Outreach

VOLUNTEER AND OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES

Bethany Mission Fair

The Mission Fair was designed to spotlight all ministries, at Bethany, that reach out to share the gospel message with the world around us. We do this through a fair which has display booths set up in the hallways of Bethany in which people have the opportunity to see the multitude of wonderful ways Bethany people are serving God and His people. If you are interested in having a booth or helping lead this event, contact Landon Becker.

Bethany Gardeners

Calling all gardening enthusiasts! - Our goal is to help keep the grounds of ourchurch beautiful and welcoming. We plan several work days each year for church members to help with planting, weeding, and general maintenance of the flower beds. This is a great opportunity to meet and work with fellow gardening enthusiasts while helping to beautify the church property.

Flower beds can be "adopted" by GIFT Groups, Sunday School classes, youth groups, or families. Several areas have been adopted by GIFT groups or families but we have more that need to be adopted. By adoptinga flower bed or specific area within a large bedyou would help maintain it throughout the year on your schedule.

	Bethany Service Mission
	Designed to help people within our community who need help with minor household repairs. There is a team of helpers willing to serve the Lord by serving our Christian family.

	Bethesda Store
	We are looking for volunteers to work at the Bethesda (located on Burnet Rd) on the 1st and 3rd Thursday and the 2nd and 3rd Saturday of each month. We are in need of a gentleman presence on the 3rd Saturday and other days as well. Duties include greeting customers, sorting and pricing merchandise and working the cash register.

	Cookie Ministry
	In an effort to make visitors feel welcome, we have teams that take gifts to those who visit us for the first time. These gifts include: information and literature on the church as well as a dozen cookies. The people taking part in this ministry are “The Welcome Wagon” of Bethany. If you would like to get involved, contact Pastor Lentz.

Diaconate Recording Form
Diaconate Reporting Form

Diaconate Ministry

The Diaconate Ministry is an extension of the Pastor’s Office. The Diaconates are asked to pray for Bethany and her ministries. In addition to that, they are given households to keep in touch with and pray for. After they have made those calls, they then report to the pastors what they have learned. This ministry helps a large church, such as we’re blessed with, to achieve a smaller, family type feel. Friendships are formed through the regular contacts. If you would like to get involved, contact Pastor Lentz.

Food Collection for Capital Area Food Bank

Each month we collect non-perishable food items for the Capital Area Food Bank. The three highest needs are canned meat, peanut butter, and diapers. We also accept other items, such as soup, juice boxes, and other non-perishable food. You can drop off the food in the boxes near the entrances of the sanctuary. This food is distributed year round to the food pantries throughout Central Texas who assist families with groceries.

Habitat for Humanity (HFH)

HFH is a Christian based program to help people in need to build or remodel a home for themselves. The major part of the funding comes from donations of supplies, moneyand from building material sales from the HFH resale shops around the country. Each potential homeowner has to work a required number of hours before they can even qualify to be on the list to have a home built. They actually put out the sweat first. The major part of the labor force to construct is also volunteer, which is what we help do.

Food Pantry Ministry Interest Group

There is a vision for Bethany to start and sustain its own Food Pantry Ministry housed and facilitated right here at Bethany. Servants of this ministry would have many opportunities to:

build relationships and reach out to people in need of assistance, minister to people who may have food and shelter needs;
help collect food for our pantry through the congregation and groups in the area;
organize and equip Bethany groups and non-Bethany groups to help volunteer at the Food Pantry;
work with other organizations such as the Capital Area Food Bank; extend the word of God through this wonderful ministry opportunity that God is opening up here at Bethany.

If you have further questions about this ministry please contact Landon Becker.

Holy Smokers

The Holy Smokers are a group of men, women, and children and families with an interest in cooking or working around bar-be-cue pits.The group uses their God given gifts of cooking and/or other skills to prepareand cook food to support a variety of Bethany activities. Funds raised by the group have been used to buy Bibles, hymnals, TV and video equipment used throughout the church and support youth programs at Bethany. The Holy Smokers do most of their cooking at the Bar-be-cue pits located on the Bethany grounds.We encourage anyone interested in this type of ministry to join us. We especially like it whenthe entire family gets involved. This enables us to pass on our cooking knowledge to the next generation of Holy Smokers, so they can continue providing this type of ministry support to the Bethany family.

Liturgical Arts

Liturgical Art is a part of the Altar Guild. The members are in charge of many tasks: decorating for church celebrations such as Palm Sunday, Easter, Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas; making banners; coordinating teaching tables; floral arrangements; candles; changing paraments according to the church calendar; cleaning paraments, altar cloths, pastor's robes, acolyte robes; and communion preparation and coordinating volunteers.

	Prayer Ministry
	Join the payer warriors and pray regularly for those on the prayer list. Contact the church office for more information.

Prison Ministry

Matt 25: 36 …“I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Jesus ministered to the weak and downtrodden. Bethany does the same to help the incarcerated, the released, and their families. The activities span from marking bibles with the plan for salvation to actual visits in the prisons.

Marking bibles	Bible studies
Chaplain assistance	After release Christian care (Networkforlife.org, TexasReachout.org; faith based transitional housing)
Life skills training	Prison Fellowship Ministries volunteer training
In-prison seminars	PFM Angel Tree Program (presents for inmates children)
Pen-pal program	Angle Tree camp (youth summer camp)
Mentoring program	Prayer support

	Quarterly Blood Drives
	Bethany sponsors quarterly blood drives to assist local hospitals in Central Texas with their blood supply. You can donate one pint of blood and it can save two lives. Check the publications for future dates.

	Ronald McDonald House
	The volunteers provide a meal once a month to the families staying at Ronald McDonald house. By providing a simple meal, the families can spend more time and energy with their children who are receiving treatment at the hospital.

South Austin Assistance Ministry

South Austin Assistance Ministry (SAAM) is a partnership between churches in south Austin and the Travis County Health and Human Services (TCHHS) department giving aid to those who need help with rent, utilities, prescriptions, or clothing. Bethany is a full partner in this task of assisting the needy of south Austin. Clean, used clothing is a major contribution of these churches to those less fortunate.

Welcoming Team

The Hosts and Hostesses who comprise the Welcoming Program at Bethany serve to graciously receive guests and members to God’s house. Our Greeters and Ushers team together to provide a comfortable and stress-free environment where worshippers will be able to have a meaningful and uplifting worship experience. This welcoming team has a servant’s heart and is dedicated to helping to make Bethany a warm and friendly place. To learn more or to join this vibrant team and help to make Bethany a Belonging Place, please inquire at our Welcome Center or call the church office for more information.