11. Pastor Sara Brings us a Donkey

Pastor Sara brings us a donkey

Yet another change brightened the scene at Bethany with the ratification on July 5, 2009 of a new pastor:

“The Call Committee recommends to Church Council that a call be issued to Sara Faulhafer to be the full time pastor for Bethany Lutheran Church, Woodstock, with a compensation package to be determined...Carried unanimously.”

                Pastor Sara Faulhafer’s name was installed on the outdoor sign.  Her first Council Meeting was on August 23, 2009; in addition to routine committee reports, topics of discussion included a 75^th Anniversary Dinner and potential renting of Bethany facilities to “Little Blessings Preschool Program”. 

In September the Council decided to support Dale and Hooper Hadland on their mission to work in Iquitos, Peru with up to $500. in donated funds to be used in the purchase of Lutheran Books of Worship in Spanish for the Hadlands to distribute.

 

 

 

  In October came another inspiration and another regret:  the inspiration took the form of an Energy Survey and the possibility of installing Solar Panels on the roof of the church.  The regret--the formal letter of resignation by Irene Stickel-Ruhlman as organist and choir director.  Irene had been with Bethany for “almost 28 years” and regarded the Bethany congregation “as family”.

The minutes of the November 17 Council Meeting of 2009 contain another potential bombshell of controversy in the results of the Sexuality Study. In the minutes the Council outlines Bethany’s position.  Probably as anticipated, the position would not be acceptable to all members of Bethany.

                Keen-Agers had very successfully taken on the role of Evangelism at Bethany; a well-considered program of social meetings combined with interesting speakers, informative topics and pleasurable day-trips became available to members on a frequent basis.  The program is 0n-going at Bethany today and new members are always made welcome.

Another form of Outreach was initiated not at Bethany but at the neighbouring Covenant Church.  It was called the Love Woodstock event and its outline declared a three-point vision:

                *to promote unity among the churches as we work toward a common task

                *to touch as many unbelievers as possible through servant evangelism—redefining the church, breaking barriers and building bridges, moving them toward Christ

                *to help establish ongoing servant evangelism within the local church context

             

   Bethany members probably did more to advertise Bethany with freely-given bottles of water than would have been accomplished in more costly forms of advertising.

               

Pastor Sara Faulhafer jumped into her Bethany role with wonderful ideas and energy.  She inspired this congregation with her enthusiasm and youthfulness and proceeded to invigorate us with innovations.  This Pastor’s Report of April 11, 2010 will give some inkling of her involvement with Bethany and with the Lutheran Church at large:

“Pastor Sara participated in the following events: St. David’s book club, Old St Paul’s Lenten service as guest preacher, London Conference clergy cluster with a presentation on World Council of Churches, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary contextual class ‘Street Ministry’ as guest speaker, Christians of Woodstock Breakfast meeting, S. O. C. Youth Retreat, Maundy Thursday at Good Shepherd and the ELW Spring Conference held at Bethany.”

During that time interval she had us chalking chapel doors, hiding Allelulias and joining with St. David’s members to follow a live donkey on a meaningful stroll through the park.  More controversy arose over the National Church’s social statement on human sexuality and, to consider the implications, Pastor Faulhafer hosted “a discussion on the statement at the July 16^th Pub Night”, another of her innovations.  From this discussion, comments were to be forwarded to the National Church.

               

The Property Committee was deeply engrossed with another opportunity; an application to the Trillium Foundation was on-going, with drawings being completed for the front door renovation.  Research also continued for the roof-mounted Solar Project.

                The Pastor’s enthusiasm had been noted by others and she was asked to serve with three more community groups: Habitat for Humanity in Family Selection and Support Committee, the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary’s Worship Arts and Design team co-ordinating special events, and Operation Sharing as Chaplain for the Inn out of the Cold program.  Again this is hard to fathom when you’re only working one day a week...

                The year 2010 continued to be exciting.  A Council and Committee Retreat was held at Inga Hansen’s home in October with the achievement of revamping Bethany’s committee structure and briefly outlining the mandates of the committees.

 

                A month later on Nov. 7^th of 2010, a special Congregational meeting was held to ask the congregation’s permission to proceed with the installation of rooftop solar panels through the MicroFit Project and to explain the financing using our GICs as collateral.  The congregation showed its faith in Richard Eves and Treasurer Louis Eckert with strong approval.

         

       This Treasurer’s Report of 2010 depicted our status and commitment:

                “It is my pleasure to report that Bethany has completed another year with an operational surplus.  To Bethany’s committees, Thank you for carefully managing our expenditures. 2011 may be financially challenging, but will also be very exciting as we progress with the Solar Project and the Building Enhancement Project.  May Bethany continue to be blessed with strong financial support.”  Louis Eckert