THE BETHEL BEACON

AUGUST 2016

BILL SWITZER, Pastor

Sunday School @ 9 am Worship time @ 10:00 am

Church Telephone #: (402) 873-6218

Emergency: (402) 6369-0842 (Pastor Bill)

Email: betheluccurch1887@gmail.com

Website: www.bethelucchurch.com

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BETHEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

2400 CENTRAL AVE. NEBRASKA CITY, NE 68410

Emmaus Homes was founded in 1893 in Marthasville, Mo., when a group of pastors and lay people from the surrounding churches of the Evangelical Synod of the West decided to use their vacated seminary buildings to serve individuals with developmental disabilities. As a reflection of their Christian faith, the founders of Emmaus attempted to care for those in need, while recognizing each person’s worth and unique qualities and creating a spirit of community.

Bethel United Church of Christ was formally known as “Bethel Evangelical and Reformed Church.” (Nicknamed “E & R”)

The Evangelical part of Bethel’s name and history are “those pastors and lay people from the surrounding churches of the Evangelical Synod of the West” who decided to use their vacated seminary buildings to serve individuals with developmental disabilities.”

Bethel United Church of Christ has not only a present relationship with Emmaus Homes but an historical one as well.

just thinking...

On our Journey on the road to Emmaus, I learned a lot.

First, Mason, Gray, Matthew, Jason, and Quintin are creative and hardworking people. We should never underestimate them.

Second, I learned that Jason Holman, as part of his confirmation process, took a trip to the Emmaus Homes. As an Adult, Jason remembers the importance of the trip when he was of confirmation age.

Third, since the Confirmation Class went on a Mission Trip to Emmaus Homes in the St. Louis area (July 11 – 15), many have said that they, too, were part of a Bethel group that went to Emmaus – both adults and confirmands. This seems to be a very important history of this congregation but not much written history is available.

I would be interested in

having those of you who have gone on the St. Louis trip from Bethel, write down your experience and the date when you traveled from Nebraska City to Emmaus Homes. Or, if you know of someone who went on a Bethel / Emmaus trip – whether it was as an adult or as a youth – have them contact the church and write down their experiences and the date(s). It would be good to have in one place an overall record of this history.

...just thinking

Pax vobiscum,

Billl

L—R: Mason Hamilton,

Jason Stukenholtz,

Quintin Holman,

Matthew Ramold, Gray

Carpenter

IN OUR PRAYERS IN JUNE & JULY:

Justin Williams, Betty Blankenship, Logan Drabek, Mason Wieckhorst, Ella Mathisen, Ruth Wurtele, John

Ensign, Alice Oelke, Don Grundman, the Lind family, Linda Clark, Roy Murphy, Gladys Huss, Tim Worcester, Delphine

Griepenstroh, Leo and Aquiles, Steve Collins, the family and friends of Frank Rodgers, Jr. (Barb Stukenholtz’s

father), the family and friends of Mervin Carman (Karen Pieper’s father), Kay Nannen, and all who struggle with

chronic illness, including those who reside in their homes and long-term care facilities.

I would like to thank everyone from Bethel UCC who have supported and guided me along my trail to eagle. It’s only with the love of such an amazing church family that achieving this rank

was possible.

~ Noah Hamilton

—————————————————————————

Kathy Clymens would like to introduce her very first Great Granddaughter!

Lorelai Marie Tucker was born July 11, 2016.

She weighed 8lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 3/4 inches

long.

Her parents are Coby and Nicole Tucker.

They reside in Bryan, TX.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Budget Committee needs to meet in August so Council can approve the new budget at the

September meeting.

Sunday school rally day will be August 28th.

Our Annual Labor Day Brunch will be Sunday, September 4th following worship in Fellowship

Hall.

First day of Sunday school is September 11th.

_________________________

HOME COMMUNION

The church celebrates the

Sacrament of Holy Communion on

the first Sunday of each

month. Should anyone want to

celebrate the Sacrament of Holy

Communion at their residence,

please call the church office and

arrangements can be made.

Thank you to everyone who

brightened our sanctuary

with flowers, and who

sponsored bulletins during

the months of June & July .

LOOKING AHEAD TO SEPTEMBER

Sun. 4th: Communion/Food pantry & Labor

Day Brunch following worship

Mon. 5th: Labor Day ~ Office closed

Tues. 6th: Board of Christian Ed. Mtg. 6pm

Sun. 11th: Acolyte training/1st day of Sunday

school/Presentation of 3rd grade

bibles/Grandparent’s Day

Tues. 13th: Women’s Fellowship at Noon

Spiritual Council meeting 5:45pm

Church Council meeting 7pm

Fri. 16th-Sun. 18th: Quilt show/Applejack

Sun. 18th: Youth Fellowship

Tues. 20th: Ministerial Assoc. mtg. 9am

Mon. 26th: Meals on Wheels 1 1 am

*Choir practice every Wednesday at 7pm

Larry & LaVonda Bando

~ Aug. 2, 1969 ~

Harold & Gladys Huss

~ Aug. 2, 1959 ~

Dalyce & Kristy Sudman

~ Aug. 8, ‘08 ~

Donald & LaVonne Grundman

~ 8/25/50 ~

Howard & Marilyn Ach

~ Aug. 26, 2006 ~

Kork & Helen Wurtele

~ Aug. 29, 1948 ~

BEST WISHES TO THOSE CELEBRATING THEIR BIRTHDAYS & WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES IN AUGUST

Jean Wieckhorst 2nd Lillian Sinner 4th

Anna Marie Stukenholtz 5th Addison Ferguson 6th

Julie Marshall 8th Nick Andersen 16th Helen Wurtele 17th

John Wurtele 19th Brianna Johnson 21st Kathy Clymens 29th

Connie Gieseking 29th Mira Hartman 29th Joan Weible 30th

Bethel United Church of Christ Spiritual Council Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, June 14, 2016 5:45 pm

Pastor’s Office

Present: Vice-President Burt Weible, Secretary LaVonda Bando, Larry Bando, Cindy Weible, and Pastor Bill Absent: President Dennis Marshall Burt called the meeting to order. Pastor Bill opened with a word of prayer. Larry made a motion to accept May Spiritual Council meeting minutes. Cindy seconded. Motion carried. Pastor Report: Vacation Bible School is going good at Bethel; Confirmation trip received a $750 grant from Friends of Faith; Will be planning for three students in the new first year confirmation class starting in the fall and five boys will be going into second year confirmation class also in the fall; No funeral; Did nursing home, hospital, and members visits. Old business: Tontenfest service was held on Memorial Day Sunday. New Business: A notice put in The Bethel Beacon when church members want a Pastor visit. Information needed when would be the best time and date for the visit with a contact phone number and if they would like to have communion serve to them. Next regular meeting will be Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 5:45 pm. The meeting closed, by joining hands and saying the Lord Prayer. Secretary, LaVonda Bando

SPIRITUAL

COUNCIL

Bethel United Church of Christ Spiritual Council Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, July 12, 2016 5:45 pm

Pastor’s Office

Present: President Dennis Marshall, Vice-President Burt Weible, Secretary LaVonda Bando, Larry Bando, Cindy Weible Absent: Pastor Bill Dennis called the meeting to order and opened with a word of prayer. Burt made a motion to accept June Spiritual Council meeting minutes. Larry seconded. Motion carried. No Pastoral Report due to Pastor Bill attending the St. Louis confirmation mission trip. Old Business: Burt presents the church member visit notice to be next Beacon. It was discussed. Dennis will discuss it with Pastor when he comes back from St. Louis. Delores Schreiner will be the organist for church service on Sunday, July 17. New Business: None Next regular meeting will be Tuesday, August 9, 2016 at 5:45 pm. Larry made a motion to close the meeting. Burt seconded. Motion carried. The meeting closed by joining hands and saying the Lord Prayer. Secretary, LaVonda Bando

SPIRITUAL

COUNCIL

The Church Council met June 14, 2016. Present were Pastor Bill, Jen Hamilton, Peg

Johnson, Jane Kreifels, Connie Jensen, Loren Mylenek, Maggie Brust, John Vock, and

John Brust.

Peggy Johnson made a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting. John

Vock seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

John Brust presented a bid from Paver's Inc. for work on the parking lot. This is the

only bid we have at this time. Council decided to wait for another bid. After discussion of

the financial report, Jane Kreifels made a motion to approve the financial report and pay

the bills. Loren Mylenek seconded the motion, and the motion was approved.

There was no Spiritual Council report.

Board of Christian Ed report- The confirmation trip is being planned and they have

received a grant from Friends of Faith to help with the cost of the trip.

Women's Fellowship report- The women are planning a soup dinner in October and a

Christian Women United tea in December.

The Search committee is moving along. There was no Memorial report or steward-

ship committee report. In parsonage repairs, the new stools were installed and the rest of

the bathroom updates are pending.

In new business, the conference is considering joining with Iowa and South Dakota

to form one conference, in order save money on office expenses and duplication of services.

The next meeting of the council will be July 12th at 7 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jane Kreifels, secretary

CHURCH COUNCIL

The Church Council met on July 12, 2016 at 7 pm. Present were Jen Hamilton, Peg Johnson, Jane Kreifels, David Carpenter, Loren Mleynek, John Vock, and Connie Jensen. Also attending were Sarah Bando, Sandy Ried, John and Margaret Brust.

The meeting was called to order by President Jen Hamilton. The minutes of the previous meeting were discussed with it being noted that the Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota conferences have already combined, with only the reorganization and location of a central office being pending. David Carpenter made a motion to accept the minutes with a 2nd by Peg Johnson. The motion was approved.

Sandy Ried commented on her financial report. $1002.78 was donated by the vacation bible school for the Flint, Michigan water mission project. The upcoming budget was discussed. Sandy reported that she would like to add some methods of direct deposit and internet giving available to people at that time. Peggy Johnson made a motion to accept the financial report and pay the bills. Loren seconded the motion. The motion was approved.

In old business, John Brust presented a 2nd bid from Constructors, which is owned by Able of Waverly. This bid was in addition to the bid presented at the June meeting from Pavers, Inc. The bid from Maybee's of Nebraska City, was an oral bid, never presented in writing, and it is the opinion of the council that it does not meet the same requirements as the other 2 bids. John Vock made a motion to accept the Pavers bid of $40,980.00 for presentation to the congregation, with an up to 10% contingency may be required for unforeseen circumstances, and that the project is to be paid for with funds from the Hesemann funds. David Carpenter seconded the motion. The motion was approved. The special meeting of the congregation was set for July 31st, 2016.

Spiritual Council report-Delores Schreiner will fill in for Nina Jean on July 17. Board of Christian Ed-No report. No pastors report. Women's Fellowship- A fall soup dinner is being planned as well as the December Christmas Tea for Church Women United. Search Committee-They are making progress. No Memorial fund or stewardship committee report.

In other old business, Jen reported that the showers are done in the parsonage and the sinks are next to be replaced. The light in the pulpit needs to be repaired. It was suggested that one of the plants in the foyer be given away in a raffle. The carpets upstairs need to be cleaned. The floor downstairs needs to be stripped.

There was no word on whether Bethel will be a trolley stop on Applejack weekend.

The next meeting will be Aug 9 at 7pm. The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Jane Kreifels, Secretary

CHURCH

COUNCIL

Women’s Fellowship met Tuesday, June 14th in the Fellowship Hall. We celebrated birthdays with pizza and cake! The meeting was opened with a prayer. Mary Redelfs called the meeting to order. Minutes from the last meeting were reviewed and accepted. The treasurer’s report was given by Jane Kreifels. It was moved and seconded to accept the report. Bills were presented and it was moved and accepted to pay the bills. Correspondence was read. Thank you notes were received from the family of Jim Holman and our winner of the basket from the spring luncheon. An invitation was received from the United Methodist Women for a Guest Day featuring “The Harvey Girls” on Thursday, July 21st at 11:30 am. RSVP to Keitha Thompson by July 17th. 452-873-7889. Committee Reports : Spiritual Life: Marilyn Weible reported that Get Well cards were sent to Delphine Griepenstroh, Sharon Kotas and again to Delphine Griepenstroh (at a later time). Sympathy cards were sent to Harold Hauberg, Neal Niebruegge and Georgia Teten. Visitation: Joan Weible visited our residents at the nursing home and they enjoyed the visit. Altar flowers: There have been flowers from a funeral and in memory of a birthday. Courtesy and Receptions: No report Kitchen: The convection oven was cleaned in March. The congregation will be reminded to please take home and wash any linens when they use the kitchen. Please put dishes away and wipe counters. Church Women United: A lovely tea at the Lutheran Church was attended by several members. An interesting program was given by Laura Steinman about parties held by the Morton’s at Arbor Lodge. Prayer Chain: Connie Gieseking will send details to Sarah Bando when she is out of town.

WOMENS FELLOWSHIP

Women’s Fellowship continued….. Members helped at the Bloodmobile on May 16th.They made and served sandwiches and cookies. Details for the Christmas tea for Church Women United was discussed. Members will make paper teapots at the September 13th meeting and are asked to bring old Christmas cards, glue and scissors. A program was discussed. New business: Maggie Brust was asked to find a cabinet to display the quilt made for Bethel’s 100 anniversary. A motion was made and passed for her to report back at the September meeting. It was moved and seconded to have another soup supper this fall. The date of Sunday, October 16th was decided upon. Next Meeting: Tuesday, September 13

th, 2016— brown bag lunch and election of

officers, Christmas Tea details finalized. Least coin and Offering were taken. The meeting was closed with a prayer Respectfully submitted, Mary Redelfs, Secretary pro tem

After a brief summer break, our Building and Grounds committee will meet again on August 4

at 7pm. Anyone interested is encouraged and welcome to come. If you have a certain skill

that you know our church could benefit from, please come and share your talents. Our hope

is to meet quarterly unless something arises requiring us to meet sooner.

We have made nice progress on the parsonage projects over the spring and summer. We

held a parsonage work day where several volunteers gave of their time to clean out the

basement, do some spring cleaning, painted the outside trim and even some yard

work. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in that fun day. At the same time, new toilets

were installed in all three bathrooms which included new shutoff valves in two of them. The

shutoffs were unexpected, but necessary as it turned out.

In June, two of the showers in the parsonage were painted using an electrostatic technique.

We were very impressed with the final product. If you would like to see the progress

made, we are hoping to schedule another work weekend this fall. However, this time we plan

to include some minor work at the church as well. Our main focus will be yard work and

cleaning the garage at the parsonage however.

Our final step in the parsonage improvement project will be to replace the bathroom sinks.

This is the trickiest step in the project as we think it may include special orders depending

on exactly what we end up replacing.

We are excited to see the progress being made on the back parking lot. Bids have been

reviewed and a congregational meeting is in the works for July 31. Please plan to attend

church to vote that Sunday morning. A huge thank you to John Brust for doing all of the leg

work to secure bids for that major project.

If you happen to notice anything inside or outside of the church property that needs

attention, please let me know or write it down on the maintenance list on the church bulletin

board.

Again, mark your calendars for Thursday, August 4th at 7pm for the next meeting of the

Bethel Building and Grounds committee. Everyone is welcome. Hope to see you there.

J. Hamilton

BETHEL BUILDING AND GROUNDS COMMITTEE

Meeting has been moved to Tuesday 8/2 following the Board of Christian Ed. meeting.

REFLECTIONS ON CONFIRMATION TRIP 2016

~ EMMAUS HOME ~

I really enjoyed our confirmation trip to St. Louis. I really appreciated Jason and pastor for putting up

with us through the week and I would like to thank the church for sending us. I had a great time

meeting the clients. We played basketball with them, ate dinner with them, helped improve the

drainage next to a drive way for one of the clients houses and we also went to an art museum with

them. We met a guy named Don who is awesome. He has 75 thousand baseball cards, is an expert

bowler who's high score is 280 he holds the record at Emmaus for the highest score. We had a lot

of fun and did a lot of different things including go carts which were a lot of fun. We also found

another thing called demolition ball which is polo, football, Basketball, and hockey all mixed together

while you are driving a bumper car. I would also like to thank Margaret Brust for making the

casserole for use to use at the dinner on Tuesday night. ~ Mason Hamilton

When we got to St. Louis on Monday we met with Shana and Cindy. Tuesday morning we put on a

basketball clinic with residents. After that we worked at a home where we dug a trench so they

could put grass in. Then we went to another house for dinner then headed back to the church.

Wednesday we went back to the house and kept digging the trench. Then we went to the St. Louis

arch and that evening we went to Adrenaline Zone. Thursday we went back to the house and

finished digging the trench, and then we hosted bingo at the church we were staying at. Thursday

afternoon we went go-cart racing and an art museum. We met some nice people and learned a lot

along the way. I want to thank the church for letting me go on this trip and to have an experience

like this. Thank you again ~ Jason Stukenholtz

Our trip to Emmaus was really amazing. We arrived at the really cool church we stayed in. We

stayed the next day at a gym coaching out basketball clinic. We met Don with his hook shot and

Kathleen with her amazing shot. We started working at the James house digging a trench. The

next day working went really well. We got about 2/3 of the way done. Even though Matthew got

sick we went up the Arch before lunch. We were supposed to ride go-karts and have bible study but

it poured rain. So we played Demo ball and laser tag. We finished digging on Thursday. Then we

finally got to ride go karts which was awesome. Then we saw Don again at the Foundry Art Center.

We made spin are with Don. The next morning we packed up and headed home. ~ Gray Carpenter

On Monday, we went on a 6 1/2 hour drive from out church to St. Louis only stopping for gas, restrooms, and lunch. We ate at Hardee’s. We also met with Shana, who is the development of Emmaus. Then we met with Pastor Cindi, which obviously she is a pastor. We are staying at Church of the Shepard.

On Tuesday, we put on a basketball clinic for Emmaus clients. Don, which was one of the two clients who came, was a pro at everything, especially bowling. His high score is 280! After that went to the James Street house and started on a trench.

On Wednesday, we worked more at the James Street house and continued on the trench. We went to the Arch. We ate supper really early because of a storm. We had Hardee’s again. Then we went to Demolition Ball Adrenaline Zone. We played demolition Ball and laser tag.

On Thursday, we ate. Then we finished the trench. We played bingo with some clients. Pastor Cindi came and talked to us. Then we raced go-carts. For supper we had pizza. After that we had a pool tournament, Mason won, Jason S. second.

On Friday, we left.

What I thought was the main question was: Where is GOD with us here? I think God is everywhere in everything. For example, Cathlyn came to the basketball clinic and wanted to leave, but before she left she wanted to shoot. She tried and tried again . Once she finally made a basket she was done. I just knew we were doing it for him. I learned to not look at people on the outside, but on the inside. All I really have to say is that I had a great time. ~ Quintin Holman

Bethel United Church of Christ

2400 Central Avenue

Nebraska City, NE 68410

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

SCHEDULED TO SERVE AUGUST 2016

LAY LEADERS August 7 August 14 August 21 August 28 Jen Tietz Cindy Kreifels Adelene Vock Dennis Marshall GREETERS August 7 August 14 August 21 August 28 John & Margaret Brust Dean & Sue Griepenstroh Jane/Cindy Kreifels Jim & Sharon Herzog USHERS August 7—August 14 August 21—August 28 Dennis & Carol Marshall, Jim & Sharon Herzog Jen & Dan Hamilton, Jamie/Sara Horstmann SOUND SYSTEM August 7—August 14 August 21—August 28 Chip Johnson Dennis Marshall

ACOLYTES August 7 August 14 August 21 August 28 Brianna Johnson Christian Tietz Quintin Holman Nick Brown Need volunteer Madisen Tietz Keston Holman Mason Wieckhorst

FLOWERS ~ Sarah Bando COOKIE FELOWSHP ~ Sandy Ried & Katie Chapin

AUGUST 2016