At Grace, we are called by God to be in the city for good! For those interested in volunteering this summer, we invite you to attend the orientation held in the North Room of Hope Hall on June 9th from 11:30a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch will be served. Please RSVP at outreach@graceinthecity.com or call Clottee Hammons at 602-817-8996 if you plan to attend. View PDF flyer.
At the center of our religion, love. What heals us, love. What heals our communities, love. Also, the stated motive of most religious people, regardless of actual outcomes, love. I agree with the Beatles: “All you need is love.”
As we expectantly wait for Christmas, one persona dominates the church world, another persona our culture at large. These two prominent figures both speak of how we should act, what we should do—and the consequences if we do not. The persona of our culture at large? Who can we find everywhere at malls and on cards and sung about in songs during the month of December? Santa Claus.
How about the persona of the church world? Who is it who dominates our Advent stories? Right. John the Baptist.
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New Life in Christ Fellowship worships at Grace on Sunday afternoons, and is also a church body in the South Pacific nation of Tonga. They are constructing a new parochial school in the village of Ha'ateiho, Tonga for approximately 300 students in grades 1-6. Mothers of the students are the primary construction workers.
In preparation for the opening of the school, they are looking for donations of used children's books in English and used children's clothing, including pants, tops, and shoes. If you have items you would like to donate, please bring them to the Grace church office.
As I reflect on the past several months, I would like to say it has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of the team here at Grace In The City, directly serving primarily those experiencing homelessness, overseeing this summer’s Heat Respite program. As I’ve gotten to know many of our guests one-on-one, I am reminded that each of us has our own unique stories of how we got to where we are today, and how to make changes for our future. This experience for me has truly been life changing.
We welcomed 10,816 visitors over 12 weeks -- nearly the same as last year's count -- and total volunteers (counting each person each day) numbered 997, for a grand total of 11,665 souls. It took 4,571 volunteer hours to make it happen. The big numbers may be attributed to the higher than normal heat this summer, the Burton Barr Library closure due to water damage, the stronger enforcement of the city’s loitering and camping laws, and a host of other outside forces. Whatever the reason, our guests were so appreciative of Grace’s hospitality and generosity, sentiments we heard every single day.
As Heat Respite 2017 draws to a close, I offer heartfelt thanks to those who made this program a success -- without the incredible continuing support of our ministry partners, friends and neighbors all, Heat Respite at Grace doesn't happen.
I would like to recognize professional organizations that provided a variety of behavioral health, social, and medical services for our guests as well this summer. They include:
Also, the Heat Respite program would not have been successful without the generous support of our donors. We received overwhelmingly generous financial donations. We also collected more than 1,500 cases of water in that time, and had almost 5,000 sack lunches donated; sack lunch donors included Lord of Life Lutheran, First UCC, New Journey Lutheran, and Peace Lutheran Churches. No donations were turned away, as even a single case of water helped people to stay hydrated. I would like to thank the following groups and individuals for their wonderful donations:
Groups:
Individuals:
Last, but certainly not least, I like to thank the wonderful team of volunteers we had one site, some nearly every single day. The old adage “it takes a village” certainly is true with Heat Respite, and it is physically (and even emotionally) impossible for one person to do this program solely on her own.
Groups:
Individuals:
Again, thank you for this wonderful opportunity to be a part of this wonderful program. I look forward to being a part of Grace Lutheran Church for a long time to come. Looking back, being the Outreach Coordinator has been one of the most rewarding as well as challenging positions I’ve ever had, and I will be forever grateful.
Sincerely,
Kim Davidson, MSW, MPA
A cool story I learned this week that I wanted to share about Greg Silva, one of our steady volunteers who typically oversees the water and cleans up every day.
Greg let it be known by accident (through another conversation) that he gave up his worldly processions to be a community member and is volunteering at Grace as part of his personalized two-year service project towards his Fourth Degree Sword in the Knights of Columbus as a Roman Catholic. He chose to do this particular "difficult and hard" project to be of charity to others and more importantly, to humble himself before God. He showed me his paperwork, asked me to provide some documentation for this part of his journey, which is over in a few months. He goes home to Chandler every other weekend to see his family, and when I asked him what his family thought of this project he came up with, he said that while they are scared of him being on the streets, they are also very proud of him. I told him I am too.
I love how Grace draws so many different people to it's ministries, and Greg's story is unique as is every else's here.
--Kim D., Heat Respite coordinator
Weeks 4-5
At Grace, we are In The City For Good and Heat Respite is doing that on a daily basis! For the first two weeks in July, we had 1,657 entries for our program, including almost 650 total volunteer hours. We celebrated the 4th of July with a special holiday lunch prepared by St. Mary’s Basilica. We have had some other great volunteer groups, donating their time, meals, water, and finically supporting our program. We could not do this program without all of your help so thank you very much!
I would like to thank the following persons for volunteering their time and hard work almost every day of the past two weeks:
Marlene Haller
Frank Soto
Sven Lenkewitz
Lori Thompson
Stephanie A.
Tarvies Mayweather
We also several groups either donate food for lunches as well as volunteer their time with us. We are so grateful of their time and talents!
First UCC
Peace Lutheran Church
New Journey Lutheran Church
The program is using up to 3 to 4 cases of water every two hours, and I would like to thank some very large water donors recently. They include:
Mountain View Lutheran Church, Phoenix
New Covenant Lutheran Church, Scottsdale
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Peoria
Love of Christ Lutheran Church, Mesa
Also, thank you to St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Phoenix, and Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Mesa, for donating snack items several times over the past several weeks.
Week at a glance for Week Five: July 10th – July 14th
If you interesting in volunteering or donating to the Heat Respite Program, please contact Kim Davidson, Outreach Coordinator, at outreach@graceinthecity.com or at 602-651-1182 to discuss opportunities available for you and/or a group! Thank you and God Bless.
Weeks 1-2
We have had a great first two weeks of our Heat Respite Program. We had 1,898 entries for our program, including almost 700 total volunteer hours. We spent most of the first two weeks under an Excessive Heat Warning, with a nearby sign reading 125 degrees on Tuesday the 20th! Obviously, we’ve had our “speedbumps”, but we got through them, never stopping to strive to be In The City 4 Good and always working towards the Heat Respite Program’s mission to provide a space for heat relief while building community through the sharing of community resources, meals, water, and ourselves in a place of being, belonging, and becoming.
Week at a glance for Week Two: June 19th – June 23rd
I would like to thank the following persons for volunteering their time and hard work almost every day of the past two weeks:
Marlene Haller
Frank Soto
Moses Elder
Charles Mack
Lori Thompson
Stephanie A.
Roy Larkin
Tarvies Mayweather
We also several groups either donate food for lunches as well as volunteer their time with us. Thank yous go out to:
First UCC
Peace Lutheran Church
Next Generation Service Corp (NGSC) students through the Public Service Academy in the ASU College of Public Service & Community Solutions along with active duty service men and women from Luke Air Force Base. (For more information on this group, please see the upcoming July Grapevine. There were approximately 75 volunteers on site on Friday, 6/16!)
Boys Hope Girls Hope
Grace Lutheran’s own Youth Group
The program is using up to 3 to 4 cases of water every two hours, and I would like to thank some very large water donors recently. They include:
Mountain View Lutheran Church
City of Phoenix Heat Relief Network
New Covenant Lutheran Church
Also, thank you to St. Andrews Lutheran Church for donating snack items several times over the past several weeks.
If you interesting in volunteering or donating to the Heat Respite Program, please contact Kim Davidson, Outreach Coordinator, at outreach@graceinthecity.com or at 602-651-1182 to discuss opportunities available for you and/or a group! Thank you and God Bless.
Compassion. Jesus had compassion for the crowds, verse 36 reads. Out of Matthew’s account of Jesus summoning the disciples and giving them authority to heal and cleanse and sending them to cure the sick and raise the dead, the word compassion jumps out at me. When we practice compassion, we see the world from the perspective of someone else. We at least momentarily step into the head and heart space of another person. If the person is sick, we imagine ourselves in the hospital, poked by nurses and doctors who are working to heal us, releasing control over who comes in and out of our room, enduring a roommate with noisy relatives or constant TV-watching, feeling lousy all the long, long days that we are there.
A wonderful group of primarily active duty service men and women from Luke AFB and some students from ASU visited us at Heat Respite today. The Commander of Luke AFB arrived shortly after 9am and stayed 2 1/2 hours, putting himself and his leadership team to work. What began as a "small" group of about 25, turned into 60-70 volunteers!
The team cleaned up storerooms, cleaned up the surrounding neighborhood, helped with the Heat Respite program at the registration desk and in the kitchen... It's amazing what the group accomplished all over the property!
The group from ASU is the Next Generation Service Corp (NGSC) through the Public Service Academy in the College of Public Service & Community Solutions (COPSCS). "The NGSC is a four-year leadership development program (with a two-year transfer track) where students study their chosen major, engage in practical elements of leadership, learn cross-sector collaboration and take internships each summer working on real issues in the public, private and nonprofit sectors all while pursuing their own chosen social mission. NGSC students train directly with ROTC cadets and midshipmen in leadership exercises and field training exercises. This is a recognition that civilian service and military service are really just two sides of the same coin; both make us stronger as a nation." The group from Luke was here for their #LukeServiceBlitz program. For more information on the combination of the two groups, visit https://psa.asu.edu/next-generation-service-corps.
From Left to Right: Brett Hunt, Exec Dir of the Public Service Academy at COPSCS/ASU; Kim Davidson, Heat Respite Coordinator; Brigadier General Brook Leonard, Commander of the 56th Fighter Win/LukeAFB, Anita Le, NGSC/ASU; and Lt. Col Rhett Hierlmeier, Dir of Ops for the 56th Operations Group/Luke AFB.
In 381 of the common era, approximately 300 years after Jesus lived, died, was raised, and ascended, church leaders gathered for the Council of Constantinople. The council was called by Theodosius I, the Holy Roman Emperor, in the city of Constantinople, a city now called Istanbul in the present-day nation of Turkey. This was the second time the Roman emperor had convened church leaders to debate the core beliefs of Christianity. The first time had been in 325 in Nicea where they wrote the first version of the Nicene Creed. In 381 at the Council of Constantinople, the leaders of the church formulated the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the doctrine which states that Christians believe in one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each equally and fully God. The output of the council was the Nicene Creed in basically its present form. From the first council in 325 to the second council in 381, the major item up for debate was whether the Holy Spirit was equally God in relation to both God the Creator and Jesus.
Are you still awake? Have I bored you completely?
Hey, church, happy birthday! Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the church. Not the birth of a building, not the birth of a denomination like Lutheranism or Presbyterianism, not the birth of a hierarchy or structure. Today is the birthday of the church, the people of God gathered together in community.
Last year we served 10,969 folks with the help of just over 160 volunteers. Here's your chance to help. On Saturday, June 3 at 10:00 am in Hope Hall, we will hold Heat Respite Volunteer orientation.
At Grace, we are called by God to be in the city for good! To that end, we will host a heat relief station in Hope Hall, June 12-September 1, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.
The first time I ever felt alone, I was eight years old. For the whole of my remembered life, my family had lived in Greenbush, Minnesota, and a month before the dreaded alone date, my parents sat me down—along with my sister—and told us that we would be moving to a town called Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, three hours away. While my sister graciously accepted this news, I told my parents through tears that it was fine that they were moving but that I would be staying in Greenbush. Moving day came, December 26, and lots of people from church came to help pack up the moving van. After avoiding the moving van and pretending that I wouldn’t be moving, I finally succumbed to reality and got in the van.
