A Message from the Pastor

Bethel Church, thank you!  The surprise for my 25^th anniversary of ordination was a genuine surprise to me.  I’m grateful for the thought.  I’m grateful for the effort that so many put into the celebration – transporting food, set up at the school, etc.  I’m grateful for the “community” feel of it.  I’m grateful for the gift.  I’m grateful, most of all, for our continuing ministry together, and what is still ahead.

Reflecting on 25 years, I’m grateful for what I’ve learned.  25 years ago there were a lot of things I didn’t know…

25 years ago I didn’t know that ministry has much more to do with the spirit than the head.

25 years ago I didn’t know what it would feel like to hold your own child and care about the world that much more for their sakes.

25 years ago I didn’t know that less is sometimes more and that often the most powerful ways that we communicate have nothing to do with words.

25 years ago I didn’t know that the human capacity for both cruelty and tenderness was beyond anything I had imagined.

25 years ago I didn’t know that a sense of humor would be one of the most important things to keep at hand for steadiness in the journey.

25 years ago I didn’t know how much I would value the openness of children.

25 years ago I didn’t know what strength people could display in the face of enormous challenges or how resilient faith could be.

25 years ago I didn’t know how important it was to separate people from issues, and if you can keep that straight how you can avoid threatening others and at the same time avoid backing away from talking about things that are important.

25 years ago I didn’t know how much I would one day value peace and quiet – physical and spiritual.

It makes me wonder what I might know in another 25 years that I don’t know now!  And maybe that’s the lesson:  that learning is part of the journey and that there’s something to learn in almost everything if we’re open to it.  God’s blessings to you on your journey, wherever you are in it!  May you know God’s presence with you today, and take something valuable away from it for tomorrow.

Peace, Rev. Steve

Council Notes

The congregation was able to pull off a surprise and wonderful luncheon Sunday the 28th celebrating a service milestone of our pastor. Thanks to all who made this event happen and a success.  On behalf of the congregation we congratulate Reverend Steve Schuette on the 25th anniversary of service with the U.C.C.  As Kyle

pointed out, “We are so happy to have him at Bethel".

The work of Council continues as we wind down a busy year. Council will continue third Sunday informational meeting following worship down in Schiffman Hall.  At our last update the 22^nd I shared the following updates.  Open and Affirming Task Force is moving to a "called committee" under Deacons.  Now that the resolution has passed the process continues to bring forward the next phase. We congratulate the ONA task force for executing the initial objectives of the charter, foster meaningful dialog and discussion within the congregation and craft an ONA statement that could be presented to the membership and Council for congregation for vote.  The Long Range Planning Committee had no update on Nichols property. 

Sixty Bethel members attended convening meetings (20% of congregation) with three themes surfacing: consistent space needs, strategy to increase membership and a capital campaign with time-frames to move ahead with more concrete plans/discussions.  Our current cash-flow position is good.  The '08 budget review is underway.  We will plan to share that information and make it available to the congregation.  That information
process should be in motion towards the end of the current calendar year and in advance of our annual meeting (tentatively Feb ’08).

Jim LaPalermo, Council President
 

Financial summary

If you have questions or would like further detail please contact Rod Stipe, Treasurer.

From the Board of Trustees

PLEDGE UPDATE To date we have 50 pledges for a total of $179,000.  Our goal for 2008 is a total pledge income of about $300,000.  In 2007 there were 92 pledges for a total of about $280,000.

Thank you for those who have submitted their pledges.  If you have not submitted your 2008 pledge, please consider submitting it as soon as possible, so that your leadership can complete planning and budgeting for 2008.  Pledge cards are available in the Narthex or you can call the Church Office with you pledge.

CHANGE OUR DEBT We will be collecting change through the end of the year for debt reduction.  A bottle for change is in the undercroft.  Any guess how heavy it will become as you lighten your pockets?  Thank you for your support!

Bethel has initiated AN eBay selling site. The site's purpose is to raise money to be applied to the debt retirement fund.  Items of value (preferably antiques or collectibles with a minimum value of $50.00) may be listed on the site.  The profit, after selling and listing fees are deducted, would be considered a tax-deductible donation to the church.  Items must be small enough to ship via priority mail or UPS.  The digital imaging (jpeg), writing copy, packing, and shipping of the item would be the responsibility of the donor.  If you need help in any of these areas, contact Bruce Smith who will be acting as coordinator for the project.

From the Board of Deacons

Georgia DeClark has graciously volunteered to sketch a design for our new O & A banner.  The Deacons are also working on selecting a design for a new Christmas banner.  Both of these banners will be showcased outside in the front yard of the church.

Anyone interested in joining our church or learning more about us is invited to join us for New Member Orientation meetings, on November 8^th & 15^th at 7:00 p.m.  We will welcome them to the Bethel Family on New Member Sunday, November 18^th.

Men of Bethel

MEN’S BREAKFAST will be at the Fresh Start Café in Elmhurst on November 6^th and 20^th at 8 a.m.

Women of Bethel

THE NEXT LADIES LUNCHEON will be at Elizabeth Johnson’s home in Huntley on November 12^th. We will leave from Bethel at 10 a.m.  Please sign up in the narthex or by contacting the church office.

THE ANNUAL WOMEN OF BETHEL CHRISTMAS PARTY will be held on Wednesday, December 5^th, at 6:30 p.m. at Kathy Gray's home (726 Forest Glen Lane in Oak Brook).  Please bring an appetizer, ready to serve, for the buffet table.  The evening's program will be provided by Linda Lunt and an ensemble of our Bethel handbell ringers sharing music of the season.  A free-will offering will be taken to support Christmas gifts for the Anchorage residents and Head Start children...as well as our Shoe Fund.  We will conclude the evening with Linda Lyman accompanying us as we sing our favorite carols and songs of the season.  Please sign up in the narthex or by contacting the office.

ATTENTION WOMEN OF BETHEL A Lenten women’s retreat is being planned for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23, 2008, at Loretto Conference Center in Wheaton. Pastor Sally and Pastor Rebecca will be the program leaders. The cost will be $85.00 per person (includes Friday evening dinner, Saturday breakfast and lunch meals, overnight lodging and program materials). Saturday only rates are available and special food diets can be accommodated. The facility is handicapped accessible.

If you’d like, you may bring a relative or a friend who would be interested in coming. There will be a $30.00 deposit fee at time of sign up and the remainder of cost upon arrival at registration. More information will be on the table in the narthex. Feel free to contact any committee member for any questions you may have: Ann LaPalermo, Karen Lockerbie, Virginia Wilson, Deb Miller, Arlene Sandvik or Meta Polak.

Breakfast Club

JOIN THE BREAKFAST CLUB Sunday, November 11 at 6:00 p.m. for a DINNER and TRIVIAL PURSIT. The Breakfast Club will supply you with a great meal and some food for thought as they test your collection of useless knowledge.  Prizes will be awarded to the top teams of the night, and a good time will be had by all.  Please RSVP by signing up at Bethel, calling the church office or Emmy, no later than Friday, November 9.  See you there!

Heads up, Bethel youth!  This January, The Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ is offering you an amazing opportunity to meet with other youth from all over the Illinois Conference for a weekend of serious fun.  This event is open to all 7^th-12^th grade youth, and I strongly encourage each of you to consider attending.  We’ll leave January 11^th and return on the 13^th, and while we’re gone you will gain leadership skills, experience a high ropes course, hear from a number wonderful speakers, and enjoy great times with other youth at a dance, campfire, and other fun activities.  Please contact me if you’re interested to discuss the cost of this trip and further details; registrations should be in ASAP.  Don’t miss out on this one.  It’s sure to be a weekend you’ll never forget.

Emmy Odean

Youth Fellowship

BYF  Plans are Coming Together!

How is it that October has come and gone? Maybe it's the nice weather that has seemed more like summer than fall. Those of us who worked at the water table for the CROP Walk can attest to nice weather! We played a little frisbee while waiting for the walkers and then quickly handed out about 80 cups of water to thirsty walkers and some of their dogs on a warm afternoon. The next weekend some of us went to visit the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park. We thank Mr. Kalinich for organizing this trip. It was interesting to hear about Islam and probably even more interesting to see their facility and witness one of the five times of prayer held each day. It's important to learn about this religion as our world changes and more and more of our neighbors are Muslims.

Saturday, October 27^th is goody making at the D's. We will sell what we have made the next morning to begin to raise funds for the summer work trip to Back Bay Mission. Speaking of that, watch for details of an organizational meeting for the trip. We need to commit to this soon as the folks in Biloxi are counting on us, or others, for help.

Sunday afternoon, November 4^th will mark our return to watching DVDs. We saw some interesting ones this summer and would like to pick up where we left off with good conversation. We will meet at church at 4 p.m. Snacks will be provided. Friends are most welcome!

On Sunday, November 18^th we will be helping set up the Alternative Gift Market at 9 a.m.  In the afternoon we will work on a Thanksgiving project. We will head out to our neighbors or the area near church to gather canned goods to take to Yorkfield Food Pantry.  Wednesday evening, November 21^st is the community Thanksgiving service at Hammerschmidt Chapel at Elmhurst College. If you have never gone, try to go this year. It is a very nice way to begin the holiday weekend. Sunday, November 25^th is the fourth Sunday of the month so we will need workers at the morning shift for P.A.D.S. Please say you'll help!

The Ds

Did You Ever Wonder. . .

Was life in Jesus' time as violent as it seems to be today?

Most of us wonder what it would be like to step back in time and see the world that Jesus knew.  Some churches have tried to recreate that world in a small way as part of the Sunday School curriculum.  Archeologists have dug up ancient sites and then used computer animation to reconstruct what they might have looked like long ago.  Today, a combination of ancient writings, archeological reports, and modern science is helping us see Bible times a bit more clearly than we could have if we had gone to Sunday School with our parents.

But visiting history is not the same thing as living in it.  And living in Jesus' world would have had its own kind of terror.  Just as political and religious feelings run high today, so they did in Bible times.  And while we sometimes wonder why seemingly small differences can be cause for violence, church history tells us that such violence is not new.

One story I had never heard until recently took place during the time of Herod the Great.  Most of us know Herod because the Bible tells us that he wanted to kill the child Jesus, so he ordered all male children of a certain age to be killed.  But that story is not the end of Herod's cruelty.  Even though some authors give him credit for his massive building programs and even have a kind word to say about him as a king, most of us would not have wanted to live with Herod as our ruler. 

The story about Herod goes like this.  One of Herod's building projects involved the temple in Jerusalem.  Herod enlarged the Temple Mount and built a massive courtyard for the temple.  But Herod also knew that he owed his kingship to the Romans.  Perhaps for that reason, he mounted a Roman eagle at the temple. As Herod lay dying, young men, encouraged by their teacher, tore down the eagle.  When Herod heard about this, he roused himself enough to have them killed, even though he would die a short time later. 

Perhaps we should not be too surprised, then, when people today argue over what can or cannot be placed on public property or when we read about religious violence; humanity has been coping with these issues for thousands of years.  Maybe we will eventually learn to get along.

Rev. Sally Scheib, Associate Pastor

Human Concerns

Interesting mail...A letter arrived from Frederick, the eight year old boy we are sponsoring from the Philippines.  In the letter he writes, "I want to learn how to play the piano so when I grow up I can be the pianist in our church in Isogan Bagong for the glory of God!"  I also heard that the children in POP wrote letters to him today.  He will be excited to hear from them.  I hope a nice relationship will grow.

PADS The last week-end in October was Bethel's first night of hosting PADS this fall and the first night back at St. Alexis. Thank you to all who served the 25 guests that were there.

Our Mission  CUE stands for Chicago United Eden Seminaries of the United Church of Christ. The United Theological Seminary is located in St. Paul Minnesota, and the Eden Seminary is located in St. Louis, Missouri. The mission of the seminaries includes preparing new leadership for our churches, nurturing and supporting current leaders, and maintaining the traditions of theological scholarship in the UCC.  We are pleased to support CUE with our gifts.

Human Concerns, Chris Smith

FOOD PANTRY In November we will be collecting canned meat and fish to be distributed by the local food pantries.  Please leave your donation in the basket just inside the North entrance.

Alternative Gift Market The Bethel tradition of Ten Thousand Villages and Alternative Gift Market will be held November 18.  Come prepared to shop from over hundreds of craft items, art, musical instruments, jewelry and more at Ten Thousand Villages “store”.  The artisans who make these things are from third world countries and are given the opportunity to earn a fair wage.

Alternative Gift Market also raises money to help those less fortunate around the world.  Sometimes it is in the form of educating women in how to cook with solar energy or providing prostheses for polio victims and rehabilitation. 

Local charities like the Elmhurst Shoe Fund are also available to receive your gifts which may be as small as $1. 

It's always a day of gifting others in interesting ways.

The enclosed form may be submitted to the Human Concerns Committee before or after service on November 18.  Cards are available for adults or children.  Please make all checks payable to Bethel UCC.

From Your Parish Nurse

Health Hints – November 2007

Greetings!  This month I’d like to share information regarding Inactivated Influenza Vaccine.  Influenza (“flu”) is a contagious disease that can be life threatening.  Anyone can get influenza and many of us need to be vaccinated yearly.  Are you one of them?  Read on:

Why get vaccinated?  The flu is caused by the influenza virus, which spreads from infected persons to the nose or throat of others.  Symptoms include:  fever, cough, sore throat, headache, chills, muscle aches, fatigue.  Though anyone can get influenza, rates are highest among children.  For most people, the flu only lasts a few days.  However, some people get much sicker.  Influenza can lead to pneumonia and can be dangerous for people with heart or breathing conditions.  It can cause high fever and seizures in children.  On average, 226,000 people are hospitalized every year because of influenza and 36,000 die – mostly elderly.  Influenza vaccine can prevent influenza yet it will not prevent “influenza-like” illnesses caused by other viruses.  Influenza viruses are always changing.  Because of this, influenza vaccines are updated every year, making an annual vaccination necessary.  It takes up to 2 weeks for protection to develop after the vaccination; and protection lasts up to a year.

Who should get vaccinated?  The CDC recommends the influenza vaccine every year for the following groups:

·        Adults and children with chronic medical conditions, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, kidney disease, anemia, weakened immune systems (from HIV/AIDS, long-term steroid treatments, cancer treatment with x-rays or drugs, other immune system diseases), diabetes

·        Children 6 – 59 months of age

·        Children 6 months – 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin treatment

·        Women who are pregnant during the influenza season

·        Household contacts and out-of-home caregivers of persons at high-risk, including children younger than 6 months of age who are too young to be vaccinated.  This includes parents, grandparents, siblings, babysitters, and daycare providers.

·        Adults 50 years of age and older

·        Residents of long-term care facilities and nursing homes

·        Health-care personnel who come in contact with patients

·        Anyone, including school-aged children, who want to prevent influenza

Who should talk with a doctor before getting vaccinated? 

• Those with any severe (life-threatening) allergies
• Those with a severe egg allergy should not get the vaccine.
• Those with a severe allergy to any vaccine component
• Those who have had a severe reaction after a previous dose of influenza vaccine
• Those who have had Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS)
• Those who are moderately or severely ill. Those who are mildly ill can usually get the vaccine.

What are the risks from inactivated influenza vaccine?  Serious problems from influenza vaccine are very rare.  The viruses in inactivated influenza vaccine have been killed, so you cannot get influenza from the vaccine.

Mild problems include:  soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given, fever, aches.  If these problems occur, they usually begin soon after the shot and last 1-2 days.

Severe (life-threatening) problems are very rare.  If they do occur, it is usually within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot.  Signs of a serious reaction can include:  any unusual condition such as a high fever or behavior changes, difficulty breathing, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, fast heart beat or dizziness.  See a doctor immediately if any of these symptoms occur. 

If you are at risk of getting the flu or come in contact with people who are at risk please consider getting vaccinated if you haven’t already.  Most cases of influenza occur in January or February – so it’s not too late!  Questions?  Feel free to see me. 

This information is provided by the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kathy Murray,

Parish Nurse

Music Ministry

The beautiful fall weather once again finds our Bethel Music Ministry in full strides.  I am extremely pleased with the high quality of music making for the glory of the Lord in our Sanctuary, with special kudos going to The Mad Monks of Melody (featuring our own Michael Delaney) for a fun filled and joyous worship celebration to kick off our Stewardship Sunday.  The Adult and Youth Handbell Choirs under the excellent tutelage of Linda Lunt have performed beautifully, and as always I am thrilled with the wonderful worship participation of our Adult Voice Choir.  Last but not least, it was great having our Bethel Youth Voice Choir sing in church again (with thanks from me for doing such a great job on the song I wrote for you!).  Thanks also to Lisa Landreth for her help in coordinating the Youth for participation in rehearsals and in worship performance.

I have been busy coordinating the music for our Elmhurst UCC combined worship service November 4 at Hammerschmidt Chapel.  This is an exciting adventure for me to utilize the strengths of our combined choirs as well as the talents of several outstanding musicians from each of our congregations.  Great music is fitting for this outstanding yearly service, and I hope all of you who are free and able plan on attending this powerful worship experience. 

As always, I could use more voices in our Adult Voice Choir.  Rehearsals are every Thursday evening from 7:45 – 9 pm and prior to Sunday worship.  If you are interested in joining the choir, please talk to me or any of our choir members.  As always please feel free to call me at Bethel (630.279.4040).

Jeffrey Panko, Minister of Music

Join us for Alternative Gift Market and Thanksgiving Dinner

following worship on

New Member Sunday, November 18^th, at 10 a.m.!

                 LOOK FOR OUR BLOG DISCUSSIONS on the Bethel website. 

The newsletter and other releases are available on the Bethel website under Publications.

  Contributions for the December issue are due in the church office by November 25^th!