The STAR January 2015, Issue 384

Better Than New

“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs

to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driv-

en to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the

death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies”-2 Corinthians 4:7-10.

Have you ever broken the good china? I’m not talking about the everyday cups and plates. We all drop those

dishes. My family routinely finds new ways to shatter Corelle dinnerware which claims to be unbreakable.

We just throw away the pieces. I’m talking about grandma’s good china; the dishes that are too good to ever

use. I’m talking about the china that’s worth a bundle on Ebay, but that you would never, ever sell. Some

plates are so valuable that you feel duty bound to mend the cracks and chips.

The Japanese have a wonderful solution for broken pottery. They call it kintsugi which means “golden join-

ery” or kintsukuroi which translates as “golden repair.” Look it up! It’s really quite beautiful. Great artisans

repair broken vases and dishes with a resin mixed with gold. Instead of hiding the damages to the pottery,

kintsugi highlights every crack, chip, and missing piece with golden glue. Damaged fifteen-hundred year old

Ming Vases can actually become even more valuable after the pieces are put back together with gold.

The Apostle Paul compares us to a bunch of clay jars containing the treasure of Jesus Christ. The problem

with clay is that it inevitably breaks. We are all afflicted, but Paul says that we will not be crushed. We are

all struck down, but Paul says that we will not be destroyed. All of us are broken, but no one is ever beyond

repair. The Bible never promises that we are going to go through life unscathed. We are resurrection peo-

ple! We believe that God makes us better than brand new when we experience the “golden repair” of his

redemptive love.

So why do we hide our cracks? Why do we pretend that we have never been damaged? When I speak to

friends in recovery groups like Alcoholics Anonymous they remind me that church is often uncomfortable

because everybody hides behind the mask of perfection. Junkies need to be honest about their pathology.

Sinners do too.

The only way anyone is going to notice that the treasure of Jesus resides within the clay jar of your body is

to acknowledge your brokenness. Instead of treating our mistakes, sins, and failures as something shameful

to be hidden, perhaps we can highlight our flaws with the golden grace of Jesus Christ. You are actually

more beautiful and more valuable because God has repaired you with his precious love. This New Year, let’s

all resolve to show off the “golden repair” of Christ the Lord. Let the treasure of Jesus seep out of every

flaw.

From the Senior Pastor

Ryan Eikenbary-Barber

From the Worship Pastor Matt Kennedy

If you’re an introvert like I am, the steady stream of parties and guests to host that come with the holiday

season can be exhausting. It’s a myth that introverts don’t enjoy having company or going to parties; but it

is true that for an introvert these things take a lot of energy. So when January rolls around: we’re pooped! I

know many Minnesotans plan vacations to sunny destinations in late January or early February, but I sus-

pect many of them aren’t just trying to escape the cold—they’re in need of a break from all the socializing!

The holidays are a busy time at church too, so it makes sense that January gets awfully quiet around church.

You probably know what I’m getting at. The four Sundays of Advent usually bring us the highest average

attendance of the year. Just as quickly, the month of January is usually some of the four lightest attended

weeks of the year. I don’t write all this to cast judgment. It all makes plenty of sense.

For the first time in over a decade of church ministry, this past December 14th, I had to call in sick on a

Sunday. I’ve missed lots of Sundays for planned absences, but this was the first time I ever had to call in at

the last minute to miss church. It was very strange. I certainly wasn’t enjoying myself as a stomach virus

knocked me out cold, but even as I lay motionless on my bed, I could see the appeal of a “day off” from

church to stay in pajamas and avoid the noise of the world for a while. Though I wasn’t at church, I was

definitely at prayer (mostly bargaining with God to spare me any more vomiting). Still, I felt myself missing

corporate worship. It might be restful for the body to stay in bed on Sunday morning, but as Saint Augus-

tine said, “our hearts are restless, until they find our rest in thee…”

I am not about shaming anyone from staying home from church on occasion. It is often necessary. But my

hope is that worship is not something that wears us out, rather it should be something that gives us rest. I

know it often doesn’t feel very restful though. Could it be that we bring with us too narrow expectations of

what worship should be? The worship we do is done with deliberate planning and preparation so that it is

faithful, reverent, festive, and beautiful. But our worship is also done in a spirit of freedom. Scripture tells

us, “wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”-2 Corinthians 3:17. Freedom is an essential value of

Covenanters. We recognize that freedom is God’s gift to us, and a gift we share with one another. Freedom

is grace at work among us.

I spoke to a friend a few months back who confessed that because they were in the midst of an unhappy

time in life, they felt like they didn’t belong at church. They didn’t want the pressure of putting on a “happy

face.” The words broke my heart. Coming to church doesn’t mean putting on any face except the one you’re

born with! If you come to church, and you think it would be more restful for you to sit and listen rather

than sing, please feel the freedom to do so. If you come to church and feel unable to mingle, don’t feel you

have to. If you come to church full of doubt, feeling short on faith, remember that Jesus said just a mustard

seed is enough. The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" - Matthew

11:28.

Sunday Preparations Sign up to volunteer at: bethlehemcov.org/find/sign-up-to-help;

Or contact the office at office@bethlehemcov.org; 612.721.5768

*All blank spots are open for volunteers, as of December 30, 2014

January 4 January 11 January 18 January 25

Texts to Prepare

for Worship:

Matthew 2:13-23 Matthew 3:1-12, 13-17 Matthew 4:1-11, 12-17 Matthew 5:1-12, 13-20

Flowers

Contemporary Service

Greeter One service at 10:30

Scripture Reader One service at 10:30

Ushers x4 One service at 10:30 The Hunstocks The Hunstocks The Hunstocks

Children’s Church One service at 10:30 Rev. Dan Booker Rev. Dan Booker Rev. Dan Booker

Nursery Care x2 Annie Booker Karna Sjoberg Sara Christiansen Katie Elden

9:45 Coffee Hour One service at 10:30 Rhonda Isaacs The Hokanson’s Karen Karpenko

Adult Sunday

School

No Sunday School—one

service at 10:30

Stephen’s Defense —

Jim Johnson speaking

The Psalms Continued

Joyce Denham speaking

No Sunday School—

Annual Meeting

Classic Service

Greeter Lowery Smith Tim Lilla Tim Lilla Lowery Smith

Scripture Reader

Ushers x4 Paul Swanson, David

and Kirsten Ryding,

Karna Sjoberg

Paul Swanson, David

and Kirsten Ryding,

Karna Sjoberg

Paul Swanson, David

and Kirsten Ryding,

Karna Sjoberg

Paul Swanson, David

and Kirsten Ryding,

Karna Sjoberg

Nursery Care x2 Sonja Swanson Liz Camozzi Linda Larson

Children’s Church Laura Loban Rev. Dan Booker Laura Loban

12:00 Coffee Hour Charlotte and Bob

Sjoberg

Ruth and Duane

Johnson

Mary Jones-Morris

January Birthdays

3 Rachel Isaacs

Matt Bates

7 Linda Spohr

8 Elena Kauls

12 Jan Norman

David Otterness

Derek VanderMolen

13 Mary Ann Smith

15 Bev Adamson

17 Samuel Hokanson

18 Christina Anderson

Daniel Jacott

Virginia Larson

19 Randi-Lynn Leonard

20 Carrie Kwok

21 Byron Becker

Kelly Laudon

Tracina Paige

22 Soren Lundheim

Ellison Frasch

23 Dana Becker

Andrea May

24Kristi Hokanson John-

son

Haley Hutchinson

Derrick May

25 Arianna Krongard

27 Mattie Widen

28 Phil Swanson

Ron Swanson

29 Linda Merriam

30 Matthew Kim

Jill Buttenhoff

31 Jenny Hokanson

Maria Dahmus

Ed Pajunen

Sonja Swanson

The Bethlehem Bulletin Board

STAR Articles for February Starticles for February are due Tuesday, January 20.

Thanks from Eunice Milbrath My Dear Bethlehem Family,

I thank you so much for your prayers and concern as

I was waiting for my vertebrae to heal. Every mo-

ment hurts when the back has problems. Now it is

better, I no longer need the therapist, and am walk-

ing in the halls at Becketwood to further strengthen

my back.

I thank God for the sustained healing grace given to

me. Knowing of your concern and prayers made a

difference in how I could cope and accept the wait-

ing, and healing process. My deepest thanks.

Eunice Lindberg Milbrath

Thanks from Jack Kosek’s Family Many thanks to the wonderful folks that prepared

and served the treats for Jack's funeral. It's hard to

believe he's gone as he was always such a presence

when we would visit with him. Thanks also to Pastor

Ryan for your visits and loving message of stories

with Jack experienced through the years. The Bethle-

hem community is very special to us all.

Nancy Larson for Jack's family

Thanks from Becketwood Residents Not only did you sing carols for us so beautifully, but

you brought the gift of yourselves, and your beautiful

joyful faces. Thank you, thank you for the gift of the

poinsettia too, and we loved singing with you.

Eunice Milbrath for the Becketwood Residents

Lucia Thank you Thank you! Thank you! For whatever part you had in

making our LUCIA FEST such a special part of our

Advent Celebration. Whether you were a program

participant, a server, a guest, or a Friday set-up per-

son, it couldn’t have been so festive without you. A

special thank you to the coordinators who gave of

their time and effort behind the scene to make the

morning run smoothly. Don’t we have the most

beautiful boutique in the city? And to Rich, Jerry, and

Julie with their one rehearsal! You are amazing and a

gift to us all! See you next year on December 12!

Greetings from our Missionaries Please greet all at Bethlehem for us. May you all en-

joy these days of Christmas and we wish you all the

very best in 2015—John and Letha Kerl

We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a wonder-

ful New Year! Blessings, Jared & Hannah Baker

Winter Picnic! January 30th 5:30—8:00 pm

Our Annual Winter Picnic will be held on Friday, Jan-

uary 30th from 5:30—8:00 pm. Watch the bulletin for

further details.

Congregational Meeting The next Congregational will be a muffin-luck Annual

Meeting, held January 25 at 10:00 am.

New Face Around the Office Bennie Frykman will be retiring from her administra-

tive duties on January 16. Terry Stromberg, a long-

time Covenanter, has been hired and will begin in

early spring. Welcome Terry!

Wonderful Wednesdays Wonderful Wednesday will resume Wednesday, Janu-

ary 7. Mealtime is from 5:45—6:15 pm, with food

cooked by our chef, Beth Goblirsch. A monetary do-

nation is requested and groups rotate serving each

week. Serving groups are as follows:

January 7—C; January 14—D; January 21—A; January

28—B. Please contact Mary Jones-Morris if you are

interested in joining a serving group.

NEW: Beginning January 7, there will be program-

ming for children through 6th grade. “The After Par-

ty” will begin at 6:15 with 10-15 minutes of music,

contests, and/or games. We then transition into a

time where families with children 3rd grade and

younger are free to go. A bible study for 4th—6th

grades will meet in the narthex.

Confirmation and senior high groups begin at 6:15

pm, and adult choir at 6:30 pm.

Christmas Pageant 2014

Lucia Fest 2014

From the Interim Children’s Pastor

Dan Booker

Nursery Nursery care is available for children birth—2 years.

A new volunteer calendar has been made for the

months of January and February, with two shifts

each Sunday. If you have not volunteered and would

like to help out in the nursery on a rotating basis,

please contact Pastor Dan or the church office.

Wonderful Wednesday Update

NEW: Starting Wednesday January 7th, Wonderful

Wednesday will have a new look. To make Wednes-

days at Bethlehem even more wonderful we will offer

a triumvirate of activities for children and families.

1. 3:30pm-5:45pm is The Pregame. During this time

we will have Children’s Choir rehearsal and also

low-key organized play or crafts in the narthex.

2. 5:45pm-6:15pm is The Main Event. A scrumptious

meal will be served and all are invited to eat to-

gether as a church family.

3. 6:15pm-7:00pm is The After Party. The After Party

starts off with 10-15 minutes of music, contests,

and/or games. We then transition into a time

where families with children 3rd grade and younger

are free to go. 4th—6th grade will meet in the nar-

thex for a bible study.

We look forward to many more Wonderful Wednes-

days in this New Year!

Winter Picnic Friday, January 30th, 5:30—8:00 pm

Bounce houses! Hockey! Basketball! Friends and so-

cializing! Come one, come all to Bethlehem’s Annual

Winter Picnic! This year it will be on Friday, January

30th from 5:30—8:00 pm at Minnehaha Academy

South Campus.

Sunday School Update

Starting in January we will be supplementing our

Sunday School lesson time with a new curriculum

developed by the Evangelical Covenant Church de-

nominational offices called Kids Helping Kids: Refu-

gees. Kids Helping Kids enables us to partner with

our children on their spiritual journey to:

fulfill Christ’s commandment to love God and our

neighbor;

foster a larger kingdom view;

offer an opportunity to serve and obey God;

provide a shared faith experience to build solidarity.

Each week we will be focusing on the story of a

different refugee child in a different country. Prayer

cards will be made available for the children to take

home for family prayer time.

All of the material we will be using is available for

free at CovChurch.org, search for Kid’s Helping Kids:

Refugees. Please download and follow along with us.

Connected Families Parenting Seminar Friday, January 23, 5:45—8:00 pm

Jim and Lynne Jackson will lead the second series in the Connected Families parenting seminars on

Friday, January 23, 2015 at 5:45 pm. This session will cover “Entitlement.” Pizza will be served, and

Childcare will be available for children up through 4th grade. Register online or in the church office by

Monday, January 19th.

Several Bethlehem men grew their beards during“

Movember,” for prostate cancer awareness.

Christmas Pageant 2014

Missions News

Year of Missions 2014 has been a wonderful year at Bethlehem Cove-

nant Church. I am so proud of how we have moved

from being a stable church to a healthy missional

church over the past few years. The following activi-

ties and involvements demonstrate our commitment

in being a healthy missional church.

We support overseas missionaries in the Congo;

Antwerp, Belgium; Lyon, and Marseille, France.

Youth went on a mission trip to Wind River, WY,

where they did light construction, painted houses,

and held a childcare program for families and kids

living at or below the poverty line.

We have raised over $9,000 for the Paul Carlson

fund to help support a clinic in the Congo.

Our Lucia Fest and Everybody Here Sunday were-

well attended by neighbors and friends.

Some of our members are active in the Cooperative

Older Adult Ministry (COAM) in S. Minneapolis.

Many of our members also help with Meals on

Wheels and Loaves and Fishes.

We have expanded our ministry to the Nepalese

with the formal creation of the Neighborhood Out-

reach And Hospitality (NOAH) committee. This

team has done wonderful work in ministering to

our Bhutanese neighbors. The children have been

involved in VBS, gone to Covenant Pines, are active

in our Sunday School program and participated in

the Christmas pageant. The women’s Wednesday

Bible Study group has ministered to the Nepalese

adults, working with them on crafts and sharing in

fellowship.

More recently, we enthusiastically voted to partner

in ministry with a new church plant, New Covenant

(Nuevo Pacto), and invited them to use our facili-

ties for their expanding ministry to the Hispanic

community.

Wow! I’m anxiously looking to 2015 to see how these

various mission opportunities flourish and grow and

how we are impacted by them. I know we will truly

be blessed. Thank you all for your participation in

making these ministries happen. If you haven’t been

involved, 2015 is a great time to start.

May you have a Blessed and Christ filled New Year.

Dick Sundberg

Bhutanese Ministries Tutoring Opportunity: Several of the Bhutanese chil-

dren who have been coming to Bethlehem could

benefit from getting help with their homework after

school. The focus will be on the 1st—5th graders,

helping them with spelling or having them practice

reading aloud.

We are looking for volunteers to participate one af-

ternoon a week from 3:30—5:30 pm. We will meet at

church and ride together to the children’s homes. If

you are interested in this opportunity, please con-

tact Judy Peterson at 507.358.1027.

Consider being a Worship Friend: You may have no-

ticed the large contingent of Bhutanese children that

we are blessed to minister to each Sunday morning.

Starting January 11, we are introducing a simple, yet

important way, for the entire congregation to help

serve these children by being a Worship Friend!

What does a Worship Friend do? A Worship Friend

assists a Bhutanese child during worship in a 1:1 re-

lationship. You will play a vital role in the Christian

formation of these children’s lives as they connect

closer to Jesus. Essentially, a Worship Friend is

there to help to answer questions, explain the order

of worship, lovingly correct and encourage partici-

pation in all aspects of worship (following along

with hymns, corporate prayer, etc.).

A Worship Friend interactively demonstrates what

participation in Christian worship looks like. Please

consider serving in this way. For more information,

and/or to add your name to the rotating volunteer

list, contact Judy Peterson, japete11@gmail.com,

Chris Simon chsimon@usiwireless.com, or Pastor

Dan.

New Members

Wally and Donna Abramson

Wally and Donna met each other in second grade

while attending Elim Covenant (now Crosstown Cov-

enant). They went to Covenant Pines, CHIC, and at-

tended youth group together. Wally and Donna were

married in 1982, and have three sons, Erick, Miles,

and Alex. Erick is married to Rhonda Isaacs’ daughter

Bethany, and together they have three children. Miles

graduated from North Park in 2013, and Alex will

graduate from high school this spring. Wally and

Donna live in Richfield, and were deeply involved at

Bethany Covenant prior to its closing in 2013.

Wally grew up a few houses away from his grand-

mother and has continued her tradition of bread-

baking. In addition, he has spent some time re-

searching his ancestry. Wally has worked in the non-

profit sector for the past 24 years and currently

serves as the fundraising director for the Minnesota

Land Trust. Donna loves to bake, cook, sew, stitch,

knit, and craft, and has worked at US Bank for 27

years.

Nan Briesemeister Nan was born in South Carolina, but currently lives

near church. Nan’s late husband was a career mili-

tary man who grew up in Wisconsin. They have six

children, many grandchildren and great grandchil-

dren who reside in various states and abroad. Nan

enjoys volunteering, reading, walking, travel, music

and bird watching. She retired several years ago—and

manages to stay busy with her large family. Nan is

very thankful to have found Bethlehem Covenant, as

worship and family are priorities!

Jim and Barb Carlson Jim and Barb both grew up in South Minneapolis,

have been married for 65 years, and currently live at

Minnehaha Senior Living. Prior to retirement, Jim

was the arson chief for Minneapolis Fire, and Barb

was a high school substitute teacher before becoming

a homemaker. Barb and Jim are both avid Minnesota

Vikings and Twins fans, enjoy reading, and have

three children, six grandchildren, and two young

great-grandchildren.

Kerry Devoy-Elwood and Erik Elwood Kerry and Erik live in SW Minneapolis with their two

children Zeke (9), Keara (7), and a three legged cat

named Buddy Lee. Kerry’s hobbies include reading,

paper crafting, beading, homemade body care, can-

dles, and pretty much all other crafty genres, includ-

ing cooking, and baking. In Erik’s spare time, he en-

joys drawing. Erik works at the Minneapolis Public

Housing Authority as a maintenance specialist, and

Kerry works in the accounts/financial aid office at

Minnehaha Academy where the kids also attend. The

Elwood’s call Bethlehem comfy, and feel that the

transition to church has been very easy from day

one. They haven’t felt awkward or shy, and feel like

they belong, which is a credit to the people here.

Richard (Rick) Johnson Rick grew up in the upper Midwest and currently re-

sides in south Minneapolis near Lake Hiawatha with

his wife, Sue. Rick and Sue have five grown children,

all scattered here and there. Rick is currently retired

and enjoys playing games, reading, and surfing the

internet. Rick is a former Covenant Missionary (to

the Congo) and a pastor.

Derrick May Derrick grew up in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, Eng-

land, and currently lives just a few blocks from

church. Derrick has been married to Andrea May for

16 years. Together, they have two children—Emily

Elizabeth, 12, and Abby Victoria, 7. Derrick enjoys F1

motor racing, English Soccer (Go Sunderland A.F.C!),

making car and aircraft models, and has been playing

guitar for the last 22 years. In the past, Derrick was a

computer consultant. Derrick has been known to be a

happy-go-lucky guy, and he also loves to chat!

Tracina Paige Tracina lives a block from church with her mom, dad

and little sister Amber, who is 12. Tracina is a Senior

at South High School, and is hoping to attend North

Park University next year. In her spare time, Tracina

enjoys her friends, reading, and swimming at the Y.

Tracina also works at Bethlehem Childcare Center.

New Members were welcomed into the Bethlehem Family this fall.

From the Youth Pastor

David Johnson

Bethlehemcov.org/Youth

Return to Regularly Scheduled

Mayhem Youth Group, Confirmation, Sunday School, etc., all

pick up where they left off, beginning Wednesday,

January 7th!

CHIC Earlybird Registration Deadline CHIC (the Covenant’s super-youth-group convention)

only comes ‘round every 3 years, and this is your

best chance to call dibs on one of those comfy coach

bus seats to Tennessee. Early Birds can sign up by

January 9th to claim a spot. Ask Dave if you need

registration materials; registration checks can be

dropped at the Church Office or wadded into a ball

and thrown at Dave.

2015 Christmas Pageant Practice! Just kidding, you guys did great!

Cross-Roads Belated New Year Bash January 9th, 6:00—8:00 pm

Middle-schoolers: Kick off 2015 roughly a week late

with copious amounts of games and friends. Meet in

the Youth Room. Snacks and snowball fights provid-

ed.

Fundraiser Brunch January 25th, 12:00 pm

Sort of breakfast, kind of lunch, 100% fundraiser.

Middle and High Schoolers alike can chip in to help

us kick off months of CHIC fundraising excellence.

On January 25th, we’ll be serving an easy brunch and

taking donations down in Fellowship Hall, after the

11:00 am worship service. So stick around, feed some

people, and help inch us closer to CHIC ’15.

New Members Continued...

Lauren Pearce Lauren grew up in New Florence, Pennsylvania, a

small town of about 800 people near Pittsburgh. She

lives in the Prospect Park area of Minneapolis, and is

married to Kenny, who works at Valparaiso Universi-

ty in Indiana. They visit each other about one week-

end a month. Lauren also has a brother who lives in

Forrest Lake, and her parents still reside in Pennsyl-

vania. She is a post-doctoral researcher in the phys-

ics department at the University of Minnesota. Her

focus is on theoretical particle physics. In her spare

time, she enjoys astronomy and crocheting. Lauren

thanks everyone in the congregation for being so

wonderful!

Sonja Swanson Sonja lives in the Bethlehem neighborhood, and grew

up in Minneapolis. Her parents are Phil and Juli, and

sisters are Meta and Lina Swanson. Sonja attends

South High School and enjoys dancing, reading, and

water color painting.

Lina Swanson Lina has been attending Bethlehem Covenant since

she was an infant. After attending college in Michi-

gan, she came back to Minneapolis. Her family in-

cludes her parents Juli and Phil Swanson and sisters

Meta and Sonja Swanson. Her hobbies include play-

ing ultimate Frisbee, and doing Sudoku puzzles. Lina

works with the Minnesota Math Corps as a math en-

richment tutor at Bancroft Elementary in South Min-

neapolis.

Tesfa Wondemagegnehu Tesfa grew up in Memphis, TN attending a Baptist

church. He attended the University of Memphis for

his undergraduate studies and Florida State for his

graduate work. Tesfa loves gospel and spiritual mu-

sic, and is “big time” into BBQ. Tesfa works at Min-

nesota Public Radio (MPR) as the Choral Works Initi-

ative Manager, and is the Conductor for the Ameri-

can Public Media (APM) Radio Choir.

Contact Information

Telephone 612-721-2290

Website www.bethlehemkids.org

Email bethlehemchildcare@yahoo.com

As I prepare this article we are anticipating our annual Preschool Christmas program on December 18th.

The sanctuary and balcony will be full as parents, grandparents, and friends come to watch their favorite

little one sing. Pastor Dan will read portions of Scripture that share the Christmas story in between which

the children sing traditional Christmas songs that follow the Biblical story. Yaphet May will be playing

Christmas songs on the piano before our program begins and Heather Stayko, a former BCCC parent, has

volunteered to play piano during the program. Over the years we have found that it doesn’t matter wheth-

er people sit in the pew smiling at their little ones or are standing on the stage & risers singing their songs,

everyone seems to have a joy-filled time. Following the program we share “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake in

Fellowship Hall. It is amazing how quickly 240 pieces of cake can disappear!

January means it is time for BCCC to prepare for fall 2015 tours and enrollment. In the next couple weeks

we will be busy compiling packets of paperwork for the fall enrollment. Current and previously enrolled

children and then BCC families will have the first chance to sign up for the Beginners and Pre-K programs;

they can begin registering on Monday, February 2nd. If you are one of the families who want to enroll or if

you know of a family that wants to enroll be sure to turn in applications between February 2nd & February

13th. On February 16th we will open registration for all other interested families, which is safe to predict

will be a busy day in the BCCC office. Last year we had more than 15 parents waiting at the door to leave

their applications. That said, we typically fill up all Beginner and most Pre-K openings by 7:00 a.m.!

The tour schedule will be available online. If you’d like to come on a tour please visit our website,

www.bethlehemkids.org, for the tour link that is located in the upper right corner (or will be shortly). We

typically invite three families per date so we don’t overwhelm the children already in attendance. If you do

not attend the tour you can still request the enrollment paperwork; it will be available in early January,

please contact Jill if you’d like her to send it to you.

With the fresh snow children have been busy planning new ways to play outside in the snow-filled space.

Soon there will be forts, sledding, “floor hockey” on the asphalt, snowmen all around the yard, soccer in

the lower area and many other creative ways to play in snow. We are blessed to be able to take the chil-

dren outside every day that the wind chill is above O. Unless you have had the task of helping 20 children

dress in their snow pants, coat, hat, boots, and mittens you may not understand the effort it takes to ac-

complish that task! We appreciate the extra help and patience of our families who take time –at home-

having their child practice and become independent in getting on all that winter gear, it is a wonderful gift

to both the children and the staff!

Thank you, Bethlehem Church, for reinforcing the work we are able to do each day with these children

through your prayers, support and your space.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Jill and the BCCC Staff

From the Childcare Director

Jill Ravensborg

NON-PROFIT

US POSTAGE

PAID

TWIN CITIES

MN

PERMIT NO. 386

Bethlehem Covenant Church

3141 43rd Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 55406

Rev. Ryan Eikenbary-Barber, Senior Pastor

David Johnson, Dir. of Youth Ministry

Rev. Matthew Kennedy, Pastor of Worship

Rev. Dan Booker, Interim Children’s Pastor

Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, Adult Choir Director

Cindy Bergstrom, Children’s Choir Director

Contact the church at:

Telephone: 612-721-5768

Web Address: www.bethlehemcov.org

Email: office@bethlehemcov.org

Dated Material: Return Service Requested

SUNDAY 8:45 am Contemporary Worship

9:45 am Coffee and Conversation

10:00 am Sunday School for all

11:00 am Classic Worship

12:00 pm Coffee and Conversation

MONDAY 7:00 pm Community Activities Evening

TUESDAY 8:00 am Breakfast at Bridgeman’s—2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month

9:30 am Properties Work Day at Church

6:30 pm Gathering for Prayer

WEDNESDAY 9:30 am Women’s Bible Study

12:30 pm Staff Meeting

3:30 pm Cherub Choir (Pre-K, 4 and 5 year olds) to 4:00 p.m.

4:00 pm Hosanna Choir (K to 2nd grade) to 4:30 p.m.

4:45 pm Alleluia Choir (3rd grade and up) to 5:45 p.m.

5:45 pm Wonderful Wednesday Meal for all.

6:15 pm NEW: The After Party—programming for children up to 6th grade

6:15 pm Confirmation and Sr. High

6:30 pm Adult Choir

THURSDAY 9:45 am Bible Encounter

FRIDAY 6:30 am Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study (Book of Jeremiah)

9:00 am Walk and Coffee at Mall of America

Weekly at Bethlehem