Blog (Page 25)
News and thoughts
Time to re-enroll in Kroger Community Rewards
If you were previously enrolled in the Kroger Community Rewards program, you probably got an e-mail in the last week or so, reminding you that it was time to re-enroll. The Kroger Community Rewards program is a way to raise money simply by using your Kroger Plus card when you buy groceries. 100% of the money the church receives through this program goes back out to help those in need in our community. In the past, the Christian Service board…
CSEOA Prayer Calendar
Our Central Southeast Ohio Association prayer calendar, this week lifts up in prayer our congregation, Grace UCC, Lancaster. So, the other churches in our Association will be praying for us this week. In turn, we lift up in prayer, our interim pastor, Rev. Dennis Sparks, our guest preacher this week, Keely Pearce, and our search committee which is very close to having a candidate to recommend to the congregation to be our settled pastor. May we all feel the presence…
This Sunday!!
This Sunday we have a couple of special things going on. 1) Our guest preacher will be our own Keely Pearce; 2) this is Choir Appreciation Sunday, we’ll be recognizing the choir for all they add to our worship experience every week. Please join us at 10:30 Sunday morning and stick around for cake and punch after worship.
Core Values: Part 1 – Love
On Maundy Thursday, we read from the Gospel of John, this year (Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary). In particular, we read John 13:34-35, I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Similarly, in Matthew 22:36-40 we read, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”…
CSEOA Prayer Calender
Our Central Southeast Ohio Association Calendar of Prayer lifts up our brothers and sisters in Christ of First Congregational UCC of Huntington, WV and First Congregational UCC of Marysville this week. Please remember Huntington, First’s Pastor, Rev. Timothy S. Dixon and Marysville First’s Pastor, Rev Linda Meredith and the all members and friends of both First Congregational’s in your prayers. Also, Rev. Nancy Millwater, who has preached here in the past, fell and sustained a serious arm/shoulder injury which required…
Summer Activities – an Experiment
Summer is the time of year when churches seem to go on vacation just like everyone else. Other than Vacation Bible School, maybe a work trip, and sending a few of the youth to camp, things usually slow down dramatically. The Membership Action Board has scheduled the Summer Pot Luck for after church on Pentecost (8 June), to kick off the summer, but as far as I’m aware, that’s it. We’re going to try an experiment here. In the comments…
Core Values: Part 0
When we began our pastoral search process, Pastor Dennis took the search committee through the book Moving Off the Map, by Thomas Bandy. As part of this process, last September, one Sunday after church, the search committee led the congregation through a process to discern our core values. This is the first step in a process that we anticipate will continue after we call a settled pastor with the articulation of a vision and a mission statement. Over the next…
Workshop of Wonders – VBS
Our annual vacation bible school program will run the evenings of 16-19 June from 5:30-8:30PM each night. The evenings will open with supper at 5:30PM (families are welcome). The preschool program will run from 5:30-7:30PM. Everyone is welcome.  You can register online at http://2014.cokesburyvbs.com/graceuccvbs2014, by filling out the e-mail form on the event page or by calling the church office at (740) 654-0565. We’ve also created an event on Facebook.
Where your support has gone
Some folks asked for this info from Sherry Clausing’s presentation last month. The Grace Church Endowment has been very generous in supporting her many trips to El Salvador with Eye Care International over the last few years and the last slide of her presentation showed some of the many ways that your money has supported worthwhile projects that Sherry saw or became aware of while in El Salvador. The include, but are not limited to, the following (in no particular…
May 2014 – Pastor’s Piece/Peace
Thanks to everyone who helped make Holy Week and the Easter Sunday Celebration a special time. We had a good attendance in the events and worship around Easter. The morning demonstrated the potential for Grace Church and her future. Already we have several things happening fast: On May 7 the Christian Service Board is supplying food for a special event with the students of West Elementary in Lancaster. On Saturday, May 10 Grace Church is having our second annual Children’s…