|
Sunday, May 20, 2:35 am
|
As the Church came together to plan various goals for the upcoming year, it seemed good to ask for volunteers to work at the
Lord’s Diner as part of our outreach to the poor in our neighborhood. There will be a new facility of the Lord’s Diner opening
on South Hillside (where Bread of Life was previously located), to address the needs of the Plainview neighborhood. The Board
of Social Ministry is leading this outreach.
The Diner will open for service in May. To run properly it’ll need 30 volunteers each night—they’ll surely take any number of
volunteers we can supply, but if we have 30 then our group alone could run it. We’d then have an assigned night each month. To
make this goal more attainable I contacted Kendall Patterson, the Chairman of the Board of Evangelism at Trinity, to see if we
could make this a shared endeavor. He thinks Trinity will jump at the opportunity to serve as well.
Every volunteer (including the youth) must have a Food Handler’s Permit. There will be a class offered for this on Saturday,
April 9th beginning at 9:00 a.m. at All Saints Catholic Church (3205 E Harry, just East of the Quick Trip on Harry & Hillside).
The class and permit are free and will last an hour and a half. We’ll post a signup sheet in the narthex for the class as the date
gets closer.
Once we start serving, volunteers will need to be at the Diner by 5 p.m. They start serving at 5:30 and go until 7:30, at which
point we’ll clean up. Clean up shouldn’t take too long, since they start when the crowd begins to dwindle down. There are all
kinds of jobs needing to be done (except cooking! That will be done downtown), so we’d really appreciate any hope you can
supply.
Youth, ages 12 to 16, will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, or even a Youth Leader will do. They require one
Leader for every 5 or 6 youth.
There’s a simple dress code: no shorts, no halter tops, no open toed shoes or sandals. A good suggestion is that each volunteer
wear (if you have one) a t-shirt with the church’s name on it. This is by no means a requirement, though.
We’ll need a coordinator for all of this. The coordinator’s job will be to call each volunteer to remind them of when they’ll be
working and to be sure they can honor their commitment. The coordinators will then contact the Lord’s Diner and set it all up.
We’re still determining whether we’ll need a coordinator for both Grace and Trinity, or just one for both. We’ll discuss this with
Kendall, as well as the Board of Evangelism at Trinity. I’m willing to serve as temporary coordinator, but would appreciate
someone else taking the lead.
There’ll be a sign up sheet in the narthex when the Diner’s opening is closer. This is a wonderful opportunity to serve our Lord
and neighbor by helping those in need. Pastor Boyle looks forward to Grace’s commitment here. And he hopes to see this partnership
with the Lord’s Diner as a joyful service to the community, as well as a way in which we can, as a Church, learn about
how our Lord cares for His people.
If you have any questions call Bee Cline at 682-0386. If I don’t know the answer I’ll find out!
The Food Pantry at Grace Lutheran Church asks for Spaghetti and Spaghetti Sauce during the month of March. Please bring this item to Church on Sundays in March and place in the collection box in the Narthex. . Many thanks for your help and service to people in need in our neighborhood.
As you all know we had our annual distribution of Christmas groceries and gifts on Saturday, December 18th. Many, many thanks to all of you who made this possible. People donated groceries and gifts, sorted groceries and gifts, shopped for groceries, wrapped gifts.. So many things to do and so much help from so many people. Thank you each and every one. And a special thank you to the LWML ladies whose hard work for the Cookie Festival pro-vided most of the funds needed for this project. May God bless all of you and be with you. We had 22 families on our Christmas list this year—54 children. Each family received 3 boxes of dry groceries and eggs, oleo, a gallon of milk, package of brown & serve rolls, a bag each of apples, oranges and potatoes, and a turkey. Everyone (adults and children) received a hand knit stocking cap (a church member donated 127 caps) and a polar fleece scarf. Thanks to our “quilt lady” from Hoisington (she is in her nineties) each family received a quilt. Each child received a gift and a decorated, personalized Christmas stocking filled with “goodies.” The people who picked up their groceries and gifts also picked out items from what we call our miscellaneous table. These are items we do not include in the grocery boxes, misc. clothing, slightly used toys, etc. This year we even had 2 scooter which went in a hurry. The 23rd family on the list only received gifts. She called a few days before distribution to say she was in a shelter for abused women & children and could not use the food, but asked if she could have the gifts. We delivered them to the school counselor to be taken to her. We delivered over 100 polar fleece scarves and 80 pair of tube socks filled with candy and snacks items to the homeless. The weekly banana delivery is $20 if anyone wishes to help with that mission. Of course our number one priority is the Food Pantry which, as always, is open 9 – 11 a.m. every Tuesday. The requests for help continue to grow. The Board met in January and made plans for 2011 and discussed ways to improve on what was done in 2010. Our next project will be the Clothing Give Away on August 27. At that time we will also be collecting school supplies for schools with a large percentage of low income families. Please keep these two things in mind during the coming months. Please remember all of these activities in your prayers that God will continue to allow us the privilege of serving Him by helping those less fortunate.
May God bless you and be with you.
Bee Cline Board of Social Ministry
How many times have you heard someone say their church is friendly? Have you ever asked them why they consider their church to be friendly? What makes a church friendly? Is it the smiles on everyone‘s face? Do they greet guest and visitors with a hearty, Hello upon entering? Do they make special efforts to meet, greet, and make newcomers feel at home? Or is everyone visiting with each other and the newcomer is left standing in the corner by himself? These questions are important and every member of the church should answer them. The truth is that many churches see themselves as friendly; however, they are often perceived as cold and unfriendly by guest and visitors. Many in a congregation are friendly one to another, checking on the welfare and lives of their friends and family, while the guest or visitor slip out the door without the warm touch of a member other than the pastor. What is meant by the statement ?warm touch of a member?? Being friendly involves more than just the passing Hi, how are you?? It is in the heartfelt, enthusiastic grasping of a visitor or guests hand that true friendliness begins. It is the remembering of an individual‘s name that says they are important. It is your desire to introduce them to others that says you care. And last but far from the least, it is letting them know you appreciate them. It all begins with each of us taking the initiative to first pray for guest and visitors; secondly, to reach out our hand with enthusiasm and excitement while saying ?Hi, my name is ….;? and thirdly, giving thanks to God for the opportunity to share your joy, excitement, love, and enthusiasm for Jesus Christ with someone new. God‘s bless and keep you this week as you share the Good News with others.
Lay Deacon Aaron Hastings
Backpacks are being collected to be given to the homeless who ?live out of them. If you have an adult size backpack to donate towards this cause, please bring it to the Food Pantry. Questions?? See Bee Cline.
Area homeless shelters can always use the following items: paper plates, Styrofoam cups, napkins, paper towels, soup, shampoo, laundry detergent, toilet paper and monetary donations are also appreciated. Please remember those who are without a regular home especially as the weather turns colder. If you would like to donate to the homeless please see Bee Cline.
Have you ever thought about picking up an extra item & donating it to the Grace Pantry when you do your personal grocery shopping? The need of food assistance in our community continues to increase and Grace Food pantry is faced with increased needs. Pray how the Lord would have you respond to this need. Area homeless shelter can always use the following items: paper plates, Styro-foam cups, napkins, paper towels, soup, shampoo, laundry detergent and monetary donations are always appreciated. Please remember those who are without a regular home especially as the weather turns colder.
 THE ANGEL TREE & FOOD BANNER: are now in place. Praise the Lord!! Thanks to all the gifts we had already received we only have 6 angels left to be adopted. The Angels (all boys) in need of adoption are on the Christmas Tree in the Narthex. If you would like to sponsor a child you will be able to take an angel off of the Tree (be sure to leave the White Angel on the tree!). All the information you will need will be on the back of the Angel you select. A Mitten Box is also available. Angel gifts need to be turned in by Sunday, December 12th. Please take the Food Symbols off the banner that you would like to donate for our Christmas Baskets. When you bring your food donation, do not put the symbols back on the banner. Place them in the jar below the banner. Put your food donation on the table in the gym. Sorting begins December 13th and as always volunteers will be greatly appreciated. God Bless You!
We need donations of “stocking stuffer” items for Children’s Stockings. Some suggestions are: Hot wheel type cars, small cosmetic items, crayons, pencils, markers, coloring books, stickers, hair ornaments, playing cards, McDonald gift certificates, gum, wrapped candy, and so on.
White Tube Socks for the Homeless: We will be accepting donations of white tube socks that will be filled with “goodies” for the homeless and we will also be needing the “goodies” to fill them with. Some suggested “goodies” are: hard candy, small packages of snacks, “Slim Jims”, playing cards, etc. We need the tube socks and “goodies” donated by this Sunday, November 28th as we will be filling the tube socks on, Monday, December 7th beginning at 6:00 we can use your help. We will also be filling the stockings for the children at that time. Any Questions? See Bee Cline, Chairman Board of Social Ministry.
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE: If you want to take part in the 24th Annual Cookie Festival on Saturday, December 4th! The signup sheets and recipes are on the table in the narthex. Take a recipe and sign as many lines as you feel you can accomplish. The upright freezer in the old kitchen is empty awaiting your cookies, if they are freezable. There will be a (cookie decorating party) this Thursday, December 2nd beginning at 6:00 p.m. in Mueller Hall. The monies raised during this annual event goes to the Food Pantry for Christmas Baskets. If you have any questions, please see Audrey Rolf or a member of the Grace LWML. Attention Cookie Bakers: Please bring your cookies to the church on Friday, December 3rd between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Use the South Door (canopy side) so Susan or Audrey will be able to let you in.
|
|
