Announcements
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JULY 2026 Schedule–Worship Volunteers, Birthdays, & Anniversaries
YOU’RE INVITED! Join Us Tomorrow
With pastoral colleagues and members of other downtown churches, I invite you to join me at Penn Square tomorrow, Wed July 8, for a brief ceremony commemorating the first public reading in Lancaster of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776. I remind you that Grace’s former tower bell, the now-cracked “Lancaster Liberty Bell,” which is on display in our solarium, was rung to announce the reading, as it hung in the tower of Holy Trinity Church in those years.
Church bells will be rung at noon, and following that several public officials are scheduled to read the text of the Declaration. The national anthem will be sung, as well as the hymn “This Is My Song” (our Hymn of the Day this past weekend), closing with a prayer.
-Pastor Verkouw
Flowers and Candles
A reminder: If you would like to honor/remember your loved one(s) on significant dates, such as birthdays,
anniversaries, or date of passing, please contact: Donna Weidman @ dweidman52@gmail.com or
717-201-6180
A nominal fee of $25 for flowers and/or $5 for candles helps defray the cost of the altar flowers & candles in our budget.
From Our Secretary
The Rabbes will be on vacation July 27-August 8. If you are interested in volunteering in the office on 7/28, 7/30, 8/4 or 8/6 please let me know as soon as possible. Thanks! -Angie
Chimers Needed
We are looking for a few people to add to our group of seven “chimers.” Chimers play the tower bells (the ‘chime’) after the 10:30 am Sunday service and also at 6:00 pm on Sunday evenings. If you can play a keyboard, you can play the chime. If you or a member of your family is interested, call or text Murray Foreman: 717-203-9061.
Christian Formation
The Final Night of VBS!
Enjoy photos from this past Monday’s God’s Wonder Lab! It was our last Science Monday for the summer. Our little disciples heard the Bible story of how Jesus called Saul to tell about him! Kids sang songs; made a science suncatcher; watched a reaction between milk, food coloring, and dawn dish soap; and played games called ‘Remove the Scales from Saul’s Eyes’ and ‘Saul, Saul, Paul’!
Outreach
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INGATHERING
October 3-4, 2026
There have been some changes this year. The New Windsor center where we dropped off kits is no longer available. A new year-round location for donations has opened in Mechanicsburg. In regard to boxes we have to use boxes with lids. Preferred boxes are those that have handholds at both ends of each box that can be carried easily. A suggestion was made to inquire at the dairy section of the grocery store for egg boxes that have these handles and lid. If you know of a source, contact Brenda Hayasaka or Barbara Slotter.
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
gracelutheranchurch.com 