Many thanks to the children of Grace for sharing the Good News with us on Christmas Eve, they worked very hard to make this year’s play a very special part of our celebration!
Lutheran World Relief
It’s not too early to start collecting items for our Lutheran World Relief Ingathering, which will take place October 5/6. Loose items and the specified-size bath towel will be collected from now until the Ingathering. See the list below. In the fall we will have towels and school bags available for you to fill. We give this list to you now to take advantage of school supplies sales in early summer. You can put your items in the Narthex or at the closet in Fellowship Hall or bring them to the office.
What’s needed in each Personal Care Kit:
● One light-weight bath-size towel (20” x 40” to 52” x 27”), dark color recommended
● Two or three bath-size bars of soap equaling 8 to 9 oz, any brand, in original wrapping; no mini or hotel size bars
● One adult-size toothbrush in its original packaging
● One sturdy comb (no picks or fine-toothed combs), remove packaging
● One metal nail clippers (attached file optional), remove packaging
What’s needed in each School Kit:
● Four 70-sheet notebooks (280-300 sheets total) of wide-or college-ruled paper approximately 8” X 10½”; no loose-leaf paper
● One 30-centimeter ruler, or a ruler with centimeters on one side and inches on the other
● One pencil sharpener
● One pair of blunt scissors (safety scissors with embedded steel blades work well)
● Five unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers; secure together with a rubber band
● Five black or blue ballpoint pens (no gel ink); secure together with a rubber band
● One box of 16 or 24 crayons
● One 2½” eraser
We also continue to work on fleece blankets. We have a workday set for Thursday, June 27, at 1pm in Fellowship Hall. New people are needed! Thank you for the monetary donations to purchase fleece for this and for our Project Linus blankets for local toddlers.
If you care to donate instead of bringing items, checks can be written to the church and marked “Grace Church Lutheran World Relief Ingathering.” We thank Duane Weiss for remembering us with $300 from the sale of grocery cards.
Barbara Slotter 342-2654 or Linda Fackler 717-449-5574
Mission Trip to Puerto Rico
There is still time to donate to the fund for our mission trip to Puerto Rico. Use the link above or send a check to the church office—memo Puerto Rico.
Sunday October 6 at our Sunday Social there will be a brief presentation and a delicious lunch featuring Puerto Rican fare! A free will offering will be taken to help offset the cost of the trip. We hope you will join us and support this worthwhile cause!
Pastor, Kath, & Vicki
Save the Date! “God’s work. Our hands” – Sunday, September 8, 2019
Grace Neighborhood Cook-Out
Our Sixth Annual Neighborhood Cookout in our parking lot, September 8th beginning at 12 noon.
We need everybody to pitch in and share God’s love with our neighbors and each other! How can you help? There are so many ways…donate food or drinks, help with games, volunteer at a table, or just come to hang out and be sociable. God calls us to action and this is one way we can respond. Sign-ups are in the Narthex and by the Chapel or call the church office at 717-397-2748.
What else is happening that day? Rally Day!!! |
Rally day is the Sunday we “rally” everyone back to our fall education schedule. We begin another school year of excellent Children and Youth Christian Education Programs from 9:00 – 10:15 AM.
Lower Susquehanna Synod Assembly Reflections
It was a pleasure to serve as a voting member at the 2019 Lower Susquehanna Synod (LSS) Assembly at Messiah College, June 6-8. Full minutes of actions and decisions made at this years assembly are available at the LSS website.
I was happy to serve on the Bishop’s Election Committee, gaining valuable insight into the process of electing a bishop, and the inner workings of the LSS. The first and second ballots were counted by hand, and nominees were contacted by the committee. Third and fourth ballots were counted electronically. The Rev. James S. Dunlop has been reelected bishop, and will serve another six year term.
One particularly contentious issue was the compensation guidelines for Ministers of Word and Service (Deacons). An effort to equalize compensation guidelines between the two rosters (Word and Service, and Word and Sacrament) ultimately failed. Historical factors have contributed to the current inequality, particularly the fact that many Deacons were women (Deaconesses). It will be up to a future assembly of voting members to right this lingering inequality.
Respectfully Submitted,
Thomas D. Busteed
One highlight of Synod Assembly was going to a breakout session with a representative from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. I was able to talk about the work that Grace is doing with refugees and learn about the work that LIRS is doing.
I was disappointed that we wasted time (and money) bickering over parliamentary procedure, because it appeared that the majority of voting members did not have a working knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order nor of the Bylaws and Constitution of the LSS. I suggest that we make sure that our delegates for future assemblies have at least a basic grasp of parliamentary procedure.
It was also disheartening to see how many people went to Synod Assembly with personal agendas that they were determined to push through, rather than voting for the best interest of the Synod and the wider church.
Overall, Synod Assembly was a good reminder that the church is God’s and she will survive in spite of us. Thanks be to God!
In Christ,
Angela Smith, MDiv, MA
gracelutheranchurch.com 