A weekly e-newsletter of

Bethesda Lutheran Church

Ames, Iowa

April 11, 2025

It's Name Tag Weekend!

This weekend, at Saturday and Sunday services, you're invited to wear a name tag to get to know others worshipping with you! Name tags and Sharpies will be available for you to use, allowing you to put names to faces!

Purchase Your Easter Flowers by April 16th

Honor or remember loved ones by purchasing Easter Flowers this season. Envelopes are available on the Welcome Center to purchase your plant. The cost is $20.00 per flower. After you have filled out all the required information, drop the sealed envelope into the transparent cubes of Christ. The deadline to purchase Easter flowers to ensure your gift is printed in the Easter bulletin is Wednesday, April 16th.

Community Easter Egg Hunt TOMORROW!

Round up the kids and make your way to Bethesda tomorrow, April 12th, at 10:00 AM for our annual Community Easter Egg Hunt! At 10:00 AM, come to the Commons for crafts, coloring and games before the outdoor egg hunt! It's sure to be fun for everyone!

Celebrating 50 Years Together!

This weekend, Saturday April 12th, Rod and Denise Wheeler are celebrating their 50th anniversary! If you see them this weekend, be sure to wish them a happy anniversary!

Get Involved with $aving Suds

Last Thursday, April 3rd, Saving Suds served 26 families, 59 individuals total, and gave out $500.57 in quarters and over 100 Tide Pods. Thank you to volunteers Kim and Lynn Burnett and Pam Sargent.

Saving Suds is in need of more volunteers to keep this heavily utilized ministry going. If you are able to volunteer at least an hour and a half of your time, either from 3:45 PM - 5:15 PM or from 5:15 PM - 7:00 PM, the first Thursday of every month, please consider being the people to let this ministry continue as it is highly utilized within the community.

Interested in volunteering, but unsure what you'd be doing? Find step-by-step directions for the volunteer position here.

To volunteer for Saving Suds sign up online or call the church office.

First Communion Child/Parent Class April 13th

First Communion for 2nd graders will take place during our Maundy Thursday service on Thursday, April 17th. In preparation for this special day, second graders and their parents are invited to attend a First Communion Class Sunday in the Conference Room Sunday, April 13th immediately following worship.

Final Week to Register for The Seder Meal!

Experience a Seder Meal in Holy Week on Maundy Thursday, April 17th at 5:30 PM! The Passover Seder is a ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Please sign up TODAY to attend (click here). Tickets are $15/person. Space is limited so make sure to register as soon as you are able.

This weekend, members of the Music, Worship & Arts Team will be around before and after worship with signup sheets for The Seder Meal so you can register to attend if you haven't already.

No Living Water Wednesday April 19th

As a reminder, Living Water Wednesday programming will not be held due to Holy Week. Consider grabbing the family and joining us for Palm Weekend, Maundy Thursday, or Good Friday services instead. Rest assured; we will be back to our regular Wednesday programming April 23rd.

Step Into Storybooks with Raising Readers

The 17th annual Step into Storybooks event will be held at North Grand Mall on Saturday, April 12, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm for ages 0-5.

A variety of stations will feature book-related activities that families and young children can explore together. Raising Readers will offer a selection of books so every child can choose one to take home. Please consider joining Raising Readers for this fun event!

Women's Ministries Cordially Invites All Ladies to Their Tea Party

Saturday, April 26th all ladies are invited to the Crossroads at 9:30 AM for a tea party put on by Women's Ministries. Come ready for fellowship, a fun craft, and more!

RSVP Here

Women's Ministries looks forward to hosting you!

Upcoming Ladies Wind Down

The next Ladies Wind Down gathering is at Shelly Meinhard's house, 2504 Kingston Dr, on Friday, April 25 at 7:00 pm.

If you're able, bring a snack or drink to share. If you haven't been to a Wind Down before, consider attending this one. Ladies Wind Down is a friendly group and loves getting to know fellow church members!

Attend the "When a Dream Lives" Seminar

Join AMOS and leaders in Iowa's small towns and farming communities as we learn from our past to together create a new dream for our state, Saturday March 31st from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM in the Sheman Building at Iowa State University. Lunch will be provided.

The statewide seminar with Iowa State University historian Pamela Riney-Kehrberg will focus on her book When a Dream Dies: Agriculture, Iowa, and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s. Participants will learn how the 1980s Farm Crisis inform the challenges facing rural communities in 2025 and how we can address those pressures impacting Iowans today.

Help Haiti Fight Food Insecurity

Help Northminster Presbyterian package 150,000 meals for children in Haiti April 25th and 26th to help Haitians fight food insecurity.

Two-hour shifts are available to work. Sign up here if you're available to pack meals. Meal packing will take place at Northminster Presbyterian Church (1416 20th Street) across from Ames High School.

Alternatively, if you're not available to pack meals, but still want to help, consider donating to Haiti Mission Projects.

Lunch Bunch Outing in May

The Ladies Lunch Bunch will meet Thursday, May 8th, at 11:30 am at Boulder Tap House. All ladies are welcome to attend if you are free. It is always a great time!

Bethesda Book Discussion Group's June Read

Please join us for Bethesda’s book club’s next book, The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner. We will meet at 7 pm on Thursday, June 5, in The Crossroads. The book club is open to everyone, and there’s no obligation to attend every time. If we’re reading a book that interests you, join us! If you haven’t read the book but you’d like to listen to the discussion, join us!

Vacation Bible School Registration in OPEN

Registration is $10/child and includes a t-shirt, nightly dinner for the kids at 5 PM, Bible Study, music, and other recreational activities throughout the week focused on how we can magnify God's love!

For organizational purposes, we ask that you fill out the form once for every child you have attending.

If you would like to sponsor a child's VBS experience this summer, you can write a check or bring cash to our main office and notate your donation is for a VBS Sponsorship.

All Ages Invited to Lutheran Lakeside Camp

All ages are encouraged to Register now for the week of July 20th - 25th at Lutheran Lakeside. Secure a spot for you or your child for a fun, faith-filled week at a special early bird price!

Give a Gift Online

Don't carry cash or checks? You can set up a recurring or one-time gift to Bethesda online. You can also donate to organizations like LSI or Global Refuge through Bethesda by selecting "other" on our giving form.

ShelbyNext

Refresher to log onto ShelbyNext:

On your laptop or desktop Computer - https://bethesdanet.shelbynextchms.com

On your cell phone go to the App Store or Google Play Store

search for ShelbyNext Membership - download the free app;

On first screen replace the word domain with Bethesdanet

Enter username and password.

You should be ready to go! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at contact@bethesdaames.org.

What's The Difference Between The Current and The Living Current?

The Current, a physical sheet members pick up each weekend, is limited to the order of worship on the front and a calendar of events on the back. Announcements are The Living Current, on slides depending on date proximity and importance to the congregation at large and verbally stated by the Pastors at the end of worship services.

The Living Current, an e-newsletter sent every Friday at 9 AM, consists of all announcements and events affecting the congregation.

If you have an event that you would like advertised in The Living Current for weekend services, submit your announcement or event via email to Tess Hanson and Lynn Anderson no later than the Tuesday before you would like it advertised. If submitted after the stated deadline, it will be integrated into The Living Current e-newsletter the following week.

Healing Prayers: Mark Allen; Pat Banitt; Silas Estes; Kathy Lowe; Shirley Stromer

Grieving: Melody Ann Clouser, daughter of Delbert and Janice Trickle, passed away April 1.

WELCOME!

We invite you to join our community, which is committed to inclusion, racial equity and anti-racism. We share in God’s abundant grace knowing that we cannot be separated from the love of God by our age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political beliefs, socioeconomic status, physical or mental abilities or faith background.