Mark your calendars for the next meeting of the Book Club, on Wednesday, February 25. We'll be discussing The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy-And Why It Failed, by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch. Join us on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. in the Omer Lay classroom of the Sanctuary building. Everyone is welcome to attend! Let Pastor Robin know if you need the Zoom link to attend virtually.

Kennedy is often ranked among Americans most well-liked presidents. Yet what most Americans don’t know is that JFK’s historic presidency almost ended before it began at the hands of a disgruntled sociopathic loner in 1960 armed with dynamite.

This is a great opportunity to be a part of a fun group of readers! Everyone is welcome, and you don't have to attend Bethel to join us. Bring a friend, and we'll see you on February 25!

Stop by the table in the foyer to pick up your copy of An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith and sign up for a group that fits your schedule. The group times and places will be

• Sundays during the Sunday School hour at 9:30 a.m. in the Omer Lay classroom – starts Sunday Feb 22 – Connie Edwards will facilitate this group

• Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the Omer Lay classroom and on Zoom – starts Tues, Feb 24 – Pastor Robin will facilitate this group

• Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom – start date Thurs Feb 26 – expect an email from Janene Hillbrick who will facilitate this group

The author, Barbara Brown Taylor, has written an interesting book about faith practices, like “carrying water” and “getting lost,” which are not exactly practices we’ve heard of before now. The plan is to read about the practice we talk about on Sunday and then meet to talk about it the following week. The chapters are short and interesting! The groups will last for 6 weeks (until Easter, April 5) unless your group decides to continue with the rest of the book together. Pastor Robin is encouraging everyone in the church to sign up for a group. Lent is a perfect time to work on deepening your faith, and we need community to stay grounded with the way things are changing so fast that we can’t keep up!

This year our Ash Wednesday service will be on February 18 at 4:30 p.m. This service sets the tone and the theme for our Lenten journey. It tends to be a quieter more contemplative service. Receiving the sign of the cross marked in ashes on our foreheads or the back of our hands reminds us of our own mortality and of what lies at the end of this Lenten journey during Holy Week. We hope you will make this service part of your Lenten tradition if you’ve never participated before. If it is already part of your Lenten practice, we look forward to beginning the journey with you again.

Invite your friends and family to the Annual Groundhog dinner that will be on Monday, February 2nd from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Pancakes, sausage and beverages will be served. Donations to go towards the meal will be accepted.

Words for the Beginning: You Are a Blessing

We look forward to reading and discussing A Man Called Ove, by Fredrick Backman.

Ove (pronounced “Oo-vah”) is a grumpy yet lovable Swedish man who finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. This is a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul.

This is always a fun event! Families are invited to bring their children in Halloween costumes to receive treats from the decorated trunks of our community members.

We’ll read and discuss The Overstory: A Novel, by Richard Powers

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this is a novel of activism and natural-world power, which presents interlocking fables about nine remarkable strangers who are summoned in different way by trees for an ultimate, brutal stand to save the continent’s few remaining acres of virgin forest.

Everyone is welcome at this year’s picnic to be held at Cosmo-Bethel Park west on Bethel St. from the church. We’ll start gathering at the Ficklin Shelter around 10:00 a.m. with a worship time starting at 10:30. Worship will include favorite hymns, a choir number, and fond memories of times with Susan Houston, our music minister who is retiring after this Sunday. Join us for this time of celebration and fellowship. Bring a dish to share and table service for your family. Drinks will be provided but no paper products other than cups (you can bring your own cup as well, if you like!). Bring a lawn chair if you would like to sit on something other than a picnic table bench the whole time. You’re also welcome to bring games for after lunch. There are plenty of tables for puzzles and board games, or space for lawn games at the park. Of course, there are walking paths and playground equipment there as well. Invite your friends. This will be an excellent time to introduce folks to the church family.

This is the third year Bethel has participated in the Columbia PrideFest. This year Pastor Robin and several of our Bethel choir members will participate in the opening ceremony at 1:00 pm. We will also have a booth (#S11) located on St. James St. Come and find and us and say hello! We are proud to be a part of this event!

We will read Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others, by Barbara Brown Taylor

Not a primer on religions, Barbara Brown Taylor instead tackles the questions, worries, and concerns that arise when we encounter “difference” and “others.” She explores what is opened and what is revealed when we accept the invitation to investigate all the wonder before us. And we discover the spiritual riches God can teach us from the faith of others.

Join us for a discussion. of The First Ladies, by Marie Benedict

A novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune—an unlikely friendship that changed the world and helped form the foundation for the modern civil rights movement.

We'll be reading the "One Read" Community Reading Book from the Daniel Boone public library.

The Columbia community voted in April to read “Migrations” by Charlotte McConaghy. We will be reading this book along with the community for our June read. We so enjoyed meeting at Sabu’s Books in May that we’ve decided to meet there again in June. Everyone is welcome.

We have learned that one of our Down to Earth preschool families recently found out that their precious one-year-old baby, Colt, has acute myeloid leukemia. The prognosis is not good at all. For him to survive and thrive with this diagnosis is truly going to take a miracle. We have added Colt and his family – parents Leslie and Forrest Shock and his older brother Forrest who is a DTE student – to our prayer list. Preschool Director Triere Boyer has asked if the Bethel community and the preschool community could join hands for a candlelight prayer vigil at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25. The preschool families, the Shocks’ friends and their families will be invited, as well as all of us. The vigil has moved inside to the sanctuary. Attendees are invited to park in the upper or lower lot.

We’ve talked about how we could partner with DTE more and show them our love and compassion. This prayer vigil and our prayers for the Shock family is a perfect way to do just that.