April 2024

Apr 1

Together In Mission

Monthly Reflections from BCC

Extending Easter: Working out the Implications of Easter in a Broken World

By Phil Rushton
Lead Pastor

Easter was never meant to be a momentary celebration or a one-day event. Like Lent, Easter is a forty-day season called Eastertide. Our spiritual ancestors recognized that Easter needed a whole season. They passed on to us an opportunity to extend Easter so that we might have space to wrestle with the implications of the resurrection.

This mirrors the first Easter. It is interesting to read what happens after the resurrection story in the various gospels. It took time for the disciples to come to terms with this event. In Matthew 28, we read that many of the disciples still doubted. In John 20, a group of disciples lock themselves in a room out of fear. In John 21, Peter and his friends are floating aimlessly on the Galilean Sea trying to catch fish. Overcome with regret that he denied Jesus, Peter reverts to his old way of life.

All these stories suggest that the Easter story leaves us with some unresolved questions. How does Christ’s resurrection intersect with the grief we feel in a broken world? How does the resurrection speak to our fears about the future? What does the resurrection mean for how we should live our lives in the present?

Easter is a definitive event, but realizing the implications of Easter requires an ongoing process. Therefore, we are going to extend Easter this year. On April 14 I am going to start a sermon series on the post-resurrection stories in the Gospel of John. Here, we discover how the resurrected Christ meets people in places of fear, doubt, and regret. My hope is that the implications of Easter might speak to the brokenness we experience in life. I hope that we might discover again how God can make things new in our lives.

N.T. Wright puts it well when he writes:

“If Calvary means putting to death things in your life that need killing off if you are to flourish as a Christian and as a truly human being, then Easter should mean planting, watering and training up things in your life (personal and corporate) that ought to be blossoming, filling the garden with color and perfume, and in due course bearing fruit. The forty days of the Easter season, until the ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up, some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving.”

Wright encourages us to consider how Easter might shape this next season in our lives. The resurrection reminds us that God has the power to redeem and restore the aspects of our lives and our culture that are decaying and dying. We can practice resurrection as we seek to infuse our world with the new life that is available in Christ. Easter, then, is a time to seek reconciliation, do justice, help those in need, create things of beauty, grow in our faith, and so on.

Easter Sunday has come and gone, but the hope of the resurrection continues on. How might we live out the implications of the resurrection in the coming weeks?

In Christ,
Pastor Phil

Youth Fundraiser: Tacos & Trivia

By Jeff Grosskopf
Youth Pastor

Let's taco 'bout an event you won't want to miss!

Join us for Tacos & Trivia, where we'll be serving up delicious tacos and challenging your wits with some mind-boggling trivia. But that's not all – by attending, you'll be supporting our high school students as they raise funds for their summer trip to Unite 2024. It's a night of food, fun, and fundraising all rolled into one. So, come hungry, come curious, and let's taco 'bout making a positive impact together!

DATE
Saturday, April 13
5:00-6:30 PM

COST
Cost per adult: $25
Cost per child: $10
*Children (pre-school - 5th) will have their programming during the event. We will be feeding them and providing them with games and activities!

Learn more & Register

WHAT IS UNITE?

We’re sending 12 students and 3 adult leaders to a meaningful event in San Diego called Unite.

Unite is a gathering of Covenant High School groups from across the country for worship, connection, and fun!
5 days and nights of fun, worship, and friendship
Evening sessions with dynamic worship and powerful speakers
Morning sessions with strong teaching leading into personal and small group times
Afternoon activities such as sports tournaments, swimming, seminars, and more

Events like Unite have the potential to change the lives of our students! Getting out of our normal routines and comfort zones opens us up to experience God in new ways. Our hope for each students is that they would grow deeper in their understanding of who God is in their lives. In order to offer this kind of trip, we need the support of our church family.

HOW WE’RE MAKING MONEY
By simply attending, you’re helping us reach our goal of $5,000. On top of this, we will be offering pressure-free ways for you to donate throughout the night!

THANKS IN ADVANCE
As always, thank you for being the kind of church that believes deeply in their youth! We see it in many ways! Smiles and conversations in the halls, food at events, prayers, and yes-from time to time, additional money!

Shop for a Cause

By Melissa Miller

"Shop for a Cause" garage sale is coming soon! This event is not going to be our typical annual garage sale but has so many more layers to it this year. We are keeping it concise and efficient, but also spreading the support and assistance as far as we can. We are planning to donate specific items to World Relief of Whatcom County to get new families set up in their homes after being displaced from their country of origin. We plan to price things at a good discount. We are hopeful our neighbors, friends, and congregation can get what they need, and also some fun books or new hobby items they might want to try out, at an affordable price. At the end of the sale, we have designated 4 different non-profit organizations for the leftover items that are going to be picked up or delivered. And of course, the profits from the garage sale will go to benefit World Relief, our Youth Group, and Women's Ministry programs. We have tried to stay very missional minded in the planning of this event.

Here's how you can help:

Donate your stuff
We would love your usable, quality donations!!

Donate your time
If you would like to donate your time, volunteer sign-ups will be in the foyer starting Sunday, April 7th!
Gather your stuff
Sunday, April 14th Take a box home with you to fill/remind you to bring back your donations the following week
Bring your stuff
Sunday, April 21st "Drive up/Drop off Donation" all church event. Join in by driving around to simply drop your donations off or help with unloading, sorting, and setting up after the service!
We will be accepting donations until Wednesday, April 24th!
The sale will run 9 am to 3 pm Friday 4/26 and Saturday 4/27

I have always loved the "intergenerational" factor of our church and look forward to volunteering both before and during the sale with people of all ages. Thank you for being a church body that values taking care of our neighbors! Any questions, please contact Melissa Miller (mathmelissa@live.com)

Thanks in advance!
Melissa

A New Way to Celebrate Earth Day

By Heather Merchant

Looking for ways to care for God’s creation but not ready for big changes like solar panels or an electric vehicle? You can still make a difference by participating in our Earth Day Recycling Drop-off. This event will take place on Saturday, April 20, from 12 to 3 pm in the Bellingham Covenant Church parking lot. Please note: items cannot be dropped off at any other time.

The Creation Care Team at BCC is partnering with the City of Bellingham for this first-time, city-wide free recycling event. This is a great way to clear your clutter and reduce your environmental impact by dropping off your hard-to-recycle items. Also, every participant can leave with a free tree sapling from the City!

What you can bring:

Up to three grocery bags (or 2 banker boxes) of sensitive documents for shredding and recycling — Did you know shredded paper cannot be recycled through residential recycling services in Bellingham?
Old TVs, computer monitors, desktop and laptop computers, tablets, e-readers, portable DVD players
All single-use batteries including alkaline (AA, AAA, 9V, C, D), button cells, lithium primary
Rechargeable batteries including lithium-ion (Li-Ion), nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MN), nickel-zinc (Ni-Zn), car and small marine batteries (small sealed lead acid (SSLA/Pb)
Used athletic shoes and sneakers, any size and condition; please tie or rubber-band matching shoes together —
NOT ACCEPTED: cleats and non-athletic footwear of any kind (dress shoes heels, sandals, wedges, water socks, rain boots, crocs, and non-athletic styles) — Reusable shoes will go to secondhand markets for resale at affordable prices to those in need of quality shoes. Heavily used and damaged shoes will be recycled or converted to create new energy.

Event partners include:

Sanitary Service Company (SSC): shredding and recycling sensitive documents
Recycling & Disposal Services Inc. (RDS): collecting electronic waste and batteries to recycle
1PC: collecting and refurbishing reusable electronics
Whatcom County Health and Community Services: sharing information on how to safely dispose of hazardous materials locally
BCC Creation Care Team: collecting used athletic shoes and sneakers for reuse and recycling
The City of Bellingham: giving away free tree saplings to plant at home to increase tree canopy and purify the air

We hope you will participate in this recycling event! When you do so, you are saving landfill space, eliminating potential fire hazards, and protecting our soil and air from toxic waste. Best of all, together we will become better stewards of God’s creation. For information about this event, visit https://cob.org/event/earthday-recycling. To volunteer with this or other BCC Creation Care events, contact Heather Merchant at hfmerchant@yahoo.com. To discover more Earth Day Events scheduled in Bellingham, visit https://cob.org/event/earthday2024.

Used athletic shoes and sneakers, any size and condition; please tie or rubber-band matching shoes together

Rechargeable batteries including lithium-ion (Li-Ion), nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MN), nickel-zinc (Ni-Zn), car and small marine batteries (small sealed lead acid (SSLA/Pb)

Up to three grocery bags (or 2 banker boxes) of sensitive documents for shredding and recycling — Did you know shredded paper cannot be recycled through residential recycling services in Bellingham?

World Relief Update

By Charity Garza

As many of you know the World Relief office in Whatcom County opened in September 2021. The office opening was a grassroots effort led by Steven Shetterly, then Missions Director at BCC, and a group of volunteers. The first year the office was open the staff consisted of three people, Steven, the Resettlement Manager, Charity Garza, the Resettlement Specialist and Zahra Maxwell, the Community Engagement Specialist. Also, for the first year, the office was open, World Relief did not have our own office space and we worked out of two children’s classrooms that were not being used at BCC.

In October 2022 we moved into our own office space in the Orchard business park. When we moved into the office space it was more than enough room for our little staff of three. We quickly outgrew the space after hiring a second resettlement specialist and two Ukrainian-speaking staff members to help with the large intake of Ukrainian families. Now in April 2024 we have a staff of ten and have a few more positions being posted this month!

There have been a lot of challenges and a lot to celebrate since our office opened. Since September 2021 we have resettled almost 200 people in Whatcom County. We have helped those people with things like finding apartments, enrolling in English classes, enrolling kids in school, adjusting to life and systems here, and connecting with the community. We have seen many of our former participants become volunteers themselves or donate household items for new families! Our biggest challenge has always been housing, we ideally have a host home for a family right when they arrive in Bellingham until we can find them an apartment but for the last few months, we have been putting more and more families in hotels until they move into their apartment.

We have learned a lot since our office first opened in 2021 and we continue to be awed by the community's support and BCC's support. We have seen how BCC always steps up when there is a need. As a member of BCC and staff member of World Relief, I think the teachings and culture of BCC are great examples of living out the call to love our neighbor and welcome the stranger. I have heard from interpreters, volunteers, and other community members how surprised they are that a church is hosting and funding things like the Cultural Orientation class and the School Readiness Program.

Thank you as always for your continued support and prayers for our work. It is amazing to look back at these last couple of years and see all that God has done in our community.

Charity

Interested in volunteering for World Relief?

Volunteer

Interested in becoming a Host Home?

Host Home

Interested in learning more about Cultural Orientation or
School Readiness Program volunteering?

Email Charity or Adria