From May 3-August 1, Pastor Jay Dahlvang will be taking a much-deserved sabbatical. Pr. Kristin Engstrom will join the staff while he is away, and we look forward to having her. Details on the sabbatical plan can be found at blcmankato.org/sabbatical. This Sunday, join us for Pr. Jay’s Sending Ceremony during service. There will NOT be a reception, as in past years, due to continued precaution during the pandemic. Pr. Jay’s last day will be Confirmation Day the following Sunday, May 2nd.
April 12, 2021
We are excited to announce a vaccine clinic at BLC this Sunday! Registration is required. All details and the link to sign up are on the blog.
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Come for a vaccine, stay for the Semi-Annual Meeting! The Annual Report is available on the website and at the welcome tables. We need 75 people for a quorum, so we hope to see you there! This Sunday immediately following worship (about 10:45). More information on the blog.
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There are still a few shifts to cover at Connections this week! Please sign up here.
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The April Monthly Mission is Global Health Ministries. You can read all the details on the blog. ---------------------------------------------------
The April Adult Forums have been scheduled. Please check out the website for details.
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High School Seniors and current college undergrad students, the Endowment Fund Scholarship Application is now available! blcmankato.org/scholarship
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Two service opportunities for you! Click to learn more: Pedal Past Poverty and Meals on Wheels.
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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 excited to announce a vaccine clinic available to Bethlehem members first. The clinic will be held in the lower level dining room at Bethlehem on Sunday, April 18th from 9:30-11am. REGISTRATION REQUIRED. (Link is below.)
When you sign up, you will automatically be signed up for the SAME TIME SLOT on Sunday, May 9th for your second dose. You do NOT need to sign up for that second dose, it happens automatically. There will be no FIRST doses available on the 9th. This is a Pfizer two-dose clinic, spanning both April 18th and May 9th, both at church. You need to be available for both dates. Our immeasurable thanks to the Downtown Hy-Vee pharmacy for making these clinics possible.
This link will close on Friday night, so please don’t wait. Please read all directions carefully. There is no cost for the vaccine. https://www.hy-vee.com/my-pharmacy/covid-vaccine-consent?event=563be858-9e80-46c3-925b-995ab4cf415c
The 2020 Annual Report can be viewed here. Paper copies are available at each entrance to church on the welcome tables. Please join us for the Semi-Annual Meeting on April 18th immediately following the service, so we can vote to approve our new council and board members.
If you are unable to attend in person and wish to participate in the process, you can watch online and vote via drive-thru. The meeting will be available on Facebook and YouTube. Drive-thru voting can be done at Door 1 under the main canopy from 10:45-11:15. A quorum of 75 votes is needed to affirm the constitutional requirements, so please make every effort. Many thanks!
Great job filling most of the shifts for this week’s service to the guests at Connections! Here are the spots that still need to be filled: (You must click the link at the bottom to sign up for them!)
Wednesday night Greeters
Thursday night meal (sides and dessert only)
Saturday night meal (all of it)
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0544aca922aafa7-connections
April 5, 2021
The April Monthly Mission is Global Health Ministries. You can read all the details on the blog. ---------------------------------------------------
The April Adult Forums have been scheduled. Please check out the website for details.
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High School Seniors and current college undergrad students, the Endowment Fund Scholarship Application is now available! blcmankato.org/scholarship
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Two service opportunities for you! Click to learn more: Pedal Past Poverty and Meals on Wheels.
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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
“If you satisfy the needs of the afflicted … you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.”
— Isaiah 58: 10 – 11
Global Health Ministries (GHM) is an independent Lutheran nonprofit, a resource to international church partners and also to congregations across the U.S. GHM focuses on strengthening health systems through three integrated strategies: Leadership, Medical Supplies, and Grassroots Efforts. GHM has partnered for decades in resource-poor settings and these deep relationships are one of their core competencies.
Hands-on projects are a meaningful way to support GHM’s mission and make a difference in the world. By gathering needed items and assembling into kits you can help the hands that heal in a very real, immediate way.
GHM’s hands-on projects are touching the lives of thousands of people around the world. In 2019, more than 10,000 moms received the gift of a Newborn Kit, and almost 6,000 more received a baby hat sent by GHM to partner health systems overseas. More than 5,000 people were comforted by the compassion that goes into every Hospice Kit, and 5,000 more by the mission quilts and blankets GHM sent to waiting partners in 2019.
Bethlehem has been a wonderful supporter of these hands on projects over the years, a special thanks to Tom and Betty Sanger who kept this project going for years! Due to COVID, last year we were not able to coordinate this project but the Mission Board hopes to revitalize this project this year. You can participate by either donating any of the items needed for kits or by putting your own kit or kits together. Wouldn’t this make a great family project to celebrate Easter? Any donations are greatly appreciated! Also, if you happen to have any medical equipment that is in good shape that you are willing to donate, these items are welcome as well! A collection box will be in the narthex to collect all individual items and kits.
Items needed for newborn kits: 1 regular-size bath towel (approx.. 52’ long), 1 washcloth (not microfiber), 1 bath-size bar white Ivory soap in original packaging, 1 newborn cotton t-shirt or “onsie” Size 0-3 or newborn, 1 newborn stocking hat (small size, a newborn’s head is about 14’ circumference), 1 baby receiving blanket (approx.. 30” x 30”) cotton or light flannel, 2 cloth diapers, 2 diaper pins. Directions for kit 1. Lay items on the towel and fold towel to enclose everything inside 2. Tie your bundle securely with twine, ribbon or rolled bandage. Or wrap your bundle in a pillowcase, fold over the extra fabric and tie. The pillowcase helps protect the kit during shipping and becomes an extra gift! 3. Please mark the completed kits “Newborn Kits”
One Hospice Kit contains these items: • 1 regular-size bath towel (approx. 52” long), new or gently used • 1 washcloth, new or gently used (not microfiber) • 1 bath-size bar unscented soap Such as Dove Unscented for Sensitive Skin, in original packaging • 1 toothbrush In original, individual packaging • 1 pick-style comb • 1 nail clipper Larger size preferred • 6 Band-Aids, rubber-banded together • 1 jar or tube of pure petroleum jelly Approx. 4 ounces, lid taped • 1 pair heavy-duty household gloves Kitchen type, size medium 1. Lay items on the towel and fold towel to enclose everything inside. 2. Tie your bundle securely with twine, ribbon, even a rolled bandage. Or, wrap your bundle in a pillowcase, fold over the extra fabric and tie as above. The pillowcase helps protect the kit during shipping, and becomes an extra gift! 3. Please mark the box or bag of completed kits “Hospice Kits.”
For more information please visit www.ghm.org or better yet, attend the virtual GHM presentation on April 14!
March 29, 2021
On Palm Sunday yesterday, FFF Director Anna set up a ten-station activity highlighting the Emotions of Holy Week, each with its own color, reading, and body pose. After each station, the kids would put a layer of colored sand in their clear cross vessel, displaying and remembering each emotion. Because they are kids and because it was colder than expected, unexpected tumbles to the ground, large gusts of wind, and well-meaning little siblings caused many a cross vessel's sand to get jumbled. "Oh, no!" one kid would cry, while another one forcefully shook theirs on purpose. Adults responded with, "That's okay, it still looks pretty," or "Uh-oh! Let's be more careful!" Then one parent said, "That's okay; emotions ARE all mixed up, especially in Holy Week. It's more accurate that way."
After such a year as this, our emotions are completely jumbled. It might still feel hard to celebrate. You might feel more connected to your faith on Friday this year than on Sunday. That's okay. First the crucifixion, then the resurrection. All of your emotions surrounding both are valid and welcome. We hope you'll join us in-person or online. Sharing our emotions helps us magnify them, both the good and difficult.
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Easter flowers! DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31. We are changing things up this year to accommodate a low-contact environment at the church. We are accepting donations to fill the church with flowers, but they will not be available for pick-up on Easter Sunday. You can use the forms in the pews if you are joining us in person, or use this form to give online.
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We're hiring! Applications are now being accepted from BLC members for a LIGHT/NightLIGHT Coordinator position. Details and application here.
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The Semi-Annual Meeting is April 18th at 10:45. Learn more.
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April Adult Forums have been scheduled. Please check out the website for details.
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Online Synod Assembly Needs Delegates on May 8th from 8-3:30. Sound interesting? Deadline is THIS THURSDAY. Find out how to volunteer here.
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High School Seniors and current college undergrad students, the Endowment Fund Scholarship Application is now available! blcmankato.org/scholarship
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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
Annual Reports from boards and ballot of new candidates will be available on the Council Documents page as soon as they are available (April 6th).
Job description and application HERE.