MissionThe mission of the Bethany House project is to be a community-centered Christian resource, focusing on education, prayer, healing and a lifestyle of simplicity and commonality.
ValuesCommunity – We are a community focused on nonviolent relationship; looking towards a new way of being human as to us by Jesus.
Education/Bible Study – Our studies center around nonviolent Christian theology, which seeks to deweaponize the text of the Bible, revealing instead the life, the hope and the faithfulness of Jesus; and in so doing to enrich the conversation and life of the community. Prayer – Our prayer practice aims to deepen our love for Jesus and for each other; create strong minds and soft hearts; and to help us to grow and be led in the Holy Spirit. Healing – To build a safe space where healing can take place through restored relationships with God, the text, our physical selves and with each other. Nonviolence - We seek nonviolent relationship in all aspects of our Christian journey including our theology, our prayer and our interactions with the world and with each other. |
About UsThe Wood Hath Hope Christian Community was founded in 1999 by Tony and Linda Bartlett and small group of like-minded people. We started as a bible study looking at God's liberation from our besetting human violence. The theories of Rene Girard are an essential lens by which to understand the scripture and discover its present-day meaning.
Anyone is welcome, simply on the basis of each individual's human search for peace. Bible studies consist of looking at the bible as a transformative text and seeking out the revelations it contains. The core focus is on the teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus as an encounter with a new way of being human. The community meeting space was initially a variety of waiting rooms and church halls over the course of seventeen years. In 2014, the community had grown to a place where it needed a meeting space to accommodate its programming and size. In response to this need, the Bartletts sold their family home and bought a house in the Valley neighborhood of Syracuse, NY. The house was in desperate need of repair and renovation, thus it was affectionately referred to as "Lazarus" house, but after two years of hard labor and love it was redeemed as Bethany House. You can see photos of the transformation here. Bethany House is now the Bartlett home, as well as a project of the Wood Hath Hope community. The large back room provides meeting space for a variety of activities, including the long-standing bible study. The space that God has gifted us has provided a way for our community to put down roots. It has allowed our spiritual journey as a community to take more concrete shape and express the new humanity that Jesus is leading us into. |
Meet our Board
JED KISSANEJed Kissane is a early childhood special education inclusion teacher. He lives in Syracuse with his wife and two children. He really likes caterpillars.
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Linda BartlettLinda Bartlett is president of the Board and a founding member of WHH. Linda is married to Tony and mother of three adult children (Christopher, Susannah and Liam). She has been in nursing for twenty-five years- most recently as a nurse practitioner in immune health at Upstate. Linda is happiest when she feels she is building community. She loves to cook and participate in activities that help create order and a peaceful space. Bethany has been a dream of long standing.
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Saorsa WissmanTreasurer
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Margaret [Maggie] CarterMargaret [Maggie] Carter is the Secretary for Wood Hath Hope board. She works as a Human Resources Administrator for Erie Materials. She is an Elder in the Presbyterian church. At present she is a member of Isaiah's Table, a Presbyterian New Mission that provides free breakfast and worship on Saturday mornings and for several years she has attended the WWH Bible studies on Fridays and also the Theology & Peace 2015 conference.
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Ethan BodnarukBoard Members
Ethan Bodnaruk is an waste water engineer passionate about the intersections of science, spirituality, and the environment. He is a Mennonite Christian and co-moderator of the Religions for Peace North American Interfaith Youth Network. Drawn to the contemplative dimensions of the gospel and Christian tradition, he spent almost a year living at two Trappist monasteries immersed in contemplative practices such as Centering Prayer and lectio divina. He previously lived in an intentional Christian community based on the New Monasticism model of Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove and Shane Claiborne. He is proud to be a board member of Wood Hath Hope with its focus on peace, nonviolence, and an alternative view of community for those who don't fit within the mold of traditional Christianity.
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Chris ScanlonBoard Member
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Bethany House is a project of the Wood Hath Hope Community. Wood Hath Hope is a registered 501(c)3 organization.