Featured in this Issue...
Missions News
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Meatball Supper
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Women’s Book Club
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Dr. Timothy Johnson on Healthcare Pg. 5
October 2008
The Bethlehem Message from the Pastor As I sat watching the first Presidential debate, I couldn’t help but think how this might apply to the church. Last month I wrote about the need for open and honest communication and discussion among each other, especially in church. We need to tell the truth to each other and to do so in love. You can tell a lot about a person by how they deal with others—especially when they disagree with another person. I am a registered independent and don’t want to inject politics into my ministry, but I do think our faith should impact our political beliefs and too often churches separate faith and politics to a fault. Here, however, I want to speak about how we relate to each other. It is easy to point the finger at politicians as being the disagreeable ones, but I think the whole Bible speaks about our need to get along with each other (especially among believers). In Ephesians 4:2-3 Paul says, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” During the debate, it was fascinating to watch the candidates interact with each other or not interact
Word with each other. It was hard for the moderator to get them to talk directly to each other. And isn’t it the same for the rest of us. If we aren’t able to look a person with whom we disagree in the eye, then what does that say about us? To me it says we are stubborn and don’t deal well with anyone who disagrees with us. Who would Jesus not look at? A Pharisee who disagreed with Him? A disciple who betrayed Him? Is there anyone Jesus would not be willing to sit talk with? Why do we have the attitude that if someone disagrees with us, we take up our toys and go home? Perhaps you feel as I do that it’s refreshing when candidates are able to say their opponent was right about something. Can we be honest enough and humble enough to admit that we are not always right? Can we admit that our “opponent” with whom we disagree is not always wrong? These are lessons we have to learn in life and the earlier we learn them the better. When we look at someone face-to-face, we are acknowledging him or her as another person created by God, who for that reason alone is worthy of respect — if not our complete agreement. Continued on pg. 3
October 2008 Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
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2 Bible Study 7pm
3 NA meeting
4 Diaconate plant deliveries
5 Worship 10:30am
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7
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9 Bible Study 7pm
10 NA meeting 11 Clawson/ Clawson/Pierce Pierce wedding rehearsal dinner 4:30pm 5:30pm
12 Worship 10:30am Max Bugbee Baptism
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14 Board Mtg. 7pm
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17 NA meeting
18 Children’s Cooking & Baking Class 12-3pm
19 Worship 10:30am Missions Soup Lunch
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21
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23 Bible Study 7pm
24 NA meeting
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26Worship 10:30am
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28 Veritas Team Mtg. 7-8:30pm
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30 Bible Study 7pm
31 NA meeting
Missions News Canned Food Drive Beginning October 5th there will be a basket filled with slips of paper that list canned good items which will be collected as part of the Thanksgiving donation to the Quinsigamond Village Community Center. We encourage you to take some slips and buy the items and bring them in—this will help the Community Center tremendously. They (and their clients) depend on us for this each year.
Missions Sunday Soup: Our first Sunday Soup will be held October 19 immediately after the service in Fellowship Hall. Please plan on staying for a hearty soup, bread, coffee and dessert. There is no cost for this lunch. Please plan on
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joining us!!! This is a great excuse to invite new people to church also. ☺
Children’s Cooking/Baking Class Saturday, October 18th from 12-3pm at church. Call or sign up at church by Oct. 5th. We’ll be baking chocolate chip cookies and having a craft. Master cook & baker Denise McGinley is leading this wonderful event.
Turkey Donations Beginning Sunday, Oct. 26th we will be collecting donations for turkeys for the Quinsig Village Community Center. Turkeys are $15 each and any amount is appreciated. Make check payable to BCC and note “turkeys” in the memo line.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mt. 28:18-20
Birthdays and Anniversaries October Birthdays Elizabeth Pope Elizabeth Quinn Mildred Carlson Colleen Elbe Jeanne Bartkus Alice Sullivan Janet Clawson Robert Elbe Jr. Lydia Anderson
10/2 10/5 10/11 10/12 10/19 10/22 10/23 10/26 10/29
October Anniversaries Joy and Nicholas Monopoli 10/4 James and Jennifer Zoulias 10/9
"ovember Birthdays Delbert Smith Robert Leach Catherine Lindstrom Carl Nordstrom Beverly Gosselin Sue Fellion Corrine Wennerstrand Karin Ciance Roy Lindstrom Robert Salmonsen Margery Carlson Susan Strozina
11/4 11/6 11/6 11/11 11/19 11/19 11/19 11/20 11/23 11/24 11/25 11/27
"ovember Anniversaries Amy and Kenneth Malo 11/4 Eric and Kathleen Thompson 11/23 From the Pastor (cont.)
Thank You Dear Friends and Family, I can’t begin to express what your scholarship gift means to me. The knowledge that I have an entire congregation supporting me as I begin a life in Denver is priceless. A special thank you to everyone who supported me throughout this long process and for the variety of offers to drive cross-country with me. Although I am thousands of miles away, I know I will always have a home at Bethlehem. For that especially, I thank you. And remember you are always welcome to visit me here in the mountains!
I have issues on which I disagree with both candidates, because, let’s face it, life is complicated and there are a lot of issues on which reasonable people disagree. I certainly do not publicly endorse any candidate. I find it interesting to watch politicians’ interactions because I deal with people constantly. How we interact with each other is important. Two committed believers in the same church can see things very differently. That is o.k. So too with political candidates. But let’s hope that in our families, in our churches, and in our politics, we can have the courage to look each other in the eye and speak openly and candidly and civilly. God bless, Pastor Dave
Love,
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The following is an updated list of our church members and friends who unable to attend church on a regular basis. Let us remember them in our thoughts and prayers and with a note. Please let the pastor know if you are aware of others who should be on this list. Mr. Lee & Mrs. Astrid Randall 10 Hall Street Webster, MA 01570 508-943-0847
Paul Faler University Commons 378 Plantation St. Worcester, MA 01608
Mrs. Doris Anderson 667 Washington Street #225 Auburn, MA 01501 508-832-5239
Mrs. Dagny Johnson Life Care Center of Auburn 14 Masonic Circle Auburn, MA 01501
Mr. Algot Ekstrom University Commons 378 Plantation St. Worcester, MA 01608
Mrs. Claire Poirier 63 Hudson Avenue Grafton, MA 01519 508-839-0364
Mrs. Lydia Anderson Mrs. Lillian Ekstrom Whitney Place Notre Dame Du Lac 555 Plantation Street Apt. 327 P.O. Box 935 85 Beaumont Dr. Apt. 10 Worcester, MA 01608 Northbridge, MA 01534 Mr. Carl & Mrs. Esther Werme Mildred Carlson 24 Briarwood Circle 669 Washington St. Apt. Worcester, MA01606 234 508-856-7232 Auburn, MA 01501 Mr. Howard Cummings Life Care Center of Auburn 14 Masonic Circle Room #266 Auburn, MA 01501
Swedish Meatball Supper Saturday, November 8th 4:30 and 6:15pm Adults $8 Children under 12 $4 There will be a sign up sheet in the vestry where you can sign up to donate needed food items.
Those participating in worship this month are: Oct. 5th Ushers: Michele Koller and Denise McGinley Scripture Reader: Susan Strozina Worship Leader: Alden Anderson Sound Ministry: Steven Pope Oct. 12th Ushers: Delbert and Eleanor Smith Scripture Reader: June Rice Worship Leader: Jeanne Bartkus Sound Ministry: Steven Pope Oct. 19th Ushers: John schonning and Jeffrey Stafinski Scripture Reader: Ann Weber Worship Leader: Tracy Ellis Sound Ministry: John Schonning Oct. 26th Ushers: Beverly Gosselin and Jeanne Bartkus Scripture Reader: Mark Fellion Worship Leader: Susan Strozina
Sound Ministry: John Schonning
Women’s Book Club Interested in reading more? Want to discuss thought-provoking books with other women?
Monday, October 6th, at 7 PM Come by the Parsonage (14 Victoria Ave.) for coffee and to share ideas about how this might work and what book we should read. Please speak with Elizabeth Pope if you have any questions.
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Rising Health Care Costs Could Ri- cess continues to grow, Johnson observes. A worsening shortage of general practitioners also is contributing to rising health care costs. val Financial Crisis By Stan Friedman
CHICAGO, IL (September 24, 2008) – Americans’ expectations for health care are too high, and the will of politicians to avert an exploding health care crisis is too little, Dr. G. Timothy Johnson told an audience at North Park University on Tuesday night. If action isn’t taken soon, the rising cost of health care could provoke a financial crisis as great as the current banking crisis, said Johnson, the longtime medical editor for ABC ews and an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church. “There really is no way to fix the American health care system,” Johnson began. “The reason is we don’t have a health care system in this country.” What does exist is fragmented, inefficient, inadequate, and even dangerous, Johnson said. It also potentially poses a greater threat to the economy than the current banking crisis. Americans will spend more than $2 trillion on health care this year and that amount could go to $3 trillion by 2020, Johnson predicts. One-sixth of all jobs in the country are related to health care, Johnson notes. A shock to the health care system would send shockwaves throughout the economy. Major changes in approaches to providing health care have led to the current crisis, he maintains. Health care went from being low-tech, personal, and having a simple payment structure to being highly focused on high-tech solutions, impersonal, and burdened by a complicated payment system. Employer-based health insurance was an “historical accident,” Johnson said. Companies could not afford increasing salaries after WWII, so they began adding health benefits. Today, companies are looking to control costs by reducing or eliminating coverage, Johnson said. He noted that 80 percent of uninsured Americans have jobs. Johnson says part of the problem with finding a solution relates to four major expectations Americans have for health care: • Convenience – People want appointments immediately and don’t want to wait for anything. • Curative – “We expect that whatever comes up, American medical science will be able to solve the problem.” The latest technology or drug is not always the best treatment. • Coordinated and compassionate – Any system should be easy to navigate. • Cheap – People don’t even like co-payments. “You can’t have it all,” Johnson told the audience. The cost is too great. Just spending more money will not solve the problems, he suggests. Americans spend $6,100 a year per person on health care - more than twice the $2,500 per person spent by the rest of the industrialized world combined. “If we got health care that was twice as good, I guess that would be acceptable,” Johnson said. But the World Health Organization ranks the United States 32nd in terms of quality, he added. The system can even be dangerous Johnson said, explaining that 100,000 deaths last year were attributed to medical errors. He asked people to consider what would happen if the same could be said of the airline industry. Americans with insurance - who know how to navigate the system - still have access to excellent care, but the gap between them and those who do not have ac-
Only 20 percent of graduating medical students are choosing general practices because specialties offer higher financial rewards. The Mayo Clinic opened its own internal system of general care after realizing its employees were using the emergency room for health care because they could not find a general practitioner, Johnson said. Given Jesus’ imperative to care for the least, Johnson said, Christians have a moral imperative to push for universal access. The United States is the only industrialized country that does not offer universal access, Johnson said. People actually have access to universal care - if they get sick enough. Ultimately, “We won’t let you die in the street,” Johnson said. That ultimately is more costly, however. Instead, providing systemic universal access to people would enable them to be treated earlier and at a lower cost. Johnson differentiated between universal access and universal financing. Universal access enables health care coverage for everyone, but universal financing means the government pays all the bills. Johnson says he favors some form of public-private partnership, as is done in most industrialized nations. Government would set standards and regulations and then allow private companies to compete. The plan for federal employees can serve as an example, Johnson said. Each year, employees receive a list of health insurance companies in their area that have been vetted by the Office of Personnel Management, which makes certain the companies are solid and are offering fair prices. Employees can then choose based upon the plan and price that best meets their needs. Medicare is a public-private partnership that Americans approve of, Johnson said. “Try taking Medicare from people over 65 and you’ll have a fight on your hands.” Johnson said he expects Medicare to be expanded to all people, if the crisis worsens. The money it costs to provide care for those who can’t afford it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the current proposed banking system bailout, he predicts. Opponents of universal access argue that people will abuse the system. Johnson said that is not the case in other countries and encouraged the audience to read “The Moral Hazard,” an article by Malcom Gladwell in The ew Yorker, saying it is the best on the subject. Despite pledges by both candidates to reform the system, Johnson does not expect Congress to make major changes soon. He recalled the unlikely alliance several years ago involving Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton and Republicans Newt Gingrich and Sen. Bill Frist, noting they were unable to influence passage of a widely desired bill that would enable electronic recordkeeping. Patients often switch doctors, and electronic recordkeeping would enable physicians to access a patient’s previous medical history. Each of the presidential candidates has proposed changes, but no one will get all they want. Intense negotiations will be needed, but the White House still will have to lead the discussion, he believes. As medical editor for ABC ews, Johnson provides analysis for World ews Tonight, ightline, Good Morning America, and 20/20. Johnson's programs and feature reports have won several awards, including a national Emmy Award and two local Emmys. Johnson serves on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and is on the medical staff of Massachusetts General Hospital. He also serves as assisting minister of the Community Covenant Church in West Peabody, Massachusetts.
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The Bethlehem
Bethlehem Covenant Church 46 Greenwood Street P.O. Box 70629 Worcester, MA 01607 (508) 752—1459 www.bethlehemcc.org
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