About Bethel
Sharing Love.
Sharing Compassion.
Sharing the Word.
Being Christ to Our Neighbor
Bethel United Church of Christ is an Open and Affirming (ONA) congregation. Bethel continues to step forward in building an inclusive church for the 21st century. This quote from our UCC General Minister, John Dorhauer, is so appropriate, "Adaptability is an essential component to healthy and relevant communities of faith. It is never a question of will we change - we most certainly will. It is a question of when, how, and under what circumstances."
Today, we have become ONA under the best of circumstances. It was a vision that was brought forth in our Visioning Plan by the congregation and moved forward by our Welcoming Team. How exciting that Bethel continues to find ways to reach out and invite into a covenantal relationship with all people, "no matter where they are on life's journey."
The Bethel Story
Bethel's congregation began in 1960 as a mission church with 52 families, meeting and worshiping for four years in the Lakewood Elementary School. The present building was constructed in 1964. In keeping with the United Church of Christ's Congregationalist background, each congregation - Bethel included - is free to act in accordance with the collective decisions of its members, guided by the working of the Spirit in the light of the scriptures. Bethel is organized around five commissions, listed below, and a church council. The five commissions include:
Administration
Benevolence
Christian Education
Evangelism
Membership
The work of the church is carried out through the commissions, with the council functioning as the congregation's governing body.
Get to Know United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a Protestant denomination resulting from a merger in 1957 of the German Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Church. The UCC seeks to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed. It is a progressive mainline Protestant church that encourages members to connect their faith with social justice issue and service to others.