Lots Happening This Weekend
We have lots happening this weekend, especially if you are attending 10:00 worship. At this service, our graduating seniors will be recognized and honored, and members of the Grace Confirmation Class of 1962 will be present to observe the 60th anniversary of their confirmation. The Affirmation of Baptism service will be a part of the worship as members of the '62 Class, our graduates, and all of us will have an opportunity to renew the promises we made when we affirmed our faith in the Rite of Confirmation. Speaking of Confirmation, the final session of our Confirmation program will be held Sunday after church, and our four 8th graders continue the journey to the public affirmation of their faith in the Rite of Confirmation on June 5 at the 10:00 am service.
First "Grace Stories" Email Sent
Welcome to "Grace Stories", where each month, a Grace member will share their inspirational story with you! These will be published on the third Tuesday each month. We hope you will enjoy getting to know your fellow Grace members!
This paragraph in a Grace email that was sent this week welcomed us to a new monthly email feature, "Grace Stories." The impetus for this new feature came from the Grace Stewardship Team's participation in a series of five monthly Zoom meetings offered through GSB Fundraising which focus on congregational communications and storytelling. Our leader, Mitzi, who has had considerable experience in advising nonprofits and congregations in issues related to fund raising and stewardship, has been sharing her expertise with us, which has included guidance in how to write stories about congregation members, with best practices to make those stories memorable and effective in engaging and inspiring congregation members. Agreeing to be the first to tell her story was Beth Muffler, which was shared in Tuesday's email. ICYMI, you can read it HERE. This story will also be featured in each new issue of Grace and Truth. We hope that you will look forward to, open, and read these stories as they are published.
Organ Gets Tuned
Next time you're up in the choir area of the chancel, look up and notice the very small trap door in the ceiling under the pipe chamber. Through this hole our organ tuning technicians go access the organ pipes, and make any tuning adjustments that are warranted. Grace has contracted with a new firm to do our organ tuning, GT Organ Associates, for $700 per tuning, twice a year. GT associates Justin and Jonathan, from Illinois and Indiana, respectively, were present on Thursday and completed the first tuning under our new contract. Firm owner, Glenn Tallar, landed his dream job last fall at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ, as one of the organists at the destination restaurant Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, Arizona. You can read more about Glenn HERE.
Courtyard Fence Ordered
Hardware that will create a fence at the front of the Grace courtyard has been ordered, and will be installed before the start of the fall session of Noah's Ark Preschool. The cost for the fence is being covered with preschool funds, and will create a secure area for Noah's Ark kids to play outside. Another improvement in the courtyard has been the planing of new grass, where the previous overgrown pine tree used to stand. These improvements will make the courtyard more desirable and usable for other congregation activities.
ELCA Statement on the Buffalo Mass Murders
The racially motivated shootings at a Tops grocery story in Buffalo hopefully increases our resolve to condemn the sin of racism that motivates and leads people to carry out these horrific crimes. I encourage you to read the statement published by our ELCA, including the linked document "Condemnation of White Supremacy and Racist Rhetoric." You can read the statement HERE.
More Links for You
Dr. Jacqueline Bussie to speak at Lakeside Chautauqua
Every year for the past 100 years, Lutherans have gathered for a week of worship, learning, fellowship and recreation at Lakesidein an event called Lutheran Lakeside Chautauqua. During my years at St. Peter, Norwalk, I accompanied my high school youth every summer as we stayed for the week in one of the rental unit houses, and participated in Lakeside Activities during this week designed especially for Lutherans.
Every morning from Monday through Friday, we'd attend "Chaplain's Hour" at Hoover Auditorium with a prominent Lutheran leader or teacher as the "Chaplain for the Week." One year the chaplain was anem I'm sure some of you will recognize, Dr. Fred Meuser, who was president at Trinity Seminary for many years. This year, the presenter is Dr. Jacquelie Bussie. These paragraphs will tell you more about Dr. Bussi:
Dr. Jacqueline Bussie is an award-winning author, professor, theologian and student of life in all its messy beauty, as well as a much sought after speaker and workshop facilitator. Her first book, “The Laughter of the Oppressed,” won the national Trinity Prize. Her 2nd book, “Outlaw Christian: Finding Authentic Faith by Breaking the Rules,” won the 2017 Gold Medal Illumination Award for Christian Living. Her third and latest book, “Love Without Limits: Jesus’ Radical Vision for a Love with No Exceptions,” won the Reader’s Favorite Bronze Medal International Book Award for Christian Living, the 2020 IAN Outstanding Religion Book of the Year Award and third Place IAN Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award. Also, Publisher’s Weekly named “Love Without Limits” “a must-read for all Christians interested in inclusivity for their communities.
An active servant-leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Dr. Bussie spent the last 20 years teaching religion to undergraduates at ELCA colleges and serving as the director of the Forum on Faith and Life at Concordia College. Today Dr. Bussie is the executive director of the Collegeville Institute in Collegeville, Minnesota. Every day she is amazed and grateful that she gets to: 1) write and tell her story; 2) empower other people to write and tell theirs; and 3) accompany marvelous people like you on your journey of faith, hope and healing.
Lutheran Lakeside Chautauqua is scheduled for June 20-24, and Dr. Bussie will speak at the Chaplain's Hour which begins at 9:00 each at Hoover Auditorium. Fresh donuts are served on Monday and Friday. Admittance to Lakeside and parking are free for attendance at this event.
Osterholm Update
With the Covid-19 pandemic now passing the grim milestone of 1,000,000 deaths, 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 pandemic in his weekly podcasts. In the latest episode, posted on Thursday, May 19, and entitled "Tougher Than Rocket Science," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the state of the pandemic in the U.S. and around the world, the approval of booster doses for 5-11 year olds in the U.S., and the duration of infectiousness from SARS-CoV-2. You can listen to or download this episode HERE.
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