The Rev. Gerald E. Harris, pastor and founder of Bethany
Community Church, invites South County residents Sunday to a
special event on: Public Safety Appreciation Day.
The Rev. Gerald E. Harris, pastor and founder of Bethany Community Church, invites South County residents Sunday to a special event on: Public Safety Appreciation Day.
On this day, which is set aside to honor all those who protect our safety, a number of guests will be recognized, such as members of the Gilroy Police and Fire Departments, agents from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and officers from the Salinas Valley State Prison and the Correctional Training Facility.
The Gospel Choir from the Naval Postgraduate School will be performing, and Gilroy Mayor Tom Springer will share in the 1 p.m. celebration. Currently Bethany Community Church is holding worship services at 8095 Kelton Drive in Gilroy.
Bethany Community church is probably South County’s most ethnically diverse congregation with worshipers coming from as far away as Stockton, Greenfield, Daly City and Fairfield. Its Sunday schedule is Sunday School at 11 a.m. and worship at 1 p.m. The first Sunday of each month is a Communion Service at 6 p.m.; the third Sunday features Sunday Night Live, an event for the congregation’s youth.
Bethany is a member of the Church of God in Christ denomination, a nationwide body of more than 15,000 congregations and 5.5 million members. The church has been meeting in various local locations for the past 13 years and expects to move into the facility currently occupied by South Valley Community Church when that congregation constructs its planned new building.
Bethany Community Church is the home of the very active Heart-to-Heart Ministries sponsored by the women of the church which is involved in a great number of charitable works in the South County community:
• Keep in Touch welcomes new members into the Bethany family through letters and phone calls. They acknowledge birthdays, send condolences and track members who are “missing in action” for reasons like attending college away from home.
• Uplifters are “prayer warriors” interceding for the needs of women, offering spiritual encouragement to those who are hospitalized, shut-in or experiencing family crises.
• Overcomers works with women to change their codependent behaviors into emotionally healthy lifestyles.
• Healing Helpers ministers to women suffering from domestic violence and experiencing related financial hardship. They offer help through collecting food, clothing and other emergency items, distributing them to community agencies which serve these women.
• We Care, We Share ministers to the needs of single women by pairing young parents with experienced mentors for building supportive, nurturing friendships.
Other aspects of Heart-to Heart are a Music Ministry which includes a women’s choir offering singing and “praise dancing” at worship services and a Culinary Hospitality group which provides refreshments at numerous church gatherings.
Heart-to-Heart is currently raising funds to send three local youth to a conference in Baltimore, Md., at the end of June. The delegates will participate in character-building and academic activities which will help avoid problems like crime, drugs and unwanted pregnancy.
Barbara Meredith-Harris, director of Heart to Heart Ministries, invites any interested residents to contribute financially to this important cause. To learn more about any of these programs, call 842-9445.
