A Newsletter Published By. Bethany Congregational Church. On Foxboro s Common Three Rockhill Street Foxboro, MA 02035

Transcription

1 A Newsletter Published By Bethany Congregational Church On Foxboro s Common Three Rockhill Street Foxboro, MA Volume 1 October, 2012 Number 2 Interim Pastor: Rev. Roger Lier Pastor Emeritus: Rev. R. Jack Whitehead Office Admin: Lynne Dombrowski Dir, Youth Ministries: Chris Kah Dir, Fellowship: Nancy Kaeser Office Manager: Glenda Haney Dir, Discipleship & Children's Mins: Deb Byron Treasurer: Penni Jenkins Dir, Nursery Care: Tracy Slater Dir, Music Ministries: Greg Woodsbie Minister to the Community: Rev. Gretchen Elmendorf Elders: Ellen Dean, Bruce Hainsworth, Pam McGuire, Angela Maynard, John Michelmore, Steve Randall, Julie Shorrock office@bethanychurch.org Telephone: On Facebook at Bethany Church Foxboro Office Hours: Monday Thursday 8:30-2:00; Friday 8:30 - noon Bethany Congregational Church seeks to be a compassionate, worshipping community that welcomes, equips and sends us out in Jesus name. ATTENTION! This is the last issue of The Bethany Bell that will be mailed to all Bethany households. See page 3 for details. 1

2 Dear Friends, I am delighted to serve as your interim pastor. Your previous pastor, Paul Sangree, and I were in a pastors covenant group, in which we got to know each other well, praying for each other and supporting each other for years before he moved Foxboro. I am happy to take over the reigns from Paul and shepherd the church he loves dearly, while you are searching for your new pastor. In my first newsletter article for the church, it is appropriate for me to introduce myself to you by telling you a little bit about my background. Although I was raised in Congregational churches in New England, I never understood the gospel of Jesus Christ as a child and teenager. This was due in large part to my mother s upbringing in a pantheistic cult that masqueraded as Christianity. In this cult, into which my mother indoctrinated me, there was said to be no sin and evil. Although I went to Sunday school every Sunday through the ninth grade, I did not realize that my mother s religion was a perversion of Christianity. I grew up confused, to say the least. By the time I went off to college at Western Connecticut State College, I was an atheist and convinced of the pervasiveness of evil in this world. I believed that there is no meaning to life other than the meaning one created for oneself. There was no absolute truth, no right or wrong, other than what individuals considered right and wrong for themselves. I was a precocious reader. My public school teachers introduced me to books written by James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and others who wrote from the experience of suffering as blacks in America. Growing up as a teenager in the late 1960s and facing being drafted in the draft lottery in 1969, with the likelihood that I would be sent to fight in Vietnam, I sought to learn about that war. I came to the conclusion that it was senseless and could not be won, a waste of human lives, which we now know President Johnson had also concluded by 1968, as he continued to send soldiers to Vietnam to kill and be killed. I became depressed about life in general and my life in particular. By the ninth grade I began drinking heavily, taking drugs, and engaging in promiscuous sex to dull my emotional pain. After one semester of college, I dropped out and went to Europe to live as an expatriate. I expected to commit suicide after getting as much pleasure as I could in this last adventure. In the providence of God, there were people praying for me, and after spending three months traveling in England, Wales, France, and Spain, I wandered into a Christian community in the Swiss Alps at the end of May in This community called L Abri (French for The Shelter) welcomed all who wanted to know if life had any meaning. It was there that I first understood the gospel of Jesus Christ and saw people live according to it. I spent two months arguing with Francis Schaeffer, Os Guinness, and other intellectuals who believed that the Bible was the word of God, which had the power to save people like me. In the beginning, I was convinced I could show them they were deluded, but after two months, I realized that I was the one who was deluded. I was won over not only by their intellectual defense of the Christian faith, but also by the love that was so visible in the community, particularly their love for me. Although they convinced me that the gospel was true, I still doubted that I could be saved. I knew that I had to change the way I was living if I was to be a Christ-follower. So many times over the years I had tried to stop drinking and taking drugs. I knew that they were destroying my life. But every time I failed. How could I be Christian when I could not control my life, I asked. 2

3 The answer I was given by folks at L Abri was that I was right. There was no way that I could control my life. But if I was willing to surrender my life to Jesus, he would live in me by the power of the Holy Spirit, and he would do the changing. He would heal what was broken. Because I saw evidence of that happening in this community in the lives of others, I did surrender myself to Jesus in August of I found what they told me to be true. Slowly, God began to change me and put the pieces of my life back together. Since that day, more than 42 years ago, I have seen many miracles and experienced the power of God. I love to tell others of the saving power of the gospel. I know without a doubt that my redeemer is alive. I love to praise God with Psalm 103, which begins like this: Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle s. That Psalm is my story. I was in a deep pit that I could not get out of and the Lord rescued me. I am looking forward to getting to know you. My wife and I live in Andover, 60 miles from the church, so I normally drive down to Foxboro on Sunday mornings and then stay in town through Wednesday afternoon. I normally work at home on Thursdays. I really do not like eating alone when I am here in Foxboro, so please invite me to join you for a meal. Pastor Roger Lier Due to the rising cost of postage, (even non-profit bulk mail has increased significantly); and the cost of processing a paper newsletter, the Bethany Bell will no longer be mailed to every Bethany home. It will be posted on the Bethany website, bethanychurch.org, the last week of each month, for the following month. If you do not have access to the web, we ll be happy to mail you a copy, but you need to call Glenda in the Church Office at Thank you! 3

4 Children s Ministry News What We ve Been Up To God is with us when we need help, and when we are in times of change. Because of the loving help and provision God shows us, we can joyfully choose to serve and obey God. These are the primary emphases for the fall, and we focused on Moses and the Exodus of God s people during September. We began with the story of Moses birth and his appointment as leader of God s people, the Israelites. Through the story of the Exodus the children learned that God delivers his people from troubles and trials. During October we will be in the wilderness with God s people as they wander for 40 years before being allowed to enter the Promised Land. God faithfully supplies their needs. The stories of how God fed them, provided guidelines for their lives, and inspired them to worship are powerful reminders of how God continues to do all of these things for us today. Please be in touch with Deb Byron if you can help share these lessons with our kids! Bible Sunday On Sunday, October 14 th, Bethany s 3 rd graders will be presented with their very own Bibles. This is a long-standing tradition at Bethany. (Dating back at least 50 years!) Safe Church Overview There will be a review Bethany s Care of our Children and Youth Policies on Wednesday evening, 10/3 at 7:00 p.m. This is primarily aimed at those individuals working directly with our children and/or youth (teacher, mentor, youth group chaperone, etc.) but anyone is welcome to attend. Even if you attended last fall s presentation, the purpose of an annual review of our safe church policy and procedures is to keep them fresh in mind so if at all possible please plan to attend. Contact Deb Byron with questions. Little Footsteps Preschool has just a couple openings in the Tuesday/ Thursday 3- year-old program. If you have a friend or neighbor who has not yet enrolled their preschooler in a program, please encourage them to contact Nancy Kaeser at to schedule a visit and hear about our curriculum. Little Footsteps is awesome! WATOTO Concert of Hope Bethany is hosting Watoto, the Ugandan children s choir on October 11 th! The goal of each Concert of Hope is to raise awareness of the plight of 2 million children in Uganda left parentless as a result of war and AIDS. The concert is at 7 p.m. and will last about an hour. We will have refreshments in the Fellowship Hall afterward. If you can donate 2-3 dozen cookies or squares or a gallon or two of apple cider, let Deb Byron know! The BBQ was Great! The barbecue on September 16th was a great day of fellowship. The weather was beautiful, the food was tasty, and what a great way to welcome Pastor Roger and his wife! Thank you to those who arrived at 7:30 a.m. (!) to set up tables, to everyone who brought food to share, to our two chefs behind the grills, to the volunteers who ran the kids' activities, and to those who helped with clean up after the party. It is a blessing to be part of a church family that comes together for fun times like this event! News from Our Small Groups Wednesday Playtime at Bethany Playtime meets every Wednesday from 9:30-11:00 a.m. outdoors or in the gym, depending on the weather. Our gym has ride-on toys, bounce houses, balls, slides, and teeter-totters. This is a great way for your child to meet new friends and for you to connect with other parents. No need to sign up; just come when you are able. For more information, contact Nancy Kaeser at or Kaeser@bethanychurch.org. 4

5 Return from Exile Bible Study Join Bev Crocker on Wednesday mornings for a Bible study covering the period when God s people returned from exile. Studies based on Malachi and Nehemiah are two of the resources we ll be using. All are welcome! Contact Bev Crocker at for more information. Moms Group Join with other moms and learn and laugh together! Free childcare provided. We meet weekly on Friday mornings in Room 305 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. starting September 21 st and often start out with a short walk. We also like to incorporate a few field trip activities in when we can! Please feel free to invite friends to come as well. Contact Brenda Sacco at for more information. From our Minister to the Community: Friends at Trinitarian Congregational Church (where I was a Sabbatical Pastor from April through August) have invited us to be part of a fundraising activity at Gillette Stadium they have been leading for years. Would you help? You must be 18 years or older and have a heart for serving others in Christ. Your commitment could be to serve with us at Gillette Stadium events once or twice this year, or you could be more of a regular on the team whatever suits your schedule. We only need 2-3 Bethany folk per football game. What s nice and a Godsend is that Trinitarian leaders will train and shepherd us along the way. In the spirit of fellowship and mission, please consider joining our Bethany team and partnering with Trinitarian. Contact Rev. Gretchen Elmendorf at , at gelmendorf@ gmail.com and/or signing up on the Program Table. The Next Serving at the Food n Friends Kitchen at First Baptist Church in Mansfield will be Tuesday, November 6 th. We are looking for people who can get salad, chips, dessert, milk, butter, etc. If you can help with any of these items, call Jen Murray at or Maureen Driscoll at Sign-up on the Program Table. 5 Save the Dates! Crop Walk! This year s Annual Crop Walk to help the Attleboro Area Council of Churches and Church World Services end hunger locally and globally will be held on Sunday, October 21. Please contact Ellen Hawrylciw at or ehawrylciw@meditech.com for further information. Game Night! On Friday, October 26 th from 6-9 p.m., dust off those board games, break out the new deck of cards it s time for a night of games! Bring your favorite game to teach others, and learn some new ones as well. Up for a more physical night of game playing? We ll be running games in the gym. Everyone is welcome we re planning on everything from Candyland, to kickball, to cribbage! Refreshments will be served. Adult Fellowship Night Lords and Ladies, your presence is requested on Saturday, November 17 th from 6-8:30 p.m. for a night of hearty fare and jovial entertainment. Save the date! We re also looking for serfs willing to help plan the evening, and serving wenches for that night. Contact Nancy Kaeser for more information about Game Night or our Medieval Dinner, at kaeser@bethanychurch.org or (508) Thank You, Pastor Roger! Many churches observe October as Pastor Appreciation Month. Given the reluctance of many pastors to call attention to themselves, it s not likely that they will mention anything about being appreciated. Were someone to ask a pastor, however, what might be done to show appreciation to him or her, the answer would likely be, Pray for me. Encourage your pastor by assuring him or her of your prayers and love. -from The Newsletter Newsletter

6 Christmas Fair News! Yes, it s that time again! Our annual Christmas Fair, which is one of the highlights of the season, will be Saturday, December 1 st. So bear with us for the next couple of months as we advertise, advertise, advertise! Theme Basket Raffle The crisp fall air is a sign that Christmas Fair planning is underway. Once again, among the attractions will be the Theme Basket Raffle. The theme baskets are sponsored by small groups, families or individuals who donate the items. Then we arrange, decorate, and raffle them off. Every year the interest grows and we get so many compli-ments on how beautiful and imaginative they are. Simply gather items around a theme (let us know if you need ideas) and get them to us by Thanks-giving, and we will do the rest. You can call us sooner with the theme so we can start generating enthusiasm in advance. We are so grateful for the generous support we have received in the past and we hope that it can continue. Please let one of us know how you can add to this successful fundraiser. With many thanks, Jane Curtis ; Ruth Jackson ; Joyce Lewis The Book Nook is Collecting! I m collecting for this year s Fair, so when you finish up your summer/fall reading, viewing, and listening; save those books (fiction and cookbooks only, please), DVD s, VHS movies, and music CD s and tapes! You may leave donations in the Church Office, or call me, Glenda Haney, at or (home) and I ll come pick them up. Thank you! WORSHIP VOLUNTEERS Deacon of the Service Traditional Service 10/7 Jim McKinney 10/14 Tom Garcia 10/21 Alin Pop-Vicas 10/28 Dawn Medeiros Contemporary Service 10/7 ** 10/14 Dick Hobbs 10/21 Myron Rust 10/28 Mark Hawrylciw Service Readers Traditional Service 10/7 Laurel DeCoste 10/14 Penni Jenkins 10/21 Deb Graham 10/28 Ellen Dean Contemporary Service 10/7 Sarah Murphy 10/14 Peter Lathrop 10/21 Pat Scagnoli 10/28 Michele Rogers Ushers 10/7 Pamela & John Winslow, the Cormays 10/14 Marsha & Keith MacPherson, Laurel & Cliff DeCoste 10/21 Doug Whitney, Lois & Bill Sullivan, Peter Randall 10/28 Penni Jenkins, Mary & Susan Taggart, Rick Lewis Welcome Team 10/7 ** 10/14 Susan Brown 10/21 ** 10/28 Angela Maynard **We have an opening; could YOU help? The deadline for the next edition of The Bethany Bell is Friday, October 26th at 8:30 a.m. Material may be submitted to haney@bethanychurch.org. Thanks! 6

7 Book of Life Chancel Flowers -September 9, given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Sgt. Mark Grigsby and Evelyn & Jack Grigsby by the Hobbs family. -September 23, given to the glory of God and in loving memory of John A. Rohner, Jr. by his wife, Patricia Smith Rohner. Births We welcome Felicity Faith Flinders who was born on August 22, She is the greatgranddaughter of Joanna Matteson. We welcome Brooke Janette Banian, born September 19, 2012 to Lisa and Charlie Banian. She is the granddaughter of Annette and Jeff Banian and the great-granddaughter of Virginia Banian. Deaths Our sympathy is expressed to the family and friends of Grace Grahn who died on August 30, She was the wife of Bob Grahn. Our sympathy is expressed to the family of Jeanne Lovett who died September 24, She was the mother of Lori Dyer and the grandmother of Garrett Dyer and Emily Rogers. Give us a sense of humor, Give us the grace to see a joke, To get some humor out of life, And pass it on to other folk... The Joy of Being an Editor Getting out this little paper is no picnic. If we print jokes people say we are silly. If we don t then they say we are too serious. If we clip things from other sources, We are too lazy to write them for ourselves. If we don t we are too fond of our own stuff. If we don t print contributions, We don t appreciate true genius. If we do print them the paper is full of junk. If we make a change in another person s writing, Then we are too critical. If we don t, we are asleep. Now likely as not, someone will say We swiped this from some other publication. We did. -Author unknown (Swiped from the newsletter of First Congregational Church of Weymouth) Thanks, Grace! Cub Scout Pack 70 welcomes boys in grades 1-5. Scouting offers an opportunity to make new friends, try new things, enjoy the outdoors and learn about community. If you would like to learn more, please contact Amy Spognardi at or or Not Quite Clear The Sunday school teacher asked each of her children to write a short note to a missionary to tell him they were praying for him. "The missionary," the teacher said, "is a very busy man, so tell him that he is not expected to answer the class." When they were finished, the teacher went over the letters to see what the 7

8 children had written. One little girl had written, "Dear Brother Brown, we're praying for you. We don't expect an answer." 8