12. The Modern Era

 The Modern Era

Electricity from Solar Power—Bethany was merging into modern times in 2011.

By January of 2011, a Synodical decision became a startling epiphany: the ELW, formerly the LCW and before that, the Ladies Aid had been disbanded both nationally and locally.  In the final report to the Annual Meeting, Barb Mason passed on a list of ELW duties to the Church Council so that these tasks could be directed to other committees.  A tradition which had endured for 132 years had come to an end.

Pastor Sara continued at a frenetic pace: International Ecumenical Peace Convocation at Kingston,
Jamaica in May, World Council of Churches trip to Lebanon in October...Bethany’s outreach had become international solely through the pastor’s efforts.

 

At home the pace was only slightly slower:  Council affirmed three motions on Human Sexuality which had been passed and recommended at the ELCIC (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada) National Convention, thereby allowing pastors to perform same-sex marriages, Service and Publicity reported that a new logo for Bethany had been finalized, Bethany became an official member of Operation Sharing, a Children’s Corner in the chapel had been suggested and Property accepted bids to install sandwiching rafter beams to support the array of Solar Panels on the roof. 

Since 2010 beautiful music has filled Bethany from Barry Hawkins’ talents at piano and organ and on some days made even more special by his equally beautiful tenor solos, often accompanied by the violin skills of Barry Schneider.  Frequent sprints between piano and organ now go almost unnoticed.  Go Now In Peace has replaced Yes Lord, Yes in most services.

The Prayer Flag program, inspired by the travels of the Muellers, provided a welcome interlude in which the congregation could actually become involved rather than only react to things happening around them.

  

Sentinel-Review coverage was noteworthy and now graces Bethany’s website.  The website itself is a far cry from the pastor-written weekly bulletins of the earliest years.

More disturbing news by mid-2012: comments from the Eastern Synod Assembly indicate that “currently  30% of Eastern Synod congregations are in a dying phase.”  This was not intended to be a death sentence but an awakening to various options for growth and re-alignment.

At times church life comes to resemble a balance sheet.  On the positive side, at a special meeting of Nov. 18th, Richard Eves was able to inform Council that we had received a Trillium Grant of $25,000. for much-needed upgrades; on the negative side the Finance and Stewardship Committee was facing another dilemma—how best to apprise the congregation of our financial situation.  “A table showing the history of the last few years total monthly envelope offerings along with our financial position ...could be produced and used by the congregation to measure our current position...”

The Worship and Music Committee recommended to Council “that a committee needs to be formed to plan for our church’s 80th anniversary in two years...” but on the downside of the teeter-totter, Louis Eckert, who had become our financial guru in the recent years, had to resign from Bethany on a work-related transfer to Chicago.  He was presented with a gift of binoculars and heart-felt ‘Thank You’ s for his 7 years of dedicated service.  The minutes read, “The congregation gave him a standing ovation.”

An agreement had been reached with a contractor (Joe’s Carpentry Inc. of Norwich) “for the renovations to existing washrooms and the addition of a separate family washroom created from alterations to the existing office and including a separate storage/work room and the replacement of front entry glass assembly and the rear entry way in their entirety.”  At last, progress to an upgrade, but even as we cheered this accomplishment, we learned that Pastor Sara Faulhafer had faced debilitating situations over the year end. It was to be several months before we faced the news that she would not be returning as Bethany’s pastor.

It was at this point in the spring of 2012 that Pastor Tanya Ramer came to Bethany.  She was certainly a Godsend, filling in for Pastor Sara, later offering voluntary ministry to Bethany in our time of need.  In June of that year, a Special Meeting of Council was called.  In part, the minutes of that meeting read thusly:

“Shirley [Hickey] received a letter, via courier from Pastor Sara which was shared with those attending the meeting.  In general, the letter stated that Pastor Sara had chosen a new career path and therefore wished to resign her position as Pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church...”

The Council of Bethany Lutheran Church accepted with regret the resignation of Pastor Sara Faulhafer.

After discussion of the rather unique situation with Bishop Pryse, Council was given the go-ahead to request a Congregational Call Meeting on July 28 of 2013.  The singular resolution of the meeting was worded this way:

“By motion of Church Council of Bethany Lutheran Church it is recommended that a Pastoral call be made to Pastor Tanya Ramer for a term of two years commencing September 1, 2013.”

There had never been much doubt about the outcome of that vote.  The official congregational call meeting form with the results of the meeting were forwarded to the Bishop.  Barely a week later, Richard Eves was able to read to the congregation this notation from Pastor Tanya:

“I am writing to inform you that upon receipt of your Letter of Call from Bethany Lutheran Church, I am excited to accept the call to serve as your pastor.”

Pastor Tanya’s name was on the church sign almost before the ink was dry.