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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Sharing the Easter Faith
In her book, "Sharing the Easter Faith with Children," Carolyn C. Brown names the complexity of telling the Holy Week story to children. She quotes a parent who states: "'I can manage Christmas. Shepherds, wisemen, a baby born in a barn. No problem. But I do not know what to tell my child about crucifixion and resurrection at Easter. I hardly know what to tell myself about it.' The church has not helped this parent too much. All too often congregational plans for Lent focuses on adults, services for Holy Week include children only on Palm Sunday and Easter, making no effort to explore what happened in between."
Let's face it, it's hard. It's hard to talk about death and dying and new life with kids. There is a reason that we so often skip Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and show up Easter Sunday. Who wants to talk with your young kids about the cruelty of humanity? And yet, it is an essential piece of the story. I am so thankful to Bekah Hirt and Jackie Anderson for finding a way to help our kids to not only learn the story, but to experience it. From interviewing talking donkeys, to talking with Peter as he held the burial clothes, our kids re-enacted the Passion for us this past weekend. What a gift!
Our children's ministry team then went on to host the Eggstravaganza providing a fun experience for families and hosting over 200 people in our fellowship space. It was such a delight to see the joy on our kids' faces and to hear some of their questions about how God forgives.
Being the church is a gift, and it is also complicated. How do we talk about and share the complexity of life and worship with people of all ages. So often, we are talking over our children's heads, or separating into groups, and sometimes when we focus on the children, adults might lose a sense of the quiet and meditative aspect they are hoping for in church. And yet, God has brought us all together to experience God's story of abundant love. And let's face it, this story is messy and complicated. We all understand different things and cling to different parts in which we find more meaning. Thankfully, Jesus has brought us together, reminding us that the kingdom of God is for us all- people of all ages, all understandings. When we share this story with each other, we learn together. Thank you people of Grace, for your commitment to our kids, for your commitment to sharing our faith, and for continuing to show up in the chaos and mess of our world. And to bear witness to the love and promises of God that lift us up in confusion. I am grateful for you!
Blessings,
Pastor Joanna Mitchell
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Holy Week & Easter Worship Times
Holy Week Worship Times
Maundy Thursday Worship with Holy Communion- April 14th - 1:00pm & 7:00pm (First Communion)
Good Friday Worship - April 15th - 1:00pm & 7:00pm
Easter Vigil Worship - April 16th - 5:00pm
Easter Sunday Worship Times
Sunday, April 17th -7:00am Sunrise, 8:45am Traditional & 10:30am Contemporary
Lenten Devotion Opportunity
If you are looking for a way to dive deeper this Lent and add a daily devotion, we have a wonderful opportunity for you. John Anderson, one of our members and a bible study leader has written a daily Lenten Devotion. We hope you will enjoy his words, reflections and images that allow us to see and experience the presence of God among us. Click here for access to the overall devotion. Click here to read today's.
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Worship
-Wednesdays-No Worship on April 20th (Resuming on April 27th)
-Saturdays at 5:00pm Contemporary
-Sundays at 8:45am Traditional
-Sundays at 10:30am Contemporary
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We do not require masks but wearing masks is a personal choice for all attending in-person worship. If you are unvaccinated we strongly recommend masks. 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. Coffee, water and treats will be available in the Narthex after worship.
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Thank you
Thank you to all who helped make last weekend's Palm Sunday Children's Program, Saturday Worship, and Eggstravaganza so amazingly wonderful! We could not have had such an enriching weekend without all of the help of Grace's Volunteers!!!
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Mental Health Weekend
April 23rd/24th will be Mental Health Weekend in worship. Our text is the story of Jesus and Thomas, who is often referred to as “Doubting Thomas”. What label or labels do you have for yourself? Do words like addict, not good enough, or imposter every rumble through your brain? On the journey of faith, do you label yourself as a doubter or believer, or are we all both? Does your label include your identity as a beloved child of God? How does God see and label you. Does God call us each by name?
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Looking for Grace Leaders
The Nominating Committee for the Vision Board is looking for Grace Members that are interested in serving a three year term on the Vision Board. The election will take place on May 22nd at Grace’s Congregational Meeting.
If you are interested in serving Grace Lutheran in a leadership position, you should prayerfully consider serving on the Vision Board. Please contact the church office or Daron Yates at 763-443-4999 by Monday, April 25th. Members of the nominating committee are: Pastor Joanna Mitchell, Daron Yates, Jamie Zupon, Jeff Anderson, Ann Lange and Chad Hadler. If you have questions about serving on the Vision Board please contact Ann Lange or Chad Hadler.
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Arise With the Guys
April 23rd at 9:00am
Attention All Grace Guys You are invited to attend Arise With the Guys at Grace Church in Eden Prairie on April 23 at 9:00am. Guest speakers are Ben Roethlisberger and Tony Dungy, two athletes and men of strong faith. Cost is $10 but if you attend the free breakfast at 7:00am, tickets are free. Carpooling from Grace is available. For more information, see the link on our website or contact Daron Yates for more information. daronyates@gmail.com
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Early Warning Signs
of Mental Illness
in Youth & Young Adults
Monday, April 25th 6:30-8pm
Monday, April 25 from 6:30 pm to 8 pm in the sanctuary we will be having a Nancy Howe from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) MN speaking on the topic of mental illness in youth and young adults. Please see the flier with more details. There will be time for questions and answers. This event is open to everyone at Grace as well as people from the community. Please feel free to invite others who would benefit from this discussion.
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Fernandez Family Fundraiser |
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Sunday May 1st, 12:00-3:00pm
Grace Lutheran Church
13655 Round Lake Blvd. NW
Andover, MN 55304
www.graceandover.org
Sign up on Realm or call the Church Office at 763-421-6520
Join us in raising funds to benefit the Fernandez Family as 17 year old Samantha awaits a kidney transplant.
$20 per person entry fee (includes meal)
$5.00/person food for spectators
Bouncy House for kids
Silent Auction
If you are unable to attend this fun event but would like to give to the fundraiser. You can give online through Realm by clicking on the Miscellaneous Income in the Fund drop down menu and be sure to put the Fernandez Family in the Memo line. Or you can mail a check made out to Grace Lutheran with the Fernandez Family in the memo line of the check to Grace Lutheran 13655 Round Lake Blvd NW, Andover MN 55304.
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Grace's Opportunities for Giving |
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Food Donations for
Grace Food Shelf
The Grace food shelf could use a few donations. Please drop your donations off at the Church office. Please remember we can not take perishable, expired items, alcoholic items or items in glass containers. We are in need of the following:
canned soup
boxed cereal
pancake syrup
canned chili/kidney beans
boxed potatoes
boxed or bagged rice
boxed crackers or snack
jam/jelly
canned fruit
boxed pasta noodles
boxed pasta mixes (Hamburger Helper, etc.)
canned spaghetti sauce
canned tomato products (diced, etc.)
canned dinners (stew, beef-a-roni, chili, etc.)
desserts (cake mix/frosting, Jell-O, packaged cookies, etc. )
brown paper shopping bags
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Noisy Offering collected from April 1st to 15th will be going to Grace 2 Haiti. Noisy Offerings collected April 16th to 30th will go to Robin's Nest Scholarship Fund. |
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Contributions/Gifts of Stocks & Mutual Funds
Hello friends! Just a note to let you know that a new bank account has been activated to allow for the receipt of contributions/gifts of stock & mutual funds. It's a little more complicated than a regular bank account and we appreciate your patience as we got the account going. Information is available via our website.
Also, please make sure you are receiving our Grace emails from Realm. I've heard some might be going into "spam" folders, so take a look in case you're missing any! Lots of activities and events are happening at Grace and announced via Realm - don't miss out!
Thank you for your continued support of our ministry work at Grace. The energy, collaboration and love is heartfelt by all!
Blessings,
Frances
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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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Prayers of the Church
Please pray for: Dick Thompson, Baby Brenna O'Keefe, Dean Keller, Cathy Hadler, Paul Doering, Sonja Hawn, Emily Oberg, Lois Vadner, Mary Anderson, Jeff, Heather & Julie Kintzler, Colleen Wernimont, and those in need of long-term prayers; Julie Caldwell, Shirley Fystrom, Kathy Beckman, Betty Thompson, Harland Johnson, Jason Beckman, Lu Henning, Alison Husak, Juleen Klawiter, Carroll Potter, Clint Trousil, John Malecha, Stephanie and Samantha Fernandez, Christopher Sluis, Julie Swedberg, LaDonna Lilyquist, Charlotte Montei, Elsie Weisenberger, Linda Christiansen, and Judi Wold.
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Grace Notes May Articles Due April 20th
The deadline for May Grace Notes is Wednesday, April 20th at 5pm. Grace Notes will be in the mail to homes by April 29th. Please have all your articles in Word Format and email them to Marie Kolar at mariek@graceandover.org.
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The Giving Phase of Transforming Inside and Out Generosity Campaign
We are in the GIVING phase of our Transforming Inside and Out Generosity campaign. We give thanks for the tremendous commitments we have received toward our campaign, over and above our goal!
As we begin fulfilling our pledged gifts to the “Transforming: Inside & Out” campaign, we have had questions regarding how to give online via Realm to the campaign.
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The first step is to log into Realm. If you do not have a Realm account, please call the Church Office (763-421-6520). Once you have logged in, go to your profile and click on the Giving link on the left side of the screen.
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In the Giving screen, you can view how much you have given, what is your Giving Number, your giving pledges, your 2021 Contributions, your scheduled giving, and more. Now to set up a reoccurring or one time pledge click on the Give Tab.
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After you click on the Give Tab, a secondary screen will appear. Here is where you can put in your dollar amount, and the drop down arrow will give you options of different Funds.
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Once you have chosen the dollar amount and which Fund you would like to place your giving, then you have other choices to make. You can add a note in the memo line. You can give to another fund (i.e. Ministry Operations, Noisy Offering, etc.). You can give just one time. You can set up multiple (reoccurring) giving. When you give multiple times, there is the option of how frequently. You can also indicate what day you would like the giving to begin and and end date (you can leave the end date open so that the giving does not stop until you go in and stop the giving). Once you have filled in all of the information, click on Continue.
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Now in the next screen, you can choose which of your bank accounts you would like the giving to come out. If you have set up giving previously, the accounts will all ready be there. If you need to set up another bank account or your initial account, you will need to click on Enter a Different Payment Method. Another screen will appear where you can enter your bank or credit card information. When you have entered everything into the last form, click on the blue Give button. You are all set!
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Many of us are also giving online or setting up recurring giving in Realm. If you have questions about making a gift online, making a non-cash gift, or other questions related to your “Transforming” pledge, please contact Frances at francesf@graceandover.org. If you are bringing your offering and placing it in the baskets in the narthex, our offering envelopes have our campaign on them so you can dedicate your giving. If you need new offering envelopes, please reach out to Kris Miller in the church office. She will gladly get new envelopes for you.
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