Fall Worship
Worship at 9:30 am
Followed by Fellowship and Learning Hour

Presiding Minister: Pastor Tim Keyl
Assisting Minister: Chris Wigren
Organist & Music Director: Isaac Lee
Lectors: Martin Gehner & Eleanor Lee
Altar Guild: Clarissa Youngberg
Livestream: Nora Lee
Tellers: Martin Gehner & Chris Wigren
Ushers: Greta & Chris Lee
Bread Baker: Rebecca Lerud
Coffee Set-Up: Ray Bussolini

Fall Worship

Worship at 9:30 am

Followed by Fellowship and Learning Hour

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.

This Week at Bethesda

From the Pastor

Poet, painter, music maker, all your treasures bring; craftsman, actor, graceful dancer, make your offering; join your hand to celebration: let creation shout and sing!

ELW 687 Text: David Mowbray

This past  week I taught a Divinity School class on vocational formation. Luther’s reform was singular in his renewal of the concept of priesthood of all believers. In our baptismal identity, we are all priests. No one job is “better” or “higher” than the other. Our basis for work and daily living is simply to serve God and neighbor. What we do, in our work and in our living, is for the common good and the good of creation.

One conclusion is that we do not have a singular vocation. Instead we have a number of vocations. For example, I am a pastor, I teach at the Divinity School, I sing, I cook for my household,  I am a friend.

Try this exercise: write down all the jobs you ever have had, including those for which you did not get paid.  How many can you come up with? Think about all the vocations you now have.  In what way can drinking coffee with a friend give praise to God and serve the world?

Barbara Brown Taylor writes, quoting Luther: “none of the things with which you deal daily are too trifling to tell you this incessantly…if you are but willing to hear it; and there is no lack of such preaching, as you have as many preachers as there are transactions, commodities, tools and other implements in your house and estate, and they shout this to your face: ‘My dear, use me toward your neighbor as you would want them to act toward you with that which is your neighbor’s.'"

I am so glad to see so many gifts being offered here at Bethesda. What will you share with joy?

 Blessing of Animals, Sunday, October 8, 4:00 pm on the grass in front of the Parish House.

Near the commemoration of the great lover of animals and creation, St. Francis (October 4), Bethesda offers blessings for your pet on the grass in front of the Parish House. Bring your cat, dog, iguana, fish, or what have you to hear stories, share our love for animal companions, sing a song, and receive a blessing.

Call to join the choir!

The Bethesda choir is open to all who love to worship and sing! We meet on Thursdays at 7pm in the choir room. No audition is required but musical training is appreciated. We are committed to learning, improving, and growing as a community.

Whether you are new to the church or a seasoned congregant, I encourage you to take the plunge and lend your voice to enhance our collective worship experience. Instrumentalists are also welcome to offer your musical talents.

The first Thursday of every month is our “Join-the-choir” welcome session. Do drop by and try it out for a night. No commitment required. Come and meet kindred spirits who share a love for music!

For more information or queries, please write to Isaac Lee, Music Director, at [email protected] 

You Are Invited!!!

To a double aging-up parting. What is an Aging-up party, you ask? Well, as you may or may not know, Masters/Senior athletes never get old -they just age up. So, if you are a runner, you age up every 10 years into the next age group. However, if you are a swimmer, you age up every 5 years. And when the two eclipse, every 10 years, you have a double aging-up event. So, since I will be aging up into the 80-84 age group in swimming, and the 80-89 age group in running, I am having a double aging-up party at my house 50 Old Dairy Lane, Shelton, CT 06484 on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2 pm to dark (around 8)

Please, no gifts (unless they are humorous). No food, because it will be catered. However, you may make a donation (cash, check, or online) to one or both of my charities: St. Vincent's Swim Across the Sound, which supports local cancer patients; and/or The Leadership Institute.

BYOB

RSVP

203-925-0578

or

50 Old Dairy Lane, Shelton, CT 06484

Or

[email protected]

Hope to see you,

Ann Louise Onton

Confirmation Youth and families are invited to Dan Cortright’s house at 838 Birchwood Drive in Orange on Monday, September 25 (school holiday) from 11 am to 2 pm for a scavenger hunt followed by pizza-making in his newly made outdoor pizza oven. For more information contact Dan at [email protected].

We Need Volunteers for October

Email administrative assistant, Tyler Fair ([email protected]) to volunteer for needed roles!

The following roles need filled for October 1st: 2 readers, assisting minister, altar guild, usher, livestream, coffee hour set-up

Apple-picking Sunday, October 1 following Learning/Fellowship Hour

Bethesda’s somewhat annual apple-picking will follow learning/fellowship hour on Sunday, October 1, and is for any and all who want to come. Bring your own lunch and eat it with others in the Campanius Room after learning/fellowship hour at noon. We will leave around 12:30 pm and car pool to Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, a half an hour drive from Bethesda.  You pay per bag which is provided. If there is time and interest, we can hang outside the farm store where there are cider donuts and kettle corn, and other things to eat for sale.  There is also a corn maze for an additional cost. RSVP’s will be helpful, but not necessary. Send them to Leigh at [email protected].

Learning Hour Sunday after worship for all ages

Learning Hour begins after worship for these groups (snacks provided):

- Children in Primary Grades (or younger, too!) meet with Elaine Ramshaw and Nora Lee. They gather in the yellow classroom at the end of the education wing on the right for songs, stories, and sharing.

- Confirmation Youth (Middle School) meet with Dan Cortright in the Muhlenberg Room at the end of the education wing on the left to continue their exploration of the resource Manna and Mercy.

- Youth, young adults, and all others meet with Pastor Tim and Eleanor Lee in the Parish House Living Room all the way through the education wing and through the Dining Room to the room facing St. Ronan Street side. Attendees will be regaled with stories about Eleanor’s second year  at Lutheran Summer Music Academy, held last summer. After you grab coffee and refreshments in the Campanius Room, find your way to the Parish House by 11:00 am.

New Members

Are you new to Bethesda and want to learn more? Pastor Keyl is offering new member sessions on Sunday October 8, 15, and 22 at noon in the Parish House Living Room with lunch provided each week. Come, discover how Bethesda is serving God and the people of God around New Haven. Get to know others and build relationships. New members will be received on All Saints Sunday, November 5 at worship. If you are a student, you are welcome to attend even if you’d like to keep your home church affiliation. Please RSVP to Leigh Cromey at [email protected] for any one, two, or three sessions.

Looking for a spring tenant/roommate?

Hello! My name is Heather and I'm an older "second-career" student at the Divinity School looking for a room to rent from mid-January through March 8, 2024. I'm commuting from VT (where my spouse and children live), so would be staying approximately 4 nights/week (generally Sunday night through Wednesday night). I'm a quiet, studious roommate (and tidy former innkeeper) who has rented rooms from individuals/families in the past, and can provide excellent references. I'd love to hear from you if you have a guest room in your home. (802) 999-9617. Thanks so much!  

FEMA grant awarded to Bethesda

A FEMA grant has been awarded to Bethesda for repairs and installations based on security. Stay tuned to hear more. Thanks to caretaker Leah Snavely for applying for the grant and serving as Project Manager.

New Fair Linen on the altar

On Sunday, September 17, we will offer a blessing for the Fair Linen, given in memory of Bethesda’s faithful through the Memorial Fund. 

From the Worship Wordbook: Fair refers to the fine quality of this linen, probably derived from an Old English word meaning “beautiful.” The fair linen has traditionally been interpreted as a reminder of the burial cloth in which Christ’s body was wrapped after the crucifixion.

Guidelines: The fair linen is the same depth as the mensa and may extend over the ends of the mensa one-third or two-thirds the height of the altar. Two-inch hems help the linen lie flat and hang straight.

Pastoral Care

If you’d like to meet with Pastor Keyl, please make an appointment through Bethesda’s administrator Leigh Cromey [email protected] or by calling

(203) 787-2346 most weekday mornings. Pastor Keyl can meet at your home, at Bethesda, or over a cup of coffee somewhere.

Prayer Requests

For healing and strength: Ray Bussolini, Pastor Betsy Williams, Les Swenson; Linda Johnson; Paul Denardis, stepson of Gail Denardis; John Ferreira, nephew of Chris Couture; George Arndt, father of Lynn Arezzini; Marie Gray; Sonja Krummrey; Maureen Anderson; Shirley Farm; Anne and Lee Keck; Donna Nardciso, friend of Michaela Natal; Kay Leone; Molly Dinneen; Matthew H., cousin of Tyler Fair

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.

Prayers in memory of Ruth Beaumont, interred in Bethesda Memorial Garden Thursday, September 21.

Prayers at the anniversary of baptism: Manny and Marion Young, September 24, 2017.

Prayers at the retirement of Rev. Maureen Hawksley, pastor at Emanuel Lutheran Church on Humphrey Street, New Haven, on September 30

For our Ecumenical Partners Worldwide: We pray for Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru. The Ecumenical Prayer Cycle takes us through every region of the world over the course of a year.

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 or seeking candidacy for rostered leadership in the ELCA: Natalie Benson, Tyler Fair, Calli Micale, Tim Bergeland