Grace

                                           
July 29, 2020

Dear Members of Grace Lutheran Church,
    
    I write with good news! Thanks to the diligent and faithful work of our SMART Team and the conversations they’ve had with staff and others, we have a plan in place to begin in-person worship! The guidelines for how we’re going to conduct in-person worship and other small group activities in our Church are enclosed with this letter. Please read them and refer to them. The guidelines are helpful for you to know what to expect when we begin in-person worship.

    Our first in-person, in-building worship service will be on August 9, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. We will continue to worship in each of the rest of the Sundays in August at 9:00 a.m. as well. If you are interested in attending worship on that Sunday, please call the Church office to sign-up. Because we are using social distancing and other safe practices in our worship, space is limited for the number of folks we will be able to accommodate at any given service.

    Given that there will be some who still feel uncomfortable with the idea of coming back into the church building for worship because of COVID-19, let me say: I understand. Let me also say that to accommodate people for whom this is true, we will still broadcast worship over Facebook Live and our YouTube channel. You will be able to access these at the same time as the service is happening, live. We will still broadcast the service over the radio. And, for those who are interested, we will also have available a radio transmitter that will allow people to worship with us from the comfort of their cars in the church parking lot at the same time the service is happening in the Family Life Center.

    While we are starting again with worship in the Family Life Center, I would ask you to consider being kind as we make adjustments what we are doing to make our services the very best they can be. There may be things that we find need to be tweaked along the way. Please know we’ll try to keep these to a minimum, and to make sure you know why we are making the changes we might have to make along the way.

    I’m happy to report that financially, the congregation is doing just fine. This is thanks to a forgivable PPP Loan and to the faithful giving of the congregation. Thank you so very much for your financial support in this time. We hope you’ll continue to support the ministry of our congregation financially. Your Church Council has been faithful in their work to make sure that the mission and ministry of the congregation continues to be financially responsible and secure. Please join me in thanking our Council.

    I hope you’ll also join me in thanking the staff of our congregation for all of the ways they have continued to do the work you have given them to do. So much of church work is hidden from the eyes of most people in times we used to think of as normal, and this is no more true than in this time when the staff has worked remotely. Each staff member has used their imaginations. They have brought their passion to their work. They have been tireless in the work they do. And, they have brought a healthy sense of humor, understanding that when we plan, God laughs. So much changed so fast in these weeks since mid-March that it was hard to keep track of it all. Yet, your staff was just excellent in the ways they approached each situation and challenge. In this, I include not only those you think of as staff, but also those who helped record and play and broadcast the services we’ve enjoyed.

    We look forward to seeing you!

In Christ,


Pastor Paul Lutter

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