| Grace Notes Email Newsletter |
ALC Challenge Grant - Your Help Is Needed
Over 30 years ago, Grace started one of its ministries: the Adult Literacy Center. This ministry provides critical life skills to adults in Ozaukee County, helping them gain family supporting employment for financial independence. A generous community member is offering a $3,000 challenge grant to the ALC. Please help us reach that goal. Visit
www.AdultLiteracyOZ.org
for more information and to read about the ALC's accomplishments from 2017. Donations can be made online or dropped off at the church office.
Your Grace Office Staff
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We Welcome Bishop Erickson this Sunday
Bishop Paul Erickson from the Greater Milwaukee Synod will be our guest preacher at both worship services this Sunday, January 21. We are pleased to have the bishop with us that day. He will also lead the adult forum as he talks about the many important things our synod does to serve Christ and others. Let's make sure we give our bishop a warm welcome to Grace!
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2018 Annual Meeting
The people of Grace will gather at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 28 for the annual meeting. We will hear reports from our staff and church leaders, elect council and other leaders and discuss and vote upon our 2018 church budget as well as the council recommendation to establish a contingency fund using the remaining "Grow In Grace" money. Please plan to attend this important meeting for our congregation.
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Chili Lunch is January 28th!
HYPE will be serving the annual chili lunch on January 28th after the second service. This is a fundraiser for the mission trip and other HYPE events. Please make sure you stop by and enjoy some delicious chili and also support Grace Youth Programs.
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Chili Lunch Donations Needed!
The Annual Chili Lunch is on January 28th @ 11:30 before the annual meeting. HYPE Youth serve this delicious lunch to our congregation.
We are in need of some donations for the lunch. If you are interested in donating please sign-up on the sheet in the Gathering Space.
Thanks for your support and see you at the Chili Lunch!
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Contingency Fund Recommendation
You should have received a letter from church council president Kerry Feutz about the council's recommendation to the congregation that we convert the remaining "Grow In Grace" money into a contingency fund to help with some of our mortgage expenses over the next several years. The council feels this is a wise move for our congregation and asks you to support this recommendation which will be voted on at the January 28 annual meeting. We discussed this at the special Adult Forum session last week, but if you could not be there and have questions about this, please talk to Kerry Feutz, Mike McGraw, our president-elect, Ed Eckert, council treasurer, or Pastor Paul.
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New Thursday Evening Bible Study
"Interesting and Lesser-Known Characters from the Bible"
We're going to start a short series of one session classes this week as we look at some of the interesting characters and stories in the Bible that we don't hear about very often. The Bible is packed with people and stories like this. This week we are starting out with the scandalous tale of Tamar in Genesis 38. Tamar was wronged by her father-in-law, Judah, and went about vindicating herself in a most unusual way. Tamar is later mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus' ancestors for a very specific reason.
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Parent Fellowship Hour
It's finally time for Parent Fellowship Hour to start again. We will be having Parent Fellowship Hour on this Sunday, January 21st @ 9:20 - 10:10 in the Nursery. Non-Education Hour Age kids are welcome to join us.
Parent Fellowship hour is an opportunity for Grace parents and guardians to connect with other Grace families and to be part of a community of people that are facing many of the same issues that families face daily. We meet on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month and will focus on a variety of topics.
For the next 4 sessions we will be watching and discussing a series called "experiencing Life". I have viewed a couple of the sessions and it is a great program focused on improving our relationship with Jesus and continuing our faith journey.
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Nicaragua Mission Trip in February
A group of Grace members, and other supporters of the Circle of Empowerment, are going to Nicaragua next month to visit Missionary Meg Boren and work with her and the people in her community. Our group will be gone from February 9-18. They will be doing a number of projects while they are there. They also hope to get to meet many of the wonderful people who are so special to Meg. Our group consists of Pastor Paul, Karen Bulgerin, Samantha Bulgerin, Mark Koehler, Bill Bahrke, Susan Schiebe, Christine Arnold, Joan Tuttle, Julia Wolff, Heidi Roberts and Judy Spencer. They are taking a lot of supplies down to Nicaragua with them as well.
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Play Practice on Sunday
The second meeting for our 2018 Grace play, "Who Done In Mr. Z?", will be held from 1:30-3:00 p.m. this Sunday, January 21.
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Choose Your Own "Responsibilities" Assignments
Thank you to all of you have gone onto Sign Up Genius and selected your responsibility dates. We have received a lot of positive feedback so far because folks enjoy being able to pick dates that fit their schedules. That being said, there are still many spots that need to be filled. Please know that even if you signed up for a responsibility on Time & Talents, you need to go online and select the exact dates you would like to volunteer. If we are finding that volunteers are not filling in the responsibilities, then we will have to go back to our old way of randomly assigning people each week to fill in the missing day and time slots. This is for signing up for the months of February - May. If this is successful, we will do another sign up for the summer months later this spring. We will continue sending out reminder emails two weeks prior to your scheduled date.
Here are the links to each Sign Up Genius page for each area. Even if you did not check off one of these responsibilities on your Time & Talents form, you are welcome to volunteer as well. We will provide training for anyone who needs it. Click on the link below to access the sign up form (you will only need to enter your name and email address). If you do not feel comfortable signing up on your own, we'll have computers available at church on Sunday, January 21. You can also call or email the church office and we can sign you up.
Thank you all for supporting this new way of signing up for responsibilities. Each of you plays an important role in helping to keep Grace running!
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Lunch Bunch
Please join us at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 18th at Remington's in Thiensville.
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JYG and HYPE are going to Sunburst on February 25th!
Come and enjoy a fun afternoon with other Grace Youth and Sunburst. You can snowboard, ski or go tubing. We will be leaving church around 12:00 and will returning around 4:30.
Prices do vary. Please see sign-up sheets for prices. Friends are welcome to attend. Please make sure you sign up by February 18th.
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RNT - Lunch & Presentation on February 13th
RNT - Retired Not Tired is a group of retirement age couples who enjoy a variety of activities. We get together monthly - usually during the day. Last year we enjoyed a tour of the Museum of Wisconsin Art, mini golf, a Chinook's game, a winery tour, a play, a Horicon Marsh tour, lunch and a bonfire-cookout. Our service project is decorating our Grace church home for Christmas. We welcome any retirement age couples to join us. Please contact Trudi Biefeld at
jbiefeld@att.net
or Jan Ernst at
djefam2@gmail.com
for more information about RNT.
Our next RNT event will be lunch at Flipside Restaurant in Grafton on Tuesday, Feb 13th at noon. After lunch together, all are invited back to Grace Lutheran for a 1:30 pm presentation on: "Evaluating a Senior Living Community: 10 Things to Consider" by Cherie Swenson and her team from Luther Manor in Wauwatosa. Please RSVP to Marcia Vrankin at
mjvrankin@gmail.com
by Monday, February 5th.
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Part Time Van Driver Needed for Family Promise of Ozaukee County
Hours will average 8 hours per week including driving and office hours. Please contact Mark Gierach or Paul Bissett at the Family Promise Washington County office at 262-353-9304 for an application and more information. Position open immediately.
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5K Families: Lord's Prayer Event Jan 28
Kindergartners
and their families, mark your calendars for Sunday, January 28 during Sunday School. We will be meeting as a group to learn more about The Lord's Prayer. Then, on February 11, our 5K kiddos will lead The Lord's Prayer in worship. The Lord's Prayer is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples and is so important for us still today. We'll discuss the importance of the prayer and do a few fun activities together to help us learn more about it. If you have questions, please contact Katie at Katie@GraceGrafton.com.
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Coupons
Once again, we are asking for help in obtaining coupons from Family Sharing. Any that you can give the Quilters is a great help for us to save money when purchasing sheets or other items. We appreciate what you have given us in the past but please keep them coming. Donna does her best to save us money and buy items from Family Sharing and especially on Senior Day. At present, she has depleted her supply. Please help us out!
Grace Quilters
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January Education Newsletter Available
Sunday School families, please make sure to read through the January Education Newsletter posted on the Grace Christian Education Page at
http://www.gracegrafton.com/christian-education.html It includes information about what we have planned for spring, along with some great pictures from the Christmas Program.
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December Blood Drive Update
Our December blood drive went well. Our goal was 35 donors! We had 38 donors. We had 41 folks try, but three were unable to give. That is truly WONDERFUL....And for our year to date total, we had 105 Whole Blood & 11 double red cells. That means that the people who donated at Grace this year helped 116 people throughout the year & possibly saved their lives. We DOUBLED our totals from 2016.
Great job Grace members, family & friends. Here's to 2018!
Mary Korrison
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Family Promise Week: February 4th-11th
Time to sign up for our upcoming host week! Please sign up online and fill in your slot on the paper sheet at church! Volunteer positions are filling up fast. We are especially in need of overnight hosts. If you have not received the sign up in email, please let Mari know. If you would like to join the Family Promise team, please fill out an application (in our mailbox or on the bulletin board), do not sign up on the schedule, until your application/security check clears and you are notified. Thanks!
Presently, we have one (Mother/son) family in the program. As always, this can change quickly.
Also, thank you to everyone on the Endowment Committee for the donation to Family Promise and covering our commitment for 2018!
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Missing Anything?
Are you missing a hat, sweatshirt, sparkly headband, reading glasses or a pair of pants? We might have what you're looking for! Check out our new Lost & Found bin in the coat room next to the conference room. In the future, any lost items can be placed in there for their owner to re-discover.
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Who to Call in the Grace Office
As a general outline - Here are the general areas of coverage for each office support person.
Please direct your communication to the correct person when possible to minimize duplication of efforts.
Office - Main #262-377-4770
Lisa Bernd - Office Manager/Director of Involvement
- Building Cleaning
- Issues with Property Repair/Maintenance Needs
- Grace Notes & weekly bulletin insert
- Electronic Offerings & contributions
- Volunteer Coordination/New Member Orientation
Ed Borkenhagen - Administrative Treasurer & Office Assistant
- Expense Check Processing
- Payroll/Grace Financials
- Service Bulletins
- Service PowerPoint Presentations
Erica Dimmett - Youth and Family Ministries Coordinator
- Teen and High School Groups
- 4th Grade - 5th Grade (KFC)
- 6th Grade - 8th Grade (JYG)
- High School (HYPE)
- Confirmation Activities
- Parent Fellowship Group
Katie Eippert - Youth Education Coordinator
- Children Birth to 5th Grade
- Children's Message and Grace Quiet Sacks
- Sunday School
- Vacation Bible School (VBS)
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Staff Schedules
The office is open Monday thru Friday from 9-12 and 1-4.
Pastor Paul: Tuesday-Friday
Pastor Heidi: Tuesday-Thursday
Lisa Bernd: Monday-Wednesday
Ed Borkenhagen: Tuesday-Friday
Erica Dimmett: Wednesday from 3-Confirmation, Friday morning
Katie Eippert: Wednesday & Friday (8-11) & Tuesday & Thursday (8-3)
A pastor is always available in emergencies. Our cell phone numbers are always on the church voicemail recording- 377-4770. Please don't hesitate to call us if you need us. That is what we're here for.
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Mt. Meru Coffee is Available for Purchase in the Gathering Space
Several varieties of coffee are now available for immediate purchase. Please complete the order form, include cash or check made payable to the Mt. Meru Coffee Project and deposit in the box provided. If you do not find the type of coffee you need, please complete an order form as the coffee will be restocked monthly. Regular, decaf, or flavored coffee sells for $10.00/12 oz. bag. Drip and perk grinds as well as whole bean and single-serve cups are available.
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Check out AmazonSmile to Support
If you're buying gifts through Amazon's website, please consider doing it through AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at
http://smile.amazon.com
, you'll find the exact same prices, selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization. You can choose from nearly one million organizations to support- please consider supporting Grace Lutheran!
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| Don't forget...One Can Plan Our ongoing mission is collecting nonperishable goods for Ozaukee Family Sharing and All People's Church in Milwaukee. Please bring one nonperishable food item when you come to worship and place it in the yellow barrel. The yellow barrel is located in the corner of the Gathering Area under the Outreach Opportunity Bulletin Board. |
| The Good News is on the Website There is a lot going on at Grace this month. You can read all about it in this months Good News. Follow the link:
http://www.gracegrafton.com/uploads/2/6/4/1/26411638/goodnews_currentmonth.pdf |
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Responsibility List
Responsibility for Thursday, January 18
At the 6:30 p.m. service: Ann Turney is the greeter.
Responsibilities for Sunday, January 21
At the 8:00 a.m. service:
Dave Polka is the assisting minister, John Bernd is the reader, Adi Utecht is the acolyte, Dan Ernst's team is ushering, Steve Korinek & Joan Tuttle are the greeters, Lynda Lalley is in the nursery, Carson Bernd is in the multimedia room, Sue Korinek has communion by Intinction set up, Kelly Klug is at the Welcome Desk & John & Cindy Payne have coffee hour.
At the 10:30 a.m. service:
Karen Johnson is the reader, Aaron Goethel is the acolyte, Mel Trapp's team is ushering, Donna & John Pospichal are the greeters, Tricia Traxel is in the nursery, Greg Schwartz is in the multimedia room, Wendy Freeland is the communion assistant, Sandy Luettgen is at the Welcome Desk & Pam Jeletz has communion cleanup.
Responsibility for Thursday, January 25
At the 6:30 p.m. service: Sue & Jim Carlson are the greeters.
Responsibilities for Sunday, January 28
At the 8:00 a.m. service:
Marcia Vrankin is the assisting minister, Kathy Kehoe is the reader, Fred Petersen's team is ushering, Ed & Sandy Schlicht & Joby Whitemarsh are the greeters, Erica Dimmett is in the nursery, Scott Steffen is in the multimedia room & Kelly Klug has coffee hour.
At the 10:30 a.m. service:
Lori Mathias is the reader, Ashley Acevedo is the acolyte, Jason Traxel's team is ushering, Ken & Sue Steinhoff are the greeters, Donna Stauske is in the nursery & Jeff Olson is in the multimedia room.
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