, the spiritual practice of letting go is not limited to a single time or place. God’s grace abounds and every day we are invited to allow Christ’s light to shine through us and renew our souls.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Please join us for our Christmas Eve service! At 5 PM on December 24, you can watch our Christmas Eve service on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BethelBeaverton. You do not need to have a Facebook account to visit our church profile page and watch the Christmas Eve service!
Please note that the office will be observing the Christmas holiday, and will be closed on Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25. The Food Cupboard will also be closed on December 24.
We wish you a very merry Christmas filled with light, warmth, joy, and many blessings. Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Virtual Wassail Party and Cookie Recipe Exchange
This Sunday, December 13, stay tuned following Sunday worship as we celebrate our annual Wassail party! Please be sure to stick around for some memories from Wassail parties past, and we will be celebrating with a virtual cookie recipe exchange. Later this afternoon, Friday, December 11, check your email for a collection of special cookie recipes submitted by the talented bakers of Bethel, along with Diana Marsden's famous Wassail recipe. On Sunday, pour yourself a glass of Wassail, and enjoy your favorite Christmas cookie!
Blue Christmas
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, dealing with the uncertainty of the pandemic and how to have a safe, socially distant holiday celebration 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, we have adapted the Blue Christmas service to an online format accessible to all who have Zoom or Facebook.
The Blue Christmas Worship Service will take place virtually on Sunday, December 13 at 2 pm. You can join on Bethel's Facebook page or via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/140844207 Pastor David and other Called to Care members will be available to speak with you privately in a Zoom breakout room for those who need additional support. For further information, please contact Pastor David at drb@bethelbeaverton.org.
Bethel Christmas Tree Lighting - December 5
On Saturday, December 5, at 5:30 pm, Bethel will be holding our very own Christmas Tree Lighting. Join us on the back lawn of Bethel near the Food Cupboard door on SW 7th Street between SW Washington and SW Watson Ave. Masks are required and we will be practicing good social distancing. If you do not want to be around others, you are welcome to park along SW Washington or SW 7th Street and observe the festivities from the safety of your car.
Christmas carols will be playing, and Pastor David will offer a few words. You are invited to bring a weatherproof ornament to add to the tree (something you won't get back.) A guide to creating a Crismon ornament is in the Advent Guide if you want to make your own ornament. We will also be accepting donations of non-perishable food for the Food Cupboard.
We look forward to seeing your "eyes" on December 5th!
Blessings
Advent Begins November 29!
“Raise your voice… raise it; don’t be afraid!” - Isaiah 40:9
Join us this Advent season as we raise our voices and proclaim “I Believe Even When...“
I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in love, even when I don’t feel it.
I believe in God, even when God is silent.
I believe in the light that has come and is coming.
These words scrawled by an anonymous Jewish poet on a wall during the Holocaust make up the theme song of this year’s Advent sermon series by Marcia McFee and Worship Design Studio. This theme song calls us to examine our penchant for annihilating fear by annihilating each other.
The history of humanity is fraught with pain–especially the pain that comes accompanied by fear and leads to oppression and violence of one people against another. We have seen and experienced this in 2020. This is the world into which Jesus was born and through which his teachings would challenge and call for transformation. The power of narrative and music will call us to a different response–transformation and reconciliation through hope, love, joy, and peace. This Advent and Christmas join us as we fill the night with music and light and affirm and act on the reasons why we can still “believe, even when” we are discouraged.
Guest Minister Rev. John Boonstra - Nov. 15
Rev. John Boonstra lives in Hood River. He is a UCC minister and worked six years as Pastor of Bethel UCC White Salmon until 2012. Since then John has worked on climate justice and environmental sustainability ministries. He represents the CPC on the UCC National Council for Climate Justice. He currently is a member of the CPC Justice and Witness Team and is devoting energy to rebuilding our CPC Climate Action Network. His daily work includes facilitation of programs related to the Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network. John has served as Executive Minister for the Washington State Association of Churches and prior to that worked in Geneva, Switzerland coordinating an internship program in conjunction with the World Council of Churches.
Order Your Christmas Wreath from the Bethel Youth
We may be in the midst of a pandemic, but through November 13, you'll have the opportunity to order your Christmas Wreath from the Bethel Youth.
There are wreaths and swags for sale. All proceeds will go to fund Youth Trips which we believe will happen again.
All wreaths and swags are made with fresh, local noble fir boughs and decorated with pine cones, cedar, juniper, and a choice of a red, weatherproof bow or a fabric bow.
20” wreath……………………………….. $25
28” wreath……………………………….. $35
30” swag…………………………………… $25
Click here to order: https://forms.gle/W9kmZ7ow8DE8S2WZ8
You can pay online, send a check to the church or pay when you pick up your wreath.
Wreaths will be available for pickup at the church on November 29 from noon to 3 pm. There's also an option for delivery by our Bethel Youth. Contact Pam Schlueter to arrange delivery at soletsgofishin@frontier.com.
Pandemic or no pandemic - Christmas is coming so take this opportunity to make your house even more beautiful AND support the Bethel Youth!
Stewardship, A Commitment to Love Abundantly:
Friends, each fall, we invite you to make a commitment of your time, talent and treasure to the mission of Bethel Congregational UCC. For three Sundays, November 8, 15 and 22, we will focus on the importance of generosity as a primary spiritual practice. We are utilizing the wider UCC's stewardship campaign "3 Great Loves" to inspire our church's stewardship season. We’ll invite you to prayerfully consider how you might make a meaningful contribution to the work of the church. Even though our in-person opportunities have been greatly compromised by the COVID pandemic, we have worked hard to create alternative ways of being church. The good news is that Bethel is demonstrating generosity by staying current with financial pledges and you showed great faith in the church by meeting the call for donations to replace our HVAC system! Thank you!
It is vital to maintain our patience and our resolve to serve on Christ’s behalf – providing a progressive community who values and believes in God’s radically inclusive love for all people and the natural world. Your financial pledge for 2021 will equip us to continue adapting to the pandemic and find creative ways to respond to God’s call to make the world a more humane and caring home.
You’ll be receiving a letter and a pledge card in the mail later this week. We hope to gather pledges “virtually” November 22nd, Dedication Sunday.
Thank you in advance for prayerfully considering the importance of Bethel to you and yours. We look forward to a financial pledge that reflects your love.
Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer, General Minister and President of the UCC, published this letter about the shared initiative "3 Great Loves" - click here to read his letter.
All Saints Day
Bethel will be celebrating All Saints Day on November 1. There will be two ways to participate in All Saints Day worship:
1. Submit a name(s) of persons you would like included in a listing of “saints” that will be appear on a slide during worship;
2. Come to Bethel for an in-person processional begining at 11:30 AM on Sunday, November 1. Light a candle for a loved one who has passed. We will have our virtual worship that Sunday at our typical time of 10:00 to 11:00 AM. In lieu of fellowship time November 1, we will have the sanctuary open for you to process down the center aisle, approach the communion table and light a candle. We will have the center aisle marked off in six foot segments, and we will require the wearing of masks. It will be a dynamic processional – arriving at the front door, honoring social distancing, making your way down the center aisle and then exiting the side aisles and out through the crash bar doors on the east and west sides of the building.
Plan to Vote!
BALLOTS are ARRIVING in your mailboxes this week. They are DUE at elections on Nov. 3 by 8 PM PST.
You already received your Voter Pamphlets. While waiting for your ballot, go through your pamphlets and mark your selections. When your ballot arrives, carefully transfer your selections onto your ballot, sign it and get ready to return it to elections. You can send it free of charge in the mail, you can place it in a ballot drop box or you can place it in your County’s drop box. If you’d like safe pick up and delivery of your ballot, please contact Nancy Winston and she’ll make sure one of our Bethel voting helpers gets your ballot into the County Elections drop box.
Washington County Election Office has moved. The new address is 2925 NE Aloclek Dr, Suite 170, Hillsboro, OR 97124.
Here are the locations of the other Washington County drop boxes. https://www.co.washington.or.us/AssessmentTaxation/Elections/CurrentElection/current-ballot-drop-sites.cfm?mc_cid=43e349ef26&mc_eid=0a37230d8b
If you are in a different county, please contact Nancy Winston at winstonj@comcast.net or (503) 544-3323, or Ken Ruse at zken@tongaken.org if you need help with your drop box location.
Neighbors in Need
Throughout the month of October, we will be collecting an offering for Neighbors in Need, which supports the UCC's ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries to fund a wide array of local and national justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects. Working with members of the UCC Justice and Peace Action Network (a network of thousands of UCC justice and peace advocates),Justice and Witness continues its strong policy advocacy work on issues such as the federal budget, voting rights, immigration, health care, hate crimes, civil liberties, and environmental justice. Neighbors in Need also supports our American Indian neighbors in the UCC. One-third of the offering supports the UCC's Council for American Indian Ministries (CAIM). This year, special consideration will be given to projects focusing on serving our immigrant neighbors and communities. You can contribute to Neighbors in Need by visiting our online giving portal here: https://giving.ncsservices.org/App/Giving/bethelucc
Installation of Rev. Tyler Connoley as Conference Minister
We are very happy to announce that at this year's CPC UCC Annual Gathering, Reverend Tyler Connoley was installed as this year's conference minister! Congratulations Rev. Connoley! If you would like to view this special event, please visit the video link below or click https://youtu.be/3orccHqsJ0o
Movie Discussion - If Beale Street Could Talk
Our next film discussion will take place October 1 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM, and we will be discussing the film If Beale Street Could Talk on Zoom.
The film is currently available on DVD through the Beaverton library, as well as on Hulu, in addition to other online rental services. In our Zoom discussion, we will discuss the movie, share what feelings it brought up, what it made us think about, and what insights we may have gained. This will be a safe place for all of us, including staff, to continue to educate ourselves on the complex issues surrounding racial injustice.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86401912246?pwd=eTZxNVpxR2ZDbGlkY2RQWW5scWxPdz09.
The password is 760759.