God's Work Our Hands Went Well
LIFT participated in the ELCA-wide Day of Service -- God's Work Our Hands (GWOH) for the first time on Sunday. About 25 persons from Grace, St. John's and St. Mark met at 11:30 am at St. Mark, where our hosts had our lunchroom festively decorated and served a tasty luncheon of deluxe sandwiches, chips, pop, and a "hand" cookie (you'll see one in the pics if you look). Following lunch we divided into four service groups:
- Mulching and weeding at Birchard Place (FKA Community Fortress)
- Clothes sorting at Alicia’s Closet, a resource for foster families, housed at St. John’s
- A project with LIFT’s Bridge of Hope pantry
- Card and letter writing for shut-ins, advocacy, and the incarcerated at St. Mark
I joined the group that went to 410 Birchard Ave., FKA Community Fortress, transitional housing for homeless. The building is now under new management, but continuing services for homeless individuals. The new owner/manager is New Housing Ohio (NHO). NHW was very appreciative of the work we did - they reposted LIFT's post of photos from our work at the site. Kudos to Pastor Paul who did the lion's share of the organizing for this event, and to St. Mark's for hosting the lunch with GWOH decoration. Pastor Paul took lots of photos which are posted on the LIFT Facebook page, which you can view HERE. There are about ten posts on our GWOH day with lots of pics. Be sure to check them all out!
Sympathy to Jody Jess
We extend our sympathy to Jody Jess and her family on the death of her father Paul Roberts. Visitation and service will be at Foos in Clyde on Saturday, September 6, beginning at 11:00 am. The service will be at 3:00 pm. You can find the obituary HERE. Rest eternal grant him, O Lord!
LIFT Leaders
Lift Leaders met at Noon on Wednesday. We discussed the GWOH and agreed that it went well -- there was some overlap with Rally Day, which also traditionally is held on othe Sunday after Labor Day. We may decide to do it on a different weekend next year. It was good to see Pastor Mary Carmen again -- she and Leo have recently returned from a trip to Mexico - a sad one as Leo's brother-in-law died while they were there.
Stewardship Team Zoom
The Stewardship Team met on Thursday at 11:30 to jointly join (sounds redundant, I know) a Zoom meeting that is part of the support we receive for our participation in The Stewardship for All Seasons program. The busiest part of the program is the appeal, and we are getting much help and direction to carry out the appeal at Grace. The main topic of our Zoom meeting was "Inspiration," learning why it's important and how to do it. A part of that comes with Stewardship Temple Talks, which we will do on the last two weekends in October and the first in November. Following the Zoom, we met to review the draft of the appeal brochure, which outlines our stewardship goals and ministry that we hope to fund in 2024, and plans for our Temple Talks. The appeal will launch on October 15, and our Ingathering Sunday is November 12.
Symphony Sponsorship Letters Out
The Toledo Symphony Orchestra Community Christmas Concert at Grace is scheduled for Friday, December 1, 2023, at 7:30 pm. The planning committee is again offering sponsor categories, as follows:
| Platinum Angel | $2,000 or more | 30 free tickets |
| Gold Angel | $1,000 | 20 free tickets |
| Silver Angel | $500 | 10 free tickets |
| Bronze Angel | $300 | 8 free tickets |
| Pewter Angel | $200 | 6 free tickets |
| Patron I | $100 | 4 free tickets |
| Patron II | $50 | 2 tickets |
If you'd like to join as a sponsor, or simply purchase single tickets, stop at the church office during office hours. Checks should be made payable to Grace Lutheran Church, earmarked for the Toledo Symphony. I attended last year, and it was wonderful -- Don't miss it if you don't have to!
Links for You
Personal Note - Marcy's Retirement
On Tuesday evening I joined Marcy in attending the Norwalk City School Board meeting where she was recognized on the occasion of her retirement after 26 years of service, 25 as a 5th grade teacher. You can view the Norwalk Reflector's coverage of the event, which also recognized retiring teacher Jessica Enderle, HERE.
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