Bethany Lutheran Church in the Seward Neighborhood

09/01/2021

Dear Seward Community and beyond,
With a heavy heart Bethany Lutheran Church will hold its last service on September 12, 2021. It has been an honor to serve the Seward Community both spiritually and materially for 120 years! We hope to have embodied our community through discipleship to Christ. Some of our more recent missions include:
-First church in the Minneapolis synod to ordain a gay pastor in a committed relationship
-Worked with CTUL to secure workplace rights for Latin American immigrants
-Shelter the CAIR organization, who provide legal representation to under-served Muslim immigrants, at the height of Islamophobia in our country
-Provide a daily meal and clothing through Soup for You Cafe, which continues to operate during the pandemic and after Bethany's closing

If you would like to join us for one of our final services, we are meeting in person at the Church building and online via Zoom on the following dates:
August 29, 10 AM
September 11, 1 PM
September 12, 10 AM
(Please follow CDC guidelines if attending in person.)

It will warm our hearts to have one last connection with the community that fostered us for generations. We'd love to hear from you in any capacity, whether in person, on the Seward Forum, Facebook, or email.

Peace be with you in these tumultuous times. And may God guide our next steps.
Council President, Joe Shelton

05/09/2021

Mother
by Ted Kooser

Mid April already, and the wild plums
bloom at the roadside, a lacy white
against the exuberant, jubilant green
of new grass an the dusty, fading black
of burned-out ditches. No leaves, not yet,
only the delicate, star-petaled
blossoms, sweet with their timeless perfume.

You have been gone a month today
and have missed three rains and one nightlong
watch for tornadoes. I sat in the cellar
from six to eight while fat spring clouds
went somersaulting, rumbling east. Then it poured,
a storm that walked on legs of lightning,
dragging its shaggy belly over the fields.

The meadowlarks are back, and the finches
are turning from green to gold. Those same
two geese have come to the pond again this year,
honking in over the trees and splashing down.
They never nest, but stay a week or two
then leave. The peonies are up, the red sprouts
burning in circles like birthday candles,

for this is the month of my birth, as you know,
the best month to be born in, thanks to you,
everything ready to burst with living.
There will be no more new flannel nightshirts
sewn on your old black Singer, no birthday card
addressed in a shaky but businesslike hand.
You asked me if I would be sad when it happened

and I am sad. But the iris I moved from your house
now hold in the dusty dry fists of their roots
green knives and forks as if waiting for dinner,
as if spring were a feast. I thank you for that.
Were it not for the way you taught me to look
at the world, to see the life at play in everything,
I would have to be lonely forever.

04/04/2021

Alleluia! Christ is Risen. Christ is risen indeed. Painting by Patti Walsh.

03/14/2021

With you in mind we offer these recipes; some are new, and many are treasured old ones, but they all reflect the love of good cooking.

Price: $18
Email [email protected] to order

01/17/2021

Contributions can now be sent to: Bethany Lutheran Church 333 South 12th Street Minneapolis 55404 Thank you for continuing to support us.

01/14/2021

Grace to you and peace this day!

On Sunday, 24 January 2021, we will hold our annual congregational meeting immediately following our regular worship service, all via Zoom.

We will be sending out an agenda in the coming week and hope that you will be able to join us as we continue the work of the church, reflect on the year behind, and look to the year ahead.

Peace and blessings! Pastor Jeffrey

12/24/2020

Merry Christmas!

11/08/2020

Please join us for worship this morning via Zoom at 10 AM. Attached is the Zoom link, and I again look forward to worshiping with you today. Pastor Jeffrey

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

11/03/2020

I know that some of you have seen the post I made on my personal page yesterday:

"A sobering reality check while leaving Target, shopping bags in hand, to be greeted by a bystander’s chant: “Go, fag. Go, fag. Go, fag!” . JLS"

I was humbled by the overwhelming outpouring of love...and it is a reminder to all of us that every day, our LGBTQIA+ siblings, our siblings who are black and brown and Muslim and female and immigrant and homeless and addicted and marginalized face this day in and day out! Continue to be love and light in a world that is hurting and broken and suffering! I am so blessed by each of you...and I firmly believe, we are each blessed to be a blessing in the world! I am deeply humbled to be the Pastor for a congregation that continues to provide a public witness for all those on the margin. We must live by the words of Micah 6:8 - He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Grace and peace as you continue to be light and love this day and each day! Pastor Jeffrey

10/29/2020

Grace to you and Peace this day!

We will again gather for Bible Study this afternoon as we prepare for All Saints Sunday this weekend and remember our two dear Bethany saints that we have commended to God's keeping this year, Sue Holte and Shirley Olson.

Additionally, this weekend, we will be inviting each of you to join us for worship as we light candles for these dear ones and invite each of you to light candles for the Saints in Light in each of your lives.

For those attending today's study in person, please use your own comfort level as a guide given the ongoing rise in Covid cases. As always, we will practice the necessary precautions and will also have Zoom as an option.

Attached is the Zoom link which can be accessed via the internet, or you can also simply use the call-in information to join via phone as well.

Peace to each of you this day!

Pastor Jeffrey

Bethany Lutheran Church is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Bethany Lutheran Bible Study
Time: Oct 29, 2020 01:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Thu, until Dec 31, 2020, 10 occurrence(s)
Oct 29, 2020 01:30 PM
Nov 5, 2020 01:30 PM
Nov 12, 2020 01:30 PM
Nov 19, 2020 01:30 PM
Nov 26, 2020 01:30 PM
Dec 3, 2020 01:30 PM
Dec 10, 2020 01:30 PM
Dec 17, 2020 01:30 PM
Dec 24, 2020 01:30 PM
Dec 31, 2020 01:30 PM
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Weekly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/uJMlc-Cgrj8ip_Ixii3bw-jL9OQrd2hAVg/ics?icsToken=98tyKuyvpj8jEtSRuFz9f6oqW6_qbPG5i2Fxg7tUlUznFG1ZTlrZB_BGYLpeJt-B

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/578498048?pwd=dG1WcnJYTzR5ZkZQZzhpS0VrbFArUT09

Dial Either of these numbers:

+1 312 626 6799 US
+1 646 558 8656 US

Meeting ID: 578 498 048
Passcode: 2511
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcgOOU5WIK

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...