1 Bethel Beacon

Sat. 5 Neighborhood Hygiene Services...9-12

Sunday 6

Community Breakfast 9am

Sunday School 9:10-9:50

Worship 10am

Wed. 9 Quilting, 10-12 Fellowship Hall

Evening, 6:15 Soup, 7:00 Holden Vespers

Sunday 13

Community Breakfast 9am

Sunday School 9:10-9:50

Worship 10am

Tue. 15 Council 7 pm Fireside Room

Wed. 16 Evening, 6:15 Soup, 7:00 Vespers

Sat. 19 Neighborhood Hygiene Services...9-12

Sunday 20

Community Breakfast 9am

Sunday School 9:10-9:50

Worship 10am

Tue. 22 YDIC Board Meeting

Wed. 23 Quilting, 10-12 Fellowship Hall

Thur. 24 Maundy Thursday, Seder Meal, 6:30

Fellowship Hall

Fri.25

MACG Walk of the Cross, Noon, start at Luther

Memorial

Good Friday Tenebrae Service, 7pm

Sat. 26 Outdoor clean-up 9-11

Easter Vigil, 7pm

Sunday 27

Continental Breakfast 8:45 am - 9:45 am

Easter Worship 10 am

Easter Egg Hunt for the children at the

Parsonage, after Worship

March Bir thdays!

5 Kristi Mowe

6 Jack Wiersma

7 Miles Bard

9 Jared Burdick

14 Brendan Dunnigan

16 Barb Keys

18 Nancy Wiersma

24 Sue Ruth

28 Isabel Wiersma

29 Jim Beck

30 Harry Griffin

Saturday March 26 let’s spruce up

the property for Easter…9-11 am

Come with your gardening gloves

and a few flowering color spots.

Let’s freshen our garden as we

get ready for Easter!

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From the Pasture:

Transitions in Life and Lent

Lent holds many images for me personally. Lots of transitions in my life happened during this

season. I left seminary (my first time) during Lent. This year, Barbara (spouse), John

(brother), Matt (son), Laura and Kaylee (grandkids) all have birthdays during Lent. My father

passed away in Lent 1991which made Holy Week and especially Good Friday difficult.

Lent is also my time to turn over the leaves, grass, and dirt that have become compost. Peas

are in (I even cheated by planting the “homegrown” potatoes starts). Flowers are up,

raspberries budding, roses cut back, grape vine pruned and vegetable starts in the window

upstairs. My 6:50 drive to Columbia pool each morning has more light daily. You can almost

feel the earth waking up.

Lent is supposed to do that. It does stop at Good Friday with the death of Jesus. It is a time

of new life waking up. We hear it from Jesus as he approaches Jerusalem. He is a little cranky,

a little on edge, as if the waiting is almost over and he is ready get on with it. The tension of

Good Friday and the waiting. The sorrow and silence “sitting shiva” as we mourn for the one

lost on the cross. The waiting in that upper room; the fear, sorrow and guilt thick in the air.

So what was it like to be woken up to the news: He is gone, He is not there.

Doubt, wonder, hope and remembering…all at the same time. The trauma of Good Friday lost

to the promise fulfilled in the awakening dawn. The one planted in the tomb is said to be alive;

Mary says she has seen him, brothers on the road recognizing him in the breaking of the bread.

Then He is standing before them, standing before us…He is alive.

Pastor Mike

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We will be adorning our worship area again this Easter season with lilies.

For many, the beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers of the Easter Lily symbolize

purity, virtue, innocence, hope and life... the spiritual essence of Easter.

The lilies may be given in memory of departed loved ones, in honor of someone, or simply in

thanksgiving for particular blessings. The names will appear in the bulletin for Easter, March 27.

The cost of a Lily is $10. Please complete order form along with payment to church office by

Sunday March 13th. Checks should be made to: Bethel Lutheran Church and indicate Easter Lily

Name and phone of purchaser: __________________________________________________

I would like to order _______ [quantity] @ $10 each, Total of _________

Please PRINT as you would like to appear in bulletin.

In Memory of ___________________________ By ___________________________

In Memory of ___________________________By___________________________

In Honor of_____________________________ By ___________________________

In Honor of____________________________ By ___________________________

With Thanksgiving for____________________ By ___________________________

With Thanksgiving for ____________________ By____________________________

Form can be mailed or emailed.

Remembering and Honoring Loved Ones With Easter Lilies

In the beginning, darkness covered the face of the deep.

Then the rush-breath of life hovered over the waters.

Let us breathe together.

Let us catch our breaths from the need to make, to do.

Let us be conscious of the Breath of Life.

We breathe out what the trees breathe in.

We breathe in what the trees breathe out.

Together we breathe each into life.

Blessed is the One within the many.

Blessed are the Many who make one.

~~ Rabbi Arthur O. Waskow

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Please also pray for the families of Ann Furgurson, Bob Frank, and

Ruth Vandenbos who have recently passed away.

Prayer Concerns...praying for and with our community.

Laverne Atkins

Paul Beezhold

Iva Lynn Burris

Kathy Buss

JulieAnn Edman

Christine Downing

Dorothy Hansen

Joyce Hansen

Jeff and Shirley Kolpin

David Lingnau

John McAllister

Phyllicia McGowan

Justin Olson

Rita Olson

Mary Rix

Skye

Esther Statzer

Loretta Van Dyke

The Bethel Hygiene Program, a ministry assisting neighbors who are homeless with showers and fresh clothing, needs donations. Will you help? We need:

sturdy men's pants/jeans (or long shorts), waist sizes 28 through 34

medium and smaller sized belts

men's long-sleeved shirts, specially warm lined flannel or lined hoodies,

men and women's underwear, size small and medium

MEN'S RAZORS, mini-shampoos, soaps, toothbrushes, mini toothpastes, floss, etc.

Warm coats

Women's clothes, especially long-sleeved undershirts and fleeces, sweaters

Think about buying a table of

eight and making it a party!

$150 for a table or

$20 each ticket

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Come join the fun as we dye and decorate eggs! We will provide the dyes, decorations and a snack

and you provide the artistic vision and 12 hard-boiled eggs.

Questions? Pastor Christine is the go-to for answers.

Please feel free to invite friends and family...the more the merrier.

When: Saturday, March 19 from 12 pm - 2

pm Where: Bethel Fellowship Hall

RSVP: 503.285.4919

Egg Dying Par ty!

Heartfelt thanks to my Bethel family….

You are all a living expression of God’s love and kindness. Thank you for your prayers, cards,

phone calls, visits, and delicious food. The journey of the last four months has been hard. But

after stays in three hospitals, two skilled nursing facilities, and my radiation treatments ending

Feb. 26, I’m grateful to be alive and confident I have beat cancer. Special thanks to Pastors Mike

& Christine for their visits, listening ears, & sharing Eucharist. And Mike’s delivery of your

personally signed card by worshippers helped make my birthday special. Last, but not least,

thanks to Wendy who faithfully posts the bulletin each Friday so I can worship with you in Spirit

on Sundays. I DO thank my God every time I think of you. Philippians 1:30

Blessings & Hugs, Mary Rix

INTRODUCTION TO THE CRAFT OF PREACHING...April 3 – 11:30 – 12:30 am

Join Pastor Mike after worship for an introduction to the craft of Preaching. There will be three opportunities for lay preachers at Bethel between now and the end of August, and we will want lay preachers to be well prepared for their assignment. (Please note that participation in these sessions of preparation are required for anyone who will preach, but participation in the sessions does not guarantee that you will be given a Sunday; that decision rests with the senior pastor.)

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5658 N Denver Ave

Portland OR 97217

503-285-4919

www.bethelpdx.org

Walk of The Cross

Walk of the Cross is an annual ritual organized by neighbors and an ecumenical body of Christian communities throughout Portland. We bear witness to God crucified in our neighborhoods through prayer and the sharing of our stories, as we carry the cross together. Together, we will tell the story of Jesus’ Passion in Spanish and English.

All are welcome!

Walk of the Cross 2016 will focus on Housing Pressures

When: Good Friday, March 25, 2016

Where: Noon Gathering: Luther Memorial Lutheran Church 4800 NE 72nd Ave

Stations of the Cross throughout the Cully Neighborhood

Sending & light meal at about 2:30 pm at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church

We walk together, rain or shine. Join us.