nametags

Nametags

Good News!  You don’t know everyone at Grace.

This is good news because it means that new members and visitors are always entering into our community.  In an effort to show hospitality to those who are new, and in an effort to create space for community, you’re invited to wear a name tag.

For the next five Sundays, name tag stations are located at the North and East doors when you enter the building. Make and wear a name tag as you come inside. There is also a signup sheet at each door. If you would like to purchase a permanent name tag for $5, add your name to the list.

thank you

Thank you, Elders, Deacons, and Trustees! Welcome New Officers!

In January, we ordain and install new officers, which means we say goodbye to men and women who have served faithfully.  From the Session we bid farewell to Cindy Dethloff, Jerry Juhnke, Janet Rhoads, and Anne Woolsey.

Leaving the Deacons are Clayton Jamison, Kathleen Kennedy, Jim Steele, and Jean Oser. Completing terms on the Board of Trustees are Betsy Bloxham, Jim Grannis, and Tom Rhoads.

We say thank you to Bob Ross who completes another year serving as our church treasurer, and we say thank you to Evon Russell who completes a year of serving as our clerk of Session.

Our congregation is grateful for the time and dedication of these people.  Please express thanks to them when you see them.

The new officers who begin serving in January are:

Session/Elders: Darcy Eads, Dave McIntire, Mac Smith, Blake Ullmann, and Ginny Vincent

Deacons: Don Awtrey, Arleigh McCormick, Jo Wilkinson, and Casey Woodburn

Board of Trustees: Darwin Eads, Brian White, and Bill Woolf

From the Pastor's Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk

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 work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

-Howard Thurman

The choir sang a choral version of this song at our 8 pm Christmas Eve service last month. Spoken or sung, the words are beautiful, and challenging.

Being Christians is more than celebrating Christmas, it’s doing the work of Christmas. The good news is that we don’t do this alone. As the body of Christ we are called to share God’s love and to follow Jesus wherever he may take us. We do this as a community of faith, encouraging and supporting one another.

2017 was a grace-filled year at Grace. We worshiped together, served God and neighbor, studied scripture, and played together.

I look forward to where God leads us in 2018 and to the work of Christmas that we do together.

In Christ,

Catherine

Morning Worship

Bus Tickets and Morning Worship: January 12

Each month Grace distributes bus tickets to people in our community.  This happens on the 15th of the month, or if the 15th is a weekend we meet the Friday before.  Volunteers and those receiving tickets begin to gather around 6:30 am in the Grace Alcove. Guests are greeted with smiles, coffee, water, and a place to sit. Tickets are distributed at 7:50 am.

We invite all guests to a brief worship service with communion in the Great Room at 7:35 am.

We can always use volunteers to help with set-up, clean-up, and ticket distribution.  Want to help?  Contact Kirk Anderson, kirk@mygpc.org or 684-5215.

Yellow Bag Sundays

Yellow Bag Sundays: January 2018

Each month on the first Sunday you’re encouraged to take home a re-usable yellow grocery bag, put some non-perishable items in it, and bring it back the next week, or soon thereafter.  In January, our donations go to the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church food pantry.  Consider bringing canned fruit or soup.