The Bethany Bullet - Week of February 21, 2016

“Just Another 40 Days: WJND… ‘What Jesus Never Did’”

Text: Philippians 3

In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul proclaimed that (through Jesus) our salvation has been procured, our citizenship in heaven secured, and one day all our ills will be finally and forever be fully cured!  He also reminded the Philippians that they we’re one through the power of the Spirit and so he encouraged them to be united in purpose as if they were one person. 

This past Sunday the voters of Bethany Lutheran overwhelmingly approved the motion, “to support, embrace and strive to realize the Renaissance Project, thus addressing facilities needs and improvements on our campus to better equip us to accomplish the ministry bestowed upon us by our Lord.  Subsequently, Bethany Lutheran Church will begin a capital funding campaign; using Lutheran Church Extension Fund to assist as our campaign consultant.”  As one people, in this one body, at this one place called Bethany we now move forward in our Renaissance Project. 

Of course, there may be more than one of us pondering that good Lutheran question, “What does this mean?”

Here are some ANSWERS:

·        We at Bethany Lutheran Church will embark on a capital campaign in the near future to raise funds to accomplish the Renaissance Project goals.

·        We at Bethany Lutheran Church will hire a consultant to lead us through this future campaign. 

*God be praised the interest from our endowment fund will cover this cost.*

·        We at Bethany Lutheran Church will move forward engaging an architect to do construction plans on the scope of the RP as presented.

               

*God be praised, funds already received for the Renaissance Project will go to cover fees and begin this process.*

Our leadership at Bethany Lutheran will keep us informed as to where we are at in this process through Chimes, announcements in worship, and the Bethany Bullet. 

The old “what does this mean?” question has an unspoken counterpart.  Here are some things “this does NOT mean:”

·        This does not mean that we at Bethany Lutheran are bound to take out a long term loan to accomplish the Renaissance Project (*).

·        This does not mean that we at Bethany Lutheran are bound or limited to the entirety of the proposed Renaissance Project (*).

·        This does not mean that we at Bethany Lutheran are finished with voter’s meetings regarding the Renaissance Project (*). 

(***) God willing through our future campaign the Lord will provide far more than enough blessings to accomplish the Renaissance Project as envisioned and presented and we will hold a voters’ meeting to wrestle with the next “What Does This Mean” question regarding excess funds.  Of course, if the reverse is the case we will hold a voter’s meeting to wrestle with that “What Does This Mean” question.

You can still view the Renaissance Project as envisioned, presented and passed by voters on the Bethany website.

Renaissance Project

Click HERE for a link to the slideshow document that previews our anticipated Renaissance Project. If you unable to open link, please copy/paste this into your browser to view the link: http://www.bethanylutheran.org/files/pdfs/Church/church%20presentation%20January%202016.pdf

-Pastor Kevin Kritzer