Volume 90, Issue 9 September 23, 2014 community matters

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1 Volume 90, Issue 9 September 23, 2014 community matters GRACE NIGHT OUT It s beginning to feel like autumn outside and that means it is almost time for our 4th annual Grace Night Out! Mark your calendars for Sunday, October 12th from 3:00 p.m. -7:00 p.m. at Willow Creek Ranch. We invite you to join us for an afternoon of live music, games, hayrides, football, and delicious food in the beautiful, great outdoors. It is fun for all, you won t want to miss it! Contact Amanda Monroe with any questions at amonroe@gracelovespark.org.

2 P a g e 2 C o m m u n i t y M a t t e r s From Jane Freehauf and Jean Langkamp: We want to thank the following people who served as hosts during our Lifetouch church directory photo sessions in August and September: Barb Anderson, Loretta Clark, Mindy Clark, Janet & Larry Coble, Linda Dunphey, Debbie Gustafson, Nancy Hersey, Barb Johnson, Judy Kretsinger, Ann McCormick, Nancy Milani, Donna Palmer, Cyndy Petticrew, Sharon Provenzano, Vivian & Bill Ryerson, and Sandra Stangland. Your help was very much appreciated! thank you s Also thanks to Grace secretaries Kathy and Katie for your time and assistance with directory preparations. From Joy Swenson: Last Thursday I had a medical ordeal but I knew God was with me and had his healing hands on me. I want to thank Pastor Dahlseng, Pastor Dustin, and Pastor Parks for their visits and prayers. I want to thank my angel of a sister and friend Mary for being with me every step of the way I love them so much. Thank you to my Grace Lutheran Church Family for your prayers and concerns I am so blessed. I thank God everyday for being in my life without him I don't know where I would be today. Hope to be back at church with all my kids very soon God Bless. From Cathy Arnold: Last Saturday night was a special evening here at Grace. Many people enjoyed an evening of food, fun, and fellowship with a spaghetti dinner in celebration of Grace's 90th Anniversary at the Graciano Café! What atmosphere! What wonderful music! What great food! And former Grace pastor, Pastor Terri Driver -Bishop was there to enjoy it all with us! It all came together with the help of so many amazing people! People who helped with every detail of the night. People who helped to plan, prepare, decorate, set up, cook, serve, and clean up. Thank you to each and every one of you for all of your help and for your smiling faces! Thanks to all of you, we were able to provide this wonderful evening to over 170 people! And many thanks to all of them for spending the evening with us at the Graciano Café! The Women s Event has been postponed. Check back later for more details and a new date. 90 th Anniversary Christmas Walk Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Child care will be available at coming events church provided by the youth and Chris Thomas. Would you like to open your house and share your Christmas treasures and Traditions with our congregation? We would like to have 6 different homes on the walk. Please call Judy Kretsinger at or Judy Kinison at or Katie at the church office at if you are interested in having your home featured on the Christmas Walk. A display of snowmen, Santas or nativity sets; A table set with special dishes; Decorations on your tree that have Christmas stories to tell; These are your Christmas Treasures. The CROP Hunger Walk Is October 19 Hundreds will join together walking to fight hunger both here and the world. The Greater Rockford Pantry Coalition receives 25% of monies raised. We need Walkers and sponsors for the Annual Rockford CROP Hunger Walk on October 19th. Walkers who raise $250 will earn another $100 for themselves and our congregation. Those who raise $100 dollars or more will receive a free CROP t-shirt. Please see Angie Wallace to sign up as a Walker or to contribute to a Walker. Thanks for helping feed the hungry both in the Greater Rockford area and throughout the world. Sound and Media for Dummies Tues., Sept. 30 from 6-8 pm in the sanctuary. Come learn the basics and ask questions - no pressure to join. Current team members: master the finer points of your craft and help us plan for the future. Pizza will be served!

3 V o l u m e 9 0, I s s u e 9 P a g e 3 She was the glue that held our family together, one family member quipped about their relative who had just died. I have lived away from the family for so long that I just don t feel I fit any more, another family member told me. In this second story, as we ate together following the funeral, I began asking family members questions to get conversation flowing. By carefully asking each family member questions that related to the ongoing conversation, the distant family member began to participate in the ongoing conversation that was unfolding over lunch. It takes work to rebuild relationships when time or damage has happened. Healthy relationships give us our deepest sense of identity and anchor us in life. It is in our relationships that we find life s deepest meaning and purpose. pastor dahlseng 50 Day Adventure Grace is a community of relationships, some very close and some not so much. As I have listened to stories of people at Grace during this 90 th anniversary year, I observe that many people have long and deep relationships at Grace. Others at Grace, are not very connected. The idea of the 50 Day Adventure, beginning on October 5 through November 23, is to strengthen the community of Grace by giving everyone the opportunity to know and be known by others! The 50 Day Adventure has a study booklet with daily Bible readings from the New Testament book of Ephesians with questions for you to ponder. For anyone new to reading the Bible, the daily reading (5 days per week two free days you pick) will take between 5-10 minutes per day. You could spend more time if you choose but it is very doable. The key idea of the 50 Day Adventure is to invite a few others to meet at your home or Sheri s Place, McDonald s, or Starbucks around coffee and talk about life and maybe even God. Or, you could join a group at church. We build community by investing time to get to know and be known by others. I am confident that you will look back on the time you spent with others in this adventure as some of the best time you invested in 2014! I give credit for the idea of the 50 Day Adventure to Scott Boren, our church consultant who was with us in early June and with whom I have monthly phone conversations. I find it very helpful and rewarding to have fresh eyes looking over my shoulder and asking questions as well as observations. Rebuilding Grace Preschool Project Update The State Fire Marshal has signed off on a variance for our 4 th classroom (the interior room) on the first floor. A second doorway in that room, as well as work in the West end stairwell exit to the Preschool, some additional smoke detectors on the second floor and changes for fire safety sake to our North doorway into the offices will need to be addressed. The good news is that we were granted our variance. In addition to these changes, we still need the certification from DCFS prior to occupancy by our Preschool. Thanks for your prayers and patience! We welcome the following families as members of Grace! Erin Cannell Children: Parker and Abigail Lynn Scott Bill Haynes Greg Dangelo and Robin Milligan Children: Ross, Haleigh, and Kaleb Dunaway Phil and Pam Hensley Daniel Lindberg Martha Meier Patrick and Brynn Moore Children: Emily and Lucas Moore James and Geri Williams

4 P a g e 4 C o m m u n i t y M a t t e r s youth news A First Time for Everything My favorite time of year at Grace is the summer. School is out. We have big student events like Confirmation Camp and the Mission Trip. I can meet up with kids during normal parts of the day, instead of just the evenings. It s just great. While I love them I don t want to get so caught up in our normal routines that we get completely set in our ways. So this summer we are going to be trying something new instead of our annual mission trip. July 15th-19th is the ELCA s National Youth Gathering, an event that only takes place every four years. Next year, 40,000 youth and adults will converge on Ford Field in Detroit for a weekend of service, learning, and worship. There will be nationally acclaimed speakers, awesome service opportunities, and unlike every mission trip I ve ever gone on, there will be hotel accommodations. This adds up to an excellent trip that still carries the service and group bonding elements of our mission trip, but adds a whole new dynamic in the group worship and learning experiences. The National Youth Gathering gives many new opportunities but it also costs more per student than our summer trips have in the past. We will be rolling out a few new fundraisers this year to help offset the cost to families and I want to say thank you in advance for the generosity that I know Grace will provide. The youth and volunteers who attend are going as representatives of Grace to those we serve in Detroit. Further, this is an opportunity that is unlike many of what our kids have ever experienced. Something of this scale and magnitude, seeing so many young believers live out their faith, can have a huge and lasting impact on the lives of our kids. I ask and hope that you might be able to be a part of making this work for some of our families who are in need. If you are interested in attending this year we will be having our first planning meeting on Sunday Oct. 12th at 10:00 a.m. in the youth room at the end of the gym. I m excited for this new opportunity and for the adventure it will be for those who go on it. Upcoming Events: Tuesday, September 30th: Sound and Media Meeting at 6:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 1st: Calendar Sales Begin Sunday, October 12th: Grace Night Out at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, October 19th: CROP Walk at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, October 26th: Trunk or Treat at 4:00 p.m.-5:45 p.m. If you would like to volunteer for any of these events please contact me, Chris Thomas at cthomas@gracelovespark.org or call the church at Carol Johnson Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser Enjoy an evening meal with family and friends at Backyard Grill on North Second St. in Loves Park. Dine from 5:00-9:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 23rd and 20% of the cost of your food will be donated to our preschool scholarship fund to help families with tuition costs. Scholarships are currently helping 19 families. preschool news

5 V o l u m e 9 0, I s s u e 9 monthly business P a g e 5 PASTORAL ACTS FOR AUGUST Congratulations to the following who exchanged their Wedding Vows: Jessica Hogan and Jeffery Zimmerman We extend our SYMPATHY to family and friends of the following who s funeral services were held in August: Marlyne Rodewald The following became Children of God through Baptism: Cody Johnson Moira Koziol Collin Luikaart Financial Summary General Fund (Mission and Ministry) Total Income 2014: $442, Total Expense for 2014: $460, Rebuilding Grace Fund Total Income for 2011: $160, Total Income for 2012: $232, Total Offerings for 2013: $206,565.52* Total Offerings for 2014: $101, *This includes memorial gifts. Total Expense for 2014 $315, Total Expense $668, Thank you for your giving hearts. Mary Frykman Check out electronic giving and make a contribution. We extended our Sympathy: To Nellie Oswald and family on the passing of her husband Jack Oswald. To Gayle Engloff and family on the passing of her father Jack Oswald. OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS 2-Edward Dreger-80 3 Marilyn Dreger Sandra Burt Lila Wydick William Johnson Constance Peterson Shirley Miller Joseph Myers Marian Broege Geraldine Detra Donald Hanna Geri Mathison Ruth Johnson Gladys Easton Nellie Oswald Roger Palmer-75 STAFF 16-Jill Miller, Director of Preschool 20-Chris Thomas, Family and Youth Ministries ANNIVERSARIES 7-Dan and Lisa Jacobson 25th 12- Paul and Jean Humphries 40th 19-David and Kristen Rossi 40th 26-Nick and Floyette Ancona - 51st 28-Edward and Jeannine Larsen-25th Birthdays that are published are 75 and older. Anniversaries that are published are 25th, 40th, 50th, and any Anniversary after the 50th. If you wish not to have it published please call the office ( ). The next newsletter will be published on Friday, October 24, 2014 and mailed out Tuesday, October 28, 2014 Items for that issue (November Calendar) are due in the church office by NOON, Friday, October 17, PLEASE NOTIFY THE CHURCH OFFICE...when members of your family are hospitalized so the pastors may visit them. (Also let the hospital know you are with Grace Lutheran Church)...when a member of your family has passed away so the pastors and members of the congregation may express their sympathy and include you in their prayers.

6 Grace Loves Park Church and Preschool 343 Grand Avenue Loves Park, IL CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Rockford, IL Permit No Phone: Fax: Sunday, October 26th 4:00-5:45 p.m. Worship Opportunities at Grace Every Sunday 7:30 a.m. Blended Worship 9:00 a.m. Traditional Worship 10:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship 10:30 a.m. Baptism Fourth Sunday of Month 9:00 a.m. Life School Adult Bible Study More details coming soon! Holy Communion every Sunday at 7:30 a.m. 1st & 3rd Sunday, Holy Communion at 9 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.