Thanksgiving Concert, Christmas Pageant, Pancake Breakfast, and more inside!
Weekly Highlights
Caring Conversation
What does it mean to belong?
  Week of November 13

New Members & Pancake Breakfast Youth Fundraiser

Join us THIS Sunday as we welcome new members and enjoy delicious pancakes after Worship. All proceeds from the pancake breakfast will go to fund youth activities. Hope you'll join us!
Stewardship - Giving, Serving, Growing

Thanks to all our witnessing stewards who have done a fabulous job of sharing their stories and inspiration. We will hear from two more. On Sunday, November 20 you'll have an opportunity to dedicate your pledge of time, talent, and treasure. Please bring your pledge card and time and talent sheet with you for that day. If you are unable to attend, drop them in the offering plate any Sunday or deliver to the office.
Ladies' Lunch

The Ladies'  Lunch will be Monday, Nov. 14 at 11:30 am at McGrath's. If possible, let Susan Hanson know if you're coming.  Hope to see you there.
PFLAG

Join us at Bethel on 11/17 at 7 PM for a program by Colton Markham from the Washington County Domestic Violence Resource Center on the meaning and signficance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. We will include a short vigil for those who lives were lost in 2016, specifically because of their trans identity. Transgender Day of Remembrance is an opportunity for communities to come together and remember transgender people, gender-variant individuals, and those perceived to be transgender who have been murdered because of hate
Landscaping Cleanup Jobs: A Plea for HELP!

I am having knee replacement surgery on November 14th and will be unable to take care of the Bethel landscaping for the remainder of this fall and into the new year. Once I am able, I think that my own yard is about all I will feel like taking on until spring. I put out a plea for help, and 15 jobs have been taken off my list. I want to thank those people. It is such a relief. There are 2 jobs left. If you are willing and able, please look over the list and either email me at timmelin@comcast.net or see me on Sunday.
2016 Children's Christmas Pageant

The 2016 Children's Pageant will be Sunday, December 11 during the morning worship service. This year's pageant will be an all original production with music written by our very own Owen Hofmann-Smith. Travel back in time to see if there's a new tune to an old story!

There's a place for all children and youth to participate in the play - Nursery through Teens. So, if you'd like to be part of the Christmas Pageant, please contact Beth. Practices will be Sunday mornings with an additional full dress and technical rehearsal on Saturday, December 10. No previous experience is necessary.

We need lots of adult volunteers as well - costumes, props, set-building, sound, etc. If any of those appeal to you, please contact Beth.
ESL - Did You Know?

Bethel's all-volunteer ESL (English as a Second Language) program teaches English to adult immigrants. This year we're teaching students from 17 countries on 4 continents. Did you know...

The idea for Bethel's ESL program was hatched in a 1999 meeting of the Christian Education Committee. Classes began in September 1999. Mission & Outreach took over sponsorship of the program after the first year.

This year, Bethel hosts 7 English classes, using every classroom in Education Hall except the nursery. Jeff Knapp's citizenship class meets in the chapel. Our ESL staff is the biggest ever: 18 teachers and assistants, plus 3 substitute teachers.

This year we'll have our 18th ESL giving tree, but only our 17th ESL Christmas party. The 2008 party was canceled (along with just about everything else at Bethel) due to a series of snowstorms. The children eventually received their gifts when the snow let up, after Christmas.
Amazon Smile

The holidays are a great time to support Bethel through Amazon Smile. Click the link to get started!
#GivingTuesday Benefits YWCA Of Palestine

Our Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ has a special global partner relationship with the YWCA of Palestine. YWCA of Palestine works to support Palestinian women and families through kindergartens, vocational training, leadership training, and economic empowerment. Please consider supporting YWCA of Palestine during the season of Advent. Jean Doane, who serves on the CPC Wider Church Ministries Team and the CPC Palestine-Israel Network, is glad to provide additional information about the YWCA of Palestine.  

During the final months of the Middle East Initiative and during the season of Advent, Global Ministries is highlighting support for the life-giving ministries of the YWCA of Palestine for 2016 Alternative Christmas Gifts and #GivingTuesday. The YWCA of Palestine strives to promote women's full and equal participation at all levels of society; to work for social and economic justice through development and advocacy programs; and to mobilize women's collective power for action on issues of concern: women's rights, the dignity of human beings, and integrity of the environment. The Alternative Christmas and #GivingTuesday support for the YWCA Palestine is described here.  

Next Monday November 14 at 1:00 p.m. EST, Global Ministries is hosting a webinar about the YWCA of Palestine, featuring Mira Rizeq, the National General Secretary of the YWCA of Palestine and member of the Common Global Ministries Board (CGMB). Mira Rizeq's presentation is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the programs and advocacy work of the YWCA that Global Ministries is promoting for special giving during #GivingTuesday and Alternative Christmas. Also, we hope this presentation will provide more meaning to the gifts you are preparing to give this advent season. Register for the YWCA of Palestine webinar! 

Here are several examples of how your Alternative Gift can make a difference in the work of the YWCA of Palestine: 
  • $25 can supply resources for a woman to attend vocational training  
  • $75 can empower advocacy programs to promote social, economic, and political rights of women in Palestine 
  • $500 can provide a scholarship for a student to attend a leadership training 
#GivingTuesday connects individuals, communities, and nonprofits around the world for a day to celebrate generosity and giving. This year, #GivingTuesday is Tuesday, November 29, 2016, the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. Global Ministries Alternative Christmas is a meaningful way to honor your loved ones through gift giving, and to make a difference in the lives of individuals around the world living in difficult circumstances. As always, 100% of your gift will be used as designated. Continue learning about Alternative Christmas at Global Ministries.
BHS Winter Break Food Assembly

The drive to collect food for Beaverton High School homeless students for Winter Break is beginning. We will need food and helpers. The actual assembling of the food bags and delivery to BHS will take place on Monday morning, Dec. 12, at 10:00 am and should take about an hour.

We will be assembling 5 to 6 bags of food for each student. The bags will contain enough food for the student to create 52 meals (17 days + dinner) plus snacks! Each student will receive a specially created canvas messenger bag and 4 or 5 additional bags. Each set of bags will be tagged so that the school can track what has been taken. Once the bags are filled, they will be taken to volunteers' cars and driven to BHS where they will be unloaded by staff and students.

We need people to tie tags on bags,to help people who have stored food bring it into the church, to help put out the food before bagging, to bag the food and to deliver. If you not available Monday morning, we could use someone to buy 60 to 80 loaves of bread over that weekend before Dec. 12.

Much of the food will be purchased through Oregon Food Bank at reduced rates and very reduced rates. However, some foods are not available through OFB. We will need...
  • Chunky soup (more of a meal than just tomato soup)
  • Small jars of jam
  • Snacks
  • Boxes of cereal
  • Donations of money
  • Cloth grocery bags
We cannot take any frozen or refrigerated food because the high school has no place to store it. Nothing fresh because of spoilage issues. Pop tops on cans and easy prep foods are a plus!

We are asking you to bring in your food donations before Dec. 12. We need to have an exact count so that every student gets roughly equivalent bags with the right amount of food. There will be a collection area by the chapel. We also need people to store large amounts of food at their homes and deliver it to Bethel after Faith Cafe on Dec. 10 or early Dec. 11. If you have any questions or want to volunteer, please contact Nancy Winston or Fran Jensen.
Scrip

Scrip will be sold every Sunday in November. Scrip will not be sold December 25 and January 1. Prepaid Visa cards are available on order.
30 Day Homeless Awareness Challenge

The Beaverton School District HELP Outreach Center is asking the community to participate in a 30 Day Homeless Awareness Challenge. Please share with anyone who maybe interested in learning more about the face of homelessness in our community.
Thanksgiving Concert At Bethel

Thursday, November 17th at 7:00 PM
Admission: Adult $10 (at the door)
Free for Children

Heart-warming friendly concert with Oregon based musicians, pianist Mika Fabrega, tenor Janos Nagy, harpist, Annie Driscoll and special guest soprano singers from Japan Akiko Shimizu and Maki Hashizawa; performing favorite well-known classical and musical numbers from Chopin to Phantom of Opera, West Side Story, and Disney Movies.

Information: Contact Mika at (503) 380-9648.
Mark Your Calendars

Stewardship Dedication - November 20
Beaverton Community Band Concert  - November 20
ISing Concert - December 2-4
Cinderella - A British Panto - December 9-10
Children's Christmas Pageant - December 11
Blue Christmas Service - December 11 - 2pm
Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ | (503) 646-1191 | Email
5150 SW Watson Ave, Beaverton, OR 97005