Bethlehem United Methodist Church

05/31/2026

Don't forget!!!
Church is at 11 and lunch
is at 12 today!!!

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day! Feel free to add your mother too!

04/19/2026

Today we celebrated the upcoming marriage of our beloved Buddy to Kathy. We showed our appreciation to Buddy for his years of service as our lay leader, prayed over them and showered them with gifts and lunch! We love you both. May God bless you both with a long and beautiful life together.

04/08/2026

Sunday school in the early 1960’s. Who do you recognize?

04/02/2026

03/04/2026

Thank you to everyone who donated to the Eagle Needs program for the high school! Small church, big hearts!!

02/20/2026

Clothes closet will be open Saturday, February 28, 2026, from 9-12. Please come out. Bring your friends and neighbors. All are welcome! No proof of income/need is required! We need to make room for spring and summer clothes.

02/19/2026

Our photo-a-day practice for Lent offers a meaningful daily spiritual practice for reflecting on the meaning of this leading up to Easter and joining in reflective community.

02/18/2026

Unfortunately, our Ash Wednesday service has been cancelled as the pastor has the flu.

BLESSING THE DUST

All those days
you felt like dust,
like dirt,
as if all you had to do
was turn your face
toward the wind
and be scattered
to the four corners

or swept away
by the smallest breath
as insubstantial—

did you not know
what the Holy One
can do with dust?

This is the day
we freely say
we are scorched.

This is the hour
we are marked
by what has made it
through the burning.

This is the moment
we ask for the blessing
that lives within
the ancient ashes,
that makes its home
inside the soil of
this sacred earth.

So let us be marked
not for sorrow.
And let us be marked
not for shame.
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are

but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt,
within the stuff
of which the world
is made
and the stars that blaze
in our bones
and the galaxies that spiral
inside the smudge
we bear.

—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
janrichardson.com/books

Image: “Ash Wednesday Cross”
© Jan Richardson
janrichardsonimages.com