The Word from Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Between Sundays... In this final episode in the series, Jesus: A Way in the Wilderness, Abby and Amy look at Jesus' own wilderness journey that is marked by the church each Holy Week as we follow Jesus to the cross. In this story our true hope is revealed. Find this episode on the BLC website or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to "Between Sundays" on your favorite podcast app and help us spread the word through sharing!

Between Sundays . . . As Abby and Amy continue exploring the theme Jesus: A Way in the Wilderness, they take on a familiar adage and offer a different way to think about wilderness experiences. Learn more about Bethlehem's Lenten theme Jesus: A Way in the Wilderness. Find this episode on the BLC website or wherever you like to listen to podcasts! 

Abby and Amy talk about the rich tradition of lament in scripture which offers a faithful way to name and give voice to our wilderness experiences. You can listen to a variety of music provided in the playlist that accompanies our Lenten theme Jesus: A Way in the Wilderness. Find this episode on the BLC website or wherever you like to listen to podcast.

Between Sundays...Abby and Amy talk about our Lenten theme Jesus: A Way in the Wilderness  and what these words mean to us as we head into the 40 days of Lent which begins with Ash Wednesday on March 5. 

Between Sundays . . . Abby and Amy interview Chrisanne Gates who now serves as Bethlehem's Chancel Choir Director. Listen as Chris talks about the deep connection between music and faith in her life. 

Between Sundays . . . Abby and Amy interview Alli O'Malley who now serves as Bethlehem's Volunteer and Ministry Support Coordinator. Listen in on a wide-ranging conversation about building connections, faith and ice cream! 

Between Sundays . . . In this encore episode Abby and Amy get curious with Patty Chaffee, Bethlehem's Family Faith Formation Coordinator! Listen to their discussion to learn more about Patty, her faith and her work. 

Between Sundays... Words for the Beginning. There's nothing like children and youth leading worship to add hope to our lives. Although doing it with a single rehearsal can feel risky! This week, Abby and Amy explore the theme that shapes the final Sunday in Advent - Hope Is Worth the Risk! Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website. 

Between Sundays... Words for the Beginning - We can't go alone but so often we try. Abby and Amy share thoughts on the personal and wider cultural influences that keep us from seeking what we need from each other and what is lost when we try to go it alone. You can read the interview with Robert Putnam that Abby mentions in today's episode. Abby's sermon is available to view (beginning at 27:40). Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website.

Between Sundays . . . Words for the Beginning. What is it that we hope and long for in this season of Advent? Abby and Amy share thoughts about human connections and point to the birth of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas, as God's effort to connect ever more fully with humanity and stitch us together. Read the article referenced in their conversation. Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website.

Between Sundays . . . Words for the Beginning - Abby and Amy mark the start of a new liturgical year and talk about how the church calendar and the start of Advent invite us to reflect on the ways we are changing even as God's love made known in Jesus remains steadfast. Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website.--

Between Sundays . . . In this encore episode, Abby and Amy talk about memories and traditions and the ways they mark the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. 

Between Sundays . . . Amy shares a poem and a story this week. In times when we feel torn apart, the image of quilts offers us a way to think about the ways our Creator is stitching us and all our stories together into something both beautiful and useful. Listen and reflect this week on Crazy Quilt by Jane Wilson Joyce.  Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website.--

Between Sundays... Christian Faith Life Transitions In the 4th episode of this series, Abby and Amy talk about marriage in the Lutheran tradition. Listen and connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website to share your questions and comments.

Between Sundays... Christian Faith Life Transitions In the 3rd episode of this series, Abby and Amy talk about communion in the Lutheran tradition. Listen and connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website to share your questions and comments.

Between Sundays... Christian Faith Life Transitions In the 2nd episode of this series, Abby and Amy talk about funerals in the Lutheran Tradition. Listen and connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website to share your questions and comments. 

Between Sundays... Christian Faith Life Transitions In the 1st episode of this series, Abby and Amy talk about Baptism and Confirmation in the Lutheran Tradition. Listen and connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website to share your questions and comments. 

Between Sundays... Be Curious. Ask Questions. In our heightened political climate, Abby and Amy wonder how to remain curious when confronted with viewpoints and positions different from our own. Listen in and let us know if there's a topic or question you'd like to hear us wrestle with on a future episode. Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website.

Between Sundays... Be Curious. Ask Questions. Abby and Amy get curious about curiosity and questions! In our conversations, how do we embrace curiosity? What questions do we pose that deepen connections? Are we prepared to dive in when the questions of others prompt real thought and vulnerability? Follow the link to view questions that go beyond how was your day? Listen in and let us know if there's a topic or question you'd like to hear us wrestle with on a future episode. Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website.

Between Sundays... Be Curious. Ask Questions. Abby and Amy get curious about grief. How do we pay attention to it? How do we live with it? What does our faith say about grief? Listen in and let us know if there's a topic or question you'd like to hear us wrestle with on a future episode. Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website. 

Between Sundays . . . Be Curious. Ask Questions. Abby and Amy get curious with Patty Chaffee, Bethlehem's Family Faith Formation Coordinator! Listen in to their discussion. Let us know if there's a topic or question you'd like to hear us wrestle with on a future episode. Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website. 

Between Sundays . . . Be Curious. Ask Questions. Abby and Amy unpack the theme that is shaping their Bethlehem community as we begin the program year. You can read the story of Jesus and a Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:24-37. Let us know if there's a topic or question you'd like to hear us wrestle with on a future episode. Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website. 

. . . is taking a summer break! Amy shares an update and invites your input as we plan for upcoming episodes. Listen to past episodes and let us know if there's a topic or question you'd like to hear us wrestle with on a future episode. Connect with us through Bethlehem Lutheran Church's website. We will not share a new episode for several weeks. 

As our Created to Be sermon series comes to an end, Abby and Amy talk about embodying a life of discipleship through the love we share with our neighbors. Our discipleship is grounded in God's love for us made known through Jesus. We love because God first loves us!

Abby and Amy share reflections on living disruptive lives, even when that doesn't come naturally! In part four of this Created to Be series, we examine how our baptism into Christ calls us to be disruptive of the status quo in service of greater justice on behalf of our siblings and neighbors everywhere. 

Leading into Independence Day, Abby and Amy talk about what it means to be free. In part three of this Created to Be series we explore the ways that our freedom is always tied to our neighbor. Read the words from Galatians referenced in today's episode or learn more Martin Luther's explanations of The Ten Commandments in the Small Catechism. --

Abby and Amy talk about "norming" and how that impacts people across all ages and stages of life. In part two of this Created to Be series we explore the ways that we are created as authentic beings and how Jesus calls us (and the world needs us) to let our light shine! Read Paul's words referenced in today's episode. 

Abby and Amy talk about what it means to be brave as part of a sermon series preparing youth and adults to attend a National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. Each of the next five weeks will include a conversation on the theme for the week. Read the Bible story referenced in today's episode. View the TedTalk: The Danger of a Single Story. 

Amy talks about her upcoming preaching conference and looks ahead  with Abby as we transition into the summer months! Watch your podcast feed on June 13 for Episode 140! 

Abby and Amy reflect with Jim on his lifetime of serving as a church musician and especially his time as Chancel Choir Director at Bethlehem Lutheran, Fairport, NY. Watch one of the Chancel Choir's pandemic music videos on Bethlehem's YouTube Channel. 

Abby and Amy wonder together about Jesus words, "I am the vine and you are the branches" and consider what fruit we bear in the world around us. Learn more about Meta Herrick Carlson's Ordinary Blessings for Parents.  

 In this episode Abby and Amy talk about friendships, specifically reflecting on The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible by Joan Chittister, which Amy has been reading with a book study group. Friendship is essential to our humanity and has the power to make Jesus real to the people around us. 

Abby and Amy reflect on their experiences of the recent solar eclipse, the immensity of God's creation, and the promise of God's mindfulness which has captured human imagination for millennia. Read Psalm 8 in its entirety.  

Abby and Amy reflect on what it's like to be a pastor during Holy Week and Easter and how community is essential to remembering the story of Jesus. 

Abby and Amy talk about the movement of worship that unfolds beginning with Palm Sunday and continues throughout the week to Easter Sunday, including Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. You can learn more about the worship schedule of the community they serve at https://blcfairport.org/lent-2024/ 

Abby and Amy share conversation with Lee Miller, Bishop of the Upstate New York Synod of the ELCA. Lee has been a previous guest on the podcast and is back to talk about the ways that the church is called to follow Jesus at this time. Listen back to Episode 126 if you want to learn more about Lee or visit the synod's website to read more about the GRACE mindset Lee talks about in this episode.

Amy shares a poem, Rescue Me, from the Rev. Sarah Speed and talks with Abby about the prayers for help that we offer to God. Today's podcast refers to the story of the disciple Peter walking on water in Matthew 14:22-33 and references a sermon by the Rev. Nadia Bolz Weber. 

Abby and Amy share their thoughts about embracing the practices of Lent -- prayer, fasting, and giving -- that have shaped followers of Jesus for centuries. You can listen to Abby's Ash Wednesday Message online (beginning at 16:22) or sign-up to receive our daily devotions through email. 

Abby and Amy share their podcast feed with Cass McCrory, host of Best Next Step. In this week's episode, Cass interviews Abby. 

Abby and Amy share conversation about the spiritual seeking that has been revealed to be part of our biology and the ways that the season of Lent, which begins on February 14, provides an opportunity to nurture our spiritual selves. You can listen to the House Calls podcast that Abby talks about and also learn more about how the community we serve will mark the Lenten season this year.  

Our podcast features an interview that Abby and Amy conducted with Bishop Lee Miller in May 2022 early in our podcast journey and shortly after the mass shooting at the Tops Market in Buffalo, NY. We're revisiting this conversation to give us a chance to hear from Bishop Miller again and to hear his thoughts about about leading in the midst of community tragedy.

Abby and Amy talk about the longing for light that goes hand-in-hand with living through winter in Upstate NY and the ways that they have been experiencing and seeking light in their own lives. Read the poem Found by Frederick Buechner. 

Abby and Amy talk about "entanglement" and how it helps us understand our walk with Jesus, and one another. You can listen to the podcast that Amy references or learn more about The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. 

In preparing for the arrival of the Wiseman, Abby and Amy ask you to consider the gifts you have been given to extend Christ's peace into the world.  Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to receive each new reflection throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and to receive our weekly Between Sundays in the new year!  Listen on the BLC website at blcfairport.org/between-sundays. Help us spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing!

Abby considers how Christ's presence is a gift that we can bring into every encounter beyond the Christmas season. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to receive each new reflection throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and to receive our weekly Between Sundays in the new year!  Listen on the BLC website at blcfairport.org/between-sundays. Help us spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing!

Amy talks about her first love, music, and how a lifetime of sharing that gift has taught her about sharing love. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to receive each new reflection throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and to receive our weekly Between Sundays in the new year!  Listen on the BLC website at blcfairport.org/between-sundays. Help us spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing!

As we move further away from Christmas and return to our routines, Abby and Amy wonder how to bring God's love with us. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to receive each new reflection throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and to receive our weekly Between Sundays in the new year!  Listen on the BLC website at blcfairport.org/between-sundays. Help us spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing!

At the start of a new year, Abby and Amy reflect on God's love which doesn't wait for us to get our lives in order. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to receive each new reflection throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and to receive our weekly Between Sundays in the new year!  Listen on the BLC website at blcfairport.org/between-sundays. Help us spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing!

Simeon's song from Luke 2:25-33 offers a portrait of the long wait for God's elusive peace. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to receive each new reflection throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and to receive our weekly Between Sundays in the new year!  Listen on the BLC website at blcfairport.org/between-sundays. Help us spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing!

By this point in the Christmas season, perhaps you have already begun to restore order to your surroundings, or are ready to! Abby and Amy wonder if that is what God longs to do at times with this world as well. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to receive each new reflection throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and to receive our weekly Between Sundays in the new year!  Listen on the BLC website at blcfairport.org/between-sundays. Help us spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing!

As we move further from Christmas, how do we hold onto peace? Abby shares a helpful illustration! Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to receive each new reflection throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and to receive our weekly Between Sundays in the new year!  Listen on the BLC website at blcfairport.org/between-sundays. Help us spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing!