Emmanuel Farm 

The spring rush is on to get the beds ready and the crops in. The gentlemen have accomplished their annual “March of the tomato trellis” which is always a highlight!  If you stop in, you’ll see some new additions including food heritage informational signs and a sink for cleaning produce. Both have been on our wish list for a long time.

Thanks to a friend of Carol Steinhauer’s, Emmanuel Farm also boasts several heirloom strawberry plants, a variety with deep roots in this country.  We’re eager to see how they turn out! 

Women's Fellowship
Saturday, May 4, 9 am - 10:30 am

Lady Birds will meet in the sanctuary May 4th at 9am.  Bring your own coffee, conversation, knitting, prayer requests, etc!  We welcome all ideas and suggestions to help us create this woman’s fellowship.

Hope to see you there!

Blessings in Jesus,

Linda Avery

2024 Church Spring Cleanup

Saturday, March 23, 9 am - Noon

Just a reminder our spring cleanup is next Saturday! There is plenty to do to beautify our flower beds, playground, outdoor sanctuary and other areas of our beautiful acreage.

A few added details:

1. We plan to serve soup, bread, and of course cookies! If you can help provide any of these items, there will be a signup sheet in the narthex or you can reply to this email. 

2. Great news! It's time to start planting at Emmanuel Farm - we'll have plants ready to go if you want to help. 

3. Digging in the dirt not your thing? Plenty to do inside - help serve the workers, maybe work on tidying up the pantry - something for everyone and a great chance for fellowship!

Hope to see you all there!

Lenten Service Schedule

Palm Sunday service                           March 24         10 am

Maundy Thursday service                March 28           7 pm

Easter Sunday service                        March 31         10 am

A note to families:

There will be no childcare available during the Maundy Thursday service.
On Easter Sunday, the Sunday School teachers have fun activities planned (including an egg hunt during the service!)

Emmanuel Farm

Despite the recent flurries, we have faith that spring will appear soon. Emmanuel Farm is gearing up for our seventh season and it’s promising to be a busy one, in the best of ways. Larry Gibbons has kindly offered to install Irrigation in the beds along the fence line, we’re adding a sink to wash produce before delivering it to the Northshore Senior Center and you’ll soon encounter some new signs describing some of the rich local food heritage some of our crops boast. 

We “Putterers” will start meeting Saturday mornings at 9:00 fairly soon. We’ve grown considerably in number over the last few years!  Anyone is welcome to join us, regardless of gardening experience. Come learn how to grow food in a way that honors and celebrates our Creator’s creation!

2024 Church Spring Cleanup

Saturday, March 23

It's Spring and that means it's time to work outside at Emmanuel, getting the landscape ready for summer. Join us for a few hours on Saturday, March 23 beautifying the flower beds, playground, outdoor sanctuary, and other areas of our beautiful acreage. Bring your gloves and garden tools if you have them!

It's a great way to get to know some of your fellow members so we hope to see you Saturday, March 23 from 9 am until noon.

Men's Breakfast
Saturday, March 9

Fellowship and food come together for the men of the church on Saturday. March 9 at 8:30 am in the narthex. Jason Bohreer is cooking something special for us this month, so put it on your calendar.  

Sunday School Mission Project

THIS Sunday, November 19th is the LAST week to bring hygiene and other items to support our unhoused youth community.

Items most needed include:

• Body wipes & Hand Sanitizer

• Uterine care (tampons, pads, liners)

• Bandaids

• Floss

• Little flashlights

• Warm hats

 Other items to consider:

• Ziploc bags in Gallon, Quart, and snack size to package items

• Small activity books/cards/notebooks

• Markers/Pens/Crayons

• Dog treats/food

Thank you for your generosity!

Advent Party, Saturday, December 2, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Join with our preschool families for a time of celebration and preparation for the upcoming Christmas season. Our wonderful preschool teachers will be hosting ornament-making stations in their classrooms. We’ll trim the tree in the narthex, share a meal and get to know each other during this fun event.

Ways to help: There is a sign-up sheet in the narthex for sandwiches, fruit, veggies, chips, cookies and on-site help with setup, lunch prep, cleanup.

Neah Bay Christmas Party, Dec. 9 & 10

Neah Bay Christmas Party December 9 and 10

Reminder! We’re thrilled to resume our Neah Bay Christmas celebration on December 9-10.

A little history:  For more than forty years, members and friends of Emanuel have been traveling to Neah Bay on the second Saturday of December to join the Makah Native community in a Christmas celebration. Along with partner churches, Emmanuel congregation members have provided dinner, gifts, and children’s crafts and activities, while the Neah Bay Church has provided the venue, enthusiasm, and many children, their families, and the community’s Elders. It has become a much-beloved Christmas tradition for families on both sides of Puget Sound.

Ways to help: We will need donations of Christmas cookies, wrapped candy, and $25 Walmart gift cards for children's gift bags, and candy for gingerbread house-making.  Financial gifts to help cover the cost of food and additional gift cards will be greatly appreciated. There is a Neah Bay line on our contributions link on the website.  Emmanuel Presbyterian Church Bothell (epcbothell.org). There is also a signup sheet in the narthex.

We would love to have you join us at Neah Bay.

We can always use more elves!  Contact Deb Melse for more info on lodging, what to expect, etc.: 
Email: debmelse@yahoo.com   Cell: 425-478-7553

2023 CHURCH SPRING CLEANUP

The Stewardship Commission has planned the 2023 Church Spring Cleanup for March 25th from 9 am to 12 pm.  The items we hope to work on and the garden leads are shown on the Church Spring Cleanup project list below. A signup list will also be on the Volunteer Board in the Narthex. If you have a wheelbarrow and a shovel that you could bring that would be very helpful because we plan to spread about 3 yards of mulch.

It is always a lot of fun working together to spruce up our church prior to Easter.  If you have any questions, please contact Larry Gibbons.

1. Weed flower beds and spread mulch

• Kitchen/Office (Larry)                                   

• Front bed by Sanctuary (Linda)                       

• West & South Rose Garden (Larry)                  

• East flower beds by Sanctuary & Nursery (Mary Ann & Connie) 

• East Flower bed by Classroom (Larry)

• Flower beds along 104th  (Marie)

• Garage area (Larry)

2. Clean outdoor chapel (Larry)

• Remove blackberries and trim branched as needed

• Clean benches and rake ground by benches

3. Trim & Mulch parking lot island (Kristel)

4. Clean Sanctuary Gutters

5. Mow lawn

6. Wash Narthex & Sanctuary Outside Windows (Mary Anne) 

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 Advent Happenings

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Services

• Our Christmas Eve service will be 5:00 pm in person and on Zoom.

• Christmas Day is on Sunday this year!  Service will begin at 10:00 am in person and on Zoom.

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August News

A Note from the Pastor regarding a New Members Orientation:

In the wake of the Covid shut down and the corresponding advent of having a congregation that worships in two places it is sometimes hard to identify who is a part of the congregation.  The ambiguity of what constitutes “meeting together” makes for an interesting discussion about the nature church membership.  But belonging to a community in which we find support and encouragement to persevere on the journey of following Jesus is still an important resource for the life of faith. Whether we meet together online or in the building, the same question is before us: “Do we belong?”  Do we belong to a people? Are we a part of a web of relationships that is knit together by a common dedication to walking on the Way of Jesus?  Church is not merely gathering for a worship service.  Nor is it merely hearing a sermon.  It is about joining with others in listening for and acting on the call of Christ. 

Do you belong?

If you want to explore that question and how Emmanuel Presbyterian Church might be a part of an answer to that desire to belong to a community that is “on the Way,” we want to hear from you.  After several failed attempts to get a new members orientation together, we are trying once again.  It will no doubt need to be, like worship, an event that is offered simultaneously in person and online.  In the past we have dedicated 3 hours on a Saturday morning to these new member orientation gatherings.  That time and structure can flex given our new situation.  But we need to hear from you regarding what format would work best for you.  Would you prefer to attend online or in person?  Would 3 hours on a Saturday in the near future work for you? Do you have any other suggestions about a good time to hold this class (perhaps one evening a week for three or four weeks)? 

Please call or text me at 206 715-3007 or email me at daver@epcbothell.org with your thoughts.  Let’s work together to pull this gathering of “inquiring souls” together.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Dave Rohrer               

Book Discussion Group

Are you interested in reading, and participating in a discussion of a book about Jeremiah during the eight weeks of the sermon series on Jeremiah?  If so, you can be a part of a conversation about Eugene Peterson’s book Run with the Horses on Tuesday nights at 7pm on Zoom. Beginning on Tuesday, August 23rd Dave Rohrer will facilitate these weekly 60 minutes discussions.  There are 16 short chapters in this book, and we’ll read and discuss two chapters per week.  Ten copies of the book are available for purchase through the church at $11 or you can locate your own copy online through a used book seller.  For the first week’s meeting a PDF of the first two chapters will be made available for those who want to be a part of the group. If you would like to be a part of the group and want to purchase a copy of the book, please contact Dave via email at daver@epcbothell.org.  Copies of the PDF of the first two chapters can be picked up at worship on Sunday 8/21 or can be sent to you via email. 

Summer Project Updates

The Shed…. Project Complete!

Our storage building behind the church was in desperate need of maintenance and painting. A Big thank-you to the many folks involved in this months-long project: 

• Maintenance, Repairs, surrounding grounds clean-up: Steve Nguyen, Emmanuel Nguyen, Loren Steinhauer, Wayne Kenney

• Power Washing: Wayne Kenney, Joshua Cooper, Tom Cooper

• Scraping: Bob Walther, Larry Gibbons, Lois Robinson, Scott Robinson, Tom Cooper

• Painting: Scott Robinson, Lois Robinson, Drema Cooper

• Point for paint purchase: Bob Walther

Garden Bed Clean-up:

While the shed was being painted, several folks decided to clean out the garden beds that were overgrown with weeds and deteriorating wood borders. Thanks to Lois Robinson, Susan Sprague, Drema Cooper, Wayne Kenney, Bob Walther and Tom Cooper who helped beautify this area!

July visit to Mary’s Place Kenmore

On Saturday, July 23rd, our picnic at the women and children's homeless shelter in Kenmore was a very enjoyable day for the folks there. Thanks to all of you who contributed to the menu items! We had enough food at the end to stock their refrigerators for the following day, a Sunday when nothing is provided for them.  

The colorful tables with balloons, corn hole games provided by Larry Beach and great story telling by Deb Melse made the day fun for all ages. One of the most successful parts of the picnic was the distributing of very nice car club t-shirts donated by Lois Robinson.  There were XS for the smallest children to XXXL for the largest adults, and they were a huge hit! 

Yasmin, the director of the shelter, sends her thanks to our congregation.