Sunday, June 9, is our Mission Trip Car Wash. This year’s money raised goes to support 18 youth and guides on our Mission Trip to Atlanta, GA. We partner with TeamEffort to serve by building ramps and other projects for those who cannot afford to pay for them. All you have to do is park your car and register at the table by the coffee bar. We get your car, wash it and return it to its parking space. We are most appreciative of any donation you can make! Please donate at the table by the coffee bar with cash, check or card
On Saturday, June 8, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, the Deacons host the annual Super Senior Party in the Great Room. Invitations are going out to 50 Grace members. Most of these people are still able to drive themselves to the church or have a family member or friend who can bring them. Some, however, want to come but need transportation.
If you can help with transportation, call or text Gail Routsong at 316-303-6638, and plan to be available from 11:00 to 2:00. All drivers are invited to the party to enjoy lunch, entertainment, and lots of good fellowship!
Our giving in January and February was good, but the giving in March and April was down substantially, and donated giving for the year is running below any of the last five years’ totals. Jacob’s Learning Ladder and the food ministry are each running positive numbers and contributing to our totals. But Grace is using a substantial amount of the cash forward that we budgeted for this year. As of the end of April we have used a little more than $50,000 of the $85,000 cash forward from last year. Please see the accompanying graph for 2024. The Blue Bar represents our Regular Income for this year that includes donations and the net food and Jacob’s income. The Red Bar shows our Operating Expenses for 2024. The Green Bar includes the Cash Forward we carried from 2023.
We have had some unexpected expenses this year. We had to spend about $9,000 to put in a new fire monitor system, because the system from 1998 was not functioning properly. We spent $1,100 dollars to replace power equipment that was stolen out of the garage during a recent break in, and the state has initiated some new inspection protocols that will double what we normally spend on inspection fees for the facility. We have not used any of the Endowment or Long-Term Maintenance funds that we allocated in the budget for this year. So, clearly, we are not in a desperate situation yet. We don’t want to reach a challenging financial situation, so we do need your help now as Grace answers the call to serve God’s people. Help us support and sustain our ministries to the community and beyond. Your gifts of financial support, time, and talent are crucial to us as we move forward through the rest of this year. Thank you for your support and participation in God’s ministries through Grace.
Psalm 71 testifies that a foundation of faith established during childhood helps ensure lifelong faith and service. The patterns and lessons established during these formative years continue to bear fruit throughout a person’s life. By receiving the Pentecost Offering, you are nurturing the faith of those who are the church to come—children, youth, and young adults. A gift to the Pentecost Offering helps the church to encourage, develop, and support its young people, and also address the needs of at-risk children.
Forty percent of the Pentecost offering can be retained by individual congregations wanting to make an impact in the lives of young people within their own community. Our local contribution goes to Cru, the local representative of Campus Crusade for Christ International. The remaining 60% is used to support children-at-risk, youth, and young adults through ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
May’s Yellow Bag collection is pet food/snacks to benefit the Kansas Humane Society (KHS). KHS helps over 15,000 pets in our community each year. Among the services the KHS provides are adoption services (between January 1 and April 19 of this year, 1,126 pets have been adopted), low-cost spay/neutering, pet fostering services, and end-of-life care.
KHS has a full range of veterinarian services, including a surgery suite. One of the premier events of KHS is Woofstock, a celebration of dogs and their owners. Animals are God’s creatures and deserve our help.
Please leave your donations by the yellow bag rack near the coffee bar.
