Newsletter November, 2009 Rev. Dr. Vera M. Wingate, Pastor

The Chancel Choir
is singing this week
November 21st - "I'll Fly Away!"

Dear Bethany Friends,

                Autumn in all its glory has faded from the scene – there’s only a “hint” of color in trees every now and then.  Winter’s hue is grasping our landscape, and Thanksgiving is next week.  I am so thankful for this chapel on the hill overlooking Pine Island Pond.  The Spirit of God hovers at this sacred ground.  For centuries God has inspired faithful souls to pause here for awhile.  It was God’s teeming brook – the Great Cohas – that drew Native Americans to the shores here where fish-filled waters spilled into the Merrimack River .  Chief Passaconaway of the Penacooks was the last chief known to frequent the area.  He loved to fish in the Cohas.  Less than 50 years after he died, Col. John Goffe cleared land and built a log cabin on the brook’s shores at the Merrimack .  The exact location is at the end of what is now Coldwell Street .  In John Goffe’s time, that street was known as Ferry Street or Ferry Road , because John Goffe had rights to conduct a ferry across the Merrimack from his land.  And after John Goffe died, his descendants sold some of the land for mills – the most notable being Devonshire Mill – and the road came to be called Mill Street , or Mill Avenue .  And when time passed on and the mill activity waned, The Elms resort emerged next to the old Goffe property, and thousands were entertained for about 50 years in that one location.  The flood of 1936 just about wiped The Elms out on Mill Avenue , and the founding Coldwell family relocated on “hill property” they owned – the exact site being where The Highlander is located today.  When they moved from “ Mill Avenue ”, the street was named after them – Coldwell Street .  The Coldwell family had been instrumental in founding Bethany Chapel as a Protestant house of worship for Devonshire Mill workers in the late 1800s.  Descendants of John Goffe gave the Bethany Chapel Society, founded in 1889, the land to build a chapel.  The chapel was built in 1890 and first services where held in January, 1891.  It was an adventurous, daring spirit that drove settlers to claim this spot.  It was a persistent spirit that would not give up midst life’s hardships.  That same adventurous, daring spirit lays claim on a persistent faithful who carry the faith forward at Bethany Chapel today.   I am thankful for this rich history.  I am thankful for the passionate faithful who worship and carry out the ministry here.   Thankfulness issues in giving.  Here’s how Bethany ’s Moderator Merrill Lewis says it:

                “Thanksgiving is the time to reflect on the blessings and bounty which God has bestowed upon us. We at Bethany

                are truly blessed by the spirit of love and sense of family which surrounds and binds us.  We are all aware that

                these tough economic times have impacted us all.  During this Thanksgiving season, if you can afford it, please

                consider an increased Gratitude donation to help Bethany over the hump on its missions through the winter

                season.”

Just one of Bethany ’s many outreach projects is Thanksgiving baskets given to families in need in the church and in the community beyond.  Food-on-the-table for families-in-need is a continuing concern of ours.  Our baskets will be distributed to families the Saturday before Thanksgiving.   And speaking of the Saturday before Thanksgiving, people of the church are laying out a Thanksgiving feast for our Calumet volunteers on that day.  Volunteers from the church join at table with our site volunteers.  Warm coats will be given to those in need, food for during the week is frequently given from our small pantry, and rides for doctor’s appointments and work are sometimes on our calendar, too.   Bethany ’s Spirit of Love is especially outpouring this season.

                Friday night after Thanksgiving – November 27^th – Dana & George Dahl will gather at the church with our CONFIRMATION CLASS and their families to view the movie, “UP”.  Deacons and others from the church are invited.     I’ve really been enjoying our FIVE Confirmation students.  We meet Tuesday afternoons.  Dana will be working with the class on some Sunday mornings and will guide the students on how Jesus asks us to live out our faith in the world.           

                We had an incredibly good time at our Intergenerational Bible Masquerade Sunday October 25^th!    There are pictures on the bulletin board in the hall, near the garden door entrance.  Be sure to check it out!

May the Spirit of love guide you….                     

Your pastor,

Vera Wingate