June 2023 Newsletter

Please join us for worship. Services will be both in person and live streamed. Contact Pastor Berg or Kristin Smith for the streaming information.
Visit our Website
FLC Activity Calendar
FLC Sunday Worship on YouTube!
Christian Education!

Graduation Recognition is June 11, followed by cake!

Bumper Sticker Theology

from Pastor Berg's Monthly Blog

A pastor friend of mine in the Midwest put together a Summer Lectionary and he called it Bumper Sticker Theology. It grabbed my imagination and so I stole it from him (with his permission). The reason I am excited about this opportunity is that it speaks directly to our human condition and our desire to break down the complex relationships we have and events that are around us into simpler terms. Often this is not as helpful as we hope.


When we comfort someone who is grieving, for example, we are overcome often with our own emotions. Maybe it is our own grief or our own feeling of inadequacy in the situation that drives us to say something or anything...

Continue to Pastor Berg's Blog

Council Corner for May 2023

The FLC Church Council meets on the third Tuesday of every month. During each meeting, minutes from the previous month’s meeting are reviewed and approved. They are then posted on the council’s bulletin board (in the hallway near the upstairs kitchen). In an effort to make the minutes more available to our members and keep the congregation up to date on the work of the council, our approved minutes will now be posted on the council’s web page as well. If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your council liaison or any member of the council.   


Yours in Christ because He lives,

Ho Brown

Council President

jepromets@comcast.net

Office Help Wanted (Occasionally!) There are occasions when an additional person is needed to help provide coverage in the church office. This doesn’t happen on a regular basis, but the Personnel Committee would like to have a pool of willing and available people who could be called on periodically to be that welcoming face in our church office when additional help is needed. Besides being the friendly face of First Lutheran, you would also answer the phone and forward calls. If you’d like to bring your laptop or cellphone to take care of personal business while “on duty,” that is perfectly fine. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in doing, please let Kristin Smith know. She will maintain the list of those willing to help in this way, and will contact you as needed. Thank you so much for considering this opportunity to serve.

Fellowship Opportunities

Wherland Suzuki Studio Spring Concert, Sunday, June 4th at 3 PM

Please join us for a short concert of classical music by violin and viola students of Sharon Wherland. Students will perform pieces by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi and Beethoven, among others. The concert will include a Beethoven string quartet and the Bach Double Violin Concerto and culminate with a rousing, harmonized performance of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. 

Widows Support Group

June 12, 10 am

(formerly known as Friends Supporting Friends)

We are not a therapy group, but we are a place for widows to find friendship, support, and fun.

We meet the 2nd Monday of the month at 10:00 am in the library. Please join us!

Call Paula Glandon for more info. 425-483-1783

Kitchen Clean Up & Happy Hour

Monday, June 12, 12noon-5pm

Drop in any time that afternoon as we laugh and chat our way through a deep clean of the main kitchen. If you are a member of a group that utilizes the downstairs kitchen on a regular basis, please join us! (If a designee from your group is unable to attend, please reach out to Susan Berg, Nora Strothman, or Roger Steinke to share insights/concerns about the space that we should keep in mind when cleaning, sorting, and downsizing!) When our task is complete, we will head out for a delicious adult beverage downtown. 

Women's Bible Study & Fellowship opportunities available:


Rebecca Circle: June 21, 10:00 am.

Contact: Lucy Kay Osborne 425-823-9793 or dlktutti@comcast.net


Hannah Circle: June 17, 9:00 am.

Contact: Linda Siebert 206-369-7047


FLC circles welcome all women of the congregation! Please contact the persons listed above for meeting locations.

Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study! (Also available on Zoom)

Saturday, June 17, 9 – 10:15 am. 

Join other congregation and community members for breakfast and conversation! There will be “food for the body, food for the soul and food for thought!” A group of 17 men typically attend. Please join us for discussion and enrichment. Questions to Roger Steinke

Reach Ministries
Opportunities for all Ages!

Register now for VBS!

WSYG Participant Information Meeting Times (Please plan to attend one!)

We will review the details, logistics, schedules, and other important information regarding our trip: 

Sunday June 11, 10:45 am - 12:00 pm or Wednesday, June 21, 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm

FLC Zoom Movie Review

June 25, 3:00 pm

Mars One

“The Martins family are optimistic dreamers, quietly leading their lives in the margins of a major Brazilian city following the disappointing inauguration of a far-right extremist president. A lower-middle-class Black family, they feel the strain of their new reality as the political dust settles. Tércia, the mother, reinterprets her world after an unexpected encounter leaves her wondering if she's cursed. Her husband, Wellington, puts all of his hopes into the soccer career of their son, Deivinho, who reluctantly follows his father's ambitions despite secretly aspiring to study astrophysics and colonize Mars. Meanwhile, their older daughter, Eunice, falls in love with a free-spirited young woman and ponders whether it's time to leave home.” (Summary by Rotten Tomatoes)

 

Please watch the movie prior to our ZOOM Movie Review. As of this writing, “Mars One” is only available on Netflix. Our discussion begins with a review of the main parts of the movie. We will also explore some of the spiritual themes of the movie and share corresponding Bible verses during our discussion. Join us! 

From the Library Committee

Book Club!

Discussion Book: TThe Beekeeper of Aleppo

by Christy Lefteri

June 27, 7:00 pm on Zoom

Discussion Leader: TBA

Nuri is a beekeeper and Afra, his wife, is an artist. Mornings, Nuri rises early to hear the call to prayer before driving to his hives in the countryside. On weekends, Afra sells her colorful landscape paintings at the open-air market. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the hills of the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo—until the unthinkable happens. When all they love is destroyed by war, Nuri knows they have no choice except to leave their home. But escaping Syria will be no easy task: Afra has lost her sight, leaving Nuri to navigate her grief as well as a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece toward an uncertain future in Britain.


Nuri is sustained only by the knowledge that waiting for them is his cousin Mustafa, who has started an apiary in Yorkshire and is teaching fellow refugees beekeeping. As Nuri and Afra travel through a broken world, they must confront not only the pain of their own unspeakable loss but dangers that would overwhelm even the bravest souls. Above all, they must make the difficult journey back to each other, a path once so familiar yet rendered foreign by the heartache of displacement.


Moving, intimate, and beautifully written, The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a book for our times: a novel that at once reminds us that the most peaceful and ordinary lives can be utterly upended in unimaginable ways and brings a journey in faraway lands close to home, never to be forgotten.


Please contact Clint Bastin, Ann Aagaard or Roger Steinke for additional information about the Book Club, which meets the fourth Tuesday of the month . A copy of this Featured Book of the Month is available in the First Lutheran Church Library. Please join us!  


As you enjoy the summer months and new adventures, remember to take photos for our Share your Favorite 2023 Photocontest. We are creating a new youth category for next year( 2024). Watch for submission instructions coming soon! 


Check it Out!

Click here for Financial Updates as of April 2023

The above link will be updated with the previous month's financial information after the Finance Committee is able to review the financial statements at their monthly meeting.
Social Ministry Update

Monthly Outreach


CHANGE FOR CHANGE All money received in the Change for Change jar will be used to support HOPELINK food bank.


HOPELINK helps homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities gain stability, while providing others with the tools and skills they need to exit poverty for good. HopeLink is not accepting food or other goods at this time. Click here for donation information.


January Monthly Outreach: Earth Ministries

February Monthly Outreach: Hopelink

March Monthly Outreach: Lutheran Community Services

April Monthly Outreach: Poor Peoples Campaign

May Monthly Outreach: Earth Ministries

June Monthly Outreach: Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services


Spring Community Food Drive - June 2023

First Lutheran Church is partnering with the Northshore Nourishing Networks to collect donations of non-perishable food items. Donations will be distributed to local food pantries and to several school food banks. Thank you for supporting the 2023 Spring Food Drive and giving what you CAN! Learn more about the Northshore Nourishing Networks

Scrip is a Great Way to Increase Your Giving
with Purchases You'd Make Anyway!
Proceeds from FLC's Scrip program recently paid for the shipment of quilts and school/health kits to Lutheran World Relief. Your purchases really do make a difference!

Purchase your Scrip gift cards on Sunday morning before and after worship. (No Scrip sales on Easter Sunday, so get your Easter Basket gifts on Palm Sunday!) You can also set up Shop with Scrip and Presto Pay for instant Scrip purchases and redemption on your smart phone. This is a super easy way to continue to support FLC's Scrip program. (See below for more information.)

If you are unable to attend worship or purchase Scrip online, you may mail a check to FLC Scrip, attention Gordy Phelps, with a note of what scrip cards you wish to purchase, and he will mail the cards back to you.

Another other opportunities for earning money while you shop, for FLC's many social ministry programs:
Link your Fred Meyer rewards card to their Community Rewards program for First Lutheran Church. All of your purchases will result in a quarterly donation to FLC.

If you have questions email Gordy Phelps.
Looking Ahead - Important Dates

July 6 – 9, 2023 Western States Youth Gathering (WSYG) at California Lutheran University.  A group of 12 youth and adults from First Lutheran Church Bothell are attending the multi-day gathering that gives high schoolers the opportunity to explore their faith. Our group will leave Seattle on Wednesday, July 6th and return on Wednesday, July 12th. After the WSYG our group will serve a meal to the homeless in Compton and contrast that experience with a visit to the Homes of the Stars in Beverly Hills. Our final day will be at Disneyland and California Adventure! Please contact Roger with any questions regarding the WSYG.

Fourth of July Rest Area!

July 4 - during the Downtown Bothell Parade

We will once again open the First Lutheran Church doors to parade visitors - sharing ice water and the use of our restrooms. Volunteers are welcome - please check in with Nora Strothman!

Sunday, August 13 – Friday, August 18 

Camp Lutherhaven Summer Mission Trip.

This event is open to Middle School and High School students. Please watch for more information.

From Our Partners

LiVE is ...

... a lay learning community connecting churches and forming Christian public leaders

... a flexible, hybrid model of learning

... theologically thoughtful, culturally responsive, and communally engaged

 

We give thanks for Trinity Education Foundation who, through a generous grant, is helping to make these learning opportunities accessible to more communities of faith. 

LiVE is ...

... a lay learning community connecting churches and forming Christian public leaders

... a flexible, hybrid model of learning

... theologically thoughtful, culturally responsive, and communally engaged

 

We give thanks for Trinity Education Foundation who, through a generous grant, is helping to make these learning opportunities accessible to more communities of faith. 

Upcoming Events

Preview the 2023-2024 Catolog HERE

Upcoming Topics & Learning Cohorts for 2023-2024

  • Chosen: Study in God's People-Creating Project 
  • Sovereignty Spirituality
  • Lenten Journey with Bonhoeffer & Baldwin
  • Funding Forward 
  • Engaging Younger Generations Cohort 
  • "Abide" Weekly Synod-Wide Bible Study 

Join the Learning Platform HERE


June 2023 - The Spirit

A Publication of the NW Washington Synod

First Lutheran Church | 425-486-2314 | 425-297-4898 |office@flcbothell.org
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