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The Open Door
VOL. 32 
E-Mail & On-Line Newsletter
With the approach of World Communion Sunday and our receiving of the annual peacemaking offering, I have been thinking about the role of religious pluralism and cultural diversity in America and across the world. Recent polls on religious affiliation indicate that, for the first time since the founding of the nation, the majority of Americans no longer self-identify as participants in a Protestant denomination. Should we be surprised that in the most religiously plural nation ever on earth, that Protestantism is apparently losing its majority status? Notwithstanding attempts in recent months by local governments in East Tennessee and around the nation to pass “God Resolutions,” I believe such efforts represent a misguided desire to try and legislate or otherwise apply normative Christian or Protestant values to the whole of society. Our central calling as Christians is to live the new life of the people of God, not to dictate the religious or spiritual values of others, nor to resurrect the historical fiction that we are a Christian nation. Taking as its text Genesis 11:1-9, the story of the tower of Babel, one of the study sessions from a new resource just published by the Presbyterian Peacemaking program – Living the Gospel of Peace: Tools for Building More Inclusive Community – has this to say about our calling to learn to live together amid our cultural diversity: “As we work to overcome intercultural barriers, we recognize that each culture, with its unique context, experiences God differently. “We realize that God is not confined by any one culture. Instead, God moves in and alongside each culture to challenge and affirm each according to its strengths and weaknesses . . . Our ethnocentrism is our tower of Babel . . . the view that our cultural values and beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, are the best and that we possess the superior culture” (p.16). America, true to the ideal of the founders, has always been a diverse nation in terms of religious groups and perspectives; our unique experiment in religious freedom has fashioned a nation that values pluralism in ways unknown in world history to this point. Our challenge, as participants in the Presbyterian/Reformed theological tradition, is, then, to learn to tell our own faith story with conviction and joy, yet free from the idolatry of worship at the altar of the nation while also being free to embrace respect and understanding for every person as each has been made in the divine image. As we gather in worship and welcome friends from Kenya this World Communion Sunday, as we continue to do our best to incarnate God’s love, mercy, and justice for all people, may we look beyond all the religious and patriotic rhetoric of this election season to embrace once more the guiding principles modeled by Christ, for our baptismal identity and commission call us toward a loyalty and devotion that surpass even the that of clan, race, or nation. Shalom! Your Pastor,
Happy October to all! Please don’t forget the “Get Fit, Roane County” workshops to be held here at Bethel starting on October 7th and continuing every Thursday evening for eight weeks. The classes will be in the Fellowship Hall starting at 6:30 P.M. This program is done with the help of Nancy King, Melanie Sherrod, Julie Bunch, the Roane County Health Department and Chase Drugs in Harriman. I think there will be something for everyone. Remember it is free and is open to everyone- so bring your friends! Also, on October 2nd and 3rd, the Kingston Country Fair will be set up by the old courthouse. I believe the hours are 9 A.M.- 5 P.M on Saturday and 12 noon- 5 P.M. on Sunday, Bethel will be manning a booth at the fair. We will be taking blood pressures and giving out information about Bethel. I and several volunteers have signed up for a shift at the “Bethel Booth”- if you would like to volunteer, please call Carolyn Tulley at: 376-5421. I wish you a month full of treats- with no tricks! ............. Deb
... none listed for this month ... Upon recommendation for Bethel’s ministry initiative group on children and youth, the session recently approved hiring a person to do youth ministry for approximately 12 hours a week and about 9 months out of the year. Various persons have agreed to post this description at various colleges in the area, and it has been circulated to the John Knox Center and to churches in East Tennessee Presbytery. A copy can be found HERE, and we encourage you to share this information with any one whom you think would make a worthy candidate. The announced deadline to receive applications is October 15. The session hopes that once this position is filled, members might be led to support this new staff position over and beyond regular giving to the Church. 2004 PEACEMAKING OFFERING The Peacemaking Offering will be received on October 3. This is one of four special offerings taken each year, and the receipts are used to fund the Church’s Peacemaking program here and around the world. 25% of the offering is retained by Bethel for use in activities selected and approved by our Session. 25% will go to our Presbytery and Synod to help fund their Peacemaking projects, and 50% will go to the General Assembly Peacemaking Program. Examples of activities funded by this offering are:
The work to achieve peace, to help resolve conflicts, and to assist and support victims of violence, abuse, and neglect is an important aspect of the Church’s responsibilities; therefore, this special offering deserves our serious consideration and generous support. "I will grant peace in the land" (Leviticus 26:6) LOOKING AHEAD: A LOAVES AND FISHES EXPERIENCE Mark your calendars now for March 18-19, 2005 at Maryville College. There will be no other event planned for 2005 in our presbytery that will provide as much for so many as will Loaves and Fishes. There will be 27 workshops offered in the morning and 25 in the afternoon. Here are a few of the titles of what's being offered: Rebirth in Cuba, Generous Giving and the Generous Church, Experiencing the Power of Prayer, The Gift of Touch, Steps for Calling the Next Pastor, You Want Me to do What With These Bells?, Walking the Labyrinth, The Emerging Church, and Caring for the Shepherd. At this same conference, our Presbytery will be able to meet--and listen to and converse with--Neil MacQueen. Neil is a Presbyterian pastor in Columbus, Ohio and (get this!) is one of the educators who "invented" the Workshop Rotation Model for Church School. In an article written for Presbyterian Outlook, Neil asks: "Is Sunday School in a time warp or what? Few things have changed so little and are ailing so much in our denomination." He goes to remark that "The decline in Sunday School is one of the worst kept secrets in the Church." Is there an antidote to Church School decline? There certainly is! We encourage all your Christian Education committee members, Church School teachers, all the rest of your church to attend The Loaves & Fishes Experience in March, 2005 and participate in Neil MacQueen's workshop on the Rotation Model for Sunday Schools. For further information Check us out on the PET website www.presbyteryeasttn.org (click on the Loaves and Fishes icon) A NOTE FROM YOUR WEB SITE EDITOR Hello Bethel members and friends! Have you checked out our ‘New at Bethel” page yet? You can learn all about Samuel and Monica Wambugu and the Grace School in Limuru, Kenya. The Wambugus will be with us on Sunday, October 3rd. Samuel will give the sermon, and there will be a dinner afterwards where you have the opportunity to welcome them and learn more about their ministry. You can contact me via e-mail by clicking HERE and selecting "Bethel Web Site Editor" from the pull-down list. Thank you very much. Marianne VISIT OF SAMUEL AND MONICA WAMBUGU Parish Life and Mission Outreach want to invite everyone to greet and meet the Wambugus at our pot- luck dinner right after church. Please bring your favorite dish (less rich, not spicy) to the kitchen not later than 11:30. Thank you. FUN LUNCHEON Mark your calendars! Fun Luncheon on Tuesday, October 12th at the Hettricks. Please bring your favorite dish to the church by 11:30 from where we will carpool to the Hettricks. GOT POLYESTER?! Please check your closets: Children’s Sunday School classes will be working on a project that requires polyester stuffing. If you’re a crafty person, and perhaps (like most of us) you’ve got a few unfinished projects laying around, could you please check your closets and see if you have a bag (or two) that’s just looking for a good home? If you can help, just leave the bags in the Resource Room or give them to Amy Coen or Karen Schall. ITEMS OF INTEREST... Bethel Book Group The next meeting of the Bethel Book Group will be Thursday, October 28, at 1:30 p.m. (note earlier time). We will meet in the church lounge. Our book for October is A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines. Prison Ministry Many, many thanks to all those who baked and made delicious desserts for the two inmates’ picnics held in the last 3 weeks. I wish we were allowed to take pictures, so you all could see the looks of joy and delight on their faces! A reminder to our Prison Ministry Volunteers – our regular 5th Sunday Worship at BMRCX will take place this month, on Oct. 31. Please let Karen Schall know if you will be able to take part. Host/Hostess for October Fellowships Fellowship Sunday, October 10: Issues Class Fun Lunch, Tuesday, October 12: The Hettricks (Hettrick’s Home) Fellowship Supper: Debbie Hyder and Anita Richmond OFFICERS TO BE NOMINATED Bethel’s Committee on Nominations will be placing the following names before the congregation for election to the class of 2007: Amber Jacks, Jerry Harvey, Denise Martin, Laura Dailey, and Carolyn McNew. In addition, Ken Dungan will be nominated to serve as a trustee. As always, nominations may be made from the floor, so long as the person being nominated has granted his or her permission prior to the meeting. The date for this congregational meeting will be announced soon. Thanks to those who have served on the Nominating Committee: Mark Banker (chair) and Frank Harris from the session, and Laura Dailey, Dan Hyder, and Denise Martin from the congregation.
MISSION OUTREACH Sunset Gap this past week. The thank you note is posted on the bulletin board in the back of the sanctuary. I am told that some of the labels have been used to purchase computers and a camera for use by the Center. As you are cleaning out those closets, getting rid of last year’s fall and winter clothes that are too small/large or just no longer your favorites, bag them and bring to the parlor below the sanctuary. Sunset Gap can certainly use them. The Mission Outreach Committee will be collecting good, used children and adult clothes and shoes until the end of October. If necessary, a trip to Cosby can be made before then and another trip around the first of November. Global warming or natural weather cycles! Regardless of the reason, hurricanes have hit parts of eastern United States very hard over the last few weeks. PDA (Presbyterian Disaster Assistance), using money from One Great Hour of Sharing, responded immediately. Short term assistance to the elderly, children and those with special needs took the form of food, water, shelter and medical care. In the long term, PDA will help in the rebuilding process by supplying building materials and volunteer help. Your continued support is needed. Among the ways you can contribute are: 1) through the church as designated funds to #9-2000015 for needs of the storm survivors or #9-2000163 for property damage, 2) donations directly to PC(USA), Individual Remittance Processing, P. O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700, or 3) by credit card through the web site www.pcusa.org/pda. PROPERTY AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE Bethel’s Fall Workday has been scheduled for Saturday, October 9 from 8:30-12:30. We have several jobs you can do as individuals or as groups (Sunday School classes, circles, etc.). Some identified jobs are: weeding flower beds, trimming shrubs, repairing/replacing lights outside (electricians), painting basement bathroom & repair basement commode. If you know of anything else, please notify Nancy King or a member of Property and Personnel. Thanks in advance for a large turnout! Also, Buildings & Grounds Initiative met with Chris Malone, Architect from Foxhollow Goodson on Sunday, Sept. 26 regarding a proposed drawing for renovations. More on that next month! PARISH LIFE COMMITTEE Enjoy America’s Most Unique Train Ride Reservations have been made for 17 Bethel members to take a train through lovely rural east Tennessee on a railroad built 60 years ago for the historic Manhattan Project. Since we are a non-profit group, the cost for this 90-minute, 14-mile trip is $12 for adults and $8 for children under 12.
Trip to the Cumberland County Playhouse Reservations have been made for 32 Bethel members and friends at the Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville to see TWO BY TWO on Sunday, November 14, 2:30. We will carpool leaving Bethel’s Parking Lot at 2 p.m. Cost $19 and $11 for children. Please make checks payable to Marianne Shadden. Thank you. STEWARDSHIP & FINANCE COMMITTEE FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT
... none reported this month ... ... none reported this month ...
WHAT'S IN A GIFT PACKAGE?
Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way reminds us that "we unconsciously set a limit on how much God can give us." In fact we often reject a gift as coming from God because it is beyond our imagining that it has any part in our spiritual makeup. In I Corinthians 12 Paul gives us a list of spiritual gifts which is not all-inclusive. Our spiritual makeup includes all of us. "Every aspect of our humanity is intended to serve God's intent for the world." You are a gift from God to others. Your giftedness includes more than your skills and talents. Below are listed several components of giftedness for ministry. Place a check mark by the components you normally consider as part of one's gifts for ministry:
Note which ones you have left unchecked. Why do you think people tend to discount those aspects of giftedness? Think of illustrations of how those components can be real gifts for ministry in the world. Remember, you are the only person who will ever live with your gift package. How are you celebrating it? How are you spending it in the world? How are you developing it? Who are the people who affirm your gifts and support you in living them out in your life?
Bethel Family Prayer Calendar - October, 2004
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NO. 10
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NELDA TOON (06) Bunch, Julie |
JANE WALSH (04)
*Banker, Tollie |
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