Grace United Church of Christ
500 School Street • Kohler. Wisconsin 53044
Rev Bill Rishel, Intentional Interim Pastor
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Castings
When I first began fly fishing, I was unaware of the importance of specialized eye wear. I remember that my first pair of fishing sunglasses were Babe Winkelmann specials that cost me less than $10 at Fleet Farm. They were dorky looking, with panels on the side that prevented sunlight from distracting you. But they were tinted plastic, no Ultra Violet protection and certainly not polarized. But since I was a dorky angler anyway, in the beginning, fashion was not my first consideration. Not drowning was on top on that list.
With age and experience, I’ve discovered that besides the rod and reel and correct flies for the occasion, next on the list of importance is proper eye wear. I’m not talking about any run-of-the-mill sunglasses; I’m talking about eye wear made specifically for fly fishing. Now you can argue that I am merely taken in by an advertising campaign that sells these over-priced sunglasses to angling junkies like me. Having said that, I’m convinced that different colored glasses for different situation makes sense.
There is gray for bright light and amber for regular light and copper for this and yellow for that…and each one costs only $$$$$. Which is why I have the most generic of colors, which isn’t the best in all circumstances, but has the widest possible use in most cases. Why? Because these glasses allow me to see past the glare of the light on the surface of the water and lets me see the fish underneath. It’s like having X-ray glasses. No kidding. It also is helpful in spotting those underwater hazards that can easily trip you and remind you of the #1 concern I mentioned earlier…drowning. So having a good pair of specialized eye wear is an essential piece of the standard equipment of fly angling.
I wish we had specialized eye wear that allowed us to see beneath the surface of the times in which we live, and see everything as it really it. I wish those eye glasses were tinted with the color of faith so that I could see these moments in history in perspective. Instead of the glare of corporate news networks feeding me the events of the day like another reality TV show. I wish I could look at our national leadership and their spokespeople and see the truth instead of the carefully scripted responses to questions. I wish I could see underneath the policies that brought us to this point.
By putting on these glasses of faith, I wish I could see how these times and events fit into the grand scheme of God’s Kingdom. Whether my part on this stage of history was helping or hindering the coming reign of God. Even if we had such faith-colored glasses, how many of us would wear them regularly. Oh, Sunday morning might be OK, but not the rest of the week. And certainly not when going out into public. There’s that separation of things religious from things political, you know. Wearing those glasses might bring ridicule from those who wear different colored glasses than ours, like the glasses of uncritical patriotism or the glasses of the bottom-line or the glasses of fear. Sometimes I think the faith-colored glasses make me look exactly like those Babe Winkelmann’s I used to wear. How can anyone take you seriously when wearing faith-colored glasses?
Tight-lines,
Rev. Bill
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Please make note of Rev Beth Petzke's Installation service at Grace United Church of Christ on September 23rd at 2pm. Beth will begin her ministry at Grace on July 2nd. We look forward to welcoming her and her family into the church family at Grace.
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Click the below links for opportunities to help through time, talent and treasure
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A heartfelt thank you to all who helped to prepare plarn for our Homeless Mat Project. The clients at Back Bay Mission were most appreciative of the thoughtful and generous hearts that spent time to lovingly crochet and weave these mats to keep them warm and dry. On behalf of our church and our mission team we thank you for joining us in this ministry. We look forward to the next time we do something together.
In Christ,
the Back Bay Mission team at Salem UCC
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As the Senior Choir prepares for its Encore Service of special music on June 3, we are looking for alternative musicians / artists to enhance worship with their special talents. This will be our 3
rd
ask – I am sure there are home-grown musicians out there to perform during worship this summer.
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We would like to recognize all of our graduates (high school and college) on their achievements in worship on June 10th at the 9am service. Please submit a photo and a brief listing of clubs, activities, sports, etc they enjoyed about their high school/college experience, as well as future plans to the church office as soon as possible.
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Church School News
Thanks go out to the teachers and special scavenger creator, Kelly Kasten, for coming together to create a celebratory experience for the Kids of Grace on May 20
th, the last day of this Sunday School season. The team met on May 5 to go over what worked, what didn’t work, and what we’d want to see for the 2018-2019 session. It’s been a great year – changes and new ideas were made through combined efforts of all. Special thanks to teachers Chris Widder, Tami Ter Maat, Heidi Becker, Caitlin McNitt, Tahna Jensen, Sandy Rabe, and Becky Payne. Cheers to the delightful Molly Montgomery for her help with the Christmas program and other special projects.
A decision to move 2
nd graders to the “older” kids group was made to better balance the roster for the coming year. Bibles will be presented to Jordyn Payne and Casey Ter Maat in the fall.
Tracy Widder and Tami Ter Maat are taking a break from teaching this coming season and we are grateful for their time and talents shared. At the same time, new teachers include Tahna Jensen and Caitlin McNitt who have been a blessing indeed as Monica and the White family relocated. We’ve got a lot going on that is for sure and we need more hands – 2 teachers to step forward please before our August meeting!!
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We celebrated the Rite of Confirmation with Jacob Leonhard in April and look to him and others of the “senior” kids age to bring some much-needed activity to Grace youth.
Students starting their second year Confirmation in the fall will be Ben Widder, Braeden Ziegelbauer, and Sarah Horth. First year students will be Matthew Leonhard and Brooklyn Ter Matt.
The coming Confirmation Class will be asked to attend a Youth Faith Formation Retreat weekend. They are offered the last weekend on February and for the first weekend in March. Please check your schedules and be prepared to commit to a weekend early this fall. The retreat is held at Pilgrim Center (a UCC camp) in Green Lake, WI.
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Celebration Planners Needed
Anyone interested in helping plan the window celebration and/or other celebrations please contact Caitlin McNitt (254-4358) or Judy Leonhardt (458-3388).
Abler Glass still plans to start our project in July with a four to five week completion date. John Abler will let us know a more specific start date as soon as he is able.
Once again – thank you to everyone who gave so generously to the window project fund.
Property Committee
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The search committee is pleased to announce that Rev Beth Petzke will be joining us as pastor of Grace United Church of Christ beginning July 2nd. Thank you to all who made it to the meet & greet to welcome and introduce yourselves to Rev Beth and her family. And also to those who were present for worship on May 13 and for the congregational meeting that followed. We are excited to begin our shared ministry with our settled pastor. Thank you for your prayers and patience throughout this process.
Paul Green, Search Committee Chair
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SCROLL NIGHT BRAT FRY
Join us Wednesday, May 30 for the Scroll Night Brat Fry hosted by Grace UCC from 4:30-7:30pm
Help and donations are still needed. Please see the signup sheet in the foyer and see how you can help!
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5/27: Tom and Anneke Teaters & Dan Montgomery
6/3: Deb, Larry, and Tiffany Ter Maat
6/10: Riachard and Carol Schoneman & Betty Musil
6/17: Mike and Lisa Rolloff & Judy Kummer
6/24: Tom and Anneke Teaters & Aaron Radder
7/1: Deb, Larry, and Tiffany Ter Maat
7/8: Riachard and Carol Schoneman & Betty Musil
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Our summer worship schedule begins on Sunday, May 27 with one worship service at 9am.
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Grace UCC Spring Candle Sale
Spring reminds us of God’s ability to make all things new. Please help us raise money to celebrate the many new things Grace has coming soon… like our newly restored windows and our new pastor. 100% of the proceeds of these candles will go to Grace UCC. We hope you will celebrate these milestones with us, too! There are three fragrances to choose from: lilac, peony, and stormy nights. These candles make great gifts and come wrapped in a box with a scripture card celebrating spring. All candles are $15 each. Candles can be purchased following worship or by placing your order online on our fundraising website by following this link:
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Thank you to Tom & Anneke Teaters for being our Bridgeway Sponsors for the month of June.
Thank you to: Paul & Lynn Green, Betty Jones, Bev Kramer, and Sandy Rabe for providing flowers for the altar this month.
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A heartfelt thank you to all who helped to prepare plarn for our Homeless Mat Project. The clients at Back Bay Mission were most appreciative of the thoughtful and generous hearts that spent time to lovingly crochet and weave these mats to keep them warm and dry. On behalf of our church and our mission team we thank you for joining us in this ministry. We look forward to the next time we do something together.
In Christ,
the Back Bay Mission team at Salem UCC
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Grace Church is an accepting community of faith, committed to growth through change.
-Core values statement written on Saturday, May 13, 2017
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Grace United Church of Christ
(920)838-6666
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