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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Worship
Saturdays at 5pm Contemporary
Sundays at 8:45am Traditional
Sundays at 10:30am Contemporary
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We do not require masks but it is strongly encouraged for unvaccinated people at in-person worship. If you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, please feel free to do so. We do ask if you are not feeling well or ill please stay home. We will continue to live stream worship services for those who do not feel comfortable coming to worship or those who are out of the area.
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Fellowship
Fellowship is after worship on Sundays. Goodies and coffee are available in the Narthex after worship. We ask that you step outside to gather, socialize and get to know each other.
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Wednesday Nights at Grace
There will not be Wednesday Nights at Grace on Oct. 20th (due to MEA week) and Oct. 27th (due to Trunk or Treat, Bingo, and Food Truck Fellowship).
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Reformation weekend is
Saturday, Oct. 30th
and Sunday, Oct. 31st.
Please wear red to all worship services.
This is an annual tradition at Grace.
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Red Cross Blood Drive
October 26th
12:30-6:30pm
There is an Emergency Blood and Platelet Shortage!!!
Your blood donation is essential to maintaining our community’s health. Click on the link below to scheduled your appointment.
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“THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS”
Advent Cantata
Rehearsals begin
Tuesday, Oct. 26th at 7:15pm
Come and sing with Grace for Advent! We are collaborating with Lord of Life in Ramsey to present David Hamilton’s “The Wonder of Christmas.” There are two performance dates. December 12th will be at Grace during the worship services. December 19th will be at Lord of Life in the afternoon.
We would love to have anyone who wants to sing join us!
If you aren’t sure you’re ready to join the choir, but want to see what it feels like, this is your opportunity! It’s a short-term commitment and will be a wonderful experience! We will begin rehearsals on TUESDAY, October 26th (The choir rehearses on Tuesdays now instead of Wednesdays) from 7:15-8:15pm. Anyone interested can request more details by emailing David Phelps. (davidp@graceandover.org)
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Trunk or Treat,
Bingo,
Food Truck,
and Family Fun Evening
Wed., Oct. 27th 4:30-7pm
Trunks will line our parking lot beginning at 4:30pm. Treaters and their families are welcome to arrive for the fun beginning at 5:30pm. There will be Food Trucks and Bingo along with Trunk or Treating!
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Bingo
Join us for Bingo! Along with Trunk or Treat and the Food Trucks, we will be enjoying some games of Bingo! Prizes will be given to winner(s)! Mark your calendars for Oct. 27th!
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All are welcome to enjoy the events! We will need volunteers to make this event a success! Please click on the link below to sign up. |
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All Saints Luminary Event
Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021
(DATE CHANGE)
6-8pm
Drive through the parking lot at Grace Lutheran while remembering loved ones who have gone before us. You will have a chance to decorate a luminary in weeks prior. Music, meditation, and candles will guide your drive through the luminaries. Luminaries will be available at all worship services. Please return decorated luminaries by Wed., November 3rd. Look for sign ups on the blue sheets in the worship programs to help set up and take down for this memorial event.
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Jackie’s Story of Tenacity and Resilience
Everyone struggles at some time in their life, but no one anticipates experiencing homelessness. Fortunately, for families like Jackie’s, Family Promise in Anoka County exists to provide exactly what her family needed.
Our mission—empowering families experiencing housing insecurity to build a foundation of lasting independence—is at the core of all we do. Family Promise in Anoka County focuses on a continuum of services for families experiencing housing insecurity; our goal is to move families from homelessness to permanent housing. We provide highly individualized, person-centered, trauma-informed care and case management to help families address barriers and set achievable goals for housing stability. Jackie is a caring mother of three children ages one, five, and 15.
Jackie values her independence and ability to care for herself and her family. But, in 2020, she found herself unemployed and pregnant. Like many families who have experienced homelessness, Jackie didn’t have the safety net of family to support her during difficult times once her grandparents passed away. She was on her own, struggling with addiction and its fallout, reluctant to ask for help.
Jackie successfully completed a treatment program but lost her family’s permanent housing. She was living in hotels, paying with rapidly depleting savings. Her case worker with Anoka County’s Partnership for Family Success program connected her with Family Promise for shelter and other resources to help her family regain independence and stability. As Jackie states, “This was a life-changing event.”
Family Promise gave Jackie a foundation from which to move forward. Now she had the security of a roof over her head without depleting her savings and access to many family support resources. Although Jackie’s family was in the shelter program during the pandemic and didn’t have the full volunteer and hospitality experience Family Promise typically offers, Jackie still felt the strong support of the Family Promise community.
Jackie worked with a volunteer budget mentor, and she shared that budgeting is one of the most valuable skills she learned from Family Promise. Her budget mentor helped her create a spreadsheet of her income and expenses, encouraging Jackie to “put it all down,” even though she didn’t want to see it. Putting it all down helped her learn new ways to save money and, Jackie says, made saving “totally painless.” Housing Stabilization Case Manager Sue Peterson respects and praises Jackie’s budgeting and money management skills saying she took this learning to heart and left shelter with money in the bank, which is rare.
Jackie was excited when she received a housing voucher and looked forward to the move. Two weeks prior to the scheduled move, however, funding for the voucher was cancelled. For any family on the precipice of success, a setback like this could easily halt progress and maybe even cause a slight regression. Jackie, however, persevered and proved resilient, not giving up on herself or her family. As she said, “Family Promise went into overdrive for me looking for housing.” Ultimately, Family Promise found her family an apartment with affordable, income-based rent; they moved into their new home in June 2021. At 251 days, Jackie and her children were the longest-enrolled family in the shelter program.
Jackie attends a weekly support group, led by a volunteer mental health professional, where she continues to learn new ways to take care of herself and her family and continues work with her budget mentor. The semimonthly Family Promise Breaking Barriers classes connect her to services such as mental health and car repair. She says that learning to let people into her life, with the support of Family Promise, has been a valuable lesson over the past year.
We continue to work with this family to connect them to services buttressing housing stability. Thanks to the support of our community, donors who believe in our mission, and dedicated staff, we continue serving families experiencing housing insecurity and empowering them to achieve lasting independence.
Jackie is only one success story from this past year. Despite the pandemic, we continue to develop new programs and resources and foster partnerships to help families with their needs. We celebrate Jackie’s success as well as the success of all the other families who have achieved housing stability through the support of Family Promise in Anoka County. *Jackie's name has been changed to preserve the privacy of her family and their personal experiences.
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Grace's Opportunities for Giving |
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Sand Creek Elementary Kiddos
Need WARM Winter Mittens, Gloves and Hats!
The cold weather will soon be on its way in Minnesota. There are many of the children at Sand Creek Elementary in need of WARM winter mittens, gloves, and hats. 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 do not work to keep the kiddos warm and dry.
During the month of November, we will be collecting donations in the narthex in the “Sand Creek” green tote. Let’s see how many we can collect! With the effects of COVID-19 economy still causing issues with the families, there are many in need.
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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Noisy Offerings
For the month of October, our Noisy Offerings will be split equally between Alexandra House and Haiti. The mission of Alexandra House is to empower victims of domestic and sexual violence, and inspire social change, through education, support, and advocacy. Haiti was shook by a 7.2 earthquake on August 14, 2021, and then, two days later on August 16, 2021, Tropical Depression Grace came ashore both events brought devastation to the Haitian people.
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Give Electronically
through
GraceRealm
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Consider electronic giving on GraceRealm. 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 GraceRealm link below.
If you are wondering where your giving is for the year, please log in to GraceRealm. Find Giving on the tool bar. Then select My Giving History.
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Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest unfortunately has been postponed this year. Instead Grace will be having a Food Truck and Bingo Event on Wed., Oct. 27th. We hope to have the fun of Oktoberfest back in 2022.
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Prayers of the Church
We pray especially for: Lynda Leonard, Alison Husak, Juleen Klawiter, Chrissy Gast, Lianne Sterling, Jan Galvin, Jean Nowak, Gabe Beasley, Jason Beckman, Shane Larson, as well as all those who suffer with long term illnesses. Carroll Potter, Clint Trousil, Luke Galland, Margret Olson, John Malecha, Stephanie Fernandez, Samantha Fernandez, Christopher Sluis, Julie Swedberg, LaDonna Lilyquist, Charlotte Montei, Lynn Zirkle, Elsie Weisenberger, Linda Christiansen, Judi Wold, and Ralph & Colleen Wernimont.
We also pray for those in our midst who have recently lost a loved one: Bonnie Howard & family upon the death of her husband, Ken; Jennifer Warner & family upon the death of her dad; Pastor Joanna Mitchell & family upon the death of her uncle, Paul Olson; and Lisa Broderick & Family upon the death of her mother, Mary North.
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November
Grace Notes Deadline
Friday, October 22nd at 5pm
Please have all articles for the November Grace Notes newsletter in to Marie Kolar at mariek@graceandover.org in Word format by 5pm on Friday, October 22nd. Articles submitted after that time will be put into the December newsletter.
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