Interim Grace Notes for October 27, 2023

New Hymnals Have Arrived!

The new Evangelical Lutheran Worship books that were ordered from Augsburg Fortress arrived earlier this week. The approximately 250 books were unloaded via a forklift from the truck, and set down in the counting room where they will need to be unpacked (four to a box - that's lots of cardboard) and the bookplates with names of donors and those who are being memorialized or honored attached on the inside front cover. The office will need some volunteers to complete this task, so stay tuned for an announcement soliciting your help.

We are also awaiting the arrival of a shipment of 40 hymnals from the Arkansas-Oklahoma synod that were brought to their synod office after the closure of several synod congregations. We are taking them off their hands, all we have to do is reimburse them for the shipping costs.

Stewardship Printing Items Have Arrived!

The shippers have been working overtime to deliver all this good stuff to Grace. There are two publicity elements of our Stewardship Appeal that we had professionally printed -- an 8-page brochure, and the detachable intent card which includes "Weekly Giving" and "How to Calculate Your Gift" charts.

These two printed items will be included with the second letter which will be mailed on Monday, November 6. Members will be asked to review all the printed materials, and complete the Intent Card and bring to worship the following weekend, November 11-12.

In our appeal this year we are seeking an increase of $40,000 in giving to fund three ministry initiatives, which I describe in my November Grace & Truth Pastor message, which you can also read HERE. These three ministry initiatives have and will be highlighted in bulletin inserts on October 22, 29 and November 5, as well as in the appeal brochure.

Members of Council and the Stewardship Team were mailed their appeal letter today, and I have asked them to report via email their plans for increasing their giving to the church office by next Friday. Their combined offering increases, along with my pledged increase of 20% will be reported in the 2nd appeal letter referenced above. We hope that these intents of increased giving will inspire other congregation members in reaching our goal. Thank you everyone for your generous support of ministry through Grace!

Great Hymns Of Faith Rehearsals and Concert Scheduled

LIFT’s Great Hymns of Faith Choral Festival will be November 5 at 4 PM at Grace. The theme is “With Gratitude and Remembrance.” Rehearsals are November 4 from 10 AM to 12 PM & 1:30 to 3:30 PM and November 5 from 2 to 3:30 PM. Firelands Symphony Choir directdor Michael Shirtz will again be the director for this excellent musical event.

Fireside News

Hopewood Outdoors (formerly LOMO) publishes a weekly email with highlights of past and future events at our camps, Hopewood Pines (formerly Lutheran Memorial Camp, or LMC) and Hopewood Shores (formerly Camp Luther). You can read the latest issue HERE.

Links for You

• LIFT Notes
• Just Three Things
• Grace & Truth November Issue

Interim Grace Notes for October 20, 2023

Interim Grace Notes for October 20, 2023

Stewardship Appeal Update

We launched our 2023 Stewardship Appeal last weekend, and began using a Stewardship Litany instead of Confession and forgiveness, that we will use for the remaining five weeks of the campaign.

This weekend, Becky Seibert will deliver a temple talk at the beginning of worship. After the Sharing of the Peace and before the offering, I will deliver a brief Mission Moment on the first Ministry Initiative that we are hoping to fund with increases in giving: Grow and Develop Noah's Ark Preschool.

To learn more about the goals of our Stewardship Appeal and the ministry initiatives that are encouring members to fund with increased giving, I invite you to read my November Pastor's Message for Grace & Truth, which you can read HERE.

We have received all of our promotional items from the designer in pdf format, and those items are in the process of being printed and shipped. I encourage you to preview the promotional items using the links below:

• Brochure (Will be mailed with second campaign letter on Monday, November 6. As you view the brochure, keep in mind that it is laid out in 8 panels, and will be double folded. The first panel, which says "Invitation" is actually the last page of the brochure. The next panel with the processional cross is the cover of the brochure.
• Bulletin Inserts (3) One insert for each of the three Ministry Initiatives, used on October 22, October 29 and November 5.
• Intent Card Will be included in the second campaign letter along with the brochure. Members will be asked to complete the card and bring with them to worship on November 12, or bring or email to the church office.

Stewardship Team and Council Members will receive their intent cards on Monday, October 30, and are asked to return them to the church office by noon on Friday, November 3. This will enable us to report the response (numbers only, of course) to the congregation as leading gifts in the campaign.

Pizza and Popcorn Sales

Some of our church kids are selling yummy things to raise funds for school and Scout activities. Riley Hawn is selling Little Caesars Pizza Kits (fixings for 3 pizzas - I got one last year and they are very easy to prepare and taste excellent) and frozen cookie dough. You can support Riley by buying from her online by using this link: Riley's Eastwood Band Boosters Pizza Fundraiser. Use the following steps:

• Enter Riley's Fundraiser ID, which is 427547.
• Click "Check Fundraiser"
• Click "Confirm Fundraiser"
• Click on Pizza and Specialty Kits or Cookie Dough
• Click on which product you want to purchase
• In the left column, enter the number you want and click on "Add to Cart"
• When you are done shopping, click on checkout
• The first box will be "Seller Name" Enter "Riley Hawn."
• Enter your name, address and credit card info
• Click continue to finish your purchase
• Riley will deliver your pizzas to you and get credit for your purchase which she will accumulate through her middle and high school years to help fund her future band trips

Carter, Kelsey and Lauren Wagner are selling Scout Popcorn. To see what's available, go to the Erie Shores Council Popcorn Sale page, which you can view HERE. Carter, Kelsey and Lauren's mom, Danielle, can also help you get popcorn ordered, and like Riley, will deliver your popcorn to you at church.

Joy Circle

On Tuesday I led the Bible Study for the October meeting of Joy Circle. The theme was Sanctuary. It's always an enjoyable time spent with this group of Grace women.

Links for You

• LIFT Notes
• ELCA Worship News
• ELCA Seeds Monthly
• ELCA Worship News
• ELCA World Hunger News

Interim Grace Notes for October 13, 2023

Fall Fest to Move Indoors

With horrible weather (rain, wind) predicted for the weekend, the Fall Fest planning team has decided to move some of the outdoor events indoors, including the Soup Cookoff. The DJ will make his own call, and if the weather's bad, the car show persons will just not come. That shouldn't stop us from coming to Grace from 4-6 on Sunday for some fun and lots of will be very tasty soup samples!

Update on New ELW Hymnals

We now have enough new ELW (Evangelical Lutheran Worship) books sponsored (252) along with used books donated by closed congregations (162) to go ahead with ordering the new books. The Toledo Symphony Committee voted to provide $1,000 from the Symphony fund to cover the cost of a price increase and shipping. The church office will prepare bookplates with memorial information, and volunteers will apply the bookplates on the inside cover of new hymnals once they arrive. This will all take a bit more time - I'm hoping we have the ELW's in the pews in time for Advent.

Parking Lot

At Council Monday night, funding was approved for parking lot sealing and striping. Logistics include finding a contractor to do the job in the remaining warmer days of fall. A stopgap solution short of full sealing and striping will be to get cracks sealed.

Praying for Peace in the Middle East

The news stories of terrorist killings and kidnappings by Hamas on innocent Israeli men, women and children in southern Israel have been horrifying, and the violence and death only seem to be escalating as Israel prepares for a Gaza invasion. Our ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has issued a statement, which you can read HERE. Bp. Eaton's message has several links at the bottom, including Churches for Middle East Peace which does a weekly Zoom prayer meeting on Wednesdays from 12:30 - 1:00 pm. I'm planning to check this out. Zoom link can be found HERE.

Learning About the History of Modern Israel

This week in the Wednesday Spirit Bible Study that I lead, we began to learn more about the history of modern Israel beginning with the beginnings of Zionism (the belief that Jews should return to their ancestral home) and the immigration of Jews to Palestine in the late 1800's. We got as far as 1947, and the United Nations Partition of Palestine in 1947. We will continue to review the history with the War of Independence and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and the several wars and continuing conflict that has been a way of life up until the present day. I will draw on some of my own experience - I spent January of 1974 in Israel on a college trip, three months after the Yom Kippur, or October war of 1973. Come and join us and learn more about the story behind the news - 6:00 on Wednesday, and join us also for supper -- the menu looks fantastic! (Pork Roast, Mashed Potatoes w/Gravy, Stuffing, Green Beans, Dinner Roll)

Stewardship Program Ready to Launch

Our Stewardship Appeal, under the theme "Blessed to Be A Blessing," will launch this weekend and will run for six weeks. During these weeks, instead of Confession and Forgiveness we will use a Stewardship Litany. On October 22, 29 and November 5, Grace members will share stories of faith, mission and generosity in temple talks at the beginning of worship. Prior to the offering on those weekends, we will hear of three mission initiatives that we are are asking for increases in our giving to fund. Everyone will receive a Statement of Intent card in the mail, and be asked to return it on November 12. Pastor, Stewardship Team and Council members will complete theirs first, and inspire the rest of us with our leadership. We'll report and celebrate the results with refreshments following worship on November 19. A professionally designed brochure, intent card, and bulletin inserts will help to tell the story and inspire us to participate. Pray that we meet our campaign goals!

Links for You

• LIFT Notes
• Just Three Things
• Fireside News (Hopewood Outdoors)

Interim Grace Notes for October 6, 2023

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom was born on this date, October 6, in 1911. She died in 2002 at the age of 90. You can read more about her in an ancestors.com page which you can view HERE. My brother Phil and I are featured on this page, and I can assure you that neither of us is "deceased."

Wedding Weekend!!

The Grace Knot Tyers have been working overtime this weekend with rehearsals on Friday and weddings on Saturday. I'm presiding for the wedding of Seth Jett and Savannah Parsons at Grace, and Maureen is co-presiding with Pastor Jarrod Schaaf at St. John Port Clinton for the wedding of Megan Hawk and Cori Colston.

Stewardship Committee Continues Appeal Plans Continue

Stewardship met for their regular monthly meeting, with the coming fall appeal the main item of business. We spent time reviewing our schedules and to-do list for our fall appeal which kicks off October 15. We are waiting for our brochure design to be sent for our review and approval for printing. The brochure will feature our theme, "Blessed to be a Blessing," and ministry initiatives that relate to current needs at Grace and in our community, and the increased giving we are seeking to carry out those initiatives which are:

• Grow and develop our Noah’s Ark Preschool
• Build and deliver 50 single beds to local children and families in need
• Position Grace financially to call the pastor that we need, and to sustain ministry excellence

These three initiatives will be highlighted and explained in a bulletin insert on October 22, October 29, and November 5. We are hoping to grow our giving by 10% to fund these initiatives. Worship on those weekends will also feature a temple talk by a Grace member. We are looking forward to carrying out a successful appeal in the coming weeks, and hope you will join us in reaching our goal.

Worship Committee

The Grace Worship Committee met for their regular meeting on Tuesday. We reviewed the worship schedules for October and November, noting special services for Reformation Sunday and All Saints Sunday. We also discussed ways that we can shorten the service to create time for our Stewardship program elements.

Wednesday Night Bible Studies

Maureen and I have been leading adult Bible studies on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 - 7:00 following Spirit Supper. Between our groups we have had about 10-15 attend each week. My group is taking a closer look at the Second Reading for upcoming weekend worship. We'd love to have you join us!

Confirmation Notes

Our confirmation program meets on Sunday mornings during the Sunday School hour beginning about 9:15 am. Last Sunday, Heather led a lesson on the Reformation, which generated good answers to our questions, as well as questions of their own. This sunday, I will lead a session the the synod and ELCA expressions of our church.

NWOS 2023 Year End Ask: Imagining Renewal Microgrants

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,” (Isaiah 43:19)

Since 2020, the Imagining Renewal Microgrants have provided seed money to faithful people who have big dreams of how to serve their community. In three years, the microgrants have awarded more than $140,000 to over 95 projects that have made a difference in communities across northwestern Ohio.

We need your help to continue this important ministry. Will you consider joining us in giving toward the growing impact of this ministry?

Together we are working to raise $100,000 to fund future microgrants. Your donation will impact communities across northwestern Ohio, inspiring leaders who have dreams for their communities and long to join what God is already up to in the world.

To learn more and give visit: nwos-elca.church/microgrants/

Links for You

• ELCA Hunger Go and Do News
• LIFT Notes
• Just Three Things

Monthly Interim Pastors Zoom

On Thursday I joined a monthly zoom meeting with other ELCA interim pastors. It's always good to get together for mutual support and encouragement. From six to twelve persons attend this zoom, this month we had 6, but sometimes a smaller group is good - then more people have a chance to talk.