*Be sure to read to the end - if you see "View entire message" at the bottom,

click that to see the rest of the newsletter.*

Friday, Sept. 11, 2026 Newsletter

For Sunday

10:00 a.m.: Summer Worship Service

 (in person in the Sanctuary, and livestreamed on Facebook and website)

**UPDATE ON SUNDAY SCHEDULES**

This Sunday (Sept. 13) will be the last day for our Summer Worship schedule.

Beginning next week (Sunday, Sept. 20), we will move to two services: Holy Ground at 9 a.m. in Fellowship Hall, and Traditional at 11:15 a.m. in the Sanctuary.

The Traditional service will be livestreamed on Facebook and our website.

Our adult ed class, Hearts N Minds, and intergenerational offering, Body N Soul, will begin on Sept. 20. Hearts N Minds will meet from 10-11 a.m. in the Library; Body N Soul will gather in Room 216 from 10:10-11 a.m. All are welcome!

A MESSAGE FROM REV. KAREN KINNEY: 
ACCEPTING THE CALL PLACED ON YOUR LIFE

Grace and peace to you,



This Sunday we take up another characteristic of leadership: acceptance. Really? Acceptance almost sounds defeatist, doesn’t it? It does until we put it into a perspective of relationship with God / Jesus / Holy Spirit. It does until we put it into the question: what does God’s call upon my life and this community of faith mean to me? How do I interpret the word call anyway? 

All perfectly valid questions and concerns and yet – what does it mean to really accept the call placed upon our lives at any given moment?

Sunday’s Scripture readings give us two stories of reluctant acceptance of God’s call, God’s desire. We will revisit Moses and his burning bush theophany (a visible, tangible manifestation of the Divine) during which the Lord tells Moses he has seen the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt and he is calling on Moses to go confront Pharoah and demand that he set his people free?! Really?! Does Moses jump right up and say yep, I’m ready, send me? Absolutely not. It takes Moses a good long while to say yes and only after many assurances.

We will also visit Peter again – right after he identifies Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus tells all of them that he is going to die at the hands of the religious and political authorities but will be raised in three days. Peter says – stop it! Don’t you dare say that! And Jesus says – get behind me Satan! You aren’t going to derail this because this is what God is calling me to. My words and actions will lead to my death, but the words and actions are the call placed upon my life. If you can’t accept that, then you are now an adversary in my life trying to thwart my acceptance. You need to accept this reality.

Acceptance is tough when it comes to God’s call on our lives. Leadership requires that kind of acceptance – Moses couldn’t be the leader that he was if he didn’t accept what God was asking him to do. Peter could not have gone on to lead the early Christian church if he didn’t accept what God was desiring. But both had the assurance of God’s presence throughout their leadership journey.

So, what does all of that mean for us? And where is God in all of this acceptance anyway? Come and see! Come and explore together in community!

Blessings, 
Pastor Karen

TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT on 8.5" x 11" paper:


 Summer Worship Bulletin (5 pages)

NEW! SHARING THE BOUNTY

Anything left over will be donated to New Bethany, along with other produce harvested from the CommUNITY Garden located on our campus.

BEGINNING NEXT WEEK: HEARTS N MINDS ADULT ED CLASS

In 2014, the Hearts N Minds adult ed class offered a place, a safe place, where people could discuss readings from the Bible and books that offer a path through a troubling and confusing world. In discussion groups, we try to read everything through a lens of love. 

"Jesus is a biblically formed non-Bible quoter, who gets the deeper stream of God’s unconditional love, the spirit, the trajectory, of his Jewish history and never settles for mere surface readings.”

In 12 years, we have read authors such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sister Joan Chittister, Father Greg Boyle, Marcus Borg and John Crosson, as well as John Philip Newell, Atul Gawande, M.D., Shirley Guthrie, and Henri Nouwen. We have learned about the great religions of the world and racial inequality in our own country.



This season, class begins next Sunday, Sept. 20 in the Adult Library at 10 a.m. Our first book is Holy Envy: Finding God in The Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor, which you can buy new or used online. We invite you to join the discussion as we look for “justice, mercy, and good faith” in our readings.

JOIN US NEXT SUNDAY FOR BODY N SOUL

Body N Soul is our intergenerational class which meets from 10:10-11 a.m. in Room 216. We will begin on next Sunday, Sept. 20. Kate Arrington is the leader, with the help of Pam Phillippe and Deb Castellano. 

PARTICIPATE IN OUR WEEKLY SERVICES

Would you like to play a more active role in our worship services? We are looking for volunteers to serve as lectors.

Questions? Contact us at info@fpc-bethlehem.org or 610-867-5865.

INTERESTED IN DONATING FLOWERS FOR SUNDAY WORSHIP?

WORLD COMMUNION OFFERING: SUPPORTING JUSTICE

The World Communion Offering begins on Sunday and ends on Sunday, Oct. 4 - World Communion Sunday. This is a new way for Presbyterians to “love kindness” expressed in action, involving mercy, faithfulness and steadfast commitment.

SUPPORT THE SLATER SOUP FUNDRAISER

CALLING FOR MENTORS

by Deb Philpotts

If you like helping students in 2nd through 5th grade with reading, playing games, and building relationships, then we’d love to have you join us as a mentor. 

We are assigned a student by the school staff and remain with that student until their graduation into 6th grade as they move to middle school.

We park in an open lot near the school and walk to the school office. And there’s no problem if you need to miss a week because of trips or doctor appointments. We cover for one another.



Please come and check out our program – you are welcome to drop in as a visitor to see if it’s something you might enjoy doing. Contact me at info@fpc-bethlehem.org with your questions!

FOOD DONATIONS: SUPPORTING OUR NEIGHBORS

They can use: shelf-stable milk; jelly; coffee/tea/powdered drink mixes; juice; canned kidney / black / baked beans; canned corn / peas / mixed veggies; tuna; pasta; mac-n-cheese; cooking oil; personal care items; and toilet paper/paper towels.

LOOKING AHEAD: HI NEIGHBORS KICKS OFF ON MONDAY

Our popular speakers series, Hi Neighbors, will be back with a new nine-week series this Monday, Sept. 14. The presentations are free and open to the public, and feature an interesting array of topics such as history, local culture, music, and current events. 

MUM PICK-UP ON TUESDAY

FOR SUNDAY’S IN-PERSON WORSHIP:

Child care will be available from 9:45 - 11:15 a.m. this Sunday; they will meet in room 216.

Your children are a joy in our worship services, and should the need arise, “kid bags” are available for their use while they are visiting. They are in the Narthex.

We offer nametags for folks to wear – these are for everyone! You can pick up as you enter the worship space; please clearly PRINT your first name.

THIS SUNDAY

• 9:45– 11:15 a.m. – Child care available in room 216
• 10:00 a.m. – Summer worship service, Sanctuary (in person and livestreamed on website and Facebook page)
• 11:00 a.m. – Lemonade on the Lawn (west lawn) and post-service discussion opportunity (Narthex)

 
WEDNESDAYS: 7 p.m. - Overcomer’s Outreach Christian 12 Step Recovery Group weekly meeting, via Zoom.com (meeting #: 868 2214 2960; passcode: OO-Beth)



CHURCH OFFICE AND BUILDING INFO: 


Regular office hours are Monday - Thursday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Many of the office staff are working remotely for some of the time, so please make an appointment if you need to see someone specific. The answering service (610-778-7003) can take your urgent pastoral concerns, 24 hours a day. 

IN CASE OF BAD WEATHER: Look for updates on our website (fpc-bethlehem.org), Facebook page, and WFMZ (channel 69 and wfmz.com). We will also put the info on our church phone message, 610-867-5865.

CARE CONCERNS AND HOSPITAL VISITS: If you are hospitalized, please tell the hospital our church code is 724. Also, please call the church office at 610-867-5865 to let us know as the hospitals do not always collect this information.  After hours, for emergency pastoral concerns, call 610-674-0005.

PRAYER REQUESTS: Send to prayer@fpc-bethlehem.org or call 610-867-5865 and leave a message.