All Church Retreat: Deadline August 1

Have you signed up for the All Church Retreat? If not, sign up today! The deadline for sign-ups is August 1, 2017.

Who should attend? The Grace Community – any and all ages – Children and youth must attend with an adult. When is it? September 9-10, 2017. The retreat begins with lunch on Saturday and ends with lunch on Sunday.

Where is it? Camp Horizon near Arkansas City, KS Cost? Price range is from$15 a person (Saturday only) to $65 a person for lodging and meals, with several options between.

What’s the housing like? It varies. There are a few hotel style rooms, bigger rooms with bunk beds, or you may camp. You are also welcome to find a hotel in Arkansas City and commute.

What’s the theme? The retreat theme is “Stop, Seek, Serve,” and together we’ll encounter God through worship, play, scripture, and more.

Registration: Forms are available on the bulletin board across from the coffee bar.

Questions: Contact the planning team, Chris Alexander, Fred Heismeyer, Lib Hooper, Ben Rivers, David Shaw, and Blake Ullmann, or Catherine Neelly Burton, Catherine@mygpc.org.

From the Pastor's Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk – July 2017

Dear Grace Community,

Before getting married at Grace, every couple is required to go through pre-marital counseling.  When I lead couples through this I always say at the start, “This isn’t counseling or an advice giving session.  It’s an opportunity to open up areas of conversation.”

There are some things couples haven’t thought about discussing, and other things they avoid discussing.  I name those things and invite them into conversation. Usually one person is more interested in the process than the other, but almost 100% of the time, both people end up engaged in the activities and glad for the intentional time.

We do this for couples getting married, and it turns out that couples married 5 years, 25 years, or even 55 years could use some guided conversation too.  Marriage is organic, and people and marriages change over time. It’s helpful for couples to sit down and take a 360 degree look at their relationship.

At my request the session unanimously approved offering something like this to the congregation.  It’s called Prepare/Enrich.  It’s an assessment and process with variations for couples ‘preparing’ for marriage or for couples looking to ‘enrich’ marriages that are beyond the wedding day.

I think of it as a ‘marriage check-up.’  In the same way that one goes to a yearly physical or takes a car in for a tune-up, a marriage check-up can be beneficial to any couple.

There are three trained Prepare/Enrich facilitators in our congregation: the Rev Jennifer Snook, Dr. Joyce Crane, and Alan Crane.  If you are interested in this process you will contact one of them.  They will set you and your spouse up with an online inventory that you’ll take individually.  Then you three will set up a time to go through the assessment for about an hour.  The cost for this is $200.  If cost is prohibitive please talk with me.

This is not marriage counseling.  It could lead to counseling, and I or one of these three people can refer you to a counselor.  This is different.  It’s an opportunity to take note of strengths and growth areas in your marriage.

John and I went through Prepare/Enrich as part of our pre-marital counseling and found it to be a good spring board for conversation. I still refer to elements of it today.  If you have questions about this process or offering please let me know.

In Christ,

Catherine

Marriage Enrichment

prepare-enrich

“Marriage is beautiful and complex: it is fluid and changes with time.” – Prepare Enrich

In our church we value and honor marriage. Many Grace members are married. Some of these marriages are strong, others struggle, and all need attention. There are a variety of resources for strengthening marriages, and now Grace is making one readily available.

The resource is called Prepare/Enrich. It’s used for couples preparing for marriage and for married couples looking to enrich their relationships. Prepare/Enrich is an assessment designed to help couples explore and strengthen their relationships. Couples take an assessment individually online. Then they sit down with a trained facilitator for one hour to go over the assessment.

The facilitator guides the couple in discovering areas of strength and challenge in their relationships. For many couples this opens up communication in healthy and positive ways. The facilitator is not a marriage counselor. If after Prepare/Enrich a couple wants to pursue counseling, the facilitator or Catherine Neelly Burton can recommend counselors.

We have three trained Prepare/Enrich facilitators in our congregation, the Rev. Jennifer Snook, Dr. Joyce Crane, and Alan Crane. Anyone interested in going through this process may contact one of them or Catherine Neelly Burton. The cost is $200.  If cost is prohibitive, please speak with Catherine, 684-5215.

 

Morning Worship

Bus Tickets and Morning Worship: July 14

 

Each month Grace distributes bus tickets to people in our community.  This happens on the 15th of the month, or if the 15th is a weekend we meet the Friday before.  Volunteers and those receiving tickets begin to gather around 6:30 am in the Grace Alcove. Guests are greeted with smiles, coffee, water, and a place to sit. Tickets are distributed at 7:50 am.

We invite all guests to a brief worship service with communion in the Great Room at 7:35 am.

We can always use volunteers to help with set-up, clean-up, and ticket distribution.  Want to help?  Contact Kirk Anderson, kirk@mygpc.org or 684-5215.

bible

Sunday Morning Preaching Schedule – July 2017

July 2   

This is a one service Sunday with worship at 10 am in the sanctuary.  Scott Randle preaches and guides us as we explore scripture from Acts one final week.

We celebrate the Lord’s Supper and commission our youth mission trip participants as they prepare for a trip to Chicago.

July 9   

We welcome Geoff Snook back to the pulpit this Sunday.  Geoff preaches at both the 9 and 11 services.

July 16

For two weeks we look at sibling sets in the Bible in a short series called, “Family Feud.”  This week we look at Genesis 25:19-34.  In this story we meet Jacob and Esau. Catherine Neelly Burton preaches.

July 23 

This is the second part of our “Family Feud” series.  We look at Luke 10:38-42 and meet Mary and Martha.

July 30 

Our Mission Trip Team leads this one service Sunday at 10 am in the Great Room.