Here’s how we organize ministry at Grace Lutheran Church! If you would like a copy of this Mission Map, please contact Adrienne in the church (officemanager@graceinthecity.com) or Pastor Sarah (pastorsarah@graceinthecity.com).
February CALL @ Grace
During February, CALL participants meet on Sundays, February 2 and 16, 12:45-3:00 pm at Grace in Hope Hall.
PhLY 80's Night!
High school youth, you are encouraged to attend the next PhLY event which is 80’s Night on Saturday, February 8, 4:00-8:00 pm at St. Andrew Lutheran Church at 31st Avenue and Cholla! For more information, contact Casey at PhLYministry@gmail.com or www.facebook.com/PhLYministry.
February Wilbur Emphasis: ELCA World Hunger & Mount of Olives Food Closet
During February, Wilbur the Pig is receiving monetary donations for ELCA World Hunger and non-perishable food donations for the Mount of Olives Food Closet. You may bring your food donations to Sunday morning worship or to the church office. Specifically, the food closet is in need of:
Plastic Spoons
Plastic Forks
Plastic Knives
Soup Cans with a pop top
Plastic Grocery Bags
However, all non-perishable food donations are much appreciated! The food closet distributes food to around 100 households each Thursday. Only about 10-12 of those people do not have a fridge/freezer/place to cook, so the food closet volunteers make special on-the-go bags for those guests. That is how the closet uses soups, plastic ware, and bags.
Spiritual Adventure 2020: February 9 Hike
For those going on the spiritual adventure to northern Minnesota in July 2020, part of our covenant to one another is participation in all team building sessions as listed in the covenant. Our next team building hike is Sunday, February 9 at 12:30 pm. We will meet in Hope Hall and carpool to Dreamy Draw Recreation Area for a hike. Make sure you are going for walks and hikes are your own in the meantime!
Sunday Morning Breakfast
Grace’s Next Serving Date: Sunday, February 2
As usual, the Grace community is “on” to serve the Sunday morning breakfast of biscuits and gravy on Sunday, February 2. Anyone who would like to help is encouraged to show up in the church kitchen by 6:30 am. During the month of February, we give thanks to God for the partnership of the following congregations who will serve: Ascension Lutheran Church (Paradise Valley), Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church (Goodyear), Desert Cross Lutheran Church (Tempe), and Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church (Phoenix).
Traditional Worship Planning
All are welcome to help plan traditional worship on Thursday, February 6 at 10:00 am in the Choir Room. This group, after prayer and reading the gospel lesson for each Sunday, picks the hymns and service music for traditional worship.
Transfigured Worship for Transfiguration Sunday
On Transfiguration Sunday (February 23), we will transfigure our worship by flipping the worship order front to back, back to front. On Transfiguration Sunday, we read the sacred story of Jesus and three of his disciples hiking up a mountain where Jesus is transfigured before them. His transfiguration causes them to see Jesus in a new light: one of glory. Similarly, on this one Sunday of the church year, we hope that this liturgical flip will help us see God and our communal spiritual practice of worship in a new and refreshing way!
Safeguarding God's Children Training
Sunday, February 23, 12:30 pm, North Room
All are welcome to attend a one-hour Safeguarding God’s Children training in the North Room on Sunday, February 23 at 12:30 pm. Everyone is encouraged to attend, especially those who nurture relationships with children and youth. The simple structures we set up for accountability and transparency make a big difference in helping all of us nurture healthy, safe relationships with our children and youth. If you have attended before but have not done so in the last three years, you are especially encouraged to attend.
Lent is coming...February 23!
Ash Wednesday Worship: Wednesday, February 26, 6:30 pm, Sanctuary
We confess our sin and remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return at Ash Wednesday worship on Wednesday, February 26 at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary.
Ashes To Go @ Downtown ASU Campus
Especially for those who may not be able to attend evening Ash Wednesday worship, you are welcomed and encouraged to find Pastor Sarah and Vicar Beth on the downtown ASU campus near Taylor and 1st Street for Ashes to Go between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm on Wednesday, February 23.
Daily Lenten Prayer: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays, 12:00 pm-12:30 pm, Sanctuary
Beginning Thursday, February 27
All are welcome at Daily Lenten Prayer in the Sanctuary on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 12:00-12:30 pm beginning February 27. Each day, we will pray together, sing together, and read scripture. This year, our theme is Right Now: How Do We See God Working in the World? We will consider how God is at work and how God is calling us in our chaotic and complex world by reading and discussing news articles of that week.
Community Building Goal for February & March
During February and March, we practice offering grace to others—and ourselves—when they—and we—make mistakes and even fail by telling the one who needs grace: “You are a beloved child of God.”
Sermon: 1/26/2020
John Gardner, an American writer, once observed that there are only two plots: “A stranger rides into town” and “A man goes on a journey.” When we tell the stories of our own lives, with the exception of our birth narrative, we likely tell one of these two stories. A stranger rode into town and changed my life. OR I went on a journey, and this is what happened. This morning, the story of the fishermen Peter and Andrew, James and John includes both these plots.
Seeking a Summer Outreach Coordinator
Each summer, we hire a temporary Outreach Coordinator to coordinate our summer heat respite program. If you or someone you know possesses the gifts described in the job description below, please have them email Pastor Sarah at pastorsarah@graceinthecity.com with their resume, cover letter, and at least two references.
Grace Lutheran Church
Phoenix, Arizona
Outreach Coordinator Job Description
May 15-September 15, 2020
Position Summary:
The outreach coordinator will coordinate and oversee the summer heat respite program.
Reports Directly to: Solveig Muus, chairperson of the Outreach Team and Pastor
Position Requirements:
• Embrace the ethos of the Heat Respite program
Our Heat Respite mission statement: Our mission during the summer months is to provide a space for heat relief while building community through the sharing of community resources, meals, water, and ourselves in a place of being, belonging, and becoming.
This ethos is most clearly articulated by Roman Catholic layperson Jean Vanier who wrote: “In the midst of all the violence and corruption of the world, God invites us today to create new places of belonging, places of sharing, of peace and of kindness, places where no one needs to defend themselves; places where each one is loved and accepted with one’s own fragile abilities and disabilities. This is my vision for our churches: that they become places of belonging, places of sharing.”
• Attention to Detail: Consistently attends to the many small pieces which must be assembled into an organized whole; comfortable with Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher, Facebook, and email
• Integrity and Trust: Is seen as trustworthy by others; practices direct, honest, and transparent communication; admits mistakes; responds to situations with consistency and reliability; respects the autonomy of each individual
• Interpersonal Skills: Works well with people; uses diplomacy and tact; is approachable; avoids triangulation
• Verbal Communication: Demonstrates communication styles appropriate to the situation at hand; is comfortable speaking to a large and diverse audience
• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates strong and appropriate personal boundaries in relationships; is emotionally and spiritually mature; can maintain a non-anxious presence in the midst of turmoil; not overly dependent upon outside affirmation; can stand in the presence of others’ strong emotions without taking responsibility for them or reacting to them externally or internally; does not hold grudges or bitterness; practices forgiveness and generosity in interpersonal relationships; values individuals’ gifts and accepts individuals’ limitations without demeaning them
• Personal Resiliency: Can shift gears comfortably; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty; is flexible
• Project Management: Identifies the key objectives and scope of a proposed project; develops a thorough and realistic plan for achieving key objectives; implements action plans, communicates progress to team members and volunteers
• Obtain a Food Manager Card
• Quick Response to Emergencies
Principal Accountabilities:
· Oversee the tracking and acknowledgement of donations of Grace Room items, food, and money given specifically for outreach programs
· Along with the outreach team and led by the outreach director, brainstorm ideas for heat respite
· Reach out to ministry partners with volunteer and giving opportunities
· Schedule and equip volunteers for heat respite
· Personally supervise heat respite
· Supervise key heat respite volunteers
· Serve as first point person for resolving conflicts and questions at heat respite alongside outreach director and pastor
· Along with the outreach director, write occasional articles for the newsletter, announcements for Facebook, and information for the Grace website about outreach programs
· Be regularly present in worship to recruit and inform volunteers for outreach programs
· Research and seek out grant opportunities and apply for grants
· Make signs, banners, and posters as needed and as directed by the outreach director
· Attend staff meetings
· Attend monthly Outreach Team meetings (2nd Tuesday @ 6:30 pm) and quarterly Ministry Night
Showing Up
One year during our stewardship emphasis, Solveig Muus shared her own definition of stewardship: showing up for your community. Before I heard Solveig say this, I had never considered this definition of stewardship. Now, however, I find it a compelling definition for the stewardship of our time and energy. We show up for each other. We show up for the ministry to which we feel called. We show up for the things we feel are important.
In a culture where we are defined by what we consume, church is sometimes just one more thing we consume. Sometimes, we choose a church based on what it provides for us, such as its programs or because certain people pay attention to us. We can get trapped into thinking that the church provides services for us instead of us contributing to a community where we all use our gifts for the sake of others and the world God loves. The oft-quoted words of John F. Kennedy come to mind: Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. How similar it is in the church! (Just take out “country” and put in “church.”)
While we can find support at church, especially in difficult times, God calls us to care for others and show up for others when they need the support of a faith community. While children, youth, and adults benefit from Bible studies and VBS, confirmation and youth activities, these activities are provided not so much as a service to a particular group but as an opportunity to share our faith with each other. While we may receive necessary nourishment and shelter at the pancake breakfast or heat respite, we can also volunteer in these programs, in the office, or around the church—to care for and steward this property which allows us to provide meals and daytime, summer shelter. Church is not, essentially, about what the church provides for us. Instead, church is about what we can do together in the world, responding to the call of God, showing up for one another.
We are the church. The church really is not an institution but a people, a community, individuals banding together to do God’s work. Really. If we do not show up, the church does not exist. The Spirit of God will always blow, and God will continue to do whatever God wants to do in the world. But the church is the people.
I hope you will show up for the ministry we share at Grace in whatever ways you feel called. On Sunday, January 26 at 10:30 am, we’ll gather in Hope Hall for our annual meeting. At this meeting, we will give thanks to God for the ways the church shows up to do God’s work, and we will consider how God might be calling us in the new year. What we can do together is far greater than what we can do alone, so please, show up.
With gratitude for each one of you,
Pastor Sarah
Faith Formation Ministry Team Update
Faith Formation: Where we discover what we believe and how we live out our beliefs to the Glory of God and the benefit of our neighbors, our nation, our loved ones, and the world
This is what Faith Formation is about. This is why we are working to engage the congregation into attending our Bible studies and Prayer Groups.
o WELCA Study, 1st Thursday @ 9:30 am
o Bible Equipping, 3rd Thursday @ 9:30 am
o Children Hour Bible Study, Sundays @ 9:45 am
o Prayer Group, Tuesday @ 10:00 am
o Grace Time, Sundays @ 9:45 am
Grace Time in 2020 has a goal of engaging 2nd service members to attend. Our promise is to end by 10:45 am (10:15 am during the summer). We are planning engaging topics that affect us all. Here are just a few…
· First Things First – (January 5) Builds on the goal of prioritizing God and getting rid of barriers
· The Holy Spirit – (February) The Holy Spirit: Definition, Gifts, Fruits, and the Church
· Lent – (March/April) Remember it’s not about giving up something for a few weeks but about making a change in your life to strengthen your relationship with God. This could be removing barriers or adding new habits.
· Salt and Light
· Sincere Apologies
· Anxiety
· Integrity
· Women of the Bible
· 5 Languages of Love
The Vicar’s Vantage Point: January 2020
A couple of weeks ago, I sat with Pastor Sarah in her office during one of our weekly check-in conversations and she said these words to me: “Your faith life is on steroids at the moment.” And, well, it’s true. While internship is a time in theological education to learn some of the skills required for serving as a pastor, it is also a time of significant faith formation. It’s a time of trusting God when all the fancy information acquired in seminary classes begins to fall short. And let me tell you, my faith is being stretched and shaped here at Grace in significant ways.
Synod Assembly voting members needed
Any Grace members interested in representing Grace Lutheran at the Grand Canyon Synod Assembly, June 11-13, 2020, in Las Vegas, NV, please contact Brian Flatgard at brian@brianflatgard.com.
High School Youth Winter Retreat
The next PhLY event for high school youth is the winter retreat at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Flagstaff, January 17-20. For more information or to register for the retreat, contact Casey at PhLYministry@gmail.com or www.facebook.com/PhLYministry.
Ministry Partner Spotlight: Trinity Lutheran Church
Trinity Lutheran Church sits at 7th Avenue and Hatcher in the Sunnyslope neighborhood of Phoenix. Like many of our Capital Conference congregations, Trinity youth participate in CALL (Confirmation Among Local Lutherans), PhLY (Phoenix area Lutheran Youth), and Lutheran Campformation—alongside Grace and other ELCA congregations. In addition, the Trinity community faithfully joins in the annual CROPWalk, so several folks from Trinity visited us here at Grace this past November 10! One of the unique aspects of Trinity’s community is that some of their members came to Phoenix as refugees from Liberia. We are grateful for the witness of Trinity and thank God for their partnership in ministry!
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2020
Every January, we give thanks to God for the unity of the Christian church, a unity that God gifts us in baptism, with a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. If you would like to gather with other Christians for prayer, you are invited to St. Pius X Catholic Church, 809 S. 7th Avenue in Phoenix, on Thursday, January 23 at 7:00 pm.