Bethlehem Lutheran Church, LCMS
Lebanon, Oregon

God says, "Comfort, Comfort my people!" (Isaiah 40) And ---we are to love God and one another. (the Books of John, 1,2, and 3rd John.)

The members of Bethlehem seek to do just that. At Bethlehem we recognize how important it is to follow through with love and comfort.

At Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago, God had pity on the world lost in sin. He sent his only begotten Son as a babe in a manger at Bethlehem to bring Light (Jesus is the Light) into this dark world. He came as the Savior to bring peace, comfort, and joy.

We at Bethlehem seek to share God's Message of Love in the things we say and do for each other and those around us in our lives. We travel the Journey from Bethlehem to the Resurrection.

• CHRISTMAS - when God the Son, Jesus, was Born.
• EPIPHANY - when God is made known to the world.
• LENT - where God's love allowed Jesus to suffer and die to overcome death and the devil.
  • To take away God's wrath that we deserve upon himself.
  • So we could be saved.
• EASTER - a grand celebration because as Jesus rose we too will rise on the Last Day.
• ASCENSION -Jesus ascended into heaven.
• PENTECOST - when the Holy Spirit brought the Gospel of Jesus quickly throughout the whole world.
• THE LAST DAY - the resurrection of all the dead on the Last Day.

We at Bethlehem encourage you to join us in the journey in which we continue to remind ourselves and share with others the joy, peace, comfort, and forgiveness of sins that come from this great message.

Check our newsletter (contained in this website) for month-to-month activities of fellowship and love as we Praise God throughout the year.

Please come and join us.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church is a community of faith that welcomes those who seek a journey toward a deeper Christian faith. Transforming our lives through the grace and power of Jesus Christ, we celebrate the peace and wholeness of His truth, take refuge in His mercy and share His commitment to compassion for all.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church is a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. We are a confessional church which subscribes to the Bible as God's Word without error and given to us by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We believe in and subscribe to the three ecumenical creeds, the Apostles, the Nicene, and the Athanasian. We are a gospel centered church and seek to instill in the members of our church the spirit of grace and forgiveness.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

"Empowered by the Holy Spirit, using God's gifts to share Christ's love with people everywhere."

Bethlehem joins over 6,000 congregations world-wide to form The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), emphasizing:

• GRACE alone--God does it all;
• FAITH alone--through the work and merits of Jesus Christ; and
• SCRIPTURE alone--inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Bible shows us God's will for our lives.

OUR WORSHIP SERVICES

At Bethlehem, We Preach Christ and Him Crucified. We center on the cross of Christ and the Resurrection and its effect on the lives of those who believe that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. We have a variety of Services. Our Services are Liturgical. We use services from The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, and occasionally we have a Creative Worship type of Service.

We celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the Month; also on Christmas Day, Easter, Confirmation Day, and other special occasions. We have special services during Advent and Lent with Dramas that apply to the text of the day.

BETHLEHEM'S HISTORY

Bethlehem was established on May 11, 1911. The first Church was on Second Street.

Bethlehem dedicated the new Church at our present location at 434 E. Grant Street on May 23, 1958.

During the years, improvements have been made to enrich its ministry to the members. Among the many improvements was building a new elevator to accommodate those who could no longer use the stairs. We are in the process of putting in glass windows that will either be Stain Glass or something comparable.

See the Upcoming Events tab for up to date information of activities here at Bethlehem.

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How To Find Us

Enter Lebanon, Oregon, on Highway 20. From Main Street (Hwy 20 East) or Park Street (Hwy 20 West), go east on Grant Street. Church is at corner of Grant Street and Cleveland Street, across from Booth Park.

TFC-YFC Car Wash: Saturday May 5 - 10AM to 4PM at Auto Zone

Sunday School Store: Sunday May 27 - During Sunday School

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Church Groups

SUNDAY SCHOOL

Sunday morning offers classes for all ages, three years old through adults. All classes meet from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.

We use Concordia's "Growing In Christ" curriculum. Each class studies the Bible on their own level, learning Bible stories, songs, Bible truths from the Catechism, Bible verses to memorize. Adults meet separately for Sunday morning Bible Study, led by Pastor.

The Sunday School year starts in September on Rally Day with an Omelet Brunch.

We have an annual Children's Christmas Program that we put on shortly before Christmas.

On Palm Sunday, the Sunday School children take part in the processional and recessional in the Divine Service.

On Easter, after the big Easter breakfast, we have our annual Easter egg hunt.

We continue with Sunday School all through the Summer months. We have Sunday School and Sunday morning Adult Bible Class year round.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

We held VBS Sunday through Thursday
July 31 - August 4
Time: 6:00 – 8:15 pm

Closing Program was Thursday August 4, at 7:30 pm

Total number at VBS 85
Total children 48
Children Members 30
Children Non-Members 18
Adult Class Members 13
Adult Class Non-members 1

VBS Teachers 11
VBS Class helpers 11
Members 10
Non-members 1
VBS Other Staff 13

Our Theme was "Space Station Salvation"

L W M L

In 2011 the LWML met the third Wednesday of each month at 2 p.m. We have a Bible study and a meeting and fellowship at our monthly meeting and we try to be finished at 4 p.m. All women in the congregation are considered members of LWML and are welcome to attend meetings.

LWML RALLIES:
The LWML Spring Rally was March 5th, at St. Peter the Fisherman, Lincoln City, OR. The LWML Fall Rally was October 8th, at Peace, Philomath.

At the Zone Rally in Philomath, Oct. 8th, it was brought up that perhaps the Willamette Zone should be split into North and South, since it is such a large Zone. That will be voted on at the Spring Rally March 3rd, 2012, at Hope, Woodburn.

POTATO BAKE:
Our Annual Potato Bake was held on February 20th, with a Free Will Donation. The proceeds from our Potato Bake was $165.00 which we gave to the Pregnancy Alternatives Center, here in Lebanon.

We decided to change the date for the Potato Bake to the third Sunday in January every year. Therefore it will be January 15th, 2012.

We gave the bolt of flannel that we have to the Ladies at Bethel, Sweet Home. They made diapers out of it and put together many LWR Baby Care Kits for Missions.

We dedicated the quilts and Personal Care Kits on Sunday, May 1st, and packed them up on May 2nd, to send them to LWR.

Special Topic:
We had a Creation Science topic in February called "Noah's Ark". The topic leader told the dimensions of the ark, the length in time of The Flood, evidences in the fossil record of Man and dinosaurs living together after the Flood, and other things.
God brought pairs of land animals to the ark. Sea creatures were not on the ark. All the animals on the ark, including dinosaurs, were young enough to reproduce again after The Flood.

Special Topic:
We had a Bible Study on Prayer. We looked at The Complaint Psalms such as Psalms 6, 42, 44, 55, and others.
When the Psalmist complains to God, he always ends with - yet You are my Savior and I trust in You.
When the Children of Israel murmured or grumbled against God in the wilderness, they never expressed any faith or trust in God.
That's one big difference between complaining (as in the Complaint Psalms), and murmuring or grumbling against God as the Children of Israel in the wilderness. See also Job 13:15 - "Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face." An example of complaining in faith.

In March the LWML received $23.27 from Safeway Scrip. Every time we use our Safeway cards, a small percentage goes to our Bethlehem LWML.

We, with the Ladies Aid, served cake for the Confirmations of one adult in January, and three young people in May.

We decided to send $300.00 to LWML missions, because we don't want a lot of money sitting in our bank account.

We asked Carol to order 40 copies, from Lutheran Laymen's League, of a little booklet for preschool children called "The Story of Jesus".

LWML Sunday was October 2, 2011.

We decided to include "Lutheran Latino Ministries" in our offerings every month at our meetings.

We had a "Cleaning Day" on Monday, October 3rd, to have the church clean for our 100th Anniversary, October 9th.

We decided to ask each lady to donate $4 to cover the cost of the Quarterlies.

We decided to assemble School Kits for April 2012, when we ship our quilts to LWR.

We and the Ladies Aid put on a Christmas Brunch on December 10th beginning at 10 a.m. We invited the ladies of Bethel, Sweet Home, and Immanuel, Albany, to our Brunch.

We asked Bethlehem to bring a different food each month for FISH. One of our ladies, and her husband, took the food to FISH each month.

The LWML do not host a Fellowship Hour any more. A church member serves the Fellowship Hour every Sunday. We decided to ask our LWML ladies to help clean up every Sunday. Food is regularly donated for the Fellowship Hour.

If anyone wants a Mite Box at home to help with your Missions Offerings, just ask one of the ladies. We will be happy to give you one.

We give each third grader in Sunday School a Bible in the fall on Rally Day or when they come and have no Bible of their own.

Our next Oregon District Convention is June 1-3, 2012, at the Best Western, Agate Beach Hotel, in Newport, OR.

All ladies are invited to attend our meetings and activities.

F I S H

FOOD FOR F-I-S-H IN 2011:
January - Pork & Beans.
February - Dried Beans.
March - Macaroni & Cheese.
April - Peanut Butter.
May - Tuna.
June - Canned Vegetables.
July - Soup or Stew with pull-top lids.
August - Canned Vegetables.
September - Dried Beans.
October - Rice.
November - Canned Vegetables.
December - Peanut Butter.

ALTAR GUILD

The Altar Guild is a group of women who serve under the supervision of the Pastor.

In November we bought two new acolyte robes and surplices for our tall acolytes.

The activities of the Guild are: All the care of the altar, care of altar paraments, care of banners, hanging & changing of banners, care & replacing of candles, setting up for Holy Communion and care of Communion vessels, setting up for Holy Baptism and care of Baptism napkins and shell, care of flowers, providing flowers on Sundays when no one has signed up, Advent wreath, Lenten cross, acolyte scheduling, care of acolytes' and Pastor's robes, and anything else that may need to be done from time to time in the Sanctuary.

New members are always welcome.

TFC / YFC
Teens For Christ
Youth For Christ

TFC are teens age 13 and up, and YFC are age 10-12. We are two groups, yet we normally meet together as one.

In 2011 we normally hold meetings the 1st and 3rd Sundays of every month, 3-4:30 pm. Sometimes we take part in other activities that sometimes take the place of meetings.

January, we had a Girls' Night Out overnight event January 7th - 8th. In the morning, January 8th, all TFC-YFC came and helped take down the church Christmas decorations. Then we continued with our activities until our parents came and took us home. We had a Boys' Night Out overnight event January 21st - 22nd. These overnight events were for age 10 and older.

February, we put on a Valentine Dinner for the Congregation, February 12th.

March, We cooked and served the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, March 8th, 5:30-7:00 pm. We, with our parents helping, served the Lenten Soup & Bread Suppers, and people brought the soups & breads. We received the free will offering each Wednesday. We used it to help pay for the Middle School District Youth Gathering in November, and for the Higher Things Conference, for Confirmed kids, in July, at Las Vegas, NV.

April, Easter Sunday, April 24th, we cooked & served a full Easter Breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham, muffins, coffee, tea, & juice. We hid Easter eggs for the little children to find.

May, We played games at the church after our Meeting. We met and put together two entries for the Strawberry Festival.

June, we took part in both Strawberry Festival parades, and we handed out VBS fliers at both Parades, Friday & Saturday, June 3rd & 4th.

July, we went clamming at Newport, OR, on Friday, July 15th. We left in the morning and came home in the afternoon. We made clam chowder and served a Clam Chowder Dinner at 4 pm. 7 Confirmed kids and 3 adult counselors drove to Higher Things Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

August, we went swimming at the pool here in Lebanon and invited everyone in the congregation.

September, we helped with the Rally Day Omelet Brunch, after the Divine Service, September 11th.

October, We decorated pumpkins at our meeting. October 30th, we had a Dessert Auction and Comedy Revue, right after the Oktoberfest Potluck.

November, we made Christmas ornaments at our meeting. 14 kids & 4 adult counselors went to the Northwest District Middle School Youth Gathering in Boring, Oregon.

December, Saturday morning, December 3rd, we came to the church and helped decorate the church for Christmas. Sunday, December 11th, we went, with the Congregation, Christmas Caroling to our home-bound folks and gave them the Christmas ornaments we had made in November. We had live music to accompany our singing.

LADIES AID

We begin our meetings with a Bible Study from Pastor. Our regular meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month, September through May, at 1 p.m.

In 2011 Pastor led us in studying the rest of the book of Romans.

In February we welcomed a new member.

FAIR LINEN: We decided to donate our old Fair Linen (still in very good condition) to a church in need of one. We had bought a new Fair Linen, that does not need to be ironed, a while ago. We will send our good, old one to St. Mary's Lutheran Church, Des Moines, Iowa. It is a small, fairly new congregation. Pastor & Carol's son-in-law is the pastor. They are thrilled to receive it and sent us a very nice "Thank You" note.

A church member now serves the Fellowship Hour every Sunday, so we ask our ladies to only help clean up.

During 2011, our Sunshine Committee sent 34 get-well and sympathy cards to folks in the congregation.

SERVICE: Since LWML serves with us, we divide our service proceeds evenly between LWML & Ladies Aid. We served cake at the Confirmations of one adult in January and three young people in May.

We served luncheons after three funerals where the luncheon was held here at Bethlehem.

We joined with the LWML for an LWML & Ladies Aid Christmas Brunch on December 10th.

We sell Bethlehem Cook Books, napkins, dish cloths, Christmas cards, birthday cards, and all occasion cards. Some cards we sell by the box, some we sell individually.

We bought two new palm plants, and discard the old ones that are in bad shape.

We donated $300 for the food trays needed for our 100th Anniversary Celebration luncheon.

We and the LWML clean and reorganize the kitchen as needed, with the help of volunteers.

We wash or clean the table cloths as needed. Some of our money we earn is used for kitchen supplies such as coffee, tea, sugar, creamer, sweeteners, paper towels, plastic garbage bags, and other things we regularly use in our church kitchen.

We decided that we will no longer hold a meeting in May. Therefore, each year our last meeting in the spring will be in April.

Prayer Chain

We have an active Prayer Chain made up of people who like to pray for others.

The Comforters

The Comforters are a circle of the LWML.

In 2011 we shipped 72 quilts to LWR.

We gave 27 quilts to needy families here in Lebanon.

We gave quilts to 6 children who were Baptized.

Senior Choir

In 2011 the Senior Choir was accompanied by our church organist. They practiced every Wednesday at 7:30 pm, and they sang in the Divine Service normally every 1st and 3rd Sunday, September to May.
In October, 2011, right after our 100th Anniversary Celebration, the Senior Choir was discontinued for lack of participation.

Junior Choir

The Junior Choir is accompanied by our church organist. It was formed in the fall of 2010. It is made up of young people, age 10 and older, who like to sing.
They practice twice a month at 10 am, right after Sunday School, and then they sing in the Divine Service.
Normally they sing in the Divine Service every 2nd and 4th Sunday, September to May.