Message from our Bishop

Dear Members of Bethlehem,

I am writing this on Tuesday, December 4, as I prepare to come to worship with you this weekend. For Bethlehem I am struck by the timeliness of the Bible readings appointed for this day by the elders of the Moravian Church and used by thousands of Christians throughout the world:

“I will look with favor upon you and make you fruitful and multiply and I will maintain my covenant with you”. II Leviticus 26:9

 “The Lord said to Paul in a vision, I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many In thIs city who are my people”. Acts 18:9,10

In light of all that you have experienced in recent months, hold closely these promises of God. 'I will maintain my covenant with you. "  Through your baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus, God decided to be with each of you forever .

Faithful and Courageous is a new book by our presiding bishop, Mark Hanson, a book for Christians living through unsettling times. I pray that a year from now this title will be said of Bethlehem, Traverse City, said of a congregation who trusted the strength and wisdom God gave them one day at a time. Bishop Hanson quotes William Sloane Coffin: “So what the Christian community needs to do above all else is to raise up men and women of thought and of conscience, adventuresome, imaginative people capable of both joy and suffering."

In this Advent season may you know each day Christ's coming, so that with grateful hearts you can witness to the strength and wisdom and courage he gives to his own.

Yours in Christ,

Bishop John Schleicher

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