just thinking…

As I write, it is the 30th of December, 2015. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. In two days it

will be 2016. Another year…they go by so quickly it seems.

My mother used to say “there is nothing more over than Christmas.” To me, this meant

that once Christmas Eve and Day have passed, it is a relief, a blessed escape from the

incredible rushing of the four to six weeks prior. We want to recapture the feelings, the

smells, the hubbub...but we can wait until next year.

One of my favorite songs is The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell. The lyric that intrigues me

goes like this:

And the seasons they go round and round

And the painted ponies go up and down

We're captive on the carousel of time

We can't return we can only look

Behind from where we came

And go round and round and round

In the circle game*

It is a haunting lyric that says “we can’t return, we can only look behind from where we

came…” Maybe this is why we look to the Christmases gone by and wish the future to be

the same.

But when we are “captive on the carousel of time” the past is past. We can look but we

can never return.

As the new year approaches, it is my hope that all of us can live into God’s time seeing

grace and beauty lurking in the quiet places of our lives.

Dominus vobiscum this Epiphany Season

Bill

...just thinking

*© Siquomb Publishing Company

THE BETHEL BEACON

JANUARY 2016

BILL SWITZER, Pastor Sunday School @ 9 am

Worship time @ 10:00 am

BETHEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

2400 CENTRAL AVE. NEBRASKA CITY, NE

68410

Church Telephone #: (402) 873-6218

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

Email: betheluccurch1887@gmail.com

Website: www.bethelucchurch.com

Find us on

IN OUR PRAYERS IN DECEMBER:

Justin Williams, Betty Blankenship, Logan Drabek, Mason

Wieckhorst, Ella Mathisen, Helen Ramold, Ruth Wurtele, John

Ensign, Alex Peter, Alice Oelke, Gladys Huss, Don Grundman,

Jen Tietz, and all who struggle with chronic illness, those confined

to their homes & to long term care facilities.

FOR ALL WEATHER RELATED CANCELLATIONS AT

BETHEL UCC, PLEASE LISTEN TO B103.1 OR CHECK THE

CHURCH WEBSITE @ www.bethelucchurch.com.

—————————————————————————————--

Our search committee has been meeting and are still in the process of receiving and reviewing profiles. We have received a new batch of profiles, so we are in the process

of looking those over. Stay tuned!

Congratulations to Jamie

Horstmann on the birth of her son,

Eli David Delunger. He was born

October 28, 2015,

weighing 4 lbs., 9 oz.

and 19 inches long.

Proud grandparents are

Lonnie and Sara Horstmann.

All annual

reports are due

to the office by

Mon., Jan. 11,

2015. Our annual meeting will

be Sun., Jan. 31, 2015.

Thank you to everyone

who brightened our sanctuary with flowers,

and who sponsored bulletins during the month

of December .

COMMITTEE UPDATE

To my Bethel Church family……

Thank you so much for all the cards, gifts, and visits. Most of all I thank you for all the prayers.

They were so needed and well received.

Love, Gladys Huss

LOOKING AHEAD ~ FEBRUARY

Tues. 2nd: Spiritual Council mtg. 5:45 pm

Board of Christian Education mtg. 7 pm

Sun. 7th: Communion & Food pantry

Tues. 9th: Church Council meeting 7 pm

Wed. 10th: Ash Wednesday service at 7 pm

Tues. 16th: Ministerial Assoc. mtg. 9 am

Sun. 21st: Youth Fellowship

Mon. 22nd: Meals on Wheels 1 1 am

Mon. 29th: Meals on Wheels 1 1 am

*Choir practice on Wednesdays at 7 pm*

BEST WISHES TO THOSE CELEBRATING THEIR

BIRTHDAYS & WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

IN JANUARY

Ray & Diane Dyer

January 29, 2000

Donald Grundman ~ 4th Kiley Blocker ~ 10th Larry Bando ~ 13th

Mason Hamilton~ 13th Cindy Weible ~ 13th Ashley Mayer ~ 18th

Brooke Bando ~ 20th Ruth Wurtele ~ 20th Nick Brown~ 23rd

Darcy Carpenter ~ 25th Jordan Moyer ~ 25th

Jenifer Tietz ~ 25th Sarah Bando ~ 27th

Sue Griepenstroh ~ 28th Erica Sinner ~ 28th

Kayla Francis ~ 30th Will Carroll ~ 31st

Bethel Sunday School Christmas Program

December 13, 2015

Bethel UCC Women’s Fellowship

2015

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING/ ELECTION OF OFFICERS UPDATE

On Dec. 13, 2015, a congregational meeting was held for election of

officers and vote on a by-law change. Lenny Tietz, president,

opened the meeting. Peg Johnson, secretary, read minutes of last

congregational meeting. Jan Pummel made motion to accept

minutes with second from Paula Ramold. Motion carried.

First action was to present ballot with candidates for church

offices. There were no nominations from the floor. Jan Pummel

made motion to accept ballot as unanimous and Norm Brown

seconded it. Motion carried.

Second action was changing a by-law concerning quorums at

congregational meetings. Church council proposed change from 60

to 40. Jen Hamilton made motion to accept with Cindy Kreifels

second. No discussion. Ballots distributed with vote of 60-yes and

three-no. Motion passed.

Lenny announced results and with no further discussion the meeting

was adjourned. Pastor closed with the benediction.

Respectfully submitted,

Peg Johnson, Secretary

Bethel United Church of Christ

Spiritual Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, December 9, 2015

5:45 pm Pastor’s Office

Present: President Arlin Rohlfs, Vice-President Dennis Marshall, Secretary LaVonda Bando, Stephen Luther, Larry Bando and Pastor Bill Pastor Bill opened with a word prayer.

The November Spiritual Council meeting minutes stand was approved.

Pastoral Report: Made hospital visits; conducted one funeral – Jim Holmes; Sunday School Christmas program practices are going well; Election of officers will be on Sunday, December 13; Rev. Ken Tubbening will be supply pastor for Sunday, December 27; Request & Message Brochure will be place in pew holders in the sanctuary and to the Chamber of Commerce. The Spiritual Council discuss serving communion on Christmas Eve. Stephen gave his report on the sound system. The Council discusses the confirmation students helping with Church Facebook page. The Council members join hands and close with the Lord Prayer. Secretary, LaVonda Bando

SPIRITUAL

COUNCIL

Church Council met on Dec. 8, 2015, at 7:00 pm with Dean Griepenstroh calling the meeting to order. Pastor Bill opened with a prayer. Present were Lenny Tietz, Dean Griepenstroh, Peg Johnson, Gene Nannen as well as Arlin Rohlfs, Margaret Brust, Sandy Ried and Sarah Bando. Minutes were read and approved by motion from Dean and seconded by Gene. Motion carried. Spiritual Council-Arlin reported pamphlets are ready for distribution. Stephen Luther met with sound system person to discuss possibilities for the church. Memorial-Margaret reported Adkins sign project is complete and the Nannen family has added to the nativity scene in church. Pastor-Month included hospital visits, confirmation projects, Pastor Tubesing will be pastor on Dec. 27 and four families were very appreciative of Thanksgiving gift cards. Financial-Sandy presented report, Peg made motion to accept and pay bills, Dean seconded it and motion carried. Christmas offering will be used as in the past. Board of Christian Ed-Pastor reported Christmas program going well and will start VBS program in January as Bethel hosts it this year. Office-Sarah said printer and computer working well. Annual reports due in her office by Jan. 11 to be printed up for annual meeting on Jan. 31. No stewardship report. Search-Margaret reported process is ongoing. Building and Grounds-Dean reported several things fixed and still working on parking lot and new shed. New Business-discussion on election meeting on Dec. 13. Next meeting will be Jan. 12 at 7:00 pm. Closed with the Lord's Prayer. Respectfully submitted, Peg Johnson, secretary

CHURCH COUNCIL

The Board of Christian Education met on December 1, 2015. Present were board members Cindy Kreifels, Nancy Hunt, Dan Hamilton, Danielle Barrett, and Christine Parkyn. Pastor Switzer was also present.

The meeting was opened with prayer. The minutes of the previous meeting were read with no changes made.

Old business centered around the upcoming Christmas program on December 13th. Remaining practices and some minor changes to the program were discussed. Danielle will ensure that Sarah has the hymn numbers for that Sunday’s bulletin. Pastor discussed the order of service for that Sunday.

Kassi has been contacted and has agreed to make the cakes for the fellowship time following the service that Sunday. Thanks to Kassi for taking on this item. Cake serving plates and napkins were confirmed to be available.

New business was on the presidency of the board for next year. The current vice-president has only been back at Bethel for a short time and expressed the desire to have more time to acclimate to the church community prior to heading up the board.

The board members discussed that there would be two new members starting in January and that it was already customary to determine the officers of the board at that meeting. It was decided that the presidency opening would be addressed by the new board in January.

Cindy discussed the upcoming December dates where no Sunday School would be held (December 20th and 27th) for winter break. She also said she would like to reward the kids for their hard work on the Christmas program with ice cream and she would bring that in one Sunday in January after the winter break.

Pastor discussed upcoming Christmas Eve service and changes being made in communion by the Spiritual Council.

The next meeting will be held on January 5, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted-

Christine Parkyn

BOARD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Bethel Building and Grounds ~ December 2015

We are excited with the progress that the building and grounds committee has made this year and happy with the direction we've taken to continue the long history of maintaining our church.

As of December 17th, all of the lower light bulbs in the sanctuary chandeliers are working. We will be replacing the smaller upper light bulbs in the near future. A few of the tops on the exterior lamps lining the drive and the timer on the cross have been fixed. A leak has been found in the north wall of the church causing staining on the ceiling of Duensing Chapel and a wasp nest that has taken up residence in that same area. We are working to fix this issue. The gutter on the north side of the church by the nursery is also needing attention.

A few things we would like to pursue in 2016 include some exterior painting and bathroom upgrades at the parsonage, fixing the slamming north parking lot door, replacing of the east carport doors with more energy efficient ones, re-surfacing of the blacktop in the parking lot, cleaning the exterior stone of the church and planning at least one all church work day.

Please write any concerns about the maintenance of the church or issues you may have noticed on the list provided on the bulletin board in the hallway. You may also contact any member of the building and grounds committee or the church office as well.

We will continue to meet on the 3rd Saturday of each month at 10 AM in Fellowship Hall. Anyone interested is welcome to join this group. We are always looking for expertise in areas such as electrical, plumbing, carpentry, painting, landscaping, etc. and would appreciate any knowledge or contacts you may be able to give us.

Respectfully,

Jen Hamilton

BETHEL BUILDING AND GROUNDS COMMITTEE

Thank you to the following people who furnished poinsettia plants for our sanctuary during this 2015 Christmas season.

In memory of: From:

Our son Caleb & Jack Hamilton The Hamilton Family

All our loved ones The Barrett Family

Friends, Family, & Faith! The Redelfs

Glen & Sylvia Ottens Stan & Peg Johnson & Family

Rev. Ed & Lucille Brown The Brown Family

& Melvin Liesemeyer

Our son Brent, Ralph & Leona Bando, Larry & LaVonda Bando

Enus & Alice Rippe

Vicki Leeper (Mother) Suzy Briley

Troy & Steven Jensen Gerald & Connie Jensen

Jack & Evelyn Brust and John & Margaret Brust

John & Elfrieda Gawart

James Holman Janice Holman & Family

Bethel United Church of Christ

2400 Central Avenue

Nebraska City, NE 68410

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

JANUARY

2016

SCHEDULED TO SERVE JANUARY 2016

LAY LEADERS Jan. 3 Jan. 10 Jan. 17 Jan. 24 Jan. 31 Cindy Kreifels Sarah Bando Norm Brown Noah Hamilton Dylan Holman GREETERS Jan. 3 Jan. 10 Jan. 17 Jan. 24 Jan. 31 Larry & LaVonda Tietz Family Ramold Family BJ & Sandy Delphine G. Bando Ried Pauline Peterson USHERS Jan. 3 Jan. 10—Jan. 17 Jan. 24—Jan. 31 Dennis & Carol Marshall David Carpenter Dan & Jen Hamilton Norm & Nancy Brown Katie Chapin, BJ & Sandy Ried SOUND SYSTEM Jan. 3 Jan. 10—Jan. 17 Jan. 24—Jan. 31 Chip Johnson Norm Brown Harold Huss ACOLYTES Jan. 3 Jan. 10 Jan. 17 Jan. 24 Jan. 31 Christian Tietz Mason Hamilton Matthew Ramold Christian Tietz Quintin H. Madisen Tietz Gray Carpenter Brianna Johnson Madisen Tietz Keston H. FLOWERS ~ Margaret Brust COOKIE FELOWSHP ~ Jane Kreifels & Cindy Kreifels