Announcements
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September 2026 Schedule–Worship Volunteers, Birthdays, & Anniversaries
Volunteers Needed
We are in need of volunteers for the following:
- Organzing the Sunday flowers and candles. If you are interested please contact Donna Weidman.
- Communion Assistants for all of our services. If you are intertested please contact Angie Rabbe. We will train you!
- Lectors and Communion Care folks for our Saturday evening servive. Please contact Angie if you are interested. We will train you!
In-Person Book Group
Please join us on Monday, September 28th @ 1:30 in Nolt Auditorium when the in-person book group will be discussing House Rules by Jodi Picoult.
Jacob Hunt, is a teen with Asperger’s syndrome which makes it hard for him to read social cues & to express himself well to others. Though he is brilliant in many ways, he has a special focus on one subject – forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, where he often shows up telling the cops what to do, and he’s usually right! However, the tables are turned when his social skills tutor, college student Jess Ogilvy, is found dead, and Jacob becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Besides keeping you guessing whether Jacob actually committed this crime or not, this book adds some humor while providing valuable insights from five different perspectives ~ Jacob, his mother, his brother, the police detective, and his attorney. It helps you understand what it’s like for Jacob and his family to live with Asperger’s and how difficult it is for them navigating in a world of neurotypical people who have no understanding of what their world is like.
Christian Formation
Praying With Our Prayer Partners
I wanted to share a few thoughts on how we can deepen our connection as prayer partners by fostering a more multigenerational approach. Bridging the gap between generations through prayer allows us to share unique perspectives, timeless wisdom, and fresh enthusiasm with one another.
Here are a few ways we can cultivate a meaningful, multigenerational prayer partnership:
- Practice Active & Empathetic Listening: Take time to understand the unique life stage, joys, and struggles of a partner from a different generation without judgment.
- Share Stories of Faith: Go beyond immediate requests by sharing personal experiences of answered prayers, life lessons, and moments where faith was tested.
- Embrace Different Styles: Be open to diverse ways of praying and communicating, whether through traditional written prayers, modern digital check-ins, or shared scripture readings.
- Focus on Mutual Learning: Approach the relationship as equals, recognizing that both younger and older partners have valuable spiritual insights to offer each other.
- Maintain Regular, Low-Pressure Contact: Set up a consistent routine—such as a brief weekly note or a monthly coffee meeting—to keep the connection strong and supportive.
If you have time, I would love to hear how you are communicating with each other.
–Kathryn Verkouw
“Faith at Home” cards!
How can families become more comfortable talking about their faith and praying together? This question inspired Grace member Colin Kerr, a father of two young children himself, to create weekly “Faith at Home” cards.
These weekly cards give a structure for people of all ages to explore scripture and prayer together. “Faith at Home” follows the 3-year lectionary so it will be the same scripture addressed that Sunday in worship both in preaching and in Fishbowl time!
Help Us Fill the Nolt Auditorium with Prayer
Do you have a favorite prayer? Maybe one that you pray daily? Maybe one you pray when you are thankful? Maybe one you pray when you are sad? We want to fill the Nolt Auditorium with our prayers during this season. You can submit your prayers in a few ways: Email it to Angie, drop it in the offering plate, or mail it to the office.
Outreach
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INGATHERING
NEXT SUNDAY
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.
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 