Cratered Into Christ
Grace and Peace, Bethesda! I pray your summer has been safe, relaxing and filled with blessings from God. I love the opportunity to go out of town with Bethesda youth, families and friends. It’s such a gift to break routines in order to fill our ordinary days with...
August Gift – A Message from Pastor Tom
Grace and Peace, Bethesda! August is a funny month to me. On the plus side, the weather is fantastic, anticipation for football season is building, and Paul Jorgensen and I get to celebrate our birthday on the 14th! On the downside, however, is the feeling of summer...
Charting a New Course | Month 10 | Filling In The Map
Grace and Peace, Bethesda! What a great day we shared on May 19, welcoming four teenagers to the waters of baptism and, including them, 17 new members to Bethesda! Be sure to check out their bios in this newsletter. As I write this, I’m anticipating the dedication for...
Charting a New Course | Month 9 | The Family of God
Grace and Peace, Bethesda! It’s a great month to be the church! On May 4th we will welcome our neighbors for Bingo and Star Wars-themed fun. The following weekend we will celebrate mothers and women who have nurtured our lives and faith. The choir and praise band will...
Charting a New Course | Month 8 | Sailing in the Risen Son
“My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of...
Charting a New Course | Month 7 | Salvation In The Storm
Grace and Peace, Bethesda! A blessed Lent and Easter season to you! Thus far we have heard from two of our Wednesday evening faith speakers. Ardelle Howell and Sarah Peterson shared how Jesus brought them through storms in life. Steve Hammerquist, Paul Jorgensen, and...
Charting a New Course | Month 5 | Who is this Captain? Captivated by the Christ
Grace and Peace, Bethesda! Let’s get out the telescope and gain our bearings here. We’ve sailed through a beautiful Christmas season. We’ve traversed a week of icebergs. Our next destination is the Annual Meeting, now on February 25th. Between now and then I will make...
Charting a New Course Month 3 Building Our Ship!
Grace and Peace, House of Mercy! In last month’s article, I shared our Council’s hope about October Crew Meetings. That we would be amazed at how the Holy Spirit among us “promotes the body of Christ’s growth in building itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:16). Mission...
Charting a New Course Month 2: Calling all Crew!
Grace and Peace, House of Mercy! By the time you see this, our Church Planning Council will have concluded a seven-hour visioning retreat. Our intention was to step back from the ground-level concerns of church operations and take in a wider perspective. To gain...
Mapping Our Mission: Charting A New Course For Bethesda
Grace and Peace, Bethesda! I pray you’ve had a safe and renewing summer! It’s about time for the fall of the Pac-12 conference…I mean, the fall season at Bethesda. Doesn’t it feel like everything is in transition these days?! Amen for the unchanging mercy of God!...
Each One Reach One
Happy July, Bethesda. I have two recent stories to share that I believe help illustrate Bethesda being Bethesda. Let me tell you about Barry and Joanne, and let you consider who may be the Barry and Joanne’s in your life. Barry is a high school youth recently...
The Rotary Way
When I first opened my business, I joined Rotary. It’s a service club, not a business club, but a friend was President and wanted a website, and the only way to build a website for a Rotary club is to be a member because there’s so much to communicate and learn and...