BETHEL WEEKLY NEWS

CHILDREN ARE

WELCOMED AT BETHEL!

Parents will find bags of soft

toys for children at the en-

trance to the worship areas.

Thank you for doing what you

can to help in creating a wor-

ship environment where all

can participate by keeping

distracting noise and move-

ment to a minimum. If you

prefer, a nursery is available

Sunday mornings at Bethel

Highlands (9:30 am).

CONCERT TODAY! Please join us at 3 pm TODAY (Sunday, Dec. 21) at our Downtown campus for a Christmas concert fea-turing the Bethel Chorale, New Song Band, Chime Choir and the Bethel Bell Ensemble!

JOIN US AS WE BRING IN THE NEW YEAR! Please consider being with us for an informal worship service to say goodbye to the past and to welcome in the new year! We’ll be at the Highlands campus at 7 pm on Wednesday, December 31st with some wonderful music, communion, and a word for this new year/opportunity to come! Afterwards we’ll share a brief toast (with refreshments) to the year 2015. What a great way to usher in the new year! Please plan to be with us, and bring friends and family!

BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH ONE CONGREGATION—TWO LOCATIONS

DECEMBER 21, 2014

WELCOME WORSHIP

GUEST!

Bethel believes that God is at

work in our life together to

transform and renew the

world by making followers of

Jesus. You are welcome to

be a part of this community of

those who celebrate the for-

giveness and hope that are

God’s gifts to imperfect peo-

ple through Jesus Christ, to

grow in your faith, and to join

in serving human need in his

name. The people and pas-

tors of Bethel look forward to

sharing your life-journey in any

way that is helpful to you. If

you are a visitor to this beauti-

ful area, we hope your visit

was refreshing; your travels

are safe, and your homecom-

ing joyful. If you’d like more

information about Bethel,

please stop by our welcome

center or speak to a pastor.

A Winter Solstice Celebration

Awakening Light

God’s

Guest List

Christmas Vespers 12/21

Highlands Campus

7 pm A Vespers alumni reunion!

Christmas Eve Highlands Campus

2 pm Worship for children & their

Families. Nursery care available.

4 pm New this year! A Traditional Service with candlelight,

carols & communion. Nursery care available.

6 pm Candlelight, carols & communion with the New Song

Band

Christmas Eve Downtown Campus

8 pm Candlelight, carols & communion, music by the Bethel

Chorale

10 pm Candlelight, carols & communion, music by the Bethel

Chorale

Christmas Day Downtown Campus

10 am Carols & communion

BETHEL’S VISION FOR MISSION

To WELCOME all people to

know Jesus Christ and come

to faith in him. To provide the

means for growth for Chris-

tian maturity, EQUIPPING peo-

ple with the power of faith in

Christ for everyday life. To

challenge each member to

take a personal share of

God’s mission, SENDING them

to bring Christ’s compassion,

hope and joy into the world,

our communities and homes.

BETHEL DOWNTOWN

920 Third Street

Hudson, WI 54016

(Administrative Office)

P 715.386.8821

bethel@bethelhudson.org

www.bethelhudson.org

Office Hours:

M-F: 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Sunday: 8 am-10 am

BETHEL HIGHLANDS

504 Frontage Road

Hudson, WI 54016

P 715.386.8821

www.bethelhudson.org

BETHEL’S PASTORAL STAFF

John Lestock, Senior Pastor

Alicia Hilding, Assoc. Pastor

Ben Hilding, Assoc. Pastor

Bob Bipes, Visitation Pastor

BETHEL HIGHLANDS PRESCHOOL

504 Frontage Road

Hudson, WI 54016

P 715.381.8254, ext. 401

Kari Jo Fore, Director www.bethelhighlandspreschool.org

B E T H E L H A P P E N I N G S

FLOWERS The flowers on the altar Downtown are placed by Kim Kapaun in loving memory of her dad, Gerald Kapaun and her nephew, Jacob Kapaun. THANK YOU FOR DECORATING! A great big THANK YOU to everyone who shared their time and decorat-ing talents preparing our two campuses for the Christmas season! The sanc-tuaries look beautiful—a lovely setting as we await the birth of the Christ-child. WORSHIP VOLUNTEERS NEEDED ON CHRISTMAS EVE & CHRISTMAS DAY, BOTH CAMPUSES We are scheduling worship volunteers for our Christmas services. Please contact one of Bethel’s volunteer coordinators if you are able to help. The service times at Highlands are 2 pm, 4 pm and 6 pm. Com-

munion is served at 4 pm and 6 pm. Please contact Kris Salentine this week if you can volunteer to greet, usher or be a communion server at one of these services (ksalentine@bethelhudson.org).

The service times Downtown are 8 pm and 10 pm, Christmas Eve and 10 am, Christmas Day. Acolytes, greeters, ushers and communion assistants are needed at all services. Please contact Kathy Jeska at kjeska@bethelhudson.org or 715.749.3525 if you can help at any of the Downtown services. Thank you for serving!

LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN AND WOMEN! Are you interested in providing strong and faithful leadership to the mem-bers of Bethel Lutheran Church? Are you willing to share your gifts and skills in furthering the ministry and vision of Bethel? If so, this may be the opportunity for you.

The Nominating Committee is currently seeking interested individu-als to fill vacancies on the church council for four general council members for 2015.

Applications are now being accepted and can be found at either welcome center or online. The application deadline is December 31, 2014. Elections for these council vacancies will be made at the Annual Meeting in January 2015. For any questions or more information, please contact Jeremy Palm at jeremy.palm@gmail.com or Darrel Schoeberlein at schoebs@sbcglobal.net. PLEASE WELCOME BETHEL’S NEW ADMIN. ASSISTANT It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of Rita Fitzsimons as Bethel’s new Administrative Assistant. Rita, her husband Jason and two children live just a few miles south of Hudson but within the River Falls school dis-trict. They are members of Ezekiel Lutheran Church in River Falls. Rita’s most recent job was as administrator for the Loffler Companies’ Hudson office. She has years of experience organizing and scheduling activities in a fast-paced office environment and has worked extensively with corporate databases and the production of documents using Microsoft Publisher. Rita will begin this full-time position on January 5th. Please stop by Bethel’s Downtown office and give her a warm Bethel welcome!

Y O U T H A N D F A M I L Y H A P P E N I N G S YOUTH MINISTRY December Schedule

Please note, there will be

NO classes for grades 6/7

or confirmation classes for

grades 8/9 on December

24 or December 31. Enjoy

this time worshiping and

gathering with your

families!

Classes will resume on

January 7th.

CONFIRMATION VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Confirmation volunteers are needed to help with the Christmas Vespers Service on 12/21, 7 pm and the Christmas Eve Children's Service at 2 pm. Volunteers are needed to read, greet, usher, play instruments and serve in the manager scene. Please contact Marcie Andrews to help(mandrews@bethelhudson.org).

MONTANA SKI TRIP

GR. 9-12 Includes 3

days of

mountain

skiing at

Bridger Bowl

and Big Sky

Fri., Jan. 16-

Tues. Jan. 20, 2015

Cost is $350 (plus money

for fast food)

Cost will include trans-

portation, lodging, lift

tickets, and most meals

** $50 non-refundable

deposit due at sign-up**

Look for registration

forms outside Marcie

Andrews' office at

Bethel Downtown or at

the welcome centers

Thank you to all those who sponsored gifts for the Engedi room. Thank you for all those who prayed for the workers during the pro-ject. Thank you to all those who labored for hours on end to make the new Engedi youth room such a success. What a gift this room is to the youth, and to the church as a whole. On behalf of all the youth who do, and who will, find this space to be a home, THANK YOU!

Thanks also to those who helped with the Christmas program, "A Christmas Window": Wendy Helm and Cindy Halunen, who organized and directed the program; Erin Mason, who created the graphics; and Skip James, Lonna Possehl, Jake Gillingham and Josh Yira, who provided the music.

FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUTH

Bethel will continue to have commu-nity nights from 5-7 pm at Wendy's each third Monday evening of the month be-tween January and May. This is a great opportunity for youth to raise money for their youth account to help pay for church trips and events. There are five Wendy’s

Nights left in this school year: January 19, February 16, March 16, April 20, and May 18. If you’d like to sign up to work at one of these nights, please email Pastor Alicia at ahilding@bethelhudson.org. The spots will be filled on a first come, first serve basis.

BETHEL’S WINTER WEATHER POLICY

It is Bethel’s policy to cancel or postpone youth/children’s activities if Hudson schools are closed for a snow day. Watch for postings on Bethel’s web site and Facebook page, as well.

T H I S W E E K ’ S S C H E D U L E

Sunday, 21 Monday, 22 Tuesday, 23 Wednesday, 24 Thursday, 25 Friday, 26 Saturday, 27

8 am Worship DT

9:30 am Adult Bible st. DT

9:30 am New Song

Worship BH

11 am Great Awakening

Worship BH

3 pm “Awakening Light”

concert DT

7 pm Christmas Vespers

BH

9 am Offering counting

DT

5:30 pm Young Adult Bible

study BH

6:30 pm Monday Funday

7 pm Boy Scout Troop

#140 and Venture Crew DT

9 am WOB Quilters DT

12:30 pm Youth team BH

7:30 pm Bethel Chorale

rehearsal DT

10 am Staff meeting DT

2 pm Worship for kids &

their families BH

4 pm Candlelight, carols &

communion BH

6 pm Candlelight, carols &

communion with the New

Song Band BH

8 pm Candlelight, carols &

communion, music by the

Bethel Chorale DT

10 pm Candlelight, carols &

communion, music by the

Bethel Chorale DT

10 am Carols &

communion DT

Office closed following service

Office closed 7 am Men’s Bible

study DT

5:30 pm Gathering

worship BH

P O W E R O F P R A Y E R

Those Who are Sick or in Need of Healing: Deanne Bauer, Scott Belisle, Sarah Dargatz, Paine DeBauche, Chris Doescher, Mike Ganske, Don Gilbertson, Mike Givens, Vivian Hart, Ken Heiser, Nancy Jeffries-Lein, Jim Klaas, Leah Krenz, Audrey Larson, Marcia Lindseth, Betsey Lun-deen, Lucille Miller, Jennifer Obermueller, Bridget Olson, Terri Pomeroy, Debbie Russell, Kay Shager, Erin Steele, Ward TeWinkel, Penny Thompson and Wendi Wollner.

Those Serving or Deployed: Jeffrey Berg, Charles Burns, Jordan Kein and Steven Moreus. PRAYER FOR FINDING PEACE Provided by Bethel’s Healing Ministries

Dear God, I come to you to acknowl-edge my feelings of stress, worry and re-gret. I am having difficulty finding peace and calm during this Christmas season. Replace my stress and worry with peace and calm. Help me to appreciate and ex-perience a renewal each day, to hand over my heavy burdens to you, and to live in the light and love of the Christmas message. Thank you. Amen.

WORSHIP ATTENDANCE FOR DECEMBER 13-14, 2014 Saturday, December 13: Highlands, 5:30 pm—76

Sunday, December 14: Downtown, 8 am—102

Sunday, December 14: Highlands, 9:30 am—387; 11 am—577

TODAY’S QUOTE "God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." ~St. Augustine

WORHIP MINISTRY ASSISTANTS

8 AM* & 11 AM

Acolytes

*8 am Tahnee Klewicki, Riley Hammer

11 am Seth Marrs, Calla Jenkinson

Ushers

*8 am Jeff Maki, David Benson

11 am Ron/Nancy Langness

Greeters

*8 am Peggy/Don Hale 11 am Richard/Norma Newberg

Communion Assistants

*8 am Jeff Maki, Peggy Hale

11 am Cindy Chapin, Nancy Langness

Readers

*8 am Peggy Hale 11 am Kelle Anderson

Welcome Center—8 am*

Allen/Darlene Ecker

Cookie Caller*

Jerry/Georgia Adams

*Downtown campus

HOSPITALITY TEAM– 3RD SUNDAY

HIGHLANDS 9:30 AM

Team Leaders/Lead Ushers

Lowell Enerson, Dave Salentine

Ushers

Steve/Lisa Bekemeyer

Greeters

Andrea Deacon-Jones, Deb Green,

Kathy Enerson, Ruth Lewis

Communion Servers

Kathy Enerson, Marc/Diane Olivieri,

Julie/Elmer Neiderhauser,

James/Michell Kulzer

Videographer

Parker Poling

Projectionist—Sunday

Dillon Rutten

Welcome Center

Jane Betz

Nursery

Megan Hamann, Lauren Chukel,

Peyton Poling

Hospitality/Coffee

Nack family

Saturday Projectionist

Char Trende

What does faith have to do with healing? EVERYTHING! Luke 4:18

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR’S CORNER Over the past couple weeks you’ve heard about the need for strong contributions during December so that Bethel can finish the year “in the black.” Allow me to provide a bit more perspective about that message. First of all, Bethel members have been wonderfully generous in 2014. We’ve had strong fulfillment of pledges to the “Making Greater Strides” capital appeal. Giving to our capital fund is up 140% year-on-year. These generous capital contributions have resulted in an overall increase in giving to Bethel of 31% in 2014 versus 2013! While this is wonderful news, gifts to the Capital Fund can only be used to pay down debt and to make significant capital repairs. Capital gifts cannot be used to pay Bethel’s daily operating expenses such as utilities, salaries, program ex-penses, snow plowing, office supplies, etc. These daily expenses are paid out of Bethel’s General Fund, to which giving is up a more modest 1.4% year-on-year. As a result, the General Fund is running a deficit through Novem-ber of this year. In essence, our strong focus on fulfilling pledges to Making Greater Strides has resulted in less than projected General Fund revenue growth. We understand that this is a common occurrence when churches conduct capital appeals.

Bethel continues to be financially strong with good liquidity. Your contributions to the Capital Fund have helped pay down long-term debt so far this year by $400,000 or 17%, which is faster than required. We continue to pay for upgrades to our facilities and we have already paid for the Engedi youth room project at our Downtown cam-pus. Strong giving to the General Fund in December will allow that fund to also finish 2014 in great shape, ready to do God’s calling in 2015. One of Bethel’s core beliefs is to be completely transparent about our finances and to maintain strong financial oversight. We utilize an independent Audit Committee, an independent Treasurer, and segregation of duties to maintain strong financial controls. We are also taking steps to reduce our 2015 cost structure which will enable us to operate more efficiently without compromising our ministry programs. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or wish to view Bethel’s detailed financial records. Yours in Christ, Ralph Van Keulen Bethel’s Business Administrator 715.386.8821

Bethel has had

outstanding growth in

2014 contributions. It’s

just that almost all

of the growth is in the

Capital Fund, which

cannot be used to

fund daily operations.

6

BETHEL HAPPENINGS BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH

DECEMBER 21, 2014

THANKS FOR YOUR SCHOLARSHIP CONTRIBUTIONS A big ASANTE SANA (“thank you” in Swahili) to all those who contributed toward the scholarships for Tanza-nian students for the 2015 school year! We raised a total of $20,260 in commitments! This will allow many, many Tanzanian students to attend secondary school who otherwise would not have the opportunity to do so. A few program changes include allowing students to attend local schools rather than boarding schools to reduce tuition cost, asking Tanzanian parents who are able, to pay for a portion of their student’s tuition, and more strict controls on who is eligible for the program. Because of this, our money should go further than ever before. We will receive a list of students supported by Bethel this spring. Without your support, many of these students would not be able to attend school past seventh grade. Asante Sana! QUILTERS POTLUCK DECEMBER 30

The Bethel quilters will hold their annual Christmas potluck on Tuesday, December 30th, Bethel Downtown fel-lowship hall. Quilting begins at 9 am; lunch is served at 11:30 am. ALL are welcome! New quilters are needed—no experience necessary!

What is

FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY?

We all need a plan for our money. Financial Peace University (FPU) is that plan! It teaches God's ways of handling money. Through video teaching, class discussions and interactive small group activi-ties, FPU presents biblical, practical steps to get from where you are to where you've dreamed you could be. This plan will show you how to get rid of debt, manage your money, spend and save wisely, and much more! FPU classes meet for around an hour and a half each week for nine weeks. In just nine lessons, you'll learn to take control of your money, invest for the future, and give like never before. Don't worry! You won't be asked to share any personal financial information dur-ing the class.

Classes will be held weekly at 4 pm from Sunday, January 11th—Sunday,

March 8th in the Highlands children's theater. Mark your calendars! To sign up and pay for your class, visit www.daveramsey.com, click on Classes, then scroll down to Find a Class. You will see Bethel's class listing and you can register/pay online. If you would prefer not to register online, please email Pastor Alicia (ahilding@bethelhudson.org) or call her (715-386-8821, ext. 23) to register. For more infor-mation or any questions, please contact Kelly & Kevin Carrier (Bethel’s Financial Peace Facilita-tors) at kcarrier2000@msn.com.

BETHEL HAPPENINGS BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH

DECEMBER 21, 2014

GRACE PLACE CHRISTMAS PARTY This year Grace Place's Christmas Party will be held on Sunday, December 21, from 1-4 pm at Somerset Middle School. Grace Place is seeking volunteers to help set up, run activity tables, and clean up for the party. Volunteers are needed—if you or anyone you know is interested in helping, please contact Lori at 715-246-1222 or Kristine at 651-216-2282. THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING FLATWARE We are missing flatware from the Bethel Highlands kitchen. A reminder to all who help in the kitchen—please be watchful when helping clear after an event. Out of 288 spoons, 133 are missing and out of 288 forks, 117 are missing. Women of Bethel, your Food Fest monies have replaced the missing flatware, and also purchased much cheaper flatware for everyday use. The total cost for all the missing items is $822.60. We want all to be aware. Thank you. ~ Women of Bethel BETHEL BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION Join readers to discuss The King of Lies by John Hart on Wednesday, January 7 at the Downtown campus from 1-3 pm. Our discussions are lively and interesting; come even if you have not read or finished the selec-tion. DON’T FORGET TO DIRECT YOUR THRIVENT DOLLARS! If you’re a Thrivent member with a Thrivent policy, please remember you have Choice Dollars that you can designate to Bethel and it won’t cost you anything! Just go to Thrivent.com/thriventchoice or call 800-THRIVENT and state “Thrivent Choice”. Thanks for thinking of Bethel!

8

BETHEL HAPPENINGS BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH

DECEMBER 21, 2014

BETHEL UNIVERSITY OF HUDSON IS

BACK IN FEBRUARY AND WILL FOCUS

ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

We have the fortune of being within driving distance of Luther Seminary in St. Paul where some of the world’s best biblical scholars teach! This February we have the joy of hosting a professor from Luther Seminary to come and teach a two-night class. Rev. Karoline Lewis, Ph.D. will be at Bethel on Wednesday, February 4th & 11th to teach a course called, “Wine, Wa-ter Jars and Witness: Being a Disciple According to the Gospel of John.” You do not want to miss this incredible event! Tickets for the class are only $5 and you can pur-chase them in the office Downtown beginning January 1st or online with a credit card beginning January 18th (please list “Bethel University” under the ‘other’ label), or after worship services. Invite your friends, family, and neighbors to participate in this incredible opportunity!