Christmas Gift Supporting The Hope Center

As a special Christmas gift, Bethany and families from Our Shepherd Childcare are collecting monetary donations for The Hope Center. (The Hope Center provides physical support in Christian love for local families who are struggling with physical needs. They provide material assistance (personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies) and are a distribution site for the Fox Cities Diaper Bank.) If you would like to contribute, please use one of the special envelopes that can be found in the Welcome Center on both campuses. Checks should be written out to Bethany Lutheran Church. The last day of this collection will be Monday, December 20.

Senior Service Sign-Ups

Bethany will host a special church service for senior citizens on Friday, December 17 at 10AM on the Parkway Campus. There will be a special lunch that follows. If you plan to attend this service, please use the sign-up sheet (on either location). We are also in need of workers to work in the kitchen, and volunteers to bring pies for dessert to the luncheon as well.

December Special Services

In addition to our Wednesday Midweek Advent Worship Services (10AM & 6PM - December 1, 8, & 15), we would also like to invite you to our other special services in December:

Friday, December 10 @ 10AM - Our Shepherd Children’s Christmas Program (Facebook Livestream)

Friday, December 17 @ 10AM - Senior Worship Service & Dinner (Parkway Location)

Sunday, December 19 @ 10:30AM - Sunday School Christmas Program (Parkway Location)

Friday, December 24 @ 10AM - Christmas Eve Service (Lynndale Location)

Friday, December 24 @ 4PM & 6PM - Christmas Eve Services (Parkway Location)

Saturday, December 25 @ 10AM - Christmas Day Service (Parkway Location)

Midweek Advent Services - 2021

“When the time had fully come, God sent his Son.” God’s people had been waiting for hundreds, thousands of years for God to send the rescuer. As the time approached, God sent his messengers to declare that the waiting was nearly over. The king of all creation was entering the world. This Advent, we will prepare for the Christ-child by listening to God’s messengers of Good News, the angels, as they appear to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. They have a message from God of good news that brings great joy, which is for all people. This Advent, during our Midweek worship services, we will ponder the mystery of the virgin birth, the incarnation, and the humility of God as he becomes one with us to rescue us from sin and death. We’ll be singing Christmas carols and joining the angels in their songs of praise. We too are messengers, sent from God, to invite others “to see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

Worship with us on Wednesdays – December 1, 8, and 15 – at 10AM or 6PM on our Parkway Campus.

Griefshare - Surviving the Holidays

Have you recently lost someone and are wondering how you will survive the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas? Are you dreading these holidays, knowing that everything has changed and that happy memories from past years can’t be recreated? Our Surviving the Holidays event lasts for about two hours. You’ll be welcomed by warm, caring people who understand what you are going through and who want to help. Class is at St. Luke’s in Little Chute on Saturday, November 20 at 10AM. Register early; space is limited. https://www.griefshare.org/holidays/events/37034

OWLS Meeting

The next meeting of OWLS (Organization of WELS Lutheran Seniors) will be held on Tuesday, November 9, at Pizza Ranch on Appleton’s west side. The address is 5450 W Integrity Way - just north of Costco. There will be lunch at noon, followed by a presentation at 1:00. A business meeting will conclude the afternoon. Officer Johnson from the Grand Chute Police Department will speak about scams that seniors can be confronted with by phone and online. The main topic of the business meeting will be the future of the organization.

Family Forum & Voters' Meeting - Sunday, October 31

We will be having a Family Forum and Voters' Meeting on Sunday, October 31st at 9:15AM in the lower level fellowship hall on the Parkway Campus.

The property adjacent to Bethany’s Lynndale campus is on the market. This situation presents an opportunity very similar to the one we had when the Erb Street property adjacent to our Parkway campus became available in 2018. We were able to acquire and then rent that property, and subsequently were able to pay off the mortgage earlier this year. Owning that Erb Street property has enabled us to consider the potential expansion of our Parkway building. At the same time, the property has increased in value and gives us the option of selling it, along with the adjacent property, should we decide to relocate our church.

Because of its proximity to our Lynndale building, the acquisition of the Capital Drive property is something that we have been considering in our long range plans for many years. It would enhance our current footprint and offer flexibility to consider future options for ministry expansion and optimization of the campus. Once we acquire the property, we could have the option to rent the house and use the proceeds to pay the mortgage, similar to what we did with the Erb Street rental proceeds. If we determine at some point the property may not, for whatever reason, fit into our ministry plans, we could always consider selling the house.

It is for these reasons that the Bethany Leadership Team strongly recommends that we make an offer to purchase the Capital Drive property, pending a thorough inspection of the house, for a price not to exceed what is stated in the resolution we plan to ask the Voters to consider and approve during our upcoming Family Forum / Voters’ Meeting on Sunday, October 31.

Turkey Trot Volunteers

We are hoping to gather a group from Bethany to serve as volunteers for the Festival Foods Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning - November 25, 2021. Please email Emily - churchoffice@bethanyappleton.org - if you are interested in helping (all volunteering will be finished by 9:30am - just in time for you to join your family for Thanksgiving dinner!) Volunteers must be 14 years or older. Please email your interest by Friday, October 22, 2021)

Bethany Lutheran Church

920.733.9561

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