Announcements
CLICK HERE FOR THE CHURCH CALENDAR
December Schedule
Please download the file for the December worship assistant schedule and the Birthday/Anniversary list.
January 2025 Schedule
Please download the file for the January 2025 worship assistant schedule and the Birthday/Anniversary list.
Join Us For Christmas Eve!
Tuesday, December 24 – 4:00 p.m.
Prayerful Eucharist
Our increasingly popular early service. All the Christmas basics – Scripture, Carols & Pastor’s Christmas Sermon – with some musical gems as well.
Tuesday, December 24 – 7:00 p.m.
Holy Communion Family Service
Music and drama with the children bringing the Christmas message.
Tuesday, December 24 – 10:00 p.m. Holy Communion Festival Worship
(Prelude begins at 9:30 pm)
One of Lancaster’s finest volunteer choirs leads our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for the incarnation of our Lord. A musical feast in the great tradition of Christmas praise from
ancient to modern works by the Grace Choir, Gloria Bell Choir, Chamber Orchestra, and Brass Quintet. The service concludes with choir and congregation singing Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus.
BELLS in the Air and on our Schedules
Are you curious enough about our tower bells to give chiming a try? If you can read music (treble clef only needed) and familiarity with a keyboard, you can chime. The keyboard is like a piano’s, but the “keys” are more like a baseball bat which we grip and press down. Chimers are free to practice at their convenience. I will meet you to help get you started. Let me know if you’re game!
Murray Foreman 717-203-9061 murrayforeman@gracelutheranchurch.com
Grace Book Group–Books, Coffee, & Conversation
Our group meets the second Tuesday of the month at 7 pm on Zoom. In January we are reading YA books, in February we are reading a book that was “blurbed” on a book we recently read (ask Angie Rabbe if you need more explanation), in March we are celebrating Women’s History month, in April we are reading books by Irish authors/that are set in Ireland/about Irish–Americans.
Our group met on December 10th to discuss books off our to be read shelves. We read and discussed the following:
The Bricks that Built the Houses by Kate Tempest
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede
The Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche
Catastrophe in the Library by CeeCee James
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
An Uncommon Woman: The Life of Lydia Hamilton Smith by Mark Kelley
The Witch Elm by Tana French
Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante
If you need help finding a book please contact Angie Rabbe or Brenda
Hayasaka. If you would like to join our group please let Brenda know. Angie’s email is
gracechurch517@gmail.com and Brenda’s is bkhayasaka@gmail.com.
Christian Formation
Come See A Very Mixed-Up Christmas Pageant!
Oh dear, the director of the children’s Christmas pageant not only has had a “Christmas light hanging” accident but also has the only key to the costume closet. So, for the dress rehearsal the Pastor just tells the children to wear their Halloween costumes and he pulls in a nervous but willing helper to direct.
Please come and support the children as they present their latest dramatic work!
Performances are:
· Sunday, December 22 during the Sunday school hour
· 7 pm Christmas Eve service
Outreach
Grocery Cards
Grocery cards are available at both services on Sunday mornings. You may order cards by calling Duane and Kitty Weiss. Remember all purchases of cards realizes 5% in cash back to Grace. These funds are used to support our many ministries.
PRC Baby Kits
Through PRC’s work with Nurse Family Partnership and case workers from Union Community Care, we have received many referrals of low-income expectant and new mothers who are struggling to purchase the many items needed for a new baby, such as diapers, wipes, clothing, formula, cribs, and safety equipment.
Although Lancaster is home to many pregnancy centers, the requirements for receiving supplies like diapers often leave gaps of access for many families who desperately need this service. In hopes of
creating a support system with the lowest possible barrier to access, PRC partnered with Union
Community Care to plan and provide baby kits to new mothers, as well as ongoing supplies as-available.
PRC volunteers and donors assemble kits, which Union social workers store in their office and hand out. When a new mother and baby are released from the hospital, they can be sent home with a diaper bag full of basics to get them started. Kits include diapers, wipes, onesies, pacifiers, and a swaddling blanket. Additional supplies are also provided so social workers can continue to hand out diapers and wipes as needed during subsequent appointments. Items can be dropped off at the Grace Lutheran Church office, the drop off area in the Nolt Auditorium, or at the PRC.
BABY KITS INCLUDE:
New Items
· Pacifier
· Wipes
· Size 1 diapers (disposable, no cloth)
· NoseFrida nasal aspirator plus pack of replacement filters
Gently Used or New
· Foldable changing pad
· 1 sleep sack or warm footed pjs (0-3M)
· 2 onesies (0-3M)
· Swaddling blanket
· Diaper bag or backpack
You can order items directly from the Amazon wish list.
If you have any questions please contact Angie Rabbe
Our Grace Family
Our Sympathy
We give thanks for the life and witness of grace member William “Bill” Salzman who died on December 12th. Please keep Bonnie and their family in your prayers.
gracelutheranchurch.com 