Dear Grace Community,

Welcome to Holy Saturday, the space between death and resurrection.  For some it may feel like the world is stuck in Holy Saturday, a place of sadness and waiting.  Holy Saturday is a hard place to live, and I have good news for you, Sunday is coming.  Easter is coming.  Resurrection is coming.

Earlier in the week I wrote to you and said, ‘Easter is about an empty cross, an empty grave, and a risen Lord.  Nothing can change that.’  I look forward to celebrating Easter with you tomorrow.  No, it won’t look the same, but the promise is the same.

We continue to worship together online at 10 am on Sundays. The schedule for Sunday as well as opportunities for next week are listed below. Attached are the hymns for Sunday as well as a cross for you to download. Since we won’t gather to decorate the flower cross, create your own. Make one from materials in your home or yard, decorate this one, or simply place this one on your door.  Please take a picture of your cross and email it to catherine@mygpc.org and or put it on Facebook with the hashtag #mygpceaster.

Below you’ll also find links with information about life at Grace.  Life continues, though quite differently.

In Christ,
Catherine

• One Great Hour of Sharing
• Will You Share? 
• Refugee Team
• Seeds and Plants
• Book Club: April 28 
• Rituals

Sunday, April 11 – Easter Sunday Worship at 10 am

• Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/mygpc.org
• Or watch a recording later in the week: www.mygpc.org
• See the attached hymns – Alleluia and Jesus Christ is Risen Today.
• We celebrate the Lord’s Supper in worship. You do not need bread and juice, just have something to eat and something to drink.

Monday, April 6 Morning Prayer at 8 – 8:15 am

• Start the day on Zoom with prayer with Catherine Neelly Burton.
• Join by computer/tablet/smartphone: https://zoom.us/j/434377004
• Join by phone: +1 346 248 7799
• Meeting ID: 434 377 004

Tuesday, April 7 Parables: Tell Me the Stories of Jesus with Martin Burch at 2 pm

• Join our Executive Pastor Dr. Martin Burch in a parable study.
• The next class focuses on The Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37.
• Join by computer/tablet/smartphone: https://zoom.us/j/450006566
• Join by phone:+1 346 248 7799
• Meeting ID: 450 006 566

Wednesday, April 8 Youth Connection

• Youth Connection: Kirk Anderson sets up video connections with youth.  If you have a youth in your family who wants to connect, contact Kirk@mygpc.org

Families with Children – Jennifer – Zoom Check-In

• Families with children, be on the lookout for an email from Jennifer about a Zoom check-in, date and time TBA.
• Email her, jennifer@mygpc.org with questions.

Each month Grace invites you to contribute to our “Yellow Bag” Sundays.  Yellow reusable grocery bags are available, and you are encouraged to fill them with the item of the month and return them to the church.  In March you generously donated items for the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

We aren’t in the building in April, but we want to give you the opportunity to give. There is need for food in our community pantries.  If you’re out at the store and want to drop off a bag of groceries at Grace feel free to do so.  We will get these things delivered to one of our community partners.  If you’d rather donate money and have us buy food, you may go here to give: https://www.mygpc.org/online-giving

April 15, 2020

Dear Grace Community,

Christ is Risen! In our tradition we celebrate Easter as a season of 50 days. If there were ever a year we needed to hold onto Easter, this is it. We cling to the promise of our risen Lord.

We’ve now worshiped online as a congregation for five Sundays. The Session meets next week and decides whether to continue our current status beyond April. While we aren’t physically together, we give thanks for the ways we can connect and for the technology that makes worship and meetings possible. If you aren’t receiving our email communications, please let us know by writing to info@mygpc.org.

Your elected leadership (Session, Deacons, Trustees, and Jacob’s Learning Ladder Board) each met at least once online since mid-March. Kirk Anderson and Jennifer Snook are meeting online with their respective teams as they consider what the summer may look like for the ministries they lead. Other ministry teams meet online, too. This week we distribute bus tickets in a new socially-distanced format. Jacob’s Learning Ladder (JLL) is still open with about 30% of students attending. JLL put temperature checks and extra safety measures in place in March.  Life continues.

We were fortunate to apply for and receive a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This loan covers our payroll expenses for eight weeks, and most of it is forgivable if we maintain our staff. Dr. Martin Burch worked tirelessly on this with the support of staff members Leah Plush, Nancy Morrow, and Emily Stoltz. The Board of Trustees approved our application, and we applied on the first day it was possible. This ensures that we can pay our staff right now, including our Jacob’s Learning Ladder staff while enrollment is low.

We are grateful for the ways you support Grace financially and encourage you to continue to do so. We know that some of you have experienced a reduction in income, and we are grateful that the PPP loan helps us cover budget shortfalls.

I close with bittersweet news. Sean Foster, our Director of Music Ministries, will leave Grace this summer. Sean started working at Grace nearly 10 years ago when he was a student at Wichita State. He served as our accompanist, and two years ago we were blessed to call him to the Director position. While serving in this position, Sean discerned a clear call to choral direction. He starts graduate study in choral conducting at Western Illinois University in August.  You’ll hear more from me as we seek to celebrate Sean’s time here and begin a search for a new Director.

Please stay in touch. Know that I and the staff pray for you.

In Christ,

Catherine

In a time of uncertainty, change, and loss, rituals can be a great help.  There are rituals for big things in life: weddings, funerals, and birthdays, and we can create rituals for anything.

As a pastor, I have created and/or led rituals for home blessings, for friends moving, for leaving a home, and more.  In seminary, my classmates and I studied rituals and created them for life events.

As you continue in this pandemic, let me know if I can help you create a ritual.  It might be a way to lament something that you’ve lost or given up, something like a trip, graduation, or even a job.  Please reach out, catherine@mygpc.org

~Catherine Neelly Burton