Rally Day is This Sunday This Sunday - 9/11/22 ~ 9am
There will be special activities and projects for all ages & families! All the fun and excitement will be happening in the Dining Room!
- Prize Drawings
- Games
- Prayer Stations
- 9/11 Tribute
- 3rd grade Bibles @ 10am service -Pre-K Area & Pre-school Open
SERVICE PROJECTS
- Ryan’s Case for Smiles
- Coasters for Shut-Ins
- Cards for Military
Chosen Adult Class will Take a Break Sunday
We received word from Les and Marcella that the adult class that has been viewing the Chosen videos will take a break this Sunday, and will resume sessions on the 18th.
Diakonia Begins September 22
During my time as the interim at First in Galion, I learned that four First members, including Kevin, the congregation president, were in the second year of a synod program that I didn't even know existed. The program is called "Diakonia," a two-year program that meets for 30 three hour sessions (6-9pm) from September through May, divided into six 5-week courses that cover everything from Old and New Testament basics to Church History and Pastoral Care. The Diakonia program in our synod was introduced by Pastor Adam Sornchai (St. John's Windfall Cardington), who experienced the program in his native New York, and was limited to attendees in the Southeast Conference of our Synod.
I quickly became aware of the impact that this program had on the congregation -- those four who attended were already active members, but participation in this program provided additional learning, skills and encouragement to be better lay leaders. Supply pastor while I'm on vacation or continuing ed on a Sunday? Not needed. Three of the four Diakonia attendees stepped up and led worship on the Sundays I was gone.
By the time I had arrived at my next interim at St. John's Bellevue, Diakonia had expanded to other parts of the synod, including a group that served our Eastern Conference, and the North Central Conference. These sessions were held at Grace Fremont, and included Grace's own Chris Young as one of the leaders.
As the 2019-2020 Diakonia program year approached, I encouraged several St. John's members to attend, and to my surprise, five agreed to participate, and all five finished the program, through the heart of the pandemic when sessions moved to a Zoom format. One of the St. John's attendees, Rocky Eskins, said this about Diakonia:
If you want to find a bright light then Diakonia is for you! When you participate in Diakonia you don’t just find God, you find yourself. Doing Diakonia made me stronger in my faith and more caring for others.
I could certainly have been more aggressive in promoting Diakonia with you at Grace. But let me say this: I recommend anyone reading this to consider participating in Diakonia. I know, I should have done this at least a month ago. The new season of Diakonia begins September 22. You can learn more from the NWOS email that was sent earlier this week. You can view and read it HERE. There is a $65 fee for each six-week class. If finances are an issue, let me know and we'll work something out.
Stewardship Team Continues Plans for Fall Campaign
The Grace Stewardship Team met on Wednesday, continuing the plans for our fall Stewardship Campaign. We will be building on last year's theme of "Live Generously," with the theme "Live Simply." Here is a summary description of our theme:
We experience change at a rapid rate. Along with change comes the pressure to upgrade our homes, cars, technology, possessions, education, vocations. At the same time, we are encouraged to economize, or perhaps we are forced to consider doing so because of our circumstances. In this dichotomy, we long for a simpler way and a less demanding life.
God can help us with all this! We hear lots of talk, but we also want to hear God talk. In our "Live Simply" stewardship emphasis, we will listen for God’s voice above the clutter. The Live Simply emphasis offers four weeks of worship focus, culminating with a commitment Sunday. The emphasis has four subthemes:
- Live Simply: Follow Jesus
- Live Simply: Face the Truth
- Live Simply: Act Together
- Live Simply: Share Enough
Paul shares his simple secret of contentment in Philippians 4 when he says that he can do all things through Christ. As our congregation learns to more fully follow and rely on Jesus while loving and serving in community, we can experience the joy of a simple yet generous and abundant life and faith -- life that really is life.
Our program will kick off on Sunday, October 13, and we are still fine tuning the schedule for best Sundays to distribute Stewardship packets with intent cards, and to receive completed intents.
The committee will be looking for Generosity Stories (a story that describes how you have experienced generosity in your life), and for brief "Why I give" stories, one or two sentences that answer that question, responses that we will include in our mailings to the congregation during the campaign.
Montgomery/Hutton Wedding This Weekend
Grace member Mallory Hutton will be tying the knot with her fiance, Kyle Hutton on Saturday, 1:30 pm at Grace. Prayers for Mallory and Kyle in their new life together!
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Worship Meeting on Wednesday
The main agenda for our Wednesday meeting was to review the service changes that will begin this Sunday. We will be introducing several new musical numbers, and returning to some that are familiar:
- Hymn of Praise -- Listen, You Nations LBW 17 -- probably will be new to most, but used regularly by many congregations in the lead up to the introduction of LBW in the 1970's
- Alleluia -- Celtic Alleluia -- ELW 174 -- new to me, but I like it
- Offering Response -- We Are an Offering -- ELW 692 -- We used this last fall
- Holy, Holy, Holy -- ELW 192 -- We stopped using this element after our return to the sanctuary, and are adding it again now, along with the Proper Preface. This setting will be new to the congregation.
- Lamb of God -- ELW 195 -- This might be new, but it is very easy and I know you will like it.
Transitional Leaders Meeting
On Thursday I participated in the synod Transitional Leaders meeting via Zoom. There was a baker's dozen of us that gathered for this monthly meeting. It's always good to touch base with other leaders of congregations who are in transition between called leaders.
Just Three Things
ICYMI, you can read this week's email HERE.
Bethany Place Sale
Was anyone surprised that Bethany Place senior housing was sold? I didn't realize until now that this was a Genacross property. Genacross is one of our synod's affiliated social services agencies that specializes in housing for seniors and for troubled youth. You can read about the sale on page 4 of the most recent Genacross newsletter called The Friend which you can find HERE.
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