BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH. A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 79 Brooklyn Street PO Box 606 Portville, NY 14770

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1 BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 79 Brooklyn Street PO Box 606 Portville, NY (716) bethelportville@gmail.com Websites: (congregation) (synod) (ELCA) Worship Service Sundays at 9:00am; Sunday School at 10:15am God s work. Our hands. In case of a pastoral emergency, please contact the church at: or Pastor Marie Meeks at Pastor Derek Cheek cell # JANUARY 2017 No matter how small our income, the task before us is how to divide our money proportionately between our own needs and the needs of our church community. Surely that is true for a great many of us and if it isn t, shouldn t it be? Each of us should take time to consider how seriously we want to take our stewardship as members of God s Church. It is a given that we take seriously the needs of our family. We are compelled to do that as the bills we may owe remind us regularly. When it comes to dividing our money between our family s needs and the needs of our church, we should be very serious in our decision making. There is a true story found in Philip Yancey s devotional book called Grace Notes that is quite interesting. It is about a pastor in Washington, D.C. who was told about a widow in his church whose income was barely enough to feed her family. A deacon who knew about the situation suggested the pastor go to her and suggest that the woman cut back on her gifts to the church in order to meet her family s needs. The pastor did and it turned out to be a suggestion he learned he should not have made. The widow said with sadness in her voice the following: You are trying to take away the last thing that gives me dignity and meaning. Prayer: Dear Lord, please help us to live to please you. We know that it is in living for you and serving you that will make our lives the most meaningful and joyous. In Christ s name. Amen The Portville Food Pantry collects these items on an on-going basis: spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, pasta, mac and cheese, pork and beans, canned vegetables, tuna, soup, rice, egg noodles, and canned tomatoes. Any donations would be greatly appreciated.

2 Pray First! - For all service men and women, and their families, especially Casey McCarthy, Tyler McCarthy, Kendra Linn, Travis Dorvit and Kyle Lust. For Christ to be made known in our companion synods Zimbabwe and Zambia, and our partner synod Central/Southern Illinois Synod. For the Franciscan community at Mt. Irenaeus and the Burkhart Retreat Center for Life retreats in our local area. For our Bishops, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton (ELCA) and John Macholz Upstate New York Synod), Assistants to the Bishop Dave Preisinger, Mary Johnson, and Dean Daniel Rumfelt. For the mission congregations in our synod Organic Faith in Amherst and Todos los Hijos de Dios in Amsterdam. For the pastors and congregations in our Southwestern Conference and for our congregation council leaders President Bill Graves, Secretary Linda Scott, Treasurer Doug Ploetz, Vice President Ruth Brewer and members Caroline Miller, Donald Linn and Jerry Maerten. For our sister congregation, Peace Lutheran and their ministry in Slidell, LA for the ministry of ELCMA Evangelical Lutheran Coalition for Mission in Appalachia. For area ministries: Genesis House, Portville Community Food Pantry, and Interfaith Caregivers. -. Prayer Chain: If you have need of prayer, we have an prayer chain. Just call Bev Robinson phone number or at grandmagee7@verizon.net. PLEASE SEE BULLETIN BOARD outside the sanctuary for a COMPLETE SECRETARY S REPORT. Council Member Assignment Bill Graves Ruth Brewer Linda Scott Doug Ploetz Ruth Brewer Caroline Miller Jerry Maerten Don Linn Committee Council President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Worship and Music & Christian Education Stewardship & Fellowship Outreach/Evangelism Property Choir practice is held Sunday mornings at 8:00 am. All are welcome to join. No audition necessary Notice: When you call the church phone number it will be automatically forwarded to Pastor Marie s cell phone. You will be able to talk directly to her or leave her a message and she will return your call. Thank you. We NEED people to sign up as worship servants. We are in need of Lectors, Prayer Leaders, Ushers, Communion assistants and Altar Guild. There are sign-up sheets on the table in Fellowship Hall. Please sign up for one or more of these positions as you feel led. Thank you.

3 FOR YOUR UPDATE AND INFORMATION Fundraiser Funds are divided as follows: 10% Charity of our choice 10% Benevolence Rest in general fund Please remember our clothing drop box used to collect clothes for people in need. The box is located in the parking lot of the church next to the utility shed. If you have clothing you wish to drop off, please place them in plastic bags and tie them up. Donations are greatly appreciated. Let s make this an even better year than last year. Thank you. Our next church breakfast will be on Saturday January 7 th. Breakfast will be held from 8:00am until 11:00am. Please help if you can but make sure you come to eat and bring your family and friends with you. Notice: Deadline for newsletter articles is the third Sunday of each month. Please send them to me at my home at junekmurray@gmail.com or you can leave written ones in the top basket on the secretary s desk in the office. If you have questions you can call me at June Notice On Sunday, January 29 th from 1:00 pm until??? we will be having our annual sled riding party at the home of Gary and June Murray. Chili, hot dogs, coffee, hot chocolate will be provided. Bring your sleds and enjoy the fun. If you are not a sled rider then just come and enjoy the fellowship. Any questions please contact Gary or June. It is that time of year again. The deadline for books to be audited and annual reports is January 22 nd. The auditors will meet the following week to audit books.

4 IN LOVING Memory Pastor Marie's office hours are: Tuesday at Bethany from 9 to 3 Wednesday at Bethel from 9 to 3 Memorials for Ted Scott December 2016 Please keep these members in your prayers and send them a card if you are able. Ron and Trinette Brewer & family Jo An Brooks % Manor Hills Adult Care Skilled Nursing Care Wing Room Bolivar Road Wellsville, NY Skip Robinson 1262 Indian Creek Road Eldred, PA (814) Hilda Prosser % Cuba Memorial Hospital Nursing Home Room 238W 140 West Main Street Cuba, NY (585) Ext. 712 A thank you has been received from the Joint Veteran s Van Service thanking us for supporting them to be able to serve our veterans. John R. LaFever F.O.

5 January 2017 Worship Assistants Lectors Happy Birthday to: 4 J.J. Williams Jr. 4 Robert Wolsky 4 Scott Wolsky 6 Katie Bush 9---Melissa Fahnestock 11 David Robinson 16 Jena Linn 17 Rae Fitzsimmons 19 Richard Chapman Jr. 19 Jeff Scott 20 Matthew Cole 24 Janet Vanderworker 27 Alec Smith 28 April Giberson & Gertrude Yohe 30 Chris Miller Jan 1 st June Murray, Doug Ploetz, Pen Yunghans, Caroline Miller, Ruth Brewer, Linda Scott, Trinette Brewer, Don Linn Jan 8 th... Jo Kile Jan 15 th... Judy Graves Jan 22 th... Connie Smith-Matteson Jan 29 th...doug Ploetz. Prayer Leaders Jan 8 th... Doug Ploetz Jan 15 th... Linda Scott Jan 22 th... Judy Graves Jan 29 th.. Connie Smith Matteson Assistants for January Acolyte... Dakota Brewer Communion Assistants... Ruth Brewer and Haedyn Brewer Usher/s.. Don Linn Happy Anniversary to: 8 Ron & Trinette Brewer 9 Gary & June Murray Sr. Altar Guild... Ruth Brewer Mail Greeter.Nannette Giberson Bread Bakers... Ron Kile

6 BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH CALENDAR JANUARY 2017 Sunday, Jan 1 FIRST SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS 8:00-Choir rehearsal 9:00am- Worship with Fellowship following 10.15am No Sunday School Today Sunday, Jan 8 BAPTISM OF OUR LORD 8:00am- Choir rehearsal 9:00am Worship with Fellowship following 10:15am Sunday school Sunday, Jan 15 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 8:00- Choir rehearsal 9:00am Worship with Fellowship following 10:15am Sunday school Sunday, Jan 22 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 8:00am-Choir rehearsal 9:00am- Worship with Fellowship following 10:15am Sunday school (Reminder, all books and annual reports must be in by today) Thursday, Jan 26 7:00pm Council Meeting Sunday, Jan 29 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 8:00am-Choir rehearsal 9:00am- Worship with Fellowship following 10:15am Sunday school 1:00-???- Sled Riding Party at the Murray s The monthly offering for January will be going to the African American Cultural Society.

7 Brain Cancer Benefit: For Gregory Stayer When: February 26, 2017 Time: 11 am-3 pm Where: Allegany Fire Hall, Allegany Fire Hall, 186 West Main Street Allegany, NY In October 2016, Gregory Stayer was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, on a weekly basis. As you may assume, he has many medical bills. Having a benefit for Greg and his family will help them tremendously. Please come enjoy food, drinks, beer, live music, bake sale, raffles, chinese auction and a door prize to help Greg and his family. T-shirts are also for sale prior to the event. Tickets are $20.00 presale and $25.00 at the door on the day of the event. Contact April Giberson- (585) or Cortney Spittler- (716) with any questions. Don t forget to follow our page on Facebook Gregory Stayer Benefit

8 OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN If you missed our Sunday school s Christmas program you missed the most wonderful of Christmas experiences. Here is a picture of our cast and they did a wonderful job. Thanks to Nannette and all of her wonderful helpers for making this a great experience. A great big thank you to Pastor for letting us take her sermon time to perform our play, for the Sunday schoolers for their awesome performance, Jo for taping for us, Skip for running the projector during the play, Courtney for accompanying us, Linda for creating the power point, Rick, Skip and Don for putting the church back together, parents for bringing your kids every week, and Teachers - April & Ariel for their support and helping make Sunday School successful!!! Also thank you to Crystal Torrey from Crystal Confections the delicious cupcakes!! You can reach her at Thank You to All!!! Nannette

9 CHRISTMAS CAROLING OH,WHAT FUN IT WAS!!!!

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11 ADVENT DINNER The Advent Dinner is always a fun time of fellowship to welcome in the advent season.

12 When? 1 PM to 3 PM on Monday, February 20, 2017 Where? First Presbyterian Church, Portville Snacks and beverage provided What is the purpose? To make as many tied fleece blankets as possible in one night Who will receive them? Olean, NY Who can come? Anyone who can cut and/or tie a knot What will you need to bring? Material for one blanket, pair of good shears (or rotary cutter and mat), a willingness to help others For small child 1.5 yards of 2 different colors of fleece (3 yds.) For larger child 2 yards of 2 different colors of fleece (4 yds.)