Welcome to Bethesda Church

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we welcome you to the website of Bethesda Church, Saratoga Springs.

As a parish church in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, we are part of the larger Anglican Communion, a global Christian denomination which, in the United States, is called The Episcopal Church. The liturgies at Bethesda are built upon a strong scriptural foundation, and benefit from the rich textual and choral heritage of the Anglican tradition. We gather in a beautiful, historic building for all of our worship services and many of our activities.

As our parish nears the beginning of its third century, we invite you to grow in Christ with us. We hope this website will help you get started. Below are some tips for making good use of it. And, of course, we hope to meet you in person. Please come for a worship service or other event. If you are a first-time visitor, you might also find visitor information and newcomer information helpful.

Navigating the Website

If your primary goal is to know what’s currently happening or in the works at Bethesda, spend some time navigating through the calendar and latest news. While most of the information in the other sections of this website won’t change much week by week and month by month, the calendar and latest news are frequently updated. So come back often.

Navigating the Calendar

When you click on calendar in the menu, please notice that you are given the option to switch among list view, month view, or day view. Regardless of which view you prefer, you can click through to any of the days or events listed on the page. You’ll also notice that we try to provide everything associated with an event on the calendar page for that event. So, for example, if you are looking for the Sunday bulletin for the 10am worship service for a particular date, you can go to that event, and the bulletin will be there. (If it isn’t there, it is because the bulletin has not yet been finished.)

Also, if you want to search for an event, use the “search box” that appears at the top of the calendar page, as opposed to the main search box in the header of the website. The search feature works best when you are in “list view” on the calendar.

Finally, please note that this version of the Bethesda website went live in early March 2022. Therefore, there are very few events prior to February listed on the calendar.

Navigating Latest News

When you click on latest news in the menu, you see a list of all news items posted on this website, with the most recent item at the top. Simply click on the title to read the whole post. You can also filter news items by category: news items related to worship or parish life or giving, or news items that we think might be of particular interest to newcomers.

Since the current version of the Bethesda website launched in early March 2022, you won’t see many news items dated before that time.

Navigating the Other Pages

All of the pages on the website (home, about us, worship, parish life, newcomers, giving, and contact us) are mostly text which is best explored by reading top to bottom, or scanning the subheadings. These pages are ideal ways to learn about Bethesda if you are a newcomer, and we hope you’ll take some time to explore them.

Using the Search Boxes

Please note that there are two different search boxes. One is at the top of the screen in the header. That search box yields results for the entire website except the calendar. To search for specific calendar items, use the search box at the top of calendar view. We recommend using the calendar search box when in “list view.”

Navigating the Parish

If you are new to Bethesda, the best way to learn about us is to get to know us, ideally in person. You can use this website to get started down that path:

• We are what we do, and at heart of what we do is worship. So a good way to learn about us is to join us for a worship service.
• We are what we do, and we do quite a bit. So join us for other events as well.
• Introduce yourself to the leaders. The priest-in-charge and vestry are listed here.
• If you are interested in talking about becoming a Christian, an Episcopalian, or a member of this parish, you can learn how to do that here.
• If you are interested in becoming more involved in the parish, there are ways to do that. Learn about some of those ways here.
• If you have questions and want to meet with someone to talk, you can schedule that by contacting us.
• If you are willing to help us financially, we thank God for that, and for you! You can learn how to do that here.