Interim Grace Notes for February 10, 2023

Congregation Picture Directory Update

We are making progress on the directory. This past week, Heather cropped all the portraits that Dave took of us last fall, as well as the ones that have been submitted. Cropping ensures that we see more of the beautiful faces, and less of the blah background. I met with Linda and we discussed the options that are available to us to put this directory together in a way that it can easily be created and distributed, both in hard copy format in a book, and digitally online in pdf format. Stay tuned, be patient, we'll get it done, we promise!

Backpack Buddies Update

This week we received this message from Pr. Paul about LIFT's Backpack Buddies program:

Backpack Buddies: Thank you for your generosity! The support of this new ministry was overwhelming. Our team has menus and inventory prepared through the end of the school year for our weekend hunger project with Lutz Elementary. No more in-kind food donations are needed until the Fall. See you in August! In the meantime, please consider donating to other important ministries, including Bridge of Hope. Thank you!

Bishop Daniel's February 7, 2023 Email

Be sure to read Bishop Daniel's latest email, in which he shares a beautiful story written by Pr. Sarah Schaaf, on synod staff as Director of Community Engagement, of her dear grandmother, followed by a Jesus story centered on Mary and Elizabeth. The email is an introduction to our synod's theme for 2023: "The Year of Story." Bishop Daniel identifies three objectives to this year's theme:

1. To help you experience the connection between God’s story and our stories.
2. To help you become aware of the Holy Spirit at work in your life.
3. To help you learn and share the Jesus story.

You can read the rest of Bishop Daniel's email HERE.

Fremont Native Co-Chairs Ecumenical Talks

Rev. Patricia Lull, a Fremont native and daughter of St. John's Lutheran, and currently Bishop of the St. Paul Synod of the ELCA, is co-chair of the 13th round of ecumenical talks between the ELCA and the Roman Catholic Church. Round 13 will be dedicated to a "mutual exploration and learning about holy orders/office of ministry as understood in the Catholic and (ELCA) Lutheran traditions, with special attention to the distinctive role of episcope in each tradition." It is good for us to know that our church, the ELCA, "is committed to visible unity among Christians as well as mutual understanding and cooperation for the common good between Christians and people of other religions and worldviews." You can read more about what our ELCA is currently doing ecumenically HERE

LIFT Leaders Met Wednesday

LIFT Leaders met for their First Wednesday meeting this week. One of the issues we are addressing is the communication piece, which is always a challenge, because even when we do our best to communicate, many still don't get the message. Pastor Paul put together a schedule grid listing all the activities from all the LIFT congregations, and also posted a 4-minute video to the LIFT Facebook Page. He also put together a "monthly" LIFT newsletter, which you can view HERE. You can also read the latest issue of weekly LIFT Notes HERE. We also shared our plans for Lent, and reviewed our plan to distribute drive-thru ashes on Ash Wednesday from noon until 5pm in the Grace west parking lot.

Zion Huron Saying Goodbye to Pastor Kris

Pastor Kristine Schroeder, who has been pastor at Zion Huron since 2018, will preach her final sermon this Sunday. Pastor Kris was called to Zion at the same time her husband, Bill, was called as pastor to St. Paul's in Sandusky, a congregation which has recently closed. This adds another congregation in our Eastern Conference which is or will be in the call process. Here are the congregations in process:

Interviewing
Grace, Fremont (Mary Satterfield, Call Facilitator)
St. John, Bellevue (Mary Boals, Call Facilitator)
Trinity, Sandusky

In Transition Process and Study
Zion, Sandusky
Zion, Huron

Synod Transitional Leaders Meet

Synod Transitional Leaders meet monthly via Zoom -- since there are many congregations in our synod in transition, and since the meeting also includes some Call Process Facilitators, this Zoom gets rather large. We had 18 in attendance at this month's meeting this past Thursday.