Interim Grace Notes for December 31, 2021

Interim Grace Notes for December 31, 2021

We Have a Call Committee!

Members of the Call Committee are:

• Roger Haynes
• Nelda Bauer
• Greg Jess
• Kathy Burmeister
• AJ Mehlow
• Kristen Lindsay
• Levi Cooper
• Kaitlyn Fischer
• Ike Durell
• Ed Muffler

The mext step is to get that group together to elect a chair. I'll need to make some calls to get a few missing email addresses. Mary Satterfield, the Call Process Facilitator for Grace, will convene and orient the Committee sometime in January.

Christmas Eve

I thought Christmas Eve went very well. Attendance was 173 at the 6pm service, and 113 at the 9pm service. Tom put together a wonderful collection of music numbers, including harpist and former Grace member Karen Svanoe Westgate. In a conversation with Karen, I discovered some interesting connections. Karen's father grew up in Mission Hill, SD, south of Sioux Falls, attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD (about 30 miles from my hometown of Hendricks, MN), and then went to graduate school at Ohio State, which explains the Ohio and Fremont connection. For her last two years of high school, Karen attended a Lutheran high school that many members of her extended family had attended, Augustana Academy in Canton, SD, where she knew well the school's janitor, Pete Halvorson, the father of my cousins Lela, Galen, and their sibs who also attended the school. My uncle Einar also attended the school before he went to seminary and became a pastor. Another conncection with Karen is that I have attended continuing education events at Winter Park, CO with her cousin Rolf Svanøe.

Funeral for Paul Zilles

Today I conducted a graveside funeral service for Paul Zilles at the Faust Cemetery. Brother Bob (and Lil) attended - other brother Leonard (Florida) and sister Joyce (Fremont) were unable to attend. You can read the full obit HERE.

Year End Ask from NWOS

I received this email from the synod with regard to an end of the year fundraising program for Lutheran Disaster response, which ties in with the 2021 Year of Generosity. This ask is very timely, not only because of the devastating and deadly tornadoes that swept through Tennessee, Kentucky and other states recently, but now also the fires in Colorado. I have been hearing from pastor friends who have been close to these fires and who know people whose homes have been destroyed. The email content is copied below:

As we say farewell to 2021, we give thanks to God for all of the ways the Northwestern Ohio Synod has been richly blessed by the greater church, and we thank you for joining us in the Year of Generosity as we work to extend that blessing to others.

In the history of the Northwestern Ohio Synod, Lutheran Disaster Response has so generously walked with us at critical moments, as we have recovered and rebuilt after floods, tornadoes, and most recently, the impact of COVID-19. Over the past few months we have been in partnership with Lutheran Disaster Response, supporting their remarkable mission as they offer substantial relief to those who are struggling from COVID-19, from political crises, and from natural disasters.

On this final day of 2021, we invite you to join us in reaching our $100,000 goal set by the Council of the Northwestern Ohio Synod, to support our siblings in Christ in the United States and around the world who are in need.

We thank you again for your partnership, and may you and your loved ones have a very happy New Year!

For more information about this Year End Ask, you can go HERE. There are links on this page to give, but my suggestion would be to give through the Grace offering plate. Just mark your gift "Disaster Response." I made a gift after the tornadoes, and will make another in light of the Colorado fires.

Latest Osterholm Update

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 the latest episode, posted on Thursday, December 22, and entitled "On Viral Time," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant, how the United States and other countries around the world are responding to the Omicron surge, and how to approach the holidays. You can listen to or download this episode HERE.