On the corner of 6th and Watson Avenue, just south of the Beaverton City Library and a few blocks from the heart of downtown Beaverton, Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ has stood as a progressive Christian witness on Portland's west side since 1880. Once a small Congregational outpost serving the farming community of early Beaverton, Bethel today describes itself as one of the most vibrant, LGBTQIA+ friendly progressive churches in the Portland area - an inclusive and non-judgmental congregation where the life and teachings of Jesus Christ are practiced through full welcome for people of every gender, identity, race, age and background. The community is a member of the United Church of Christ, holds the denomination's Open and Affirming (ONA) designation, and belongs to the Community of Welcoming Congregations.
Sunday Mornings at 10:00 on Watson Avenue
Bethel gathers for worship every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time in a hybrid format - in person inside the church at 5150 SW Watson Avenue, and live streamed on Facebook (BethelBeaverton) and YouTube (Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ). A Facebook account is needed to view the live page; the YouTube channel offers both the live broadcast and shorter post-processed editions that edit out the silences and run at a quicker pace.
The service weaves instrumental and vocal music, spoken and silent prayers, readings from the Bible, and teaching for children and adults into a single hour. Bethel describes its worship as blending traditional and contemporary forms. Senior Pastor David Randall-Bodman preaches in a conversational style illustrated with PowerPoint images, with room for both quiet contemplation and loud laughter. The congregation celebrates two sacraments: the Lord's Supper (Communion), typically offered on the first Sunday of each month, and Baptism, which by sprinkling of water is celebrated for infants, youth and adults.
Special Sundays mark the seasons of the church year. On Palm Sunday, children and choir members gather at the front entrance for a congregational procession with palms waving; on Pentecost the paraments, the pastor's stole and the congregation all turn red to mark the coming of the Holy Spirit; on Easter Sunday the sanctuary is flooded with flowers given in honor or memory of loved ones, the children Flower the Cross, and the service closes with the congregation rising to sing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. The annual "Stump the Pastor" Sunday invites congregants to write in questions that Pastor David answers on the spot in an Instant Sermon.
A Music Ministry That Travels Through Headphones
Music sits at the center of Bethel worship. Director of Music Ministry Melanie Madigan - a vocal performance graduate of Concordia College Moorhead who has held full-time Director of Worship posts in Denver and Mesa, Arizona and grown choirs in the Portland area from fourteen singers to thirty-three - leads a chancel choir, special music soloists and a worship band that record at home. The result is a blend of traditional hymns, contemporary anthems and choral music woven into every Sunday.
The chancel choir is non-auditioned and open to anyone with a love of singing. Singers participate from home with a pair of headphones and a smartphone, record their parts to be mixed into the live broadcast, and join in person when they are able. Advent features the annual Wassail Celebration of cider and sweet breads after the second-Sunday service, and the Sunday after Christmas typically features the John Nilsen Trio. An Epiphany series, Lenten series, summer series, stewardship emphasis and a fall series rotate through the year, with material drawn from A Sanctified Art and Worship Design Studio.
Progressive Christianity, Open and Affirming
Bethel names itself a progressive Christian church. Its mission statement reads, in part: "While our Christian faith is 2000 years old, our thinking is not. We worship God, share the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and practice God's unconditional love for all creation. Celebrating God's still-speaking voice, we advocate for service, justice, and kindness. We commit to actively dismantling injustice, fostering a White Supremacy-Free Zone, and becoming an anti-racist community. Passionately open and affirming of the LGBTQIA+ community, we support each other's journey while honoring our roots and embracing a future where all are valued and empowered."
As progressive Christians, Bethel affirms belief in the Trinity - God the Creator, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit - and treats Jesus' commandment "love one another as I have loved you" as foundational. The Bible is read at every service and described as inspired literature that represents faithful people's experiences of God rather than a dictation handed down from heaven; Bethel is fond of quoting Saint Francis of Assisi that we should "preach the gospel always, and when necessary use words." Faith is described as a path rather than a destination, with Christians as "work in progress" pilgrims. Christian faith is the truth for Bethel but is not held to be the only truth; care of the earth and its ecosystems is named an expression of Christian stewardship; and love of neighbor is understood to include affirmation of the LGBTQIA+ community, immigrants, people of other faiths and even those considered enemies.
Bethel's Open and Affirming stance is concrete: the congregation does not discriminate against women or LGBTQIA+ people in hiring, leadership or membership. There are no glass ceilings, the church teaches children, youth and adults that love means treating all people as one would wish to be treated regardless of gender, preference, identity or expression, and the congregation values and nurtures the leadership of women and LGBTQIA+ people at every level of church life. Bethel also belongs to the Community of Welcoming Congregations and partners with Church Clarity.
A Reformed and Reforming Denominational Home
Bethel belongs to the United Church of Christ, a denomination formed in 1957 by the merger of New England Congregationalists and the German Reformed congregations of the middle-Atlantic states. The UCC is known for its emphasis on social justice, human rights and eco-justice and for a string of denominational firsts: the first mainline church to ordain a woman (1853), the first to ordain an openly gay man (1972), the first to post bail for an African American pastor arrested at a non-violent civil rights demonstration (1973), the first to elect an African American president of a racially integrated mainline denomination (1976), the first to publish a hymnal giving equal weight to male and female images of God (1995), and the first to call for marriage equality for the LGBTQ community (2005). Bethel belongs to the Central Pacific Conference (CPC), one of the UCC's regional conferences.
Bethel describes itself as a "reformed and reforming" church, an identity phrase that points to a conviction that God calls each generation to use mind, heart and spirit to keep the Christian faith alive and relevant, and that ancient traditions shape but do not define who the community is. The motto printed on every page of the church's site reads, "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here. Never place a period, where God has placed a comma. God is still speaking."
Children, Youth and Sunday School
Children are woven into the life of the congregation from the start. Sunday School and the nursery for preschoolers and infants are open about two to three Sundays each month for elementary-age kids; there is no Sunday School or nursery on the unlisted Sundays, and the schedule shifts in the summer. The Children's Christmas Pageant is a highlight of the third Sunday of Advent each year, with the children and youth of Bethel leading a fun, family-oriented service.
Vacation Bible School is spread across the summer rather than packed into a single week, running across six Sundays from mid-July through the end of August and ending with a trip to the Fountains. Youth Sunday each June is another intergenerational highlight: the youth take the lead in the service, choosing the theme, picking the music and writing liturgy and sermon pieces, with bibles presented to students who have just completed third grade and graduating seniors honored and blessed.
The Youth Group meets on the first Sunday of each month after worship, with occasional summer outings like the planned trip to the Rice Museum. Program Coordinator Erin Barber keeps families connected through a Sunday School registration form available online and at the welcome table. Parents and visitors with questions about children's ministry can reach Barber at eb@bethelbeaverton.org.
Adult Ministry, Bookies and the Misfits
For adults, Bethel gathers in several long-running groups. The Bethel Bookies meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. to discuss a monthly selection from fiction to nonfiction, contemporary to classic. Recent picks have included the work of Maya Angelou, Candace Millard's "The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey," and Isabel Wilkerson's "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents." The Bookies are an open group, welcoming drop-ins whether or not they finished the book.
The Bethel UCC Misfits is a private Facebook group where members and friends share joys, concerns, insights on their faith journey or anything else intended for the wider church community. The name "Misfits" comes from Rev. Dr. Eric Elnes and names those who travel alongside the church on a journey of authenticity and wholeheartedness.
Other adult ministries include the Called to Care team of lay leaders who keep members connected when they are hospitalized, homebound or facing other life-changing challenges; a prayer ministry that lifts up requests through the Misfits group and a prayer team; a prayer shawl ministry of knitters who craft and distribute shawls for illness, bereavement, long service, hard times or gratitude; movie discussions on race, which gather over Zoom to talk about issues of race and systemic racial injustice; and seasonal Advent and Lent book studies and workshops. The Youngish Adults group, led by the Growth Committee, meets quarterly for fellowship ranging from Board Games and Brunch to Happy Hours in the church courtyard.
Food Security and the Beaverton High School Partnership
For years Bethel has anchored its local mission around food. Volunteers run the Bethel Food Cupboard and the Faith Café community meal. The church is also a community partner with Beaverton High School, where 44% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch and a meaningful number have been identified as homeless. Because struggling students receive two free meals a day while school is in session but no food assistance during breaks, Bethel members and partners have committed to providing three meals a day for those students during winter and spring breaks each year.
Bethel volunteers have packed over five tons of food for about 120 homeless students in a single drive and have prepared 100 food boxes for McKinney-Vento eligible families, each box designed to feed a family of four and reaching an estimated 400 people. The drives have drawn coverage from KGW and KPTV Fox 12 Oregon. The church's Beaverton School District ministry also depends on partners like Jesuit High School alumni and other community volunteers who join Bethel in packing and delivering food. To volunteer or support this work, contact the church office.
English Language Learners, Affordable Housing and Anti-Racism
In partnership with the Beaverton Literacy Council, Bethel hosts English as a Second Language classes two nights a week, Tuesday and Thursday from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., September through May. Students and many volunteers come through the BLC; new students and prospective teachers or teaching assistants can find more information at the Beaverton Literacy Council website. The Bethel ESL page greets visitors in a long list of languages - English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Serbian, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Bosnian, Arabic and Italian - a nod to the many communities the church welcomes.
Bethel also raises its voice on affordable housing. Because Beaverton has no homeless shelters within its city limits and rents are climbing, the church is engaged in advocacy on housing and homelessness in the wider community. The Social Justice ministry frames this work in biblical language: recognizing common humanity and desiring a fair allocation of community resources is described as a golden thread running through the Bible.
Bethel Responds to Racism is an ongoing commitment of the congregation to become an anti-racist church. The work takes shape through study, conversation and action. The Movie Discussions on Race series is one part of this work; the Called to Care and prayer ministries are another; and the mission statement's commitment to "actively dismantling injustice, fostering a White Supremacy-Free Zone, and becoming an anti-racist community" is named as a defining mark of the congregation.
Global Missions, Mozambique and Palestine
Bethel reaches outward through Global Ministries, a joint mission effort of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) that sends missionaries only where they are invited and follows the agenda of local partners. Global Ministries' core values are community, mutuality, justice, peace and presence.
From 2014 to 2017, Bethel supported Global Ministries missionaries Rev. Erik and Kim Free in Mozambique, where they worked with the United Church of Christ of Mozambique (UCCM) on revitalizing churches, teaching modern agricultural techniques to increase crop yields, teaching literacy, and establishing small businesses for women. They returned to the United States in late 2016 after rising political violence made their continued presence unsafe.
Through the Central Pacific Conference, Bethel has been part of a covenant partnership with the YWCA of Palestine since 2014, supporting advocacy work on behalf of Palestinians through the CPC-PIN and the UCC Palestine-Israel Network. Bethel members helped carry a 2015 General Synod resolution calling for support of BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) throughout the denomination, and have studied the Kairos Palestine Document alongside its South African antecedent. Bethel members stay in touch with this partnership through service on CPC-PIN and the CPC Wider Church Ministries Team. Donations to this work can be directed through the Global Ministries online giving page.
Advent, Christmas and Holy Week
Advent at Bethel follows the broader Christian calendar with material from A Sanctified Art. The 2025 series theme, "What do you fear? Insisting on Hope this Advent," invited the congregation to name the fears of the present moment while insisting on hope. On the first Sunday of Advent each year, Bethel offers a Blue Christmas Service at 2:00 p.m. that same afternoon, providing comfort for those who may be struggling to feel merry - those who have lost a loved one or carry any significant loss into the holiday season.
Christmas Eve is celebrated with two services on December 24: a shorter Family Service at 5:00 p.m. and a Candlelight Service at 10:00 p.m. with a number of lessons, carols and special music from the chancel choir. The Children's Christmas Pageant lights up the third Sunday of Advent, and the Sunday after Christmas brings a visit from the John Nilsen Trio.
Holy Week begins with the Palm Sunday processional, in which children and choir members gather at the front entrance of the church and in the narthex for a congregational procession into the sanctuary with palms waving. Pastor David offers a special service and worship concludes with the building of the cross from the trunks of the church's Christmas tree. Maundy Thursday brings a 7:00 p.m. reenactment of the Last Supper focused on Jesus' new commandment to love one another. Good Friday is kept as a Quiet Prayer in the Sanctuary from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m., with worship materials provided for a contemplative sit. Easter Sunday closes the week with the flower-cross ritual, the Hallelujah Chorus and an Easter Egg Hunt for children from birth through fifth grade.
Leadership, Staff and Visiting Bethel
Senior Pastor David Randall-Bodman, a native of Washington County, Maine and a graduate of Bowdoin College and Union Theological Seminary in New York, was ordained in 1988 and called to Bethel in 2003. Before Oregon he served churches in Boulder, Colorado and Harrisonburg, Virginia. He has encouraged the Bethel congregation to embrace a theology of grace and is committed to the United Church of Christ's Still Speaking Initiative. He lives in the community with his wife Jeanne, who serves as Pastor at Kairos-Milwaukie UCC, and their two sons, Caleb and Jacob.
Program Coordinator Erin Barber, a Lake Oswego native and Seattle Pacific University graduate in English and Theatre, directs children's ministry at Bethel after four years in a similar role at Westside Church in Ballard. Director of Music Ministry Melanie Madigan brings a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Concordia College Moorhead and two decades of worship and choir leadership across Denver, Mesa, Arizona and Portland. Office hours run Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Friday hours vary).
First-time visitors will find Bethel at 5150 SW Watson Avenue in downtown Beaverton, convenient to Portland's west side and right next to the Beaverton City Library. Masks are optional in the Sanctuary. The office phone is (503) 646-1191, and the office email is office@bethelbeaverton.org. Worship bulletins and the Weekly Highlights newsletter keep the wider community connected, and giving is available online through e-Giving, by mail, by drop-off in the locked mail slot by the Watson Street doors, or by setting Bethel up as a bill payee through a personal financial institution. After more than a century and a quarter in Beaverton, Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ continues to live out its still-speaking motto in worship, in its work for justice and welcome, and on every corner of life in the city it has called home since 1880.