| |
Staffing Update
We will welcome some new faces in the office in the coming weeks after thorough planning and searching. First, Joann Labarca will join us as Financial Assistant this coming week. She will be responsible for compiling all the necessary paperwork for payments and submitting it to our new accounting firm: GuideServe. She will also oversee the weekly process of counting and depositing receipts. Her regular workdays will be Monday and Tuesday, and we look forward to welcoming her.
Her new position coincides with our decision to hire a professional accounting firm to manage our finances. GuideServe specializes in providing top-flight accounting services to non-profit organizations for a very reasonable cost. While our financial reporting and compliance are excellent, and we receive and unqualified audit report every year, we expect GuideServe's expertise and robust systems to make our ability to track and report our financial status and to ensure proper compliance even better and more efficient.
Second, we are pleased to welcome Felicia Katz who will become our new Outreach and Development Coordinator. She has a background in fundraising and will be able to share that experience with us and provide strong support for our new Associate. Her regular workdays will be Monday through Friday until 2:00 p.m. at the outset, though we expect her schedule to adjust over the coming months as she works with the new Associate.
April Lawrence, then, will transition to a new role as Fellowship and Membership Coordinator in which she will assist Fred Staley and Hal Pysher while also providing support for our Fellowship and Hospitality Committee and that group's programs and ministries. She will also continue to manage our database and to be the person to contact with address changes and similar needs.
Finally, we are in the final stages of our search for a new Associate for Outreach and Development. We have a pool of strong candidates and have seen great interest in this position. We have invited three finalists to come visit Palm Beach over the last two weeks, and we expect to announce our new Associate soon.
Please keep all those involved in these search processes in your prayers, especially our new staff members. Also, when you are around during the week, take a moment to introduce yourself and welcome them to our Bethesda family.
|
*8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
8:45 a.m. Coffee Hour, Parish Hall
9:00 a.m. Summer Choir, Choir Room
*#10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer and Holy Eucharist
11:15 a.m.
Coffee Hour, Parish Hall
PARKING: Persons attending Sunday services will be allowed to park on ALL of Barton Avenue and Pendleton Avenue
without receiving a ticket
until 12:30 p.m.
* nursery care for infants through age 3 is
available from 7:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
# service will be live-streamed
here
Click here to view the service leaflet for this Sunday.
Click here to view this week's Bethesda Happenings.
|
Summertime Luncheon
Thursday, July 20 | 12:00 p.m. | Parish Hall
Our first Summertime Luncheon will be a special homecoming at Bethesda--turning the Parish Hall into our own fancy restaurant. We will have a delicious 3-course meal presented in an elegant, welcoming environment. For the day, it will be one of the best restaurants in Palm Beach! The cost is $25, payable at the door. You may sign up by calling Ayana at (561) 655-4554.
|
This Sunday's Readings in Context
Parishioner Tom O'Brien, a Canon and Examining Chaplain for Scripture of this diocese, writes brief background descriptions of the Sunday readings. We thank Tom for sharing his learning and love of Scripture with us in this way.
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Today's reading is the conclusion of the story of how Abraham's servant - not named in Chapter 24, but thought to be Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2) - obtained a wife for Isaac by going back to Haran, the land from which Abraham came.
Because of the emphasis on Isaac's not taking a wife from the Canaanites (v.37) and the references to God as YHWH ("LORD" in the NRSV), the story is attributed to the Deuteronomic writers (650 to 550 BCE).
Abraham's servant did what everyone looking for a wife does - he went to a well where women draw water. (Jacob and Moses also met their wives this way.) He encountered Rebekah, who was Isaac's first cousin, once removed. (Her father, Bethuel, was Isaac's first cousin.) Rebekah answered Eliezer's questions satisfactorily (v.46) and he brought her to Isaac to be his wife (v.67).
Zechariah 9:9-12
The Book of Zechariah is the longest and most obscure of the "Minor Prophets" (so called because their books are much shorter than the three "Major Prophets" - Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It has 14 chapters, and Chapters 9 to 14 are referred to as "An Oracle" - the superscription at the beginning of Chapter 9.
Today's reading is one of the many (sometimes contradictory) descriptions of the anticipated Messiah found in the Hebrew Bible. The image here is a king who brings peace and rides on a donkey rather than on a war-horse. The king's dominion is not only over Israel, but is from sea to sea, from "the River" (the Euphrates in northern Syria) to the ends of the earth (v.10).
The Hebrew Bible contains many parallelisms, and the description of the king "on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (v.9) is intended to describe one animal. The Gospel of Matthew (unlike Mark and Luke) treats the phrase as describing two animals (Matt.21.5).
Romans 7:15-25a
Paul's letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) - about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.
Today's reading is part of Paul's extended discussion of the law, sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. As a First Century Jew, Paul saw the Jewish Law as "spiritual" (v.14). But as a Jesus Follower, he recognized that mere obedience to the Law would not lead to wholeness/salvation. Without the Spirit, even outward obedience to the Law could be a manifestation of "the flesh" (our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest) that is grounded in sin (our personal egoism). Paul says it is through the Spirit that we can be rescued from "this body of death" (v.24).
|
|
141 South County Road · Palm Beach, FL 33480
|
|
Bethesda's Mission is to experience the clear and strong presence of God and to understand and spread Christ's teachings through collective worship, learning, and service.
|
|
|
Seafarers Sunday
on July 9!
We encourage you to stop by the Parish Hall following the 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. services this Sunday and learn more about our Port Ministry. We will have additional food, informative displays, and Deacon Clay will be available for questions. We hope to see you there!
|
Summer Choir
There's no need to be a professional singer; all you need is a pleasant voice and some basic music-reading ability. Rehearsals begin in the Choir Room
promptly at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings as the choir prepares music for the 10:00 a.m. service. This choir continues through the second Sunday of September. Please join us when you can!
|
Our office hours will be
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday through Thursday and
9:00 a.m. to noon on Fridays
(church and grounds will remain open until 5:00 p.m.).
|
Save Your Samples
As you travel, remember to save the small soaps, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc. found in your hotel room. Every year Bethesda's Port Ministry arranges a 200+ gift bags for sailors who are at sea on Christmas Day. We will be collecting your items in fall.
|
We pray for...
Alex, Andy, Angela, Annie, Betty, Bill, Bob, Caroline, Chris, Cindy, Claudia, Debbie, Devon, Don, Ellen, Eric, Evan, Fritz, Geraldine, Greg, Grier, Holly, Jack, Jane, Jerry, John, Justin, Kehs Family, Kellie, Kimberly, Laniyah, Leigh, Lesley, Linda, Marcia, Mariette, Mary, Mat, Matthew, Mitchell, Monique, Pat, Patricia, Patti, Paulette, Peggy, Pineiro Family, Ralph, Rebecca, Renée, Reynolds Family, Richard, Ricky, Robert, Saliyah, Sandra, Sharon, Skylar, Stephen, Stuart, Sylvia, Tamara, Taryn, Thomas, Trish, Ward, William,
and those serving our country...
Benjamin, Clara, Erik, Harold, Herbert, John, Michael, Sean, and Tommy.
|
|
|
