From the Pastor’s Desk: August

Dear Grace Community,

This summer our congregation was blessed to have Christina Sledd serve as our intern.  During June and July she participated in and led many ministries. At the end of July she wrote about her experiences with us, and for this edition of “From the Pastor’s Desk,” I share her note.

In Christ,
Catherine

My name is Christina Sledd, and this summer I have had the pleasure and privilege of working as the summer intern at Grace Presbyterian Church. Through the past several years I have been acquainted with Grace through the youth mission trips and have built a desire to learn more about this church that has welcomed a friendship with my hometown church of Chase Presbyterian.

Growing up in my small-town church I always had a drive to do it all and learn about what our church is and does. This meant that I explored the children’s Sunday School, women’s kitchen group, Session, Trustees, Advent, and even preached a little bit. I knew everything that made Chase Presbyterian Church what it was and is today. With that, I did not know what a church much larger than my own looked like. When discussion arose about what my internship would look like, I quickly stated that I wanted to see all the different parts Grace Presbyterian Church, not just the youth and children’s ministry (which I went to college for). The staff eagerly agreed, and soon I was swept into more committees and groups than I ever knew existed.

While at Grace, I met with almost every group and I was able to see how they all worked together to strengthen and build the body of Christ. I worked with the Session, Deacons, Trustees, Christian Education, Worship teams, the Economy Corner, Jacob’s Learning Ladder, the Bus Tickets, Vacation Bible School, the Youth Mission Trip, church services, home visits, and so much more within these past two months. I was able to see how different aspects that I previously took for granted came together and made things happen, as well as how much planning and thought went into the different ministries within this church.

This experience definitely opened my eyes to all the different kinds of ministries that go into a church this size. I was also amazed that every part of this church has a desire to love and help the Wichita community, whether that is the donations to the Economy Corner, monetary donations to different charities in this town, educating people of all ages, providing bus tickets, raising provisions for those in need, and so much more. If you do not know what is going on at Grace Presbyterian, I highly encourage you to find and explore what everything is about. Thank you all for this opportunity and the chance to meet many of you and share in the ministry that is Grace Presbyterian Church.

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From the Pastor’s Desk: August

Dear Grace Community,

In June I attended a Worship and Music Conference in Montreat, North Carolina.  It’s an annual event, but I had not attended in ten years. I’m glad I made it a priority this year.  Montreat is one of my favorite places in the world, and in addition to the conference I was able to spend time with family and to connect with friends and ministry colleagues.

The conference is put on by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, and the music is phenomenal. There are multiple adult choirs, children’s choirs, and youth choirs, and then there are instrumental groups (bells, drums, brass) on top of that. I did not participate in any of these choirs or ensembles, but I was blessed by their leadership.

My musical contribution was singing in worship, and it was fun to sing with so many gifted musicians. Because there are so many musicians in the congregation we were able to sing some of the more difficult hymns in our hymnal. The conference was called “Sacraments and Seasons,” and followed the seasons of the liturgical year  Sunday was Advent, Monday Christmas, Tuesday Lent, Wednesday Holy Week, Thursday Easter, and Friday Pentecost.

I took some classes at the conference and was grateful for the practical components as well as the generally enriching aspects. The PCUSA just put out a revised edition of our Book of Common Worship, and I took a course with one of the editors. It was great to feel like I really know the book now.  One of my seminary professors taught a class on theology and art around baptism and the Lord’s Supper. While far less practical, it was fun to explore academically and from a faith perspective.

I am grateful for the ways that you, the congregation, make it possible for me to attend conferences like this.

In Christ,
Catherine

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From the Pastor’s Desk: July 2018

In June there were high profile stories in our country and community about suicide. These tragedies cause an uptick in conversations about mental health, conversations that need to be had, but this is not the way we want to get to them.

In these conversations I’m reminded that there are some Christian Communities where the answer to all mental health problems is to pray. And not only that, there are some Christian Communities where anything other than prayer is considered a failure of faith.

This is not one of those communities.

If you’ve ever talked privately with me you know that I encourage counseling as well as medical treatment for mental health. I do not see this as a lack of faith, and I forget that there are churches where that is the message.

The message I want you to hear from this pastor is that mental health and mental illness are not failings of faith, and there are many ways to seek help including faith-based and medicine-based. If you receive treatment, this is not something you need to feel shame about. If you think you may need help, and you don’t know where to turn, I am glad to refer you. I am not a trained counselor. My policy is to listen and refer, recognizing that sometimes what is most needed at first, is someone to listen. I am always glad to listen and pray with you.

In Christ,
Catherine

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From the Pastor’s Desk: June 4

Dear Grace Community,

Last spring Jennifer Snook, our Director of Children’s Ministries, and I began to talk about and pray about Messy Church. Messy Church is not an original idea at Grace. It started in churches in Great Britain and churches all over the world have adopted and adapted it. The idea behind Messy Church is to engage people of all ages in hands on worship experiences including art, song, play, Bible story, and a shared meal.

I had an idea of what Messy Church might look like at Grace, and I hoped it would be a way to connect children and their families to God, to each other, and to our church. We spent the summer planning and recruiting, and we kicked off Grace Messy Church in September 2017. By following the lead of the Holy Spirit and our incredible planning team, what I originally imagined as Messy Church ended up becoming something much different, and I’m so glad for what it became and continues to become.

Throughout the year we engaged a growing number of families both from within our congregation and from the community. All of this was possible because of the support of the congregation. We were blessed with a committed planning team and with many willing volunteers, and we were blessed with the financial resources to make this happen.

We’re excited about what God will do through Messy Church at Grace during the next school year, and we would love to connect more of our congregation to this growing ministry. If you want to be involved in an active way, contact me or Jennifer Snook. Also know that you are welcome to attend Messy Church any time.  We’d love for you to come and join us.

In Christ,

Catherine

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From the Pastor’s Desk: June 1

Dear Grace Community,

I write with good news!

Late last year, knowing that Donna Hetrick would leave this summer, a team was formed to find leadership for our music ministry staff. Members of this team include Bruce Gealy, Charlene Randle, Janet Rhoads, Randy Routsong, and Bill Vavra. I staff the team.

Donna currently performs three functions: Director of Music, Director of Music – 9 am Service, and Organist. The team and I are excited to announce that we have selected a person to fill the roles of Director of Music and Director of Music – 9 am Service, and that the Session enthusiastically supports our decision.

The team followed a consistent and thorough process with all the candidates and exercised due diligence in our selection activity.

We first reviewed and revised the existing job descriptions to bring them up to date. We posted job notices for these positions with ‘Indeed’, WSU, Friends, Newman, KU, PC-USA, and some others. We received about 10 resumes, and we interviewed six people. Five interviews were done in person and one by Skype. Finally, we selected two candidates for a second interview and contacted their references prior to the interview.

The name of the person we selected is Sean Foster. Sean is not new to Grace having served as our Choir Accompanist for the past seven years and having played in the band. Sean is a graduate of Wichita State with a degree in Vocal Performance. In addition to his work at Grace, he works at Goddard High School as the Choir Accompanist and teaches voice lessons.

Sean is tentatively scheduled to start the week of July 15 and overlaps with Donna Hetrick for two weeks. We are still searching for an organist and accompanist, who ideally would be the same person. Sean will be involved in this search. We welcome your prayers and your referrals. As we get closer to Sean’s start date you will hear from me and the search team about ways to welcome him to his new position.

In Christ,
Catherine

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