Some Thoughts From the Space Between Seasons
Thank you, Bethesda, for supporting another summer of camps and trips for all ages. This was my twentieth year taking kids on summer trips! At the ripe age of eighteen, I brought a few freshmen guys to a Young Life houseboat camp on Lake Shasta. The group included...
Living Among God’s Faithful People Part 2
This is the second of a six part series. Part one was in the July/August Evangel and published on our website. In Baptism and at Affirmation of Baptism (Confirmation) we make the following promises: to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and...
Living Among God’s Faithful People
In Baptism and at Affirmation of Baptism (Confirmation), we make the following promises: to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper and to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed. To serve all...
In Appreciation of Our BLC Staff #4
This spring, we have been acknowledging our staff and all the wonderful things they do to help our church home run smoothly! We want them to know they have our appreciation! Elizabeth Tigue, Preschool Director & Teacher Elizabeth has been the Preschool Director...
City Mission Trips
This summer both middle and high school students have the opportunity to serve in urban missions - Seattle for middle schoolers and Los Angeles for high schoolers. We will again be working with Center for Student Missions in Los Angeles. (I missed our last L.A....
A Litany for the Summer
On the Galilean road, Jesus stopped to reflect and pray. We, too, long for rest and a balm for our souls. Seeing those in need, Jesus healed, taught, and fed. We are called to live as servants, loving our neighbors as ourselves Holding the children close, Jesus...
We’re Seldom Not in Church
“The religious impulse is easier to rebrand than to extinguish.This runs counter to popular perception. Bombarded with poll results about declining levels of church attendance and belief in God, we assume that more and more people are abandoning the faith and making...
Enjoy the Ride
Do you remember that poster from the 80's, with that adorable baby cat grasping onto the tree limb for dear life, the caption reading something like “Hang On!”? That’s what I’ve spent my life doing...hanging on, trying to stay safe, taking no risks, having few wild...
Did You Hear? We Have A Bus!
It’s amazing what happens when the word gets out that something is needed. You all respond! Thank you to all who donated to the Senior Transportation Fund. Also, thank you to all who gave memorials for Pauline Petersen or Don Berry. Their memorial gifts helped to...
Christmas in April: The Happy Exchange
I wonder how Christmas instead of Easter became the season for a gift exchange. I suspect it has something to do with the timing of Christmas with year-end sales figures in a commercial society. That’s only a theory and you can ask my dear wife about some of the...
A Litany for the Final Days of Lent
April 1st was the 23rd day of Lent. My prayer for you is that this season of Lent is giving you time to reflect on and deepen your relationship with God. This Lenten Litany, from the ELCA website, feels like a good reminder and a good reflection of where we have been...
Invitation to Lent
Friends in Christ, today with the whole church we enter the time of remembering Jesus’ passover from death to life, and our life in Christ is renewed. We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance and for God’s mercy. We are created to experience...