Bethany United Methodist Church

DATES TO REMEMBER:

July 6th- Welcome Reception for Pastor Andrea and family between services.
July 8th- 10:00 AM Bazaar Planning Meeting
July 13th- Dinner and Meeting Night- This month will be Potluck Supper. Bring a dish to share and a small dessert. Committee Chairpersons are asked to come at 4 PM to meet Pastor Andrea. Dinner will be at 5 PM; Meetings at 6 PM; Ad Board at 7 PM.
July 14 -18th- VBS
July 15th- Opportunity House Tour 10 AM
August 10th- Church Picnic

SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER NEEDED: We need a Sunday School teacher for the preteen-teen age group. We also need volunteers for VBS. July 14-18. If interested please contact Amy Amadoro at 610-562-1212 or Amy_714@msn.com.

BUCKET LIST SUNDAY: The Missions committee is asking everyone to save their loose change throughout the month and on every last Sunday, make the joyful noise of dropping it into a tin bucket. Our kids will enjoy passing the buckets around the pews, making such a racket! And, we’ll announce the month’s mission focus for the contributions. The last Sunday in June was for the OPPORTUNITY HOUSE.

OPPORTUNITY HOUSE: We are collecting items for the Opportunity House Wish List. There will be a box in the Narthex for you to put your items in. There is a list in the box but the urgently needed item are: DISPOSABLE RAZORS, MENS/WOMENS SOCKS, MENS/WOMENS UNDERWEAR, DIAPERS ALL SIZES ESPECIALLY LARGE, AND BABY POWDER. This will be an ongoing collection all year and collected items will be brought each month to the shelter by the shelter meal servers.

NEW OPPORTUNITY HOUSE SCHEDULE: Please note the new schedule below as you may be on a different team this year.

January - Paxton	July - Trubilla
February - Smedley	August - Smedley
March - Trubilla	September - Trubilla
April - Fager	October - Fager
May - Smedley	November - Smedley
June - Fager	December - Trubilla

Team Membership

Bev Fager – Charlotte Hilbert, Bev Fager, Cathy Trump, Dominic Trump
Lee Smedley- Sally Smedley, Lee Smedley, Jim Kern, Tiffany Nester
Pat Trubilla- Shirley McGowan, Steve McGowan, Joyce and Bill Mehrtens

Available to assist loading meals at the church (on request) – Larry Sterner - this is especially valuable for teams that occasionally have only one man or no men to assist loading the heavy containers filled with food. We need some more volunteers for the serving teams.

OPPORTUNITY HOUSE TOUR: The Bethany UMC Mission Committee is sponsoring a tour of Opportunity House in Reading on Tuesday July 15th at 10 AM. The 1 1/4 hour tour will include much more than a chance to see the area where our church has served meals for the past twenty years. We will also have an opportunity to tour their day care facility, overnight living quarters, their food pantry, classrooms and transitional housing. A group will be leaving the church at 9:15 AM, and those driving from elsewhere should meet us at the front entry of the Opportunity House on 430 North 2nd Street in Reading at about 9:55 AM. Please let Lee Smedley know if you plan to be part of the tour and if you are willing to be one of the drivers.

Worship Leaders and Greeters: If you are interested in being a worship leader contact Joyce Mehrtens. We are in need of one more person to take Val Long’s place. If you are interested in being a greeter please see Bev. Fager. There will be a training session in the near future. Another opportunity to serve during the service is to be an acolyte. Anyone can do this young and old alike.

Below is the worship leader and greeter schedule for July:

Worship Leaders

July 6- Bill Mehrtens
July 13- Carol Keck
July 20- Bernice White
July 27- Annette Brewer

Greeters

July 6- Sonja Richie
July 13- Brewer Family
July 20- Jeanne Burdick
July 27- Bill Mehrtens

DINNER OUT WITH FRIENDS AND MEETING NIGHTS:

Our Dinner and Meeting night this month is July 13th. Dinner is at 5:00 PM,. This months meal will be POT LUCK. Please bring a dish to share and a small dessert. Committee Chairpersons are asked to come at 4 PM to meet withPastor Andrea. Dinner will be at 5pm; Meetings at 6 PM; Ad Board at 7PM. And don’t forget, if you’re interested in knowing more of the details of how things work, the committees and Ad council meetings are open to everyone.

YOUTH MISSIONS FUNDRAISERS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

CALENDARS - 2008 “GOD’S CREATION” now $5.00 each
When writing a check for youth missions, please write it as follows. Salem/Bethany Youth Mission. When you do write a check for donations, Annette Brewer will see that it gets recorded to your account as a contribution.
MISSION TRIP is Saturday July 5 - Sunday July 13. Destination: Machias Maine.

WALKING GROUP: To help start us towards creating a healthy physical life style, a 3rd Sunday walking group has started, beginning in May. We plan to meet after the contemporary service for a salad lunch and to leave the church at 12:45 for the trail head (if you prefer not to eat with us). The walk in June will be on the new rail to trail from the old state park to Port Clinton and back. If you would like to join us but feel uncomfortable with the length, transportation can be waiting in Port Clinton. There will be a signup sheet in the back of the church for lunch and the walk or just the walk.

CARE PACKAGES: We will be gathering items for care packages for the shut-ins. Some of these will be mailed so please keep the items small. Possibilities include wrapped candies, door decorations, large print magazines.

FORGOTTEN TREASURES: Because Summer is not a good time for e-bay sales we are dropping our Forgotten Treasures program until the fall.

FUNDRAISERS

The Administrative Board has set up guidelines for having fundraisers. You must approach the Ad board 2 months ahead to get your fundraiser on the calendar. 10% of profits must go to a mission of your choice. The Chairperson of that fundraiser must be a member of congregation who will have the responsibility of getting people for setup and takedown and for getting the money to the treasurer.

As previously reported, we are falling behind in what is financially required to run Bethany. Your cooperation is requested to participate in the fundraisers listed below. Your ideas for future projects and a willingness to lead or participate in present and future projects would be great.

Redner’s Cash Register Receipts and Boyer’s rebate program:

Since Redner’s Warehouse Markets has opened in Hamburg, many of you, your family and friends may shop there for your groceries. Redner’s has a Save-a-Tape donation program available. In order for Bethany church to receive contributions from Redner’s you must complete a Save-a-Tape form at the Hamburg store and return your receipts to the church (either in the offering plates, offering boxes, or to Luke and Betty Seaman).There is also a special box for receipts on the table near the choir room entrance. Luke and Betty tally the receipt totals and supply Redner’s with the information. Please see them if you have any questions. Boyers also has a rebate program. If you would like to participate in that rebate program ask Luke Seamen for a boyer’s card. Present that card at time of purchase and Boyer’s will credit our account. You don’t have to save any tapes. Last year we received over $600 from the Redner’s and Boyer’s programs. KEEP THOSE TAPES A COMIN!!

We are still collecting aluminum beverage cans. The bags of cans can no longer be put in the Moyer's garage. We are looking for another storage spot. If anyone has any ideas, please let us know. Until then, see that Bill McClure gets the cans. Remember, this is only beverage cans - no aluminum cookie tins, vegetable cans, aluminum pie plates or aluminum foil.

THE BETHANY DISHCLOTH BRIGADE is marching forward to close the temporary financial gap in the budget. As you know, we have production workers producing dishcloths and a great sales force selling them. We are selling the dishcloths for $2 each. We are looking for new recruits for production and sales. Can you knit or crochet dishcloths for this fundraiser? Do you know someone who, if provided with the cotton yarn, would enjoy making some dishcloths for this worthy cause? Would you like to learn to knit and become a dishcloth production worker?

ATTENTION ALL PERSONS WORKING WITH OUR YOUTH: All persons working with the youth at Bethany are required to have a Pennsylvania Child Abuse History clearance as well as a Pennsylvania Criminal record check on file with the Church. When the completed forms are received from the state, they should be given to SPRC. This includes anyone going on the Mission Trip in July and working during Vacation Bible School.

For pertinent Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and Northwest District news and information please visit these websites: www.UMCom.org and www.gbm-umc.org/northwest4 and click on “sign up Now!” to sign up as a subscriber to “epconference” group mail. Anyone may subscribe to get EPA conference e-mail. Go to http://www.umcom.org

Our new Homepage address is www.bethanyumchamburg.com. This address is a little easier one to use to get to the Web site. If you wish you can still use www.gbgm-umc.org/bethanyhamburgpa/

There are still Bethany Polo shirts for sale. If you are interested in purchasing one or more,they are located in the library. Please make your donation payable to Bethany UMC with a memo to a Bethany outreach project. (UMW missions, Youth Missions, or Opportunity House, etc.)

Are you aware that the church has an assistance fund for those in need of financial assistance. The Administrative Board has decided to re-establish a long standing tradition in support of the Assistance Fund. On communion Sundays, an offering plate will be placed in the front pew. All contributions put in this plate will be used to help local needy individuals and families. The fund is currently quite low. Please give generously on Communion Sundays.

A NEW FLOWER CHART IN NARTHEX FOR 2008: ALSO NOTE CHANGE OF FLORIST AND COST!!

Please look over the flower chart in the Narthex and sign up for that special Sunday you would like to honor or remember a special loved one. Cost of the flowers is now $25 for 2 vases. If 2 people would like flowers on the same Sunday, it’s possible to share the cost. Checks should be made out to Sue Fisher and sent directly to her with a designation of the date and Bethany UMC Flowers. Please mail check to 148 Cheese Lane, Hamburg. This coming year, if no one signs up to provide altar flowers artificial arrangements will be used. CHANGE IN POLICY: IF YOU’VE PURCHASED FLOWERS ON A GIVEN SUNDAY, YOU MAY PICK THEM UP AFTER THE FIRST SERVICE AS LONG AS YOU LET KATHRYN BOLTON KNOW SO SHE CAN PUT OUT THE ARTIFICIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE NEXT SERVICE. Another option is to note on the flower chart that the flowers be given to one of our shut-ins.

Please have your newsletter articles in by July 20th for the August e- newsletter. If you have family announcements such as births, deaths, weddings, graduation, children receiving special awards, etc. that you want published in the monthly newsletter, please email your information to Joyce Mehrtens at Jobi@comcast.net. If you do not have email, please place your article in the NEWSLETTER mail bin

When sending mail to Bethany Church, please use PO Box 325, Hamburg PA 19526. When sending mail to the parsonage (personal mail for Pastor and family), please use, PO Box 445, Hamburg, PA 19526. Mail that is addressed to 321 Island Street WILL BE returned to you, through the postal service. Thank you.

NEW ADDRESS: Marion Weyman, one of our parishioners has moved to an assisted living center in NJ. Her new address is Leisure Park Care Center 1400 Rt. 70 East. Apt 210 Lakewood, NJ 08701. Her phone # is 723-364-3060 She would love to hear from some of her old friends at Bethany.

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN NEWS

July 8th we are having a Bazaar planning session at 10:00 AM in church parlor. At 11:00 AM we will have a scrapbook session. Anyone interested in helping to plan for the Bazaar now is the time to come out.

Our Fair Trade coffee is here. Let a UMW member know if you would like to buy a Bag of coffee.

On June 19th some of our UMW members along with Donna Davis and others went to Pinebrook Nursing Center to sing for the residents. Catherine Starr who lives there also sang with us. We had a great time.

Attention United Methodist Women (UMW) and other Needle workers:
Bethany’s Prayer Shawl Ministry will be having their meetings on the 4th Thursday of the month at the church. Anyone interested should call Sally Smedley (610-562-3938).

Our Warm-Up-America knitters (Bethany knitters and Yarn-R-Us) would like those who are knitting Afghan Squares to continue knitting squares. There is a collection box in the narthex for them.

LET US KNOW… Because of the new privacy laws it is hard for the pastors to get information about members in the hospital. So if you are aware of a parishioner who is ill or hospitalized, has suffered a death in their family, or is celebrating a new life, please contact the please contact the pastor at 610-562-6788, or e-mail her at dehamh@verizon.net.

If you know you are going to have surgery or be hospitalized for tests, please contact pastor. Please don’t assume the pastor knows you are in the hospital and would like prayers and visit.

PLEASE KEEP THE FOLLOWING BETHANY FOLKS WITH HEALTH CHALLENGES IN YOUR PRAYERS

At Home:
Anna Kalabisko
Bob Piacine
Happy Long
Budd Beckley
Terry Loose
Leroy Price

At Nursing Homes:
Norma Bermel at Laurel Center
Betty Kauffman at Laurel Center
Catherine Parfet at Hearthstone at Maidencreek
Cathryn Starr at Pinebrook
Sue and Al Lohrmann’s grandson Ryan Reger now at home in Hurricane, W.Va.

PLEASE ALSO REMEMBER OUR TROOPS IN THE MILITARY: Sean Fager, Jason McGarvey, Col. Robert F. Piacine, and Col. Frank Richie

CELL PHONE FOR SOLDIERS:

HELP OUR SOLDIERS CALL HOME! Cell Phones for Soldiers was created by Brittany & Robbie Berquist of Norwell MA. After reading a story about a soldier who ran up a huge phone bill, calling home from Iraq, these two teenagers decided to help out. They started byopening an account with $21.00 of their own money. They collect cash donations and old cellphones. The cell phones are recycled for cash and the proceeds are used to buy prepaid calling cards for our soldiers serving in the Middle East. Cell Phones for Soldiers is a registered 501(c)(3)non-profit organization. Their efforts have motivated peopleand business around the country to donate to this worthy cause. Their goal is to provide every soldier with a way to call home for free. For more information, please visit their website, www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com. Hamburg high school is listed as a drop-off place to bring your unwanted cell phones.

OPPORTUNITIES TO BE A PRAYING COMMUNITY
Be joyful always, pray at all times; be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18 TEV

BETHANY PRAYER MINISTRY STARTING: The United Methodist Church is encouraging and supporting the renewal of prayer ministries within our churches. This ministry is one that every member of our church can participate in at some level. We are also reviewing the possibility of a prayer room and also developing a prayer garden on the unused side of our church. The prayer garden would be open to the people of Hamburg not only for their use but to leave requests for prayer. If you are interested in helping to plan these activities, please contact Val Long 562-9856 or valerielong28@gmail.com.