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!
MISSION TRIP BENEFIT LUNCHEON!
Sunday October 6, 2019 at noon in the Fellowship Hall. Join us for a brief presentation and a lunch of Puerto Rican Food. A free will offering will be taken.
Lutheran World Relief Ingathering is October 5/6
Please bring your towels and school kits back by October 5/6.
Thank you for all the donations for Personal Care and School Kits, along with extra bars of soap. We are still taking loose items and soap. What we cannot use this year will be used to start out next year. In the bulletin on Ingathering Sunday will be an envelope for your gifts for shipping.
Our goal is to raise at least $500 for this shipping fund.
We don’t have the count yet on the number of items to be shipped; but to give you an idea, last year we donated 52 fleece blankets, 74 Personal Care Kits, 165 School Kits, and 98 bars of soap. School Kits went to Nicaragua, Mali, and Dominica (small island in the West Indies); the Personal Care Kits went to Dominica and Mali, and the blankets went to Iraq and Mali. Our boxes are barcoded, so we can find out where and when our items were shipped.
GRACE BOOK GROUP
Join us in the Parlor of the Ed Building on October 8 at 7 PM when we gather for the last discussion of the calendar year. Joyce Loiseau will be leading us in Beth Moore’s The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women.
In November we will meet for dinner and book selection for the 2020 season at the home of Carol Main. We welcome new members who wish to be a part of the discussion group, and we also encourage those one-timers who just might find a particular book’s discussion of interest.
For more information, email Brenda Hayasaka at bkhayasaka@gmail.com.
Aspire Chamber Choir
Sunday, Oct. 13, 4:00 PM
Free admission – a freewill offering will be taken to cover expenses.
Come enjoy a program of sacred music featuring choral works from both classic and contemporary composers. Program repertoire include Walker’s Prayer of Compassion, Rachmaninoff’s Song of Simeon, Thompson’s Alleluia, and Stopford’s In My Father’s House.
Stewardship Snippets
October 6, 2019 (Time after Pentecost—Lectionary 27, Proper 22, Year C)
Luke 17:5-6 –The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” The apostles want more faith, but Jesus says they need only have faith the size of a mustard seed. In both our congregational and personal lives, more is not always needed — whether it’s more faith, more behinds in the pews, more money, or more stuff. What would Jesus say to us today?
Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for folks to prepare flower bouquets following the late service. This takes approximately 15 minutes to dismantle the altar arrangements and create several smaller bouquets to take to members who are in the hospital or recovering at home, or folks celebrating special milestones such as birthdays or anniversaries.
If you would like to help—contact the church office at 717-397-2748, or stop by the flower sink to volunteer!
ESL Class Needs You!
Do you have a few hours to volunteer on Tuesday and Thursday mornings? The Grace ESL class is growing and they need additional volunteers to teach, for child care, and a person to drive the bus. Meet some of our newest residents of Lancaster—a certified “Welcoming City”.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Barbara Andersen at twandersen@comcast.net or call the church office at 717-397-2748. We hope you will consider this important and rewarding ministry.
Our Grace Family
Member Spotlight!
Who’s behind that smiling face you might see in the church office as she volunteers her time to a job that takes about five hours every week? It’s Marge Worley who was born in Lancaster, baptized as an infant at Grace, and is now a resident of Ephrata since 2005 continues her life-long membership and active involvement at Grace. This retired secretary of 38 years at Armstrong uses her skills as assistant treasurer to Jane Sheckard. For Grace, she records offerings on the register, writes checks, and reconciles the bank statements; for L-hands, in addition to those similar duties she performs for Grace, Marge is the file clerk and the tax preparer.
After subbing for Barb Slotter when Barb was on vacation in 2002, Pastor Verkouw approached Marge about taking on the duty of assistant to the treasurer. Marge was no stranger to volunteering her time at Grace, for she had taught kindergarten age children at Sunday School and was a chimer until leg problems interfered with her climbing the bell tower.
For over ten years, Marge has faithfully served as lay reader at the 10:30 service, and for more than three years she has been a worship assistant at the 7:45 service. We thank Marge for her life-long service to Grace and look forward to her continued service for many more years!
gracelutheranchurch.com 
The member spotlight is a nice addition and well deserved by Marge.