Interim Grace Notes for June 18, 2021

Thanks and Appreciation for Jean and George

Jean Dupey announced at Council Meeting Monday night that she and George are retiring from their service as Sunday Morning worship openers. They have faithfully been doing this job for about nine years. It's not an easy task, as there are a number of doors to unlock and lights to turn on in a very large building. They will continue to open until (a) replacement(s) is(are) found. Many thanks and much appreciation, Jean and George, for your faithful service!!

Broad Overview of the Interim Process

At the Council meeting Monday night I presented a "Broad Overview of the Interim Process" along with two possible schedules for this interim time. Council agreed to pursue the first option, which proposes a shorter time frame to carry out the necessary tasks of the interim process. This process includes the appointment of a Transition Team, whose main tasks will be to gather input from congregation, analyze the needs in the neighborhood and community, work on the vision and purpose of the congregation, and complete the Ministry Site Profile, the multi page document that will describe Grace to potential pastoral candidates.

Workshop/Training for Council and Transition Team

At the Council meeting Monday night, we agreed on a date and time for a three-hour workshop/training for members of Council and the Transition Team. During this workshop I will cover several areas that are integral to the interim process, including the stages and tasks, or focus points of the interim period, the congregation as an emotional system, and some review of biblical and theological basics. The tentative date for this training is during Council meeting time on Monday, July 12, from 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm.

Pastor's Message for July Grace and Truth

My pastor's message for the July issue of Grace and Truth is a brief description of the interim process, with some of the information that I have already shared with Council in the "Broad Overview of the Interim Process" document, also linked above. You can certainly read that message when your copy of G&T arrives, but if you'd like a preview of my message, you can read it HERE.

June 17 - Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine

As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9 -- the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. I was serving an interim congregation in Minnesota at the time, and I joined a group of area pastors for a time of prayer and reflection on this horrible tragedy. You can read the resolution HERE. The ELCA website has a page dedicated to telling this story, along with resources for prayer, worship and reflection. You can view that page HERE, which includes this description:

On June 17, 2015, Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Lee Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson were murdered by a self-professed white supremacist while they were gathered for Bible study and prayer at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (often referred to as Mother Emanuel) in Charleston, South Carolina. Pastors Pinckney and Simmons were both graduates of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. A resolution to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance for the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine was adopted by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on August 8, 2019. Congregations of the ELCA are encouraged reaffirm their commitment to repenting of the sins of racism and white supremacy which continue to plague this church, to venerate the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine, and to mark this day of penitence with study and prayer.

Emails from NWOS-ELCA.ORG

• NWOS News - You can read the June 17 issue HERE.
• Bishop Daniel's most recent email is entitled: "A Place of Rest." You can read it HERE.
• Bishop Daniel's 25th ordination anniversary. More info on the celebration HERE.

Pastor Paul and LIFT make synod email

Pastor Paul was featured in Bishop Daniel's May 26 email, which describes the awarding of several microgrants that have been offered through our Northwestern Ohio Synod. Our LIFT ministry "was awarded a $2000 Community Regeneration Grant to host a community wide 'block party', to highlight and learn about regenerative resources within the Fremont community, and to build relationships with the people of Fremont." The Grace Christian Missions / Outreach Committee has morphed into the Block Party planning committee for this big event in August, which will feature a car show, free food, DJ, bounce houses, and Kona ice. You can read Bishop Daniel's message and view the pic of him with Pastor Paul and a giant check HERE.

My 50th High School Reunion

I have received official word on the date of my 50th high school reunion in Hendricks, Minnesota. The date is Saturday, September 18. I would like to attend, and would plan to take some vacation time including a Sunday on September 19. Thankfully, Maureen's 50th celebration does not conflict with mine! She will be celebrating in August.

Marcy in the News

Recently, my wife Marcy was featured in an article in Norwalk's new online newspaper, Norwalk Ohio News. It tells of how she involved her 5th grade science students at Norwalk Main Street School in the MacGyver Wind Lift Challenge, which was spearheaded by the Ohio Energy Project. You can read the article HERE.

Just Three Things About Just Three Things

• Just Three Things is a brief, informative email sent out every Friday morning by the Grace office staff to Grace members and others on the email list. This email serves as a reminder of the regular weekend worship schedule, happenings for the coming week, and any other notable scheduled events or activities. An impressive communication piece!
• Linda and I made a few changes in the format of the email to make the email more user friendly, especially for those viewing it on their smartphones.
• Mailchimp, the platform that we use to create and send the emails, and manage the email list, reports "open rates," the percentage of each email sent that are opened by recipients. The open rate on Just Three Things is consistently over 50%. As a point of reference, my Mailchimp emails at St. John's Bellevue hovered in the 30's, occasionally reaching 40.

Three Pitfalls to Avoid

Speaking of three, here's a blog post from the folks at Breeze, which is the company that developed the online church management software used by my previous interim congregation, St. John's in Bellevue, that speaks of three pitfalls to avoid post-covid. I've found their blog posts interesting and helpful. You can read this post HERE.