Friday, May 29, 2009
Church to Hold Annual Strawberry Fest.
Please plan to attend ~ and bring your neighbors and friends ~ to enjoy hot dogs with all the fixings, cool side salads, soda and our traditional “Bethel Strawberry Special.” We’ll also have plenty of other home-made desserts for sale at our Bake Sale Table, and lots of games available to entertain the kid in all of us.
A portion of the proceeds from the festival will be donated to the American Red Cross (Arlington Branch).
Bethel Church is located at 4347 Arlington Blvd. (Northeast corner of Arlington Blvd. and George Mason Dr). Free parking is available in the Red Cross parking lot next door (access to lot off Trenton or Arlington Blvd). Church driveways are reserved for those with special needs. Bethel Church is handicapped accessible.
For more information about the event, please call Bethel’s main office at (703) 528-0937.
Labels: bethel, church, letter, strawberry
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Bethel Church to Host B'ham Discussion
Sunday April 19 from 10am – 2pm
Hosted by Bethel Church
On Sunday, April 19, Bethel Church is hosting a “Buckingham Neighborhood Open House” from 10a.m. until 2p.m.
At 11:30, Patrick Hope, President of the Buckingham Community Civic Association, will give a presentation on “Changes in Buckingham.”
This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to learn more about the future of our neighborhood – and to meet our neighbors. Many neighborhood organizations have also been invited to attend and will be available to answer questions and provide literature about their services.
All are invited to attend Bethel’s 10:00a.m. Worship Service, with special music provided by the 16-piece “Strings Ensemble,” followed by a Neighborhood Welcome Reception at 11:00a.m. and the presentation at 11:30.
Bethel Church will also offer tours of the building, which is designated as an Emergency Shelter for the Buckingham neighborhood.
Bethel Church is located at 4347 Arlington Blvd. (Northeast corner of Arlington Blvd & George Mason Dr). Free parking is available in the Red Cross parking lot next door (access to lot off Trenton or Arlington Blvd). Church driveways are reserved for those with special needs. Bethel Church is handicap accessible. (Those who park in the Arlington Oaks Condominium lot next door to the church will be towed.)
For more information about the event, call Bethel’s main office at (703)528-0937. Please plan to attend and bring your neighbors.
Labels: BCCA, bethel, Buckingham, church
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Letter: Church Should Help Respect Private Property
First of all, I really appreciate the information you provide about the community - it's vital and interesting. Thank you.
Recently, a situation has come to my attention in this neighborhood that I want to bring to your attention, as I am not sure how to handle it.
As you may recall, I live in the Chatham. I have been dog-sitting for friends since last Monday, and therefore am out with the dog around 5 p.m. to walk her. Since having the dog on these walks, I have noticed a number of people, all men, traipsing through the Chatham parking lot in the back around this hour, walking across Arlington Oaks property and even walking on the sidewalk in front of the Chatham (inside the boundary line) to get to the church on the corner of Pershing and the Route 50 service road, the Arlington Assembly of God.
The purpose of their travels is to obtain food - the church provides food for the homeless. While I applaud the efforts of the church to serve the community, I do have concerns about how those who obtain these free meals conduct themselves in our neighborhood. And I have heard some anecdotal stories to that effect - someone being asked for money in our parking lot, cars being broken into, human waste found on the premises, people living and hiding in the large pine trees on Route 50 (right in front of the church) and the assorted beer cans and bottles I have seen dotting this area.
I spoke with our property manager about this (and he is quite good at what he does) and he informed me that he has approached the leadership of the church twice about this problem, and was basically told that because the church does not control these people, there is nothing they can do about it, and that they would continue in the same vein. Basically, he said "too bad." Not very neighborly.
I had a couple of questions after hearing this - why can't the church make an announcement at these free meal opportunities and ask those to whom they provide service to please respect the neighborhood and not trespass on private property? Does the church provide any other social services to help these people and thereby stave off other bad behavior? And, as a neighbor, shouldn't they try and make the area comfortable and safe for all the residents?
I'm frustrated and at a loss here, but I have felt uncomfortable more than a few times when out and about at this hour. Any thoughts you can provide on the situation would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Nancy Bukar
Labels: church, homeless, letter
Monday, December 10, 2007
Messiah Sing Fills Church with Cheer
I forgot. I just plain forgot. Two Saturdays ago (Dec.1), my children and I caught the first 20 minutes or so of the Messiah sing-along at our church, First Presbyterian at the corner of N. Carlin Springs Road and N. Vermont Street, where Buckingham meets the Bluemont neighborhood. I took photos with my cell phone, so the quality is poor, and then I plain forgot to post a story.
This was the 20th Anniversary of the sing held by the Metropolitan Chorus, with Barry Hemphill as the artistic director. He also is the music director at First Presbyterian. He’s charming up front when encouraging us non-singers to sing.
“Pretend you’re a soprano,” he said at the start. Look around at the people in the pews near you, he said, and realize it’s OK to sing loudly, if poorly, because, “you’ll never see them again.”
Even though we were in a Presbyterian church, he said it was OK to smile, we could return to our dour looks on Sunday to which Charlotte Lohrenz, the church’s interim pastor, called, “It’s OK to smile tomorrow too!”
I sat in the balcony with my kids and our rented copy of the Messiah score ($2). My daughter, a second-grader, and I tried our best to keep up with others. Many who are part of the troupe were in the pews themselves. It was fun.
My daughter and I got lost, and sounded terrible, but the church was festooned. Holiday cheer with its rising voices filled the room with more goodwill toward men than one man should receive.
My kids gave out before I did, so we left long before the “Hallelujah” chorus.
The Metropolitan Chorus has been singing for 41 years, in such illustrious places as The Kennedy Center, The National Building Museum, and Constitutional Hall. The troupe has toured internationally, their pamphlet from the evening said.
Mr. Hemphill, as well as being a highly respected music director for the church, retired as the Sgt. Major of the United States Army Band, and has conducted the Messiah sing at the Kennedy Center, since 1994, the materials say.
Labels: chorus, christmas, church, presbyterian
