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.
Our presiding bishop Elizabeth Eaton has asked all congregations of the ELCA to study the statement and offer feedback prior to fall 2018. To read the draft social statement in its entirety, go to ELCA.org/womenandjustice. We'll study this statement every 3rd Tuesday from 6:30-8pm in the North Room through May. Dates are January 23, February 20, March 20, April 17, and May 15.
Jesus speaks with the disciples on the night before his death about love, about friendship. Eschewing the term slave or servant, Jesus names the disciples his friends, and he says: “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Though I have long celebrated the way God chooses us in Holy Baptism, how God chooses us as God’s own children, I had not caught before the sweet grace of Jesus choosing us as friends
Help Wanted, Outreach Coordinator: The Grace Outreach Coordinator provides leadership and continuity through the summer for Grace's Heat Respite program. The Coordinator carries out Grace's mission and ministry as he or she oversees Heat Respite. The Coordinator also manages, supervises, and welcomes volunteers of all ages, skill levels, and lengths of commitment. This position is critical to collaborating and implementing the program.
This spring, our new synodical bishop, Deborah Hutterer, invited all interested lay and rostered leaders (i.e. pastors and deacons) from synod congregations, by conference, together for conversation about the future of ministry in our synod. During the spring conference meeting for our conference—the Capital Conference, Bishop Hutterer reported on the top three priorities identified by the synod council—after extensive conversation with lay people and clergy from all over the synod:
Communicate Jesus
Connect people
Create possibilities.
Vacation Bible School Planning: The next VBS planning meeting will be May 20 at 12:30 pm. All people interested in getting involved and any potential volunteers should attend this planning session. Please speak with Linda or Margie to learn more.
VBS will be June 4-8, 5:15-8:00 pm! This year’s theme is Splash Canyon; we will learn how God works in water! Please invite the children in your life, ages 3-12, to attend. To pre-register children, contact Linda Schwall at lschwall@cox.net.
The church is changing—along with the world. Church leaders from a variety of denominations claim church decline. Many people grieve the death of the ‘church as we know it.’ The concern is valid; the ‘church as we know it’ is dying. I have spent many an hour contemplating this situation, many an hour worrying about these circumstances, many an hour coming up with brilliant plans to address the decline, many an hour in continuing education and meetings directly addressing this topic. Where I’ve landed after all that is here: Some things need to die in order to make space for new life. I think the ‘church as we know it’ is one of those things that needs to die.
The church as we know it, including Grace, is chang-ing. With a focus less on the institution of church and more on Christian community, our community building goal for May is for each person in the congregation to share words of encouragement or blessing with at least one of our graduating high school seniors or one of our youth celebrating Affirmation of Baptism this May.
Common Ground Recovery Community works to help people recovering from addiction and abuse through worship based around a twelve-step program. As a vital congregation, Common Ground is supported through your gifts to Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA (elca.org/campaign). Beyond the Steeple is a Living Lutheran series on non-traditional worship in the ELCA. Visit www.livinglutheran.org for more.
Peter Mayer is a songwriter, the lead guitarist for Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band and a Lutheran. “I’m a Lutheran because I’m called to be part of that vital choir of service and rejoicing that speaks and listens to a world that needs a song and needs to know and experience this mighty love of God in Christ.” Learn more about Mayer in his “I’m a Lutheran” feature in Living Lutheran. Read the full profile.
While God has called and continues to call women of color as leaders in this church, their ministry experiences have often been met with challenges. The March Living Lutheran cover story shares eight excerpts from “God’s Faithfulness on the Journey,” the ELCA rostered women of color project. The project presents contributors’ stories in their own voices, helping break the silence and celebrate women of color in this church. Read the full article.
Four years ago, the ELCA set the bold and daring goal of raising $198 million in a five-year span. Now, as we enter Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA's fifth year, we have been richly blessed. As of Dec. 31, ELCA members and congregations have contributed more than $139 million to campaign ministries, representing 70 percent of our five-year goal. Your generosity inspires us, and it is our privilege to be working with you to make all things new through Christ.
