October 11, 2018
Dear Bethesda Friends,
 
Welcome back to all of our returning seasonal members, and a special welcome back to Fr. James and his family who are safely back state side. We look forward to welcoming him on his first Sunday, October 21.

Bethesda is off to a fantastic start this season with a full calendar of exciting programs underway. There is way too much to summarize in this column and I encourage everyone to read through the fall catalog for a full summary. Just go to bbts.org , select "Resources" and then "Publications," and the catalog is at the top of the list or click here .
 
We have been blessed to welcome many newcomers to the season's first "Bethesda at its Best" series which just finished last night as one of the Middle Way offerings. Next week the eight week Enquirer's Class begins, and it is a wonderful opportunity for those who wish to become candidates for the sacrament of confirmation, as well as for those who just wish to develop their faith and discover what makes our tradition unique. The course utilizes Scott Gunn and Melody Shobe's new text Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs and Practices,  which is available in The Shoppe. Members of the class are invited to the Bethesda Confirmation Retreat at the Duncan Center on November 2 and 3.  
 
The Vestry reconvened on Sept. 26 and took up discussion of many ongoing projects:
 
Audit : As discussed in my last column, the annual audit process has proven to be more challenging than expected due to the transition in 2017 to a new accounting service.  The 2017 audit is nearing completion and is expected to be presented to the Vestry at the October 24 meeting. Many thanks to Audit Chair, Charles McGill, Fred Staley and their teams for their diligence throughout the process.
 
Buildings and Grounds : Junior Warden, Connie Purcell, updated the Vestry on the progress made over the summer on various major projects:
  • The chiller feed replacement and associated landscape and hardscape repairs are completed.
  • New sound control panels have been installed to replace the obsolete system.  
  • Rambusch, who designed and installed the current lighting system in the church decades ago, is preparing an updated lighting design to be implemented in two phases: Phase I, lighting in the front of the church from the first two pews going east, which will include wiring and infrastructure; and Phase II, the remainder of the church. Funding needs to be secured for this major capital project and we hope to proceed with Phase I installation in summer of 2019.
  • An update of the organ control system is also under consideration. The current control system is particularly susceptible to damage resulting from lightning strikes, and replacement control components are no longer available. New technology, possibly involving fiber optics, is required.  This project also is a capital project in need of funding.  

Connie and her committee are also engaged on preparing a comprehensive five-year major maintenance and preservation plan for our precious buildings and grounds which will inform the development and budgeting processes going forward.  
 
Evangelism:  As Chair of the Evangelism Committee, I updated the Vestry on key activities so far. You may have noticed the "Collect for Welcome" said on Sundays which not only welcomes newcomers but helps us all remember our individual roles in recognizing the face of the Beloved in each child of God.
 
The Ambassador ministry has been expanded to increase the emphasis on welcoming newcomers as they exit service: greeting them personally, inviting them to the hospitality offering, introducing them to other parishioners, and giving them a welcome gift (lovely petite flower arrangements provided by the Flower Guild). The Ambassador also follows up with a phone call within a day or two to thank the newcomer for visiting, answer any questions, and encourage him or her to return to Bethesda for worship and upcoming events. Newcomers have responded very positively to the welcome gift and personal attention.
 
Another important Evangelism initiative is the "Evangelism 101" workshop led by Canon Stephanie Spellers and members of Bishop Curry's Evangelism Team at Bethesda on Saturday, Dec. 15. This promises to be an eye-opening and inspiring event and I encourage you all to register on bbts.org and attend.  
 
Priorities:  The Vestry continued its discussion of how to develop and use strategic priorities to inform our decisions, and we will resume it with Fr. James when he attends the October meeting.  
 
Finally,  I have spent a lot of time reflecting on recent situations in the public arena, around the Bethesda community, and in the Vestry itself which could have benefited from a little more civility and generosity of spirit. By this I mean, simply granting each other the benefit of the doubt and the assumption of good intentions.  This makes the five-part series on Civil Discourse, developed by the national Episcopal Church, incredibly timely, relevant and important. It will be offered at the Sunday Adult Forums on Oct. 21, Nov. 18 and 25, and Dec. 2 and 9. Please participate and explore how to be part of the solution to this modern problem.  
 
I am yours in Christ,
Beth Cole
Senior Warden
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2018
8:00, 9:00, & 11:00 a.m.
Preacher: Greg Knight

8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
8:15 a.m. Fellowship Breakfast, Parish Hall West
*9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
9:50 a.m. Adult Forum, Parish Hall East
10:00 a.m. Fellowship Finger Food, Parish Hall West
10:00 a.m. 3 & 4 Year Old Sunday School, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. K - 2nd Grade Sunday School, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. 3rd - 5th Grade Sunday School, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. 6th & 7th Grade Pre- Confirmation Class, Library
10:00 a.m. 8th Grade Confirmation Group, ECW Room
9:50 a.m. 9th - 12th Grade Pilgrimage Group, Youth Room
*#11:00 a.m. Morning Prayer & Holy Eucharist

Fellowship Breakfast | 8:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. | Parish Hall West
We will have a full hot meal cooked on site, with a rotating menu, for $5 per person. After 10:00 a.m., a simpler fare, fellowship finger foods, will be provided until 1:00 p.m. with no cost to our parishioners.

This week's menu: scrambled eggs, hash brown medley, bacon, sausage patties, and biscuits.

Adult Forum : Fall Enneagram Fair | Sunday, October 14 | 9:50 a.m. | Parish Hall East
Are you curious about the Enneagram? Want to discover your Enneagram type? This morning Paul Van der Grift will facilitate an informal, light-hearted gathering to help answer your questions and find others who might perceive and experience the world the way you do. Nine “personality stations” will be set up around the Parish Hall, each attended by a facilitator who will be able to answer your questions. This forum will prepare you for BBTS’s upcoming Enneagram Retreat, next Saturday, October 20th.

Church Tour | Sunday, October 14 | 12:15 p.m. | Chancel
The Church Tour begins in the Chancel (front of the church), immediately following the 11:00 a.m. service.

 
PARKING: Persons attending Sunday services will be allowed to park on ALL of Barton Avenue and the south side of Pendleton Avenue without receiving a ticket until 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

* nursery care for infants through age 2 is available from 7:45 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

# service will be live-streamed  Click here

Click here  to view the service leaflet for this Sunday.

Click here  to view this week's Bethesda Happenings.
Why should I be confirmed?

“Why should I be confirmed?” It’s a question I get often, and my ready answer is, “Because you are committed to Christ!” I answer that emphatically because it’s true: for an Episcopalian, confirmation is the sacramental reaffirmation of the commitment of one’s Christian discipleship made at one’s baptism. Since most of us, but not all of us, were baptized as infants or as small children, confirmation is that moment when we acknowledge, through one of the seven sacraments of the church, the promises made on our behalf earlier in our lives. It’s serious business and the outward and visible sign of Jesus working in the heart of a believer. 

If you’ve never been confirmed in the Episcopal Church, you should be, and I wholeheartedly invite you into the next eight weeks of study and to stand for confirmation when Bishop Eaton joins us in early December. Using Scott Gunn and Melody Shobe’s new book Walk in Love; Episcopal Beliefs and Practices , we will ask questions of our faith and explore the particular beliefs and practices of the American Episcopal tradition. We design the course as chance to dive deeply into our faith, and the forum of an intimate group of fellow pilgrims is a rare and welcome opportunity in a harried world. 

While specifically designed for those desiring confirmation, the course is open to all and is a great way to reacquaint any good Episcopalian with our story and our theology. 

So join us, seekers, as we Walk in Love this fall!

Fr. Burl+
Associate For Christian Education, Pastoral Care, And Outreach
Saturday, October 13, 2018
PALM BEACH PAR 3
2345 S Ocean Blvd. Palm Beach

Time:
7:30 a.m. Check-In Begins
8:30 a.m. Shotgun Start
11:30 a.m. Lunch, Awards & Silent Auction

For more information contact:
Cristina Hungerford
(561) 628-9458 
Trivia Night
Friday, October 19 | 7:00 p.m. | Parish Hall

The Bethesda Youth Pilgrimage Group will be hosting a Trivia Night fundraiser. Get a team of eight people together or come on your own and we’ll pair you up with a team. It’s going to be a night of fun trivia, silent auctions, and more. All profits from the event will go to help the Bethesda Youth Pilgrimage Group with costs for their summer trip.
For more information about Trivia Night, contact Greg Knight at
(561) 655-4555 x114 or
e-mail knight@bbts.org .
Enneagram Retreat
Saturday, October 20th | 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Parish Hall

This half-day workshop will be facilitated by Fr. Burl Salmon and Certified Enneagram teachers Paul Van der Grift, Paige Mead, and Sean Melton. The purpose of this retreat is to provide a time and space to turn down the noise of our habitual selves in order to listen to, and begin to trust, the deeper, more authentic intelligence resonating inside each of us. Through the use of Enneagram-based exercises, we will explore the challenges that each of us face, how we can support each other, and what part of the Body of Christ we are called to be. There will be time for solitude and reflection as well as time for discussion and communion.

Lunch will be provided.
A donation of $10 is requested.

Registration is required.

For more information or to register for this event please visit:
https://www.bbts.org/learn/retreats/ or call Ayana at (561) 655-4554
Port Ministry: Save Our Samples Sunday

We need your help in collecting samples of soap, shampoo, lotion, as well as toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, razors, men's white crew socks, sweaters, blankets magazines and playing cards.

Please drop off your donations in the Narthex or the front office
by Sunday, October 28.

On Sunday, November 4, we will assemble 300 Christmas bags to be given to mariners who will be at sea on Christmas Day as part of our Port Ministry project. Participants of all ages are invited. This is a great activity for the whole parish family to pitch in and help make someone's Christmas a little brighter.
The All Saints Necrology
A list of parishioners and friends of Bethesda who have died since our last All Saints’ celebration—will be read at all services. If you know of someone who has died since November 1, 2017 and should be remembered, please call April Lawrence at (561) 655-4555 x112, or e-mail her at april@bbts.org with the full name (first, middle, and last). For inclusion in the service leaflets, we need this information by 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 29.
The Way of Love...
Evangelism 101
Saturday, December 15, 2018
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Bethesda hosts The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's very own Canon for Evangelism
and Reconciliation.

Join us as we seek, name, and celebrate Jesus' loving presence in the stories of all people and learn how to articulate the power of faith in our own lives tell our own stories. Lunch will be provided. Donations are accepted.

To find out more and to register for this event,  click here .
Invitation for Altar Flowers 

We invite you to make a contribution in memory of (deceased), in honor of (living), or in thanksgiving for (celebration) your loved ones. Your contribution provides for flowers, plants, and altar adornments necessary for worship services throughout the year. Suggested contribution is $100 per name to be printed in the service leaflet for a desired Sunday.

In order for names to be printed in the Sunday service leaflet, they must be received two weeks prior to the desired Sunday-- click here.
Caregivers' Support Group
Tuesday, October 23 | 5:30 p.m. | Library

Elayne Forgie, Founder, President, and CEO of Alzheimer's Care Resource Center, Inc. will facilitate this group. Whether your caregiving is a result of illness, age, disability, death, divorce, or anything else, if you are now or have past experience caring for a friend or loved one, this may be the place for you to find information and support. RSVP to (561) 588-4545.
- Wednesday, October 17 -
6:00 to 6:30 p.m. (serving starts at 5:45 p.m.) Community Supper | Parish Hall
The cost is $10 for adults; $5 for children under 12; $25 family max (payable at the door).
This week's menu: chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potato casserole and veggies.

Kindly RSVP  here  or call Ayana at (561) 655-4554.

*In order to properly plan and prepare the supper, we need your reservations by noon on Monday.

FEATURED CLASSES
6:30 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. | Book Study | Guild Room 
Over the course of five weeks, join this discussion of Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks’s best-selling novel People of the Book that follows a rare, sacred manuscript through centuries of exile and war. If you are able, please read for tonight chapters "Hanna: Sarajevo"; pp 317 - 372; Final discussion.

6:30 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. | Walk in Love; an Enquirers Class | Library
If you’ve ever wondered about confirmation, that mysterious sacrament offered by the bishop when he comes twice a year, and what it gets you, now is the time to find out! This eight-week study of the Episcopal Church is your opportunity to develop your faith and discover what makes our tradition unique.

RECURRING CLASSES
6:30 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. | Bethesda Youth Group | Youth Room
The Bethesda Youth Group is open to all youth in 6th through 12th grade. Each week we offer fun activities and lively discussions. Youth members also participate in monthly special events including our annual lock-in, service day, and camping trip to Peanut Island.

6:30 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. | Bible Study | ECW Room
The Path: A Journey Through the Bible … praised by biblical scholars, The Path is the story of the Bible, excerpted from the New Revised Standard Version so that it is clear and easy to read. Follow the path of God’s love all the way from the beginning to the end, from Adam’s creation to John’s revelation. This book stands alone as a fantastic resource for engaging and learning more about the Bible. To discover what “trails” through God’s grace you want to spend more time on and get to know as your own special way to the heart of God’s Love.

6:30 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. | Little Way | Sunday School Hall
For all K - 5th grade kids with a curiosity for what we do at Bethesda and why. Crafts, cooking, learning games, and playful fellowship will help your little ones learn about Bethesda's traditions and have a little fun along the way.

6:30 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. | Theology in Film - Bethesda Film Club | Choir Room
This intergenerational group will explore how the religious life is revealed through popular art. This week we look at 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). If you are able, please watch the movie on your own and come ready to discuss.

6:30 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. | Yoga | Parish Hall West
Physical therapist and yoga therapist, Emily Large, invites all adults for an evening of holistic worship through Christian yoga practice. Physical postures, relaxation, breath techniques, and mental focus create a holistic approach for worship as we will reflect on the themes associated with the liturgical calendar. A donation of $10 per class is requested (payable at the door).

CLOSING PRAYER
7:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. | Compline | Church
An ancient, brief, and contemplative liturgy of the Christian tradition, compline offers an opportunity to give God thanks for the day behind us and pray for rest and safety in the night ahead. A fitting end to the day, compline offers a peaceful and meditative sacred time in the middle of our often frenetic weeks, as well as a beautiful conclusion to our Wednesday evenings together.
We pray for...   
Angela, Anita, Ann, Anna, Arie, Barbara, Brecken, Brenda, Brittany, Charles, Chris, Christian, David, Donna, Dorothy, Edna, Ellen, Evan, Gail, Holly, Jack, Joey, John, Joy, Karen, Kelley, Leah, Lillyana, Linda, Lynn, Maldonado Family, Marcia, Mary, Mary Ann, Matthew, Melanie, Melissa, Michael, Michele, Mylai, Nancy, Nikki, Pat, Peggy, Rahn Family, Reysean, Ricky, Robbie, Robert, Rosie, Sally, Sebastian, Sharon, Shawn, Stephen, Sylvia, Taryn, Thomas, Tom, Vincent, Ward, and those serving our country ...Alex, Benjamin, Christian, Clara, Eric, Harold, Herbert, John, Lorne, Luster, Michael, Sean, and Tommy.
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.

The reading discusses the prophetic mission of Amos to Northern Israel around 750 BCE, and the Letter to the Hebrews discussion of Christ as a high priest.  

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (called Judea with two tribes). Each of the Kingdoms had their own king.

The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous and a time of great inequality between rich and poor. 

Amos was a cattle herder and cared for fig trees in Judea, but he was called by YHWH to go north to prophesy (speak for the LORD) against Israel from about 760 to 750 BCE. Amos is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). He was the first (chronologically) of the prophets whose words left an indelible stamp on later thought about God.

In today’s reading, Amos warned Israel (the “house of Joseph”) and the city of Bethel (where there was a shrine) of coming destruction if they did not change their ways. (Israel was later conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE.) Amos warned that injustice would lead to “wormwood” – the leaves of which are very bitter.

In ancient Israel, legal proceedings were held at the city’s gates, and Amos condemned the corruption of the legal system by the rich and the unjust treatment of the poor at the gate. He urged the leaders to “establish justice at the gate” (v.15) so that YHWH would be gracious to Israel, the “remnant of Joseph.”  

Hebrews 4:12-16

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written sometime after Paul’s death in 62 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter was addressed to Jesus Followers who had suffered persecution and it introduced a number of important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son. 

In today’s reading, the author interpreted the life, death and heavenly role of Jesus through the category of the “high priest’ who perfects the ancient sacrificial system of Judaism (which ended when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE). 

The letter emphasized that Jesus (as high priest) is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he (as a human) had been tested as we are.  The presentation of Jesus as high priest in the Letter to the Hebrews is unique in the Christian Scriptures and reflects the continuing process in early Christianity of developing images to describe who and what Jesus of Nazareth was (and is).