February 9, 2022
Friends in Faith—
This coming Sunday, February 13, we'll be celebrating Black History Month at Bethany! We'll be singing some wonderful spirituals, including:
Hymn # 354—Guide My Feet
Hymn #334—When Israel was in Egypt's Land
Hymn #382—Somebody's Calling My Name
Hymn #563—Lift Every Voice and Sing
We'll continue exploring some great texts from the Old Testament; this Sunday is the story of Moses, the burning bush, and his call to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 3:1-17). You might watch Cecil B. DeMille's classic film, The Ten Commandments, for a refresher of this epic story. Two weeks ago, I shared a brief video concerning an overview of the Old Testament. You can check it out here (where you will also find the video of the entire January 30th worship service). Pianist Natalya Amelchenko begins playing gathering music at 10:20 a.m, with the service starting at 10:30 a.m. Folks can also join from home on Facebook. (You can also watch prior services at any time here.)
Following the guidelines of Sacramento County and the CDC, we continue to practice social distancing and require masks while worshiping while indoors. If you plan to attend a worship service at the church, you can find out more about our safety protocols here.
Some of the “treasures” up for grabs at Bethany!
Our Spiritual Formation Commission is hoping to repurpose some of our space into a quiet area for contemplation and prayer. So some of our elders have been doing some cleaning and reorganizing of various rooms throughout Bethany. We have a couple of tables just outside of the kitchen/Social Hall full of various items that are free to whomever would like them. We have books, t-shirts, office supplies, bags, etc. Please help yourself; the tables will be up for the next several weeks.
A FEW UPDATES:
This coming week, from February 14-21, I'll be away on study leave; I'm eager to do some reading and planning for Lent. Jim Guida will be leading our service on Sunday, February 20. In the event of a pastoral emergency, please contact a member of session.
Saturday, February 12 at 9 a.m. is our quarterly Presbytery meeting. If you'd like to attend to learn more about what is happening regionally in our denomination, please let me know.
The church office will be closed on February 21 in observance of Presidents' Day.
Save the date! On Sunday, February 27, immediately following our worship service, we'll be having our Annual Congregational Meeting. More details to come.
The SSIP Food Closet’s second annual "Full Plates, Full Hearts" virtual auction and fundraiser is scheduled for Wednesday, March 9 at 6 p.m. Mark your calendars now! Also, please note, we are looking for donations for the auction—bottles of wine, art pieces, gift baskets, gift cards, etc. Please reach out to me if you are interested. Here are more details.
It looks like rules concerning indoor masking are soon to be changing. Session has committed to following the guidelines of Sacramento County as well as the CDC. As we make the necessary adjustments for worship and fellowship hour, we'll keep you posted. We will continue to strive to sign in during worship services for the purpose of contact tracing, but now—when we hear of someone in our community testing positive for COVID—we will e-mail our members/friends/renters concerning the time frame of when exposure may have occurred on our campus. So, if you happened to have been in our building during a time frame in question, you can then feel free to take a test if you so desire.
As a faith community, we have the privilege of being able to journey with one another through a chaotic and beautiful world, full of many highs and lows. We celebrate one another's victories, and we hold one another in prayer during those times of pain, fear, and loss. If you have prayers that you would like to share with our community, please contact me or Office Manager Maria Mar. Also, be sure to indicate if you'd like your prayer to be shared, or if you'd like it to be held in confidentiality.
God hears all of our prayers, and in Christ, we find healing, wholeness, and new beginnings. With each passing day, the Spirit of God is presenting us with new opportunities of love and grace. No matter what comes our way, all roads lead to Jesus—thanks be to God!
Blessings to all,
Jesse
