The Beacon S P E C I A L P O I N T S O F I N T E R E S T : V O L U M E 2, I S S U E 9 A P R I L 2 0 1 6 April Calendar and Birthdays Session Pictures Pot Luck Pictures VBS Dates Dancing with Jesus On a recent Sunday evening, we gathered in the chapel for our Modern Service. As the service began, folks of all ages found their way to the seats teens, parents with small children, and Gilbert, somewhere in his high eighties. I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : Associate Pastor 2 April Calendar 3 April Birthdays 4 Session Pictures 5 A Voice for Ministry Confirmation Class Women of Bethany 6 7 Pot Luck Lunch 8 Men s Retreat BYG VBS Food Bank Golden Oldies Rebuilding Pgh 9 10 11 Thank you 12 Our worship leaders opened the service with a song, one of the favorites for that service, Open Up the Sky, fall down like fire, We don t want anything but You Behind me I could hear young Abby Walsh belting out the words with all her heart. And across the aisle, in the front row, little four-year-old Paige Morse broke into a dance; Twirling and spinning, arms up and then flowing outward, a little leap and a great big smile, Paige danced. Those of us in the front couple rows could see it all a child of God dancing with the joy of the Lord. You could tell who saw her by the smiles on our faces. We continued singing, Our beloved Father, please come down and meet us, We are waiting on your touch. Open up he heavens, shower down your presence, We respond to your great love In these moments we felt the touch of God; we were in his presence; we saw his love in a little girl dancing with Jesus. When you and I come to worship, even if our feet do not dance, may our hearts dance in praise to our Lord. See you on Sunday, John H.
P A G E 2 Your Family: Thriving or Surviving? That question is a core concern of the Discipleship Discernment Team (DDT): is your family (are you) just trying to get to the end of each day; to hang on until the weekend or the next vacation when you can take a deep breath? Or does your family embrace each day with joy, eager to see how God is going to work in you and through you; are you growing closer to Jesus and the life God intended for you? Jesus said, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). He doesn t want us to just survive but to thrive; to have a vital and growing relationship with Him, meaningful connections with our community and families, and to participate passionately in God s story of healing and redemption. We want to hear from you as we seek God s will and direction We, Bethany Church, are meant to help each other and our families thrive. We have a sense that this is not happening as well as Jesus intends and we are committed to becoming that thriving community. In order to take the next steps, we want and need you! Only in honest conversation will we all be able to: see Bethany more clearly, understand the challenges and barriers, hopes and longings of our neighbors and each other, and joyfully move into the future led by the Holy Spirit. We want to hear from you, as we seek God s will and direction for how we can best help our families grow and thrive in the midst of real life! We will be hosting conversations every day during the week of April 10 th 16 th. Pick a time, come and share: In the Chapel April 10-16 Sun 10 Mon 11 Tue 12 Wed 13 Thur 14 Fri 15 Sat 16 9:30am or 12 pm 6:30 pm 6:30 pm 6:30 pm 6:30 pm 6:30 pm 9:30 am or 4:30 pm Snacks Provided. Babysitting Available if needed. Questions, contact anyone on the DDT: Kelly Barish 412-527-5250 Lynne Suchoza 412-221-7484 Debby Hayes 412-266-0982 Karen Verduci 412-877-5743 Amanda Leavitt 412-221-5132 Ryan Wolstoncroft 412-973-0453 Rich Ralston 412-567-7760 Robbie Ytterberg 412-221-5132 Or feel free to email all of us at: ddt@bethanypresby.org T H E B E A C O N
APRIL 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 7:00 AM Blood Drive 8:15 AM Worship 9:30 AM Sunday School 10:45 AM Worship 4:30 PM BYG JH 6:00 PM Worship 7:15 PM BYG SH 7:15 PM MOMS Next 4 6:15 PM PW Body Carpenter Workout 7:00 PM Dartball Captains Meeting 7:00 PM Deacon Meeting 5 9:30 AM Women's Day Out 6 10:00 AM Fellowship of Prayer 7:00 PM Bethany Choir Practice 7 9:15 AM Quilting 12:00 PM Thursday Knitters 7:00 PM AA Mtg 8 12:00 PM Men's Friday Lunch at Kings Restaurant 12:00 PM Preschool Lunch Bunch 4:00 PM IF Gathering set up 7:00 PM IF Gathering 9 8:00 AM IF Gathering 11:00 AM Saturday Knitters 10 8:15 AM Worship 9:30 AM Sunday School 10:45 AM Worship 1:30 PM Girl Scout Troop 53102 4:30 PM BYG JH 6:00 PM Worship 7:15 PM BYG SH 11 6:15 PM PW Body Carpenter Workout 7:00 PM Session Teams 12 9:30 AM Women's Day Out 13 Pre School Field Trip 7:00 PM Bethany Choir Practice 14 9:15 AM MOPS 9:15 AM Quilting 12:00 PM Thursday Knitters 7:00 PM AA Mtg 15 6:00 PM Heinrich Court of Honor-set up 7:00 PM Pastor Prayer Meeting 16 7:30 AM Food Bank 12:00 PM Heinrich Eagle Scout Court of Honor 17 8:00 AM BYG SH Pancake breakfast 8:15 AM Worship 9:30 AM Sunday School 10:45 AM Worship 12:30 PM Confirmation Class Group Meeting Wrap Up 4:30 PM BYG JH 6:00 PM Worship 7:15 PM BYG SH 7:15 PM MOMS Next 18 6:15 PM PW Body Carpenter Workout 7:00 PM Session Meeting 19 9:30 AM Women's Day Out 7:00 PM PW Bunco Event 20 7:00 PM Bethany Choir Practice 21 9:15 AM Quilting 12:00 PM Golden Oldies Luncheon 12:00 PM Thursday Knitters 7:00 PM AA Mtg 22 12:00 PM Men's Friday Lunch at Kings Restaurant 12:00 PM Preschool Lunch Bunch 23 8:00 AM Pancake Breakfast 9:00 AM PW Bible study 11:00 AM Evangelism Meeting - Brother Gene 11:00 AM Saturday Knitters 24 8:15 AM Worship 9:30 AM Sunday School 10:45 AM Worship 12:00 PM New Members Class 4:30 PM BYG JH 6:00 PM Worship 7:15 PM BYG SH 25 6:15 PM PW Body Carpenter Workout 7:00 PM Statement of Faith Presentation and Celebration 26 9:30 AM Women's Day Out 7:00 PM Rummage Sale Drop Off 27 7:00 PM Bethany Choir Practice 28 9:15 AM MOPS 9:15 AM Quilting 12:00 PM Thursday Knitters 7:00 PM AA Mtg 7:00 PM Rummage Sale Drop Off 29 12:00 PM Preschool Lunch Bunch 10:30 PM BYG SH Fun Fore All-All Nighter 30 Rebuilding Pgh 8:00 AM Church Painting Hallways
P A G E 4 April Birthdays 04/01 Randolph Druchniak 04/02 Nathaniel Petrow 04/02 Paula Padgelek 04/02 Zachary Barzanty 04/02 Abigail Walsh 04/02 Kyong Barnhart 04/03 Quinn Miller 04/03 Tabatha Harding 04/03 Cody Edwards 04/03 Olivia Marrow 04/03 Storm Figura 04/03 Sage Figura 04/03 Timothy Anderson 04/04 Marie Gillis 04/04 Gary Orosz 04/05 Evelyn Eater 04/05 Avery Link 04/05 Evan Veneski 04/05 Guy Doyle 04/06 Adam Zombek 04/07 Kiley Simpronio 04/07 Julie Foltz 04/07 Victoria Gregory 04/07 Rachel Demnyan 04/07 Megan Wilson 04/08 Jocelyn Morelock 04/08 Eric Myers 04/08 Ronald Gastgeb 04/09 Griffin Pappert 04/09 Ryan Jackson 04/09 Kimberly Aul 04/09 Dolores Russell 04/10 Gabrielle Sharp 04/10 Lena Werner 04/10 Alicia Barbaryka 04/10 Betty Dalby 04/10 Matthew Cillo 04/11 Laney Davis 04/11 Sandy Smith 04/11 Barbara Boehmer 04/12 Esther Biearman 04/12 Tara Talerico 04/12 Mark Talerico 04/12 Miles Benack 04/13 Jack Vollmer 04/13 Ruth Underwood 04/13 Kelly Timco 04/13 Richard Kovach 04/14 Bob Black 04/14 Lauren Rastetter 04/16 Joseph Ciaramella 04/16 Jayne Ciaramella 04/17 Camryn Loebig 04/17 Emma Fricker 04/18 Lillian Fabus 04/20 Ronald Miller 04/20 Henry Brickner 04/20 Nicholas DeRoss 04/21 Mark Romanelli 04/21 Sharon Matusic 04/22 Mariane Newmeyer 04/22 Joshua Rathbun 04/22 Sydney Jones 04/23 Laura Miller 04/23/ Helen Di Giovanni 04/23 Joseph Brickner 04/23 Cynthia O'Korn 04/23 Dennis Farrer 04/23 Christopher Marra 04/25 Jocelyn Patterson 04/25 Lois Underwood 04/25 Stephanie Benack 04/26 Rebecca Sabin 04/27 Sierra Sienerth 04/27 Corey De Rose 04/27 Mary Fortney 04/27 Shannon Massimino 04/28 Patricia Schweitzer 04/28 Cheryl Wilson 04/29 Erika Crabb 04/29 Geoffrey Malone 04/29 Todd Lesnett 04/29 Natalie Woods 04/29 Matthew Price 04/29 Michelle Figura 04/30 Walter Schultz 04/30 Carson Colvin 04/30 Christine Costello 04/30 Michael Foltz Pray for Our Military Michael Avery Justin Aylor Robin Aylor Heather Ayres Beattie Mark Becker Anthony Benini Mark Cameron Aaron Cox Douglas Crabb Michael Daniels Jeff David Nicole David Stephen Doyle Justin Driskill Ryan Duffy Brian Ellis Kyle Ely Jason Fulmer Joshua Griffin Joel Harr Karen Weber Harr Chris Harrison Michael Hayes Tim Heath Quintin Held Matthew Iverson Dion Julian William N. Kennedy Krystina Litton Ryan Kelsey Richard Lawrence Justin Mack Bruce MacNeill Michael Matthews Gary McMIllan Kelli Mitchell Derek Mockel David Morgan Ian Murch Michael McFerron Andrew McGovern John Petkovich Joey Puharic Matt Read Scott Reese Maggie Ripley John J. Ross Beatriz Sachek Nicholas Sachek Kyle Schaffner Billy Segeleon David Semgrad Ryan Squires Scott Squires Linden St. Clair Evan Steckle Ben Stern, Jr. Stanley Taylor Paul Trusiak Scott Vokoun Matt Weber Samuel Wilson Updated 10/20/2015
V O L U M E 2, I S S U E 9 Baptism Please call the Church Office at 412-221- 5132 to fill out the informational form. This will then be given to the minister who will set up a meeting date with you. The dates for Baptism for 2016 are April 3, June 19, September 25 and December 11. P A G E 5 Communion Children wanting to receive Communion must first talk with the pastors. Call the pastor to make an appointment. The dates for Communion for 2016 are May 8, June 26, August 7, September 11, October 2 (World Communion), and November 27. Session Pictures...Take a Guess! For the next few months, baby pictures, or in some cases young adult pictures, of our Session members will appear in The Beacon. Your job will be to try and guess who the people are in the pictures. Then the following month, the baby pictures will appear alongside their adult counterpart. There will be new pictures every month.
P A G E 6 A Voice for Ministry by Lisa Jo Colwell BREAD Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 (English Standard Version) God offers His gift of fresh Bread to us each and every day that we are alive. This Bread is Jesus. Jesus is the Bread of life. Each new day God provides ample opportunities for us to entrust our lives unto His care. God gives us fresh opportunities to share His Sweet Presence daily. This is His provision for us. It is up to us to dine with the Master, to sit at His table, or better yet, at His feet to learn of Him. In the Old Testament there was a time when the Israelite people trusted God each day to provide bread from heaven for them. Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Exodus 16:31 (E.S.V.) Manna is a form of basic sustenance, much like bread. The people were instructed by God to only gather enough manna for their family to use that day. They were not to stock pile manna. Any excess of the manna would go rancid the next day. The idea was to trust God, to depend on the Almighty for their daily supply, for that day s provision. God wanted to teach them a day by day trust rather than the people filling their pantries or going beyond into hoarding food. Also notice that God does not ever offer us leftovers. Each new day God provides ample opportunities for us to entrust our lives into His care. We have the privilege to read His Holy Word, talk to God and be heard by Him, and even have the navigation of the Holy Spirit if we choose to ask for His Guidance. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him. Lamentations 3:22-24 (E.S.V.) Today the Creator of the Universe would like to break bread with you and with me. We even have a freewill choice if we would like to actually take Him up on this offer or not. We are not forced to share God s great provisions with us, but we are offered these privileges. When we do take the offer to fuel ourselves up on a wholesome spiritual meal with God, we are supplied with everything that we need to face the onslaught of the day s uncertainties. Ask yourself, who would want to do this on an empty stomach? It only really helps us when we choose to get the proper spiritual nutrition that we need to live successfully. So challenge yourself to open the Word of God and accept the healthy diet that is in your own best interest. T H E B E A C O N
V O L U M E 2, I S S U E 9 Many Gifts P A G E 7 by Amanda Leavitt Have you looked around Bethany lately and noticed young faces helping in places you had not seen before? It feels like this year s confirmation journey started just yesterday, but we are already beginning to wrap up the experience. The students are in the midst of taking all they have learned about God and their faith through their life so far and over the past few months of learning together to write their statements of faith. As part of the experience this year we studied the Holy Spirit. We looked into the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to people to further the Kingdom of God. Each student took an inventory that helped them to identify spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has given them and personal strengths that they have. The students have been encouraged that one way to worship God is to use the gifts they have been given to help others see and know God every day. Over the past few weeks the Confirmation students have been stepping into ministries within the church to practice using their spiritual gifts. You may have noticed Kenzie Timco singing in the choir. If you peeked into the junior high Sunday school room you would have seen Jordan Underwood using the gifts of teaching, faith, and wisdom to share God with the junior high students by teaching. Sarah Smith stopped by the nursery four weeks in a row asking if there we babies, so that she could use the gift of helping and be a helper there. Austin Abel stepped into second hour to help care for kiddos there. And you will see Melina Shildt in the kindergarten class using the gifts of teaching and generosity. Take a look around over the next few weeks and you will see Jake Hanich, Jerod Witwicki, Hunter Briggs, and Reilly O Connor putting the gifts the Holy Spirit has given them too to use all over the church! On April 25 th, the confirmands will be presenting their statements of faith at 7PM in the sanctuary! The students have been diligently working on articulating what they believe so that they can share it with our church community. You are invited to join in hearing their stories, thoughts, convictions, and beliefs. Please join us to celebrate their achievement at 7PM on April 25 th! The Women of Bethany will be holding a Bunco Night on Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 PM. NO experience necessary to come join in the fun! Bring a snack to share with everyone. Beverages will be provided. If you have any questions please call Barb Crawford for more information.
Pot Luck Pictures The Spring Pot Luck was held on March 13. A good time was had by all who attended. Please look in the bulletins or issues of The Beacon for the date of the next Pot Luck Lunch! T H E B E A C O N
V O L U M E 2, I S S U E 9 P A G E 9 Men s Retreat May 20-21 at Seven Springs Join us as we connect with God and get to know some other men. This will be a fun time to relax and grow in faith together. The opening session will be Friday evening at 7:00 pm so come after work if you can t get away to play that day. The final session will end by 10:30 Saturday morning so you will have time to play. There are all sorts of opportunities to enjoy God s creation and each other: fishing, sporting clays, bowling, zip line canopy experience, hiking, biking or golf. Three Different Package Options: Room + Golf Friday, Breakfast, Golf Saturday & Lunch: $173.50 double, $247 single room Room + Breakfast, Golf Saturday & Lunch: $129.75 double, $206.25 single room Room + Breakfast: $92 double, $165.50 single room Questions or to sign up contact: Tom Hayes at 412-296-1950 or tleohayes@hotmail.com
P A G E 10 SAVE THE DATE Bethany Presbyterian Church Vacation Bible School Ages 4 years old to Entering 5 th Grade June 27 July 1, 2016 6 PM 8:45 PM Recruiting Volunteers entering 6 th Grade through???? More Information to follow at http://bethanypresby.org Bridgeville Area Food Bank At the March 19th distribution, the Bridgeville Area Food Bank served 135 families, including 79 children, 147 adults, and 61 elderly. Reminder: Donations to the food bank must be made to The Bridgeville Area Food Bank and will not appear on your Bethany Presbyterian Church Financial statement as a contribution to the church. While the church is the distribution center, the Food Bank is a separate entity for accounting purposes. We encourage you to support this greatly needed community program. T H E B E A C O N
V O L U M E 2, I S S U E 9 Golden Oldies Spring Trip Bethany s Golden Oldies have a day trip to Ligonier on Thursday, April 28 th to have some fun, eat a delicious meal at the Ramada Inn, and enjoy a musical tribute to Barbra Streisand. Cost is $85 a person. Contact Judy Gardner, 412.279.1975 (leave a message) if you would like to come along. P A G E 11 We are also planning an overnight trip to Lancaster for the last week of September to see Samson at the Sight and Sound Theatre and several other shows. Bethany s Golden Oldies are open to anyone over 50. We meet at noon on the third Thursday of every month in Fellowship Hall. The next meeting will be on Thursday April 21. Dues are $20 a year. Members only pay $3 for lunch followed by an interesting program. Hope to see you there! National Rebuilding Day Saturday April 30, 2016 Again this year, Bethany Presbyterian Church will participate in National Rebuilding Day. We will be working in the Beechview area. If you are interested in helping with this one day, national event, please stop in the church office or look in the bulletins for a form to fill out. If you have any questions, please contact Brian Bartels, who is the Bethany House Captain at 219-256-0121 or Caroline Poiche at 412-498-1349. Cost for this year s event is $50 per person.
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Bridgeville, PA 15017 Permit #38 Bethany Presbyterian Church 740 Washington Avenue Bridgeville, PA 15017 Phone: 412-221-5132 Fax: 412-220-9107 E-mail: office@bethanypresby.org Loving with the Heart of Jesus Www.bethanypresby.org A Word of Thanks: To all who helped with the funeral service and arrangements, luncheon and set-up, communications to former Pastors and friends for the funeral for Janet Marlett Thank You. Thank you, volunteers, staff, choir, church. Thank you to all who expressed your love through gifts, cards, visits to the funeral home, attendance at the service. When we lose someone who served as Secretary for forty years, who was an active and vibrant presence in the worship and ministry of the church, we grieve, even as we confidently entrust her to God. Thank for being the body of Christ as we are meant to be. John Hamilton Please keep in prayer Bud Marlett and their children, David and Nancy, and their families.