Let the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,

O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

~Psalm 19:14

The flowers on the altar Sunday

are in honor of Cindy Wood’s birthday

Thank you to Peter Kramp

for his years of making music here at Grace!

We are so grateful.

Peace be with you.

Blessings.

 

A note from David Charvat

On September 14 the church Council accepted the resignation of Peter Kramp as Director of the Senior Choir. Earlier in the year he had stepped aside from the  Director position of handbell choir. Council wishes to thank Peter for his years of service to Grace.

Those who give into negatively will wrongfully assume Peter’s departure is a sign of problems at Grace. Those who are focused on Christ and FROG (Fully Rely on God) simply see this as an occasion for renewal. A chance to bring new people to Grace and for providing new opportunities for participation and use of God’s given talent. Less than 24 hours after Peter had submitted his resignation,  I became aware the Holy Spirit was at work at Grace. An individual stepped up and wants to discuss ways to use their gifts to help Grace in leading our music program as we go through this transition. Others informed Council there is interest from new  individuals in joining the Adult Choir. Over the next few weeks the Worship and Music Committee will be meeting to talk about this important ministry and moving us forward.

Also I am overjoyed by the fact that no less than 8 individuals from the Congregation have stepped forward and will be participating in our weekly 9:30 service leading the Children’s sermonette. We are all called to be ministers of God’s Word. I am excited that as new leadership has emerged in the Worship and Music Committee, it has raised new ways of looking at how we do things during our service and they are embraced so that our members can become involved in  Worship and teaching our children.

Check the Resource Table!

Located at the back of the sanctuary is a table filled with resources for many things. There are large sized, large print bulletins, Christ in Our Home magazines (large print and regular), prayer lists, church directories, printed newsletters, sometimes picture prayer books, and of course our bulletins. You never know what you might find there, so please remember to check on your way in or out!

Behind the scenes at Grace…… by Gretchen
  1. We are back home as of Friday September 17th!!! The collection bins for Personal Needs, Christmas Child and Food Pantry have returned to their home!! During the initial Covid outbreak we moved the bins across from the  office. Their true home is in the Graceful Giving Room across form Classroom 3, next to the Sacristy and off the main hallway. Look for the sign in the hallway! There is still an ongoing need for these outreaches!!
  2. It is definitely darker in the mornings now, but have we ever been able to see the most beautiful sunrises. Many have been beautiful shades of pink and red. Not sure but I think the old saying goes “Red sky, at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning.” I think we are glad we are not sailing in the morning!
  3. Our menagerie is also getting ready for winter as Hope and her friends are huge and the squirrels running across the roof sound louder each day. So, does this mean that the bigger or fatter they are the more snow we are going to get???
  4. Ketchup Group for October! Come join us for Fellowship, a devotion and treats and a short program. Gretchen is not going to completely give away October 10th’s speaker but is has to do with a cane and stop???? Put this on your calendar and come and find out. October 25 has something to do with green, brown, and water so add that to your calendar too!
  5. Remember: Grace is not the building, but the people carrying out God’s Mission in a POSTIVE way!
Health Ministry

The Parish Nurse will be out of the church from 9/26 through 10/9. There will be someone to cover the HELP closet – please let the church office know if you have any needs. Gretchen will do her best to answer any phone calls or emails but may intermittently have issues with cell phone or Wifi so it may not be an immediate response. She will try to check in with the church office so if you do not hear please let the office know if you have not heard from her.

The Display Cabinet Outside Brenner is Undergoing a Change!!

For many years Grace has been honored to receive many trophies for their involvement in various sporting events. Many of these sporting events took place during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The contents of the cabinet are now due for an update.

Grace has been recognized for many outreach activities and interactions within the community. Sadly, many of these items have been stuck away in a cupboard and no one has had the opportunity to see them.

During Covid we were looking for meeting minutes in the basement of the chapel when we found many items on the history of Grace. These items have also been hidden away and we have not had the opportunity to enjoy.

Two of the trophies have plaques identifying them with Grace. They will remain in the display cabinet.

The other trophies will be placed in the library on the table on Friday September 24th. If you have a specific attachment to any of them, please come and take.

After 2 weeks on October 10th the trophies will be donated to an organization that will use them for various youth sports activities.

Come and check out the display cabinet! Items will be rotated bimonthly or monthly.

Thursday November 4th.   4:30 – 6:30 PM. Fellowship Hall.

The Toledo Police Department will be providing a training program on Active Shooters for Grace members. Grace is a large church with many groups and   activities resuming so we do need to be proactive and prepared.

Unfortunately, the number of incidents with guns has not decreased in Toledo. We want to keep the people of Grace and the groups that share our church safe.

The Toledo Police conducted a “walk through “of the church in July so are familiar with our layout. They will provide a training program based on what is the correct way for us to react.

We all need to know what to do in the case of an Active Shooter entering Grace or on the church campus.

Everyone is invited to attend.

I am strongly encouraging ushers, Sunday School and VBS leaders, Staff, youth group, any groups like Personal needs and Church Council members to attend.

Much as we don’t want to think about it happening the more prepared, we are the better the chances at surviving an attack.

To have an idea of how many handouts will be needed and room space (we are planning on Fellowship but may need to move)  please sign up on Community Bulletin Board or call/email Gretchen.

Any questions/comments please contact Gretchen 419-944-5166 or email

 gretchensue1205@gmail.com

September is Hunger Action Month and Feeding America Month

Food insecurity or lack of sufficient food has been an important issue even before Covid hit.The Feeding America organization stated that there were 12 million  people in the US that did not have enough food on a daily basis. Since Covid that has jumped to 42 million and kids make up 13 million of this count.

The statistics show that there is an increasing number of people who have to make choices between food for their kids or themselves as well as choosing food over medical care.

Grace members and others have been wonderful in donating to our food collection. THANK YOU!!!

Please keep up the good work!

Thanks to Mary Schneider and her manning our site on Mondays and being the delivery person.

Clean Hands!

Yep, there really is a day celebrating clean hands – International Clean Hands Week and it is this week.

One of the positive aspects of Covid is that many people have   improved on washing their hands.

We need to keep this up as it is not only a defense against Covid but also the Flu bug and colds.

“Handwashing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of  infections” – CDC .

Remember:

  1. Wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds which is 2 rounds of “Happy Birthday”.
  2. Wash them
  • Before and after removing your mask
  • Before and after handling food items
  • Before eating
  • After using the toilet
  • After coughing or blowing your nose
  • After touching an animal, animal food or treats, animal cages or cleaning up animal feces (poop)
  • After touching garbage
  • After changing diapers or cleaning up after a child has used the bathroom
  • Before and after treating a cut or wound
  • Before and after caring for someone who is sick
  1. Germs are hiding everywhere and often where you least suspect! High on the worst list are bathroom doorknobs, light switches, remote controls, faucet handles, shopping cart handles to name a few.
  2. If you cannot get to soap and water hand sanitizer is the next best thing. Make sure that the label says it is at least 60% alcohol to be effective -there are a lot of bottles out there that are not 60% or greater. Sanitizer also has dates for expiration so double check those.

SO let’s hear it for “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO YOU!”

What is the Middle of October??? (October 15) 

What arrives in white trucks?

THE RED CROSS Blood Drive Staff!

We still have some great times for scheduling your donation.

The drive is from 2:00 – 7:30 pm so you can come after work. If your spot is filled let Gretchen know as we will work on a spot for you.

This is an easy way to give back to the community and every unit given can help at least 3 people.

There is a serious blood shortage and there are hospitals all over the US that are not only coping with being full but are also cancelling elective surgeries due to the shortage.

SO please donate if you can -we except new people too. Donors do not have to be members of Grace – it can be family, friends, neighbors.

Any questions call Gretchen 419-944-5166 or email

gretchensue1205@gamil.com

 

 

Too many of us are not living our dreams

because we areliving our fears

(Les Brown)

 

Try and fail but never fail to try. (Jared Leto)

 

Notes from Congregational Council Meeting 9/14/21
  1. Transfer of Membership for David and Kathy Winters accepted.
  2. Work continues updating of Grace Constitution to fall in line with ELCA Churchwide and current committees, policies and procedures. Will be brought to congregation at future congregational meeting.
  3. Resignation of Peter Kramp from position of Choir Director reviewed and accepted. Worship and Music working on plan for choir.
  4. Discussed plans for updating contents of display case outside Brenner Hall. Removal of trophies that were not specific to Grace and placement of other   significant materials.
  5. Discussed food distribution at Aldersgate.
  6. Reviewed Synod Assembly information for Friday September 24.
  7. Call Committee update. Number of churches looking to call a pastor, availability of pastors, salary requirements and Grace’s position in the call process.
  8. Work being done on Safe Sanctuary policy.
  9. Debbie Fallon and Wendy McCall starting Sunday School with junior and senior high youth.
  10. Resumption of Children’s Sermon at 9:30 am service starting in October.
  11. Discussion on music and positive feedback on acapella singing.

Minutes from Church Meetings can be viewed in notebook in Library. Church Council are open meetings and are held the second Tuesday of each month starting at 6:30.

This is the day the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

~Psalm 118:24