Bethesda Presbyterian Church

Personal — Passionate — Progressive

Welcome

pastor chuck
OUR STATEMENT OF WELCOME: We are a diverse congregation welcoming all persons to serve Christ as full and active participants in our faith community, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identification or any other personal attribute.

JOIN US for SUMMER WORSHIP SUNDAYS @ 10:00 am!

Bethesda Presbyterian
7611 Clarendon Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
Directions & Google Map

Charles Booker-Hirsch
- Our Pastor

301-986-1137
301-986-1230 (fax)
bpc7611@aol.com

Welcome! I encourage you to explore my further welcome under "Personal-Our Hospitality", plus Why We Worship, Music, & recent Sermons under "Passionate-Our Worship."

We at BPC gather with hearts, minds, and souls open to cross-sections of Christ and culture discussed only in church -- and, in all honesty, you may not hear discussed in many other churches!

From one another and a diversity of spiritual traditions, we learn how to walk together in the ways of love, building a radically inclusive faith home and working for social justice in the neighborhood and the world. In our education ministries, youth and adults alike are inspired to think for themselves, and live into the discipleship questions they ask.

Members

  • Elaine Laustsen
  • Chuck Booker-Hirsch
  • Denise Young
  • Kristen Dill
  • Connie J. Nelson
  • Colin B. Church
  • Leta Kopp
  • Victoria gau
  • Byron Sipe
  • Linda Nelson Steadman
  • Kathleen OHare
  • Debbie Crown
  • Carol Hall
  • Kurt Tong
  • Vesta McDowell Brown
  • Kathleen Godwin

Photos

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Who we are...

What's Happening


A SUMMERTIME MEDITATION ...


"The unknown is the mind's greatest need, and for it no one thinks to thank God." -- Emily Dickinson

SERMON ON THE MOUNT SERIES -- 10:00 am Worship

Jesus' Radical Teachings: Too Hot to Handle?


-- August 15, 22, 29 -- Fellowship Hall
-- September 5 -- Church Lawn; Communion Celebrated

21 NEW MEMBERS WELCOMED TO OUR CHURCH FAMILY!


Behold, God is doing a new thing in our midst! On Spring's second day, March 21, culminating a five-month Confirmation pilgrimage, the following six youth were welcomed into our BPC fold by profession of faith:

-- Andrew Booker (age 12)
-- Claire Dudek (age 14)
-- Matthew Meloan (age 12) (also baptized)
-- Kyle Tong (age 14)
-- Mia Tong (age 17)
-- Reia Tong (age 16)

Since the turn of the new year, 13 adults have said "Yes!" to our life and witness in Christ:

-- Rev. Amy Booker-Hirsch: hospice chaplain (as affiliate member)
-- Yenny Delgado Collao: HIV/AIDS health care worker (by public profession of faith)
-- Brandi Dotson: homemaker, hearing loss clinician (by public profession of faith)
-- Glenn Dotson: hospital cleaning services supervisor (by public profession of faith)
-- James Finlay: restaurateur, retired (by public profession of faith)
-- Gail Hutchison: sexual assault services coordinator (by public profession of faith)
-- Anne Dorrit Konig: embassy staff, retired (by public profession of faith)
-- Patrick O'Brien: social justice attorney (fr. Noe Valley Ministry, SF, CA)
-- Kathleen O'Hare: corporate accounts auditor (fr. Marble Collegiate Church, NYC)
-- Dr. Thomas Peterson: NIH scientific review officer (fr. Westminster Presbyterian, West Hartford, CT)
-- Dr. Robert Rivers: NIH protein chemist (by public profession of faith)
-- Linda Steadman: nonprofit services (fr. Village Presbyterian, Prairie Village, KS)
-- Fred Sylvester: homemaker, communications officer (fr. Noe Valley Ministry, SF, CA)

These 13 join November additions Laura & Bill Dunlap (fr. First Presby, Eau Claire, WI -- retired special ed teacher & math professor, respectively) as witnesses to Jesus' radical ministry of hospitality & diversity found at Bethesda Presbyterian Church.

DISCOVER FOR YOURSELF WHAT THESE 21 HAVE ALREADY DISCOVERED AT BPC !!!


Notes

Giving, Praying ... Fasting, Even: The Freedom of Living with God (Sermon on the Mount, 3 of 6)

Sermon, 8/15/10 (Sermon on the Mount, 3 of 6). Jesus grounds the use of these spiritual practices not in our salvation, accomplishments, or achievements – as if any of these practices could change our relational status with our Creator. Instead, he grounds them in our free and joyous communal response to God. What a liberation! …

… Continue

Created by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Aug 30, 2010 at 12:46pm. Last updated by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Aug 30.

Sermon on the Amount: "Cash Down" Ethics

Sermon, 8/22/10 (Sermon on the Mount, 4 of 6). Matthew’s Jesus bases his teachings on a profoundly first century Jewish ethic: Our actions shape our affections, not vice versa. Per a classic example of this ethic – “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also” – our freedom from hoarding sets us free to trust God …

… Continue

Created by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Aug 30, 2010 at 11:24am. Last updated by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Aug 30.

You Be the Judge? (Sermon on the Mount, 5 of 6)

Sermon, 8/29/10 (Sermon on the Mount, 5 of 6).  Judgmentalism is based on our wants; discernment on others' needs. Crossing the bridge from serving our wants to meeting the kingdom's needs requires a constant attitude of prayer: "not asking what you think you want but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine." ...

 

… Continue

Created by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Aug 30, 2010 at 10:40am. Last updated by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Aug 30.

Snapdragon

BPC Youth Film Project 2008
 
 
 

Blog Posts

Chuck Booker-Hirsch

Sermon on the Mount Series: Are Jesus' Radical Teachings Too Hot to Handle?

It's hot out there -- with many ways to cool off in and around the Potomac. It's hot here at BPC, too -- Rabbi Jesus' teachings are, that is -- with a cool place to enjoy worship on our front lawn throughout September, under a white tent, overlooking downtown! Sunday, 9/5 at 10 am: Last of the six-part Sermon on the Mount series. Hear Jesus' words from Matthew 7:13-29. What does he really mean by "narrow is the gate"? Sounds pretty exclusive, at first blanch. Rest assured: His intended meaning m… Continue

Posted by Chuck Booker-Hirsch on August 29, 2010 at 1:31pm

Chuck Booker-Hirsch

Sermon on the Mount series: Sundays, August 15-Sept 5 "Jesus' Radical Teachings: Too Hot to Handle?"

Don't miss this series on three chapters of Matthew's gospel pastors of all stripes (present company included) have studiously avoided. As one scholar puts it, “The conflict between the authority attributed to the Sermon on the Mount … and the realities of common church life and history has never escaped astute observers inside and outside the church.” Love your enemies? Do good to those who persecute you? Consider the lilies? How? *Why?* You may be surprised by what we'll discover!

Posted by Chuck Booker-Hirsch on August 15, 2010 at 8:30am

Chuck Booker-Hirsch

Our New Statement of Welcome!

Opposite on this page, you will note our brief, clear Statement of Welcome approved on June 15 by our Session (church board). Most mainline Protestant churches such as our own -- never exempt from the human condition -- have played a particularly bigoted role in rejecting our lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender sisters & brothers from full participation in our congregations. We at BPC -- noted for our personal hospitality to all -- feel it our faithful responsibility to counter such an… Continue

Posted by Chuck Booker-Hirsch on June 16, 2010 at 6:00pm

Chuck Booker-Hirsch

Summer Social Justice Cinema: July Fridays, 7:30p!

Our Community Theater (details: BPC Film Force More Powerful.doc) benefitting Bethesda Cares Outreach for the Homeless continues Friday, July 16, 23 & 30. Two 30-minute clips shown each week from A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent… Continue

Posted by Chuck Booker-Hirsch on June 23, 2010 at 11:30am

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