Friends, thank you for your love and support for Janet and me, Janet in particular, with Janet’s dad’s passing. We returned Monday night from Huntington Beach, California, following a weekend with our family celebrating Don’s life with a great service of scripture reading, prayers, and testimonies, Janet and her two sisters sharing, Karis singing, and me bringing a brief message. Colin and Karis came in from Wichita, and Rob came from Madison, New Jersey.

Step 4 in Our Interim Pastor Journey is this Sunday. We have one service this week at 10:30 am in the Sanctuary. Join us in the Great Room after the service for a Baked Potato Bar with all the fixings. Iced tea, water, coffee, and dessert are provided as well. The Town Hall Meeting follows Lunch.

The Step 4 question is: In what ways would you suggest strengthening Grace’s relationships with the local community and the Presbytery of Southern Kansas?

Here’s a brief update on our Journey to the New Pastor. Step 5 in Our Interim Pastor Journey is Sunday, October 6. The Strategic Plan (Mission Study) is presented to the Session for approval at the Stated Session Meeting, Monday, November 18. November 2024-January 2025 the Nominating Committee identifies Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) members. The PNC slate is elected at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, February 23, 2025. The Strategic Plan is also presented. The PNC begins its work in March.

Friends, nothing in your life is an accident. God has purpose for each of you. Read the benediction below (benediction, in Latin literally means, “good word”) written by the late Richard Halverson, Minister of Word and Sacrament (PCUSA), and Chaplain to the United States Senate (1981- 1994). You’ll be encouraged.

You go nowhere by accident.

Wherever you go, God is sending you.

He has a purpose in your being there.

Christ who indwells you has something he wants to do through you wherever you are.

Believe this.

And go in his grace and love and power.

Amen.

Remember, nothing in your life is an accident. Nothing in Grace’s life is an accident. Everything is purposed by God!

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

Thinking, not blaming is key for each one of us to make a positive, hopeful, joyful, and non-anxious impact in society and the lives of others. As you recall, Esther is the story of the Jews protecting themselves from persecution during the Babylonian Captivity. The Jews experienced anxiety as did the political leaders. It was a complicated time.

Life is about relationships. And to be candid, relationships can be awkward. Thinking about anxiety and its causes is important. Blaming anxiety on someone or something is not helpful. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines anxiety as “a nervous disorder marked by excessive uneasiness.

To think is always more difficult than to blame. God is active in all aspects of life. And God positions each one of us to accomplish God’s will. Faithfulness to God is the key to Jewish perseverance and preservation. Faithfulness vanquishes anxiety.

Join me for the Pastor’s Study, a seven-session experience on engaging and embracing the spectrum of diversity in a church that exists in a Red-and-Blue World. On Wednesdays, September 11, 18, 25, October 2, 16, 23, and 30 from 9:30am-11:00am in the Steamers Room join others who love one another and are learning how to talk and live in diversity, all the while finding our unity in Jesus and valuing the expression of ideas that cover the full spectrum of diversity. We’ll be using a book written by one of Steve’s Covenant brothers, Jack Haberer, as a resource for the study. Pick up a copy of Jack’s book, Swimming With The Sharks, at your favorite bookseller. Let’s be life-long learners, together. We’ll think, together, too.

George Muller writes, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”[1] You too can exercise influence for the common good. It was the way of Esther. It is the way of Jesus. Friends, faith in Jesus is the antidote to anxiety. Thinking, not blaming is necessary for such a time as this.

On the journey of Christian discipleship, thinking, and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

[1]George Muller in “Signs of the Times.” Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 95.

This past Sunday was a remarkable day. It began with our youth leading worship and informing all of us on the work of partnering with God in mission work in Georgia. Following worship Our Interim Pastor Journey Town Hall Meeting Step 3 transpired. A very open and authentic experience was had by all in attendance, approximately 99 people. 

DOWNLOAD TOWNHALL PACKET >

The question discussed was: What are Grace’s strengths and additional challenges, along with declining attendance, as we move forward in evaluating worship services, emerging ministry emphases, and staffing transitions?

The results have been tabulated. Do pick up your packet of materials, which include the tabulation of comments and a memo concerning unexpected expenditures at the kiosk or download the packet at Grace’s website mygpc.org.

Friends nothing in your life is an accident. God has purpose for each of you. Read the benediction below (benediction, in Latin literally means, “good word”) written by the late Richard Halverson, Minister of Word and Sacrament (PCUSA), and Chaplain to the United States Senate (1981- 1994). You’ll be encouraged.

You go nowhere by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
He has a purpose in your being there.
Christ who indwells you has something he wants to do through you wherever you are.
Believe this.
And go in his grace and love and power.
Amen.

As we continue our preaching series For Such A Tim As This, I encourage you to read the book of Esther. There are so many parallels in the world today with those during Esther’s time in the early sixth century BC.

Remember, nothing in your life is by accident. Everything is purposed by God!

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

OUR CHURCH NEEDS YOU!! YOU ARE LOVED!!
This coming Sunday is our next Our Interim Pastor Journey Town Hall Meeting. There will be one service, the Youth leading worship on the Mission Trip in the Great Room at 10:00 am, followed by a covered dish lunch, featuring entrees, salads, and desserts from Grace’s 100^th Anniversary Cookbook, A Cup of Grace and a Pinch of Time. Water, iced tea, and coffee are available.

The question for discussion is: What are Grace’s strengths and additional challenges, along with declining attendance, as we move forward in evaluating worship services, emerging ministry emphases, and staffing transitions?

Friends, nothing in your life is an accident. God has purpose for each of you. Read the benediction below (benediction, in Latin literally means, “good word”) written by the late Richard Halverson, Minister of Word and Sacrament (PCUSA), and Chaplain to the United States Senate (1981- 1994). You’ll be encouraged.

You go nowhere by accident.

Wherever you go, God is sending you.

He has a purpose in your being there.

Christ who indwells you has something he wants to do through you wherever you are.

Believe this.

And go in his grace and love and power.

Amen.

This coming Sunday is not an accident. It is purposed by God. I look forward to our time together in worship, the Town Hall Meeting, and the Luncheon in the Great Room starting at 10:00 am.

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

Our Interim Pastor Journey Town Hall Meetings have focused on adaptive change. I introduced the following principles at Our Interim Pastor Journey Town Hall Meeting, Step 2, on Sunday, May 5. Those principles are making observations, making interpretations, asking questions, and making measured interventions. This process of making observations, making interpretations, asking questions, and making measured interventions is an excellent discernment process as we listen to God and one another for the vision and future of Grace.

Moving from the “Old Mindset” of trying harder to the “New Mindset” of making observations, making interpretations, asking questions, and making measured interventions is challenging. And yes, the process of moving from certainty and comfort to humility and discomfort is difficult.

The next Our Interim Pastor Journey Town Hall Meeting, Step 3, is Sunday, August 11. We have one service, that includes Blessing of the Backpacks and the Youth leading worship on the Mission Trip in the Great Room at 10:00 am, followed by a covered dish lunch, featuring entrees, salads, and desserts from Grace’s 100^th Anniversary Cookbook, A Cup of Grace and a Pinch of Time. Water, iced tea, and coffee will be available.

The question for discussion is: What are Grace’s strengths and additional challenges, along with declining attendance, as we move forward in evaluating worship services, emerging ministry emphases, and staffing transitions?

I look forward to our time together in worship, the Town Hall Meeting, and Luncheon on Sunday, August 11, starting at 10:00am.

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor