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Bethany Briefs
BETHANY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1818 QUEEN ANNE AVE N. SEATTLE WA 206.284.2222
Learning How To Live by Pastor Doug Kelly
The grass withers, the ﬂower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:6, 8
The season of Lent consists of the 40 days
before Easter (not counting Sundays) where
the Christian Church has historically tried to
slow down and walk with Jesus to the cross.
It all begins with Ash Wednesday. Ashes in
the ancient world were a symbol of repentance and of mortality, and so Lent is often a
time to stop, to assess our lives, to take stock
of our relationship with Jesus Christ.
And it all begins by pondering your mortality. I am not trying to be dark here at all. I
love the old King James poetry of Isaiah
40:6: “All ﬂesh is grass.. the grass withers
and fades.” It has struck me over my 30
years of pastoral ministry, how many people
in our culture do not realize that they will
die – aging parents who do not get their will
in order, mid-lifers who are caught up in the
dogma of eternal youth, and people of all
ages and stages who are genuinely surprised
when death approaches.
Isn’t it interesting that the one thing
that everyone knows for certain will happen
WWW.BETHANYPC.ORG
February 2013
Wednesday Night Dinner
Wednesdays, 6:00 pm
Fellowship Hall
All ﬂesh is grass…
I remember geing confused as a child
when I heard my Sunday School teacher talk
about the season of “Lent.” “Isn’t that the
fuzzy stuﬀ my mom removes from our
clothes dryer?” “No, that would be lint.”
“Lent” simply means “spring.” But it is a
spring that emerges from delving into the
ashes.
February 2013
in their life – that it will end – is the one
thing we seem most unwilling to
acknowledge? The Bible has beer counsel.
“All ﬂesh is grass.” “L789, make me to
know my end, and the measure of my
days.” (Psalm 39:4)
Anne Lamo, in one of her books, recounts
the day she accompanied her friend to an
appointment with her oncologist. After the
doctor estimated the measure of her days, he
turned to Lamo and declared, “Watch your
friend in the coming months. She’s going to
teach you how to live.” Ever since that moment, Lamo is fond of reminding her readers, “You don’t know how to live until you
know you’re dying.”
I love the season of Lent. It is a time to learn
how to live. It is a season to ponder my days,
to turn (repent) to Jesus anew in the conﬁdence of his resurrection power and eternal
love.
I hope to see you at our Ash Wednesday
service on February 13th. Ashes remind us to
turn to God, to recommit to Christ, and to
remember that from dust we came and to
dust we shall return.
All ﬂesh is grass…
The grass withers, the ﬂower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Choir Rehearsals
Thursdays, 7:00 pm Sanctuary
Young Adult Lunch
Sunday, February 3
12:00 pm 11 Howe
China Prayer Team
Sunday, February 3
12:15 pm 3 Howe basement
Caring for a Loved One
with Alzheimer’s
Thursday, February 7, 21
7:00 pm Parlor
Death and Discipleship
A Study of the Gospel of Mark
Sundays, February 10-March 17
9:30 am 3 Howe Basement
Dorothy Sayers
Reading Group
Sundays, February 10, 17, 24
10:45am Parlor
Young Adult Planning
Sunday, February 10
12:00 pm Fellowship Hall
PACT team prayer
Sunday, February 10
12:00 pm 3 Howe basement
Annual Meeting
Sunday, February 10, 5:00 pm
Sanctuary & Fellowship Hall
Session Meeting
Tuesday, February 12
6:00 pm Parlor
Third Saturday Deacons
Saturday, February 16
10:00 am
Honduras Prayer Group
Sunday, February 17
12:15 pm Library
Read Good Books
Sunday, February 17
7:00 pm Parlor
Deacon Meeting
Tuesday, February 26
7:00 pm Parlor
1
staff
206.284.2222
Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. Doug Kelly
dougk@bethanypc.org / x11
Assoc. Pastor (Outreach)
Rev. Lynne Faris Blessing
lynneb@bethanypc.org / x12
Congregational Care
Linda Cutshall (Director)
lindac@bethanypc.org / x13
Youth & Family Ministries
Scott Gronholz (Director)
scottg@bethanypc.org / x18
M.S. Coordinator
Anthony Jones
anthonyj@bethanypc.org / x15
Children & Family Ministries
Dianne Ross (Minister)
dianner@bethanypc.org / x14
Sara McMahon (Nursery) 763-8871
Kjrsten Gunning (CM Asst.)
604-5509 / kjrsteng@bethanypc.org
Kim Kleeh (Special Needs)
kimk@bethanypc.org
Young Adult
Barb Williams
barbwseattle@yahoo.com
Music Ministries
Music Ensemble, interim
Amy Eyler - aretsema@live.com
Sound Coordination, interim
David Purdy - davidpurdy@gmail.com
Choir Director, interim
Anthony Spain -anthonyspain@juno.com
Organist
Sylvia Oines
tsoines@earthlink.net
Communications
Communications & Operations
Manager
Susan Forshey
susanf@bethanypc.org/ x20
Communications Assistant
Gail Beran Neils
gailn@bethanypc.org / x21
Facilities
Mike Christensen
mikec@bethanypc.org / x22
Final Budget Approved for 2013
by Gerry Champagne, Session Treasurer
On January 8, Session met and approved the ﬁnal budget for 2013. It was
the end of a lengthy process, which began
with the adoption of new budget procedures last June. The procedures included
the establishment of a timeline to allow
elders, deacons and staﬀ suﬃcient time to
prayerfully consider what God might be
calling Bethany to do in the upcoming
year, align that eﬀort with the annual
stewardship campaign, and provide an
opportunity for the congregation to provide input for Session’s consideration
prior to ﬁnal approval.
The budgetary procedures were developed in conjunction with Bylaw amendments that were also approved in 2012
and gratitude is expressed to the members of the Bylaws Commiee – chair, Jay
Derr, Bob Kunde, Paul Carlson, Frank
Holman, and Mike Purdy. Feedback
regarding the new budgetary procedures
has been uniformly positive and we thank
the commiee for their hard work,
thoughtfulness and wisdom.
After prayerfully considering all input,
including the results of the Stewardship
Campaign, Session
has determined that
it will be possible to
restore some of the
budget cuts which
occurred in 2011 and
2012. The 2013 budget
restores staﬀ hours in a number of areas,
increases support for local and global
outreach partners and provides additional
funding in growing areas including
Children and Youth ministries.
We are also blessed to note that due
to the generosity of the Congregation and
the careful stewardship of those entrusted
with Bethany’s resources, we were able to
ﬁnish 2012 with a sizable surplus. That
surplus will allow Bethany to provide a
modest bonus to our hard working staﬀ,
provide additional funding to our local
and global ministry partners, and pay
down some principal on our seismic loan.
Praise God!
If there are questions about the 2013 budget, please
contact Gerry Champagne at gerrychampagne@
gmail.com or 617-543-8092. A copy of the 2013
budget on our website: www.bethanypc.org.
Death & Discipleship
A Study of the Gospel of Mark with Barb Williams
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said,
Social Services
WND Director
Janet Moore
janetvm@bethanypc.org / x19
WND Kitchen
Karen (Taylor) Rider / 282.4560
would come after me,
Communications
he must deny himself
Communications & Operations
Susan Forshey (manager)
susanf@bethanypc.org/ x20
and take up his cross
Communications Assistant
Gail Beran Neils
gailn@bethanypc.org/ x21
Office
Sylvia Lidell
sylvial@bethanypc.org / x10
Custodians
Bernardo Reyes
Jordan Garrett (asst.)
2
“If
ANYONE
and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life
SJK9LMN, FOP8JL8M 10 - ML8QR 17
9:30-10:30 LT UK VRO 3 H7WO BLNOTOKV
A 6-week Bible Study during Lent
for adults, exploring physical
and spiritual death in the life of Jesus
and in our own lives.
will lose it,
but whoever loses his life
for me
and for the gospel
will save it.”
(Mark 8:34-35)
The Prayer Corner: Adding for Lent
by Chris Gustafson
Lenten Practice
I didn't grow up in a church with a
liturgical tradition so I still remember the
ﬁrst time I heard anything about Lent.
In the Celtic tradition, Philip
Newell speaks of “listening to
the heartbeat of God.” John,
the Beloved Disciple, heard the
human blood pumping through
Jesus as he rested his head on
Jesus’ chest during the Last
Supper. Just like John, we are all
invited into such deep intimacy
with God.
ʺIʹm giving up chocolate for Lent,ʺ Mary
Ann announced. Mary Ann lived on my
street and we played together sometimes
but I didnʹt know her very well because
she went to Catholic school.
ʺWhy?ʺ I asked her. ʺWhatʹs Lent?ʺ Mary
Annʹs reply left me horriﬁed. God wanted
us to give up things like chocolate? For
forty days before Easter? It was clear that
I did not love God nearly enough to do
anything like that and the envy I felt for
all those extra days Mary Ann got oﬀ of
school to celebrate saintʹs days disappeared. Somehow my feelings about Lent
got all mixed up with the math I was
learning - addition and multiplication
were fun, subtraction and division not so
much. According to Mary Ann, Lent was
all about subtraction.
As a grown up I occasionally felt a
twinge of guilt about Lent. By then I had
ﬁgured out that the point of any sort of
Lenten fast was to draw me closer to God,
but I was stubbornly resistant to the
whole idea until my daughter Mae
casually mentioned that she was writing
poems for Lent. She explained that she
wanted to add a spiritual discipline to her
life to prepare for the celebration of Easter, and had seled on creating a weekly
poem.
I could do that. It didnʹt have to be good
poetry since it was just between me and
God. Pastor Dan was preaching through
some Psalms that year during Lent so I
decided to write a poem and take a photo
to go with the theme of each of the sermon Psalms. I made a few rules for myself. The poem could be any length and
any form or no form. It just had to be
done by Sunday. I found that I was happiest if I read the Psalm every day, wrote
a draft of the poem early in the week, and
revised it as the week continued.
That was the ﬁrst year I really entered in
to Lent. I loved taking time to read the
Psalms and discover their themes. I found
myself praying more as I wrote and being
more aware of the world around me as I
searched for just the right image to capture with my camera and pair with my
poem.
This Lent will be the ﬁfth one Iʹve
marked with weekly poems. One year all
my poems were about death. Another
year they focused on joy. But adding
something to your Lenten life doesnʹt
have to be poetry.
What could God be calling you to add to
your life during Lent? Each week you
could:
▪
Take a photo and caption it.
▪
Draw, paint, or sculpt.
▪
Choose a hymn or praise song to sing
daily for each week.
▪
Go on a weekly prayer walk, choosing a
diﬀerent location each time.
▪
Compose music to play or sing.
Pray about what God might be calling
you to do. Donʹt do anything out of obligation but pay aention to any nudges
from the Holy Spirit. Itʹs even possible
you might ﬁnd yourself drawn toward
the more traditional Lenten practices of
self-denial and reﬂection.
I'll be writing poetry and eating chocolate - but I think Iʹll wait to taste those
amazing chocolate-covered malted milk
ball Easter eggs until we celebrate the
resurrection.
Ash Wednesday marks the
beginning of Lent, and an invitation to listen more deeply for
God’s heart in and for the world.
Some people select a spiritual
practice to engage in more intentionally - to let go of something
that is not life-giving in order to
free space for God, or to embrace
a practice or relationship more
closely, listening for God’s own
joy in it. The Bethany community will gather at 7:00 pm on February 13th for a contemplative
Ash Wednesday service. Worshippers are invited to receive
on their foreheads the mark of
the cross in ashes, remembering
our mortality, and then receive
communion as a sign of God’s
redeeming grace.
Maundy Thursday remembers
the mandatum--Latin for
command--that Jesus gave his
disciples after the Last Supper:
A new commandment I give unto
you, that you love one another; as I
have loved you (Jn 13:34). One of
the most cherished services at
Bethany, the community will
gather for a Maundy Thursday
service at 7:00 pm on March 28th
to hear the scripture texts of Jesus’ ﬁnal days before the cruciﬁxion, and experience the poignant darkening and stripping of
the church.
3
Young Adult Events
Fellowship
First Sunday Lunch
Sunday, February 3
noon - 11 Howe
Planning Meeting
Sunday, February 10
noon - Fellowship Hall
Bible Studies
Wednesdays
7:00 pm - 7 Howe
Contact Krissy Rustia:
krustia@comcast.net
Thursdays
7:00 pm - Parlor/3 Howe basement
Contact Adam Loeﬄer:
adamazed@gmail.com
Book Reads
Dorothy L. Sayers Reading Group
T'( M)* B,-* ., /( K1*2
Sundays, February 10 - March 24
10:45 am in the Parlor
led by Dave Anderson
A collection of 12 radio plays
wrien by Dorothy Sayers
and produced by BBC in the
early years of WWII. Each play
focuses on the life and ministry
of Jesus. Copies are available at
the class, or you can bring one.
Sponsored by Adult Christian Ed.
Read Good Books
T'( P3)4( ,5 .'( L1,*
by Charles Williams
Sunday, February 17
7:00 pm in the Parlor
Michael Paulus, facilitating
meets once a month
This novel explores how people
react when spiritual realities
break into and overwhelm
the natural world.
4
Assimilation vs. Adoption by Scott Gronholz
I have been doing youth ministry as a
vocation for my entire adult life and I
have always found that the ultimate
“goal” of my work was prey nebulous.
There are some things I know I should be
doing like introducing students to Jesus,
teaching from the Bible, providing a safe
place to discover faith, and creating opportunities for mission and service. However, these items rarely happen under the
banner of a deﬁnitive all-encompassing
goal. I know the Church should play an
important role in the lives of students, but
I struggle to ﬁnd the right words to describe what that role is.
Ever since I started studying youth ministry I have had a deep conviction that students need to be connected to the larger
church body and not just their youth
group. In fact, that is one of the things that
aracted me to the youth director position
at Bethany in the ﬁrst place. At the time I
applied for this job I was working with
Young Life and found it very challenging
to connect our newly “converted” students to a healthy church body. I thought
working in youth ministry in a church
seing would be way diﬀerent. Turns out
doing youth ministry at a church can often feel like working for a para-church
organization like Young Life in that we
also tend to separate our kids from the
adults to have their own segregated spiritual experiences.
I’ve been aware of this problem for a long
time and have tried to come up with creative ways to address it for years. One term
that I’ve used very subtly and maybe even
unintentionally to describe the connection
we want our students to have with the
rest of Bethany is assimilation. This actually sounds prey smart and fancy and usually people will respond positively to this
concept. As I used the word assimilate I
had this really great image of students
being present with our adults in worship,
classes, and other activities. Theoretically,
over time, they would begin to assimilate
into the world of adults and then just nat-
urally become part of the church.
But is assimilation really the answer?
I have come to discover that the notion of
adults expecting kids to assimilate to
adult culture is a pervasive and detrimental mindset in our modern society and
even in the church. The onus for change
and adjustment is all on the kids. It’s a
mindset that is (often times subtly) rooted
in arrogance, stubbornness, and power.
The idea that teens--who are still in the
throws of development and self-discovery
- would need to make complicated adjustments to be with adults simply seems unrealistic and unfair.
Fortunately, the Fuller Youth Institute
introduced me to a new word to use to
describe our ultimate goal in youth ministry: adoption. Pause and think about that
for a moment. My ultimate goal for our
youth as a youth director, and our ultimate goal for our youth as a church family
should be to adopt our kids into the body
of Christ. There are several signiﬁcant and
positive elements to this mindset:
Aﬃrms “family of God” status. There
is a theological statement being made
that aﬃrms a congregation as a family.
We are not a cold institution where students need to perform and achieve to
earn our love. If a congregation collectively sees the virtue in the adoption
mindset they can warmly welcome and
embrace students with all of their complications and cultural diﬀerences.
Honors developmental phases. One of
the main tasks of an adolescent to become an adult is the task of individuation. To put it another way - individuation is simply the process of becoming
an individual. Three crucial elements to
this process are identity (who am I?),
autonomy (do I maer?), and belonging
(where do I ﬁt in?). The adoption mindset instantly gives students a safe place
to belong while they continue to wrestle
with issues of identity and autonomy
with parents, youth-leaders, and other
continued on page 5
Marriage Nurturing by Linda Cutshall, Director of Congregational Care
In marriage, we have an opportunity to
develop the most intimate of partnerships;
one in which we freely give and receive
love, are truly known and understood, and
grow as persons as we support and encourage each other through the seasons of life
together. Marriage Nurturing is a way to
develop skill and practices that nurture this
relationship of Christ like companionship love.
It is love that can last a lifetime.
The eight-session interactive small group
class highlights common elements found in
thriving marriages and invites reﬂection,
discussion and action (see sidebar). Marriage
Nurturing expands the vision for a successful marriage by viewing it as a crucible for
learning to “love one another” in a context
of God’s covenant love for us.
Each week, as the class meets, you will
have an opportunity to get to know the
other couples, and receive encouragement
as you focus ways to enhance your relationship and make it a high priority. Fol-
Marriage Nurturing
Weekly Sessions
Session 1
Commitment
Making your marriage a
priority through a second
commitment to ongoing
marriage nurturing.
Session 2
Wednesdays, February 20-April 10
7:00-9:00 pm - 10325 15th Ave NW
led by Milt & Metta Smith
lowing each session an hour couple nurturing time during the week provides a way to
apply what you learn in class through a
variety of nurturing activities. The class
concludes with the formation by each couple of a vision for the ongoing nurturing of
your marriage.
Suggested Donation for materials:
$ 100 per couple; Scholarships available
Questions? Please call 206-715-2582
or email marriagenurturing@gmail.com.
Building Trust & Security
Creating a nurturing
environment and seeking
each other’s best.
Session 3
Deepening Connection
Growing in intimacy and
companionship by expressing
your love often in a variety of
meaningful ways.
Session 4
Support
Talking & Listening
Heart-to-Heart: Being
there for each other with
supportive communication
and other forms of support.
Session 5
Assimilation or Adoption? (continued from page 4)
trusted adults in a developmentally appropriate way.
The church family becomes the hero.
Too often in youth ministry students
latch onto their youth pastor or a charismatic and caring youth volunteer instead
of the whole church. This, sadly, is the
only connection to the church that
“sticks”. Adoption, if done well, helps the
entire church family become a relationship that sticks.
There is an endless list of practical implications for a congregation if they embrace the
notion of adoption as the ultimate goal of
youth ministry. I don’t have the space to
address that here. My hope is that this article will simply begin a conversation about
how we can do a beer job as a congregation in adopting our students into our family. This is a whole church calling, not just the
calling of a few youth volunteers. This is
something we all need to be thinking about.
In his now classic book called Family Based
Youth Ministry, Mark Devries warns against
the power and allure of an exciting youth
program. He says in the long run, “the
teenagers in our churches will be aﬀected
by signiﬁcant experiences with adults much
more than by the mountaintop youthgroup experiences that we spend so much
energy creating. Everything we do in our
youth ministries should be, ﬁrst and foremost, about helping to give kids excuses to
build connections with Christian adults.”
Adoption is the goal of our youth ministry at Bethany. We want students here to
feel a deep connection with the adults in
our congregation and not just our volunteer
youth leaders (as amazing as they are, they
are not enough). Over the next few months
I would ask you, Bethany Presbyterian, to
think about our identity as a church family
and how we can adjust to beer welcome
our students into our family.
Managing Conﬂict
Talking Through Issues –
Regulating Emotion:
Staying connected emotionally
during conflict with compassionate
personal responsibility (CPR).
Session 6
Reconciling Diﬀerences
Repentance & Forgiveness Meet:
Reconciling hurts through a work
of repentance and forgiveness.
Session 7
Living out Covenant Love
Our Spiritual Foundation
& Hope: Becoming rooted and
grounded in God’s covenant
love in Christ as a foundation
for life-long companionship love
together.
Session 8
Vision
Where To Go From Here:
Creating a vision for the
ongoing growth and
enjoyment of Christ-like
companionship love in your
marriage.
5
Local Outreach
March 2013
Wednesday Night Dinner
Wednesdays, 6:00 pm
Fellowship Hall
Choir Rehearsals
Thursdays, 7:00 pm Sanctuary
China Prayer Team
Sunday, March 3
12:15 pm 3 Howe basement
Dorothy Sayers
Reading Group
Sundays, 10:45am Parlor
Young Adult Lunch
Sunday, March 3
12:00 pm 11 Howe
Stephen Ministry
Continuing Education
Thursdays, March 7 & 21
7:00 pm 3 Howe basement
Walk Thru the Bible
(for children & adults)
Saturday, March 9
9:00 am Sanctuary
PACT team prayer
Sunday, March 10, 12:00 pm
3 Howe basement
Soup & Bread
Sunday, March 10, 12:00 pm
Fellowship Hall
Session Meeting
Tuesday, March 12
6:00 pm Parlor
Third Saturday Deacons
Saturday, March 16
10:00 am
Honduras Prayer Group
Sunday, March 17
12:15 pm Library
Read Good Books
Sunday, March 17
7:00 pm Parlor
First Aid Training
King County Youth Chaplaincy
by Jonathan Abe
King County Youth Chaplaincy is a
partnership of churches, parachurch
organizations, individuals and likeminded businesses that seeks to provide
Christian chaplaincy, mentoring and after
-release pastoral care for incarcerated
juveniles in King County, Washington.
It’s been 3 years since we ﬁrst stepped
into the King County Youth Detention
Center. Many may think that we go to the
detention center to bring Jesus, but we
actually go to meet him. We may be inclined to believe that the youth do not
know Jesus. Many of them do, but like all
of us, they go through seasons of struggle.
Some of my most memorable highlights
have been when youth have a ﬁre for
Jesus that is so hot, you canʹt help but be
intrigued by the ﬂame and touch it. Sometimes, that ﬂame seems to diminish as
they are bombarded with the realities
before them. However, those with this ﬁre
never lose sight of who is in control—
God! These youth in particular, have
encouraged me greatly. Their faith, which
is challenged tremendously and regularly
and the way that they remain on ﬁre for
Jesus, inspire me.
Even for those youth who may not believe
in Jesus yet, their questions are encouraging: questions Iʹm sure many of us have
asked. How do you know God is real? What if
heaven doesnʹt exist? If God is real, why does
my life look this way?
(Men’s Ministries)
Saturday, March 23, 8:00 am
Fellowship Hall
Deacon Meeting
Tuesday, March 26
7:00 pm Parlor
community life
Baptisms - January 13
James Tower Barry
LinaRose Adams Burwell
Madeline Jean Konswa
6
As adults, we may believe that weʹre
supposed to have all the answers for our
youth when often times an appropriate
response would be, ʺI donʹt know, but let’s
ﬁnd out.ʺ When humbling ourselves in this
way, the youth become more comfortable
and transparent because
they come to
the realization
that we are
now on this
journey together and our young people
need someone to walk with, not ahead.
“ God has really been entering into the
conversations between me and the
youth, to speak truth about God and
provide scriptures to equip the youth to
ﬁght oﬀ lies. One youth, Charles, was
really challenging the word and asking
provoking questions but was clearly
wrestling. He had said the prayer to
believe in Jesus and expected things to
get more diﬃcult, and they had. Now he
was wondering if he made the wrong
decision or not. I encouraged him and
clariﬁed that he had accepted the Lord
and he said yes. We talked a lot about
Ephesians 6 and how we donʹt wrestle
with ﬂesh and blood but principalities
and powers in the spirit realm and how
this bale is often times for where and
in whom we place our trust. I told Him
that living your life for God isnʹt easy,
but it is freedom. By the end of the conversation, he was very encouraged and
said he wanted to do what I am doing
when he gets older and to speak about
what God has done in his life.”
- Chaplain Tony
We praise God for the last three years
and are excited about what he has in store
in our future.
For more information, ﬁnd them on Facebook
at King-County-Youth-Chaplaincy.
children & family ministries
Walk Thru the Old Testament Live Event
By Bobbie Windus
February 3 (Sunday)
9:20 am Fellowship Hall
My mother likes to send funny e-mails. A while ago
she sent me the Bible story according to kids:
In the ﬁrst book of the Bible, Guinesses, God got tired of
creating the world, so he took the Sabbath oﬀ. Adam and
Eve were created from an apple tree. Lotʹs wife was a pillar
of salt by day, but a ball of ﬁre by night. Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread,
which is bread without any ingredients…
children’s ministry
First Sunday Gathering
music & missions for
1st - 5th graders
Saturday, March 9
9:00 am - 4:00 pm @ Bethany
[Register by Sun, Feb 25.]
We can laugh at the kids’ confusion, but most of us are not Bible experts either. We
look to the Bible for guidance and comfort, but those of us who haven’t gone to seminary can feel baﬄed by the myriad of people, places, and events. Yet understanding
the sweep and arc of God’s story is so powerful.
Teaching the 2/3rd grade Sunday School has helped me gain a beer understanding of
God’s redeeming work over time. Inspired by Walk Thru the Bible, each week we tell the
next chapter in God’s story, turn the room into a map and learn motions to remind us of
key events, people and places. By the end of last year the kids were able to tell the Old
Testament story in 77 motions, and I had gained a sense of the big picture and context
of Scripture, the paerns of sin and grace.
February Sundays (Sunday)
Lord’s Prayer Milestone Unit
for 1st grade class (see article)
February 10 (Sunday)
Baptism Sunday
(at both 9am and 10:45am)
February 10 (Sunday)
5:00 pm
Children’s Program during
the Annual Meeting “Celebrate the church’s
birthday (see article)
SAVE THE DATE
Vacation Bible Camp!
July 29 - August 2, 2013
So I’m really excited that our church will be hosting a Walk Thru the Old Testament
Live Event for ages 7 - 107. This event is no dull lecture or dry seminar but rather a fully
interactive, educational and inspirational (though slightly cheesy) expedition through
the pages of Scripture. So if you don’t have time to go to seminary or teach Sunday
School, why not spend one Saturday getting a panoramic view of the Old Testament?
Celebrating Bethany’s 125th Birthday!
by Dianne Ross, Minister of Children & Families
On February 10, the Bethany community will gather again at 5 pm for the traditional “Annual Meeting.” Because the
Childrenʹs Ministry team feels this is a
very important function for parents to
aend, we work hard to provide a fun,
celebratory children’s program that evening for the kids.
Infants/Toddlers
Our young ones will enjoy a time of
play in their normal Nursery rooms.
Two-year-olds through 4th Graders
These children will enjoy a mini birthday celebration (including puppets!) to
honor Bethany’s 125th birthday.
Rooms by age:
2 and 3-year-olds: Puﬃn Room
4 and 5-year-olds: Oer Room
6-year-olds through 4th graders: Parlor
The laer two groups begin with their
families in the Sanctuary; then around
5:25 pm go to their rooms for “birthday
activities.” At 6:30 pm, parents pick up
their children and go enjoy dinner (and
birthday cake) in the Fellowship Hall
with the entire Bethany family.
Parents: please sign up your children
by February 3, so we can ensure enough
leaders/materials. Space is limited in some
of the rooms, so we serve the ﬁrst ones to
sign up. You may register your children
by signing up on the Children’s Ministries
bulletin board, or contacting Dianne Ross:
dianner@bethanypc.org.
First Grade Milestone
Unit in February
Here at Bethany, each
elementary grade has a
special “Milestone in Christian
Formation.” During the 4
Sundays in February, the ﬁrst
graders will be learning the
Lord’s prayer, and learning
what all those words mean!
This special milestone unit
will be taught by the great ﬁrst
grade teaching team, during the
9:00 am hour. Don’t miss it!
Gold Basin Camping Trip
Save the Date!
July 5, 6, and 7
More details to come.
7
Sunday morning - 9:00 am
Thursday nights - 7:00 pm
High School
Sunday mornings - 10:45 am
Tuesday nights - 7:00 pm
All events meet in the Youth House.
Bethany Briefs
is the monthly newsletter
of Bethany Presbyterian Church.
Mailing address: 3 Howe St.
Seattle, WA 98109
We welcome submission requests
by the 1st of the month:
gailn@bethanypc.org.
Gerry Champagne presented the year end
Finance report, which saw Bethany close
2012 with an $87,000 surplus primarily due
to a well-stewarded under spending of the
2012 budget by $82,000. Janee Plunke
presented the Stewardship report, spoke
about the 2013 budget Q and A meeting,
and presented a motion to split the 2012
budget surplus three ways - 1/3 to personnel, 1/3 to outreach, and 1/3 to debt retirement. Session passed this motion unanimously. After staﬀ left, Gerry and Janee
presented the ﬁnal 2013
budget, and Session approved this budget with
minor corrections.
Ma MacLean gave a
brief report on how the
Personnel Commiee
will use its portion of the 2012 surplus to
give bonuses to Bethany’s staﬀ. After staﬀ
returned, Ma informed staﬀ about both
the bonuses and about the budget strategy
Personnel used for 2013. Session prayed for
and thanked staﬀ members present.
After a brief fellowship break, Session
endorsed Ryan and Alethia White’s application for PCUSA Mission Service as Ma
and Alethia are currently under Bethany’s
care. Session passed a motion to call the
Annual Congregational meeting on February 10, and brainstormed ideas on how to
welcome Doug and Jean Kelly to Bethany
as they start their ministry here. Session
then closed with prayer.
Bethany Presbyterian Church
3 Howe Street
Seale, WA 98109
Middle School
Reverend Scott Lumsden opened the
January Session meeting with prayer, and
after approving the agenda and minutes,
Craig Barwell “pointed Session towards
Christ”. Using the 2nd and 3rd grade Sunday
School curriculum and with a rough map of
Israel on the ﬂoor of the Parlor, Session
learned a few of the motions that go along
with the objects that represent signiﬁcant
events in Jesus’ life. The events around the
aempted stoning of Jesus were tied to Jeﬀ
Van Duzer’s sermon the previous Sunday.
Return services requested
BPYG youth
Session Notes by Craig Barwell, Clerk of Session
Non-Proﬁt Organization
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Seale, WA
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