Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Our Mission

Bethlehem Lutheran Church is a Community centered on God's Grace and focused on Worship, Music and Social Justice with a goal of growing together in Faith and Action.

Fall Schedule

Fall worship time returns on September 7 - worship at 10:30. Sunday School starts on September 14 at 9:30. Classes for all ages!

Vote Out Poverty - Sunday September 21

Is it possible to "Vote Out Poverty." Probably not - and yet - if we as people of faith just look at our sisters and brothers who are trapped in the web of poverty and don't act to supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?

Our response to the presence of poverty in our citiy, state, country and world calls us to BOTH charity and justice. In pursuit of justice, the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Vote Out Povery Task Force invites you to consider signing the Vote Out Poverty individual pledge (a pledge to make overcoming poverty central to how I cast my ballot in 2008).

We Have Moved!

Our new address is 250 Commerce SW. Check out our "wall-breaking" ceremony, the "clean-up days" (found under the "New Church Home" link), the "walk" to our new church on October 7, and pictures of our new sanctuary.

New pictures (like the one to the left) by Paul Petersen have been added - see them on our "New Home" Page.

 

 

MAJIC

The MAJIC concert series starts its second season on October 10.

The concert features Grand Rapids' own Organissimo with coinciding art opening with works by internationally reknowned Grand Rapids artist Mic Carlson.

MAJIC ia a new ministry of our congregation which is the creation of our own flutist extraordinaire Carmen Maret. MAJIC stands for Musical Arts for Justice in the Community and is an eight concert series which will be held in our new church home at 250 Commerce SW. Held at 7:00 pm on the second Friday of every month from October through May the series will feature a wide variety of local and regional performers and an equallyl eclectic range of music styles. The concerts are free with a suggested donation of $10 which wil benefit the Grand Rapids Coalition to End Homelessness.

Through MAJIC we will hope to: help house the homeless, make our new church home visible and accessible to the community, and promote musical arts in our community.

Check out the MAJIC webpage for more information.

Attention
The Official Website of Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan is www.blc-grmi.org. Please make sure this is the bookmark you are using or change your "Favorites List" to reflect this address.



Social Justice

NECM Supper House - Watch for our next time to serve.Call the church for more details.

Second Harvest Gleaners - THIS WEEK!

Help feed our neighbors by volunteering at Second Harvest Gleaners. BLC volunteers once a month on Saturday from 9am till noon at 864 West River Center Drive NW, Comstock Park. This year's schedule is:

  • September 13
  • October 11
  • November 8
  • December 6

Our Hope update - For seven years BLC has been working with the ladies of Our Hope, teaching them how to sew. Thank you to all the volunteers for their gift of time and talent. Currently there is a need for cotton fabric, notions, patterns, and other sewing supplies. Right now the ladies are working on coin purses and plan to adorn them with decorative buttons - do you have any lying around? Please bring donations to church or call to arrange for a pick-up. Thanks!

Ransom Towers Paper Drive - Every 4th Sunday we collect paper items for Ransom Towers.

Warm Up America - To comfort abused children being placed in foster homes, we want to give them their own personal afghan of 49 pieces. You can help by donating your left-over skeins of yarn or any yarn that you would like to purchase. If you knit or crochet, make a 7"x9" rectangle in any washable yarn, color, pattern, or stitch of your choosing and drop it off at the church in the box by the office lobby. Next meeting is Saturday, April 19, 10:00 AM at St. Luke's.

Hurricane Katrina Relief Trips: Now that we are nearly two years out since Katrina hit the coast, many who don't live in the affected area have forgotten the devastation and that the pool of volunteers has nearly dried up.

BLC has sponsored 6 trips to Ocean Springs, Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina Relief. Three of the trips have been documented and are available for your viewing: Fall 2005, January 2006, and January 2007.



Announcements

Adult Sunday School - Starting September 14 the adult class will participate in a 6-week program entitled "The End is the Beginning - Preparing for Christian Death." Discussion will include everything from the challenges of growing old and its legal implications to advance directives and funeral planning. We will approach the subject with great seriousness but will not means be maudlin. Pastors Jay and Jed will facilitate the sessions which will be augmented by guest speakers who are specialists in a number of fields. A resource book with important information about medical, legal, governmental, and spiritual issues is being prepared and will be given to all participants.

Choir and bells rehearsal schedule: Choirs meets at 6:30 on Wednesday, and bell choir follows at 8:00.

New email addresses - The church's iserv email addresses are being phased out so please change your address book to the following email addresses:

Pastor Jay Schrimpf: pastor@blc-grmi.org or schrimpf@blc-grmi.org

Pastor Jed Watson: assocpastor@blc-grmi.org or jwatson@blc-grmi.org

HCDC Director Sue Davidson: hillcdc@blc-grmi.org or sdavidson@blc-grmi.org

Parish Secretary Kimberly Otterbridge: secretary@blc-grmi.org or kotterbridge@blc-grmi.org

Services donated by Triton.net
 
replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords replace with your keywords