From the Pastor’s Desk

Dear Grace Community,

Music is central to our life as a church.  We raise our voices in song, and we connect with God through beautiful music that is made in worship. For over 23 years, Donna Hetrick has led our music ministry at Grace. Our community is blessed by her faithfulness, her dedication, and her love for worship, music, and people.

Donna and her family are moving next summer, so she will no longer serve in our music ministry. Donna actually holds ...

Dear Grace Community,

January 1, 2017, was a Sunday.  We started the new year with worship, and as 2017 came to a close I looked back at the sermon from New Year’s day.  In it I shared a poem by Howard Thurrman called “The Work of Christmas.”

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the ...

Dear Grace Community,

God took on flesh and entered our world many years ago.  Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the world changed forever.  Death no longer has power over us.  And yet, we see death around us.  And so, we wait for Christ’s return and the time when all of creation will be redeemed.  Every year the season before Christmas, the season of Advent, gives us a chance to name this.

Living as a Christian in this place between ...

Dear Grace Community,

Each Sunday in worship we share joys and concerns together.  While we often give voice to concerns about upcoming knee surgeries and cancer diagnoses, we don’t often name issues of mental health.  We do on occasion, but this kind of sharing requires a different level of vulnerability.

People in our church community are impacted by mental illness, either directly in their homes or indirectly with extended family and friends. Still, we don’t often talk about it. This October we ...

Dear Grace Community,

How many of you have perfect lives? Anyone?

I don’t have a perfect life, and I know you don’t either.  None of us claim to, but there’s something funny that happens. Sometimes people who don’t go to church have the impression that we church-goers think we’re perfect.  The reality is that we know how imperfect we are, and we’re grateful for a God who loves us.

As more and more people in our Wichita community choose not to attend church, ...