May

Dear Bethel Members,

This has been a busy month for your church council. During this Easter season, our Lutheran community has had many opportunities to worship together in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in whom we put our faith. All of us were thrilled with Assistant Bishop Judith VanOsdol’s message on April 21, 2013 at First Lutheran. The combined first communion, the music and the many worshipers on that day were inspirational. We congratulate Casey Williams on completing his confirmation program, a joint venture with our Jamestown Lutheran Community Churches. Our prayers are with Casey as he embarks on this new phase of his Christian Life. We thank all those who worked to bring these joint services to us all.

On April 21, 2013, Pastor Judy, Director of Evangelical Missions for the Synod, met with council members from each of the four Lutheran churches in Jamestown to talk about being mission focused, not only in mission work around the world but within our own community in Jamestown. She talked about how we can re-energize our churches and look to the future. The group discussed how the church is changing and how we can bring our strengths together to proclaim and demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ to address the needs of our community.

Pastor Judy also met with our Council on April 22, 2013 to continue these discussions and how to be mission focused as members of Bethel. We reviewed the eight steps to transforming your organization based on the research of John Kotter in his book Leading Change- Why Transformational Efforts Fail. As part of this discussion, Pastor Judy reviewed the different options we have as we look to the future of our church, looking past the bricks and mortar to how we can ascertain God’s will for our church and to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ. These programs, while intense, were worthwhile processes to help us to develop a plan for the future. We thank Pastor Judy for the many hours she spent with us. Her expertise was tremendously helpful as your Council looks for the path of our church in its mission. The Council scheduled an additional meeting on May 1, 2013 to specifically look at the financial aspects of our church. We will meet again on May 20 to finalize a report to the congregation as requested at our annual congregational meeting in January.

The Council, reluctantly, accepted the resignation of Lois Lindel as treasurer. We thank Lois for her ten years of service to Bethel as treasurer. She has done an exceptional job and we appreciate her skills and dedication to Bethel. We wish her well in her continued walk of faith. The council will be looking at options for this position at our May meetings.

The Council thanks everyone for your continued prayers and support as we look to the future of our church. If you have any questions or comments feel free to call or email us. May God bless you all.

Respectfully yours,

Gregg Davis- President