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February 28, 2021
Please join us for Sunday Worship Services
10:00 a.m. Worship with Holy Communion
9:00 a.m. Learning Hour for Adults & Confirmation Class
8922 Little River Turnpike Pastor Dan's Blog:
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Welcome!
Welcome to Bethlehem, friend! Wherever you’re from, we’re so glad that you found us. We hope that in these pages you’ll find a warm invitation...
We are a community in Christ that strives to be faithful and to live out our calling: (1) to receive God’s love and forgiveness, and (2) to turn to one another and beyond, sharing that same “bread of life.”
Everyone comes to Bethlehem hungry. And here, Christ does indeed feed us. That holy “feast of love” is so good...that we can’t help but then offer this same grace and peace to all. So welcome to this table, welcome to Bethlehem (Hebrew for “house of bread”), welcome to the place of the manger. “Let's dig in!”
[image of my signature?] Pastor Dan  We are a Reconciling in Christ congregation. Here's our Welcome Statement.
We are also a Christian community that works at Shepherding God’s Creation. We are a member of the ELCA, the Metro DC Synod, the Interfaith Coalition of Metro DC, and Faith Alliance for Climate Change. [link] More about Bethlehem’s name & Christ’s cross, our history, and our logo We are named after the town of Jesus’ birth. Luke’s Gospel tells us that Christ’s cradle was a manger (2:7), and so the manger has become a primary symbol for us here at Bethlehem. The manger is a place both to be fed and to feed others. In other words, we are nourished by God’s grace, mercy and love, and at the same time, we are about the work of feeding others through acts and words of service, compassion, justice, and peace. And how we love to literally share bread with one another!
As you participate and grow in faith with us here, you too gather around this holy manger. Martin Luther said that the Bible is “the cradle of Christ.” The Word feeds us all. The Cross When you walk or drive up to the Bethlehem building from Little River Turnpike, you will pass a large, simple, solitary cross. Then you will see the manger. The cross is also the last thing you will see as you leave the campus to go home or back into the world. So it is: the cross is our beginning and ending. Christ’s love outpoured greets you before anything else. Before you have anything to say about it, God first says to you, “Welcome, my beloved child. Here is my life, my joy, my peace, offered freely to you.” And that same cross covers us with eternal hope at the last. It is the symbol through which we see everything else, including the manger.
About the Bethlehem Logo
Our History
Be Our Guest You are welcomed here as a child of God, as a seeker in exploring a faith in Jesus Christ, and as a life-long follower wanting to experience the presence of God in the context of a church family. We invite everyone to seek the presence of God in your lives in a deeper and richer way. Come see how God is reveals himself in our midst, in our suffering and in our joy.
Bethlehem welcomes and embraces all God's children. So come and meet us, won't you? We look forward to sharing our faith together.
Church History
Bethlehem celebrated its 50th year in November of 2012. We were an expansion from Hope Lutheran Church of the American Lutheran Church (ALC became part of the ELCA merger in 1988). We built a building that was the center for education and worship. In April, 1997, we built an addition to the building to include a beautiful new sanctuary and other property improvements. At our start in 1962 we had a worship attendance of 162 people. Over the years, our size has not changed much. We seem to maintain our small church identity with a caring community and active program content.
Bethlehem is really sensitive to community and social needs in our community. We have long term relationships with FACETS (Fairfax Area Churches Emergency Transitional Services) and with NOVACO (Northern Virginia Coalition) who provide services to the less fortunate in our immediate community. We have teams of people who regularly engage the mission of these organizations. In fact, in February, we host a hypothermia shelter at our church in conjunction with FACETS for the benefit of the homeless community. Recently, Bethlehem has nurtured in other ministries as well. We have a thriving youth ministry for high school students (and younger), community programs, and fellowship programs that nurture our community and our family.
Bethlehem views itself as one big family. We care for each other and are aware of the needs of the people around us. We do our best to reach out and help. We also know the importance of supporting each other on our life and faith journeys.
This community looks to the future to continue to have an influence in the lives of the people in our community and the lives of our church family. We constantly look for ways that we can fill a need in the community and point to the presence of God all around us.
Read about Lutheran Roots in America on the ELCA website >>
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