From the Pastor's Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk on August 13

“How are things going with the Laundry Project, Catherine?”

That’s a question I get from time to time. People aren’t wondering about my home laundry (which is fine), but instead they’re wondering about Laundry Love.

What is Laundry Love?

Last fall the presbytery was offering “evangelism grants.” A church could submit a proposal for an evangelism project and might be granted some money. Our evangelism team talked, and most of our ideas had to do with getting people to Grace. This is not a bad thing at all, but we started to wonder what evangelism in the community might look like. What would it look for us to share the love of Jesus with the community? That’s when we landed on Laundry Love.

Laundry Love is a national grass roots effort. The idea is that a group (maybe a church) takes over a laundromat the same time each month and pays for everyone’s laundry. Laundry Love was born from a conversation with a man who noted that if he had clean clothes people might treat him like a human.

Our evangelism team saw this as an opportunity to offer a blessing to the community, as a chance to help make life a little bit easier for some people, and as a way for us to enact the love we know in Jesus. We applied for and received a grant to fund Laundry Love for one year.

We identified a laundromat that would have us, College Town Laundry on 17th St by Wichita State, and we began in March. We are there each month on the second Sunday from 3-5:30 pm. The first month no one expected us, and it was fun to surprise people and offer to pay for their laundry. The next month was more of the same, and we brought snacks, and a board game to play with the children there. The slow easy rhythm continued until June. In June, things got wild.

In June the word was out, and the place was packed when we arrived. People had claimed machines, and we had no idea where to begin helping people and taking names. It was hot and humid, and not everyone was cheerful. On that day I had to acknowledge the shadow-side of my motivation for this project.

You see, I’d put on a good face about how we were doing this to offer a blessing, how we were doing this to share Jesus’ love, and all of that was true, but deep down I was hoping for some good publicity for our church and an infusion of new members who thought this was a great thing.

That’s the shadow-side, the side I don’t like to talk about. We all have one, and the shadow-side made it harder for me to show Christ’s love that day. Instead I found myself grumpy with the man who claimed too many machines and grumpy with the woman who was impatient about waiting for a dryer. I had to be honest that I was in this as much for myself as I was for those we were serving, and that was painful to acknowledge.

As we prepared for July’s Laundry Love, it was evident that we needed a better plan to deal with high numbers. There are about 20 people who’ve helped with Laundry Love, and some of us got together and came up with a strategy.

We came up with a basic sign-in plan that actually worked, and while the numbers were again high, we were better equipped to serve. Not only that, but I went in with a different approach. I went into July’s Laundry Love aware of my shadow-side, and because of that, I was intentional about the way I treated people -with kindness, and with the love of Christ. I still have plenty of room to grow, and I’m grateful for the chance to serve in this ministry with you.

In Christ,

Catherine

Laundry Love - College Town Laundry

Same Sex Marriage Conversation

Dear Grace Community,

Last spring the Grace Session invited you to participate in listening sessions regarding same-sex marriage. People were able to share feelings, and Session members heard a wide range of views. These were not debates but time to talk and listen.

Same-sex marriage is now permitted, though not required, in the Presbyterian Church USA, the denomination Grace is part of. Since the Supreme Court ruling this summer, same-sex marriage is now legal in all 50 states. The Grace session has discussed how else we might engage the congregation before making a decision about whether or not Grace will allow same-sex marriages.

As your pastor it is clear to me that we will not be of one mind on this issue. There are far too many opinions and convictions in this congregation. Instead, my hope is that we can remain a unified church no matter what we decide.

With that as my hope and with the Session’s encouragement I reached out to two men this spring and summer. These two men lead organizations with differing viewpoints and yet have found a way to work together. They are Paul Detterman from the Fellowship of Presbyterians and Brian Ellison from the Covenant Network of Presbyterians. The Fellowship is opposed to same-sex marriage while the Covenant Network is in favor of it.

Last year as presbyteries debated this issue Paul and Brian spoke together before many of those meetings, not debating one another, but both speaking honestly about their opinions and their convictions about same-sex marriage and the importance of church unity.

Our Session invited Paul and Brian to Grace, and we host them on Tuesday evening September 29. We’ll have a casual dinner from 5:45-6:15 pm for $7, and the program is from 6:30-8 pm in the Great Room. Both men will speak, and there will be plenty of time for questions and answers. Please make plans to attend.

I know that many of you know how you feel and will not change your minds on this issue. That is fine, but it’s important that we know how to be a church with people we disagree with.

In preparation for their visit we are offering a book study in the weeks leading up to September 29. We will read two books, one recommended by Paul and the other by Brian. The books are Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill and The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage by Mark Achtemeier.

The study group meets Sundays August 23 and 30, September 13, 20, and 27 from 2-3:30 pm in the Grace Parlor. Copies of the books are available at Grace for $22 total, or you may purchase them on your own. Please reach out to me or anyone on the Session if you’d like to talk about any of this.

In Christ,

Catherine

Race with Grace

Race with Grace: September 7

The Race with Grace run/walk team will participate in the KidzCope Good Grief 5k on Labor Day, Monday, September 7. The race begins at 9 am.

Register be sure to sign up for the Race with Grace team.

[button url=”http://kidzcope5k.org/” target=”” size=”small” style=”orange” icon=”” popup=”” title=””]Register Here[/button]

You may also pick up a registration form at Grace starting August 9. Athletes of all abilities are welcome!

 

Yellow Bag Sundays

Yellow Bag Sundays: August

Each month on the first Sunday you’re encouraged to take home a re-usable yellow grocery bag, put some non-perishable items in it, and bring it back the next week, or soon thereafter. This month our contributions will go to the Youthville School Supply Drive, with the school supplies going to local children in foster care. Consider donating one or several of these items:

Binders, Dividers, Folders, Notebooks, Loose leaf paper, Rulers, Scissors, Glue, Hand Sanitizer, Calculators, Pens, Pencils, Erasers, Kleenex, and Sanitizing Wipes