At Bethlehem, our partnership with Connections never stops, as we are a supporting church with regular volunteer hours, and our own Pr. Collette Broady Grund has been a developer from the start. This month is a focus for monetary support.

Connections continues to grow and support people experiencing homelessness in our community. Every dollar helps this important mission serve God’s people in many ways.

Send your check to the church with March Monthly Mission in the memo line, or donate on our website using the dropdown menu “Connections Shelter.” https://blcmankato.breezechms.com/give/online

Our volunteer shifts this week are almost full, but you can plan ahead and put April 12-18 on your calendar for next month. Serving at the shelter has low-contact and no-contact options.

Contact your Thrivent office to make this request. They will walk you through the steps if you’ve never done it before. Every dollar matters. Thanks so much.

February 22, 2021

Please join us this Wednesday night online or in person for worship, followed by the Partners for Housing Forum on Zoom. You can find links and information for both at blcmankato.org/lent.
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Please share the New Member class information with your friends and family who have been visiting with us and would like to join. Read more here.
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Have you picked up your envelopes yet? Arrange to do so soon, please! Read more here.

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We have our next week at Connections soon! March 1-7. Read more about it and sign up on the blog.
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Looking ahead to EASTER worship, we ask for your help in planning. Please fill out this poll to give us an idea of how many people plan to attend Easter church in person, should that be an option. https://blcmankato.breezechms.com/form/EasterInterestSurvey

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Our new website and church management system, Breeze, offers so many exciting ways we can streamline our communication with you. Using Breeze to send you weekly updates is one of the ways we can keep our email list consistent and accurate (it also saves time and money!).

Additionally, our new website features a "News & Updates" blog, which you can follow right from the home page (blcmankato.org). By including all the details there, you can easily reference it at any time.

News & Updates: https://www.blcmankato.org/news-updates

The website also integrates the Events Calendar from Breeze. You can view the calendar and event descriptions on the website, but you can also check into worship and register for events by using your own Breeze account (don't have one yet? Contact Emily in the office).

Church Calendar: https://www.blcmankato.org/calendar

"Bethlehem is an inviting community that is growing in Christ, loving our neighbors, and serving God's world."

blcmankato.org (507) 388-2925
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
720 S. 2nd St. Mankato MN 56001
A Reconciling in Christ Congregation

Please pick up your giving envelopes if you requested them. Pick up on Sunday mornings or during church office hours (9a-4p, Tues-Thurs, call to be let in). Mailing the envelopes is quite expensive. If you can’t pick them up, let us help you arrange someone to get them for you. Call the church office or email Emily.

We are thrilled to welcome visitors and guests to our online experiences, as well as our in-person worship and events. The pandemic is ongoing and still a threat, but the work of the Lord is present at Bethlehem in so many ways.

Being a member isn’t a requirement to attend and participate in the life of Bethlehem, but becoming a member is important to many people. If you have been our guest just once or for years, you are invited to join in the membership of this church. Our first ever online membership classes start next month. To participate, please contact Pastor Jay.

Still researching? Please check out our Visitor Experience page or our Becoming a Member page.

February 15, 2021

This week on Ash Wednesday, we will start our series: And Who Is My Neighbor? . You can join us for worship in-person or online, and you can also choose how/if you receive ashes. We will offer Imposition of Ashes over the lunch hour on Ash Wednesday and after the evening service, both times in the parking lot at door 1. If you'd rather do them yourself, you can pick up ashes in the vestibule on Tuesday or Wednesday during office hours (9a-4p) or you can make your own. See full schedule on the blog.
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Looking ahead to EASTER worship, we ask for your help in planning. Please fill out this poll to give us an idea of how many people plan to attend Easter church in person, should that be an option. https://blcmankato.breezechms.com/form/EasterInterestSurvey
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If you ordered a meal or won an auction item, don't forget to pick them up Tuesday night from 5:30pm-7pm! Door 1 (parking lot with overhang) for meals; Door 10 (rear parking lot) for auction items.
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We have our next week at Connections soon! March 1-7. Read more about it and sign up on the blog.
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Our new website and church management system, Breeze, offers so many exciting ways we can streamline our communication with you. Using Breeze to send you weekly updates is one of the ways we can keep our email list consistent and accurate (it also saves time and money!).

Additionally, our new website features a "News & Updates" blog, which you can follow right from the home page (blcmankato.org). By including all the details there, you can easily reference it at any time.

News & Updates: https://www.blcmankato.org/news-updates

The website also integrates the Events Calendar from Breeze. You can view the calendar and event descriptions on the website, but you can also check into worship and register for events by using your own Breeze account (don't have one yet? Contact Emily in the office).

Church Calendar: https://www.blcmankato.org/calendar

"Bethlehem is an inviting community that is growing in Christ, loving our neighbors, and serving God's world."

blcmankato.org (507) 388-2925
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
720 S. 2nd St. Mankato MN 56001
A Reconciling in Christ Congregation

We are happy to spend another week serving at Connections Ministry and Shelter the first week of March. Please sign up as soon as you are able, so we can focus on serving our guests well.

The sign-up looks a little different for March, as Connections was able to separate the meal sign-ups into categories. Please sign up for multiple positions when you can, and indicate what you’re bringing in the comments. Click the picture or the link below to sign up.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0544aca922aafa7-connections

February 8, 2021

Our Lenten season starts next week on Ash Wednesday. You can join us for worship in-person or online, and you can also choose how/if you receive ashes. We will offer Imposition of Ashes over the lunch hour on Ash Wednesday and after the evening service, both times in the parking lot at door 1. If you'd rather do them yourself, you can pick up ashes in the vestibule on Tuesday or Wednesday during office hours (9a-4p) or you can make your own.
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Looking ahead to EASTER worship, we ask for your help in planning. Please fill out this poll to give us an idea of how many people plan to attend Easter church in person, should that be an option. https://blcmankato.breezechms.com/form/EasterInterestSurvey
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The Annual Fat Tuesday dinner has NOT been cancelled! Woo-hoo! Join the Facebook event to participate in the Silent Auction (no Facebook? Connect with someone to bid on your behalf.) which is NOW LIVE! Bidding ends on Feb. 14th at 5pm. You can pick up and pay for your items on Fat Tuesday.

Want to help raise money but can't participate? Use this link to donate: https://thrivent.cotribute.co/events/484768/detail
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We continue to promote and support our February Mission Partner: Partners for Housing.

Partners believes that the public interest is best served when all citizens have the opportunity to properly house themselves and their families in comfort and safety and, furthermore, that the cost of such housing should not be disproportionately deplete the already stretched finances of the poor and homeless. During a “normal” time, this is challenging for as many as 50% of our Blue Earth County neighbors spend 30% or more of their income on housing! This simple fact has earned Blue Earth County the designation of being a “Severe Cost-Burdened Area." Please consider a donation today.
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Our new website and church management system, Breeze, offers so many exciting ways we can streamline our communication with you. Using Breeze to send you weekly updates is one of the ways we can keep our email list consistent and accurate (it also saves time and money!).

Additionally, our new website features a "News & Updates" blog, which you can follow right from the home page (blcmankato.org). By including all the details there, you can easily reference it at any time.

News & Updates: https://www.blcmankato.org/news-updates

The website also integrates the Events Calendar from Breeze. You can view the calendar and event descriptions on the website, but you can also check into worship and register for events by using your own Breeze account (don't have one yet? Contact Emily in the office).

Church Calendar: https://www.blcmankato.org/calendar

"Bethlehem is an inviting community that is growing in Christ, loving our neighbors, and serving God's world."

blcmankato.org (507) 388-2925
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
720 S. 2nd St. Mankato MN 56001
A Reconciling in Christ Congregation

“The power of receiving the cross on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday is in the layering: there is a sign of sin and death traced and layered on top of the tracing in water and oil of the promise of life, rebirth, and liberation from sin and death. On Ash Wednesday, we feel the full weight of the ashy tracing. It does not negate or obliterate the liberating sign it is layered with, but it is a suitably tangible reminder of the reality of grief, loss, and death.” —Bishop Anne Edison-Albright

(You can read more reflections on Ash Wednesday during a pandemic on the ELCA website. )

At Bethlehem this year, we will impose ashes outdoors and fully masked only. You can stop by on your lunch hour that day, receive ashes AFTER worship in the evening, or pick up your own jar of ash to impose the ashes with your family at home. You can certainly make your own ashes as well.

Worship is at 6pm only (no noon worship as in previous years), and will be in the sanctuary and online.

Questions? Call the office at 388-2925 during office hours (9am-4pm, Tues-Thurs.)

Join us for our annual Fat Tuesday youth fundraiser with a pre-ordered dinner for pick up and online silent auction! (Pre-orders for dinners have closed.) Our auction is available NOW on Facebook and you'll be able to pick up and pay for your item on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 16th. Bidding ends at 5pm on February 14th. To bid, go to this page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/319603289410169/

Your support, in whatever way works for you, means the world. It will make our trip to the 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering possible.