Bethel Lutheran Church February 2014

January 15, 2014 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” - Ephesians 4:4-6 5 churches. 4 languages. 1 Christ. That was our theme for the joint worship service on December 22—the one we held alongside our brothers and sisters from Bethel Ethiopian Church of Seattle, Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Seattle: Ambassadors, Iglesia Evangelica de Los Valles, and the Reborn Church. It was an amazing opportunity to celebrate our unity in Christ amidst our diversity. In addition to congregants from each church,

we were also host to numerous guests from the neighborhood and wider community—truly a cross-section of our surroundings. Check out our Facebook page (facebook.com/bethelshoreline) for pictures! One of the biggest complaints in society about “the church” is that we preach a message of reconciliation and love, yet fail to find common ground amongst ourselves. With efforts such as that worship service, we are be-coming a place which can boldly reject that assumption and proclaim a lived example of collaboration. We have truly been blessed with something special and unique here—an opportunity to minister in ways which exceed our assumptions. We are no longer “Bethel Lutheran Church and her collection of tenants,” but some-thing more. Something much more. Amidst this, though, we have—and will continue—to maintain our Lutheran heritage. We are first and foremost Christians—on that I believe we can all agree. As I see it, our “Lutheran-ness” can be thought of as a set of prescription lenses through which we experience our Christian faith. It influences the ways we worship, the ways we speak about our faith, the areas of faith that we emphasize—but it never sup-plants that Christian core. It was never Martin Luther's intent that those who agreed with him would replace their Christian identity with a Lutheran one—rather, he insisted that his supporters recognize that his role was only to point towards something greater: Christ. And so, perhaps the most authentically “Lutheran” way for us to live is to focus our energy on Christ and his message of new life and new hope. In doing so we will not only honor our namesake's intentions, but proclaim the Good News to all those around us. Blessings to you in Christ, Pastor Chris

the Bethel Beam

Pastor’s

Note

Congregational Meeting February 9th in the Fellowship Hall following our worship service. We will enjoy our monthly breakfast at the same time.

1 - Iva Kjosnes Liz Terrey

8 - Tekla Woldegiorgis

25 - Travis Salmon Dorothy Storseth

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CELEBRATE

BETHEL HAPPENINGS

COMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE

DRIVE FOR FEBRUARY

We will be having a drive the month of February for Com-pass Housing Alli-ance. They have

asked for men’s large and x-large gloves and men’s large, x-large and xx-large sweat pants.

Gloves For Compass Center

Remember in Prayer

1 - Judy Goulet 2 - Camille Ross 3 - Josh Rudnick 4 - Wally Goulet 5 - Frank Moll 6 - Chris Ode 7 - Colin Rudnick 8 - Olive Kohanik 9 - Killian Rayborn 10 - Bev Baarstad 11 - Nicole Anschell 12 - Lillian Routledge 13 - Warren Arnhart 14 - Diana Holeman 15 - Joshua DeLap 16 - Emma Yonkman 17 - Dorothy Brown 18 - Tekla Woldegiorgis 19 - Tinsu Abraha 20 - Donna Sowler 21 - John Terrey 22 - Maria Carlsom 23 - Liz Terrey 24 - Beth Rudnick 25 - Dick Schwerdtfeger 26 - Phyllis Moll 27 - Sarah Ode 28 - John Vollbrecht

Daily Member Prayer List

Vera Anderson Ellen Hansen

Dick Hinea Iva Kjosnes

Hank Peterson Donna Sjoquist

Dorothy Storseth Mary Smith

Don Brown Harold Crawford

Mona Drake John Johns

Olive Kohanik Harold & Joan Martinell

Kathy Moll Robert Pearson Dona Pederson Lynlee Ritchie Jim Schoeld

Karen Schoeld Alice Urdahl

Those in Assisted Living or Nursing

Homes

Those Coping with Health Problems

Our Bethel Quilters Need Your Help!

Are you available on the 1st or 4th Wednesday of the month?

Can you tie a knot? Do you have friends who like to quilt?

You don’t have to know how to sew to quilt. Our quilts are all tied and we need “tie-ers” along with those that sew.

Lutheran World Relief has challenged Luther-ans across the U.S. to donate 500,000 quilts to send around the world to people in need. That’s an increase of approximately 25% or 100,000 quilts over previous years. SO...we need to increase our quilters group 25%. We have lost a lot of quilters in the past year and

are down to a small group. MEN: You are welcome. Surely you can tie a knot.

If you like to make quilt tops and do-nate them for us to finish, that also is helpful. Any way you can help will be appreciated. (Our quilts go to LWR and to Compass Housing)

Please join with Bethel Seniors for our monthly “First Tuesday” fellowship and lunch Tuesday, February 4 at 10:45 AM at the Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Senior Center, 18560 1st Ave NE (South wing of Shoreline School District Center) Telephone (206)365-1536 10:45 AM - Coffee & fellowship in Rm. G-133 11:45 AM - Full lunch with dessert for $3.00 in the dining room (You do not need to be a Senior Center member

to attend or eat.

You Are Invited

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Duck the Halls: A Meg Langslow Mystery by Donna Andrews

'Tis the season to be jolly - and for Meg Langslow to round up stray animals of all sorts as well as a kill-er. Duck the Halls!

The brilliantly funny Donna Andrews delivers boughs of holly and barrels of laughs with Meg's latest ad-venture in her award-winning, New York Times best-selling series. A few nights before Christmas, Meg is awakened when volunteer fireman Michael is sum-moned to the New Life Baptist Church, where some-one has rigged a cage full of skunks in the choir loft. The lengthy process of de-skunking the church re-quires its annual pre-Christmas concert to relocate to Trinity Episcopal, where Mother insists the show must go on, despite the budget-related protests of Mr. Vess, an elderly vestryman. Meanwhile, when Meg helps her grandfather take the skunks to the zoo, they discover that his boa has been stolen - only to turn up later during the concert, slithering out from the ribbon-bedecked evergreens. The next morning is Sunday, and the congregation of St. Byblig's, the local Catholic church, arrive to find it completely filled with several hundred ducks.

It's clear that some serious holiday pranksters are on the loose, and Meg is determined to find them. But before she can, a fire breaks out at Trinity, and Mr. Vess is discovered dead. Who would have murdered such a harmless - if slightly cranky - old man? Who has the time during the busy holiday season to herd all of these animals into the town's churches? And will Meg ever be able to finish all of her shopping, wrapping, cooking, caroling, and decorating in time for Christmas Eve? A Yuletide treasure for the ages, Duck the Halls is guaranteed to put the "ho ho hos" into readers' holidays.

Our March gathering

will be March 6.

Read the book listed

below and join us at

Bethel for

discussion.

We would love to have more members in our book club. Most of the books we read are from the New York Times Best Selling List. Usually you can get them at the library so you don’t have to purchase them. We decide as a group what we want to read. Call the church office for more info or talk to Diana, Sue or Judy.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Concordia Choir (Moorhead, MN) Concert Sunday, February 23

Benaroya Hall, Seattle 3:00 pm

René Clausen conducts the 79-voice a cappella choir in several spirituals and hymns plus some

new dramatic new arrangements with Excelsior! instrumental trio. Tickets; $32, $28, $24. Group and student discounts available. Visit Benaroya-

Hall.org or call 206-215-4747. Visit www.TheConcordiaChoir.org for complete

Information.

Concordia Choir Concert

Lutheran Ministries 75th Anniversary

An LMS Family Reunion

Pilgrim Lutheran Church 10420 SE 11th St

Bellevue, WA

Sunday, February 9 1:30 - 3:00 PM

Dinner Provided

Featured Presentations: Boots Wnterstein

Daughter of our First Chaplain Rev. Ron GOcken

Emeritus Executive Director & Chaplain

Mr. Carol Bonomini Chp. Arthur Werzner

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MISSIONARY NEWS

Update from

Tom and Mary Holman

.Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am writing this to you from Nigeria -- God answered your prayers for us to be able to attend this work-shop. Thanks for praying!

The Fali team has made great progress -- all 24 chapters of Luke have been drafted. Today I started checking Luke 11 with them. "Forgive us our sins" in verse 4 is expressed as "Tifevjǝ mbiyikǝɗǝ", 'Spit out our sins.' When a child sins against his father, the fa-ther takes some grain and chews it and spits it out, and then he says, "I've forgiven you from today." This forgiveness is unconditional. Isn't that just like our heavenly Father?

Tom will return to Minnesota at the end of the work-shop on February 1, and I'll stay until February 14 to work with the Waja team. Please pray for a safe jour-ney back home for Tom and that we'll both be produc-tive while we're apart.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Mary Mary and Tom Holman A Letter from Tom and Mary Holman Helping the Church fulfill the Great Commission by making God's Word accessible for every people group and nation

E-mail addresses: Mary_Holman@sil.org Tom_Holman@sil.org Mailing Address: 7611 36th Ave. North #215, New Hope, MN 55427

Phones: Tom: 651-726-4581, Mary 262-497-4085

*Members of Wycliffe Bible Translators, Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 Website: www.wycliffe.org Associate Members of Lutheran Bible Translators, Box 2050, Aurora, IL 60507-2050 Website: www.LBT.org Wycliffe accepts tax-deductible contributions by mail or at wyc-liffe.org. If by mail, please include a separate note indicating,

“Preference for the Wycliffe ministry of Tom and Mary Holman, Ac-

count # 213988".

Lutheran Bible Translators accepts tax-deductible contributions by mail

or at http://www.lbt.org/donate/supportms.php. If by mail, please in-

clude a separate note indicating,"Preference for the Ministry of Tom and

Mary Holman”.

IN THE COMMUNITY (CONT)

January 29 - March 1 Olivia and George have been married for years … or have they? Brian and Dinah just want to get engaged … but can they? When the lovely Mr. Pim stops in for a visit one offhand remark turns the household upside down. This recently rediscovered comedy by A.A. Milne is packed with delightfully droll humor.

Preview Performances: $20-26 Wednesday Evening: $25-34 Thursday Evening: $25-40 Friday and Saturday Evening: $25-40 Saturday Matinee: $25-34

Seniors & Students $5 discount

Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

A Little Humor! There once was a woman who woke up one morn-ing, looked in the mirror, and saw that she had only three hairs on her head. "Great," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."

So she did, and had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. "Hmm," she said, "I guess I'll part my hair down the middle."

So she did, and had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only one hair left on her head.

"Wow," she said, "today I get to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did, and had a wonderful, won-derful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that there wasn't a single hair on her head.

"Thank God!" she exclaimed. "I was running out of things to do with my hair!"

ATTITUDE is everything! Let's be grateful for the

things God has given us and have a wonderful day!

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ON CALL LIST

Diana Holeman

Carol Hovick

John/Donna Johns

Karen Johnson

Karin Kajita

Olilve Kohanik

Ruth Locke

Sue Logen

Rachel/Kathy Miller

Frank/Phyllis Moll

Evie Nanninga

Lorna Neumann

Chris/Sarah Ode

Irene Olsen

Lizzie Peters

Nancy Phillips

Chris/Marlys Pickrell

Elizabeth Pickrell

Shirley Pishaw

Mona Quammen

Jordan/Liz Rayborn

Dan/Lynlee Ritchis

Those Who Serve February 2014

2 9 16 23

SANCTUARY CARETAKER - Chris Pickrell

Altar Guild Sue & Joanne Lillian & Marlys Anna & Diana Ragnhild & Kelly

Worship

Assistants Karen Johnson Elia Smith Craig Fjarlie Joe Himple

Kids Time Pastor Chris Pastor Chris

Communion

Bread Sue Logen Craig Fjarlie Starla DeLap Mary Himple

Wine Diana Holeman Bruce Smith Scott DeLap Liz Terrey

Glasses Wally Goulet Anna Sjong

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Jeremy DeLap

Josh DeLap xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flowers

Don & Dorothy Brown in memory of our parents

Karen Johnson in memory of John Johnson

Ushers

Bruce Smith John Johns

Rance Urdahl

(sign up to usher)

Chuck Vollbrecht Chris Pickrell Dick Scansen

(Sign up to usher)

Sue Logen (Sign up to usher)

Wally Goulet Dave Switzer

(Sign up to usher)

Reading Psalm 42:1-3 Psalm 40:1-5 Psalm 34:1-10 Psalm 147:1-11

Preaching Text John 4:1-42 John 4:46-54 John 6:35-59 John 7:37-52

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The Spirit News for the congregations of the Northwest Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran

. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

Growing up I had a hard time relating to my older brother. He was bright, a good athlete and an ex-tremely high achiever.

He also loved to tease his little brother. I was tor-mented by him and often felt very angry. On one occasion I threw a barbecue fork at him as he was running out of the house. Fortunately I missed but my intentions were clear, “I wanted to hurt him.”

I had forgotten the worst of these childhood memo-ries until a few days ago when I was reflecting upon why is it that I have such a strong opposition to peo-ple being mean to one another? My daughters will tell you how upset I would be with them if I thought they were being mean. The answer to my question was obvious. It was about the how miserable I felt as a child.

When I entered into middle school I got into an emotional grudge match with one of my peers. I found myself employing the very acts of meanness that my brother had used on me. In fact I invited as many of my friends as possible to join me in piling insults upon my friend. Later in life she would take her own life. We renewed our friendship in high school but it has always bothered me that I was so mean to her.

I honestly believe we could change the world if we were committed to honoring the 8th Commandment in the way Luther explained it when he said, “We should explain our neighbor’s actions in the kindest way.” Kindness is the opposite of meanness. Mean-ness robs and destroys life. Kindness is filled with grace and can be so life-giving.

Over the years my brother and I have been able to make amends. We became very close in caring for our parents when they were dying. I saw in my brother a deep kindness. He was so tender with our mom and dad. He would anoint their bodies with lotion trying to massage away their pain. He was there to comfort both of them when they took their last breaths.

This is my prayer for each of us and for all of our ministry sites. I pray that we would seek to be peo-ple who lean in the direction of kindness. I pray that we would be people who withhold being mean-spirited which often expresses itself in being so criti-cal of one another. I pray that we would strive to explain our neighbor’s actions in the kindest way.

Take it upon yourself to seriously reflect upon how you treat others. Honoring the 8th Commandment not only has the power to transform the church it has the power to restore us in relationship with God and our neighbor.

Connected

Your Synod Office Staffers have been busy researching, listening to your ideas and implementing new ways of keeping us better connected within the synod. Our hope is that you all have the information you need & want at your fingertips. This is an overview of our Communications Strategy:

Website Changes

We have re-shaped the site to help you find what you need more easily. The tabs have changed, pages shuffled, and more resources have been added. Take time to explore the site: www.lutheransnw.org. Your help is needed: What additional resources or links would you like to see? Would you share some photos to better enhance the look of the site? We look forward to hearing from you. You may be aware that

The Way of Kindness by the Rev. Kirby Unti, Bishop

Page 8

the new ELCA website has been launched. It is quite different from its previous format. There are also a number of resources that have yet to be updated or transferred to the new site. If you need help navigating it, or have some concerns, give us a call at the synod office. Facebook Get the latest news, connect with other local (and not so local!) Lutherans, and share photos & quotes at www.facebook.com/pages/ Northwest-Washington-Synod-ELCA. Another page that is fun to follow is one dedicated to what our Bishop is up to: www.facebook.com/ BishopUnti. The Spirit This is a monthly e-publication that includes an article written by Bishop Unti on one side and news & information on the flip side. It is sent out electronically mid-month for placing in congregational newsletters, mailings, etc. It is also posted on the website for your perusal. If you would like to receive it directly in your inbox, let us know! E-mailings: The Weekly Update is sent electronically every Monday. It includes announcements and the latest additions to the Synod Calendar. If you have something to share or an event to include, please contact Susan Berg at the Synod Office. We keep three weeks’ worth of Weekly Updates on the synod website under the News & Info tab for your reference.

We invite our community to hold one another in prayer. The Prayer Weekly email includes petitions for specific needs of our leaders, congregations, those in transition, the wider church and our sisters & brothers around the world. These are also posted on the Spiritual Center page under the News & Info tab on the synod website. Additional Prayer Concern emails are sent for immediate requests.

The Month at a Glance email lists all of the events posted on the Synod Calendar. It is distributed during the third week of the prior month. There are two ways for you to share events that are open to the synod: submit them directly to the calendar on the synod web page or email the information to Susan.

The Lutheran Insert The Lutheran magazine designates three pages to our synod four times a year. These pages are dedicated to ministry happenings in our

synod. If you have an idea for a story, resource, photo to share, please let us know – we would welcome your ideas and submissions. Let us know how we are doing. Share your ideas & suggestions. We are listening! -Susan Berg, Communications & Administration susan@lutheransnw.org

The Spirit, a publication of the Northwest Washing-ton Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is intended for members, leaders, and clergy of synod congregations and organiza-tions. Congregations are encouraged to copy The Spirit and include it in their own newsletters.

Northwest Washington Synod, ELCA 5519 Phinney Ave North Seattle, WA 98103-5829

Telephone: 206-783-9292 Toll Free: 1-800-244-6997

Fax: 206-783-9833 Email: office@lutheransnw.org Website: www.lutheransnw.org

Information for the March issue of The Spirit is due to the Synod Office by February 7

Lutheran Family Night at PLU Basketball Games Saturday, February 8 at Pacific Lutheran University - Olson Auditorium Lutheran Family Night at PLU vs. Whitworth Basketball Games: women's game at 4pm and men's game at 6pm. More information on the Congregation Relations website: www.plu.edu/congregations.

Sound @ Spirit: International Artists Carillon Sunday, February 23 at 4pm at Holy Spirit, Kirkland International Artists Carillon is a handbell choir that focuses on the beauty in handbells through high quality perfor-mance experience. Free-will donations will be accepted at the door to support the concert series and the ministries of Holy Spirit. Childcare is available for a small contribution, and all events are kid friendly.

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THANK YOU

Dear Parishioners, Than you very much for your donation of 90 pounds of food. Your generosity has made it possible for Donna, a single parent, to stretch her food stamps and provide warm, nutritious meals for her three children, and for Michael to pay his heat bill this month instead of having to use his disability check for food.

This past year, through your generosity, North Helpline Food Bank has provided food for over 800 households each week - that’s over 1700 people touched weekly by your kindness, since most of the food we distrib-ute has been donated by charitable individu-als like you.

Donations of all types and sizes make a big difference in the lives of those facing hard-ships, and the holidays and the dark, cold winter are a particularly difficult time of year for many of our clients.

Deepak Chopra said, “Anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given.” We hope you feel the warmth that you pass on to others through your thoughtfulness..

Sincerely, Kay Hardie, Operations Manager North Helpline

FAITH IN EVERDAY LIFE

Life is Grim, but not Necessarily Serious

Remember how we do this? I use the word serious and you expand the meaning. Go!

The poet who penned the words, “Life is grim, but not necessarily serious” was dying of leukemia. His condi-tion was not only serious, it was terminal. The cancer treatments ravaged his body. He moved back and forth between looking death in the face and trembling, at times laughing at his condition and at times wonder-ing, “How Could I Not Be Among You?” which was the title of his poem.

Has anyone ever told you, “Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill.” or “Get a Life!”? The message is clear. Don’t take it all so seriously. Don’t take yourself so seriously!

If someone has said that to you, you might want to consider how much of your seriousness was really an intensity driven by fear or pain. We snap at others who try to lighten the mood with humor. We criticize them for being “disrespectful.” Really, might we be saying, “Don’t you see my pain, fear or even my ter-ror?”

Perhaps the problem is that we aren’t taking our own pain or fear seriously. The pain may be telling us how much we need to reach out to others, but the sting of it is so strong we believe that we dare not feel it, lest it overwhelm us. So we don’t reach out.

But what if it won’t overwhelm us? What if we are un-necessarily scaring ourselves? What if God was seri-ous about being with us in our hour of darkness? Could it be that we could afford to lighten up, and reach out for comfort because things were grim? Perhaps life is not necessarily serious after all. Maybe, just maybe, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden,” was a serious invitation after all. Lutheran Counseling Network

Bethel Lutheran Church 17418 8th Ave NE Shoreline, WA 98155

Phone: 206.362.4334

Pastor

Chris Ode

Secretary

Judy Goulet

Bookkeeper

Kathy Carrow

Security

Bruce Lemmon

Organist

Karin Kajita

Office Hours

Tuesday-Friday

8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Worship Schedule

9:30 AM

Sunday School

9:45 AM Sunday

Bible Study

Wednesday 1:00 PM

Midday Meditation

Adult Education

Sunday

8:15 AM & 11 AM

Communion

Every Sunday

EMAIL: bethel@bethellutheranchurch.org

Special dates in February

African-American History Month

• Boy Scout Sunday 2

• Valentine’s Day 14

• Presidents Day 17

Too often we underestimate the

power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act

of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life

around. —Leo Buscaglia

WEB: bethellutheranchurch.org FACEBOOK: facebook.com/bethelshoreline

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children. Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, dis-interested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not get-ting his student loans for next semester. Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, beg-ging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares. Help us to remember that the old couple walking an-noyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together. Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.