On Sunday we will hear God’s Word from Chris Christensen and consider how we can apply it to our daily lives. This Living Word of God reminds us God’s unconditional love for us and challenges us to share that same love with others.

Walk with Bethel, Oct 3 at 9am–1pm.
We are starting a team and planning for the NAMI walk that will be in October. It seems early but with it being Mental Health Month, it makes sense to share the news now.

If you would like to walk with the Bethel group and start raising money for this great cause go to https://www.namiwalks.org/teams/83809. For more information on walking with Bethel, email Amanda Laughlin.

The 2026 Adult Mission to Mexico is from Friday Sep 25 to Tuesday Sep 29. Please pray for a successful and joy-filled trip for this annual trek to help build homes, with Esperanza International, in Mexico. Especially pray for our participants:
Billy Baldwin, Paul Baldwin, Rod Brunngraber, Laurie Bryson, Rick Bryson, Kevin Daberkow, Mark Evashenk, Tori Evashenk, Tom Hoegel, Susan Leavitt, Dave Lofgren, Janice Martinson, Ralph Miller, Rich Teed, Rick Westwick.

Contact Tom Hoegel if you have any questions.

Sundays Oct 4,11,18,25 9:50–10:30am and Wednesday Nov 4 7pm–8:30pm, in the Fireside Room

Come Learn, Listen and Grow Together
Join us for five Reconciled in Christ educational sessions!
What does it mean to deepen and expand our faith journey of welcome and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ people and their families? These five sessions invite us to learn together, listen to one another, ask honest questions, and explore how our church can more fully live out God’s call to love and welcome all people.
Each session will include opportunities for conversation and reflection, along with book, video, and website resources for continued learning and exploration.

Our Five Sessions

• Session 1 — Understanding Gender and Sexuality
  We’ll deepen our faith journey by exploring the gender binary system and learning more about sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
• Session 2 — The Power of Language
  We’ll explore the role language plays in welcoming and including LGBTQIA+ people in the church—and consider the implications our words can have for creating a truly welcoming community.
• Session 3 — Seeing Church Through LGBTQIA+ Eyes
  We’ll think about the church through the experiences and perspectives of people in the LGBTQIA+ community and consider how those experiences can shape and influence their faith journeys.
• Session 4 — Creating Places of Support and Safety
  We’ll expand our thinking about how the church can become a place of support, safety, belonging, and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ people and their families.
• Session 5 — Listening to LGBTQIA+ Voices
  Members of the LGBTQIA+ community will share their experiences in the church and help us understand what they need from us as beloved children of God.

Come join us!
Bring your questions, your curiosity, your experiences, and an open heart. Together, we can learn, listen, grow, and continue the journey toward a church where everyone knows they are welcomed, valued, and loved.

For more information, contact Angela Brown.

Review Bethel Lutheran Church
Please review Bethel Lutheran Church at Google and Yelp. This helps give Bethel more visibility to those people who are looking to join an awesome church! Feel free to brag about what you like about Bethel, so others may decide to check us out.
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Join a group of about 6-8 people and meet once a month.

See the signup in the bulletin insert or contact Karen Polyak. We plan to start in October.

Summary
Bethel is following an expedited call process, guided by our Synod and designed for healthy churches like ours. It differs from a traditional call in two ways:

• Council as call committee
  Rather than forming a separate committee, your Church Council serves as the call committee, leading discernment on the congregation's behalf.
• A three-year term
  The initial call runs three years. The congregational vote comes at the end of the term — the decision to extend a permanent call.

The steps:

1. Council updates the profile of who we are and what we are seeking.
2. The Synod identifies and presents candidates based on that profile.
3. Council reviews the candidates and decides whether to proceed.
4. Candidates and Council meet for interviews and discernment.
5. If both believe it is the right fit, the Synod appoints the pastor for a three-year term.

Status
The latest (8/11) on the Pastoral call process is that our Ministry Site Profile has been published. This means that the call is officially open. Please spread the word so that our new pastor may hear and respond to the call. We expect to begin considering specific candidates sometime in September.

Bethel's Summer Congregational Meeting was held Aug 30. Council President Ellen Aist presided. We heard ministry reports and we approved the fiscal year '27 budget.

The Eric Hanson Award is presented each year to a Bethel member who exhibits Christian ideals and principles in all aspects of their daily life and participates in service beyond Bethel. This year's recipient was Hella Bluhm-Stieber.

You can see past award winners here.

A recording of the meeting is available online. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the audio at the beginning, but it was cleared up at time code 08:45.

Bethel's Out 'n About visited the Pacific Pinball Museum on Alameda Island. The Museum has approximately 100 pinball machines from all eras, all working and on free play. Pictured are Steve & Maggie Emmert, Mellissa Tristan, AJ and Ella.

Thanks to Tom for these photos. Click any photo to see a larger image.