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The Open Door

Published monthly by and for the members and friends of
Bethel Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

VOL. 32NO. 1  Marc Sherrod, Minister  January, 2004


E-Mail & On-Line Newsletter

A number of the members have responded regarding saving postage and mailing by reading the newsletter online. If you wish to add your name to that list, call (865-376-6340) or e-mail the church office.

We also maintain a master list of e-mail addresses. Please include yours if you wish.


 

Open Door Index

From the Minister

From the Parish Nurse

Session Committee Articles

Session Meeting Highlights

Notes of Appreciation

Notes of Sympathy

Prayer Calendar

Remember to Pray for These

Memorial Gifts

Birthdays

Youth News

Special Needs

Monthly News

Thoughts to Ponder

Advent at Bethel 2003

Calendar

 

ALINE TERRY TRANSPORTATION FUND

This service is free for friends and members of Bethel. If you have a transportation need, please call the church office at 376-6340. Please be ready to tell us the date and time of your appointment and what time you want to be picked up. Some of the places we transport to are: doctor’s office, hairdresser, library, post office, grocery store, and shopping. We drive as far as Knoxville. We are open to other suggestions, also.

 

From the Minister

Many thanks to all of you who blessed our Christmas with various gifts! I am enjoying using the laser printer at home. I do, however, need to set the record straight. You mentioned that a broken printer could now no longer serve as an excuse for “lost” sermons. Actually, the printer wasn’t the problem – it was the computer that really needed replacing (just kidding!). Thanks for everything!

Please be in prayer for the session as we have our annual retreat on Saturday, January 10 in the fellowship hall (9:00-3:00). The current session plus the elders-elect will focus on getting organized for 2004, especially in light of the six ministry initiatives that we will begin implementing in the near future. The ministry initiatives with the names of those who have indicated a commitment are:

I. An additional Sunday worship service.
Bettie W. Shenk, Dianne Griffith, Chuck Bunch, Julie Bunch, Jan Rybka, Jack Stackpole, Carolyn Matthews, Madge Benfield, Carol Brown, Cathy McDowell, Alf Rybka

II. The revitalization of our ministry to youth and children.
Joan Thompson, Denise Martin, Jerry Harvey, Laura Walker, Melanie Sherrod, Rebecca Dailey, Jane Pickel, Jan Rybka, Carolyn Matthews (I have no skills her but will pray & support w/ $), Ellen Dailey, Chelsea Richmond, Amber Jacks, Carol Brown, Sue Jones, Linda Brown, Carolyn Tulley, Alf Rybka

III. A congregational gifts-discernment program to enable each member and friend of Bethel to discover and serve according to his or her special gifts, rather than exclusively according to Bethel’s needs.
Denise Martin, Ruth Ann Ludwig, Roger Richmond, Carolyn Matthews, Carol Brown, Anneke Oonk, Alf Rybka

IV. A small group ministry.
Jerry Harvey, Ken Dungan, Rebecca Dailey, Bobbie Martin, Carolyn MatthewsCarol Brown, Sue Jones, Alf Rybka

V. A Bethel learning center for those at risk in our community.
Celia Simon, Dick Evans, Jordan Sherrod, Eden Sherrod, Ken Dungan, Roger Richmond, Nancy King, Brenda Bunch, Jane B. Walsh, Carolyn Matthews, Ellen Dailey, Chelsea Richmond, Steve & Amber Jacks, Carol Brown, Linda Brown, Mariana Oonk, Alf Rybka, Helen Ricker

VI. Renewed focus on mission in ecumenical partnership.
Celia Simon, Dick Evans, Ruth Ann Ludwig, Roger Richmond, Jane Pickel, Laura Dailey, Jill McMaster, Mark Banker, Brenda Bunch, Tom Pickel, Jane B. Walsh, Carolyn Matthews, Chelsea Richmond, Carol Brown, Mariana Oonk, Carolyn Tulley, Alf Rybka

If you didn’t get signed up in December to support one or more of those initiatives, please contact the church office (and remember, the sign-up sheets collected on November 23 were inadvertently lost, so if you signed up then, we don’t have a record of what you are interested in doing, so please sign up again).

Our heartfelt thanks to these five elders rotating off the session who have labored long and faithfully over the past three years: Dianne Griffith, Scott McGill, Carolyn Matthews, Roger Richmond, and Helene Ricker. The five elders who will be installed during the worship service on January 11 are: Chris Badger, Mark Banker, Frank Harris, Chad Gaffin, and Nelda Toon. As most of you have already experienced, at Bethel there is no shortage of opportunities to be of service to God and neighbor! That is especially true as we move forward with turning our vision into the reality of God’s preferred future for our congregation. Even as the calendar has turned over into another year, may this new season in our life together be one filled with peace and all the challenges of discipleship.

In the words of a prayer from the Book of Common Worship, “Merciful God, as a potter fashions a vessel from humble clay, you form us into a new creation. Shape us, day by day, through the cross of Christ your Son, until we pray as continually as we breathe and all our acts are prayer; through Jesus Christ and in the mystery of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.”

Marc


Parish Nurse

Happy New Year! We have made it to 2004! Who would have thought it? This year has held many trials for me and my family but I count them as a learning experience and, furthermore, a blessing to be brought closer to my church family. I am starting out this new year as a 20 hour Parish Nurse/ 10 hour a week secretary. If you call the church on Monday and Tuesday, you will hear me picking up the calls. Kathy Francis is going to babysit her new grand-daughter (Anna Katherine) on Monday and Tuesdays as her daughter, Gina, will be resuming her teaching duties. I welcome this new opportunity to learn more about computer skills and how to put together our newsletter each month. Kathy will continue putting together the weekly bulletins, but I will be organizing the Open Door articles. So...if you have any thing you want to add into the Open Door please give (or call) them to me.

On a personal note, I want to thank everyone for the many Christmas cards and baked goods and presents I received. I even got a new parish nurse tote bag with my name on it! I want to thank Bethel for the generous monetary Christmas bonus.

We have additional medical supplies in our medical equipment closet now. New to the closet are: a nebulizer for aerosol respiratory treatments, a bedside commode, two more walkers and one more wheelchair. It is a blessing that we need a larger storage area for all our durable medical equipment.

I am working on Bethel's automatic external defibrillator policy and procedure book to be reviewed by Dr. Rodney McMillen who has graciously consented to be our medical director. All of the parishioners that wish to be trained in the use of the automatic external defibrillator, please contact me and we will set up a class to teach you how to operate it. It is my personal goal to have the AED up and running (so to speak) before June of this year.

To your health ..................... Deb



Session Highlights

[A reminder that session meetings are open for members to attend unless the session goes into executive session; the minutes of the session are are available, by appointment, for review in the church office]

A correction was made to the November 2, 2003 congregational meeting minutes to the effect that Brenda Bunch is the trustee rotating off the Board of Trustees at the end of 2003, not George Warlick as announced.
The session will have a called meeting on January 14 to dialog with the Presbytery of East Tennessee’s Task Force on Structures and Priorities
Called the annual meeting of the congregation for January 25, 2004 in the fellowship hall.
Reviewed the names of individuals who had signed-up on the 2004 Time and Talent Forms to ensure their interests would be utilized.
Moved the following persons from the active to the inactive roll: Reid Hutchison, Janice Wall, Tom Pickel III, Lisa Pickel, Lily Lowery, Lisa Rusher and removed from the inactive roll Deborah Tilson Baird.
Voted to establish a small group coordinator position with a one year independent contract and authorized Elder Bob Jones to approach Rev. Pat Harvey about this position.
Adopted a 2004 budget of $213,000.00, that included a reduction of $12,000.00 in Bethel’s shared mission giving to the Presbytery of East Tennessee because of a shortfall in 2003 total giving.
Voted to authorize the Stewardship and Finance Committee to make a presentation to the congregation requesting that each member pay his or her own portion of the per capita expenditure for Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly. This amount would be about $30.00 per member. A special offering will be received with a date to be determined by the committee. Bethel’s total per capita - $6,494.00
January’s stated meeting will take place as a part of the retreat on Saturday, January 10, 2004.
 

Special Needs


... non reported this month ...


 Monthly News


 
CHRISTMAS CARDS

Dianne Griffith collects used greeting cards all year and takes them to ORNL where an employee group collects and ships them to St. Judes Ranch for Children, a home for abused, abandoned, and neglected children of all ethnic groups and faiths (http://www.stjudesranch.org/), where The cards are recycled by the children and sold so that the children can have their own spending money. Please leave your Christmas and other greeting cards in the red box in the Narthex.


BOOK GROUP

Our informal book group will be meeting at the home of Kay Michener (376-6269) this month on Thursday, January 22 at 2:00 P.M. We will be discussing John Jakes On Secret Service. Anyone interested in reading and discussing books is invited to attend.


Rea Evening Circle

The Rea Evening Circle meets at the church on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at 6 P.M. The Hebrew word, Rea (ray uh) means "a friend who is as your own soul." All women of the church are invited to the Rea Evening Circle meetings.

January 11 – 6:00 P.M.: A Sinner's Witness, Bible study of Luke 7: 36 - 40

January 25 – 6:00 P.M.: Our Foremother's Lagacy, Bible study of 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9; 11: 1-16; and 14: 34-36.


1st ANNUAL COLLEGE RETREAT

Jan. 16-18, 2004
John Knox Center
How to Survive College & Keep Your Faith

Students may register on website at www.johnknoxcenter.org or by getting a brochure from the church office.


Session Committee Articles


From the Evangelism Committee

In Rethinking Evangelism: A Theological Approach, Ben Campbell Johnson writes: "The motivation for evangelism springs from the unconditional love of God seen in God's outward movement toward us, from the command of Christ to go into all the world to bear witness to his presence and work, from compassion for fellow humans who are lost, and from the church's life. . . The church lives by incorporating a portion of each new generation into its life. The church is never more than one generation from extinction. If it fails to reach the new generation, it dies. Because of love for the church and our loyalty to its mission, we desire it to re-present Christ to each generation. Unless the church has an effective ministry of evangelism, this mission to the world will not continue . . . in the scheme of history, evangelism fulfills the church, the persons who do it, those who receive it, and, ultimately, the will and purpose of almighty God."

If you desire to be a part of an exciting New Year in the life of Bethel's evangelism program, or have creative ideas for fresh evangelistic approaches, we invite you to contact our committee.

Welcome to first time visitors Jamie & Wayne Castleberry, Brenda & Jimmy Lawrence, Ruth Brownell (new resident from Florida), Duane Crooke (husband of Brenda Law Crooke), and to all who visited on Christmas Eve. (If you have names of Christmas Eve or Lessons and Carols visitors who might like to receive our newsletter, please let us know.)


Mission Outreach Committee Report


In December our committee had a very daunting task to achieve. That task was to provide the Christmas baskets for area needy families. As I got further into planning for this, I began to see the blessing of having a very competent and willing committee. We started out with a total of $436.54 in our Christmas basket fund. After our Minute for Mission and various other contributions we ended up with $2737.25!

With the expertise of Peggy Sheppard's buying skills, the price of the Christmas baskets for our Bethel recipients was $1376.00 for thirty one families. This included staples such as flour, sugar, eggs, bread and cake mix, canned goods and let us not forget a turkey. A special note of appreciation to Vernon Law who helped Peggy haul all the food from the grocery store. To the food baskets, we added the gifts for every child in the families- a total of 72 children received gifts!

In addition, this year we sponsored a Christmas party for the Headstart kids that meet at Bethel. Much of the praise for this endeavor goes to Brenda, Julie, and Chuck Bunch. With a budget of $1200.00, they provided toys for 32 children, shoes and socks for 24 children and food baskets for 22 families. All of the families and Headstart teachers were very appreciative of this outpouring of generosity from Bethel.

All told, we spend $2577.65 for both endeavors and still ended up with $596.14 left over. Thanks to Brenda Bunch for the help with accounting for all our funds for this huge task. Thanks to all of Bethel for your gifts and never-ending enthusiasm for helping those in need.

Sincerely, Deb Hyder,
Chair for 2003 of Mission Outreach


Property and Personnel Committee

Trees are being removed from behind the Educational Building. This will be followed by regrading of the land and subsequent replanting. All this is due to some significant leaking into the first level of the building into the furnace room, Scout room and rest room. Over the years erosion coupled with large tree roots have sloped the land toward the building causing the leaking. Thanks for your patience with this project. Thanks also to Duie Swicegood who has headed up this project and to Dave Stevenson.


Youth News

YOUTH GROUP will meet with Gary Lemasters after church on January 4. They will be un-trimming the Sanctuary Christmas tree, and have a time for fellowship and lunch afterward.


Memorial Gifts

Gifts received during the month of December
in memory of:

Joyce Law from Vernon Law toward kitchen renovation

Bill Manly from Kay Michener, Dick Evans & Celia Simon, George & Virginia Warlick, Mr & Mrs. Bob Polk, Mr. & Mrs. Michael Polk, Mr. & Mrs. Harry Goff

Charlotte Crumbliss from Dick Evans, Celia Simon, George & Virginia Warlick

Bob Ludwig from Tom & Helen Roostee, Donald, Ann & Lisa Ludwig, Stanley Keylon, Jim & Constance Rivers, Mary & John Will, Henry & Carolyn Tulley, Jean Young, David & Sandra White, Jack & Sue Muecke, Mac Robbins, Doris Ann Parkinson, Dick Evans, Celia Simon, Robert & Eileen Polk, James & Judith Divine, Helen Devine, Troy & Jenny Phillips, Bobby & Peggy Collier, Robert & Emily Clouse, J.R. Barre, Bill & Marianne Shadden, Madge Benfield, Jack & Carolyn Matthews, Lowell Malmquist, S..L. & Carole Yount, Gayle & Mel Bosma, Don & Sissie Puckett, Lilian Long, James Condon, Geraldine Wallick, Vicki Stone


Notes of Sympathy

BETHEL SYMPATHY is extended to:
 
Chad & Marilyn Gaffin in the death of Chad’s mother, Christine Gaffin, Dec. 20.
Chad & Marilyn Gaffin in the death of Chad’s mother, Christine Gaffin, Dec. 20.
the family of Bob Ludwig who passed away Dec. 8.

the family of Mabel Bradford who passed away Jan 1, 2004


Notes of Appreciation

Dear Bethel Friends,

Thank you for your Christmas monetary gift and your individual cards & gifts. You are such a thoughtful group of people. Thank you for continuing to bless me by allowing me to work with this congregation!

Love through Christ, Kathy


To my Bethel family.

Thank you for all the holiday greetings and cards and also for the Christmas monetary gift. You all are so wonderful, and I am very blessed to be a part of Bethel church. I wish you all the very best for 2004 and look forward to serving as your organist for another year.

Much love, Mary Ann


Thoughts to Ponder

... none this month ...


Remember to Pray For These

IN HEALTH CARE CENTERS

NAME FACITLTY
Delvenia Beasley Marshall Voss
Ruby Hunter Royal Health Care
Ruby Nell Skinner Doctors Lake
(Florida)
Micki Shields Woodbine
(Alexandra, VA)
Muriel McKonley
(sister of Jean Young)
RAE-INN NURSING HOME
(Geneva, Ohio)
Frances McPheeters Baptist Healthcare Center
Betty Brown Alpharetta Healthcare Center
 

ASSISTED LIVING

NAME FACITLTY
Evelyn Waldrup ROCKWOOD HEALTH CARE
Roberta Cash ROCKWOOD HEALTH CARE
Joan Pemberton WELLINGTON PLACE – KINGSTON
Mary Woodall HOME AWAY FROM HOME

HOSPITAL

Chris Dunlap ROANE MEDICAL HOSPITAL

AT HOME

Tora Phillips, Ella Winsbro, Addie Wreath Hunt, Christine Woods, Al & Dot Davis, Florence Simmons, Ruth Moutoux, Justin Trivette, Margaret True, Evelyn Wilson

MILITARY

Josh Brown, Jason Brown, Clay Badger
 

Bethel Family Prayer Calendar - January, 2004

The members and regularly attending friends of Bethel are assigned to elder care groups. Each month in the newsletter for your prayers, we publish the list of one or more elder care groups. The elder’s name and phone at the top of the list are listed as a reminder of their role in nurturing and supporting those who belong to Bethel. You should feel free to contact your elder or the pastor if you have a particular spiritual need or other matter that needs to be brought to our attention.  

4 - BOB JONES
376-4434

Chris Badger
Sarah Fletcher
Karen Hart
Mary Ann Hensley
Wayne & Brenda Hope
Clay & Nancy Landers

 

18 - NANCY KING
376-9951

Wanda Carter
Roberta Cash
Tony & Carol Chargen
Dick Evans & Celia Simon
Frank & Janet Kornegay

11 -

Doris Ann Parkinson
Mark & Linda Preston
Lisa Rusher & James Neal
Samantha Rybka
David & Debbie Standridge
Don Woodall

25 -

Jon & Vicki Loden
Jonathon Loden
Fred & Willie Mae Meers
Elizabeth Muecke
Caleb Sherrod
Melanie Sherrod
Jim & Cindy Walker

 




JANUARY, 2004 BIRTHDAYS


 
   1 – 
   2 – 
Ruby Hunter
Thomas McGill
   3 – 

   4 – 
Kay Michener
Todd Young
   5 – 

   6 – 

   7 – 

   8 – 
Al Davis
   9 – 
Nikki Law
Matthew Hines
 10 – 
Carolyn Matthews
 11 – 
Eric Kornegay
Dave Cuneo
 12 –
Mary Ann Hensley
 13 – 
Neva Daniel
 14 – 

 15 – 
Jennie Morris
 16 – 
Tollie Banker
 17 – Madge Benfield
Jack Stackpole
 18 – 

 19 – 
Ryan Preston
 20 – 

 21 – 
Henry Benjamin Coen
 22 – 
Laura Walker
Ronnie Phillips
 23 – 
Jan Wall
 24 – 
Anita Richmond
 25 – 
Katie Dungan
 26 – 
Reid Hutchison
 27 – 

 28 – 
Kenneth Dungan
 29 – 

 30 – 

 31 – Pam Law
John Will

 
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