Call Meeting - Monday, November 23 at 7PM

Join us either in-person in the Parkway Campus Sanctuary after our 6PM worship service on Monday, November 23rd. To continue to provide a safe in-person environment for our members, we ask that everyone in attendance wear masks.

If you aren’t able to join us in-person, there will also be a Zoom option to join in the meeting as well. If you didn’t already receive that link to the Zoom meeting, send an email to churchoffice@bethanyappleton.org.

Looking Ahead: Midweek Advent Services

Our Wednesday, Midweek Advent Services will be held on December 2, 9, and 16. Services will be at 10AM and 6PM on our Parkway Campus - which is a change from recent years.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”       (Jeremiah 1:5)

God spoke those words to a young man named Jeremiah when he called him to point people to the coming Savior. Everyday God calls children to faith in him and into service for him.

For many of us, God called us to faith when we were children. This Advent season we will look at three “Children of the Promise.” Three children who were called by God in a special way to prepare people for the Savior: John the Baptist, Samuel, and Moses.  These children would grow up to be leaders, pointing and leading people to Christ.  We’ll see how God prepares us to trust his message and his messengers, how he speaks to us through his word, and how he protects and delivers his people. Throughout Scripture, God used children in his plan of salvation.  Child or adult, we pray that this series will help prepare your heart for the ultimate “Promised Child” this Advent season.

A Prayer for Pastor Steve Waldschmidt

Lord Jesus, you instituted the office of the public ministry and have given your people the privilege of extending calls to serve us through that ministry. Having asked for your help and guidance, our congregation has called Steve Waldschmidt to serve us as pastor. We ask that as he prayerfully considers this call, you would guide him to a decision that is in the best interest of your kingdom. As we await his decision, bless our congregation and its ministry so that your kingdom may continue to grow and flourish among us. We ask this in your name, for you are the Good Shepherd and head of the church. Amen.

Member Phone Calls

Members of our elder’s team will be making phone calls to touch base with those who have not been in worship since COVID began. We know that as cases rise in this area, many are worshiping online - so we hope to just let you know that we are thinking of you and praying for you during this time. We also want to see if you have any needs that we may be able to help meet, and encourage you to stay connected even as you mostly stay at home through our Livestream services.

If anyone would seek to have private communion with Pastor Brown or one of our visiting elders either in your home or in the church office, please email churchoffice@bethanyappleton.org or let your caller know!

New Sermon Series - Faithful Through the End

There are a few things in life that promise to be faithful to the end. A spouse. An insurance policy. A Craftsman wrench. Some of these things keep their promise. Some don’t. But they all expire when we expire.

God gives his people a promise that comes with not just a lifetime warranty but an eternal guarantee. Long after our bodies turn to dust, God’s promise will still stand. And therefore, so will we. 

Faithful Through the End is a series that identifies what God gives us to keep us close to him while on earth and then how he continues to be faithful to his promise after earth.

Call Extended to Pastor Steve Waldschmidt

On Monday, October 12, the voters of Bethany Lutheran Church issued a divine call to Pastor Steve Waldschmidt, who currently serves at Christ Alone Lutheran Church in Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. He wrote the following letter to acknowledge this call:

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Bethany Lutheran Church,

The purpose of this letter is to inform you that I have received your call to serve as pastor at Bethany.

I am prayerfully considering the call that you have extended to me. During this time I will ask that you pray for me, my family, and for your brothers and sisters at Christ Alone in Dardenne Prairie as well. I am confident that the Lord will use this opportunity to bless all involved and that we will thank and praise him for his wisdom. As I consider how the Lord might best use me and the gifts he has given to me for the good of his kingdom, I pray that his will be done.

May the grace and power of our living Savior be upon us as we continue to carry out his kingdom work in our daily lives!

In Christ,

Pastor Steve Waldschmidt

Christian Education Weekend - FVL Guests

The weekend of October 24-26 we will celebrate the gift of Christian education in our worship services. Pastor Aaron Dolan (son of Pastor John Dolan, who served here at Bethany from 1984-1990) from Fox Valley Lutheran High School will be our guest preacher. Mr. Jeff Loberger, FVL President, and Mr. Jay Wendland, FVL Mission Advancement Director, will give a brief update on all things Fox Valley Lutheran High School after our worship services on Saturday and Sunday. We hope you can join us!

Covid Update

We will continue to meet with the Appleton Health Department and monitor the coronavirus situation here at Bethany. Should things regarding in-person worship change, we will be sure to let you all know via email and Facebook as soon as possible.

For now, please re-familiarize yourself with our covid guidelines https://www.bethanyappleton.org/reopen, and continue to watch worship on our Facebook page - @Bethanyappleton if you so choose.

Food Pantry Collection Weekend - October 10-12, 2020

The pantry is collecting for items to be distributed for Thanksgiving.  We currently are in need of:

Chunky soups, tomato and chicken soups, creamed soups, canned vegetables (green beans, corn, peas), rice and pasta side dishes, boxed instant rice, boxed and canned potatoes, pancake mix and syrup, canned cranberries, pumpkin and evaporated milk, pasta/spaghetti sauces, laundry soap, dish soap and hand soap.

Thank you for your continued support of the pantry throughout this year.  

LWMS Fall Rally at Riverview Lutheran

Our Paperland Circuit fall rally will be held October 24,2020 and will be hosted at Riverview Lutheran Church, 136 Seymour St. Appleton.

Registration and coffee start at 8AM

Meeting and speakers are from 9AM—12:30PM

Lunch to follow

 Speakers for this rally will be:

Emily Kom—Mission Journey, Russia

Jerry Worden—Stevens Point Campus Ministry

The school gym in handicapped accessible. The state mandates, due to COVID-19, that masks are required. Please call Edie Frank at (920) 277-1642 by October 9th to register to attend this event. Mission monies can be put in the giving box at church anytime before October 9.

 

Better than Fair - New Sermon Series!

It doesn't line up with what seems fair, but that doesn't mean it’s unfair. If anything, it’s supra-fair. We just don’t always understand it. Grace.

Every time God acts in grace, rules change. What we’d assume isn’t, but in the best way possible. God’s grace saves and blesses us. And it saves and blesses others. “Better than Fair” is a sermon series that considers the mind of God in the decisions he makes towards humans. It confronts choices that sometimes offend and sometimes delight and shows us how they’re always best. 

May our earthly reason not get in the way of our praise to God’s beautiful, better-than-fair grace.

This sermon series begins the weekend of September 26-28, 2020.

Bethany Lutheran Church

920.733.9561

Parkway Campus - 530 W. Parkway Blvd. Appleton, WI 54911