From Senior Pastor Saïd Ailabouni
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
A few days before our congregation’s 123rd anniversary, on April 10, the congregation council met in a retreat to focus on the theme: “Outreach to the Community.” The main question was “How do we grow in our outreach to the community through our four core values: Worship, Education, Caring Ministries, and Service & Outreach?” Furthermore, “What changes will be necessary?” and “What resources are needed?”
We started our time together with a reminder of the first Easter, when Jesus appeared to his disciples on the day of his resurrection and sent them out with a mission, “… As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When [Jesus] had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they
are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:21-23).
We then reflected on the history of our congregation over the last 123 years and challenged ourselves by our past leaders’ commitment to mission. We learned that when we were growing, we were taking many risks to change. Fifty years ago, Pastor Bernard wrote a 4-page reflection on the congregation’s 75th anniversary reminding the congregation of the many decisions that were made to change for the sake of the mission that Jesus gave. One paragraph in that document is worth quoting because it is still true today:
“But no real pronounced growth came within this congregation until it reached out beyond the limits of narrow nationalism. A nationalistic group can easily become a cozy, little, compact group of compatriots that might form a comfortable retreat, but could scarcely ever become a great church. Sensing this, the congregation took several forms of action. Its name was changed from Emmaus to Grace. It moved across the street; built new property and made every effort to show all people that they are welcome, wanted, and needed. So today we are most grateful that our congregation is typically American – made up of all kinds of nationalistic and blood lines, a people coming from all the geographical divisions of America, and people with backgrounds of all kinds of denominations to weld themselves together in that which we know as Grace Lutheran Congregation.” (Pastor George P. Bernard, April 15, 1962)
At the recent retreat, the council shared many wonderful ideas for outreach to the community and made a commitment to focus on at least four goals for implementation in the coming months. As the details are worked out, they will be shared with you by the assigned council members. Please continue to invite your friends, neighbors and relatives to join you in attending Grace with you. Ask them what they like and what we can change to help a first time visitor feel more welcome in our congregation. Let one of us know what you are learning so we can make our congregation as hospitable as we can.
One change that some of you have already commented on, with great appreciation, is the effort to make our building as beautiful and inviting as possible. To continue to do that, however, we will need your help. First, give us your ideas for what can be improved and help us make the dream a reality. A huge “thank you” goes to Jim Granger who quickly took a dream to develop a “Communication Center” and built it into a reality. Check out the area below the TV in the Fellowship Hall. You are going to be amazed! That new information center will be dedicated at the end of each service on Sunday, May 9. It will become the place to go to for information, to sign-up for upcoming events and to drop off requested donations. Members and visitors will find the new location easy to find and a dependable place for information. Soon we will also have the capacity to distribute information in a digital form, rather than having to make a sign of paper or cardboard. Watch for that!
May God continue to bless us with dreams and visions for better ways to reach out to others in mission. In addition, may Easter joy fill your hearts and lives with peace from above.
In Christ,
Pastor Saïd Ailabouni
s.ailabouni@gracelutheran-lg.org
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