November 3, 2023

Interim Grace Notes for November 3, 2023

Update on Tom's Resignation

The Executive Team met with Tom at 5pm on Wednesday to discuss his October 18 letter of resignation with November 12 as his last Sunday. Concerns were shared, and at the end of the meeting, Tom was asked if he wanted to withdraw his letter. He asked for 24 hours to consider, and on Thursday afternoon we received this message from Tom: "Please accept my resignation as submitted." Grace was blessed by Tom's most excellent musical gifts these past four years, and we wish him well as he moves on. We pray for continued guidance from the Holy Spirit as Grace's search for a new pastor continues, and the search for a new organist/music director begins.

Let's Build Says Yes to a Build at Grace

I'm guessing that by now you are familiar with one of the ministry initiatives that has been the focus of our Stewardship Appeal - a day of building beds for kids in the Grace parking lot. There are two organizations in our area that do this, and one of them, Let's Build, is the one that, so far, has responded to my inquiry:

Hello Mark. If you would like to host an event at Grace Lutheran in Fremont we could do that. Please give me 2 dates you are considering and I will see if they're available. Could you also give me a number to contact you so we can discuss the build a little more? Thank you.

I'm thinking of a Saturday in September, but we shall see. I have provided a number.

Second Letter with Intent Card Will Be Mailed Monday

Our 2023 Stewardship Appeal, "Blessed to Be a Blessing," enters its fourth week this weekend with a focus on a ministry initiative. I've linked to this content in previous messages, but here is what will be in the bulletin insert. Our third ministry initiative is:

Position Grace financially to call the pastor that we need, and to sustain ministry excellence.

Grace has been richly blessed with many long-serving and transformational pastors. In its 131-year history, only nine persons have been called as senior pastor. That’s an average of almost 15 years that each pastor has served.

Many of those pastors have been transformational in their tenure, using their gifts and abilities to lead the congregation through exciting times of growth and change, as well as through times of adversity.

The call process for Grace’s 10th senior pastor has taken longer than expected, but we remain confident that God will provide the leader who has the passion, gifts, and skills to be Grace’s next transformational leader.*

When that next pastor is found, Grace needs to be well positioned to extend the call. In his role as interim, Pastor Mark has been able to serve Grace at a reduced cost, primarily because of health insurance, which he has received through his wife’s employer. There is a strong possibility that the compensation package for our new pastor may be $10,000 or more greater than the current expense. This increase, along with possible moving expenses for a new pastor, speaks to the importance of this ministry initiative.

In addition to our new pastor, Grace will continue to be blessed by our talented and dedicated staff that provides for the ministry, administrative and physical needs of the congregation. This ministry initiative also speaks to the need to compensate staff fairly, especially in light of higher than normal inflation, which also affects fixed costs such as insurance and utilities.

An increase of $384 per week ($20,000 total) is needed to ensure that Grace is well positioned to call our next pastor, support our excellent staff, and maintain our beautiful church building.

The second letter of our appeal will be sent on Monday morning, and will include the brochure which we created and the Intent card. Stewardship and Council received their letters last Friday, and were asked to return those by today so my and their cumulative responses could be announced in the letter. I am happy to report that 12 members have returned their Intents, which indicate a total of $115 weekly increase in giving for 2024, which represents 15% of our goal! Thanks Stewardship and Council! I have indicated that I will be increasing my giving in 2024 by 20%. When we join together and even make small increases, we can be confident that we will reach our goal.

Members are asked to return their Intent Cards on November 11-12, and we will announce the results the following Sunday and celebrate with refreshments and fellowship in the sanctuary after the service.

Pr. Paul Leading Monthly Camino de Vida/Bridge of Hope Zoom

Pr. Paul has begun a first Thursday of the month Zoom meeting for LIFT, Camino de Vida and Bridge of Hope leaders to update each other on what's happening in these respective ministries. Pr. Paul provided this summary of Thursday's meeting:

At the zoom meeting for Bridge of Hope, it was announced that over 200 migrant baskets were distributed this year. Camino de Vida has been training members in Christian discipleship and will be starting a prayer service on Wednesdays in December. Both ministries are preparing for the Thanksgiving feast on November 18 and the Posada on December 2. LIFT congregations are encouraged to donate turkeys for the Thanksgiving feast and toys for the Posada.

Prepare Facilitator Workshop

For the past almost 40 years, I have led workshops up to two times a year training mostly other pastors as facilitators in the use of Prepare-Enrich. This program was developed in the early 1980's as a 150+ item survey that evaluates a couple's relationship. Separate surveys were developed for marriage preparation and marriage enrichiment or counseling. Those who use Prepare-Enrich administer the survey, review a computer printout of the results, and provide feedback to a couple regarding their relationship. The results will help a couple identify strengths in their relationship, and areas the need further growth, development or improvement.

After I attended a facilitator workshop myself during my first call as a pastor in the early 1980's, and then became a trainer. I have led dozens of workshops and trained hundreds of pastors in the use of this tool for marriage preparation and enrichment.

My most recent training was on Tuesday of this week, and three in attendance. Robin was recently installed as senior pastor at St. Mark's in Bowling Green, Al Fuhrhop is a SAM in Napoleon, and Morgan is the newly ordained pastor who a high school freshman in the first interim at Trinity Vermilion in 2012. We had a good day of training. Special hanks to Tricia who picked up lunch for us at 818.

You don't need a facilitator to take advantage of Prepare-Enrich. They have a do-it-yourself tool called Couple Checkup. Cost is $35. From the website:

As an online customized assessment tool, Couple Checkup is meant to be a fun, easy way to take a closer look at your relationship, increase relationship strengths, and above all - spark meaningful conversation between you and your partner.

Links for You

• ELCA Global Links Includes important updates on Israel-Hamas War and Resources
• Just Three Things