BLC Weekly, October 21
Hello Bethlehem,
Happy Anniversary Pastor Jay! Congratulations to Pastor Jay in celebration of his 15th Anniversary as our lead pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. He reached this milestone in his pastoral service on October 13. We appreciate his dedication, tireless effort and spiritual guidance over the past 15 years. We have been blessed as a congregation!
“Where your treasure is there will your heart be also. “ Luke 12:34
This Sunday, October 27 is Stewardship Commitment Sunday. If you have felt called to support Bethlehem in this way, please bring your commitment forms to worship or complete the online pledge form by Sunday. If you have any questions about the pledge form or setting up automatic or online giving, please contact our Financial Secretary, Elizabeth Ruiz at elizruiz@blcmankato.org or by calling the office. Thank you!
This Week
Join us for Wednesday night suppers, served at 5:00pm in the lower level. Offering is accepted but the meal is free. All are welcome. The upcoming menu:
October 23: Spaghetti with garlic toast and salad
October 30: Sub sandwich with potato chips and cold pasta salad
VIGILS of PRAYER & LISTENING: The School Sisters of Notre Dame in Mankato and North Mankato, together with SSND Associates, welcome you to join them for hour-long gatherings of “Prayer and Listening.” Given the realities of our country and world, enter the quiet, let your mind rest and center in God with people of any faith tradition in the Mankato area. The method is simple: prayer and listening to each other and the Spirit. The third session will be Thursday, October 24, 7:00-8:00 PM, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 720 S 2nd Street. No registration necessary. Bring a friend and come as you are.
It was an honor to host TEC 137 here at Bethlehem over the weekend. We hope all youth and volunteers had a great weekend of fun, faith and fellowship.
Announcements
Our 2nd Annual Women’s Event will be held on November 9th! Join us from 9:00am to 1:00pm for a tour of tables, brunch, speakers and entertainment. More details and tickets are available here or by clicking the link on our homepage.
Bethlehem will host an Election Eve Vigil on November 4th at 6:15pm in the sanctuary. Join us as we pray for our election officials, future leaders and the nation.
October 27 Adult Forum Cancelled: The scheduled adult forum on October 27 "Local & State Legislative Candidate Forum" has been cancelled. So many candidate forums have already been held by other community groups that a BLC forum was viewed as unnecessary by the Adult Education Board. For your information, The League of Women Voters of St. Peter Area has made their candidate forums (MN House, Mankato School Board, North Mankato mayor & City Council) available on The Free Press website. Go to mankato-freepress.com/news/elections/
We want YOU on lefse making crew! We certainly had a great turnout last year making our famous lefse! Can we do it again? We plan on making it Friday morning, November 22nd, 9:00am so it will be fresh for thanksgiving. Sales will be presales only (watch for details on doing this) and any leftovers open for sales on Sunday November 24th. But we will need your help on Friday to make it another success! Join us for coffee and goodies as we roll out this delicious Nordic treat. Please contact Ginger Erlandson either by texting 507-380-5268 or email rerlandson2@gmail.com. Let’s keep our Nordic traditions alive!
Volunteer
Bethlehem is signed up to serve at Connections! We are looking for members to sign up to provide a main dish, two side dishes, dessert, and/or milk on the following dates reserved for Bethlehem: November 4, 5, 7, and 8 and December 5, 6, 7, 8 Sign up online.
ECHO Food Shelf needs your help. Volunteers are needed any day, any hours. If you’d like to help ECHO feed local families or are interested in more information, please call (507) 345-7477.
Monthly Mission
Our October Monthly Mission Partner is Connections Shelter. Connections emergency shelter has 40 beds and they offer an additional daytime drop-in center with resources to acquire housing, employment, medical care, treatment and support. Bethlehem was one of several area churches which helped to launch Connections in 2017 and we have partnered closely with this mission ever since, through volunteers, meals and financial support. Our giving goal is $3,000. Please give generously and prayerfully for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. You can give online or send/drop off a check with the monthly mission in the memo line. Thank you!
This Week in our Prayers
Curt Halvorson Marian Mallory Pete Wachtel
Anna Moses Jim Freyberg Barb Girtz
Royce Elker Joan Stoffel Paul Haugesag
Amy Grams Haugesag Wally Boyer Rita Gibbs Al Rossow
Bethel Lutheran in Rochester St. Peter’s Lutheran in Northfield
Lunder Lutheran in Albert Lea Matongo Lutheran in Tanzania
CELCO (Colegio de la Evangelica Luterana de Colombia) in San Lucas, Bogota Choma Lutheran in Tanzania