Thanksgiving and Advent
Clever headlines have eluded me...just sticking to the facts today. And those facts are: tomorrow is officially Thanksgiving, and Advent begins on Sunday. Whoa. Please know we are deeply, profoundly grateful that you are part of our community. We hope you enjoy a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving wherever you are.
This December we will observe Advent together on Wednesday evenings at 6:30-6:50 pm via Facebook Live. Grace members will lead Holden Evening Prayer safely from their homes, and you are invited to sing, listen and worship. We invite you to create your own Advent altar or quiet corner where you live. Place four candles on a blue cloth or use an advent wreath, to mark the growing light of each new week. (Hilarious Advent candle tutorial through Covid crafting here.) Music booklets are on their way to your home so you can follow along! This will be held as a Facebook Live – visit Grace’s Facebook page to tune in at 6:30 pm on Wednesdays: Grace University Lutheran Church on Facebook
Daily Advent email devotionals begin December 1. Fling Wide the Door is the theme for our Living Advent Calendar. Grace members open the doors of their homes and welcome us in for a time of sharing, prayer and a musical offering. These devotionals are 5-7 minutes long. (If you wish to receive these but don’t currently receive our daily e-votionals, please email Jill in the office at info@graceattheu.org to be added to the list.)
Each Thursday evening our new Prayer at Nightfall will be available, also on Facebook Live at 8:30-8:50 pm.
FINALLY...on Sunday, December 6 we will have LIVE WORSHIP VIA ZOOM at 10:30 am. Connecting info provided in this Sunday's bulletin, the December newsletter, next week's Letterbox, and the December 4 worship email (we are covering all the bases).
NOTES:
- TANZANIAN PARTNERSHIP: We are a few days into this year's fundraiser for partnering with education in Tanzania. More info in the purple section below, but here's a shortcut for more info and a place to donate: GoFundMe - https://www.gofundme.com/f/kujifunza-pamoja-learning-together?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1
- Our new garden FREE LITTLE PANTRY is being used...if you'd like to contribute by providing items for re-stocking, you can bring these to Grace on Wednesdays (contact Heidi in advance at cyf@graceattheu.org if you plan to come in) - other times may be available. Items that seem to be in demand: granola bars, personal hygiene items, and ready-to-eat items.
- ANOTHER GREAT COVID COOKING RECIPE has been submitted! (See the Covid Cooking info further down...by the Minions:). This one comes from Lisa Linnell - for large-batch dinner rolls: "This is the fastest, easiest dinner roll recipe I know. You can freeze them in the pan before baking or in a bag after they have been baked! Perfect for any meal. Kids make great roll-shapers (Esme is a pro)!" HERE IT IS.
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WORSHIP & FELLOWSHIP - APART TOGETHER
November 29, 2020
First Sunday of Advent
GATHER TOGETHER IN REAL TIME
Live: Stories & Songs is at 9:30 am on Grace's Facebook page, and is about 15-20 minutes. All are invited to tune in! (The video for these gets uploaded to YouTube after the livestream ends.)
WORSHIP WHERE YOU ARE, WHEN YOU WANT TO
Our full worship service will be pre-recorded and hosted on Grace's YouTube channel — all info emailed on Saturday at 5 pm. Also found on our website under "Worship Where You Are" and on Facebook on Sunday at 10:30 am.
We continue our sermon series, They Pastored - They Preached - They Persisted, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women!
COFFEE HOUR
Coffee hour is held via Zoom beginning at 11:30 am Sunday. The link to join is included in the worship email on Saturday and in the bulletin ( www.gracecoffeehour.com).
***Karen Van Norman is coordinating our lesson readers for pre-recorded services. If you are interested in doing this, please reach out to Karen: karenvn@bitstream.net***
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KUJIFUNZA PAMOJA: LEARNING TOGETHER
Our 12th annual fundraiser with our partner/friends in Tanzania
Date: Sunday, November 22—Sunday, December 6
Goal: $2500.00
TO LEARN MORE...Live: Stories & Songs this past Sunday featured Randee sharing about the history of our connection, the various fundraisers we've done over the years, and how this one is working this year - view that video here: LEARNING TOGETHER STORIES & SONGS TIME
Since 2008, Grace has had a partnership with teachers in Kongei, Tanzania, formed initially through Peace Corps volunteers and Grace members Randee and John Edmundson. Each year Grace raises funds to support educational needs there.
The Fundraiser this year is for scholarships for two students, Martha and Francesca.
Sunday School families are choosing goals to fulfill and accepting flat donations or per “instance”: reading, practicing musical instrument/piano, cartwheels, counting to 1 million, learning multiplication tables, baking, blocks walked, etc.
How can the Grace Community participate when we are not together?
—Asante Sana (Thank you)
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GRACE STORIES
Dear members and friends of the Grace Community: As part of the process of seeking new pastoral leadership, I am helping to write the congregational site profile that will be used to describe Grace to potential candidates. We are looking for some of the stories that you believe show the character, experience, sense of mission and faith of this congregation. You can write your story on one page or less and send it to me. Or you can simply contact me to tell me the story, or just to tell me what story you would like to tell. I can collect the information and follow up with the authors and story tellers as needed. Thank You! Here is my contact information:
Daniel Olson, 1064 Cleveland Ave S., St. Paul, MN, 55116.
OLSO1981@UMN.EDU
651-646-0315 (text and voice mail)
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The Fun Committee Presents: COVID Cooking! 
Help us share your pandemic cooking experiences with the Grace community! Please send us stories of your successes and failures, your recipes (favorite, most nourishing, comforting) and ways food is connecting you with family and friends even while you're apart. Photos would be great, too! The fun committee will create a weekly e-distribution so you can be part of the fun!
You can contact us at: fun@graceattheu.org
Helping Others, too: As we share our abundance and fun, we are also mindful of those who do not have enough food for basic nourishment, let alone comfort. Please support the Grace University Lutheran Church food initiative by donating to: Community Emergency Services (CES). You can make a donation directly to Grace and note CES on the check.
You can also support The Racial Justice Network (RJN) by sending a check to Grace with "Good Samaritan Fund RJN" in the memo line. RJN partners with the We Win Institute to help families experiencing food insecurity.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Our website holds the full version of each announcement:
- Book Study: On Living by Kerry Egan
- Prayer at Nightfall - a regular Thursday evening quiet gathering
- Women's Retreats via Zoom - 3 offered this year on Saturday mornings
- National Lutheran Choir Christmas Festival - December 11, free streaming
- Opportunities to Help during This Time - give to Grace's Twin Cities Aid fund (staff and leaders of Grace are discerning where this will be distributed), or Calvary Lutheran and the Racial Justice Network are tending needs in the community
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 CONNECTION SECTION
Here are some ways we will stay connected while physically distant:
GRACE STAFF ARE AVAILABLE
The pastors are available by phone for pastoral care: call the church ( 612-331-8125) and choose the “pastoral care emergency” option (no. 5) and follow prompts to connect directly to Pastor Dan or Pastor Mary. You may also email, pastordan@graceattheu.org or pastormary@graceattheu.org, to share concerns or schedule time to talk. Church voicemail messages are checked regularly.
EMAILS
We will continue to send Wednesday “Letterbox” announcements, “Pastor’s Reflections”, bulletins and worship information (Saturdays by 5 pm), and occasional emails with specialized information as necessary or appropriate. Want to receive them? Contact info@graceattheu.org.
MAIL
Please contact Jill in the office by email or phone if you would appreciate a printed Sunday bulletin mailed to you. (The bulletin will probably not reach you by Sunday if mailed on Friday.)
FACEBOOK
We manage one Facebook page ( Grace University Lutheran Church) for sharing community-wide information from the leadership, and a Facebook group, Grace University Families, for anyone in the group to share information and dialogue…about your worship and activities at home, ideas about how to manage home life, to lift each other up and connect in ways that are mutually beneficial. Visit that page and request to join the group.
WEBSITE
We’ll work on keeping the website current.
GIVING
We appreciate your generosity in continuing to make donations as you normally would. Please mail your contribution or visit our online giving page on the website— http://graceattheu.org/giving-online/
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Here are instructions for getting Grace emails from MailChimp to go to your personal folder in Gmail:
- Click on the down arrow that shows details in the top left corner of the email. It should say: Grace University Lutheran Church on one line and on the 2nd line: to me. The arrow is right next to the 2nd line.
- Click on “Filter messages like these”.
- Type info@graceattheu.org in the “From” line. Delete the line that says: has the words. Click on “Create Filter” in the bottom right hand corner.
- Choose a category: choose “personal”. And then save.
The emails should go into the main folder then!
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