THE BETHANY LETTER

May 8, 2007 Volume 2007, Issue No. 17

The history of Mother's Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks who held festivities to honor Rhea, the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother's Festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly, later on a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers and named it as the Mothering Sunday. The English colonists settled in America and discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of lack of time. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother's Day.

In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher began a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother's favorite flowers, the white carnations, on the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity and patience. Anna's hard work finally paid off in the year 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.

Slowly and gradually Mother's day became very popular and gift-giving activity increased. All this commercialization of Mother's day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. Regardless of Jarvis's worries, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. Actually, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year.

A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: "My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?" When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word Mother. - Author Unknown

Five things you'd never hear a mother say: 1) Just leave the lights on. It makes the house look more cheery. 2) Let me smell that shirt. Okay, it's good for another week. 3) If Joe's mom said it's okay, then that's good enough for me. 4) You can keep that stray dog, dear. I'll be happy to feed and walk him every day. 5) I don't have a Kleenex with me. Just use your sleeve. - Rev. Karl R. Kraft, Mantua, NJ

"When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there." - Author Unknown

**************************************************

Scripture: John 14:23-29

8:30 a.m. Worship (Fellowship)/ 7^th Day

9:15 a.m. Church School for Children and Adults

10:30 a.m. Worship/ Chancel Choir with Young Shepherds Choir/Children's Sunday School

11:30 a.m. Social Hour Host: Kindergarten Class

Adult Classes at 9:15 - Bible Discoveries; Lounge Class- Video Part 3, Prayer; Perspectives;

Seasons of the Spirit; Seekers - Relationships; Senior High; Upper Room

If you would like to learn more about Bethany Church come to the Lounge (1^st floor, 13^th Street entrance) at 7:00 p.m., for the Inquiry Meeting. Pastor Steve will be sharing about our congregation and the United Church of Christ of which we are a part. He'll also be glad to answer any questions and respond to any concerns.

The Spring EOA Meeting (May 12, Suffield) promises to be very inspiring and educational. Anthony Robinson, who's written highly regarded books on congregational growth and leadership development and articles for numerous magazines will be speaking twice. He'll also be leading a workshop on Leadership Development. Other workshops will include Fostering Discipleship, Stewardship, Mission Discernment, Community and Culture, On-line Ministry, and Justice Global Ministries. It would be great if we could have people attending lots of these workshops. If you're interested please contact the office, 330-923-5277, as soon as possible.

Christian Education will be presenting flowers to all women of the church in celebration of Mother's Day during Social Hour; hosted by the classes of Suzanne Roach and Betty Ciaola.

Bible Discoveries Class - Please read pages 104 to the end. We will get as far as we can Sunday, May 13^th.

Our youth are making a special effort to have the 2^nd Sunday Fellowship Service be especially alive and relevant. The youth who share in the service, through singing in 7^th Day, would like to invite you to come and share with them on the next Fellowship Sunday, May 13^th at 8:30 a.m.

It is a great time for men of the church to get together to share faith, food, and fellowship together; as well as a few chores with which the custodians could use some help. The men gather the 3^rd Wednesday of the month at 8:00 a.m. (Next breakfast May 16^th.) You can help make this time possible by providing breakfast for 8-10 men once during the year. If you'd like to help in this way call Nancy Read.

Wednesday, May 16^th 11:30 a.m. Great Food & Fellowship

Program: Rev. Mark and Ellie Steiner will share their adventure in Switzerland. Tickets $4.00. Contact Jan Charton or Lou Atleson.

Now that you know someone who is doing an internship as part of the Partner-in-Ministry Program, I hope you also want to find out more about this exciting offering from your Eastern Ohio Association. On May 20^th during the regular Sunday school time 9:30-10:20, I will be meeting with all of the adult classes in the Social Hall and anyone else who's interested. The purpose of the gathering is for me to share some of my experiences in the program, tell you more about the program and what it has to offer, and to encourage some to try it themselves. I feel it is a program that has something to offer any church member regardless of their age. You do not need to be in a Sunday school class to participate, so I hope to see many of you there on May 20^th.

We'd like to extend an extra-special invitation for you to sing with the Bethany Chancel Choir when we share Special Music with the congregation on May 20^th! The Chancel Choir will be singing special music by Haydn at the 10:30 service. We've even invited a string trio to join our organist, Carolyn Curtis, in accompanying this special music service! This is fun, easy, joyous and worshipful music, so if you've ever thought about joining the choir for a special service, NOW is the time! We will be happy to provide learning CD's to help you with your part, and we'll be working on a portion of the music at every rehearsal between now and May 20^th. We'd love you have you with us, too!

We had a great Retreat at Templed Hills last fall - a time to be together as a church family and share the blessings of the life God's given us to share. We now have a place and date for 2007 - Templed Hills, September 28-30. So it's time to get started with the planning for this year. We'll have a first meeting, Tuesday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lounge, if you want to help but can't come contact Beth Lees, or office at 330-923-5277.

Thanks to the cooks Sharon Otto, Pat Cochran, Margaret Deacon, Dale Pickard and Lou Atleson - substituting for Betty Pickard - for their delicious meal. The appetizers were crunchy and whetted our appetites for the rest of the meal. Thanks to those who have shared jokes and short funny stories. It is a delight to hear so much laughter and sometimes groans these short stories and jokes create. It was also reported that the men edged out the women in the great Euchre contest! The FINAL meeting of the Bethany Buckeyes for the 06-07 season will be on SATURDAY, June 2^nd at 6:30 p.m., at the Gehlerts, weather permitting. Should the weather not cooperate, the meeting will be held in the Social Hall. Those planning on attending should sign up with the office, bring their own lawn chairs and a favorite side dish. Let's not forget desserts! See you there.

We will be recognizing Bethany's 2007 graduates during the 10:30 worship service on June 3^rd. If there is someone in your family you want recognized, please call the office by May 30^th.

Google has a new feature, which enables you to type a telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and you will be given the person's name and address. If you then hit MapQuest, you will get a map to the person's house. Everyone should be aware of this! It's a nationwide reverse telephone book. So, if a child gives out his/her phone number, someone can look it up to find out where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious. Note that you can have your phone number removed or blocked. To test whether you number is mapped, go to: Google (http://www.google.com/) Type your phone number in the search bar (eg. 555-555-1212) and hit enter. If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information, simply click on your telephone number and then click on the Removal form. Removal takes 48 hours.

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." - Psalm 4: 8

Sleep refreshes us, is almost always comforting, and is definitely essential to our survival. The consequences of a poor night's sleep - higher stress, increased mistakes, and difficulty concentrating - are every day occurrences for many people. Here are some tips for better sleep from the Better Sleep Council:

• Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule, including weekends.
• Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath or hot tub and then reading a book or listening to soothing music.
• Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool.
• Finish eating at least two to three hours before your regular bedtime.
• Exercise regularly. It is best to complete your workout at least a few hours before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine and nicotine. If used close to bedtime, it can keep you awake.
• Avoid alcohol close to bedtime. It can lead to disrupted sleep later in the night.

In spite of a new challenge this year (we received 5% on Acme brands only rather than 1% on the total receipt) we had a successful year with the Youth Fellowship Acme receipt campaign. Thanks to wonderful support from the congregation, we received enough receipts to raise over $1,000 for our Youth ministry. Of this a tithe will be given back to Bethany, a tithe to the general Youth Fellowship Fund, and 80% will go to support the Ponca Creek Youth Mission Trip. The Youth Fellowship thanks the whole Bethany family for your dedicated, generous support, as well as Pat Cochran who sorted, counted, and turned in all the receipts.

Chuck Stadelman, home from hospital

Evelyn Vance, Traditions

Kathy Ruch, Traditions

Geraldine Hunter, Briarwood

• CE Teachers' Appreciation Dinner

Aug. 5^th - 11^th

Nursery Available - 9:15 - 11:30 a.m.

8:30a Worship/ (Healing & Reconciliation)

Names of Sunday Volunteers are published AHEAD of the scheduled Sunday as a kindly reminder & an early thank you! If you are unable to volunteer the day you are scheduled, please remember to 1) find someone to take your place and then 2) call the church office so we may make necessary revisions.

Greeters: John and Becky Wachovec, Lou Atleson and Margaret Deacon

Lay Reader: Gail Cool

Music: 7^th Day/ Chancel Choir with Young Shepherds

Nursery: Carole Pletzer, Robert Read, Heather Alberson, Emma Jensen

Social Hour: Kindergarten Class

Ushers: John Mancinelli, Herb Walker, Mary and Ralph Bowmaster, Sue Mancinelli, Nancy

Buck, Lynette Sheppard, Caitlyn Malorni

Van Driver: Ed Frederick

Visitor Outlook: Marty Crichton

Greeters: Margaret Martin and Margaret Deacon, Dale and Betty Pickard

Lay Reader: Harry Cool

Music: Motet Choir/ Chancel Choir/Bells

Nursery: Arlene Thompson, Ed Zeller, Nancy Zeller, Keith McDevitt

Social Hour: Open

Ushers: Richard Holle, Mark Jensen, Sue Truby, Sharon Ward, Sharon Holle, Henry Nagel, Shawn F.

O'Malley, Shawn P. O'Malley

Van Driver: Linda Goodwin

Visitor Outlook: Ruth Schreiber

******************************

In order to assure that we do a thorough job planning for the all day Bible School and show the attitudes and behaviors that truly represent Christ and our church, we have begun our planning process for the mission trip. At the first session on April 22, we reviewed a covenant regarding our purpose and expected attitudes and behaviors, and began studying the scriptures for our Bible School lessons. Last Sunday we continued to plan our daily worship, craft and recreation times. Here are the important dates for the future:

• May 20 final planning session.
• June 3 commissioning in 10:30 worship and parent information session.
• June 9 depart for Ponca Creek.
• June 17 return from Ponca Creek.
• June 24 share in 8:30 & 10:30 worship.

Our Camp staff has covenanted to uphold the attitudes, behaviors, and responsibilities needed to faithfully serve our campers, and have begun the planning process. Here's a reminder of important dates and deadlines.

• May 20 final planning session for staff (counselors may need more meetings)
• May 31 last day to register at current prices.
• June 1 registration fees increase.
• July 31 last day to register for camp.
• Aug. 5 staff commissioned in 9:30 worship - Bethany Camp August 5^th to August 11^th.
• Aug.12 campers and staff sing in 9:30 worship.

Return to Main Page

Previous Newsletters

Photo Gallery - Visitors - Missions - Education - Music - Statement - Sermons