Rev. Jesse Larson
In the midst of so much change at Bethany, we want to make sure that all of our members and friends are aware of all that's going on. “Session” is the leadership body at a Presbyterian church—members are elected for three-year terms. We entrust them to lead our church and we as a community respect their decisions, especially during this challenging time in the life of our church. As always, you are welcome to share your ideas with session; we value your input, so do not hesitate to reach out to me or any of our elders.
Our session is currently made up of the following elders:
Pastor Jesse - moderator
Grace Ogata - clerk
Ron Carlsen - chair of Plant and Facilities
Barbara Greene - Elder at Large
Jim Guida - chair of Worship and Arts Commission
Juli Jensen - chair of Personnel Commission
Candace Keefauver - chair of Evangelism Commission
Debbie Leibrock - chair of Budget and Stewardship
Cathy Sapunor - chair of Mission and Fellowship Commission
Jackie Sneed - chair of Spiritual Formation Commission
Session meets on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. We recently met on March 22, 2022. Most of our meetings surpass two hours as we always have a lot of issues to discuss. Here is an update concerning what we are up to these days:
Fiberoptic internet has been connected to our building. We should experience faster internet speeds and a greater capacity for more devices using our wireless.
A letter will be sent to approximately 30 members/friends/visitors who have not been active at Bethany for several years. In a pastoral manner, they will be invited to let us know if they want to remain a part of the Bethany family or not. In accordance with the Presbyterian Book of Order, session “may delete names from the roll who have ceased to participate in the worship and work of the congregation for a period of two years. (G-3.0204)”
Due to the pandemic, the size of our board of deacons decreased dramatically. Session is currently creating new ways of offering pastoral care as an alternative to a board of deacons as we have fewer and fewer volunteers.
Session voted to be participants in the Presbyterian Foundation’s free program—“Project Regeneration.” This program brings in employees from the Presbyterian Foundation to speak to session about ways to move forward in these uncertain times. You can learn more about this program here.
Last year, session approved a motion to install a fence around our property to help create a boundary for trespassers who regularly use drugs on our property and trash it. In addition, some unwanted visitors have made threats against members and staff. However, we are still working on how exactly we’ll pay for the fence. We are also in need of a new roof. Session is discussing how to complete these jobs when our funds are quite low.
The chair of Plant and Facility, Elder Ron Carlsen, is on campus regularly and has been adding better lighting, installing security cameras, fixing leaks in the roof, and a variety of other projects.
An Administrative Commission, which was voted in via Presbytery in January of 2021, continues to attend our session meetings. They offer some guidance now and then. We have a small committee working on updating our bylaws; we were once a much larger church, but we now need to update our bylaws and policies so that we can adapt to the challenges facing a small church.
Elder Jackie Sneed has been voted in as the chair of the Nominating Committee for the coming year. Elder Barbara Greene and Kathy Frank were elected as members of this committee at our recent Annual Meeting. Pastor Jesse is also always a member of this committee.
I'll try to offer session updates on a regular basis. We are so grateful for leaders who have stepped up and who are sharing their gifts to lead us into a new chapter at Bethany!
