Bethany Lutheran Church

Sunday School Classes for children and youth are offered at 9:00 a.m.  Please visit the Sunday School page to learn more.

Godly Play (Preschool);

Kids’ Light (1st – 5th grade);

Middle School (6th – 8th grade);

High School (9th – 12th grade)

Bethany’s Lenten theme for 2010 is “Bread for the Journey.”  We encourage you to try some baking experiences at home together that can enrich your faith journey.  We hope the attached recipes will be fun for you.

We invite you, also, to use the booklet distributed in Sunday School, Magnify the Lord, which describes some ways to magnify (praise) the Lord during the 40 days of Lent.  We hope the Scriptures, devotions, prayers and activities (crafts and easy recipes) will help provide some meaningful Lenten experiences for your family.

As you create some memorable faith experiences at home, we invite you to take some pictures (and perhaps write a short description or make a sample item) to share with other families at Bethany.  We would like to set up a display table in Fellowship Hall and also share ideas on our website or in the Beacon!  Your experience may inspire another family to find a new way to nurture faith at home.  The more we share our stories of faith with each other, the stronger our faith community becomes!  Please contact me if you are willing to share your stories and pictures!

Lenten Blessings!

Rit Vogel

303-639-4349

rit@bethany-denver.org

Pretzels:  The Prayer Bread

It is said that pretzel-baking originated about 1500 years ago, when an Italian monk used the leftover scraps of bread dough for something a little more imaginative.  He formed the scraps into dough-ropes which he twisted to resemble a person’s arms crossed in prayer, the traditional posture for prayer in those days.  The brother monks approved the tidbits and began using them as rewards for children who learned their prayers — ’pretiola’ (“little prayers”).  Monks also used the classic pretzel, with its interconnected sections, to help children understand the Christian Trinity of “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”  Pretzels were thought to bring luck, prosperity, and spiritual wholeness to those who ate them.

These snacks today are still a reminder of Lent as a season of deep and frequent prayer.  “Grant us, we pray, that we may always be reminded by the sight of these pretzels to pray to You with grateful hearts.  Amen.”

Pretzel recipe:

1 tablespoon honey or sugar

1 ½ cups lukewarm water

1 envelope active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

coarse salt

1 egg, beaten

Add the honey to the water; sprinkle in the yeast and stir until totally dissolved.  Add 1 tsp. salt.  Stir in the flour, and knead the dough till smooth (about 7 minutes).  Use a hand towel to cover the dough in the bowl, and wait for the dough to rise and double in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out of the bowl.  Cut the dough into pieces.  Roll them into ropes and twist into pretzel shapes.  Place the pretzels on lightly greased cookie sheets and brush them with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. Using the same hand towel, cover the pretzels and wait for them to rise.  Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Hot Cross Buns – a contemporary version

Hot Cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday.  One story says that some 600 years ago, an English monk baked hot cross buns and gave them to the poor at Easter time.  Cooks from then on have continued this season specialty.  The cross, made of white icing, is a reminder of the greatest gift even given in human history:  the life and death of God’s own Son.

Frozen bread dough (1 loaf)

¼ cup currants or raisins

1 egg white, slightly beaten

1 cup powdered sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

Thaw bread dough.  Add currants or raisins to dough.  Roll into rectangle about 9 x 15 inches and cut 10 to 15 buns with a 2 ½-inch biscuit cutter.  Place buns on greased baking sheet.  Let rise until doubled, about 1 ½ hours.

With scissors, cut a shallow cross shape in the top of each bun.  Brush each top with slightly beaten egg white.  Bake in hot oven (400 degrees) 12-15 minutes, until golden.  Place buns on cooling rack.

Mix vanilla with powdered sugar to icing consistency.  Spoon icing into paper cone or plastic baggie which has a small tip cut off.  Fill the cut crosses with icing while buns are still slightly warm.

Jesus Is Risen Rolls

To help children understand the meaning of Christ’s empty tomb, make this fun and tasty treat.

1 can refrigerated bread-stick dough

large marshmallows

spray margarine

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Knead and press each breadstick into a flat circle.  Place a marshmallow in the center of the circle and pinch the dough around the marshmallow.  Roll the marshmallow-filled rolls into round balls.  Spray the rolls with margarine.  Combine sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle the rolls with the mixture.  Place the rolls on a baking sheet with the pinched edges down.  Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

While the rolls bake, tell the Easter story.  Then enjoy a tasty Easter treat as you celebrate that Christ’s tomb was empty, just as these rolls are empty.

Register for Godly Play and/or Kids’ Light with either an online or mail-in/drop-off registration form.

Registration is not required for Middle School/High School classes.

Moses wrote, “Teach them to your children and your grandchildren” (Deuteronomy 4:9). Why is this so important? First, God’s Word is the most important subject by far for our children! It needs to take priority over all the many subjects we want our children to learn, for it will give them wisdom, guidance and comfort throughout their lifetime.

If you haven’t attended one of the sessions for parents, facilitated by Michelle Okes, you have missed a great opportunity for fellowship and learning. Parents meet one another, share ideas, and leave with tips for leading faith talks at home, relating what children learn in Sunday school to everyday life events. You are your child’s most important spiritual teacher! This class helps to support and equip you for your role in nurturing your child’s faith.

     2009/2010 Schedule

 Classes held on the dates below at 9:00 am.

Room 314

Kids’ Light Theme:  Call and Promise

The Call of Abraham – September 13
David:  God’s Chosen King – October 4
Jesus Calls Disciples – November 1
The Angel Comes to Mary – November 29
Paul on the Road – January 10
Moses and the Burning Bush – February 7
Peter and the Church – March 14
The Great Commission – April 25