Weekly News & Updates for Bethel Lutheran Church

In Our Prayers

Bethel's Ongoing Prayer List

John and Brenda Adair

Bill Bailey

Pat Blevins

Gene Borror

Pat Clevenger

Martha Copenhaver

John Gavitt

George & Linda Hoenig

Brenda Johnson

Carolyn McTague

Betty Nichols

Carol O'Brien

Michelle Perone

Allen Pierce

Mel & Bert Poling

Paul Van Doren

Pastor Bob Young

and

The people of Ukraine

The people of Israel & Palestine

Thank you to everyone that donated to the Bright Futures food drive!

With your generous donations we were able to supply 699 items to children.

Bless you all for your support of this program.

April OWLS Event

Saturday, April 13, 1-3pm

Potluck lunch and card games in Fellowship Hall

Please RSVP on sign-up sheet in the Narthex and indicate what dish you are bringing to share.

Table place settings and beverages will be provided.

Contact Betty Puffinberger at charles_puffinberger@comcast.net if you have any questions.

Reconciling In Christ Upcoming Activities

The Reconciling in Christ Committee will hold a Welcome Statement Brainstorm Session with a light lunch on Saturday, April 13, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in the Martin Luther Library. All are welcome to attend.  

Coffee With Council

April 14th 10:45am -11:15am

in the conference room

Join us on April 19 for our monthly "3rd Friday Trivia" event.

We will be providing a taco bar with lots of fixings. 

Doors will open at 6 p.m., the taco bar will be available starting at 6:30 p.m., and trivia will begin at 7:30 p.m. 

If you'd like to join us for the feast, dinner is $10/person

($5 for each child under 12). We might have childcare available onsite for a donation. There are prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in trivia.

Save the date for May 17 and June 21, as well.

Welcoming & Affirming: Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth in our Families

Why does language matter so much to LGBTQIA+ teens? How can families celebrate milestones in the lives of their LGBTQIA+ teens? How can I create a culture of affirmation in my church? 

On May 6, 13, 20, and June 3 at 7pm on Zoom, the Tapestry Team’s LGBTQIA+ Thread will explore these questions and more in their book study on Welcoming and Affirming: A Guide to Supporting with LGBTQ+ Christian Youth. This is for parents, guardians, rostered ministers, youth leaders, grandparents, and anyone who wants to learn how to better love and care for the LGBTQIA+ teens in their lives. 

The study will be facilitated by George Donovan, Tapestry Co-chair, and Pastor Colleen Montgomery, All Places Together & Director for Digital Ministries - Virginia Synod, along with other voices from the LGBTQIA+ community as well. Each session will include a devotion, time for questions from participants, storytelling from LGBTQIA+ Lutherans in Virginia, and brainstorming of practical steps to care for our youth. 

While participants do not have to attend every session, the content and discussion will build. In order to honor the stories and vulnerability of participants, the sessions will not be recorded. 

Here's the reading schedule for the series.

May 6 - Week 1: Foreword - What Does It Mean to Transition? Pages 8-54

May 13 - Week 2: How Do I Know If a Student Is Struggling with Anxiety or Depression? - Am I the Best Resource? Pages 55-103

May 20 - Week 3: Celebrating Milestones in the Lives of LGBTQ+ Teenagers - What If There Are No Queer Students in My Group? Pages 104-152

June 3 - Week 4: How Do I Recognize and Confront Religious Abuse? - What Else Do I Need to Know? Pages 152-183

The Reconciling in Christ committee is sponsoring a church wide Book Study on The Savvy Ally, Second Edition by Jeannie Gainsburg during the months of April and May. The congregation is invited to participate. We will discuss the book on Sunday, May 19, during Adult Forum after the worship service. The book can be ordered on Amazon or on the author’s webpage.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/153816924X/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Author’s webpage:

https://www.savvyallyaction.com

BETHEL BULLETIN BOARD

The new bulletin board outside the Office is where we are posting community events as well as handouts of interest from Edie McGoff, our Parish Nurse.

We also will be promoting our supply drives and the items needed for them. Collection bins are underneath the bulletin board.

Want to post something? Please contact the office.

2024 Worship Assistants Needed

We are looking for people to help with Sunday morning worship. We are scheduling teams monthly, no more than once per quarter (ideally once per year). We especially need volunteers for January & February as many of our volunteers served in the past few months.

Greeters (4) - arrive by no later than 9am Sunday morning. 2 will be stationed at the doors to open doors & welcome people to Bethel. 2 will be stationed one on each side of the AV Booth to hand out bulletins and point out any flyers or signups.

Ushers (2) - arrive no later than 9:15 on Sunday morning. Stand near the AV Booth to help worshipers find seats as needed. Collect the Offering and assist with directing people to Communion.

Communion Assistants (3) - can also Greet on their selected day if they choose. Pastor Dave assigns people to teams just before Communion begins. One team stands in the center and the other starts on the choir side then moves to the baptismal side.

If you are willing to volunteer in any of these roles, please contact Kim Williams, Church Administrator, administrator@bethelwinchester.com or 540-662-3245 ext 103

Scripture Readers are scheduled by Pastor Dave pastordave@bethelwinchester.com

Bread Bakers are scheduled by Vonda Wilt vonda@wiltway.com

NEW BETHEL LOGO WEAR

By popular demand, we now have Bethel Logo Wear available! You can order directly from Logo Sportswear using the link below. There are multiple options for both men, women & children and includes hats, jackets, fleece & shirts.

Bethel will receive 15% of all sales.

Electronic Giving to Bethel

Please consider setting up electronic giving so Bethel will receive your gift, even when you cannot join us in person.

You can also mail your check to Bethel Lutheran Church, 2077 N Frederick Pike, Winchester VA 22603.

Picture Share

Calling all amateur photographers and social media posters:

We would like to be able to share your photos of Bethel activities. Are you:

Attending a Women's Ministry function?- send us a picture

Attending Men's Breakfast?-send us a picture

Quilting with friends at the Quilting Group?-send us a picture

Having fun with friends at Youth Ministry?- send us a picture

We would like to share all of these events as well as any trips or other "get togethers" on our social media and our website. So please take pictures (make sure that you ask permission to post them) and send them to bethelpictureshare@gmail.com so that we can show everyone what a wonderful family we have at Bethel!

Email Pict

High School Youth

The high school youth are trying to schedule days/times that they can meet for lunch or dinner as a group. They are also trying to put together a list of fundraisers for NYG2024.

If you would like more information on either or to suggest a fundraiser please contact Mel Siebert at melsiebert99@gmail.com or by clicking the link above.