Bethany Congregational Church Volume 6 March, 2016 Number 3 Foxborough, Massachusetts March is Cooperation Month Be on the lookout for tie-ins to this theme in the Sunday morning bulletin, sermons, music, and our week-day programming! Palm Sunday, March 20 th at 10:00 a.m. Processional with Psalms Maundy Thursday, March 24th at 7:00 p.m. Tenebrae Service with Communion and Foot Washing Easter Sunday with Communion March 26 th at 10:00 a.m. Celebrate the risen Christ! Invite friends and family to join you as we rejoice in Easter! Spring Ahead on Sunday, March 13th Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time. 1
Christmas Fair News! 2015 Funds Distribution At the fair fund distribution meeting on 2/1/2016, members of the Bethany community brought forward well thought out and deserving requests for funding. The Fair Committee prayed for discernment as we reviewed the requests and asked for guidance as we made our decisions. Last April the Fair Committee made the decision to tithe a portion of the fair funds for good works in the community. In keeping with the tradition of giving back to the community, the $1,500.00 Annual Christmas Fair Tithe with be distributed as follows: $500.00 Foxboro Discretionary Fund, $500.00 LYNN Ministries and $500.00- Harvest Hands Ministry. $1,500.00 was also allotted for Fellowship and Discipleship within Bethany. There was $22,493.00 available for distribution and we distributed $22,442, all requests were granted! Below is the distribution of funds from the fair. Requestor Item Amount Bev Leete New trash receptacle for FH $225.00 Carol Fraser Kitchen supplies $423.00 Liz Myerson/youth Groups Rental of Vans for Berea/supplies $548.00 Pamela Sawin/Technology Committee Crash Plan Subscription $150.00 Dale Andersen Donation to All Night Grad Party $100.00 Stan Graves New stove for Kitchen $8300.00 Libby Carter Alterscapes $300.00 Libby Carter Leadership Summit $750.00 Libby Carter Training Session and dinner $960.00 Joyce Lewis Door Mats $186.00 Joyce Lewis Narthex Supplies $3500.00 Marlene Wurster Pay down the Building fund $4000.00 Fair Committee Annual Tithe $1500.00 Fair Committee Fellowship/Discipleship $1500.00 $22,442.00 Any projects not completed by 12/1/16 will have to be brought forward for re-consideration in the disbursement of 2016 fair funds. The Fair Committee is deeply grateful to the church community for the strong support of the annual Christmas Fair. Those who take on a leadership role at the fair make the decisions about the disbursement of funds. Your involvement is always welcome and encouraged. Please contact Dale Andersen if you are interested in volunteering for the Fair and Libby Carter for Fellowship & Discipleship opportunities. Dale Andersen- huddlehous@comcast.net Libby Carter- libbycarter46@gmail.com The 2016 Christmas Fair will be Saturday, December 3, 2016 Save the date! 2
Man 2 Man - This group seeks to be a Christian brotherhood that gathers month to month in fellowship. For those who have never been part of the Men s Ministry before, we want you to be part of this new focused ministry. If you are trying to navigate big decisions in your life, we want to be a group that you can turn to for prayer and support. Contact Gary Hobel, Jim McKinney, or Pastor Derek for upcoming events. Basket Cases - A mission-minded group which supports New Hope, a women's/ children's shelter for victims of domestic violence through monthly gift baskets of donated items from church members. For information call Cindy Bell at 401-405-1921. Coffee & Chat - Are your kids getting to the stage where you re doing less mothering and more worrying? Do you want to talk with others experiencing the challenges of parenthood and find Christcentered support? Join Libby Carter at the Commons Eatery in Foxboro before church Sunday mornings at 8:45. Book Club - Held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m. in the Parlor. Contact Jane Michelmore at 543-7187 or jjmichelmore@comcast.net. A Praying Church is a Powerful Church - Prayer Group meets Friday mornings at 7:00 a.m. in the Parlor. We meet for 30-45 minutes starting with listening to some worship music and entering into communal prayer as well as silent prayer. Come one time or as often as you are able. If you have any questions contact Pamela Hogan at pthogan@verizon.net. 3 Our Bethany Church Choir is always looking for new voices to join us in this special ministry. While in this interim period, we rehearse at 9am in the sanctuary on the Sundays we sing. Inquiries, contact Neda Joury-Penders at 774.215.5600 or njoury penders@yahoo.com or ask any choir member for more information. We d love to have you! Mission Outreach News Mission Trip to Mexico There will be a mission trip to Mexico run by Eric DeLong and his group from the His Providence Church of Seekonk. The dates are June 22nd to June 29 th, which can be confirmed with Eric. If interested in going, please send Eric an e-mail at ERIC@acornmfg.com. A $250 trip deposit is due now. See Ann Conaty if you have any questions. The next serving at the Food n Friends Kitchen at First Baptist Church in Mansfield will be Tuesday, March 1st. We are looking for people who can help. Call Jen Murray at 508-699-7974 or Maureen Driscoll at 508-339- 7866. Sign-up in the Fellowship Hall. The Community Dinners have been a great blessing for our community, and we thank all the cooks and servers and clean-up crew that have volunteered. If anyone is interested in being a volunteer at any of the dinners that are served the second Saturday of each month, please contact Jane Michelmore at 543-7187. Our next serving date is Saturday, March 12th. Clean Those Closets! In perfect time to get a jump on your spring cleaning, Mission Outreach is holding an Adult Clothing drive. We are accepting gently used, clean clothing as well as winter hats, gloves and new socks. There are boxes in the Fellowship Hall. We will be accepting clothing through March 14 th. For more information, contact Jen Mello at 508-317-2352.
Happy 70 th, AACC! Attleboro Area Council of Churches is holding their annual fund raiser on Saturday, April 2 nd at Hillside Country Club in Rehoboth. A 70 s Dinner Dance will celebrate AACC s 70 years of doing great things, such as the soup kitchens, family cafes, and the Summer lunch program, as well as the Food and Friends program which provided 42,000 hot meals for those most in need last year. The event will include a live auction, a silent auction, and raffles. Contact Ann Conaty at 508-954-5138 or ARC299@aol.com for more information and tickets, which are $50 or $475 for a table of 10. WORSHIP VOLUNTEERS Deacons 3/6 Tom Garcia/Mark Hawrylciw 3/13 Dave Fisher/Margie Wheeler 3/20 Palm Sunday Al Papianou/Bill Hughes 3/27 Easter Laurel DeCoste/Liz Myerson Ushers 3/6 Pamela & John Winslow 3/13 Ann & George Conaty 3/20 Palm Sunday Angela & Tim Maynard 3/27 Easter Sunday Bev & Tom Crocker Service Readers 3/6 Deb Graham 3/13 Virginia Banian 3/20 Palm Sunday Penni Jenkins 3/27 Easter Sunday Laurel DeCoste Nursery Care Givers 3/6 Lily Marszalkowski 3/13 Matt Rogers 3/20 Palm Sunday Brenna Murphy 3/27 Easter Sunday Janet See Volunteers are not paid - not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless. BYG! Bethany Youth Group Jr. High meets from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Sr. High meets from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m. Contact our interim co-leaders, Liz Myerson at ebmyerson313@gmail.com or Brett Jackson at speejackson@yahoo.com for more info. Book of Life Chancel Flowers February 7 th, given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Wallace Read, former Scout Master of Troop 7, by his family. February 14 th, given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Matthew Sullivan, by his Mom and Dad, Lois and Bill. February 21 st, given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Shirley Treweek by her family. Death Our sympathy is expressed to the family and friends of Mike Jackson, who died on February 10, 2016. His parents are Ruth and Tom Jackson, his brother is Brett, and his sons are Caelin and Barrett. The Bethany Bell is posted on the Bethany website, bethanychurch.org the last week of each month, for the following month. To subscribe for email delivery, go to the website and click on the link to the left on the homepage. The Bell will be emailed to you as soon as it s done -- and you won t have to remember to go out to our website to read it! The deadline for the next edition of The Bethany Bell is Friday, March 18th at 8:30 a.m. Material may be submitted to haney@bethanychurch.org. Thanks! Missed a Service? Our Worship Services are taped and are scheduled to air each week on Foxboro Channel 08 and Verizon FiOS Channel 39. Check cable listings for times. "'It's no use. Art doesn't listen to me,' said a little boy who was praying for a bike. 'Art who?' asked the boy's mother. 'Art in heaven,' came the reply." 4
News LYNN Ministry is doing a fantastic job providing food and clothing for the Attleboro and Brockton homeless and less fortunate. They are looking for volunteers to go out with them in February. Please e-mail Deb Snow at debsnow@comcast.net if you want to volunteer to serve. LYNN Ministry is also collecting clean, warm clothing for men such as hoodies, sweatshirts and sweatpants, new warm socks, gloves and hats. Angela Maynard is the contact and there is a basket in the Fellowship Hall. -dates for Attleboro: 3/5; 4/2; 5/7; 6/4. -dates for Brockton are: 3/19; 4/16; 5/21; 6/18. An Irish Prayer May those who love us, love us And those who don t love us, May God turn their hearts And if He doesn t turn their hearts, May He turn their ankles So we ll know them by their limping. The Mansfield Food Pantry is in need of Volunteers to help with Saturday morning distributions. If interested in helping, please arrive at the Mansfield pantry back entrance around 8:30. See Carol Fraser for more information. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REQUEST FOR EASTER PLANTS Persons wishing Easter Memorial plants, please fill out this form. Send forms and money to the Church Office or put it in the collection plate. The Deadline is Sunday, March 20th. Please make checks payable to Bethany Church with "Easter Plants" in the memo. Your name Phone # In memory of By whom Assorted Pastel Tulips ($13.50) Lilies ($17.50) Will you be taking your plant after the service? 5