Bethlehem Lutheran Church
The Heart of Bay Ridge
Sunday Service 10:30am
4th & Ovington Avenues
Brooklyn NY 11209
718.748.9502
Dear Members and Friends,
This month, The Healing Center will be celebrating 25 years of service to our community. Since this ministry is so important to our church mission, I have included my gala journal letter below. May God truly bless this vital work.
Rev. Paul H. Knudsen
Pastor Paul's November Message
Bethlehem Lutheran Church ® | 4th & Ovington Avenues, Brooklyn NY 11209 | 718.748.9502
A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Dear Friends and Supporters of The Healing Center,
Sunday, October 19th was designated as Healing Center Sunday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. At our Sunday morning worship service the ministry of The Healing Center was accentuated and the staff and board of directors were commissioned to another year of mission. The Gospel lesson for that Sunday could not have been more appropriate. We read Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” What is the message of this parable? As God’s people, we need persistence, perseverance and the strength of character to never lose heart and never give up in our quest for justice.
For the last 25 years, the staff and board of The Healing Center have been like this widow. We have persisted. We have persevered. We have never lost heart, and we have never given up. The work of The Healing Center is emotionally draining, difficult and all too often frustrating. But, the work of The Healing Center is filled with meaning, purpose and fulfillment. Every time a client is helped and given the support necessary to become whole again, it is a victory to be celebrated. At The Healing Center everyone is heard, believed and assisted in their journey back to a safe, rewarding life. This is what we do.
In 2000, Antonia Clemente had a vision that involved eradicating family violence in our community. The Healing Center was born. In 2025, this vision is still the motivating force behind our work. Countless women have been blessed with this ministry in the last 25 years and we are not stopping any time soon.
May God Bless our Executive Director, Noeline Maldonado, and her amazing staff. May the widow’s persistence, perseverance and unwillingness to give up or lose heart, be ingrained in their character for years to come.
In the Lord's Service,
