This is a quick weekly reminder of what is happening at Grace in worship
and in ways to connect and serve.
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A Note From Pastor Maria Markman |
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Dear People of Grace,
As the season of Pentecost comes to a close, we eagerly await Christmas. But first we journey through the season of Advent and our coming hope -Christ. The stories we read in scripture will change too, from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Reading through the Old Testament reminds me that ancient people believed in gods of certain places. But the God of Israel moved with God’s people at first by coming close to them wherever they were, like in the story of Abraham, then God traveled with them in pillars of smoke and fire and the ark of the covenant. Then they built God a temple in the heart of Jerusalem and when the temple was destroyed and the people in exile, these stories point to the truth that God was always with them. Throughout the past year, I have had some major moves. I went from being a seminary student to being a Pastor. I moved from living with my parents to owning a home in Fridley. And most recently I became a dog mom! Because of my move and not living in a house with other people, this restriction time feels different and I still know God was and is always with me.
If you are like me, you may be looking for ways to feel less alone and stuck at home these days. The best parts of my week are when I get to interact with my friends and all of you virtually. My friends and I have begun Bible Studies and happy hours via zoom. My family and I Facetime many times a week, although I am not entirely convinced it is to see me, but instead Chandler.
And here at Grace, we are working to provide meaningful online experiences both interactive and to do on your own. With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I reflect on the things happening at Grace and I am so thankful. I am grateful for our Thursday morning Bible study and I hope, if you need a word of encouragement, you will attend. Our young adult group has also been meeting weekly for a book study. We offer Sunday Zoom fellowship at 9:30 am for both our adults and Sunday School kids! Our congregation continues to engage in the difficult and important work of understanding racism in our country and communities. Continuing in this work below in our Ministry Moment you can read about the work SALT is doing reflecting on what the ELCA says about the Gospel and Racial Justice. Next week we are offering Zoom Thanksgiving worship at 7 pm, complete with a video with all of you saying what you are thankful for this year. If you are unable to join us at that time, a recording of the service will be added to GLC website and YouTube. In the near future, we will be offering opportunities for you to journey through the season of Advent with us. Worship will be at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm on Wednesdays via Zoom. Our Mental Health Team is preparing a conversation stemming from the question: How do we help others and ourselves combat holiday stress and anxiety? There is soooo much happening at Grace and I didn’t even mention all of the outreach opportunities or worship or what our youth are up to?!
We may have closed our doors, but we are active in faith and connection at Grace. The ways in which we thought God to exist in the world may have changed, but God is always with us. Keep your eyes and hearts open for these opportunities and if you have questions please give us a call or email; we love to hear from you!
Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving,
Pastor Maria Markman
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It’s not too late to turn in your Statement of Intent for our 2021 Hopeful Expectations Stewardship Appeal. Help us meet our goal of increasing financial gifts by $85,000 and receiving 125 commitment cards. Remember just by turning in your card you are supporting the ministry of Grace because 6 families have pledged $10 each per Statement of Intent. Thank you for your support! |
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Please join SALT (Seek, Abide, Love, Trust; GLC adult education and prayer ministry) and others in engaging the intersection of the Gospel and Racial Justice. Read with us the ELCA statement on Racial Justice. |
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Then reflect on what it means with us. Like Martin Luther addressed the 10 commandments, Lord’s Prayer, and Apostles’ creed in his small catechism asking of each petition: what does this mean? So too, we will ask What does this mean? How do we see these words already in action at Grace? Where could Grace step up and meet God's call for justice and mercy? Here is our first reflection by Grace and SALT team member Chrissy Gast: |
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Virtual Service Availability
Throughout everything we will continue to provide worship online. We will be streaming worship through Grace's YouTube account. We encourage you to join us and listen to God's word through virtual services. Worship will be posted by 5pm on Saturday evening, allowing you to worship at the time you prefer.
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A Virtual Christmas Program
We are excited to announce this year we will be creating a virtual Christmas Program! Our program is called: Do Not Be Afraid! And centers around Jesus’ birth stories found in Matthew and in Luke.
Children’s Ministry and Grace’s Music Ministry are combining forces to tackle this year’s virtual program. The acting roles have been cast, but we are still working on gathering musicians and singers!
If you would like to participate musically in this year’s program, please email Jonathan Orwig at jonathano@graceandover.org
Program will air in worship on December 12/13. Invite your friends and family to attend Grace Virtual Worship that weekend. We plan to host a watch party as well via zoom!
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Thanksgiving Eve Worship
November 25th at 7 pm
Thanksgiving Eve Worship will be at 7pm on November 25th on Zoom: Our theme is “Around our Table.” We invite you to join us for worship around your table as we give thanks to God for all the wonderful gifts given to us. We will be recording the Zoom worship and posting on YouTube following our worship service. Here is the zoom link:
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Advent Wednesday Worship
Beginning Dec. 2nd
Advent Mid-week Worship, Wednesdays at 1pm and 7pm: Join us on Zoom for an Advent Worship experience. We will be lighting the Advent Wreath, praying together and reflecting on the significance of waiting during this season. Here is the zoom link for both Worship opportunities:
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OK@Play Zooming through COVID
Thursday, December 10th at 6:30 pm
We have missed everyone! It’s time to get together “safely” through Zoom. We would love to have everyone join us for an online social time on:
Thursday, December 10th at 6:30 - 7:30 pm (or longer)
Don’t know how to Zoom? No problem . . . all you need is a computer, or an iPad, or your phone that has a camera and audio on it. You do not need to have the App on your device, all you need to do is click on the Zoom link below. If you would like to practice in advance, let Ann Lange know and I will send you a practice link, instructions, and walk you through getting into a Zoom meeting. It truly is very easy!
For Fun: Wear something Christmas related (i.e. antlers, hat, sweater, bells, etc.) Surprise us and make us laugh!
For Activities: We will do introductions and will have questions to get us sharing what has been going on in your life since COVID shut us down.
“Shout Out Time” Do you have any exciting news or announcement to share? Now is the time to share it! We will talk about other ideas to do on Zoom in the future - Movies, games, ?? Put your thinking Santa hats on! We are thinking of Zooming each month on the Second Thursday of the Month. We will talk about that. If we have enough people participating, we may expand to an afternoon social time and an evening social time on Zoom.
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Sunday School is Going Virtual!
Parents and kids look for emails each week containing a video and Sunday school activities. If you need a packet of supplies, please email mariam@graceandover.org. Sunday School lessons will be emailed weekly arriving on Saturday evening or can be found on Grace's website under children's ministry. In addition to weekly Sunday School lessons that you can do on your own time, we will be offering a zoom gathering Sunday Mornings at 9:30 am. These kid zoom calls will be around 15 minutes long and lead by different Sunday School leaders! We want to know how you and what you have been up to! We want to see your faces even though we cannot meet in person at church. And we want to have fun! This time will be a combination of conversation, learning, games, and fun!
Thank you,
Pastor Maria Markman
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Grace's Opportunities for Giving |
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The Sand Creek Elementary Kiddos Need Your Help!
Many of the children at Sand Creek Elementary are in desperate need of WARM winter mittens, gloves, and hats. Let’s see how many we can collect! For your convenience, you can place your donations in the bin outside of Grace’s KIDS ENTRY doors any time Monday-Thursday from 8-4 or on Friday from 8-noon.
Various sizes are needed for boys and girls in grades K-5. If possible, waterproof mittens and gloves are preferred so the kids can play in the snow to their hearts’ content. And please - NO light-weight mittens/gloves, as they just don’t keep the kiddos warm and dry. Any questions can be directed to Ann Lange 763-438-5623.
Thank you for your loving generosity
to the Sand Creek children in need!
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Thanksgiving Supply Drive for ACBC Food Shelf
Last chance to donate!
There’s still time to contribute to our Thanksgiving Drive for ACBC Food Shelf! Please bring your donations to church on Friday, Nov. 20th between 8 am - 4 pm or Monday Nov. 23rd between 8 am and noon. You can drop your donations in the bin outside of the KIDS Entrance. As a reminder, we’re collecting toilet paper, paper towels, diapers, and feminine hygiene products.
Thank you for your generosity!
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FAMILY PROMISE WEEK!
Our Family Promise host week is coming up the week after Thanksgiving! Although Family Promise is still housing families in hotels with funds from a grant, Grace will provide hospitality bags and hot meals. There are still opportunities to help, whether it’s providing fruit or snacks, writing a note of encouragement to a family, or providing one hot meal (home-cooked or carry-out) for a family of 2-4 people. Items will be collected between 8am-4pm on Nov. 30th and Dec. 1st at church. (Ring the bell at the KIDS Entry doors and someone will let you in!) If you wish to provide a hot meal, it will need to be dropped off at Grace on Dec. 3rd between 4pm-5pm. Members of the Family Promise Team will deliver the meals to the families at the hotels that evening. To make a contribution, please sign-up using the link below:
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Grace Lutheran's
"Till All Are Fed"
Food Shelf Needs
Here is a list of current needs for Grace's Emergency Food Shelf. If you are able to donate, please drop the items at the church office.
crackers/snacks
boxed pasta noodles
canned spaghetti sauce
canned dinners - stew or beefaroni
desserts (cake mix/frosting, brownie mixes, packaged cookies)
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Noisy Offerings
Did you know that hunger causes nearly half of deaths in children under age 5 around the world? An estimated 6,200 die each day from causes related to undernutrition. Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), a Christian nonprofit that Grace supports, is dedicated to feeding as many children as possible, working with food distribution partners within communities to bring about lasting change. Noisy Offerings received over the next two weeks will be directed to FMSC.
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ADOPT A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS!
Would you like to share God’s grace in a very tangible and REAL way this Christmas? If so, please consider “adopting” a local family who will be truly blessed by your generosity. Through our Faith & Community Partnership with Sand Creek Elementary School, we will connect families, individuals, or groups from Grace Lutheran with local student families in need.
If you choose to adopt a family, you will receive a list of family members, with genders and ages, but no names. Historically, adopters have shopped for gifts and added gift cards at their discretion. But this year, because of COVID-19, buying and distributing gifts will be risky. Therefore, we are asking adopters to purchase ONLY gift cards to whatever vendor and in whatever amount the adopter chooses. If you are interested in adopting a local family this Christmas, please contact Jan Margotto at 763-434-4617.
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Ways to Give Electronically |
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GraceLink
Consider electronic giving on GraceLink. It’s a convenient way to give consistently throughout the year. If you have any questions, contact Frances or Marie in the Church Office or Click on the GraceLink logo below.
If you are wondering where your giving is for the year, please log in to GraceLink. Find Giving on the tool bar. Then select My Giving History.
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Text to Donate
We’re updating our website to also include text and QR code as ways to give electronically.
For these, the system will request the user a ONE TIME SETUP to include their name, credit card # etc. – this will be required only the first time. After that, when the user texts to give or uses the QR code to give it will just ask the amount to confirm. The users will be able to select funds to allocate their giving to as well – operational, capital, noisy.
The number to give is 73256 – text key word: GRACEANDOVER
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Prayers of the Church
Embrace those who feel far-off, excluded, or defeated. Accompany those living with chronic and invisible illness. Sustain the weak and weary. Refresh those who labor under the weight of pain or sickness Today we pray especially for Richard & Annette, Paul & Michelle, John, Erin, Jan Anderson’s sponsored daughter in Rakai, Kim, Johnnie Tillery, Charlotte Montei, Rachel O’ Brion, Eric & Candace Mahowald & their unborn twins, Bill, Sr. & Barb DeVries, Sue Barker, Linda Breyette, Elsie Weisenberger, Linda Christiansen, John Malecha, Joe Bailey, Julie Swedberg, Judi Wold, Colleen Wernimont. We pray for all those suffering from COVID-19 throughout the world, and we pray that the end of Covid-19 would be near. Lord, hear our prayers.
God of promise, grant comfort, peace, and the hope of Christ’s resurrection to all who grieve. We pray especially today for Quinton, Michelle & Jeff Busitzky upon the death of Jeff’s Grandmother; Shirley Christenson & family upon the death of her sister, Iona Muehlhauser; Mark Kempenich & family upon the death of Mark’s mother, Darlene. Lord, hear our prayer.
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December Grace Notes Articles Due
Nov. 20th
If you would like to put an article in the December Edition of Grace Notes, please have your articles in to Marie Kolar by 5:00 pm on Friday, November 20th. Please have them in Word format and send them to mariek@graceandover.org.
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Virtual Connections
During this time of high COVID-19 cases, we encourage you to connect with Grace and others! If you are looking for ministries and groups to connect with please visit our web site at www.graceandover.org and click on Church Online to see opportunities to connect.
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