The Middle Way picks up again on Wednesday evening, September 20, and we've been looking forward all summer to gathering again for dinner and fellowship, for thought-provoking conversations and enriching classes, and for the beauty and peace of compline. As is our custom, dinner begins the evening at 5:45 p.m. in the Parish Hall West, followed by classes from 6:30 to 7:40 p.m., and the evening culminates with compline at 7:45 p.m., so that we're headed back home at 8:00 p.m. every night. The catered dinner is $10/person, $5/children (with a family max of $25), and we post the menu every Thursday in the email blast with a request to RSVP so we know for how many to plan. With four concurrent class options, you're bound to find one that fits you, and we invite you to consider which of these might fit that bill as we begin the program year on Wednesday.

 

Last spring, we began a conversation at Bethesda about the opioid crisis in Palm Beach County and what Bethesda's response to the crisis might be. It became clear that one of the direst needs was to equip ourselves, especially parents of school-age children, with knowledge and language that allows us to be frank in our conversations and aware of the world around us--secrecy only enables. To that end, we will devote a great deal of the fall to an ongoing conversation about substance abuse, specifically substance abuse in our area, beginning with an update on the opioid epidemic with Turner Benoit of the Hanley Foundation on the 20th, followed by a conversation with Jan Cairnes, Executive Director of the Hanley Foundation, on the 27th that will give us tools to have these conversations with the young people in our lives. Following these two introductory weeks, Martha Putnam, Program Coordinator of the Hanley Foundation, will lead the six-week Active Parenting curriculum for parents of middle and high school students. We are grateful for a grant from the Hanley Foundation to provide this excellent curriculum, and I encourage and invite all parents of these children (and younger, because our littles ones grow), to join us for this eight-week stretch of sacred time devoted to parenting in a constantly changing world. Please see the Bethesda Catalog HERE for more detailed descriptions of these initial two weeks and the subsequent Active Parenting course. We are blessed by the involvement and support of the Hanley Foundation this fall, and I encourage you to join us for this unique opportunity. Invite other parents you know to join us as well.

 

Concurrently, for the first four weeks of fall, we will also offer Bethesda at Its Best, a behind-the-scenes look at all the different components that make Bethesda what it is. Intended to familiarize newcomers to the parish, it's open to one and all, and we hope you'll join us if you're curious about how all the things work here in this wonderful corner of God's kingdom.

 

In addition to the featured classes each week, Jessica Hitchcock will offer a Liturgy Group in which children K through 5th grade will learn more about why we do what we do as Episcopalians, with special emphasis on our redesigned 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning service and the children's involvement in that service.

 

And finally, Emily Large, physical therapist and certified yoga instructor, will offer 75 minutes of holistic worship through Christian yoga practice. Physical postures, relaxation, breath techniques and mental focus create a holistic approach for worship as participants reflect on the themes associated with the liturgical calendar. If you are able, we request a $10 donation per class. 

The evening ends with compline in the candle-lit choir, an ancient and contemplative service of prayers and psalms in which we thank God for the day that is past and ask for protection through the night to come.  It is a beautiful way to hush the din of our active days and bring the soul into quiet communion with the Divine in the holiness of sacred space. 

So yes folks, all these wonderful activities happen as a part of The Middle Way on a Wednesday night at Bethesda, and we invite you to join the fun. RSVP for dinner and head our way on the 20th; we can't wait to see you!