Who Will WE Be In The Interim? / Laurie Nelson
"Who will be our Interim Pastor? We on the Transition Team are very aware of how important a questions this is. We look forward to the day when we can whole-heartedly recommend to Session a wonderful candidate for Bethany's Interim Pastor...

What's Our Timeline?
Bruce Devereaux
What a great time of thanksgiving and sadness on Sunday, October 10th for Dan and Anne as they leave Bethany. Now what? We enter a time of transition and with it a period of uncertainty. The Transition Team is reviewing interim candidates but when will we have a new senior pastor?...

Stewardship
Janette Plunkett
Last year in his November Briefs article Dan asked - What does it mean to be faithful to Jesus? To be a faithful friend, a faithful follower? He talked about following with the next thought, the next step, the next action, being consistent, steady and dependable often despite our circumstances, feelings or lack of immediate desired results...

Seismic Project Update
Seismic Upgrade Team
Background - we discovered that our building has significant design problems that make it quite likely to collapse in a major earthquake. The last one occurred 300 years ago and scientists from various disciplines indicate major northwest earthquakes have a 300 year pattern of reoccurence...

Meet Our New Interns
Bethany has welcomed the addition of three new interns: Anthony Bartholemew Lee Jones (Middle School Youth), Jordan Uomoto (High School Youth) and Sarah Butler (College). Click on their names to learn more about them.

We are also pleased to announce that Kurt Dyrhsen has accepted an expanded music leader position and will begin assisting with morning servies and other areas of music ministry in addition to his current work with the evening service.

Bethany is Going to Kenya
Summer 2001 will find a group from Bethany once again under African skies in a land of flame trees, zebras, deep red soil and our many friends in Kenya...

Winter Renewal Weekend
Mark Cutshall
Imagine being freed from judgmental thoughts and the need to manage people through forceful speech and clever comebacks. Imagine connecting with God to speak the truth in genuine, caring love by letting go of anger and becoming more like Jesus...

Men Navigating Midlife
Mark Cutshall
Three well-attended drop-in gatherings in September have lit the spark for the formal start of Men Navigating Midlife. These six consecutive gatherings are open to all men in their 40s, 50s and 60s. The group, which began on Oct 17, continues every Sunday morning through Nov 28 at 10:45 am in the Parlor.

Join in, too, at the Men’s Retreat, Nov 5-7 at Camp Casey on Whidbey Island. If you can’t make the retreat, join us in the Parlor at 10:45 am on Nov 7.

Journey with others who share your faith, questions, challenges and hopes. You’ll discover honest conversations, shared stories, Scripture and prayer in a personable, non-threatening setting.
Contact Mark Plunkett, Tosh Hayashi or Mark Cutshall to connect and learn more.

Session Notes

The annual session retreat was held on October 15 & 16. It was a very rich time of fellowship, prayer and reflection, group discussion and worship. Many thanks go to the Griegers, Laras and Leonards for hosting or providing meals.

Topics of discussion included grief and hope, Bethany’s history, serving communion and praying with the congregation, our nominating process, Dynamis, ensemble leadership, the seismic retrofit project, and the transition team progress. We covered a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time.

I left the retreat with a sense of peace and excitement about this transitional phase. As we continue along Bethany’s timeline...into the future...with our focus on God we will have His power to sustain and protect us.

Children's Ministries

Orchard Adventure for the Family
For the last five years, Holly Royston has been our wonderful Children’s Ministry Assistant here at Bethany, working 15 hours a week and doing a variety of tasks. Her husband Matt is completing his Masters of Divinity at Fuller Seminary (way to go Matt & Holly!). He will be ordainable as a pastor in December, so they will be awaiting a call at that point. Although we are very sad to lose Holly, we are very excited for Matt, Holly, Kellyn, Andrew and Hannah Royston for this next chapter in their lives as Matt becomes a pastor in the Presbyterian Church. Please keep the Royston family in your prayers as they are in the seeking stage of waiting for and finding the call God has for them.

In order to make sure Holly has a few weeks to train her replacement, we will post the job on November 1 and take applications until November 10. Interviews for the top three candidates will be held on Monday, November 15. The new CMA will begin at just 3 hours a week beginning in December while being trained by Holly, and then will take over working the full 15 hours a week beginning January 1, 2011.

Some of the qualifications for the job include: enjoyment of and an ability to work with children, the ability to be a self-starter, strong organizational and communication skills, the ability to work well with adults, leadership skills, being a team player, having a deep walk with Jesus Christ, computer skills, and a pastoral heart for children and families. Some of the specific responsibilities include helping to plan, implement and clean up special events (such as the Advent celebration, Shrove Tuesday pancake supper and Easter celebration), to oversee Sunday mornings in Dianne’s absence (6x/year), to schedule infant baptisms and find childcare for baptism classes, to lead one of the 14 Children’s Ministry planning teams for Sunday morning classes, to be on the planning team for Vacation Bible School and Families in Service, and to oversee one area in those ministries.

For a job description and/or application, contact Dianne Ross (dianner@bethanypc.org).

Family Advent Celebration
This is the year we prepare for Advent as a church family by coming together to make Advent wreaths and/or “How the Church Tells Time” calendars for our homes. We also have a simple but fun pizza dinner together, and a short child-friendship Advent worship service in the Sanctuary. Bethany families with children of all ages are encouraged to attend this low-key, kid-friendly event. The cost is just $2 per person. This includes dinner and all the materials needed for the wreaths and calendars.

This year we will meet for our Celebration on Saturday, November 27, from 4:30- 6:00 pm. We’ll begin with the pizza dinner in the Fellowship Hall, then move to the Sanctuary for worship, ending back in the Fellowship Hall with craft making. Please sign up on the poster near the big staircase in the Children’s Ministry wing.

On the Calendar
see interactive calendar for complete listing

Wednesday Night Dinner
Wednesdays, 5:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall

Healing Prayer
1st Sunday of the month after the 10:45 am service on the Sanctuary balcony
3rd Sunday of the month after the 5 pm service on the Sanctuary balcony

Women's Bible Study
1st & 3rd Tuesdays, offered at 9:30 am & 7:00 pm in the Parlor
Studying 2 Corinthians. Childcare is available in the morning.

Congregational Potluck Event
Sun, November 7, 6:00-8:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall

Men Navigating Midlife
Sundays through November 28 at 12:15 pm in the Parlor

Men's Retreat
Friday-Sunday, November 5-7 at Camp Casey

In It Together Concert
Fri, November 12, 10:00 am in the Sanctuary

Family Advent Celebration
Sat, November 27, 4:30-6:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall

News & Notes

Baptisms

• Amadea Dyrhsen
• Brandon Wilhite
• Elsie Mills
• Max Wilhite
• James Montagner
• Isabella Russo
• Lauren Fitzpatrick
• Grant Greiner
• Rebecca Van Eaton