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Pastor Paul: Together, toward online worship

Greetings to you from Bethany Lutheran Church on Bainbridge Island … and from First Lutheran Church in Poulsbo.  I say that because I have spent time with our colleagues at First the past few days, as we plan together a concerted response to the coronavirus situation.  Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton always reminds us that “we are the church together,” and our congregations are living into this understanding, finding ways to faithfully be the church … together.  Starting this weekend, neither Bethany nor First will be holding worship services as a physically gathered community, but we will be providing a worship service online.  Leadership from both congregations is planning and will conduct the service for the foreseeable future (links will be provided on our websites). This week, Pastor Allison Shane will be our preacher, and it looks as though I will be presiding, as our community gathers in a different way.  I am grateful to the leadership at First, and to Jonathan McClung, our videographer, for making this happen.  Stay tuned … as we all find ways to be the church TOGETHER.

From Bethany/First,

Pastor Paul

Pastor Paul: We remain at the eipcenter of hope

Grace and peace to each of you from Bethany.  It is said that Seattle is the epicenter of the coronavirus concerns in our nation these days, but I am hopeful that Seattle (and Bethany/Bainbridge Island) can at the same time be an epicenter of hope and modeling of how a community responds with care and wisdom to such threats. Thank you for the many ways you intentionally seek to make social connections in a time when social spacing (I prefer this over “distancing”) is so important.

I am committed to daily blogs to update our community on how the Bethany community is responding to the current global crisis.  Right now there are many initiatives percolating (online worship, special funding for Helpline House, special Bethany music posts on social media, etc.).  As there come to fruition, I will roll them out via blog.  In the meantime, I want to invite everyone to faithfully continue in prayer, and continue to make connections with friends and neighbors, who may need nothing more than a kind voice or a caring note. Today, please remember Bud Johnson (Myrna) who is at Harrison with some heart/lung concerns.

From the epicenter of hope,

Pastor Paul