Small Group Meetings
The first of our Small Group Meetings sponsored by the Transition Team was held Wednesday evening at 6:000 pm with a total of about 20 persons in attendance. We divided into three groups with 5-7 at each table. Two Transition Team members or staff were present at each table, one to ask the questions and one to record responses without desgnation as to who was speaking. Here are the questions we asked:
- When you think of Grace, what has Grace meant for you personally? What brought you here, and what keeps you here?
- What do you see are Grace’s strengths, and what are areas where Grace needs to grow or change?
- As Grace looks to the future, what should be our mission priorities?
- Anything else that’s on your mind that you’d like to share with the group?
The process took about an hour, and there appeared to be good discussion at each table. There are three more in-person meetings scheduled for this weekend, one after each of our weekend services, at 5:00 pm on Saturday, and at 9:00 and 11:15 am on Sunday. We will have masks available in the meeting area and encourage their use, as it is difficult to maintain recommended distancing for such a setting.
For those who would prefer to participate in a meeting via Zoom, there will be two such meetings next week - on Tuesday, October 12 at 10:00 pm and on Thursday, October 14 at 7:00 pm. The congregation has been instructed via October G&T and this week's Just Three Things to to notify the church office of your plans so that we can send a link to the Zoom meeting via email.
Critical Tasks and Gifts for Ministry Survey
In addition to our Small Group Meetings, the Transition Team is asking that you complete a brief survey which will ask you to identify the most critical TASKS that our new pastor will need to address, and the GIFTS FOR MINISTRY that our new pastor will need to bring to our congregation. These are "checkbox lists" on the Ministry Site Profile, so the Transtion Team will simply check tasks and gifts that the largest number of Grace members select in the survey. Also, if you are/were unable to attend one of the Small Group Meetings, this survey will give you an opportunity to respond to the questions that were asked at the meetings.
You can complete and submit the online version of the survey online HERE. Do it right now! It will only take a few minutes! Printed blank surveys will be available in the narthex and Baker Street entrance which can be completed and placed in the survey boxes there, or returned to the church office.
Stewardship Team Continues Plans for Fall Appeal
The Stewardship Team met on Tuesday at 11:30 am for the third Zoom meeting in GSB Fundraising's program "Beginning a Culture of Generoslty." This week's meeting focused on writing the first letter that will be sent to the congregation. GSB provides boilerplate for the letter, and then we adapt it for our own use. The first letter will be mailed out next week, and will include a statement of giving for 2021 contributions to date.
Mary Carmen and Leo Have Returned!
Mary Carmen and Leo were live in person at the LIFT Leaders Meeting on Wednesday at Grace. They arrived on Monday of this week, returning to the apartment that they had rented before they returned to Mexico, only having to remain their because of Covid-19 restrictions. They explained in great detail, which I cannot even begin to describe here, the many hoops they had to jump through in getting their visa to enter and stay in the United States renewed. But by the grace of God, they made it, and are eager to resume their ministry, Camino de Vida. Steve Hottinger, LIFT Board Chair, is collecting for a welcome back Gift Card basket that will be presented to Mary Carmen and Leo. Gifts can be delivered to Linda on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, and Steve will pick them up later in the week.
Has Your Pastor Belonged to a Service Club in the Community?
I ask that question because of my own positive experience of belonging to the Norwalk Kiwanis Club during my 16.5 years as a pastor at St. Peter in Norwalk, and continuing until 2017 when I resigned from the club because I was no longer living in Norwalk. I have great memories of my time in Kiwanis, and even served on the board for several years including a year as President. Being a member of Kiwanis introduced me to many people outside of St. Peter that I wouldn't have otherwise learned to know. The weekly programs kept me informed of things that were happening in the various sectors of the community including government and business.
A number of years ago during my time on the board, as I planned for the installation of the new officers, I wrote some adapted lyrics to the song Country Roads by John Denver, with lyrics that reflected Huron County and club activities that we sang as part of the program. It became an annual ritual on installation day to sing this song. And even after I have left the club, I'm still being invited back to lead the club in singing this song, which I did again yesterday when the new 2021-22 officers were installed.
Present at the meeting to do the installation was the local Kiwanis Division (area clubs) "Leiutenant Governor". He reported on what other area clubs were doing, including the amazing project of the Fremont Kiwanis in building an "All Inclusive Play Park." An astouding statistic was the the club had raised $600,000 toward this project. I found an article on the web that describes the recent completion of the first phase of this project, which you can read HERE.
I'm reporting this to encourage you to encourage your pastor to join one of the local service clubs. Kiwanis would be a good choice. Pay his or her dues to belong. St. Peter paid mine to belong to Kiwanis, and for Pastor Wiechers to belong to Rotary.
Meeting with Bishop and Synod Staff on October 29
Received an email from Pastor Matt -- he and Pastor Paul have exchanged emails in recent days with Synod staff members Deacon Sherry Krieger and Pastor Sarah Schaaf with respect to Trinity's decision to begin the process of disbanding in the weeks ahead, expressing excitement over Pastor Mary Carmen and Leo returning to Fremont and Camino de Vida, and discussion with Grace's transition in the call process. Pastor Matt indicated that Deacon Sherry has asked us if we might be able to gather together for conversation on Friday, October 29th, 2:00pm. Next paragraph quoted from Pastor Matt's email:
Not sure exactly where the meeting might be just yet. But I wanted to see if that date might work for you, and try to put it on our calendars if so. The rest of the nitty-gritty would come soon. The idea would be to share in conversation together, talking through LIFT ministry and possibilities ahead for the future, with Bishop Daniel present, too. We can make it as wide open of a meeting as we'd like. In addition to Steve Hottinger (chair of the LIFT Board), I'd like to invite our council president from St. John's, Brenda Hetrick, as a possibility to join us. Maybe it makes sense for each of us to do something like that.
Ed, Maureen and I have indicated that the date and time works for us.
Latest Osterholm Podcast
Dr. Michael Osterholm, founder and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, continues to deliver solid scientific analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic in his weekly podcasts. In this episode, posted on October 7 and entitled "A Surge in Optimism," Dr. Osterholm offers his perspective on COVID mitigation strategies in schools, the new antiviral drug molnupiravir, the unpredictability of the upcoming flu season, and optimism after receiving his booster shot. You can listen to or download this episode HERE.
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