This is a quick weekly reminder of what is happening at Grace

in worship and in ways to connect and serve.

Special Congregation

Meeting & Vote! 

Hello, Grace Lutheran family! It is an exciting time here at Grace with lots of activity occurring in preparation for our Transforming Inside & Out Building Project anticipated to begin in September 2023. 

We invite all voting members of Grace Lutheran Church to attend a special meeting held in between services on Sunday August 13, 2023 at 9:30am to vote on our request for a $2.2 million mortgage in support of our Transforming Inside & Out Building project.

I’ve been working behind the scenes completing our final mortgage application. One of the requirements of this application, as well as our constitution, is congregational approval of mortgage requests for our property. Our final building project and remodel numbers are in and have been approved by our Vision Board. Our Vision Board voted on 6/20/23 unanimously in favor of moving forward with our Transforming Inside & Out Building Project with proposed construction costs of $3,110,000. This, along with other miscellaneous expenses (city permits, landscaping, survey & soil testing expenses, architectural fees, increased insurance expenses etc.) brings our project total estimated fees to $3,243,820.  We have accounted for all these expenses and factored in the income from Transforming Inside & Out as well as our balance remaining from the sale of our Nightingale Property to calculate a needed $2.2 million mortgage to move forward with this project. This mortgage amount does include $390,000 in contingency dollars that may be needed in the event of unexpected expenses. If these dollars are unused, our mortgage amount would drop by the dollar amount that remains unused. The continued income through our Transforming Inside & Out Capital Campaign will also impact this total mortgage amount. I made conservative estimates for giving received through this campaign during construction. If giving comes in higher than estimated, our final mortgage amount will come in lower.

We have locked into an interest rate of 6.375%. This is for a 25-year mortgage that is a 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage. At this rate, with the full $2.2 million used our payments will be roughly $14,683 per month. This is higher than what we had hoped due to the mortgage interest rate. We do have opportunities to lower this payment by taking out a lower final mortgage amount. Your Transforming Capital Campaign donations will be put towards this effort.

We hope you will make every effort to attend the special congregational meeting on August 13th at 9:30am to vote on the mortgage amount. 

Please feel free to reach out to me in advance with any questions or concerns that you may have at tracier@graceandover.org or 763-421-6520. Thank you for your support of Transforming Inside & Out both financially and through prayer! 

Tracie Russell 

Church Administrator 

Summer Sunday

Worship Times

8:30am-Traditional

10:00am-Contemporary

Empty Nester Event

At Invictus Brewing

July 24th at 6pm

We are a fun and welcoming social group that enjoys getting together for food and beverages and conversation. We will be meeting on Monday, July 24 – starting at 6 pm at Invictus Brewing in Blaine. You may not be able to join us right at 6 pm but don’t let that stop you! Our start times are flexible; arrive when you can! If you have any questions, feel free to email, text or call Nancy Jenkins (dnjenkins@comcast.net / 763.354.9764).

Join us Wednesday, July 26, 5:00-8:00pm for another night of fun, food, fellowship and music. A great way to connect with others from Grace, and from our community. AND you won’t have to cook. Pastor Joanna would love help with this event. If you are willing to help, sign up to help by clicking on the button below.

2023-2024 SUPPORT FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES AT

SAND CREEK ELEMENTARY!

We are so thankful for your donations in past years, but last year we heard school supplies were becoming out of stock by the time we got our list published. So we are beginning our drive this year in July! School supplies are always in need each year and so appreciated by the students and teachers! If you would like to help, please consider purchasing any of the items in the list below and return them to church in the tote labeled “Sand Creek School Supplies” that will be located in the narthex. The donations will be accepted through September 4.

You can also give a monetary donation of cash or check. If writing a check, please make it payable to Grace Lutheran Church and write “Sand Creek” in the memo line. The monetary donations will be used by the Sand Creek Grace Team toward the food expenses for the Sharing Grace Backpack Food Bags prepared and given each Friday to children who would otherwise go hungry over the weekend.

SUPPLIES MOST IN NEED

·       POLY POCKET FOLDERS 

·       DRY ERASE BOARD ERASER

·       BOTTLES ELMER'S GLUE

·       24 CT MINI TWISTABLE CRAYOLA CRAYONS

·       PRE-SHARPENED PENCILS (TICONDEROGA)

·       MEAD WIDE RULED SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS 

·       1 INCH WHITE 3 RING BINDER

·       PERMANENT MARKERS (BLACK SHARPIE)

·       PENCIL BOX – 8 3/4” X 5 5/8” X 2 1/8”

·       BOX KLEENEX

·       HIGHLIGHTERS

·       CRAYOLA OR PRANG WATERCOLOR SET (8 BASIC COLORS)

·       CRAYOLA CRAYONS (24 COUNT)

·       8-PK CRAYOLA MARKERS PRIMARY COLORS, LOW ODOR

·       ​​LYSOL WIPES

ONGOING NEEDS

·       SNACKS FOR STUDENTS

·       GIFT CARDS TO WALMART OR TARGET

·       GAS GIFT CARDS

Family Movie Night

"Clifford The Big Red Dog"

August 4th At 5:30pm

All are welcome to join us for a fun night of pizza, popcorn, and a movie. Come in your jammies, bring your pillow and blanket and enjoy the movie, "Clifford The Big Red Dog". The cost is $10 per family.



Emily Elizabeth meets a magical animal rescuer who gifts her a little, red puppy. She never anticipated waking up to find a giant ten-foot hound in her small New York City apartment. Clifford will teach you and the world how to love big! 

Grace Lutheran Is Looking For An Organist! 

With AP retiring from Grace this past weekend, Grace is in search of a new organist and choir accompanist. Do you know someone who would be interested in joining our music ministry? Send them our information! Job details can be found by clicking HERE. 

Contact David Phelps with any questions. 

Food Shelf Needs

There have been numerous requests for food from the Food Shelf over the past week. Here are the items that are needed. Please no expired items. Drop your donations off at the Church Office.

Noisy Offerings in July will be going to the Mattke Family House Fire and Seeds of Grace Scholarships

Consider electronic giving on GraceRealm. It’s a convenient way to give consistently throughout the year. If you have any questions, contact Tracie 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."  

Prayers of the Church 

We pray for: Jillian O’Dell, Katie Anderson, Tom Phillippi, Lydia Becker, Scott Plourde, Vicki Anderson, Ann Lange, Lois Hawkins, Cherry Rae Rueberg, Kenny Zupon, Rick Burnham, Jeff Burnham, and Shirley Fystrom.  And also those in need of long-term prayer: Leah Hadler, Rick & Linda Breyette, Kristi Riley, Marty Lukaszewski, Clint Trousil, Lois Vadner, Diane Rosky, Shannan Gautschi, Harland Johnson, Shirley Fystrom, Alison Husak, Juleen Klawiter, Stephanie and Samantha Fernandez, Linda Christiansen, Judi Wold, and Ralph & Colleen Wernimont.



We pray for those in the midst of heartache, grief, or pain, be with Frances, Carlos, Samantha and Stephanie Fernandez grieving the death of Frances’ Aunt Vanessa Cordero and Stacy, Travis, Danica Lenz, and Stacy’s mom Carol Stoddard grieving the death of Stacy’s father Michael. 

CALLING ALL ARTICLES!!!

Fall Preview Grace Notes

Due August 1st

Wait! Summer is just getting started?!? Yes, we understand and even if you do not have definite dates for your ministry or event, the fall preview of Grace Notes is a way to highlight a ministry/event's purpose, plans, and/or needs for the programming year. Grace Notes should be in homes in mid-August. Please have your articles in Word format to Marie Kolar (mariek@graceandover.org) by 5pm on August 1, 2023.

Pastors' Blog

Devotionals

Listen to the Sermon from Last Weekend

Grace Notes



Grace Calendar of Events