COUNCIL REFLECTION
by Mike Conover, Treasurer
As treasurer and council member,
I have an amazing opportunity to
witness the faithfulness and courage
of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Twin Cities congregation. Over the past
several months we have made many
significant decisions: to merge two
congregations into one, to borrow the
needed funding to ensure welcoming
physical spaces, to add a new full-time
and interim pastor, and to fund all of
this with continued generous support.
Each of these decisions required a
conscious choice to step outside of our
comfort zone and act with our long-
term goal in mind: to bring people
closer to God, and especially those who
are not already part of our community.
It is particular ly noteworthy that all of
this activity has continued unabated
during Pastor Nelson’s battle with
cancer. This shows that the vision is
not just driven by one leader, but is
shared and embraced by the entire
community. We recognize it as God’s
plan for our congregation, driven by
the Spirit working in all of us and
enabling us to be more than we had
ever thought possible.
I have highlighted some of the large-
scale actions that our congregation has
taken, but these are far outweighed by
the individual actions of our members.
Every time we see a new face in our
midst we have a similar opportunity
to step out of our comfort zone, get
to know them better, and welcome
them. Every act of service or teaching
contributes to growing God’s Kingdom.
In council, we only get to hear a small
fraction of all the great things that our
congregation is doing. The entirety of
this congregation’s work is nothing
short of amazing. Praise be to God!
YOUR GIVING MAKES A DIFFERENCE
by Pastor Bob Wertz, Pastor of Stewardship and Planned Giving
“Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: our selves, our time,
and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world
with your love…”
This is one of my favorite prayers in our hymnal. It's spoken in worship by the
pastor immediately after the offering is received. Replete with gratitude and an
understanding of why we are entrusted with gifts, it is also a fitting prayer for the
responses to date to our three-year, $3 million Opening New Doors mission appeal.
THANK YOU to those who have already made commitments and given gifts…and
THANK YOU to those who are in the process of making commitments and giving
gifts. We have the bold goal of 100% participation of members supporting the
appeal, and are counting on each other to bring that to fruition. Please contact me
if you have lost track of your personal commitment card, and please check out all
the details of the appeal online at bethlehem-church.org/appeal.
To recap, the funds contributed to Opening New Doors will:
• Make the Minneapolis building water-tight, structurally sound, and inviting.
Raising funds will enable us to pay down the debt on the loans we are
borrowing. We are also exploring options to
steward the Minnetonka property in the most
prudent and responsible way possible. (See
the update on the Minnetonka property by the
Facilities Task Force on page 6.)
• Renovate spaces that are long overdue. With
sufficient contributions, this will include an
upgrade of the choir room in Minneapolis.
• Fund a new pastoral position with primary duties
at the Minnetonka campus and dedicate essential resources to invite and
engage our neighbors to share in God’s work in Minnetonka.
• Earmark 15% of funds received to support the work of key mission partners
near and dear to Bethlehem hearts.
With respect to supporting key mission partners, we have an immediate
request to help support the new residents of 66West, a new Beacon Interfaith
development at 66th Street and Barrie Rd. in Edina.
Having had God open
It’s the new home of 39 homeless youth whose
so many doors to us,
apartments need to be furnished with household
we’re called to open
items. Can you help? A list of needed items is
new doors to those who
available online on the appeal website and at the
long for the same authentic
Welcome Desk at both campuses.
and life-giving connection
Finally, special thanks for the outstanding leadership
to a church community
of the appeal to Gary and Kathryn Schmidt and Paul
that has blessed us.
and Melissa Steen, who will continue to answer any
and all questions you may have about the appeal. They will continue to serve
in an oversight capacity along with key staff throughout the appeal’s three-year
duration to monitor income and expenses. And they continue to encourage
members to embrace the truths alluded to in the prayer quoted above: that
while God has blessed us within the Bethlehem community with abundant
gifts, they are to be used to feed others, in this case, all the people who have
yet to experience the grace and blessings of the Bethlehem community in both
Minnetonka and Minneapolis. Having had God open so many doors to us, we’re
called to open new doors to those who long for the same authentic and life-giving
connection to a church community that has blessed us.
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