Bethany Lutheran Church and

Early Childhood Center Newsletter

Bethany Lutheran Church

1000 W. 26th Street South

Wichita, KS 67217

Church Phone 316-265-7415

BECC Phone 316-265-3033

www.bethanylutheranwichita.org

Worship Service Sunday 9:00 AM

& 11:45 AM ECC chapel Wed. 9am

Sunday School & Adult Bible Study

Lifetree Café

Sunday 10:30 AM

Vacancy Pastor: Deacon

Mike Parmenter

Early Childhood Center

Serving children ages One through Five

Program Director

Dara Vernia

316-265-3033

November 2019

“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” (Luke 3:21–22).

God was pleased. With whom was He pleased? His son Jesus of course! But have you ever wondered why? What had Jesus done up to this point to cause such pleasure for His Father? Well, He didn’t get murdered by Herod. He was in the temple like a good Jewish boy. He hadn’t done anything exceptional up to this point. No healings. No teaching. No resurrections. Even in Luke 3, all Jesus does is go down into the water and is baptized by His cousin John. Nothing spectacular to inspire pleasure in the Father has been seen yet.

But that is what gives us the greatest stewardship lesson. Stewardship isn’t about the spectacular. You don’t have to give millions of dollars to be a Father-pleasing steward. You don’t have to go to Africa for mission work to get the same kind of “atta boy” from God. Stewardship that is faithful and God-pleasing is found in everyday life. It is the husband loving his wife because she is a gift from God. It is a mom feeding her baby in the middle of the night because she has been given this new life to steward. It is a child doing their level best because their talents are gifts from God.

This happens every day. You have been doing it. Simple gifts have been entrusted to you. Your faithful presence in worship, your generosity for the Gospel, the investment in your family with the message of the Gospel and so many other mundane efforts are stewardship. It is your faithfulness to the callings you have been given.

The Father was well pleased with Jesus because of what He had done up to that point. He was also well pleased with what He was going to do. The same is true of you, faithful steward. He is pleased with what you have done and what He knows you will do. He knows you will heed His Word and answer His call. He has given you all the grace you need to be His faithful steward. With you He is well pleased.

Prayer:

Loving Father, You were well pleased with the faithful work of Your Son both before and after His Baptism in the Jordan. Grant us the grace to be faithful in the stewardship of our daily lives. When we fall short, lead us back to Jesus. We know that it is because of Him that You are pleased with us. Lead us to be faithful stewards of His Gospel every day! Amen.

-This work may be reproduced by churches and schools for their own use In the study of the Scriptures. lcms.org/stewardship

Women’s Bible Study meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month at 7:00pm. You are invited to join us. We are using the book “Living a Chocolate Life” by Deb Burma. The book is fun, friendly and engaging, and invites women to savor God’s rich and endless supply of grace. Whether tasting bitter nuggets of pain or sweet morsels of joy, this study reminds them that the Holy Spirit fills us with sweet faith in our Savior. We’d love for you to join us. For more information, please contact Jenny Colby, Renee Schott or Doris Cannon.

Breakfast: Meets on the 3rd Wednesday at 9:00am at Country Café, 2804 S. Seneca. This month - October 20th.

Afternoon Games: Wednesday, October 13th & 27th - 1:00-3:00pm at the church. Join the fun with various games including Pitch, Dominoes, Pinochle, Yahtzee, Scrabble or ?

Seniors’ Activities

A Men’s Bible Study group meets at Bethany on the 3rd Saturday

of the month at 7:00 a.m. Leaders rotate and choose their own topic. A

breakfast is usually served. Contact Erich Schieber or Mark Welty for

more information. This month: November 16th.

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November December

3: Lois Adams & Lola Gansbauer 1: Mary Morton & Nancy Zink 10: Bart & Sylvia Herheim 8: Steve & Vicki Pasewark 17: Ralph & Dolores Lang 15: Darlene Nuse 24: Larry & Mable Moore 22: Mike Olsen 29: Gary & Linda Puls

November December

Elder on Duty serves as Acolyte for that Sunday. If you would like to be an acolyte, let one of the Elders or Deacon Mike know.

Head Usher – Alan Keimig

November December Bill Fromm Tim Schrahl Roger Obermueller Randy Sporn Larry Moore Bruce Kester Erich Schieber Steve Reiling

November December 3: Kevin Chamberlin / Robert Ohmie 1: Robert Bolin / Dale Kester 10: Robert Bolin / Dale Kester 8: Richard Vinroe / Mark Welty 17: Richard Vinroe / Mark Welty 15: Kevin Chamberlin / Robert Ohmie 24: Kevin Chamberlin / Robert Ohmie 22: Robert Bolin / Dale Kester 29: Richard Vinroe / Mark Welty

You are the first point of contact for our guests! Welcome them by smiling and shaking their hand. If this is their first visit to our church, invite them to stay for coffee and snacks in our activity center and where it is located. Also show them where our restrooms and cry rooms are located and thank them for joining us in worship. Alert one of our ushers that they are first time visitors so that any questions regarding our service can be answered. If you cannot be greeter on the Sunday you have, please talk to one of our other greeters to switch or talk to Doris or Jack Cannon and they will contact someone else. If you would prefer not to be a greeter, please tell Doris or Jack. If you cannot greet at the beginning of the service, you may greet after the service is over.

There is a lot of behind the scenes work that is done for our worship services, Bible Studies, Children’s and Youth Ministries, greeters, ushers, altar guild, music ministry, and so many more ministries that we need help with. Most of these do not take much time out of our busy schedules to be part of. Is God call-ing you to be part of something but you don’t know where to start? Be an usher ! Prepare the com-munion! These are very important jobs that only require a little bit of you. Please contact an elder listed in this newsletter to see where YOU can be of service to God’s kingdom.

Greeters

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November & December Fill Cleanup Nov. 3 & Dec. 1 Stacy & Bailee Shipman Arleen Pirkey & Lola Gansbauer Nov. 10 & Dec. 8 Marilynn & Mable Moore Pam Kester Nov. 17 & Dec. 15 Anita Albright Dorisann Vinroe Nov. 24 & Dec. 22 Linda Puls Karren Riley Dec. 29 Robert Ohmie Lois Brockmeyer

If you cannot be usher on the Sunday/month you have been assigned, please talk to Doris or Jack Cannon and they will contact someone else. If you would prefer not to be an usher, please tell Doris or Jack.

SUNDAY MORNING 10:30am Adults:

Dining Room David Funke’s class is using a study book entitled “A Walk Thru the Life of Elijah– Standing Strong for Truth”. The book has questions about Elijah’s life and has questions for you to examine your own life in comparison with Elijah. Baker Books.

Pastor’s Office Bill Bolin, Sr .’s class is studying the DVD / book “Follow”. by Andy Stanley. Pastor Stanley takes you through the Gospels to see what Jesus meant by the request “Follow me.“ In the course of the book you will learn that you begin your journey with Jesus where you are at. There is no requirement to follow except the desire to follow and learn.

Prayer Center Rober t Bolin leads a study entitled “Everybody Always- Becoming Love in a world full of setbacks and difficult people” The study is authored by Bob Goff.

Robert Ohmie leads a class that meets in the fir st room west of the west stairwell in the back hallway. They are studying a book entitled “The big book of New Testament Questions and Answers”. It contains 816 pages of questions that students from his New Testament intro classes have asked over the years and his answers to those questions.

Lifetree Group is led by Mark Dehncke. The group meets in the 2nd classroom. Each week has a new topic for discussion. Each session has a DVD that participants watch where people talk about how their lives deal with the topic being discussed. The leader will ask questions to guide the discussion.

Children and Youth:

BYA meets in their basement room. The class is led by Jeanetta Bolin. Contact Jeanetta for more information.

Children meet with Renee Schott in one of the classrooms in the west hall. Contact Renee for more information.

Call Committee Update: The Call Committee has received a Call List of 16 candidates. The committee members are reading and considering the information received. A meeting will be scheduled in November to continue with selecting those that will be contacted for interviews. Please continue your prayers for this process.

SWNA The SWNA meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, November 29 was cancelled and now the Coffee/Meeting will be Saturday, November 16 at 9:00 a.m. at the Country Cafe on South Seneca.

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Foster Friends Update Fall is officially here and the temperatures are beginning to fall, so cold weather clothes are the need. We are always looking for socks, underwear and pajamas. Clothing for older kids is also a blessing. Please drop your donations off in the red tubs located between the office and prayer center. Thank you for helping foster kids who need all the support that they can get.

Management Team Update Roger Obermueller, as Vice President, will ask for volunteers for a committee to build a list of candidates for the next two years. Pledges for next year’s work program will be asked for in November. Pastor Pool will preach at the Thanksgiving Eve service and there will be a Pie Sharing Fellowship after the service. Jim Merrick reported that they have 43 kids enrolled as of last week but they are really needing extra help for a 2-5:30 shift every day and another person for all day Wednesday and Friday.

Westside United Methodist Church Food Pantry We collect food items for this church’s food pantry. Food distribution is only on Wednesday morning between 9:00 and 11:00am. If you would like to donate, place items in the clear tub beneath the “Community Food Bank” sign located in the hall between the office and Prayer Center. Non-perishable items only. The church is located at 1313 W. Lydia. Thank you to all those people who have been donating

Elephant Room: 1 year and walking to 2 1/2 Giraffe Room: 2 1/2-3 years

Bear Room: 3-5 years http://bethanyecc.bethanylutheranwichita.org/

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Stewardship is simply doing what God wants us to do with what He has given us.

Here is the comparison

of budget to actual for

the first 9 months. If

there are questions

about this update,

contact Roger

Obermueller or Steve

Nienke.

BECC Update: There are now 43 children enrolled. We are on our way to filling our 60-child capacity as our reputation grows by word-of-mouth. This has created an extreme need for 2 new part-time teachers, and we are advertising. If you know someone who might be interested in these positions, please contact Jim Merrick or Annetta Albright. We are thanking God for his blessings and our growth to our present number. Now we are asking the congregation to pray for the additional staff that we need in order to handle the growth.

Yummy Breakfast

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Midweek Activities and

Confirmation Classes

6:00pm-7:00pm

Confirmation Classes: 6th—8th grade

Midweek Classes:

Age 3 years—2nd grade and 3rd—5th Grades

Choir: 6:30—7:30pm

LUTHERAN WOMEN IN MISSION

Monthly LWML meeting, 3rd Tuesday night at the church at 7:00. Contact Lois Brockmeyer or Mary Morton for more information.

Quilting and Much More at church on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. & Saturdays 9:00 a.m.-Noon. Contact Lois Adams for more information. Bethany LWML delivered 135 quilts, 98 school kits, 36 Baby Care kits, 25 Hygiene Kits, 9 Sewing Kits, 5 Blankets and 24# of soap this year . Come and enjoy the fellowship and help with the mission projects.

October 6th was LWML Sunday. October 8th was pickup for the Quilts and other projects. Thanks to all who helped with loading everything and those who went to Risen Savior to load onto the semi. $575 from sale of quilts and $78 in donations were sent to Lutheran World Relief for shipping costs.

October 19th was Fall Rally at Holy Cross. Lois Brockmeyer and Arleen Pirkey attended and enjoyed the day.

Thanks go out to Immanuel Lutheran for hosting the dinner for Peggy Geisen’s funeral. They were very gracious and handled everything wonderfully. It is great to see Christian love displayed.

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Men’s Gathering Update:

The Men’s Gathering welcomed Dale Coverdale back from his month-long training in Colorado. He

was at the Youth with a Mission training center in Cimarron, Colorado getting his TESOL certificate.

TESOL is the program for people that will “Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages”. Dale

gave a short presentation about his experiences. He said that the instructor was very good and had

many years of experience. There were only 4 students involved in the TESOL program, so they had

lots of interaction with the instructor. Dale plans to pass on what he has learned to the ESL ministry

volunteers here at Bethany as well as helping with teaching when he is in town. “The time in

Colorado was uplifting spiritually as well as educationally significant.” Dale thanks you for your

financial and prayerful support.

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Thanksgiving Eve

Pie Sharing Fellowship

Bring your favorite pie

or someone else’s favorite pie

and join in the joy of fellowship with friends!

Thanksgiving Eve Service is at 7:00pm

Fellowship in the Activity Center

after the service

Bethany Lutheran Church and School

1000 W 26th St. South

Wichita, KS 67217

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