Interim Grace Notes for July 30, 2021

Volunteers Needed for Block Party

Our LIFT Block Party is just around the corner, and one of the main concerns/needs right now is volunteers. An online sign-up sheet has been created listing the various needs and numbers needed for each area. Sign up for just an hour or for multiple hours. I signed up last week. If you haven't yet, take a few minutes now and sign up, too! Just click or tap HERE.

Plans Continue for Spirit and Confirmation

Heather, Tom, Maureen and I are continuing our plans for Wednesday night Spirit. Heather has scheduled a Confirmation leaders planning meeting for Thursday, August 5 at 1pm at grace.

Do We Need to Put Our Masks Back On?

With the coronavirus variant delta taking off around the U.S., the federal government Tuesday updated its masking guidelines for fully vaccinated people. The new advice is to mask up indoors if you live in a place with "substantial" or "high" coronavirus transmission. (The guidance for people who are unvaccinated remains the same: Always mask up indoors.) So, what's the level of transmission where we live? Here's what CDC says is the level for Sandusky and surrounding counties for the time period Friday, Jul 23 - Thursday, July 29 , on a scale of low, moderate, substantial, high:

• Sandusky - Substantial
• Wood - Moderate
• Ottawa - Substantial
• Erie - Substantial
• Huron - Substantial
• Seneca - Moderate

To view the CDC map, go HERE and enter Ohio and Sandusky into the state and county fields to display a color coded map.

I'm not suggesting that we return to masks during worship, but I think this basic metric is something we should at least monitor, and discuss if local levels move from substatial to high.

A Place to Go for Covid-19 Information

One of the challenges during the pandemic has been getting reliable scientific "balls and strikes" information about the coronovirus and its spread to base our decisions on - whether it's when we should go back to church, school, resume our family and social gatherings, or whether we should wear a mask and when it's safe to go without. Last July, I began listening to a weekly podcast - The Osterholm Update: COVID-19, published by The University of MInnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), and narrated by infectious disease expert and founder/director of CIDRAP, Dr. Michael Osterholm. With declining cases due to increasing vaccination rates, the podcast scaled back to every other week for the months of June and early July, but now, with the delta variant surge, has returned to every week programming. This week's episidode is entitled "Untangling the Data." In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and host Chris Dall discuss the Delta variant and the surge in cases in the US, the new CDC recommendation for masking among vaccinated people, and answer a COVID query on breakthrough cases. You can stream or download this episode HERE.

Planning for Stewardship Program

I've been doing some planning for a fall stewardship program, and considering using resources from GSB, a charitable fundraising firm that many of our Lutheran synods and congregations have partnered with. I used GSB last year to assist my Stewaradship team at St. John's to complete the fall stewardship campaign. The program is called "Building a Culture of Generosity" and includes a number of Zoom meetings with a GSB consultant, as well as prepared content for the campaign. You can view more information about this program in a two-page flyer that you can view HERE. I would be looking for members to serve on the Stewardship Committee along with Council member Tanya. Ed provided the names of those who had helped with a previous Consecration Sunday campaign, so that would be a good place to start.

Assistant Janitor Hire

An assistant janitor has been hired to work afternoons (including post pre-school day and Spirit Wednesday nights) and Sunday morning opening, relieving Jean and George. Welcome aboard Michaelle Goodman!

2021 VBS a Success!

We blasted off to Mars, and learned about how God invites us to go beyoond with faith, kindness and hope. We had 56 kids registered, and they were joined by 30 volunteers who led activities of openings, Bible story, crafts, science projects, and games. We collected offering for Bridge of Hope food bank, which yielded $70 and 70 food bank items. Many thanks to Heather who took the lead on this, along with Pastor Paul, Sue from St. John's and Tricia from Hayes UMC. Heather had this to add: "a huge thank you to all the volunteers that were there to make it possible."

Worship meeting scheduled

A worship committee meeting has been scheduled for next Tuesday, August 3, at 2:00 pm. If you have concerns about worship or have an item you'd like us to consider or discus, just let one of us know: Maureen or me, Tom, Becky Seibert, Cindy Scranton, or Judy Overmyer.

Funeral for Pr. Jody's mom on Tuesday

Funeral services for Pastor Jody's mother, Lorraine Crawford, will be held next Tuesday, August 3, beginning at 10:00 am at St. John's in Fremont. Pastor Matt will officiate. There will be an hour of visitation, also at the church, beginning at 9:00 am until the time of service. Keep Pastor Jody and all of Lorrainse family and loved ones in your prayers. You can read the published obituary HERE.

Grace Between the Lines

Synod staff member, Sherry Krieger, Director of Leadership Development for Congregational Care, publishes a regular devotional reflection which we receive by email entitled "Grace Between the Lines." In her posts she describes her experiences of grace, and ecourages us to recognize God grace in our lives. You can read her most recent post HERE.

Interim Grace Notes for July 23, 2021

VBS Starts Monday

Heather and her team spent a chunk of time on Thursday at Hayes UMC decorating for VBS -- our theme is "To Mars and Beyond." It will be "out of this world!" I've been saying. Looking forward to this time together with LIFT kids and adults.

Volunteers Needed for Block Party

Our LIFT Block Party is just around the corner, and one of the main concerns/needs right now is volunteers. An online sign-up sheet has been created listing the various needs and numbers needed for each area. Sign up for just an hour or for multiple hours. I have just completed signing up. Take a few minutes now and sign up, too! Just click or tap HERE.

First Meeting of Transition Team

The first meeting of the Transition Team was held Thursday, July 22, from 4:30-6:00 pm with all members present. Jean (bless her heart) brought pizza, which infused lotsa mozzarella energy into our meeting. She offered to also bring food to future meetings.

We began with a devotion centered on this thought: In Calling a Pastor, We Consider Our Own Calling, which has come in our own baptism. From my devotional resource:

That is why Martin Luther was bold to insist that "the ministry of the Word belongs to all." And again, "There is no other Word of God than that which is given all Christians to proclaim." (from Luther's Concerning the Ministry, 1523) Just as all Christians share the promise, so too do we share the task of proclamation. Most of us take up the task in the ministry of daily life. Others we ask to do so publicly for the community so faith can be created and sustained in us. So we see that in the economy of God's grace the ministry of those called and ordained follows from the call which has come to all who believe.

We spent some time with introductions, and learned that our Team has a rich combination of experiences of service both in their family and work vocations and in the congregation. We completed a brief "Congregational Vitality" survey, whick asked us rate Grace from 1-5 on following two questions:

How well do these phrases describe your congregation:

• Worship nurtures people’s faith
• Deepens people’s relationship with God
• A clear sense of mission/purpose
• Excitement about the congregation’s future
• Always ready to try something new
• A positive force in the community
• Works for social justice/advocacy

And, How well does your congregation...

• Incorporate new members into congregational life
• Seek out and use the gifts of members of all ages
• Build strong, healthy relationships among members
• Manage disagreements in a healthy respectful manner
• Address social concerns (helping those in need)
• Equip members to share their faith with others Interact with the local community
• Help members live out their faith in daily lives

Transition Team members learned that this is a survey that could easily be distributed to the congregation, and would provide helpful information on how the congregation sees its stregths and growth areas. Data such as this, as well as other data an input from the congregation throughout the interim time through small group meetings and other surveys will greatly assist the Transition Team in completing the Ministry Site Profile in such a way that it is a reflection of members of the congregation who have provided their input, perspectives and opinions.

The next two meetings of the Team are scheduled for Thursdays, August 5, and August 19, both at 4:30 pm.

Fall Planning Underway

Following the Staff meeting on Tuesday, Heather, Maureen, Tom and I met to discuss plans for Wednesday Spirit beginning September 8, which includes Supper, worship, and then various activities involving youth, children and adults, including choirs. This is still a work in progress, and we will keep the planning process going until all the pieces are put together.

Synod Assembly

In my July 9 Grace Notes post I provided information regarding the Synod Assembly on Friday, September 24 from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. Grace is allowed four voting congregation members, two of whom should be 30 or younger. You can read that post with the link to the registration page HERE.

Worship Notes

The ELCA publishes Worship newsletter once a month, and you can read the July issue HERE.

Met new preschool director

This week I had the opportunity to meet Andrea Hirt, the new director of Noah's Ark Preschool. From the August issue of G&T:

Andrea is busy preparing for the upcoming school year and is looking forward to an exciting year with the students! We welcome Andrea and are excited to have her on board!
NOAH’S ARK OPEN HOUSE: Thursday, September 2, 6-7pm
SCHOOL BEGINS: September 7 - Tuesday-Thursday Class; September 8 - Monday-Wednesday-Friday Class

LIFT Leaders Meeting

LIFT Leaders met on Wednesady this week at 11:00 am. One of our main items of discussion was the possibility of creating a "pulpit exchange" of LIFT pastors on 5th Sundays, so that all LIFT member congregations could get to know Pastor Paul as well as other pastors in the LIFT family. I created a possible rotation schedule, and this is still under discussion by the LIFT pastors, so nothing officia or even tentative at this point. Another point of discussion was distributed responsibilities for care centers, but with those centers still just beginning to open up, we did not make any definite decisions regarding this.

Interim Grace Notes for July 16, 2021

LIFT Board Meeting

On Sunday I attended my first LIFT Board meeting at St. John's. Joined Maureen for the representation from Grace. Main business was the agenda for the full LIFT Board which is this Sunday, 12:30 pm at St. John's.

Council/Transition Team Workshop

Thanks to all who attended the Council/Transition Team Workshop on Monday night. I know that some attend these meetings after a full day of work, so your dedication to Grace is impressive and commendable. The documents I distributed at the meeting are linked below:

• Stages and Tasks of Interim Ministry
  This chart describes visually (1) the Stages (linear in time) of the interim from Termination of your previous pastor to Startup of your newly called pastor and (2) The Tasks of interim ministry, referred to as "Self Study," and is also called "The Work of the Congregation." There are five Tasks (also called Focus Points) that are attended to during the interim time, facilitated by the Transition Team (see link to Focus Points below)
• The Work of the Congregation During the Interim Period: Focus Points
  This one page document provides brief descriptions of the Five Focus Points (new term) or Developmental Tasks (older term) which should be the work of the congregation during the Interim Time. Note that the end result is to provide an answer to the question: “Who are we?”, “What is God calling us to do?” and “Who are our neighbors?”
• The ELCA -- Serving the Gospel for Tomorrow
  This essay by Dr. Timothy Wengert, professor emeritus at United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia, is the piece that I began but was able to only begin. Dr. Wengert speaks in this essay of three areas which must shape our future as a church (congregation, synod, ELCA): the commitment to the Bible, the centrality of worship, and the witness of the gospel as shaped by our Lutheran Confessions, primarily the Augsburg Confession. This essay is quite long, but I'd encourage you to spend some time reading and studing it, as it provides some clear direction for the ELCA, and for our local congregations, especially those in transition.
• Congregational Resource Tream (CRT) brochure
  I had made copies of this brochure, but forgot to distribute them at the workshop. This brochure describes the work of the CRT in our synod, which leads a series of workshops developed the the Healthy Congregations organization, and helps congregations to see themselves as emotional systesm. This was the main theme of Dr. Peter Steinke's talk in the video that we viewed at the workshop. The synod recommends that all congregation going through the interim process participate in at least Workshop #1. It's a four hour workshop usually done on a Saturday morning. We did this at St. John's Bellevue with Pr. Rob Johnson from Toledo as our leader. It was very well received by the council there.

Care Center Visits

I made my first care center visit on Sunday, stopping at Valley View on the way out of town on US6. It was a rather laborious registration system of answering health questions and getting a QR code which I took a picture of with my phone. It will be easier for subsequent visits as all I'll have to do now is display the photo of this QR to their scanner, which also takes my temp (98.3 on Sunday!) and clears me for visiting. I was able to visit and offer Holy Communion to Geri S., Carol K. and Kathy S. Masks are still required in the hallways and in semi-private rooms, but can be removed if you are alone with a resident either in their room or in a community space.

Bishop Daniel's latest email

You can read it HERE.

Local Lutheran Pastor Elevated to National Leadership

Twenty years ago, Trinity Lutheran, one of our then sister ELCA congregations in Monroeville, was at a crossroads. Attendance and membership had dwindled to perilous levels, and they had talked about closing, because they could only afford a half-time pastor. A new Trinity Seminary graduate, Amy Little, accepted the half-time call to Trinity. After several years, Pr. Amy had grown the congregation in numbers and giving to the level they could afford to provide her full-time compensation. Pastor Amy continued to grow the ministry at Trinity, and proved that the right leader can help to transform the climate of a congregation.

In 2011, Trinity withdrew from the ELCA and joined the newly formed North American Lutheran Church, or NALC, formed primarily from their disagreement with the ELCA on matters of sexuality. As a pastor in the NALC, Pastor Amy has served as the submissions editor for Sola Publishing, and on various NALC committees. She has recently accepted a call to serve as General Secretary, which is the chief operating officer of the NALC, managing its day-to-day administrative functions.

For many years, along with other area Lutheran pastors, I worked with Pastor Amy, even after she left the ELCA, to provide summer camp experiences for our congregations' confirmation youth. We were neighbors in faith and ministry, and physical neighbors, too. During my years in Norwalk, we lived across the street and down a few houses from each other on Liberty Street. You can read more about Pastor Amy and her new call HERE.

First Transition Team Meeting Scheduled

Members of the Grace Transition Team caucused at the end of the Council workshop Monday night and scheduled their first meeting for Thursday, July 22 at 4:30 pm. A Transition Team normally meets about twice a month for as many months it takes to complete their work. Transition Team members are:

• Ed Muffler
• Beth Muffler
• Peggy Kiser
• Jean Dupey
• Becky Seibert
• Mike Amor
• Larry McElfresh

VBS Meeting Finalizes Plans for "To Mars and Beyond"

On Wednesday, Heather and I joined Pastor Paul, Tricia from Hayes UMC, and Sue from St. John's to finalize the plans for our LIFT sponsored VBS, "To Mars and Beyond." The VBS will be held from 6:00 - 7:30 on Monday through Wednesday, July 26 -28. To register Pre-K through Grade 6 kids, or yourself as a volunteer, go HERE.

Conversation with Sherry Krieger

On Tuesday, I had a Zoom conversation with Sherry Krieger, the NWOS Director of Leadership Development for Congregational Care. Bishop Daniel knew that I had some questions about Maureen's authority to preside over Holy Communion at Grace now that I have arrived as interim pastor. Specifically, I was wondering if Maureen's authorization to preside at Holy Communion extended to services for which I would not be present. This would include funerals for which the family requests Holy Communion, Saturday services, where normally only one pastor is present, and weekends during which I would not be present because of vacation or attending continuing education. The answer to that question is "yes". The only limit on Maureen's authority to preside over Holy Communion at Grace is when both of us are serving as leaders of a worship service, in which case I would be the one always to preside. The instructive paragraph of the ELCA docment The Use of the Means of Grace is on page 45:

In witness that this sacrament is a celebration of the Church, serving its unity, an ordained minister presides in the service of Holy Communion and proclaims the Great Thanksgiving . Where it is not possible for an extended period of time to provide ordained pastoral leadership, a synodical bishop may authorize a properly trained lay person to preside for a specified period of time and in a given location only.

Sherry also indicated that Maureen's authority to celebrate Holy Communion extends to all the LIFT congregations, if no other ordained pastor is present at that service. This is good to know, in that in our LIFT meetings we are considering a program of rotation of pastors, possibly on a 5th Sunday, so that all members of the LIFT parish are exposed to all the pastors in the parish.

Interim Grace Notes for July 9, 2021

Synod Assembly Registration Open

The 2021 Northwestern Ohio Synod Assembly has been scheduled for Friday, September 24 from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend, and will be held via Zoom. This streamlined business-only Assembly will include voting on council and committee nominees, budget, compensation guidelines, and other assembly business matters. There will not be special guest speakers, extended workshops, or breakout rooms as in previous assemblies. Registration is open now through September 10. For links to Asssembly registration and the NWOS Assembly site, go HERE.

Council/Transition Team Workshop Monday

You likely have already read the reminder email from Linda regarding the Council/Transition Team workshop scheduled for Monday, July 12, from 5:30 - 8:30 pm. This meeting will include a brief business time to approve essential reports, but the main event will a workshop to orient Council and Transition Team - those identified so far, to the interim process, and the roles that Council and Transition Team will play in that process. I have not yet finalized the schedule, but expect me to present and invite participation from those attending regarding the following

• A few get-to-know-you-better activities, and sharing of hopes and dreams for Grace
• A broad overview of the interim process, including a more thorough description of the Five Focus Points for the interim
• An introduction to the congregation as an emotional system, by viewing a video talk by Rev. Dr. Peter Steinke, founder of the Healthy Congregations organization
• A presentation on some important scriptural and confessional concepts which help us to focus our mission and ministry as a congregation. I will be using the essay "The ELCA: Serving the Gospel for Tomorrow," by Rev. Dr. Timothy Wengert, Professor Emeritus of United Lutheran Seminary as a basis for this part of the workshop.

A light supper will be served during this event, so no need to eat before you come.

Garry Coleman Memorial Scheduled

The church office received a request from the family of Garry Coleman to hold a memorial service at Grace on Saturday, August 7 at 11:00 am. I agreed to preside and conduct the service. My understanding is that Mr. Coleman was a former member of Grace, but moved with his wife to Florida about 25 years ago, and transferred their congregation membership. Mrs. Coleman died in 2019, and Pr. Jody conducted a memorial service for her at Grace. Grace doesn't have hard and fast policies on who we do church based funerals or memorial services and what we should charge for such services for non-members. For now they ar being handled on a case-by-case basis. It is hard to know what to quote for costs.

Article about Fremont

One of my Fremont Facebook friends posted this very positive article about Fremont. This article could very well provide some valuable information for the Transition Team as they complete the Ministry Site Profile, which includes a section on the characteristics of the community in which the ministry site is located.

Bishop Daniel email

You can read Bishop Daniel's most recent email HERE.

Interim Grace Notes for July 2, 2021

Sympathy to the family of Scott Wood

We extend our sympathy and prayers to the family of Scott Wood, who died this week. Pray especially for Scott's wife, Mary Alyce, who is Maureen's sister, and their children and grandchildren. The funeral for Scott will be next Friday, July 9. at Grace. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the service to follow at 11:00 a.m. Maureen will preside. You can read the obituary HERE.

Retreat at Henry and Becky's

I spent most of the day Monday at Henry and Becky Seibert's farm, enjoying the hospitality and good food, a fellowship that one always experiences in that setting. For the past twenty or so years, a group of pastors from our Northwestern Ohio Synod have met twice a year for one or two day retreats for conversation, mutual support, learning, prayer, worship and solitude. The setting for these retreats has usually been The Pines Retreat Center in Fremont, but on several occasions we have met at Henry and Becky's house. Initially there were four smaller groups, from which one larger group was formed. Bishop Daniel was a part of my original group, and he was able to join us for Monday's gathering.

Graveside Funeral on Friday

On Friday I conducted a graveside funeral service at Greenlawn for George "Bud" Lamson of Clyde at the request of the Auxter Funeral Home. The family expressed a preference for a Lutheran pastor, so I was happy to provide this ministry.

Welcome of Pastor Matt Zuehlke

On Wednesday evening, I attended the welcoming service for Pastor Matt Zuehlke at Zion in Gibsonburg. Tom Curry joined me in representing Grace. Like Grace, Zion's worship space is not air conditioned, it was a bit warm, but the significance of the event made the discomfort negligible. As I mentioned last week, Pastor Matt is on loan from the Presbyterian Church USA, and his serving Zion as pastor is possible because of our full-communion relationship with this church body. Full-communion fellowship means that we can freely commune at each others altars, and freely call each others pastors to serve in our respective congregations.

Did you know that our ELCA has Full Communion relationships with six other US church bodies? You can learn more about who our Full Communion Partners are and what that means for our ministry together HERE.

Adding to the ecumenicity of Pr. Matt's service was the presence of Father Scott, the Roman Catholic priest serving the St. Mary and St. Michael Parishes in Helena and Gibsonburg. Father Scott vested, processed with us, and brought greetings from his parish. Attending pastors gathered for a group photo with Pastor Matthew and Bishop Daniel following the service, which you can view HERE.

One of the Five Focus Points for the interim time is called "Connections," which is defined as "discovering all the relationships a faith community builds outside of itself." This includes not only church body connections, but other civic and community connections, such as food banks, government entities (police, firefighters), other service focused non-profits such as Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity. I'll be saying more about the Five Focus Points during our Council workshop on July 12.

Email from Bishop Daniel

You can read Bishop Daniel's most recent email message HERE.

Just Three Things

If you missed this week's issue of Just Three Things, you can read it HERE.

A Prayer for the 4th of July

Liberating God, you have given us this good land as our heritage. Make us always remember your generosity and constantly do your will. Bless our land with honesty in the workplace, truth in education, and honor in daily life. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance; and from every evil course of action. When times are prosperous, let our hearts be thankful; and, in troubled times, do not let our trust in you fail. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Interim Grace Notes for June 25, 2021

Derek Chauvin Sentencing

On Friday afternoon I happened to be listening to my radio as a judge in Minneapolis announced the sentence for Derek Chavin -- 22.5 years for the murder of George Floyd. I remember watching with horror and grief portions of the video of Officer Chauvin as he knelt on Floyd's neck for nine plus minutes with his hand in his pocket and a look of indifference on his face.

This tragic event had some personal significance for me, as I was very familiar with the location where George Floyd died, on the corner of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street in South Minneapolis. I have previously lived in South Minneapolis, about two miles from this site, and have driven past it many times.

Before pronouncing sentence, the Judge, The Honorable Peter Cahill, said this: “The sentence is not based on emotion or sympathy, but at the same time, I want to acknowledge the deep and tremendous pain that all the families are feeling, especially the Floyd family. I’m not going to attempt to be profound or clever because it’s not the appropriate time. I’m not basing my sentence on public opinion. I’m not basing it on any attempt to send any messages.” You can read the entirety of Judge Cahill's sentencing memo HERE.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the prosecution of Chauvin, said the sentence is “one of the longest a former police officer has ever received for an unlawful use of deadly force." “It’s difficult to see anybody lose their freedom,” Ellison said after the sentencing. “But seeing someone lose their life through torture [for] over nine and a half minutes is incomparably worse."

After Officer Chauvin was convicted in a Minneapolis courtroom in April, I wrote a pastoral response, which was an attempt to reflect on that event in light of scripture and Lutheran teaching. It was the second to last weekly pastoral message that I wrote and shared with my members at St. John's in Bellevue. You can read that message HERE. What I said in this message about Officer Chauvin's conviction, that "government's authority is most effective when it is applied equally to all citizens," I would also say about his sentencing today.

The ELCA Constitution, which is mirrored in congregational constituions, outlines the responsibilities of pastors who are called to a Ministry of Word and Sacrament. Those responsibilities include preaching the Word, administering the sacraments, conducting public worship, and providing pastor care. The last item in that list of eight resonsibilities says this: "Speak publicly to the world in solidarity with the poor and oppressed, calling for justice and proclaiming God’s love for the world."

I must confess that I don't do this clearly enough and often enough. That's why I chose to quote the hymn that I did in my April 24 message: "Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving you whom we adore."

Subject: 2021-2022 Campus Ministry Microgrant Award

Heather forwarded the email below, informing her and Pastor Joshua (Hayes UMC) about a NWOS Microgrant request. Excellent news!

Hi Heather and Pastor Joshua!

I hope you are well! I am excited to share that our Campus Ministry Review team met this evening and were very excited by the dreams and plans you have for campus ministry at Terra State and the surrounding Fremont community for the 2021-2022 school year!

We are very happy to award you the $1500 that you requested and an additional $1000 to support your ministry! A check for $2500 to support your campus ministry will be cut this coming week. As the grant asks that LIFT match anything beyond the $750, we will ask that you match the $750 beyond that for which you originally applied, but the additional $1000 is a gift and does not need to be matched.

The check will be made out to LIFT and will be mailed to 705 W State St Fremont, OH 43420-2535. Please let us know if this information we have on file is incorrect.

So thankful for your ministry!

Calla Gilson
Lead Coordinator of the Discipleship Initiative
Northwestern Ohio Synod, ELCA

5 Confessions of a Pastor about Online Church Attendance

Pastor Carey Nieuwhof is an experienced pastor who publishes lots of helpful information and training pieces for pastors and other leaders in congregational ministry. As we have come back to the building to worship, I must say that I resonate with what Pastor Carey says in this article in which he offers some candid and honest observations about church online, and which you can read about HERE.

ELCA Worship News for June

Your can read this ELCA Newsletter HERE.

Bishop Daniel at Lakeside

This was Lutheran Week at Lakeside for the 100th consecutive year, and Bishop Daniel was the Chaplain for the Week. During my years at St. Peter in Norwalk, our youth group attended the Lutheran Week, living as a family in one of the rental houses and enjoying the activities of Lakeside including Chaplains Hour, shuffleboard, Youth Bible Study, late night devotions, donuts and ice cream cones at The Patio, just to name a few. Bishop Daniel shared some photos and other info in his weekly email, which you can read HERE.

Deacons

What's a deacon? In the congregation where I grew up in Hendricks, Minnesota, we had elected lay leaders called deacons and trustees. I wasn't much involved then to know much about what they did, but I do remember how my dad once explained it: Deacons assist the pastor in doing spiritual things, and trustees help keep finances and the church property on an even keel. The word Deacon comes from the greek word diakonia and simply means "service."

But now, in the ELCA, Deacon refers to someone who has been called and ordained to a ministry of "Word and Service." So a Deacon is now an ordained leader in the church. We don't have lots of them, as most ordained persons in our Church are pastors, ordained to the "Ministry of Word and Sacrament." Ordained Deacons often serve in areas of education, youth ministry, music, and administration. You can read more about this in a 2016 Living Lutheran article which you can find HERE. And it is entirely possible that Grace might someday call an ordained deacon to serve the congregation. In which case you may have to change the designation for those trusted council members who carry the Sunday offering to the safe. Maybe instead of "Deacons," you could call them "Trustees."

Eastern Conference Pastors

On Wenesday I attended the first in-person meeting of the Eastern Conference Pastors since the beginning of the pandemic. We were hosted by Pastor Ann Marshall at St. Peter in Norwalk, so it was fun to return to the place where ministry memories were built from June 1, 1995 - January 5, 2012. However, several of our pastors are still trying to keep a low public profile, a reminder that many of our members are feeling the same way, and certainly an indication that a complete return to a pre-Covid-19 life anytime soon is, perhaps, an unrealistic expectation.

Pastor Matthew Zuehlke's Welcome

A newcomer to our Eastern Conference Pastors meeting yesterday was Rev. Dr. Matthew Zuehlke, who will be welcomed as the pastor for Zion Gibsonburg. Normally, pastors are "installed" in new calls, but Pastor Zuehlke is being "welcomed" because he is not ELCA. He is on loan from the PCUSA (Presbyterian Church USA), and most recently served a UCC (United Church of Christ) congregation. His "Welcome" service will be next Wednesday evening, June 30, at 7:00 pm. You can read the official invitation HERE.

Interim Ministry Zoom Meeting

Today (Friday) I attended a Zoom meeting for ELCA interim pastors, that is an offshoot of the Facebook group Lutheran Interim Pastors (ELCA), of which I am a member. There were about a dozen of us in the meeting, and we are not quite coast to coast, but California and Oregon were represented. These meetings are always helpful, where we can both give and receive whatever kind of support and encourgement that are needed at the time.

Interim Grace Notes for June 18, 2021

Thanks and Appreciation for Jean and George

Jean Dupey announced at Council Meeting Monday night that she and George are retiring from their service as Sunday Morning worship openers. They have faithfully been doing this job for about nine years. It's not an easy task, as there are a number of doors to unlock and lights to turn on in a very large building. They will continue to open until (a) replacement(s) is(are) found. Many thanks and much appreciation, Jean and George, for your faithful service!!

Broad Overview of the Interim Process

At the Council meeting Monday night I presented a "Broad Overview of the Interim Process" along with two possible schedules for this interim time. Council agreed to pursue the first option, which proposes a shorter time frame to carry out the necessary tasks of the interim process. This process includes the appointment of a Transition Team, whose main tasks will be to gather input from congregation, analyze the needs in the neighborhood and community, work on the vision and purpose of the congregation, and complete the Ministry Site Profile, the multi page document that will describe Grace to potential pastoral candidates.

Workshop/Training for Council and Transition Team

At the Council meeting Monday night, we agreed on a date and time for a three-hour workshop/training for members of Council and the Transition Team. During this workshop I will cover several areas that are integral to the interim process, including the stages and tasks, or focus points of the interim period, the congregation as an emotional system, and some review of biblical and theological basics. The tentative date for this training is during Council meeting time on Monday, July 12, from 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm.

Pastor's Message for July Grace and Truth

My pastor's message for the July issue of Grace and Truth is a brief description of the interim process, with some of the information that I have already shared with Council in the "Broad Overview of the Interim Process" document, also linked above. You can certainly read that message when your copy of G&T arrives, but if you'd like a preview of my message, you can read it HERE.

June 17 - Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine

As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9 -- the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. I was serving an interim congregation in Minnesota at the time, and I joined a group of area pastors for a time of prayer and reflection on this horrible tragedy. You can read the resolution HERE. The ELCA website has a page dedicated to telling this story, along with resources for prayer, worship and reflection. You can view that page HERE, which includes this description:

On June 17, 2015, Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Lee Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson were murdered by a self-professed white supremacist while they were gathered for Bible study and prayer at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (often referred to as Mother Emanuel) in Charleston, South Carolina. Pastors Pinckney and Simmons were both graduates of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. A resolution to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance for the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine was adopted by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on August 8, 2019. Congregations of the ELCA are encouraged reaffirm their commitment to repenting of the sins of racism and white supremacy which continue to plague this church, to venerate the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine, and to mark this day of penitence with study and prayer.

Emails from NWOS-ELCA.ORG

• NWOS News - You can read the June 17 issue HERE.
• Bishop Daniel's most recent email is entitled: "A Place of Rest." You can read it HERE.
• Bishop Daniel's 25th ordination anniversary. More info on the celebration HERE.

Pastor Paul and LIFT make synod email

Pastor Paul was featured in Bishop Daniel's May 26 email, which describes the awarding of several microgrants that have been offered through our Northwestern Ohio Synod. Our LIFT ministry "was awarded a $2000 Community Regeneration Grant to host a community wide 'block party', to highlight and learn about regenerative resources within the Fremont community, and to build relationships with the people of Fremont." The Grace Christian Missions / Outreach Committee has morphed into the Block Party planning committee for this big event in August, which will feature a car show, free food, DJ, bounce houses, and Kona ice. You can read Bishop Daniel's message and view the pic of him with Pastor Paul and a giant check HERE.

My 50th High School Reunion

I have received official word on the date of my 50th high school reunion in Hendricks, Minnesota. The date is Saturday, September 18. I would like to attend, and would plan to take some vacation time including a Sunday on September 19. Thankfully, Maureen's 50th celebration does not conflict with mine! She will be celebrating in August.

Marcy in the News

Recently, my wife Marcy was featured in an article in Norwalk's new online newspaper, Norwalk Ohio News. It tells of how she involved her 5th grade science students at Norwalk Main Street School in the MacGyver Wind Lift Challenge, which was spearheaded by the Ohio Energy Project. You can read the article HERE.

Just Three Things About Just Three Things

• Just Three Things is a brief, informative email sent out every Friday morning by the Grace office staff to Grace members and others on the email list. This email serves as a reminder of the regular weekend worship schedule, happenings for the coming week, and any other notable scheduled events or activities. An impressive communication piece!
• Linda and I made a few changes in the format of the email to make the email more user friendly, especially for those viewing it on their smartphones.
• Mailchimp, the platform that we use to create and send the emails, and manage the email list, reports "open rates," the percentage of each email sent that are opened by recipients. The open rate on Just Three Things is consistently over 50%. As a point of reference, my Mailchimp emails at St. John's Bellevue hovered in the 30's, occasionally reaching 40.

Three Pitfalls to Avoid

Speaking of three, here's a blog post from the folks at Breeze, which is the company that developed the online church management software used by my previous interim congregation, St. John's in Bellevue, that speaks of three pitfalls to avoid post-covid. I've found their blog posts interesting and helpful. You can read this post HERE.