Hello friends.

The dull sodden gray of February is past. Spring is poking through in buds on the trees and the emergence of crocuses. It is spring break and New Haven is quiet. My work is punctuated only by the sound of raindrops and wind. Right here in the middle of Lent, it feels like an ordinary day. 

I imagine you’ve experienced days that feel like this - nothing jarringly unexpected, just a day that fits into the rhythm of the week. Unremarkable.

Yet God like the shepherd in Psalm 23 is, leading, restoring, comforting, present. Ever present. In the hard times, in loneliness or joy, and in the ordinary.

A Blessing for your ordinary, unremarkable days.

For this ordinary day Lord, here I am. How strange it is, that some days feel like hurricanes and others like glassy seas and others like nothing much at all. Today is a cosmic shrug.

My day planner says, rather conveniently, that I will not need you, cry for you, reach for you. Nothing exceptional happening today. Ordinarily, I might not think of you at all. 

Except, if you don’t mind, let me notice you. Let me pause and hear the whisper of the Spirit. Show up in the small necessities and everyday graces. God, be bread. Be water. Be the coffee cup in my hands and the reason to calm down in traffic. 

Let me recognize your presence in the unremarkable. And take a moment to stop, think, and remark on it. Remind me hold your divine presence in thought. 

Calm my mind, lift my spirit, and make this plain old ordinary day my prayer of gratitude.

Vicar G

Blessing is adapted from The Lives We Actually Have, by Katie Bowler and Jessica Ritchie

Worship Livestream

We stream Sunday worship services live on Bethesda’s YouTube Channel. Join us live at 9:30 am every Sunday or watch the recording afterward.

Click here to access this Sunday's bulletin.

 Staff Transitions

Bethesda’s Music Director Stephen Gamboa-Díaz has submitted his resignation, effective Sunday, June 4. After almost five years in this ministry, Stephen writes: it’s been a joy to be a part of Bethesda’s wonderful community and to help shape our vibrant worship.

We will be sorry to see Stephen go, but wish him all God’s blessings in all his endeavors.

To anticipate the transition, a search committee will be appointed, and an interim music director will also be appointed. More details to come!

Soup Suppers in Lent - Theme: Traveling Stories

6:00 pm every Wednesday in the Campanius Room

Sign-up to bring soup to share – one meat-based, one vegetarian. Others may sign-up to bring loaves of bread and bottles of wine to share.

This week Priscilla Meléndez will be sharing her travel story.

Traveling Stories

The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border of the land of Canaan (Exodus 16:35).  

The number forty is a compelling number in the Bible. The time in the wilderness, time apart, time wandering, time on the way to the land of promise each inform our own experiences, particularly in Lent. During Soup Suppers, we will reflect on traveling stories, from scripture, from authors, and from each other. Do you have a travel story to tell? To the home of your ancestors? To a far-off land? On a vacation? Sign-up to tell your stories one week at Dinner Church, or just show up. Questions? Contact Pastor Keyl at [email protected].

Lenten Book Club for Adult Forum/Confirmation Class

Join the Adult Forum and Confirmation students each Sunday in March to discuss the book The Story of More by Hope Jahren. Each Sunday we will focus on a different section of the book. Our conversations will include opening devotionals from Confirmation students. Copies of the young adult version of the book are available from Dan Cortright. We hope to donate these copies to area middle schools after our book club.

Discussion topics are 

Mar 5: Life and Earth, Ch 1-4 and 17-18

Mar 12: Food, Ch 5-9

Mar 19: Energy, Ch 10-13

Mar 26: The Story of Less, Ch 18-19, Appendix 

Super Saturday! March 25

Arrive around 4:45 pm for snacks and games or playing on the playground.

Bring snacks to share!

Then we will order pizza and watch a family-friendly movie together. Will there be ice cream??

Families and folks of all ages are welcome to gather in the Living Room for this cherished Bethesda tradition! See you there!

Bible Study on Zoom

Bethesda's Bible Study continues to discuss NT Wright's Acts. The next gathering will be Wednesday, March 29 at 8:00 am.

When? Every other Wednesday at 8:00 am

Where? On Zoom, click here to join (or join by telephone: 203-432-9666; Meeting ID: 961 0888 6279)

Lutheran World Hunger Collection

Please return your Lutheran World Hunger barn and pig boxes (filled with change, or even dollar bills!) by Palm Sunday, April 2. Boxes are still available for pickup in the narthex.

Exciting news: a generous donor has agreed to match our donations, doubling our impact!

ELCA World Hunger Lent Study Guides

As we journey through the season of Lent, consider picking up a copy of the ELCA World Hunger Lent Study Guide: 40 Days of Giving, available in the narthex. This resource provides prayers, devotions, and exercises for personal or communal reflection.

Congregational Watershed Discipleship

Mark your calendars - on Sunday, April 30th at 11:30 am, Bethesda will host Rev. Dr. Nancy Wright, who will preach and lead an interfaith workshop on Congregational Watershed Stewardship.

Upcoming Commemorations

Patrick, bishop, missionary to Ireland, died 461

Friday, March 17, 2023

A native of Britain, Patrick was kidnapped by pirates at age sixteen and sold into slavery in Ireland. After a few years, he escaped, returned home, and entered the ministry. Returning to Ireland, he successfully served as a bishop and missionary there.

Joseph, Guardian of Jesus

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Though the Bible tells us little about the husband of Jesus' mother Mary, we know that he was a carpenter or builder by trade. He is also shown as being devoted both to God and to Mary and Jesus. It is assumed that he died before Jesus became an adult.

Thomas Cranmer, Bishop of Canterbury, martyr, died 1556

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Cranmer's lasting achievement is contributing to and overseeing the creation of the Book of Common Prayer, which remains (in revised form) the worship book of the Anglican Communion. He was burned at the stake under Queen Mary for his support of the Protestant Reformation.

Jonathan Edwards, teacher, missionary to American Indians, died 1758

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

A Puritan minister in Connecticut, Edwards is remembered as being a great preacher. Though his most famous sermon talks at length about hell, he was more concerned with God's love. He served both as missionary to the Housatonic people in Massachusetts, and as president of the future Princeton University.

Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Bishop of El Salvador, martyr, died 1980

Friday, March 24, 2023

Romero was deeply concerned with injustices evident toward the poor and powerless in El Salvador, and worked forthrightly against political repression. He was assassinated while presiding at the eucharist in a chapel near the cathedral in San Salvador.

Annunciation of Our Lord

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Nine months before Christmas we celebrate the annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God. The ancient church believed that this was also the date of the world's creation and of Jesus' death on the cross.

Prayer Requests

For healing and strength: Sue Bormolini; Marietta Meyer; Pastor Kari Henkelmann Keyl; Rachel, daughter of Mary Browne; Pastor Ruth Drews; John Ferreira, nephew of Chris Couture; Kathryn and Karolyn Lee, aunts of Chris Lee; George Arndt, father of Lynn Arezzini; Michelle Lee, friend of Christina Castañeda; Mark Barnett, nephew of Becky Lerud; Marie Gray; Sonja Krummrey; Maureen Anderson; Natalie Denardis, granddaughter of Gail Denardis; Shirley Farm; Anne and Lee Keck; Kay Leone; Molly Dinneen; Karen (Starbranch) Blitch, daughter of Chuck Starbranch.

For those serving in the military.

For our partners in the Gospel: the congregations and schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and LuMin Campus Ministry; for Bethesda House and Yale Divinity School students.

For Bethesda New Haven: that God continues to guide us into the future with ministries of witness, service, hospitality, and care while building up our community in all its diversity.

For those in candidacy for rostered leadership in the ELCA: Natalie Benson, Calli Micale, Vicar Gabrielle Brown, and Jeff Hazewinkel (in formation for consecration as deacon).