Bethany Lutheran. January 2018 Newsletter. Bethany Lutheran Church. Longview, WA Parkview Drive. Pastor Megan Filer Cell:

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1 B January 2018 Bethany Lutheran Church 2900 Parkview Drive Longview, WA God's Blessings to... B January 2018 Newsletter Bethany Lutheran Bethany Lutheran Church Church: Parkview Drive Fax: Longview, WA Pastor Megan Filer Cell: Bethany website: Office Hours 9:00 3:30 Tues, Weds & Thurs Secretary office secretary@bethanylongview.org Worship Time 9:30 Worship 10:30 Coffee Hour 20 1

2 But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. ~Isaiah 64:8 As I look at this new year, I am filled with hope has been a crazy year for us, for so many reasons. In many ways I m grateful that it s over. But 2017 ending just means that 2018 has begun! And as we begin any year, we always hope that it will be even better than the last. And maybe after a busy, hectic, and often heart-breaking year like we had in 2017, the bar is set a little low. But, this year isn t just about what we re doing, it s not just about what we hope for it. This is a time where we can remind ourselves that God is also at work Church Council 2017 Tori Gosch / President goschrae@gmail.com Barb Clausen/ Vice President bjclausen2014@gmail.com Pam van den Driessche vancepam@msn.com June White junebug98632@msn.com Karen Langworthy / Secy langworthy@outlook.com Barb Wilson longbabs@aol.com Joyce Croy jmchgc@icloud.com Carol Lane ca @gmail.com Bob Reistroffer/ Treasurer BReistrof@aol.com Don Wallin / Treasurer Dew2@q.com Megan Filer/ Pastor pastor@bethanylongview.org How might we allow God to mold us and shape us in this new year? What are some ways that we can name God as the potter of our lives, of our church, and of our world? Being reminded that we are the work of God s hands helps to give me hope in this new year. God gives us hope. Our Mission Statement: BETHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH IS A COMMUNITY SHARING THE LOVE OF CHRIST THROUGH WORSHIP, OUTREACH, AND FELLOWSHIP And this is a hope that calls us into this next year as the works of our Lord s hands as God s hands and feet in our world. God might be forming us into people at work in ways we could have never imagined, and I am so excited to see what God has in store for us at Bethany Lutheran this year. Happy New Year and blessings to you! ~Pastor Megan Our Vision Statement: A dynamic Christ-centered church that reaches into our community and world in loving service 2 19

3 Meetings At Bethany! Women of Bethany Women of Bethany will be meeting three times a year! You can join us for a sack lunch on the 4th Thursday of January, April, and August at 12:30pm. Also, we are in need of a chairperson to lead our group. Changing the schedule to only 3 times a year would make it even easier. Please give this some thought and prayer. Walking Group Walking group meets the first and third Wednesday of the month at 2:30pm. We meet at Bethany and get some light exercise, and sometimes a light workout. A great way to exercise and a little fellowship at the same time. Contact Pastor Megan for more info! SUNDAY S MINISTRIES FOR JANUARY 2018 JANUARY 7TH -Sunday Service Pastor Megan Filer Communion/Emergency Fund Ushers: 9:30 Judy Bailey & Bob Baldwin Readers: 9:30 Judy Bailey Communion Asst: 9:30 Barb Clausen Communion Setup: 9:30 Dorothy Blair Coffee Hour: 9:30 Arnits & Bailey Financial Secy 9:30 PowerPoint 9:30 Bobbi Blankenship JANUARY 14TH -Sunday Service Pastor Megan Filer Small Seeds/ Communion Ushers: 9:30 Barb Clausen & Chris Engebo Readers: 9:30 Small Seeds Communion Asst: 9:30 Karen Langworthy Communion Setup: 9:30 Dorothy Blair Coffee Hour: 9:30 Chadderton & Blair Financial Secy 9:30 PowerPoint 9:30 Russ Gilchrist Women s Bible Study The Women s Bible Study meets every Tuesday at 10:30 in the Faith Room. Duct Tape Crew The Duct Tape Crew meets on Thursday mornings at 9am and are the fix it crew at Bethany. This group of men and women repair, clean, install, mow and do many other things to keep our church beautiful and up and running. If you have ever used duct tape and like donuts, you are highly qualified. Come join us at 10am for coffee. Thank you so much members and friends of Bethany for the incredibly generous Christmas gift! We are so grateful to be part of this church family! ~Pastor Megan & Family JANUARY 21STSunday Service Pastor Megan Filer Communion Ushers: 9:30 Dave Foslien & Rick Loewen Readers: 9:30 Barb Clausen Communion Asst: 9:30 Shelley Limpach Communion Setup: 9:30 Dorothy Blair Coffee Hour: 9:30 Annual Meeting & Potluck Financial Secy 9:30 PowerPoint 9:30 Rick Loewen JANUARY 28TH -Sunday Service Worship & Music Ushers: 9:30 Russ & Karen Gilchrist Readers: 9:30 Communion Asst: 9:30 Gail Obermeyer Communion Setup: 9:30 Dorothy Blair Coffee Hour: 9:30 Blankenship & Clausen Financial Secy 9:30 PowerPoint 9:30 Robin Siragusa 18 **Please find a substitute if you 3 can t volunteer for that Sunday.

4 Continued Prayers & Healing Takko family Guerra family Cotten family Utto family Griffith family Lee family Spriggle family Gansler family Oyloe family Blair Family Yockey family Johnson family Croy family Bethany s Corner Susan Johnson is our prayer chain contact. You may contact her with your prayer concerns at or her at: bethanyprayers247@gmail.com with any prayer requests. Van den Driessche family Irene Breitenbach Price family Dear Bethany Members, Schlecht family Thank you to everyone for all your cards, thoughts and prayers. The Spriggle family 2017 Financial Reports Proposed Budget Budget expenses Offering % of expense January 9, , , % February 9, , , % March 9, , , % April 9, , , % May 9, , , % June 9, , , % July 9, , , % August 9, , , % September 9, , , % October 9, , , % November 9, , , % December 9, , , % TOTAL 109, , , % 2017 Birthday s & anniversaries JANUARY ANNIVERSARIES 29 Rick & Robin Siragusa JANUARY BIRTHDAYS 07 Marilynn Isakson 08 Francesca Siragusa 10 Dave Foslien 11 Andrea Hines 12 Judy Bailey 17 Barb Clausen 20 Marlys Beck 22 Carol Lane 22 - Carol Thompson 24 Rhonda Archer 25 Lucy Gilchrist 26 Gail Obermeyer 4 17

5 Council Minutes Cont d Servant Keeper data. This will be proofed with the directory. Letters will be sent out to members not attending on Dec. 3, 10, and 17 so that all may be included. Karen Langworthy and Pam van den Driessche will do the directory checking with the data in Servant Keeper. Sexual Abuse/Harassment/Neglect Policy-Barbara Clausen reviewed the changes since first reading. It was moved and seconded to adopt the policy as revised. Motion carried. Announcements/Adjournment/Closing Prayer: The meeting was closed in prayer at 7:35. Next Meetings: December Attendance Report December 3 59 December December December 24 AM 50 December 24 Eve 80 December December Total/Average 378 / 54 Dec :00p.m. - Executive Committee Meeting Jan. 3rd- 5:30 - Budget Development & Pizza Jan 4th - 6:30 Council Meeting 16 Offering to date $98, , Expenses $84, , Upcoming Events Lions, Empire, & Apocalypse Bible Study in the book of Daniel January 7, 14 Our adult education time looking at how this apocalyptic text from Daniel speaks to this advent season, and the way lions, empire, and apocalypse in Daniel can speak to us even today. Join us for bible study Sundays in the Faith room after coffee hour! Annual Meeting Please mark your calendar for Sunday, January 21st for our Annual Meeting after our church service. Members need to plan to attend and help us make decisions for the 2018 year--we need a quorum--we need YOU!! The agenda and handouts will be distributed on Sunday, January 14th at the service. Friends of Bethany are welcome to attend (without vote) so you will be informed on everything that is happening! Join us for the potluck brunch and meeting. Faith, Scripture, & #Me Too Study on Justice & Scripture February 4th, 11th, 18th Topical study looking at the ELCA s new social statement on Women & Justice. How can scripture and our faith speak to harassment and violence in our world today? 5

6 Christmas Weekend Update! Thank you everyone who joined us throughout our busy Christmas weekend! If you missed us for worship, all sermons are now available on our website, Beer & Carols: We are so thankful to the wonderful staff at Red Kitchen for welcoming us for food, drinks, and singing! Throughout the evening we were blessed with 36 voices of members and friends of Bethany, and about 12 additional voices from those who were seated in our area who picked up music sheets and joined us! We donated just under 30% of our $84 offering for the evening to the emergency cold weather shelters! Thank you! Sunday Worship: Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Advent 4 worship! 52 of us gathered together to light the Advent candles and prepare the way for Christmas! Christmas Eve Pageant & Candlelight Service: Snow flurries kept many at home, including one of our wise men who we dearly missed, but the snow didn t keep us all away! Together 80 of us celebrated the birth of our Lord with our Living Nativity Pageant & Candlelight service. Video of the pageant is available to watch on our website now! Christmas Day Celebration Service: Finally to celebrate the birth of our Lord 28 of us gathered for a small and peaceful Christmas Day Celebration. We hope and pray that this Christmas season brought you joy and peace as we celebrated the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ! 6 Council Minutes Cont d hospital visits, 3 pastoral phone calls, 3 clergy gatherings, 3 community meetings, 1 walking group; Other/Special: 6 sermons/services, 3 educational classes, 5 special events (Renewal retreat, First Call retreat, Starsgiving, Memorial service, Advent Worship, Small Seeds, and Smorgasbord); Looking ahead: Bishop's Convocation Jan & Continuing Education on Jan. 28; and planning for her two year continuing education allocation as required by the Synod for May Pastor Submitted vacation day planning for 2018 so we may plan ahead: April 2-8; July 2-9; August 27-Sept. 3; Dec. 26-Jan. 10. This provides four Sundays being gone as per her Letter of Call. Holiday Service Planning-Pastor Megan reviewed the schedule for Dec. 24 9:30am, and 5:00pm services, Dec. 25th 9:30 am service. Unfinished Business: Christmas Card Selection-Pastor Megan and Rhonda will select cards for mailing and council members are asked to sign next Sunday, Dec. 17. New Business: Pastor's Continuing Education- The council previously approved Pastor to carryover her continuing education funds for 2017 and spend them for a major conference in 2018 combining the two years. It was moved and seconded to provide pastor with the monies of $700 per year ($1400) from Savings/Designated Funds immediately so she can register for the May conference and get the cheapest rate. Motion carried. Vacation Schedule It was moved and seconded to approve Pastor Megan's vacation schedule for 2018 as stated above in her report. Motion carried. Servant Keeper Upgrade-Barbara Clausen reported that the Executive Committee approved the approximate $450 expenditure to upgrade the software so it is usable from the line item "data processing" in the 2017 budget. The credit card limit or invoice will have to be attended to in order to complete this transaction. Council concurred with the decision. Budgeting Schedule/Process-Bob Reistroffer & Don Wallin reviewed the timeline for January 3rd council, January 4th council recommendation, January 14th distribution of the budget in the annual report, and congregation approval Jan. 21. Tree of Life Wall Hanging for Faith Room-Barbara Clausen showed the tree that will include the Fruits of the Spirit as suggested by the Women's Bible Study. It was moved and seconded to approve this for the Faith Room wall. Motion carried. Nominating Committee Report-Tori Gosch discussed the need to reduce the size of our council commiserate with the size of our church membership. Pam van den Driessche, Carol Lane, and June White have expiring terms and will decide if they wish to run for another term. Tori Gosch will discuss this with the nominations committee: Gail O., Marge Y., Russ Gilchrist, & Duane T. Membership/Friends Review Appointment/Timeline-Barbara Clausen will ask members to update their emergency contacts and check the accuracy of the 15

7 December Council Minutes Council Meeting Minutes - December 7, :30 p.m. - Council Filer's Present: Tori Gosch, Karen Langworthy, Joyce Croy, June White, Pastor Megan Filer, Barb Wilson, Carol Lane, Bob Reistroffer, Don Wallin, and Barbara Clausen. Staff: Rhonda Archer. Host: Greg Filer. Devotions and Prayer - Pastor Megan lead the council in a table blessing and opening prayer. Call to Order and President's Report - Tori Gosch called the meeting to order at 6:32p.m. She reminded everyone of the Jan. 3 Budget Pizza meeting at 5:30 and the January 4 6:30 regular council meeting. Council members are bringing dinner items and a free-will offering will be taken to cover the pizza. Bob Reistroffer will do devotions and treats for the January 4 meeting. Secretary's Report - Barb Clausen said that additional corrections were made to the November 2, 2017 minutes and submitted to Rhonda to archive. Minutes filed as revised. Treasurer's Report - Don Wallin and Bob Reistroffer reported that the November offerings were $10,095 and exceeded November expenses of $7, by $2, The church loan balance is $61, as of November 30, 2017 and Savings/Designated Funds as of November 30, 2017 are $27, YTD offering ($108, exceeds expenses ($96,187.20) by $12, A donation of Emergency Funds & Castle Rock Choir-The current balance in the fund is $ It was moved and seconded to give $500 to the Emergency Support Shelter for Women and $500 to Love INC., (In the Name of Christ). Motion carried. The $ will be left in the account for emergency needs of children, etc. It was moved and seconded to give the Castle Rock Men's Choir $50 donation to help them with their music from the Hospitality Fund. Motion carried. Ministry Report: Worship & Music - Pastor reviewed the very busy worship schedule for December. The last Sunday of the month will be our traditional Lessons & Carols Sunday with no communion. Stewardship-Barb Wilson reported on the Pledge Drive that 34 giving units responded and that the designated pledges totaled approximately $89,000 for budgeting purposes. Thank you letters have been mailed to everyone who responded. Other Committees: FISH- Serving will be on January 3rd with Pam van den Driessche and Marge Yockey in charge. Tori Gosch will be serving lunch. Minister's Report-Pastor Megan Filer reported 5 committee/staff meetings, social media (4 uploads, 4 blogs, & regular website update), 5 Office/home/ 14 Mark Your Calendars ELCA Soup-er Game Day at Stella Lutheran Chapel! Mark your calendars! Saturday, February 3rd at 1pm the ELCA churches in our area will be hosting a delicious and deliciously fun afternoon in partnership with the conference of ELCA churches in our area. Join members from Bethany, Faith, Gloria Dei, Saint Paul, Stella, and Trinity, gather together in the Stella Fellowship Hall to enjoy some delicious soup and play some soup-er board games together! Bring your favorite soup to share and a game to play! Feb 3rd, Stella Lutheran Chapel, 124 Sherman Rd, Longview Ash Wednesday & Lent Coming up Fast! February 14th: Ash Wednesday 2:00pm-5:00pm Ashes to Go 6:00pm Ash Wednesday Worship & Soup Supper February 21st March 21st Lenten Services 6:00pm Lenten Worship & Soup Supper March 30th Good Friday 12:00pm Ecumenical Community Church 7:00pm ELCA Bethany 7

8 Service & Youth Christmas Update! On Thursday, Dec. 21, Pat and Bob Reistroffer and Barb Clausen delivered car loads of gift-wrapped clothes, toys, and Christmas ham dinners to three families from Columbia Heights, Catlin, and Cascade schools. The Lord has really blessed us to be a blessing to these 3 families! One family of 5 is living in a one-room basement of a house with the main floor crowded with another family. They have no car and the husband has abandoned the family. The children looked so excited to know they would have food and a Christmas! Our Catlin family has 8 children and a single mother. They live in a 2 bedroom apartment near the school. The children range from a 1 year old to a 15 year old. The children squealed when we brought the food and gifts in. The mother was so appreciative she gave us a big hug and had tears in her eyes when she said (several times), "Bless you!" The mother of the Cascade family with 4 children said, "You don't know how much this means to us! This is our Christmas." Again she sent us away with hugs and continued, "Thank you so much." We wish everyone who helped could see the looks on the faces of the recipients of the food and gifts! May you feel warm with His love knowing that you were called to help others! - Youth/Service Committee Ministry of the Month! Special thanks to our Pastoral Care Team as our ministry of the month! Pastoral Care are lay leaders who reach out to those who are not able to regularly worship with us or who are in need of extra prayers. Our Care team brings prayers, friendship, communion, and pastoral care to many of our members. Thank you so much for all that you do! 8 Synod & Community Ecumenical Martin Luther King Jr. Day Worship The Kelso-Longview Ministerial Association will be sponsoring an ecumenical worship service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., on Sunday, January 14th at 3:00pm at First Christian Church, (2000 E Kessler Blvd, Longview, WA 98632) Leaders from the ministerial association, including Pastor Megan, will be leading this event. All are invited to join us as we commemorate this day and worship together as members of the diverse Body of Christ! Synod Educational Gatherings In lieu of the Synod Assembly in 2018, we'll be offering three all-day Educational Gatherings. We will have different classes at each location for all members of our synod congregations surrounding the theme of "Who is Our Neighbor? How can I be a good neighbor?" ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME! Saturday, April 21 at First Lutheran Church in Poulsbo Saturday, April 28 at Christ Lutheran Church in Lakewood Saturday, May 19 at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Vancouver WA Love INC Fundraising--Save Feb. 23! Love INC., is the organization that helps the homeless into housing and sets up their household by helping them find beds and basic supplies. They also built over 60 wheelchair ramps for aging citizens who need them but cannot afford to have them built. They have painted the Head Start rooms, built picnic tables for parks, and just done many wonderful things for the community. The annual fundraiser dinner for Love Inc., is being held on Friday, February 23. If you are interested in attending for the fun dinner and auction, please see Barbara Clausen. Steering Committee Meeting What s is a Steering Committee? This is the group of church members and pastors from 6 ELCA churches in our area that gather regularly to discuss how to serve our community, as well as create planned events like the joint Reformation service or the Soup-er Game Day. Contact Pastor or Dave Foslien for our next meeting! 13

9 Committee Reports Past Due! If you just realized you have not completed your committee report for the annual meeting handout, please get it to Rhonda right away-- all reports need to be in one printed packet. Please try to get your report in as we do not want to take time with oral reports. Thank you!! Columbia Heights Box Tops We are collecting Box Tops with this logo during this school year. If you would put your clipped tops in the box decorated with pansies on a table in the narthex by the Faith Room, it would be appreciated. The school PTO "buys" wonderful items for the school with these items, so your participation is appreciated. Hospitality Committee A BIG thank you to the Hospitality Committee for their wonderful meals lately. The Smorgasbord was a wonderful event with delicious food. Their organization, cooking skills, and plain hard work are really appreciated. Joyce Croy, Tori Gosch, Karen Langworthy, and Barb Wilson have spent many hours serving us! Thank you to all of the members who joined the set up and clean up crews to make their jobs easier. Thank you to Stella Lutheran Chapel Thank you to Stella Lutheran Chapel for the generous gift of $100 towards homeless outreach. These funds were used to help provide items needed for our care packages 12 for the shelter. Re-Development and the Covenant Your team to attend these synod-sponsored events has been Pastor Megan, Dave Foslien, Harry Blair, and Barb Clausen. This process has helped us to "think outside of the box" and to look at new ways of growing our church. We are looking at how to reduce committees and only use a few essential ones. We would ask members and friends to determine their gifts and join any short-term project that they feel called by God to do. Then we would have sign up lists for those events/ projects. This will allow more flexibility and less longterm committee obligation. We will have to suspend parts of the Constitution at our January annual meeting in order to field test this approach. Please keep this in your prayers to discern God's will for our church. Nominating Committee: This committee is not looking for new leaders to serve on Council as we are trying to reduce the size of our council--it is really oversize for our small church. Some council members will be running for a second term and for those positions, we could accept nominations from the floor. Tori Gosch, Gail Obermeyer, Marge Yockey, Russ Gilchrist, and Duane Thompson are members of this committee. 9

10 Bethany Lutheran Chur rch JANUARY 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 5:30 Girl Scouts Leader Mtg Pastor out of office 1st-2nd - Vacation 2 3 5:30 Council Budget Meeting 6:00 Cub Scouts 4 9:00 Duct Tape 10:00 Coffee w/duct Tape 6:30 Council Meeting Sunday Service Pastor Megan Filer Communion/ ER Fund 9:30 Worship Service 10:30 Coffee Hour 11:00 Study of Daniel 12:pm Steering St Paul 8 5:30 Girl Scouts 9 10:30 Women s Bible Study 10 9:00 Edu & Evang 6:00 Cub Scouts 11 9:00 Duct Tape 10:00 Coffee w/duct Tape 6:30 Worship & Music :00 Small Seeds Saturday 14 Sunday Service Pastor Megan Filer Communion/ Small Seeds 9:30 Worship Service 10:30 Coffee Hour 11:00 Study of Daniel 3:00 Ecumenical MLK First Christian Church 15 Martin Luther King Holiday 16 10:30 Women s Bible Study 17 1:30 Service/Youth 2:30 Walking Group 6:00 Cub Scouts 18 9:00 Duct Tape 10:00 Coffee w/duct Tape 6:30 Quarterly Planning Sunday Service Pastor Megan Filer Communion 9:30 Worship Service 10:30 Annual Meeting & Potluck Brunch 28 Sunday Service Lay Service 9:30 Worship Service 10:30 Coffee Hour 22 5:30 Girl Scouts 23 10:30 Women s Bible Study :30 Women s Bible Study 24 12:00 Exec Mtg 6:00 Cub Scouts Pastor out of office 22-28th - Bishop s Convocation 31 6:00 Cub Scouts 25 9:00 Duct Tape 10:00 Coffee w/duct Tape 12:30 WOB Sack Lunch