Bethany Presbyterian Church 100 W. Venango St. Mercer, Pa 16137 Bethany Road This August 15 will be my one year anniversary as your senior pastor. The year has been a great blessing to me as well as my family. I am so grateful to God for this past year and I thank you for a wonderful and exciting first year for me. You all have been gracious, accommodating, hospitable, and patient with me as I acclimated myself to be your senior pastor. You all helped made the transition enjoyable. Bethany is an amazing church with great staff, session, deacons and members. You all truly have a heart for the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is so evident that Bethany loves to worship our God in heaven, study God s word, fellowship together, share the good news in mission and outreach programs and love its members. I am thankful that I was able to start my journey with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church denomination at almost the same time as Bethany. The EPC denomination is an outstanding denomination that provides us with resources and opportunities to live out Jesus command to make disciples. And thank you for opening your arms and hearts to Cynthia and Gabe as they adjust to this new chapter in their lifes. They, too, have been greatly blessed by you, Bethany. I am looking forward to the future with Bethany believing that God will continue to unite our hearts together on this incredible journey. Thank you, our faithful and gracious Father in Heaven. 1 Cor. 1:4-6, 4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way in all your speaking and in all your knowledge 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. NIV The Big Finish for Amazing Grace Race Hog Roast and Awards August 15 ~ 12:00 Noon We are celebrating the end of the Amazing Grace Race with a hog roast dinner and awards. This dinner is for all the participants, their spouses and family members. The dinner will be held at Bethany in the Fellowship Hall at noon, 12:00. To help offset the cost, we are asking for $10.00 per adult and $25.00 for family; this will help pay for the hog and awards. The six month race was a great beginning for a startup for the men s ministry. We are anticipating more opportunities for men at a later date. Volume 12, Issue 7 August 2015 Inside this issue: Ladies Tea; Spring Collection Update Bethany Golf Outings; Help Needed 2 3 Bethany Women 4 August Calendar 5 Church Picnic Back Cover Committee Meetings: Property Tuesday, August 4 at 6:30 p.m. Christian Ed Tuesday, August 11 at 7:00 p.m. Member Involvement Tuesday, August 11 at 7:00 p.m. Worship & Memorials Tuesday, August 11 at 7:00 p.m. SESSION Thursday, August 27 at 7:00 p.m. Please respond by either informing your captain and/or circle number 5 on the attendance cards.
Ladies' Calendar Tea "A Journey Through the Years" We are planning a Ladies Calendar Tea on September 14th at 6:30 p.m. in the social room. Wondering what a Calendar Tea is? There will be twelve tables set up with each table representing one of the twelve months of the year. The ladies of each table will decorate their own table according to the theme that is associated with that month. (Example: January New Year theme or a snowman theme, February Valentine s Day, etc.) The Ladies of their table will bring a snack to share, along with some special teas. If you have a tea set packed away just waiting for an opportunity to be used, this is just the place for it to be used! During our evening together, we will enjoy a wonderful time of fellowship -where we will meet new friends while giving time to those we already know; we will have opportunity to sing our praises to God; we will be listening to some encouraging words shared by our speaker; and have opportunity to have prayer for any concern you may have. Anyone interested in hosting a table or for more information, please contact Debbie Latsko, 724-974-1623. Spring and Summer Collections Update.... As is our custom, we try to keep you informed of your generosity regarding our ongoing collections. Our spring and early summer collections are completed, and we are happy to report the following: AWARE we collected so many nice items for summer use for AWARE. They included the following: board games, sidewalk chalk, squirt guns, card games, so many bottles of bubbles, books for preteens and teens, journals, paddleballs, a variety of balls (volley, footballs, and basketballs), jump ropes, Frisbees, and an assortment of toys and crafts. As you can see, these items promote outdoor, non-tech fun. Joshua s Haven we collected three large boxes of the items that are always in need at Joshua s Haven. They included: dozens of bottles of men s shampoo, deodorant, and lots, and I mean lots, of disposable razors. What a blessing each of you are who so graciously donated to make others in our community have items that we take for granted. Bethany Presbyterian Women Volume 12, Issue 7 Page 2
Giving Envelopes If you currently do not receive giving envelopes and would be interested in having them delivered to you, please contact the church office or call Lynda McQuown at 724-962-3154. All giving envelopes are mailed directly to those wishing to receive them on a monthly basis. Help Needed If you would like to help this school year in one of the following areas, or have a name to refer to possibly help, please circle #1 on your Communication Card, and also write in the ministry area and/or referral name. Nursery (monthly in Sunday School or Morning Services), Kid s Sunday School (bi-monthly), Children s Church (monthly, pre-school or elementary), Totally Terrific Tuesdays After-School Program (Tuesdays in October & November) Nikes/Middle School (bi-weekly), or Renovate/High School (bi-weekly) A church library work day or evening is in the works for the first of August. Volunteers are needed to serve in our church s library this summer and in the following year. Please circle #2 on your Attendance Card. Golf Outing: If you are a golfer, why not join us and play in the 2015 Fore Fintonia Golf Outing to be held at Yankee Run Golf Course in Brookfield, Ohio on Saturday, August 22. Registration is at 7:15 a.m. with a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m. The cost is $100 per player which includes cart/ greens fees, entry to all skill prizes, food and beverages. The entry fees will be collected the day of the golf outing. Forms to register are currently available at the Welcome Center. Pastor Peter is the contact person for Bethany so see him with any questions. This is an EPC Presbytery of the Alleghenies fund-raiser with ALL money raised to be used to help Fintonia. Bethany Church - Second Annual Golf Outing Will be held at Green Meadows Golf Course, Volant, PA on Sunday, August 30, 2015 with tee times beginning at 1:30 PM. Fees are $28.00 which includes 18 holes of golf and golf cart rental. Following the outing there will be a picnic at the golf course. Please contact Dick Seger, Rick Wamboldt or Glenn Hogue to register for the outing or to obtain more information. Tee It High! Page 3 Bethany Road
Fun & Fellowship Starts...Monday, September 21 This wonderful time of fellowship, games, and community projects will resume its fall, My Ladies Bible Study... winter, spring schedule. Our first meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. in the Lindsey Room. Watch for the September Bethany Road and Sunday morning bulletins for exact details. It is hard to believe but the summer is slipping by and that means that our monthly fellowship/lunch times are drawing to a close. But the good news is that we have one more! It will be held on Tuesday, August 4 at noon in the Social Hall. As usual, we will share a time of fellowship, have a lunch that is provided for you and share a short devotional. Our time together will conclude by 1:15 p.m. This Bible Study is open to all widows. The regular twice-amonth Bible Study will begin in September. New Items Being Collected by Bethany Women Currently in Vogan Annex, there are two green bins accepting your donations for our summer, fall and early winter collections. These bins will be collecting under December 15. For AWARE eating soups. Please feel free to place your cans of soup in our bin labeled AWARE. The kind is not important but please make sure the expiration dates on the cans are well into 2016. For Joshua s Haven paper products. There are many paper products we take for granted but Joshua s Haven is in need of the following: napkins, rolls of paper towels, Kleenex (to be politically correct tissues), and toilet paper. Also needed is powdered laundry soap no liquids. You may ask several questions: You mean they still sell that? Yes, the best places are your dollar stores where you can get ERA, Purex, Fab and very large bags or boxes for very little money. Why can t I donate liquid laundry soap that s what I use at home? The most economical and less messy is powdered laundry soap since one cup is placed in a zip lock bag and that is what they place in the washer. No mess, no disposing of containers, no measuring just perfect for the clients they serve. We hope you will think of all the many blessings God has bestowed on each of us. Can t we give back even a little to make someone s life a little easier? Always remember house brands and generics are fine any way we can stretch our dollars to provide for more people is our goal. Watch for updates of the number of items you have donated. Page 4 Bethany Road
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 2 Baptism 9 16 Communion 23 Rally Day 1:00 Church Picnic @ the Lake 30 1:30 church Golf 3 10 7:00 Outreach 4 12:00 My Ladies 6:30 Property 11 7:00 Member Involvement; Worship & Memorials; Christian Ed. 5 12 17 18 19 24 25 26 31 August 2015 6 7:00 District Scouts 7 1 8 13 14 15 12:00 Amazing Grace Race BBQ in Bethany s Social Room 20 21 Church Bus Trip to Walnut Creek 27 7:00 Session 28 6:30 p.m. Elder Retreat at the Castle 22 8:00 a.m. Fintonia Golf 29 Elder Retreat Volume 12, Issue 7 Page 5
Bethany Presbyterian Church 100 W. Venango St. Mercer, Pa 16137 Regular Office Hours Mon. Fri. 8:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. (724) 662 4340 Prayer Chain: sueallen@bethanypresbyterian.org Fax: 724-662-1080 Web: www.bethany-presbyterian.org Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Mercer, PA 16137 PERMIT No. 39 We re here to Exalt, to Encourage, to Equip, to TO: Current Resident or Church Picnic The Church Picnic will be held on Sunday August 23 rd at Lake Latonka at 1:00. Those attending with last names starting A through M should bring a side dish to share and last names starting with N through Z should bring a dessert. There will be swimming, a playground, games for the kids, and maybe even a boat ride! Deacons will provide meat, drinks, and table settings.