Our Mission for 2023:
To share God’s Word and God’s love with our community;
To worship God regularly and to give thanks and praise to God;
To help make more and better disciples for Jesus Christ.
Bethlehem was recognized as an active Methodist congregation in 1789, becoming the first Methodist church in the southern part of Gloucester County. A “great revival” was said to have resulted upon recognition, with many new members “struggling into life.”¹ The first meeting house was constructed in 1808. We have been “The heart, hands, and feet of Christ to the community” for 233 years.
We gather in our sanctuary for traditional worship each Sunday morning at 11:00. We believe the Trinity–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–are at work in the world. We believe in God’s grace as the basis of our salvation and we proclaim Jesus Christ as our risen lord and savior.
We celebrate Holy Communion on the first and third Sundays of each month. We are blessed to have both a pianist and an organist who together provide meaningful music and hymn accompaniment for our services. Our worship is sincere but our dress is casual. We welcome all visitors to join us in our worship experience.
Our wheelchair-accessible church building is located at 2101 Mark Pine Road in Bena, about 1/10 of a mile SW of the post office. Worship services are held at 11 a.m. Sundays. Email: pastorchuck7@aol.com; phone: 804-642-5141.
Our Outreach
Locally we support the Gloucester County Food Bank known as Bread for Life with weekly donations of food and necessary non-food items we receive from both our congregation and from members of the community.
We minister to the world by supporting the United Methodist Council on Relief (UMCOR) with financial donations and with the annual preparation and delivery of health kits. These kits are sent to areas around the world suffering from the impact of natural disasters, war, or disease and poverty. The kits may include necessary supplies to promote personal hygiene or needed items to clean up homes following disasters such as floods or hurricanes.
We further support the international organization Rise Against Hunger by preparing and packaging dried foods for delivery to countries around the world suffering from loss of infrastructure and food insecurity.
