THE STAR September 2018 Bethlehem Lutheran Church

A Place For You Wahoo, Nebraska

Ph# 402-443-3160

Pastor Bob Hayden-rbhhayden@reagan.com -

Ph# 402-672-1345

Church office hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Church website: bethlehemlutheranwahoo.org

Church email: wahoo.bethlehem@gmail.com

Starting on September 12th!

Worship 6:30 - 7:00 PM

Christian Education 7:00 - 7:45 PM

Sunday School for Pre-school - 5th Grade

Middle School Ministry

Women’s Bible Study (7:00 - 8:00 PM)

Middle School Ministry will have supper together at 6:00 PM.

“And now look how far we’ve come…So far from where we used

to be…But not so far that we’ve forgotten…How it was before…

September morn”—“September Morn”—Neil Diamond

Dear Members and Friends of Bethlehem Lutheran Church….

Cindy and I have been life-long fans of the music of Neil Diamond and we have

been saddened at the news of Mr. Diamond’s Parkinson’s Disease that has forced him to

stop performing on stage. Just this past Saturday I read an article about Mr. Diamond

where he continues to be upbeat and will on occasion, make appearances performing

only one of his countless hit songs. Our prayers for him will continue.

I cannot look at the calendar and see the month of September arrive without

thinking of one of those hits, “September Morn”. September for me at least has been one

of those transitional months of God’s Creation where the heat of summer begins to fade

replaced by cool, crisp mornings, mid-day warmth, the beginning of nature’s color-change,

of harvest, of crickets and cicadas, and all the other pleasant rewards of faithful hard work

throughout the summer. September is a time to enjoy the fruits of our labors in countless

ways. The lyrics from Neil’s song seem to resonate to the essence of September: “And

now look how far we’ve come…so far from where we used to be…”

Reflecting from where we were before to the present is a healthy exercise. Just as

Christ welcomes our questioning of Him, of our faith, I think it is good to review, to

question our shared walk of faith at Bethlehem. Looking forward by looking back, our two-

plus year reflection of worship is about to be harvested in our “Worship on Wednesdays—

Engaging People In Christ”. Combining what has been in place with new worship and

education opportunities, especially for those whose Sundays often require them to be in

places away from Bethlehem, we will be worshiping for thirty minutes on Wednesdays

beginning at 6:30 p.m.

This worship, as stated before will not be a repeat of the previous Sunday, instead

a fresh, new service using different, rarely used Scriptures. A call to worship litany, one

scripture, children’s time, message, confession and forgiveness, and two or three

shortened hymns will be the frame. Holy Communion will be offered on the first

Wednesday of the month. This will be a familiar…but different service. “But not so far

that we’ve forgotten…how it was before.”

Our hope is that not only those who missed the previous Sunday, but those who

attended the previous Sunday will come out to worship. This service is for everyone! In

addition to Middle School Ministry, other adult and children’s education will be provided.

Typical Sunday School aged children will gather in a ‘one-room Sunday School format’

while adults will gather in women’s or men’s or combined groups or in choir rehearsal.

Our goal is to be completed with these education opportunities no later than 8:00 p.m.

As has been the plea from the beginning of all this, additional and different

participation in worship as song leaders, musicians, ushers, set-up, clean-up, teachers are

needed. This is a perfect opportunity for those of you would love to participate on Sunday

but are restricted by other commitments can share your talents, gifts, and service to our

church as you faithfully serve our Lord.

Our hope and prayer is that Worship on Wednesdays will be an oasis from the

busyness of the week. A time to relax in God’s Word; sing His praises; worship with your

children and grandchildren, and get to know each other even better.

See you on Sundays…see you on Wednesdays! “And now look how far we’ve

come…so far from where we used to be…but not so far that we’ve forgotten…how it was

before.”

Blessings & Spiritual Growth

Pastor Bob

Middle School Ministry Middle School Ministry will begin on Wednesday, September 5

th with

a parent-student meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall. On that night we will hand out student books, seek parent volunteer co-teachers, sign-up for parent provided meals, talk about student expectations, and offer a general overview of our confirmation program at Bethlehem.

Quick note on Wednesday schedule: dinner for students and teachers will be from 6:00 to 6:25. Worship is from 6:30 to 7:00; class time will be from as close to 7:00 to approximately 7:45. We will gather, disperse into the various class rooms in Sunday School area for group and individual work. This arrangement proved to work quite well last year. This year we will continue with the “Colaborate” series, focusing on the Old Testament along with other catechism type learning. This curriculum does a great job of dispelling many myths about the Old Testament and how its teachings and stories are just as relevant as today’s life

Bethlehem Women

On August 16th, 2018, nine ladies gathered for Bethlehem

Women for the third study on prayer.

Arlene Johnson opened the meeting with the daily devotional from “Christ In Our Home” entitled “Listening to our listening God” based on PSALM 34: 9-14 because it concerned prayer.

During the Business meeting we heard the regular reports. Mary McKay told us we have completed gathering our items for the LWR kits. Arlene thanked Alvina Mumm for serving and Sherry Hageman for leading our lesson.

In Old Business we were reminded of Autumn Renewal in Hastings on September 22nd

with registrations due September 14

th. Eight of us plan to go to the salad luncheon at St.

Mark’s, Valley tomorrow.

Marilyn Volin and Marcia Pearson reported on their contributions to the Carol Joy Holling quilt auction. The three donated items brought in $995.00 for the camp.

The Fall Bible study which starts in September is on “Repentance.”

In New Business Mary McKay and Marilyn Volin volunteered to donate cookies to the Bloodmobile being held the 21

st and 22

nd of August. Arlene covered the items in the

letter from our board representative, Luanne Schwartzkopf. The birthdays noted for this month are Deloris Smith and Joyce Breunig. Anniversaries noted were Gary and Gayle Rasmussen and Jerry and Marilyn Volin.

We closed the business meeting by receiving our offerings and praying together the opening prayer from our lesson.

Sherry led us in our lesson on Contemplative Prayer based on Romans 8: 26-28 and I Corinthians 12: 4-11. The theme verse was Romans 8: 26 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”

We closed our meeting with the closing prayer from our lesson. Alvina served a delicious carrot cake for dessert. FOR YOUR CALENDAR: Tuesday, September 11

th 9 am Quilting (Old Basement)

Friday, September 14th Registrations due for Autumn Renewal (Registration Blanks in

the church office) Thursday, September 20

th Bethlehem Women 2 pm (Fellowship Hall) Diane Reece-

Hostess, Marcia Pearson, Lesson Leader Saturday, September 22

nd Autumn Renewal, Hastings, NE.

Tuesday, September 25th 9 am Quilting (Old Basement)

Acolyte Schedule: September 2nd 9:30 AM - Lilly Harris and Autumn Iversen

September 9th 9:30 AM - Harper Hancock and Jack Mortensen

September 16th 9:00 AM -

11:00 AM -

September 23rd 9:00 AM -

11:00 AM -

September 30th 9:00 AM -

11:00 AM -

Update on our seminarians, Hillary (Fick) Christensen and husband, Evan Christensen

Evan and Hillary arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in late July to begin their 4 year

journey to become Lutheran pastors. They are living on the Philadelphia campus of

United Lutheran Seminary and enrolled in a 3 week crash course (Greek language)

before starting fall classes in Gettysburg.

To Bethlehem Lutheran Church Congregation: It was a privilege for both of us to be a part of the service on July 22 and appreciate the guidance of Pastor Bob. We are so thankful for the support Bethlehem congregation has shown us as we begin our school-ing. We're very excited about it all and we look forward to visiting Bethlehem when we're back in Nebraska.

Hillary & Evan

Moving day outside their living quarters on

Gettysburg campus.

The rest of the September schedule will be emailed after the September 5th Parent /

Student Meeting.

September Birthdays: Tommy Johnston 9/1 Jacob Rosencrantz 9/1 Briggs Barry 9/2 Donald Hanson 9/2 Nicole Josephson 9/2 Andrew Waido 9/2 Evan Reynolds 9/3 Abigail Borchers 9/4 Tom Lindau 9/4 John Vybiral 9/4 Gayle Rasmussen 9/5 Sandra Chmelka 9/6 Sarah Harris 9/6 Laurie Pehrson 9/6 Branden Koranda 9/7 Kaylen Stewart 9/7 Brian Homes 9/8 Bruce Burkey 9/9 Lily Rafteseth 9/9 Tucker Hancock 9/10 Jaxsen Wilt 9/10 Everett Inbody II 9/13 Patti Inbody 9/13 Mary Ann Ondracek 9/13 Donna Lynn 9/14 Donald Fick 9/14 Cindy Pearson 9/14 Erin Sutton 9/14 Jim Smith 9/14 Hailey Havlovic 9/15 Joseph Lang 9/15

Marlene Obert 9/15 Nolan Pehrson 9/15 Kim Schnakenberg 9/15 Dale Larsen 9/16 Nicholas Lausterer 9/16 Gary Rasmussen 9/16 Karen Kennedy 9/18 Khris Lihs 9/18 Ashtyn Price 9/18 Rachel Stratman 9/18 Marilyn Volin 9/18 Cali Britton 9/19 Rollie Feilmeier 9/19 Karissa Forbes 9/19 Lori Mortensen 9/19 Keith Obert 9/19 Allen Rubesh 9/20 Susan Wagner 9/20 Sandra Brizendine 9/21 Andy Havlovic 9/21 MaKenna Meyer 9/21 Kathy Hancock 9/22 Michael Klahn 9/22 Rilynn Nelson 9/22 Cameron Duckworth 9/23 Jordan Larsen 9/26 Jill Pokorny 9/26 Todd Blaske 9/27 Andrew Harris 9/27 Gloria Pearson 9/27 Colton Spangler 9/28 Deborah Rubesh 9/29 Joel Lindstrom 9/30 Josie Schnakenberg 9/30

If you do not see your birthday or anniversary, please let Amy know in the office know at 402-443-3160/wahoo.bethlehem@gmail.com so we can correct our database. Thank you!

September Anniversaries: Dalton & Whitney Fletcher 9/3

Gaylord & Deyo Anderson 9/5

Nick & Christine Delozier 9/10

Tim & Julie Reimer 9/10

Laird & Carol Sayers 9/13

Ryan & April Watts 9/14

Justin & Ashley Sharpe 9/16 Harley & Valesta Larsen 9/18

Robert & Andrea Zara 9/18

John & Michelle Vybiral 9/26

Brett & Alicia Holtorf 9/27

Tylor & Lindsey Shull 9/27

Josh & Julie Borchers 9/29

Andy & Lindsey Havlovic 9/29

Colton & Cortney Spangler 9/30

Join in for Fellowship & Treats! 9/2 & 9/9—10:30 AM

Starting 9/16—10:00 AM

Sunday Monday Tuesday

2 9:30 AM Worship 10:30 AM Fun and Fellowship

3 Office Closed 6:30 PM Boy Scouts

4 Preschool Begins!

9 RALLY SUNDAY! 9:30 AM Worship 10:30 AM Fun and Fellowship

10

6:30 PM Boy Scout

7:00 PM Music & Worship Mtg

11

9:00 AM Quilting

16 God’s Work, Our Hands

9:00 AM Worship 10:00 AM Sunday School / Fellowship 11:00 AM Worship 12:00 PM Council Meeting

17 9:00 AM WIC

6:30 PM Boy Scouts

18

23 Global Sunday 9:00 AM Worship 10:00 AM Sunday School / Fellowship 11:00 AM Worship 9:00 AM Worship 10:00 AM Sunday School / Fellowship

30 11:00 AM Worship

24 6:30 PM Boy Scouts

25 9:00 AM Quilting *Newsletter article deadline

September 2018

First Step Preschool M/W 9:00 -11:00 AM T/TH 9:00 -11:00 AM MWF 12:30 -3:00 PM

First Step Preschool MWF 8:30 –11 AM

12:30 - 3:00 PM T/TH 9:00 - 11 AM

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

5 6:30 PM - MSM Parent / Student Meeting

6 7:00 PM AA Meeting

7

8

12 Wednesday Night Lights! 6:00 PM MSM 6:30 PM Worship 7:00 PM Christian Education

13

7:00 PM AA Meeting

14 Krazy Quilters

15

19 Wednesday Night Lights! 6:00 PM MSM 6:30 PM Worship 7:00 PM Christian Education

20 2:00 PM WELCA 7:00 PM AA Meeting

21

22

26 Wednesday Night Lights! 6:00 PM MSM 6:30 PM Worship 7:00 PM Christian Education

27 7:00 PM AA Meeting

28 29

September 2018

Sunday, August 12th, 2018 Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Council Meeting

Members Present: Luke Simons, Mike Christen, Chad Fox, Ryan Ideus,

Michelle Koranda, Colette Rathke, Jarred Royal, and Pastor Bob Hayden.

Excused Members: Missy Abbott & Julie Scott.

Guests Present: Dean Biggerstaff

CALL TO ORDER-President Ideus called the meeting to order at 10:40am.

JULY MINUTES

July of 2018 council meeting minutes were presented by President Ideus for council

consideration. Motion to approve by Christen and seconded by Simons. Motion

unanimously approved:

JULY FINANCIALS

July of 2018 financial reports were presented and a Motion to approve was made

by Simons and seconded by Koranda and was approved unanimously.

PASTOR’S ACTIVITY REPORT

Pastor Bob Hayden presented his Activity report to the council.

COMMITTEE LIAISON REPORTS

EDUCATION

ENDOWMENT- Meeting this month.

PROPERTY COMMITTEE

MEN OF ACTION-Will be painting entry & Halls leading down to the Sunday School

Rooms. Meet on Sunday Evenings.

LONG-RANGE PLANNING

EVANGELISM- Meeting Tues.

MISSION

SCOUTS

STEWARDSHIP- Meeting Wed

WOMEN OF THE CHURCH-Meet 3rd

Thursday.

WORSHIP & MUSIC – Finalizing the Wed night Services which will start on September

12th

NEW BUSINESS

Discussion was held with Dean Biggerstaff on allowing Girls to join Boy Scouts.

OLD BUSINESS

Decision was made on the church adding Push Pay online giving from your electronic

device.

No other old business was presented to the council for consideration.

ADJOURNMENT- The meeting was adjourned by President Ideus at 12:45PM and closed

with the Lords Prayer.

NEXT COUNCIL MEETING:

Next meeting will be held Sunday September 16th Noon.

Respectfully submitted:

Michelle Koranda

Special Music for Global Sunday September 23, Global Sunday, the Bethlehem Singers will sing a new arrangement of a familiar piece, We Are Called with guest violinist (Elly Harris) and piano accompanist (Lyn Harris) at both services. We are excited to have Elly and her mother at Bethlehem. Elly Harris is a 9th grader at Lincoln High School in Kansas City. She has been taking violin lessons since she was 5 years old and plays in her high school's orchestra. She likes playing Bach and fiddle tunes. Her grandparents are Ed and Deb Banks.

Welcome to our newest members!

Haley Foutch

& Braden Storm

Coming Soon….. September 9 Marketplace Fall Opening Many new items! “Inventory Reduction” going on now in Fellowship Hall!

September 16 God’s Work – Our Hands “Spreading God’s Light through Random Acts of Kindness” How can we make a difference in our community? -Diaper Drive bring packs of diapers for all ages to church on or before the 16

th

-Random Acts of Kindness (chocolate chip cookies delivered to those working Sunday or in any community service job; fresh cinnamon rolls to a shut-in, work at the Clothes Closet for 1-2 hours, mow or rake a lawn, communion to a shut-in, write a thank you. . .) Do you know someone who needs assistance in some way? Let Diane Reece or the church office know by Sept. 9

th.

WE NEED YOUR IDEAS and suggestions! Options to reach out will be plentiful on the 16

th as we use Our Hands to do God’s

Work!

A Note From Sunday School: Rally Sunday September 9th! It’s that time of year again! We are looking for three year olds to participate in Sunday School again this year. We will celebrate their joining us with Cradle Roll on Sunday, September 9th. If you have a little one or know of someone who would like to be involved, please contact Lori Mortensen (402-218-7642 or lorimortz@gmail.com) or leave your information at the church office.

“God can restore what is

broken and change it into something amazing. All you

need is faith .” - Joel 2:25

Artist Nate Hall,

3 timber studio,

Lincoln, carved a

cross from the tree

stump in our

preschool

playground.

First Step Preschool News

We have been very busy working during August to get ready for a new school year! We

had an Open House on Aug. 23th. It was fun meeting our new students and welcoming

back familiar faces, from last year! We are excited to start working with and getting to

know our new friends! We are looking forward to a fun and educational year!

We are excited to welcome Jen Kaminski to our Preschool staff! Some of you may already

know her as she is the owner of Mrs. H’s Daycare. Her experience with children will be

an asset to our program! Jen will be taking over as Director of First Step Preschool when

Debbie retires in May of 2019. Her ability to lead will also be beneficial to the program!

First Step will continue to offer the highest quality of Preschool education as it has for

many, many years!

We are very fortunate to be fully staffed and have 41 students enrolled!

All the teachers want to shout out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped move our

totes to the storage room. We so appreciate your time and muscles! We would also like

to thank Catherine Rafteseth for her donation of play doh toys! We are really excited

about them knowing our students will love playing with them! This would be a good time

to thank Amy for always assisting us and Deyo for keeping our room clean all year long!

Last but not least we want to thank Pastor Bob for all the polishing of the tile floors! They

look wonderful! Pastor also shares a bible story with our students most every week! The

students look forward to their story time with Pastor Bob! We

so appreciate all the support that is extended to our program

by church members!

Sincerely,

Debbie, Jen and Julie

Train up a child in the way he should go and when

he is old he will not depart from it. - Proverbs 22:6

Bethlehem’s Blessings

Thank you to Sherry Hageman for helping with data entry in the office!

Thank you to Tom Zeleny for hanging up the new bulletin board strips for the preschool!

Thank you to Tom Johnston for his continual work on the flower beds!

Thank you to Pastor Bob for polishing all the tile floors!

Thanks to all those who have been helping to paint the fellowship hall!

Thanks to Don and Lois Fick for arranging the cross carving in the preschool playground!

It is in blessing others that we are blessed with a precious blessing of our own~

Help us stay in touch with you! Has your address or phone number changed? Do we have your email address?

If you aren’t getting emails from the church, we don’t have your correct address! Please let the office know your email and of any changes in your address and / or phone number at 402-443-3160 or wahoo.bethlehem@gmail.com. Thank you!

2018 Pictorial Directory!

You can now schedule your appointment online to get your photograph taken for the new directory! Use the link below or scan the QR code to take you directly to the scheduling site. Pictures will be taken October 23—27.

https://booknow-lifetouch.appointment-plus.com/yznzk4nc/ *We will have in person sign ups beginning on September 9th.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church 504 West 8th St.

Wahoo, Nebraska 68066 402-443-3160

Newsletter mailed 8/29/2018

Nonprofit Org. Permit No. 23

U.S. Postage PAID Wahoo, NE 68066

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Let Us Know Your Email Address! If you would prefer “THE STAR” via email let us know. Also, having an email address can help us update people faster and without postage costs. Simply email the church office at: wahoo.bethlehem@gmail.com and give us your email.

Our Members at the Care Centers: South Haven: Eunice Brodahl & Robert Peterson

Care Center: Jenny Iversen Saunders House: Tom Lindau & Stanley Dokulil

Please let us know: If you are going to the hospital or having a procedure done please give the office a call to let us know. HIPAA rules prevent hospitals from calling us. * Deadline for submitting articles for the October newsletter is September 25th.