From the Pastor’s Desk – May 9

Dear Grace Community,

For this edition of ‘From the Pastor’s Desk,’ I’m sharing a letter from another pastor. Last month a friend of mine from seminary asked her colleagues to send to her the addresses of our churches. Her congregation was studying some of Paul’s letters, and she asked them to write letters to other congregations. We received a letter from her church, actually from the pastor, and you’ll find it below. Please join me in praying for the First Presbyterian Church of Delhi, New York, and their pastor Sarah.

In Christ,

Catherine

Pastor Sarah’s Letter

Dear Members and Friends of Grace Presbyterian,

I will be holding you in prayer and blessing in the weeks to come. I pray that God blesses the mission of your church, that it may be fruitful and life giving to your community. I pray for your members, that they be healthy and whole, supporting each other in joy and in sorrow. I pray for your pastor and leaders that God may fill them with purpose and energy for the calling they have been given.

If you would pray in return for my church, First Presbyterian of Delhi, New York, we would be grateful. In particular, we are embarking on a new ministry and we hope for its success.

Blessing and peace to you, in the name of Christ.

Pastor Sarah Hooker

New Signage!

In 2015, the Grace Session spent time looking at how to create a better culture of hospitality at our church. One thing we did was establish a sub-group to look at the signage in our building. Martin Burch, our executive pastor, worked closely with this group.

The interior signage at Grace was put in place when the Great Room addition was made nearly 20 years ago. While attractive, this sub group realized that some of the signage was not entirely accurate. They spent an afternoon walking through the building trying to follow the signs the way a visitor might, and they realized that some of the signs were entirely wrong.

Not only that, we were missing some signs. For instance, when standing by the cross wall there was nothing in that area to indicate that going through the back doors of the Great Room led to classrooms 101 and 103.

After making reports to the Session and board of trustees it was decided to invest in new interior signage. This was not something we budgeted for, but we were able to use money from our memorial funds to cover the costs. The new signs went up the first week of May and are attractive but not distracting. If you know where you’re going you may not even notice them, but they will go a long way in welcoming guests to our building.

Love Wichita 2016

On Saturday, April 30, Grace participated in Love Wichita. Love Wichita is a city wide church effort to show love to the city. It was started in 2009, and Grace has participated every year.

This year we worked on three homes in the community. These were homes in need of repair and clean-up. We also worked with our neighbors at Citizens Bank to staff and receive dumpster donations from the neighborhood.

Thank you to everyone who participated and particularly to Betsy Sweeney and Jan Manion who coordinated this project. It was a joy to see our congregation serving in the city.

Thank You for the Refugee Boxes

Updated with note from the IRC on May 12, 2016:

Grace Presbyterian Church,

On behalf of the staff and clients of the IRC in Wichita, we would like to extend our most heartfelt thank you to you for donating the household boxes. Each of the items in the boxes will be put into our clients’ apartments prior to their arrival. We can’t thank you enough for your thoughtfulness and we appreciate it so greatly.

The refugee support team also thanks you for your enthusiasm for this outreach. In addition to the 36 boxes provided, many members passed on furniture they were no longer using. And, an especially generous donor (a friend of a Grace member) funded an entire apartment. Watch for other opportunities as we continue to welcome our neighbors.

Thanks to all of you who have already donated items to help equip refugees’ apartments. Some of the boxes have been delivered to the International Rescue Committee and others are awaiting completion.

Several members have written generous checks and also given furniture that they no longer need. The International Rescue Committee is most appreciative of our efforts. We hope to complete this mission project in April, but of course donations are welcome any time.

refugee

Children’s Ministry News May 2016

by Jennifer Snook, Director of Children’s Ministry

“The prayer of the righteous accomplishes much.” ~James 5:16”

Praying for children is a powerful way to show them that they are important, loved and worthy. Additionally, as adults pray for children, this is an important way the adults can connect with God on a personal level.

If you are eloquent with words and the Bible is like a second language to you, then this is an easy task. But, if you are like most of us, consistent, daily, out-loud prayer can be difficult to maintain.

Busy lives call for rushed meals and harried bed-time routines. Yet, it is precisely in these ill-equipped, weary moments, when God shows up and shows us that He loves your children, and He loves that you are praying for them. Be encouraged and pray often over your children. The psalms are a great place to start if you need a place for inspiration.

Children are important at Grace, and our Vacation Bible School team is already working on a fun and exciting week for children ages pre-K – 5^th grade. This year we surf into God’s amazing love June 20-24.

There are many ways you can be involved: crew leaders (adults who walk a group of children from station to station), decorators to help stage VBS, and folks to help tear down after VBS is over. See the bulletin board by the coffee bar if you would like to sign up to help or email Jennifer Snook.