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.

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From the Pastor

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Parish Nurse

... Deb

... nothing specified this month ...

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Cathy McDowell has come up with this fun suggestion: a Bethel Swap Shop might be fun.  When Cathy was growing up in North Carolina there was a Swap Shop on her local radio station - it was so interesting.  We thought we’d try it for a few months!

The rules are simple:

1.	For members and friends of Bethel to Buy, Sell, Swap, Give Away items -- or list an item you need, or a job you would do or need to have done.
2.	Use Twenty five words or less to describe your item - send to Karen Schall schallk@highland.net
3.	Items will not be automatically carried over from month to month - you can resubmit your item.
4.	Deadline is the 25th of each month - items received after the 25th will appear the next month.
5.	You may list your phone # or folks can use the Bethel Directory

A few items are listed below to get us started;

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The Book Discussion group will meet on January 25^th at 1:30. We will be discussing Carved in Bone, by Jefferson Bass.

Anyone who is interested in joining the Wednesday morning prayer group can contact Carol Brown or Karen Schall, or just plan to join us at 9:45 on Wednesday mornings in the kitchen.

There will be no Fun Lunch in the month of January.

Update from the Design Development Committee

We have been working with the architect to finalize the plans for the building project. Things have progressed more slowly than we had hoped. Nonetheless, we have achieved a consensus on the design of the connecting structure. We wanted an open and airy greeting area with lots of natural light, and a bit of solar gain in the winter. Hence we have more glass in the connecting structure than before. We also wanted the sanctuary to stand out and the transition between old and new to be aesthetically pleasing from both outside and inside. We believe we have achieved these goals. With more seats in the sanctuary, better accessibility with ground level entrances and an elevator between floors, and accessible restrooms throughout, our worship, education and fellowship opportunities will be available to all. Additionally, the enlarged Fellowship Hall, the new kitchen and the river side patio will offer inviting opportunities for fellowship and education. We will be posting the new drawings in the Fellowship Hall early in the new year.

Our next step is to meet with prospective contractors in early January and to firm up the budget number. We plan to meet with the Presbytery Property Committee to outline our intentions and get on the agenda for the Presbytery Meeting. Session will also be making a presentation to the congregation to get approval for the financing of the effort. If all goes well, we should be playing in the dirt in early spring. We appreciate the kind words of support and the ideas shared over the past two years. We are confident that the process will provide us with a project we can enjoy for its beauty, functionality and economy. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue the project to its successful conclusion.

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Mission and Outreach

The Mission Outreach Committee would like to thank everyone at Bethel who contributed to the 2006 Christmas Basket/Angel Tree project. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to give food baskets to 31 families. These baskets included enough food for Christmas dinner and most of the following week. The food for the eight baskets for the elderly was especially selected for each need. We would like to give a special thanks to everyone who donated a turkey or turkeys.

In addition to the food baskets, we were able to give gifts to 80 children and eight elderly people. And that’s not all. The Bethel congregation also responded to the request from Mid-East for special items for the elderly shut-ins, in nursing homes and in assisted living facilities who had little or no family. We collected hygiene items and many afghans, booties and hats. Many of these items were hand made and were beautiful.

Special thanks to Peggy Sheppard for coordinating the food for the baskets and to Joan Davis for the delicious "breakfast" Saturday morning. Special thanks, also, to Steve and Amber Jacks for picking up and delivering the food baskets and other items to the elderly.

We had a lot of help that Friday for the set up and Saturday for the distribution. Special thanks go out to Frank and Linda Jones, Dolores Sandmel, Betty Foy, Jim and Karen Schall, Jack and Carolyn McNew, Billie Stooksberry, Marilyn Gaffin, Ruth Ann Ludwig, Phil and Jane Walsh, Alicia Webb and Laura and Ellen Dailey.

It is not too early to start planning for the 2007 Christmas Basket/Angel Tree distribution. We plan to continue our involvement with the elderly. For all those of you who are involved with various projects and have leftover material, think about using it for afghans, booties or mittens.

The past couple of months have been very busy for our kids. This year, we had 29 kids in the Christmas play. Trying to keep everyone’s attention was a challenge, but somehow it all came together the night of the pageant, right before curtain call. The kids did a great job! I would really like to thank those who helped; Mrs. Coen, Mrs. Keko, and Mrs. Murr. I would also like to say a big "thank you" to Jordan Sherrod. She choreographed the angel’s dance and, at the very last minute, took over the part of Mary, because our original Mary broke her foot. She truly went the extra mile for all of us. Thanks Jordan!

Our youth group has been growing at a pretty fast rate! I’m very excited about the direction we will be heading this winter. We will be going back to our study of the Old Testament, and the exciting stories of the old prophets, and we will also be planning our activities for this winter and spring. This would be a good time to join our group. It’s sort of like we start over at the new year. Our first meeting of the year will be held on Sunday, Jan. 7th, at 2:00 p.m., in the fellowship hall. Join us!

The Lord has truly blessed our church. All you have to do is hang around a little while and you can feel the love everywhere. That love made Christmas at Bethel wonderful again this year. Thanks to all who helped support the Bethel youth this past year. You are making a difference in the young minds of tomorrow's world!

I wish everyone peace and love in the coming new year and I look forward to seeing you at church!

May God bless and protect you,