September 2023
Together In Mission
Monthly Reflections from BCC
Where Your Feet Take You
By Phil Rushton
Lead Pastor
Generally speaking, if you want to know who you really are as distinct from who you like to think you are, keep an eye on where your feet take you. Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking
Buechner suggests that our feet provide a window into who we really are. We might like to think that we are in good physical shape, for example, but if our feet haven't wandered into a gym in a while we may need to think again. We might talk a lot about the importance of caring for the poor, but if we haven't walked over to the homeless shelter to volunteer or participated in an active outreach to the marginalized, we might need to re-evaluate whether this is really one of our values.
As we head into the fall, I’d encourage you to be intentional with where your feet take you. Fall is a natural season for us to reset our rhythms. It is also a season where there are a lot of things competing for our time and our attention. If we are not intentional, we can find ourselves running in all kinds of directions with little space left to invest in our spiritual lives.
I’m heading to a monastery this week to take a silent retreat before the fall starts to fill up. It is an annual rhythm for me. One of the things the Benedictine monks model for me is an intentional rhythm of life. They follow St Benedict's Rule of Life, which provides practical guidance for how to live a life that prioritizes the values of the kingdom of God. They mark their days with fixed hours of prayer, and a balance of work, rest, fellowship, and worship.
This month we will be wrapping up our spiritual practices series. As we conclude the series, I encourage you to think about creating your own rule or rhythm of life. Begin by reflecting on what spiritual practices most help you connect with God and grow spiritually. Then, put these practices on your calendar. What practices will you incorporate daily, weekly, and monthly? What practices will you hold on to even when life gets really busy? With whom will you engage in these practices?
Fall is coming and with it all kinds of opportunities that we can invest in. Our feet will take us in all kinds of directions. My prayer is that we might carve out time in our calendar to walk toward Jesus and toward one another as we continue on our journey of discipleship.
BCC|Youth Update
By Jeff Grosskopf
Youth Pastor
At bcc|youth, we love to create spaces, moments, and events for our students so they can know and experience the kindness of God.
With all the stress and busyness our students go through on a daily basis, we want to give them a community that is familiar, safe, and fun!
Why??
One of our goals as a student ministry is to provide an active community for students to belong to. A place where each student is known, loved, served, and celebrated! A place where relationships with others are strengthened and an understanding of God is nurtured.
That’s why we do what we do...so that students can grow in their relationships with God and others.
To this end, we provide several connection points throughout the month.
Here's what a typical month looks like for our students:
Every Sunday
Life Together/Sunday School
10:30-11:45 AM
Sunday mornings give us a chance to gather as a community and take a much deeper look at topics and issues that will help us grow in our faith. This year, we will be using our sermon text as a jumping-off point for our Bible studies.
Every Wednesday
Youth Group
6:30-8:00 PM
Youth Group is the mid-week event we have created for students who are in 6th-12th grade. The Youth Group meets every Wednesday from 6:30-8:00 PM and is focused on fun and community-building events with large group games, artistic projects, spiritual practices, and group discussions.
4th Sundays of the Month
Donut Day!
10:30-11:45 AM
STUDENTS + DONUTS = COMMUNITY
Our donut days may seem insignificant, but there’s more going on than just eating donuts! We’re always looking for ways to give our students different opportunities to connect with one another and build new friendships. The hope is that our students will have a strong sense of community with one another so that they can have friends for their journey of faith! Donuts seem to be one of the best ways to do that!!
This year, middle school and high school students will go to Donuts on the 4th Sunday of the month. Each group will go independently from one another and they will alternate between going to Lafeens and Haggens (so we don’t overwhelm Lafeens with so many students). Permission slips will be required for these events, so keep your eyes open for them.
*PS, parent help will be essential on donut days, so be on the lookout for ways you can help!
4th Sundays of the Month
Reframe
Class for Juniors and Seniors
10:30-11:45 AM
While the underclassmen are going out to donuts, our upperclassmen will stay back and have breakfast together and participate in a new class called Reframe.
What is Reframe?
Reframe is a one-year course for 11th and 12th graders. This course will give our students a unique opportunity to revisit the Bible stories and concepts they have been learning since they were kiddos.
During our time together, students will have a unique opportunity to look at the hard questions they have about God/faith/the Bible/church before they graduate into life after high school.
YOUTH SPECIAL EVENTS
Save these Dates!
More info as we get closer to each event!
Survivor Night!
Fall Kickoff Event for 6th-12th Graders and their friends!
Wednesday, September 27th!
6:30-8:00 PM
Pumpkins at the Parks’!
Bring your own pumpkin and enjoy a fall night around a bonfire with your friends!
Friday, October 27th
7:00-9:00 PM
Pancakes and Pajamas!
Watch Elf and have pancakes for dinner!!
Wednesday, December 13th
6:00-8:00 PM
Game Night at the Gullesons’!
Board games, video games, group games? What more could you want!?!
Friday, February 23rd
7:00-9:00 PM
May the 4th Be With You!
We’re going to watch one of the 9 Star Wars movies!!!
Saturday, May 4th
6:00-8:00 PM
Kids Ministry Update
Megan Mattix
Childrens Ministry Director
I am so excited for another year of learning and growing with our youngest friends here at BCC! On Sundays, we use a blend of three curricula to create what we call, worshipful play! From toddler age up through 5th grade our children are hearing about the principles of Christian faith and moving through the Bible, through various Bible stories, in the school year.
Worship Pattern:
Each Sunday, we move through a pattern of worship with our kids, much like adults do in their worship time. Ours looks like this:
Turning our attention to God’s Presence: The children are welcomed into the space of the classroom by name and invited into the circle formed on the rug. We say a prayer, light a candle, and “get ready” to hear from God. This is similar to a “call to worship”.
Listening to God’s Presence: We try to tell each Bible story in the midst of the whole Story. We tell each story simply, slowly, and visually. We call this “Hearing the Story”.
Wondering in God’s Presence: We consider questions that quicken the imagination. We place ourselves in the story and learn from each other. We discover continuity with other stories. We call this “Wondering”.
Responding to God’s Presence: We are free to respond as God prompts. Children may respond through art, reading, storytelling, playing, or praying. We call this “Responding”.
Fellowshipping in God’s Presence: We share with one another: food, joys, sorrows, prayer, and praise. We serve one another. We call this “Feasting”. Another we we fellowship is by playing games together in the gym. It helps us to build relationships and welcome our bodies into worship as well.
Going in God’s Presence: We give and receive a blessing to “go with God.” We go, looking for where God is already at work in the world. We call this “Blessing” or “Benediction”
Our stories include such topics as:
The church calendar
What is the Bible?
The creation story
The story of Abraham and his great family
The Exodus story
The exile, prophets
The story of Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection!
In the Spring we wrap up with Jesus’ commission and the mystery of Pentecost!
There are many more stories we cover and I just love going cover to cover in scripture with our kids. They make so many connections between Biblical stories as we go through scripture together in this way.
Seeing ways in which kids are responding to God and God’s Word during their response time has been so inspiring. Here are a couple of examples of artwork done by kids at BCC. I am so excited to see how God continues to move in our midst in and through BCC kids.
Serving Our Refugee Neighbors This Summer
By Steven Shetterly
World Relief
This summer, Bellingham Covenant partnered with World Relief to offer space, funding, and volunteers for a couple of important and well-received programs for refugee youth and families. For five weeks, BCC hosted a Family Literacy Program serving around 15 parents and kids, teaching English and literacy skills in a variety of ways. Then, in early August, the church hosted our second summer School Readiness Program, with the participation of 28 refugee youth from places like Syria, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Sudan, and Ukraine. It was a beautiful time of connection and welcome and learning, with volunteers and kids from BCC youth programs building ties with children who are adjusting to life in their new home here in Whatcom County.
As someone who has called BCC home for over 20 years, it gave me great joy to see our facility, time, talents, and finances being used to provide a place of welcome and care to these families who have been through so much, and who have so much to offer our community. “You are to welcome those who are foreigners,” the Lord says in Deuteronomy 10:19, “for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” Let’s always remember that we are a people whose spiritual ancestors were foreigners, we are a people who are set apart to be “foreigners and strangers on Earth” ourselves, and we are a people whose destiny is to join in eternity with a “great multitude…from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” in worship.
We’ve seen a small foretaste of that in action these past several weeks at BCC. The staff and volunteers with World Relief are tremendously thankful for the ongoing support that Bellingham Covenant has shown in this work since Day 1. Thanks especially to those who volunteered to teach and assist in the classrooms, serve lunch, and help with transportation. Hope you enjoy this short video showing some of the faces and highlights from our School Readiness Program!
This fall there are two ways you can continue to participate in our growing partnership with World Relief.
1) From Home to Home, September 11th-15th, 4173 Meridian St. An experiential exhibit to build understanding around forced displacement and resettlement. If you’re interested in participating in a group with other BCCers, email Charity at cgarza@wr.org. More information on our Next Steps Kiosk.
2) We Belong Gala, September 15th, 5:30 pm. For tickets go to worldrelief.org/we-belong
Up Next…
BCC Camp Out
Friday, September 8-10
Outdoor Worship Service at Silver Lake!
Sunday, September 10
9:30-11:00 AM
*Join the church family out at the lake! Bring camp chairs, water, and sunscreen!
** There will be no worship service at BCC this week. Visit our homepage for a prerecorded sermon from Pastor Phil.
Men’s Breakfast
Saturday, September 16
8:00-9:30 AM
*Connect with other men over a delicious breakfast and learn about current men’s groups at BCC
Fall Kickoff
Sunday, September 17
9:30-11:ish AM
*Join us for a special worship service and then stick around for some great food and create your own beautiful Dahlia bouquet!!
Life Together/Sunday School Resumes!
Sunday, September 24
10:45-11:30 AM
*Children, youth, and adult classes resume from 10:45-11:45