BEDFORD BELLRINGER News

Early in January, the BELLRINGERS sent two octaves of our Whitechapel bells to be refurbished, machine polished, and returned in time for use this spring. Our set, two octaves originally purchased as a memorial gift in 1960 and now numbering 86 bells, has never been completely serviced. We have sent individual bells that we could not fix ourselves out for repair. In recent years, we realized that in order to preserve the value, tone, and playing capacity of the entire set, we had to make a plan.

Over the next few years, we would like to send the whole set in small groupings, to be worked on until they are all in great shape. We are hoping the church can help us with the cost. In addition, we would accept donations to our BELLRINGER’S FUND, to be used solely for refurbishing the set. The cost of refurbishing one bell is $150, or perhaps you would consider donating to the fund in memory or in honor of someone who particularly enjoyed music. Thank you in advance for your support of our effort to keep this special set of handbells in great condition for future use by ringers at BPC. Please contact Hope Black at 234-7542 or Marcy Carlson at 234-7817 if you have any questions.

Click Here to Donate

In the “To” field, select “Bellringer’s Fund.”

Millie Kane Luncheon

All “seniors” (55 and over) are warmly invited to enjoy an afternoon of holiday cheer! Come meet Santa, enjoy lunch, and kickoff the holiday season! Please RSVP by Sunday, December 6th to the church office 914-234-3672 or info@bedfordpreschurch.org.

Date/Time
Date(s) – Dec 9, 2015
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Old Friends/New Friends Dinner

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN! 

This is many people’s favorite social event at BPC. It’s a potluck supper and this year it will be hosted by Paul and Shodie Alcorn, who live right next door to the church.  It promises to be a great night.  You can sign up in Fellowship Hall after the service, or during the week by calling the church office, or emailing Kim Lapple at kjlapple@gmail.com.  Let us know what dish you’d like to bring (appetizer, main dish, dessert).  We have a limit of 50 people, so if you are thinking about coming, please sign up ASAP. It is happening October 24, 2015. Let’s gather together for laughs, conversations, and an opportunity to connect with one another.

The Intersection of Theology and Technology

Worship Times is a community of churches dedicated to pursuing a faithful witness in the midst of a society that is rapidly embracing technology as a primary medium of communication.  While there was a day when there might only be one telephone in an entire neighborhood, now it not uncommon for each member of the family to have their own mobile phone, not to mention the plethora of other computers and internet connected devices that dominate the technology markets.  Like the intersection between gospel and science or gospel and culture, the intersection between gospel and technology is fraught with both highly practical moral concerns (e.g. can children bear the responsibility of technology adequately?) as well as questions of authority.

As part of our encounter with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the church is moved to discern what place technology should play in our communal life.  Should it be considered a medium through which the gospel must be preached, or is it dangerous to our life together and should be resisted?  These questions, and many that follow them, require sustained prayer, attention to scripture, and theological reflection.  It is my hope that Worship Times will be a place for inquiry and theological exploration of these important themes.  Its purpose is not to provide answers, but to provide tools so that your body of believers can be empowered to live faithfully in your own place and community.

These tools will take varied forms.  Some will be incredibly practical, exploring advancing technologies and considering how they could be employed in your church.  You don’t need to subscribe to a hundred of other technology blogs to see how you could use the technology for your church’s ministry, we will notify you when there are great shifts coming in the technological world and how they might impact your ministry.  In other cases, we will engage in theological and scriptural reflection, seeking to discern what role technology should play as we witness to the lordship Jesus Christ.  Not every technology is equally useful for every congregation or ministry and we want to be a conversation partner with you as you seek to be a faithful witness in the post-technological age.  Regardless of the form the tools take, Worship Times is a community of believers seeking to rightly appropriate technology to serve the church in its larger mission and ministry.

Let me encourage you to subscribe to the Worship Times blog, we look forward to bringing you a rich selection of information that will assist you in your life and ministry.

Podcasting with Worship Times

A lot of our ministries Podcast.  It’s a great way to share the Good News and it takes the message outside the church walls.  So, when we set off to build Worship Times, one of the first elements we created was Podcasting.  We tied it into our publications sections, so that our users can create content and share on their iTunes account.

If you are curious about how we did this, or if you want the plugin for your own website, take a look at this post.  It’s just one of the many things we offer our Worship Times members.