Church News (Page 4)

Congratulations Pastor Rich and Brenda Carr on your 25th anniversary.

Womens Tea – 2023

The annual women’s tea was held April 24. The theme was “Let your faith be bigger than your fears!”

Sixty people were in attendance and enjoyed time together for fellowship. We shared a beautiful evening enjoying teas, coffee and delicious homemade cupcakes. 

A powerful and emotional testimony was given by a woman who has lived through difficulties many can’t even imagine. Through her trauma and heartache God has used these tragedies to show her His love, grace and strength. She continued to seek out a relationship with Him although many obstacles were placed in her path. She is now looking forward to sharing His love and grace with others.  

Today marked another day of change for Bethany Lutheran Church. Pastor Gunderson along with his wife Clara have tirelessly served and have been part of our congregation as interim Pastor for 11 months. Today was his last Sunday Pastoring a church after many decades of serving God, not only a Pastor but both of them as Missionaries also. As they move into retirement – again – we pray God’s blessing on them both.

Thank you, Pastor Gunderson and your wonderful wife Clara, for being here and taking on a very difficult role, your leadership, love for us as a people, and your ever smiling faces will be missed.

We will welcome Pastor Richard Carr and his family to fulfill the fulltime duties of Pastor and leader of this congregation beginning next Sunday June 5th.

Pictured above left: Chairman Eric Paulson presenting a photo signed by parishioners to the Gundersons. Right: Going away BBQ with the Gundersons. It may have rained but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm.

Floor Plans for the Multi-purpose Building

General Contractor Randy Stemper has developed a design draft for the new multi-purpose building. The exterior of the building would be the same color as the main church building and include some similar design elements. As seen in the design, the building would have large roll-up doors and a covered area creating a space for activities that might be part indoor and part outdoor such as our living nativity and picnics. The design also includes a basketball hoop and a…

Send A Letter of Support

The new multi-purpose building is still progressing.  The Astoria Planning Commission (APC) unanimously approved our request to reopen the hearing and accept additional evidence and testimony.  However, due to the noticing requirement, we were not able to present additional testimony during the July 27th APC meeting; that will occur at the next APC meeting on Tuesday, August 24th, at 5:30pm.  We had an excellent turnout of supporters at the 7/27 meeting, which no doubt helped persuade the Commission to reopen the…

Planning Commission Reverses Denial

The Astoria Planning Commission reversed their earlier “tentative” denial decision and approved the Conditional Use Permit for our new multi-purpose building.  The decision can be appealed to the City Council, but the support of the Planning Commission is beneficial.  An appeal by the neighbors to City Council would be heard in October.  The proposed location of the building has been moved to the northeast side of our property and away from the neighboring house after working with the city on…