Weekly Greeting - November 8, 2024
Greetings friends,
Father Charles Strobel, who founded Room in the Inn, died in 2023. As the end of his life was approaching, he began to share his life story with Amy Frogge and Katie Seigenthaler. The memories he shared were compiled into the book, The Kingdom of the Poor.
In the forward of the book, Father Strobel quoted the great author, Mark Twain, who has said, “The two most important days in any person’s life is the day you are born and they day you find out why.”
He went on to say, “The following pages help to explain why I was born.”
The why of Charlie Strobel’s life, which was devoted to helping those without support systems and homes to call their own, was a simple belief that we are all poor and are all worthy of love.
The Kingdom of the Poor is the story of the people and experiences that led Father Strobel to his dedication to reach out to the underserved that led him to live his life accordingly.
The church has purchased copies of The Kingdom of the Poor as gifts for our Room in the Inn volunteers. During worship on November 3, we presented Mike Loring, who leads our Room in the Inn program, with a copy of the book signed by the members of the church staff.
Bethlehem was among the very first congregations to participate in Room in the Inn when it first began in 1985. As we begin this important ministry of the church once again this year, please consider how you might become involved and pray that we will continue the wonderful work Charles Strobel began so long ago.
Blessings,
Craig __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We continue our worship series, Grace Wins this week. Rev. Dr. David Weatherly who recently began serving as the President/CEO of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference Development Fund of TN/KY, Inc. will be preaching at both services this Sunday.
His texts will be Psalm 46 and John 19:17-25.
Dr. Weatherly is an elder in the conference and has been a minister for over thirty years. Prior to his position with the Development Fund, he served as the District Superintendent for the Metro Memphis District/Southwest Tennessee area. In an article introducing him in the conference newsletter, he is quoted as saying, “The true honor is hearing and learning about the hopes and dreams of churches across the spectrum of United Methodism and seeking to discover how the Foundation can be of benefit.”
We look forward to Dr. Weatherly being with us as we prepare to begin receiving our estimate of giving cards on November 24. Please join me in welcoming David to Bethlehem.