by Pastor Dan Baumgartner

The Bethany sanctuary was full on Sunday night, January 24th. Full of people, music, balloons, laughter, tears, numbers, skits and poignant moments. The evening was broken into two main components, but with plenty of overlap and surprises.

Worship dominated the first portion as we proclaimed God’s presence in a variety of ways. Testimonies from Jenny Cade, Paul Shelley, Jessy Elliott, Gerry Champagne and Cal Uomoto encouraged our entire community. Quiet moments of prayer reminded us of important people who have gone to be with the Lord. And the closing songs were made more boisterous by children bringing hundreds of balloons to bat around the room as we sang, laughed and danced together.

The second piece was technically the “meeting,” but who has ever heard of an annual meeting where an updated skit version of the Abraham and Isaac story had everyone in stitches at regular intervals? Thank you, Les and Brandon Hilliard - we will never read that Genesis story the same way! Special thanks and standing ovations were rightfully accorded to Abbie Berry for many years of ministry through the arts, and Dave Westburg for teaching our middle schoolers for sixteen years.

Treasurer Dan Wickline wrapped up the 2009 financial picture with thanks to God for the amazing year end in the black, and highlighted the 2010 budget. David Yuan and Greg Nelson updated the congregation on the status of the major retrofit project for our aging building. We sang “Happy Birthday” to mark the 122nd anniversary of Bethany as a church community. The evening culminated with an amazing fellowship meal from Chef Doug Rutherford and a large supporting cast. Boring, mandatory annual business meeting? Not at Bethany!