Announcements
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August 2025 Schedule
News From Church Wide
We are pleased to announce the election of the Rev. Yehiel Curry as presiding bishop of the ELCA! Bishop-elect Curry was elected on the fifth ballot with 70.34% of the vote.
The Rev. Lucille “CeCee” Mills has been elected secretary of the ELCA! Secretary-elect Mills was elected on the fifth ballot with 51.66% of the vote.
Communion Assistants
We need your help—we need a few more communion assistants for the 10:30 service . We would love to have at least three more folks sign up on a regular basis. If you have any questions please contact Angie Rabbe or Keith Miller.
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. Grocery
Lutheran World Relief In-gathering
Brenda Hayasaka and Donna Linton are in charge of School Kits and need your help. Take advantage of the school supply sales coming next month. These are the items they need to fill the bags they have on hand or will purchase.
- Four 70 sheet SPIRAL notebooks of wide or college-ruled paper approximately 8” x 10 ½ ”, 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 2 ½” eraser
Thank you to Janet Neumar who plans to apply for a Thrivent Visa card for $250 to buy items. We need more items from you to fill the bags.
We are also doing Personal Care Kits. We will purchase bulk items from a Thrivent card and also from your monetary donations. If you want to put your own kit together, here are the directions.
- One light-weight bath size towel (between 20” x 40” and 52” x 27”), dark color
- Two or three bath-size bars of soap equaling 8 to 9 oz, any brand, in original wrapping
- One adult-size toothbrush in its original wrapping
- One metal nail clippers (attached file optional), remove packaging
We will add a comb to your kit as we ordered in bulk. Loose items are accepted.
Fold the towel in half widthwise. Place the rest of the items in the towel, fold and roll so nothing falls out, and secure with yarn, ribbon, or string or just put your items, including the towel, in a plastic bag.
If you want to help with cash donations, please write on your check “LWR Kits.” Brenda and Barbara will share the money as needed. Boxes for your donations will be in the Narthex and at the entrance as you come in the door to church.
Barbara Slotter, 717-342-2654
Brenda Hayasaka, 410-236-1063
Donna Linton, 717-575-9388
Christian Formation
Confirmation Camp 2025
Five youth along with Pastor Verkouw and Confirmation teachers Meghan Kelly and Vicki Mumma enjoyed a rather soggy week at camp. Fittingly our theme for the week was “Water of Life” as it rained for five of the six days we were there. In spite of the weather we enjoyed a wonderful week of learning, laughing, and having fun! We learned about the importance of water to God’s creation, about the healing power of water in the story of the blind man whose sight was restored by Jesus, and took a deep dive into the 23rd Psalm. On Wednesday our group took a 90 minute canoe trip on the Susquehanna river. Ask Sam Mumma about his dip in the river along with counselor Sam and Pastor Tracy Glover! We also traveled to the Wittel farm to harvest greens that were donated to the Lancaster County Food Hub and the group planted a persimmon tree. Church in the Woods Confirmation Camp was an incredible experience for everyone!
A special thank you to our members who have donated to the Outdoor Ministry fund which assures that all families have access to this wonderful experience.
Thank You
Jonathan and his brother Sadeeq spent a week at Beach Camp through the summer youth programs offered by Camp Kirchenwald. The boys came to Grace by way of the education pod during the COVID pandemic. Thanks to the generosity of Grace members the boys have had the opportunity to attend Confirmation Camp as well as summer camp at Kirchenwald. With the rising cost of camp these opportunities are only possible with your help. If you would like to help, checks can be made out to Grace – memo line outdoor ministries. Thank you for considering donating to this worthwhile experience for our youth.
Adult Summer Sunday School 2025*
August 10: Discussing Death and Dying led by Angie Piel and Tom Santosusso
August 17:Our Liberian Connection with Bishop Main
August 24: “Homelessness and Grace” led by Perry Hazeltine, PHD
August 31: (Labor Day Weekend) TBD
September 7: (Rally Day) TBD
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