Advent Longing / Pastor Dan Baumgartner
I don’t know how many thousands of people were in the British Museum the day we visited...I heard the buzz of people speaking a dozen different languages and then…it all stopped. Movements around me crept to slow motion speed. There it was, right in front of me. The Tree of Life... more

Middle School Retreat:
Earning the right to listen
/ Scott Gronholz, Director of Youth Ministries
God used a snow storm, a giant log, a few leaders’ testimonies, and some intimate conversations between leaders and students about life and faith to connect us with God’s story... more

Coping with Loss During the Holidays
/ Linda Cutshall, Director of Congregational Care
The holidays are coming. For some these are the toughest days of grief. If you’ve been tempted to pull the covers over your head until you can flip the calendar to January 2, keep reading... more

If you know someone who is grieving...

A Testimony of Faith / John Schwinn
John was baptized Sun, Nov 13, after sharing this testimony with the Bethany congregation:

I’ve known Jesus since I was a little guy, but sometimes I’ve strayed away. In 2003, my friend died from a heart attack and I prayed for him and started going to church regularly. My life felt empty with few friends, no job and no girlfriend. Then I lost two more friends in 2004 and lost the support of good friends.

Now I read my Bible every day and attend worship services here at Bethany. I have a job now, but still suffer from my lost friends. I asked the Lord to give my friends peace and also asked for forgiveness in my own life. I hope I can know Jesus better and walk with him and ask for his knowledge of knowing the right way to do things. I pray my mental illness will someday leave me alone with the help of Jesus in my heart.

Sometimes it is hard for me to talk to people or trust people.
I want to commit my life to the Lord and be saved and know his righteousness. Pastor Dan asked me what I thought it meant to be a Christian, and I said four things:

• Believing in Jesus Christ our Savior.
• Following his commandments.
• Respecting the Bible and people.
• Trying to do good.

A Long Slow Christmas / Dan Baumgartner
Abridged and reprinted from the Bethany Briefs, Dec 2004

The curse of the land of Narnia, as C.S. Lewis describes it in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is that the evil witch had caused it to be:

“Always winter, and never Christmas.”

Even though retail businesses might drool over the idea of a perpetual Christmas shopping season, clearly the United States does not suffer from such a curse. Christmas is coming. Fast.

Inside and outside of the church, life is in high gear, pointing towards Dec 25. Whether it’s checking off the kids’ daily Advent calendar, lighting candles each week in worship, rushing to get Christmas cards off or being imperceptibly dragged into the shopping frenzy, all roads lead to Dec 25.

In an earlier day of the church, Christmas was a season rather than one day. Given the importance of the Incarnation, this seems like a far better idea. Centuries ago, the season of Christmas lasted for 12 days after Christmas Day, ending with the day of Epiphany which highlighted Jesus’ unveiling to the Gentile world as represented by the visit of the wise men. Those 12 days were set aside as the Christmas season.

I love the idea that Christmas might be celebrated over something more than one 24-hour period. This year, I invite you to linger over Christmas. If it helps you, keep the lights, the nativity scene and the Advent wreath out. Have people over. Play the carols. Have your family devotions. In worship, we’ll stay in the Christmas stories and continue to sing carols in early January. Ponder and pray over this:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

It’s worth spending more than a day on.

Meet the Staff: Betty Freeland, Intern / Gail Beran Neils
It’s not often that one meets a student at Fuller Seminary who is working for a Masters of Divinity and introduces herself as a part-time baker, but that is exactly how I first met Betty. When I told her that I work at Bethany, she said, “That’s where I go to church.”

Not long after, Betty came on staff as an intern to work in the area of Group Life/Adult Education, focusing on helping lead the Sunday Night Bible study, getting people connected in small groups, and assisting with various projects with the local outreach team.

Betty’s own interest in ministry began towards the end of her high school years, when she became a Christian. She had been searching for meaning and answers, and had tried several religious identities before being introduced to God by a friend. Over the next few years, she continued to see God meet her in various ways as she learned what it meant to commit a life of faith in Christ. Her journey led her to SPU, where she majored in theology with a minor in political science.

It was during this time that she began attending Bethany, which she chose because she found that God met her here and she appreciated the mixture of silence, hymns, lively praise songs, and preaching.

Betty hopes to get a doctorate and become a theology professor. She sees teaching as a ministry and wants to help students learn about God and develop who they are. Her internship at Bethany is giving her an opportunity to see this in practice.

Children & Family Library Narnia Resources
In anticipation of the upcoming movie the Children & Family Library (upstairs by the back stairway) has three new Narnia resources:

• A book titled Roar is packed with activities, maps, games, trivia and discussion guides for families.
• A new CD with songs by contemporary Christian artists inspired by The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
• A set of “books on CD”—all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia.

Check them out upstairs!

On the Calendar
see interactive calendar for complete listing

Christmas for Children
Family Christmas Eve Worship
5 pm Sat, Dec 24
This service will be led by 5th graders, Pastor Dan Baumgartner, and Dianne Ross. Infant and toddler care is provided for those who sign up on the bulletin board outside of the toddler room by Tues, Dec 20. Childcare is not provided for the 8 pm or 11 pm services.

Christmas Day
10 am Sun, Dec 25
Infant and toddler care will be provided for children whose parents reserve a spot by Tues, Dec 20. Children ages 2 and 3 will begin in the Sanctuary with their parents, then go to a combined class in the Cherub Room following the baptisms. Children ages 4 and above will worship with their families the whole service.

New Years’ Day
Sun, Jan 1
Infant/toddler room care will be provided. Children ages 2 - 5th grade start with parents, then leave to the Fellowship Hall after Children’s Time for an “Apostles Creed Celebration.” (Parents of 2-5 year olds should accompany children to the Fellowship Hall to help them find their quilt and leaders, before returning to worship.) We’ll have puppets, singing and crafts on the Apostles Creed. Following worship, parents will pick up their 2- and 3-year-olds in the Cherub Room; 4- and 5-year-olds and kindergartners in room 203; and 1st- 5th graders in the Fellowship Hall.

Volunteers are needed to serve in the nurseries for the 5 pm Christmas Eve service, 10 am Christmas Day service, and at 9 am and 10:45 am on New Year’s Day. Contact Sara McMahon.

News & Notes
Interested in Joining a Small Group?
Send an email with your contact info to the Group Life Team at small groups@bethanypc.org, and someone from the team will contact you about group availability and ask you more about what you are hoping for. The team will also begin praying for you, that God will guide you to a small community here at Bethany where you can give and receive.

Welcome, Wee Ones
12:15 pm Sun, Dec 11, Parlor
Join me in welcoming, with great joy, some new “wee ones” to our Bethany family. Each quarter, we will host a “Welcome, Wee Ones” celebration in the Parlor to celebrate the adoption of a child. This is a time for everyone at Bethany to meet, greet and congratulate the family on their sweet little one. We especially encourage you to attend if you haven’t already met the family. This is a great way to extend hospitality within our Bethany family at large. —Michelle McFarland

Births

• Tyler Adams to foster parents Bob & Kelly Adams
• Simon James Vance to Brian Vance & Susan Gates Oct 23, 2005

Baptisms

• Elsie Joy McFarland
• Mia Helen Huebner

Session Notes / Steve Lympus
Session met Nov 8. Dave Andersen (elder for Nominating Committee) led us in a devotional based on the life of Barnabas, the encourager, as we know him from the Book of Acts.

Session worked on a draft of the 2006 operating budget, led by Brian Ives (elder for Administration). Session voted to direct any budget surplus at the end of 2005 to Bethany’s transitional housing fund (75 percent) and a Bethany facilities lighting/landscape project (25 percent). We continued discussion on Bethany’s policy of increasing the amount we budget for outreach each year.

Session discussed different options for the future of the 7 Howe house. Pastor Dan Baumgartner led us in a Scripture study based on Jesus saying “follow me” in Scripture. We discussed and prayed for one another in small groups.