Bethany United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church serving Clio, Michigan
Despite being in a period of transition, we are planning a number of fun activities to connect and keep our Fellowship going. Stay tuned for more information about VBS this summer. If you have questions about any of these activities, please reach out to our church office M-Th 9am to 2pm at 810-686-5151.
Pastor Kayla & a team of volunteers from Bethany UMC are planning some fun and faith filled summer adventures for Clio area youth & children. Check out the events we have planned for the summer and post a comment or send us a note if you have any questions about our summer schedule or the activities here.
Update as of 8/19/2023 – We are NOT holding our Family Fun Night on August 23rd because there is a community wide family fun night in that park that night that we are joining!
Unfortunately, due to weather we have decided to cancel our Kid-Focused worship service scheduled for 5pm today. We took our plans for in-person worship and designed it for you to be able to worship at home with your kids today while we are snowed in! Follow along and play the videos and do the readings and dance & praise God together on this holy night!
Welcome Video from Pastor Kayla!
Opening Songs – Start out with some dancing to loosen up!
Call to Worship – Assign one person in the family as the leader or watch Pastor Kayla’s video. Click through the slide show and read together to begin your family worship time.
Carol Dance – Sing & Dance this fun carol!
The Christmas Story – Tell the Christmas Story in a fun way with kids.
Tell the Christmas Story in a fun way with kids. Assign each family member one (or more if you are a small family) of these roles in the image below and one person is the leader who reads through the story. Each time you hear the key phrase, use those phrases to make the story interactive.
When you hear “Shepherds” group one says “Yo, Sheep!”
When you hear “Sheep” group two says “Baaaa!”
When you hear “Night” group three sings: “Silent Night, Holy Night”
When you hear “Angel” group four sings: “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”
When you hear “Good News” EVERYONE says “YES!” and does a fist pump!
When you hear “Great Joy” EVERYONE shouts for joy
When you hear “Baby” EVERYONE says “Ahhhhh”
Long ago in a country far away from this one, there were shepherds…
watching over their sheep…
by night.
Being good shepherds…
they protected their sheep,
made sure they had food to eat and water to drink, and gathered them together at night…
for protection. The shepherds…
were listening to the soft sounds of the sheep…
as they quieted down to go to sleep. The dark sky was full of shimmering stars that night.
And then…all sound stopped and an angel…
appeared to them. They were bathed in light, almost as if they glowed from within. The shepherds…
were frightened and so were the sheep.
The angel…
spoke to them. “Don’t be afraid. I have some good news…
to share. My good news…
will bring great joy…
to all people. The good news…
is this: this very day in David’s town, a baby…
was born. And this baby…
is your savior—Christ the Lord.”
The shepherds…
were amazed and so were the sheep.
What they thought was going to be like every other evening had turned into a holy night.
The angel…
told them to go into Bethlehem where they would find the baby.
Then the sky was filled with angels…
singing praises to God, proclaiming the good news…
with great joy…
then they were gone. The shepherds…
looked at each other and at the sheep.
They said, “We should go to Bethlehem and see the baby…,”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby…
lying in a manger. When the shepherds…
saw him, they told Mary and Joseph what the angel…
had told them about the baby.
And that they had come to see the good news…
for themselves so that they could share the great joy.
Everyone who heard what the shepherds…
said was amazed. Mary listened to all that was said and treasured it in her heart. The shepherds…
went back into the hills to their sheep…
singing praises to God for all they had heard and seen. It had been just as the angel…
had told them. They had knelt before the baby…
received the good news…
felt the great joy… and when they were finally settled down, turned to each other and proclaimed, “What a night!”
The Christmas Story – Hear the story a different way, through Scripture & the voice of Linus.
The Christmas Prayer – Pastor Kayla leads us through the Christmas Prayer
Carol Dance – Sing & Dance to these fun carols!
Closing – End your worship time by singing Silent Night, Holy Night by candlelight (or low light) and/or Happy Birthday Jesus!
Don’t be a stranger! Come & See us another time! Here’s some upcoming opportunities to connect.
As we enter into new spaces with our ministry with Pastor Kayla and the formation of our cooperative parish with Otisville UMC, you might be wondering, what will Advent 2022 look like at Bethany UMC?
Here’s a sneak peek of what is to come!
The stories, scriptures, and traditions of the Christmas season have been passed down to us throughout the generations. Many of us enter this season with a swell of memories and emotions as vast as the cultural and religious rituals this holiday holds. Like a tapestry woven throughout time, the Christmas story weaves us in—to remember how God has shown up in the past, to continue the work of collective liberation, to behold the presence of God in flesh and bone. The work of God is always unfolding—in and through us. This Advent, may you remember that you belong—to a story etched into the wrinkles of time, to generations that have come before and will come after, to a love that won’t let you go.
Saturday 11/26/2022 @ 10am – Hanging of the Greens – Come & Decorate the church for the season.
Sunday 11/27/2022 – 1st Sunday in Advent! Sunday School at 10am & Worship at 11:15am. We kickoff our “From Generations to Generations” worship theme.
Wednesday 11/30/2022 @ 4:30pm – Pastor led Bible Study begins at Bethany UMC (continues every Wednesday in Advent) There will be a dinner to follow at 5:30pm each week. This occurs during our Wednesday Night Live programming and there are also classes for kids at this time.
Christmas Eve 12/24/2022 @ 5pm – Family Focused Worship at Bethany UMC
Christmas Eve 12/24/2022 @ 8pm — Traditional Worship at Bethany UMC
Christmas Eve 12/24/2022 @ 10pm – Traditional Worship at Otisville UMC
Christmas Day 12/25/2022 @ 11:15am – Combined, Casual Worship with meal for BOTH congregations in the Fellowship Hall at Bethany UMC
New Year’s Day 1/1/2022 @ 11:15am – Combined Worship for BOTH congregations at Otisville UMC (Bethany folks, watch for info on carpooling)
We have a lot in store this Advent season from all of the worship opportunities, to a reverse Advent calendar, opportunities to serve our community through collections for local families, special roller skating event and so much more! Get plugged into our community to be reminded of Jesus in this holiday season and what God-with-Us means. Let’s listen to one another’s stories and share our own.
Theme & Resources developed by: A Sanctified Art (sanctifiedart.org / @sanctifiedart)
Happy Summer everyone! School’s out and the fun can begin, right? I mean…some of us still have to work, but fun can still happen. It just requires balance. Most family’s schedule opens up during the summer, yet the summer can be the busiest time of year because we try to squish 9 months’ worth of fun events that we couldn’t do during the school year into three months of summer fun! I hope Clio Bethany UMC will be on your radar this summer because COE and I have a LOT…and I mean a LOT…of fun stuff planned for all families of all kinds this summer. From movie nights to games, VBS to VIBE, among other events, we are going to be a happening place this summer. (Do people still say happening? I’m an old soul, so forgive me.)
It’s so exciting to see everything planned this summer! We haven’t been this busy in 3 summers now. We haven’t had this consistency of events in what feels like a long time! Is it exciting? Yes. Is it stress-inducing? Yes! Does it come with fear as well? Yes! This summer for me will be hosted by a myriad of emotions. While it’s full of excitement, energy, and hope from all the different things that we’ve planned, I’m reminded that this summer isn’t about JUST that. We’re getting a new Pastor this summer as well. This transition comes with new joys and some hesitations because it’s change. Change always seems to be followed with those two emotions: happiness and hesitation. It’s exciting, yet scary. Plus, we see the Cooperative Parish system with Otisville come into action. That as well, comes with it both happiness and hesitation.
To recap: this summer, from my perspective, includes the following emotions: excitement, energy, hope, happiness, hesitation, fear, anxiety, and others that are lying under the surface of everything. It’s going to be a summer to remember, I believe. God’s presence is going to be flowing with us all summer long. From the different events to the different emotions, to the different volunteers, to the different attendees, and to the overall atmosphere. We are welcoming God’s presence here with open arms. We are going to be the light in the community that shines in the chaos of the world. We will be the safe and loving place that the church should be to all who come.
With all that, let’s get into what July and August have in store for us!
We have migrated over to YouTube as our hub for all of our videos. For our main channel (the lesson videos), the schedule is listed on the image to the left. Note a couple changes:
Our Gaming Ministry will expand this summer. We will stream two days a week (Saturday and Sunday) starting July 2. This will continue through the end of August!
There will also be a major video at the end of August on our main channel (CORE Student Ministries) explaining future plans of our online ministry for the fall and beyond. Stay tuned for that!
Movie Night Under the Stars
July 16 and August 27
Gather at 8:30pm;
Movie to start approximately at 9pm
Let’s gather outside in front of the church to watch movies this summer! Bring your chairs, drinks, and snacks that aren’t popcorn (We’re serving that!) and enjoy this time together outside and under the stars. We will have some games and activities available before the movie starts as well! This is a FREE community-wide event that families of all ages and all types are welcome to join!
Outdoor Family Game Nights
Tuesdays from 6pm – 8pm
We are gathering at the ballfield behind our church for all kinds of fun! When I say ALL kinds of fun, here’s just a snapshot of what we’re going to do: basketball, cornhole, badminton, chalk drawing, snow cones, cotton candy, volleyball, and MORE! This is a FREE community-wide event for families of all ages and all types to come up and join! Bring your own games as well if you’d like! We will be hosting this event all summer until Tuesday, August 24 (and we have a special surprise for the last event, but I’m keeping that a secret!)
***Please note that there will not be a Game Night on August 9
due to our Vacation Bible School! ***
We want to invite you to join our Science Team this year for VBS! We will conduct some experiments to attempt to understand some of the miracles Jesus performed a little better. Registration is live! Tell your friends, family, and neighbors that we’re having a VBS this year! This VBS is for all Kindergartners – 5th graders.
Summer VIBE
July 6, 20; August 3, 17
6pm – 8pm
Our Youth asked for our gatherings to continue, so who says that fun and fellowship have to stop for the summer! We will continue our VIBE programming on an adjusted schedule for this summer. This is a time for all Youth (5th – 12th grade) to join us for fun, fellowship, and experiencing God’s presence all at once! You do not have to be currently attending or a member of Clio Bethany UMC to join us for VIBE!
Painting for Jesus
Thursday, July 28 from 6 – 8pm
You may have heard me talk about doing a Bob Ross Night the last few months. We are going to pivot from that due to unforeseen circumstances. We still are going to paint. We still will wear some Bob Ross wigs. We are just changing what we’re going to paint. After a conversation with our Youth, we talked about some painting topics, but the final decision is still being decided. We may just come to the church to paint whatever Jesus puts on our hearts. We will also have some kind of food served at this event.
All youth (5th-12th graders) are welcome to come to the church for this event! It’s a free event for all youth in the community. You do not need to be a member of Clio Bethany UMC nor affiliated with us at all. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Youth Laser Tag Night
Thursday, August 25 from 6 – 8pm
To close out the summer, we will be hosting a Laser Tag Night for our Youth! We need to send the summer out with a bang! We will either gather outside or in the Fellowship Hall for the Laser Tag arena! All youth (5th-12th graders) are welcome to come to the church for this event! It’s a free event for all youth in the community. You do not need to be a member of Clio Bethany UMC nor affiliated with us at all. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Pastor Sarah Elliott joins Bethany UMC on July 1, 2024. She comes to us from the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Along with her husband, Patrick, and their 3 children, they have followed God's call across the country and landed here in Clio, Michigan. Use the button below if you want to set up time for a one-on-one.
We are worshipping in person and online. Please stay in touch with us here on our website and on our Facebook page.
Watch and See!
Sundays:
9:30am – Sunday School for all ages (with Breakfast)
10:30am In Person or Online Worship on Facebook
1st Sunday – Communion – The UMC has an open table.
Praise God through Bible study, music, and fellowship. Youth & Children activities and groups on Wednesday afternoons.
