We Worship

Sunday Worship Services are at 8:45 AM (Praise) and 10:45 AM (Traditional). The church nursery is open during the  10:45 AM service. Holy Communion is celebrated on the first and third Sundays of the month at both services. Blessings are offered for young children who are not yet communing. Special prayers and communion are available for anyone who desires following every worship time -- even non-communion services. Please speak to the pastor to arrange this ministry. Special evening services are held at 7:00 PM on Wednesdays in Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Thanksgiving Eve. We have Christmas Eve Worship at 4:00 PM & 11:00 PM.   Many Assisting Ministers (Greeters, Ushers, Scripture Readers, Communion Assistants, Nursery Workers, Counting Crew members) are needed every time we worship. If any of these areas of service interest you, contact the church office (419/385-5339). 

We Learn

WE ARE LIFE-LONG LEARNERS, so there are many education opportunities! SUNDAY SCHOOL (around Bethel, it's referred to as "Happy Hour") is for all ages every Sunday from 9:45-10:45 AM. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL is offered FREE each summer for one week as an educational/fellowship program for children ages 3 through those who've just completed the 6th grade. FIRST COMMUNION INSTRUCTION is offered to children in the fifth grade or older who have not had communion instruction. Classes are held in the Spring for the youth and their parents. CATECHISM/CONFIRMATION MINISTRY is a two-year program for seventh and eighth graders to provide instruction in the Lutheran understanding of our Christian faith. The catechism program culminates in the rite of Affirmation of Baptism (Confirmation) in May of the students' eighth-grade year. ADULT INSTRUCTION CLASS is offered once or twice a year for current and prospective members. The course covers the basics of the Christian faith from a Lutheran perspective. After completing this course, a non-Lutheran adult may join the congregation. To be a part of the next First Communion, Catechism or Adult Instruction Class, talk with Pastor Bell. BIBLE STUDIES are planned from time to time. Watch the Sunday bulletins or newsletter for the days and times if you are interested in digging into God's Word. Bethel Women of the Church have two "Circles" that meet monthly for Bible Study and fellowship. Look for the next meetings of the Eve Circle or Mary-Martha Circle and join them. If teaching or helping with Sunday School or Vacation Bible School interests you, contact the church office (419/385-5339). 

We Sing and We Ring

Congregational life and worship has always been enriched in the Lutheran tradition by a great heritage of music. Bethel is particularly blessed with both a vocal and a bell choir. Please be assured that you are welcome and wanted to be a part of our choirs. Both of our choirs rehearse weekly during the school year. 

We Pray

BETHEL'S PRAYER CHAIN is a network of members and friends who support the congregation, their families and friends with prayer upon request. To have your prayer request added to the chain or to become part of Bethel's Prayer Chain, please call the church office (419/385-5339) and a Prayer Chain monitor will be contacted. Also, PRAYER REQUEST SLIPS are in the pew pockets. You are welcome to fill one out on Sunday, place it in the offering plate or hand it to an usher, and it will be given to the pastor. You may also call the church office to have your prayer request added to the weekly PRAYER LIST in the church bulletin and you may post a prayer request on the Prayer Request page on this website. 

We Plan Youth Events

Annual events like our Rally Day Chicken Barbecue and our Sauerkraut Supper in the fall are events that we look forward to.  Occasional potluck dinners after worship and the fellowship hour in between our Sunday worship services are, too.  They give us a chance to visit and play together and, of course, eat!  Other events like taking in a Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Game or having a picnic at a local metropark might get planned, too.  If you'd enjoy planning events such as these by helping on our Congregational Life Committee, please contact the church office (419/385-5339). 

We Sponsor David and Alicia Brondos

For many years, Bethel members have sponsored an E.L.C.A. missionary by their offerings to our Missionary Club fund. Presently, we are sponsoring David and Alicia Brondos (pictured to the right with daughters, Elizabeth and Monica). who are serving in Mexico.  David serves as professor at the Theological Community of Mexico, an ecumenical consortium of Lutheran, Anglican, and Baptist seminaries in Mexico City which also serves Christians from more than 20 different church bodies.  David also forms part of a pastoral team that ministers at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, a bilingual, bicultural congregation.  Alicia teaches science at an elementary school in Mexico City.  You can support our Missionary Sponsorship ministry by remembering them and the people they serve in your prayers and by contributing to Bethel’s Missionary Club fund. Missionary Club “memberships” are $10. These memberships can be donated in honor or memory of others or for oneself as a way of being part of spreading the gospel about the world.  Our missionary has a website of his own that you may enjoy visiting.  To get to his website, click here.

We Sponsor Hung Viet Lu

In August of 2005, Bethel began sponsorship of Hung Viet Lu who spent a year in Macedonia with Campus Crusade for Christ - reaching college students with the Gospel. (Hung is the son of An and Kim Ho, one of Bethel's first sponsored refugee families and was baptized here in 1980.) In October, 2008, Hung moved to Chicago to finish up gathering support for his next assignment which is the campuses (of about 200,000 students!) in Chicago, Illinois. Bethel is happy to continue sponsorship and to be able to "go with him" to Chicago college campuses. Continue to remember him in prayer, too, during this time of searching for financial and prayer partners for his ministry. 

We Reach Out

One of the ways that Bethel reaches out is by being a part of the Feed Your Neighbor (FYN) Program and the Clothes Closet to help those in need. Both, the FYN Pantry and the Clothes Closet, are located at Faith Lutheran Church (2440 South Avenue) and are open on Fridays from 10:00 AM - noon. This is a joint effort of Bethel, Faith Lutheran Church, and New Hope United Methodist Church. Referral cards for FYN are available from our church office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10:00 AM - noon. If you are interested in volunteering at the Pantry or Closet on Fridays or helping to transport food donations from Bethel to the Pantry, please contact our church office (419/385-5339). Bethel supports  many other local and world wide organizations such as Lutheran Social Services, Lutheran Homes Society, Luther Home of Mercy, Cherry Street Mission, Habitat For Humanity, Lutheran World Relief (our Women of the Church make quilts and School Kits, Health Kits and Layettes for Lutheran World Relief), World Vision, Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots (LAMP), Operation Christmas Child - a project of Samaritan's Purse, and others. We also open our building for meetings of various groups and outside activities. During the day, our educational wing is utilized by Meadows Choice Community School. At other times, it is used for meetings of our Neighborhood Blockwatch Group, Alcoholics Anonymous, T.O.P.S., Boy Scouts, and various other groups. 

We Visit

Teams of lay people assist the pastor in making regular visits to homebound persons or those who live in assisted living or skilled nursing facilities by bringing them Holy Communion. Each team visits 2 or 3 people once a month. Many of our elderly or infirm members who cannot come to church have depended on newsletter mailings and a monthly visit from the pastor to stay in touch with the church. Involving more people in this ministry helps our shut-ins remain connected to our congregation. If you would like to be a part of this ministry, contact our church office (419/385-5339). 

We Care

Bethel members who are interested are invited to "adopt" one of our shut-in or homebound members. Even a few cards and/or letters sent to their "adoptee" at holidays, on their birthday, or whenever, will remind these friends that someone cares. If you'd like to join our "Circle of Friends," please call the church office at 419/385-5339.