August 27, 2007 A Publication of Bethel United Church of Christ, Elmhurst IL Issue: 2007-09
August 27, 2007 A Publication of Bethel United Church of Christ, Elmhurst IL Issue: 2007-09
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A Message from the Pastor Rather than an article itself, consider this an introduction to what you’ll find on the pages of this Newsletter and during the days of September. However, there is a theme. Can you guess what it is?
First, you’ll find a note from Jim LaPalermo, Council President, and Ellen Braun concerning the adoption of the Open and Affirming Statement. People have worked hard, views have been exchanged. For me it’s the process that’s been important. All along the process we’ve maintained our love for one another, even learned to stretch our love.
Rally day is Sept. 9 – when some among us who haven’t seen their church friends for awhile return to Bethel…and to each other. It kicks off a year of growth and opportunities to learn about God’s love. And you adults, don’t forget about the Sunday morning class that begins again in September too. Making an intentional decision to attend is a commitment to grow your faith.
The Deacons are looking at new ways of engaging visitors and prospective members. Trustees are attending to the responsible financial management of Bethel. Long Range Planning focus groups are meeting. These are labors of love.
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Speaking of labor, take a look at the hard-working youth in the photos from the BYF mission trip to Rock Island. Do “work” and “smiles” go together? They do when there’s love in your heart.
Human Concerns invites us to prepare clean-up kits for disaster victims, bring peanut butter for distribution in local food pantries, and volunteer for PADS on Bethel’s weekend – the 4th weekend of the month. More evidence of love to share.
Leah Lyman has been the volunteer coordinator at Back Bay Mission this summer. She reports on the on-going ministries, two years after Katrina, to rebuild lives, rebuild hope….all with love.
Rev. Sally speaks about the individuals addressed in Paul’s letters, each unique and special. Kathy Murray encourages us to maintain eye health. Bell Choirs and Voice Choirs are beginning. Concerts are coming. Some are journeying through seasons of grief. We express our care for them and honor loved ones. And still there’s more I haven’t included… You know by now what’s behind all this…
Read on… Better yet, join in… It’s about God’s love
Rev. Steve
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Council Notes This is an historic time at Bethel church. Our congregation passed the Open and Affirming Resolution at the Sunday August 26th congregational meeting by a very large majority of the voting members in attendance.
I want to again express my appreciation and thanks to the ONA task force: Ellen Braun, Jude Hines, Mike Moulds, Jim Harris, Sally Scheib, Georgia DeClark, Kathy Gray and Rebecca Love.
I also want to thank church council members and Pastor Steve for their support and leadership throughout the process with our congregation.
Jim LaPalermo, Council President
September 9 is Rally Day 2007
Everyone is invited to join us for special Rally Day worship and music and
then a picnic following. Come help us kick off the new church school year!
Brats, hotdogs and hamburgers as well as chips and drinks will be provided.
We are asking participants to bring either a salad or a dessert to pass.
Please sign up in the narthex. There will be games and activities for all! |
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From the Open and Affirming Task Force Bethel members who attended the congregational meeting on August 26, 2007, voted to approve the resolution declaring that our church is open and affirming to all people, regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender, mental and physical ability, race, sexual orientation, as well as marital or socio-economic status. This resolution was the result of two years of study and discussion of what it means to be open and affirming. For some of our members, this was a personal matter, and they showed great courage in sharing their feelings and experiences with us. For others, this was a difficult decision which caused them to rethink ideas and beliefs which they had held throughout their lives. There are some members who still have concerns and reservations about what this decision means for our congregation. We respect the ideas of all of our members and hope that they will continue to participate in our discussions about ways to implement this resolution. Our church will join a registry of other churches who have publicly announced that their congregations are open and affirming, so that people in our community who have been seeking a welcoming church will know to come to Bethel. The members of the Open and Affirming Task Force were Ellen Braun, Georgia DeClark, Kathy Gray, Jim Harris, Jude Hines, Rev. Rebecca Love, Michael Moulds, Rev. Sally Scheib, and Rev. Steve Schuette.
Ellen Braun Financial summary
If you have questions or would like further detail please contact Rod Stipe, Treasurer.
From the Board of Deacons
The Deacons are currently working on improving our policy on approaching prospective members. We will be working on tracking repeat visitors and taking them down for the coffee hour. We are currently working on planning a social event for the new members we have taken in the last 1 1/2 years. Additionally, we are working on reaching out to inactive members. From the Board of Trustees
As you may have noticed a new fence has been installed around the garbage can area. It will be stained to protect the wood in the next couple of weeks.
This month we will begin working on developing a budget for 2008. If anyone has anything to contribute to the preparation of the budget, please contact Jeff Braun.
The 2008 Stewardship campaign will begin the last Sunday of September with Stewardship Sunday scheduled for October 28. One of the main focuses of the campaign this year will be to encourage greater participation from the entire congregation. The strength of Bethel depends on the support of all of its members, both financially and through participation in the life of the church.
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Fifth Sunday
Dear Friends and Members of Bethel,
Sunday, September 30 is the third of four Fifth Sundays in 2007.
On the positive side, we have realized a total of over $2,600 in generous contributions for the first two Fifth Sundays. On the negative side, participation in the Fifth Sunday offering has been somewhat low.
Your participation in this offering, dedicated to debt reduction, is one way to demonstrate your appreciation for God’s blessings in your life. Generosity is not measured by the amount given as much as the spirit in which it is given.
Please get in the spirit and demonstrate your generosity by participating in the September 30th Fifth Sunday offering. Please use the enclosed Fifth Sunday envelope and/or indicate Fifth Sunday in the memo field on your check. Thank you, Jeff Braun, Bethel Board of Trustees
From the Board of Elders
OUTDOOR WORSHIP GETS “BUGGED OUT” TWICE We had beautiful weather for the outdoor service in July. But the decision was made not to risk the Oak mites in August or even in September so between cicadas and mites, July was our only outdoor experience this summer!
All-Church, Family Fall Bike Ride For serious bikers ready to pedal and leisure riders who don’t care how far they go as long as they can carry on a conversation along the way – either way, this outing is for you! We’ll pick up the trail along the I&M Canal, possibly in Lemont. It will be your choice about how far you go or how often you stop along the way. We’ll load up on Bethel’s parking lot at 1 p.m. on Sept. 30, hit the trail about 1:30, load up again about 4 p.m. and be back at Bethel by 5. We will try to provide transportation for bicycles by truck for all those who need it, but please make a reservation by Sept. 23 – either by calling the church office or on the signup sheet in the narthex. Peter Landreth will accompany the group and tell us about the history and significance of the canal. If you’d like to learn some background, go to www.canalcor.org/.
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Join the Club
Bethel Book Club Our next selection is When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, a short first novel that gained considerable kudos from the critics when it first appeared in 2002. It tells the experience of a Japanese-American family who are forced to move to an internment camp during WWII. The book appears to be out of print, but the library system does have 15 copies in circulation. Elmhurst Public Library has 4 copies of its own.
Our meeting will be hosted by Ellen Braun on Wednesday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. Call her if you plan to attend.
Women of Bethel
THE NEXT LADIES LUNCHEON will be on September 10th at 11:30 a.m. Ladies are invited to join us at Our Kitchen restaurant in Elmhurst.
ILLINOIS CONFERENCE ANNUAL WOMEN’S RETREAT will be held September 28-29 at Pilgrim Park in Princeton, IL. Registration forms and more information are available in the narthex.
SAVE THE DATE – WOMEN’S WINTER RETREAT will be held February 22-23, 2008 at the Loretto Center in Wheaton, IL. Watch for details.
Men of Bethel
MEN’S BREAKFAST will be at the Fresh Start Café in Elmhurst on August 4th and 18th at 8 a.m.
Youth Fellowship A Great Week for BYF
Those who went on the houseboat trip on the Mississippi River had a wonderful weekend. We had lots of fun trying new things that included steering the boats, understanding the navigational maps, anchoring the boats, maneuvering past huge barges and through a lock, cooking for each other, being aware of rationing our water and sliding down the slide! We all tried things that we had never done before while having fun and getting to know people new to the group.
Our week in Rock Island was a busy one. Our host church was Church of Peace UCC. The agency that we worked for was Project NOW. Our experiences with both were really good. We did some repair work and cleaning and completely painted two second floor apartments. It was very hot and humid but we worked hard to finish all of the work. We felt very good about our accomplishments and hope that the new occupants will be happy in their new apartments. In the evenings we cooled off at a water park, had pizza and played ultimate frisbee with Emmy Odean's youth group, played miniature golf and enjoyed ice cream together. We also had morning meditations, shared Roses and Thorns and watched several thought provoking DVDs and had very interesting discussions about them.
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We are looking forward to the coming year and are beginning to create a calendar of activities, some of which are things we've done before, and some that will be new. In general, BYF will meet on the first and third Sundays of each month. We communicate with each other primarily via email and send to a BYF list. We are happy that our list now includes several freshmen. Please remember that your friends are always welcome! If you are a high school student or parent and do not currently receive email for the group, please let us know and we will add you to the list. We are happy to tell you that Emmy Odean, our Christian Education Intern from Elmhurst College, and Pastor Schuette will be at most Sunday gatherings. Mr. Kyle Kalinich is also planning some special opportunities for us throughout the year.
***Our first gathering will be on Sunday, September 16th for Laser Quest tag in Downers Grove from 1:30-4:30 p.m. It should be lots of fun for everyone...something new for the group... so make room on your calendars and invite your friends! Watch email for more details!! The Ds 630-941-1037, jan_dondlinger@msn.com, dondlinger@autotruck.com
From the Memorial Committee
In August, Memorial gifts have been received in honor of Henry Hemberger and Gene DeClark.
Prayers of sympathy go out to Lois Hemberger and her family on the recent loss of Henry Hemberger. A memorial service for Henry was held at Bethel on August 11th.
Prayers of sympathy go out to Gary DeClark and his family on the recent loss of Gary’s father, Gene. A memorial service for Gene will be held at Bethel on September 8th at 4 p.m.
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Back Bay Mission Update: 2 Years Later Two years after Hurricane Katrina, life on the Gulf Coast has become a strange mix of the outwardly normal interspliced with the inwardly fragile. Storms forming in the Gulf loom over every casual conversation about the weather; a mundane review of a staff hurricane preparedness plan causes faces to cloud and shoulders to slump as coworkers relive the pain of Katrina’s chaotic aftermath. Though they faithfully show up for work, poor sleep and depression plague everyone from the cashier at the local food mart to Miss Rita, the woman in charge of the Loaves & Fishes soup kitchen. School-aged children cower in closets when afternoon thunder rolls on the Back Bay; Miss Celestine, an elderly Back Bay client, blows out another year’s candles with a fervent wish not to spend her next birthday in a trailer seeping formaldehyde. There’s a sense that we are all teetering on the edge of a delicate balance between the routine and the heart-stopping.
Thankfully, physical progress continues to scramble determinedly along, thanks largely to volunteer groups like the ones that have come to serve at Back Bay Mission. One by one, damaged houses come back to life, as signs of recovery crop up like the morning glories in the vacant lots now dotting East Biloxi. Traffic lights have been restored on Division Street, and the bridge at the west end of Highway 90 reopened in June. Thanks to the labors of BBM volunteers, Miss Celestine will be back in her house by Christmas instead of sometime next year. But the deepest damage wreaked by the storm—perhaps less immediately evident, but no less insidious—is that inflicted upon the spirits of those who bore the wrath of Katrina and who fight, every day, the battle of reconstructing entire lives from next to nothing. As much effort and energy as it takes to re-shingle tattered roofs, install new cabinets, repair rotten siding and replace buckled flooring, these tasks are all readily tackled with the abundance of volunteer sweat and enthusiasm which we are so blessed to have. A far more elusive commission for our community remains that of Back Bay’s post-Katrina slogan: Rebuilding Lives, Rebuilding Hope.
As the two-year anniversary approaches, we are all called to reflect on how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go, and what role each of us—you and I—might play in the continued effort to accomplish our mission. As welcome as physical labor and material and financial donations continue to be, taking the time to establish an exchange with local school kids (www.biloxischools.net), or to write a letter of solidarity to the local paper (www.sunherald.com); calling Senators Obama and Durbin to ask them to push hurricane recovery funding through Congress; saying a simple prayer for the physical and spiritual recovery of the Gulf Coast—these are gifts just as valuable as a nail pounded in a two-by-four. Let the Coast know you have not forgotten them—or us, I should say, because in a way I have become a part of the community here, and I feel called to remain in Mississippi past the end of my volunteer term and to keep working for a just recovery. So I, along with the rest of the Coast, ask for your ongoing prayers and support, as we continue to Rebuild Lives and Rebuild Hope. Blessings, Leah Lyman Email at Back Bay: bbvol@datasync.com |
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Did You Ever Wonder Who were some of the people Paul greeted in his letters?
Occasionally we find names in Paul’s letters which make us wonder about who some of these early Christians were. Since Paul was writing letters to specific people in specific places, he did not find it necessary to give lengthy details about the people he named. But after almost 2000 years, Paul’s readers do not have the benefit of knowing Paul’s friends. So we are dependent on church tradition or even on our own imaginations to fill in the rest of the picture.
But even with very little information, these names tell us about our own history. Recently I read a book called The Lost Apostle: Searching for the Truth about Junia, by Rena Pederson. The book explores what little we know about a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans. The specific verse reads: “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.” A1though the Bible is silent about Andronicus and Junia except for this verse, Junia’s story has caused some debate during the history of Christianity. Specifically, the verse seems to imply that Junia was an apostle, a word usually applied only to men.
Junia became a source on controversy for Bible translators and scholars in the thirteenth century. Until that time, readers apparently accepted Junia as an early Christian woman. But Giles, an archbishop, preferred the name Juliam when referring to this verse in Romans, and he assumed it referred to a man. After Giles’ time, texts of the Bible varied in the way the name was written. Martin Luther’s translation used a male form of the name. The King James Version used the female form. The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, which is used at Bethel, uses the female form of the name.
But can we really know very much about Junia? Unfortunately, we can know very little for sure, beyond Paul’s words. But Junia and Andronicus have remained as examples for modern Christians. The Orthodox Church of America has a tradition that Andronicus became bishop of what is now Hungary. He and Junia converted many pagans and Christian churches were built where before pagan temples had stood. According to the same tradition, they were both martyred for their faith.
Whether or not we accept the orthodox tradition, the names Paul mentions remind us that early Christians were individuals who struggled for their faith. We cannot see them as only a group of people, but as individuals with their own personalities and gifts.
Rev. Sally Scheib, Associate Pastor
hygiene and clean-up kits needed Huge old trees split and down, broken branches everywhere, power outages, right here in Elmhurst. I was reminded how vulnerable we are - and of the many people in the world who suffer from true disasters. The collection of hygiene and clean-up kits seems timely. Please help if you can.
FOOD PANTRY In September we will be collecting peanut butter and jelly to be distributed by the local food pantries. Please leave your donation in the basket just inside the North entrance. |
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PADS will return to St. Alexis in October! Bethel keeps the 4th week-end of the month.
A little information about PADS... Their promise: To end and prevent homelessness in DuPage County by providing housing solutions for people in crisis in three ways:
PADS also provides support services; including links to health and social services, help with job searches, money management, and life skills to name a few.
We are happy to support PADS and thank all the volunteers at Bethel who serve this outstanding organization. Chris Smith
From Your Parish Nurse
Health Hints – September, 2007
Greetings! This month I’d like to focus on cataracts. Cataracts are defined as a clouding of the lens in the eyes that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging: they are the leading cause of visual loss among adults age 55 or older. A cataract can occur in either eye or both eyes.
What are the symptoms? A healthy lens is composed mostly of water and protein. Over time the protein begins to clump together creating cloudy vision. Other symptoms include:
These symptoms may also appear in other eye conditions making it important to CONSULT YOUR EYE CARE PROFESSIONAL.
What Can I Do? Suspected causes include smoking and diabetes. Risk factors include ultra violet (UV) sunlight rays, air pollution, cigarette smoking and alcohol use. It’s important to wear sunglasses and a wide brim hat, stop smoking, and decrease alcohol consumption. (Over 1 6-oz. glass of wine per day is considered excessive for women). Researchers also recommend a diet of green leafy vegetables, fruits and other foods containing antioxidants. For more information on all eye conditions see this excellent website: www.nei.nih.gov/health Kathy Murray, Parish Nurse |
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Music Ministry
I would like to congratulate flutist Kristina Murray for the wonderful concert she gave in the Sanctuary on August 26th. This was Kristina’s first solo concert, and her wonderful artistry and musicianship were appreciated by her audience. A free will offering was taken at the door, and Kristina’s performance raised nearly $350 for Bethel’s fundraising efforts.
I am very proud to report that the Bethel music ministry collected over $2500 in free will offerings from our three summer recitals, presented by pianist Kelly Lockerbie, Kristina Murray and Jeff Panko. 100% of the donations will benefit our Bethel fundraising efforts and mission work. Thank you to Kelly and Kristina for your great performances, and thanks also to the members and friends of Bethel for your support of our music ministry.
I would like to thank the many Bethel musicians who have offered their musical talents to enrich and inspire our summer Sunday worship. Special thanks go to Emily Patterson, Mike Delaney, Wilma Delaney, Beverly Gay, Penny Goldman, Kelly Lockerbie, Brianna Murray, Kristina Murray, Kathy Murray, Felicia Burkovskiy, Roberta Fox, Hans Koelsch, Linda Lyman, and the members of the Bethel Adult Voice Choir. It was a joy making music for the glory of the Lord with all of you, and I know that our Bethel congregation is grateful for all the wonderful gifts you bring to our music ministry.
The Bethel Adult Voice Choir has resumed Thursday at 7:45 pm rehearsals, with our regular worship participation beginning on Rally Day September 9. All are welcomed and encouraged to join us for any Thursday evening rehearsal. If you have any questions about joining the Adult Voice Choir, please feel free to contact me (279-4040) or any of our choir members. We are always looking for new members.
Jeffrey Panko, Minister of Music
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Join us for a picnic and games following a special worship on Sunday, September 9th, 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 October issue are due in the church office by September 23rd!
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