Letter from the Council President

Dear Members of Grace, As president of the church council, I have been working closely with Pastor Megan for over one year. This letter to all of you contains my personal opinions and thoughts. I finally have my own analogy of what Megan is like. I am sure all of you have at one time or another seen a stage/circus act that involves a person using thin wooden rods on top of each they begin spinning pottery plates. The object is to get as many plates spinning at the same time by going between each of them and giving them each constant attention so they all keep spinning!  Our pastor is an expert on doing this only she uses a variety of projects instead of plates! In my personal opinion for many years we, as a congregation, were so complacent about our lack of leadership and saw people leave, the building get into disrepair, our finances in shambles, and knew we would have to soon close our building. Finally, with God's help, we finally woke up, sold the parsonage, worked with the Synod and got a young, vibrant, enthusiastic, charismatic leader for our church. What are some of the things that Megan has done for Grace during this year! I am sure you will all agree that our Sunday worship has sermons are always interesting, informative and based on the teaching of Jesus. I am inviting all of you to take a tour on Sunday of the building and have a good look at the variety of changes that have taken place. Without a lot of expense, our members who need auditory help can now hear the service because of the ear phones that she has set up. The sanctuary is much more bright and interesting because of the collages on one wall and the additions to other parts of the room. Most recently Brotherhood Hall has been painted. The estimate in 2012 to do that by our contractor was $6,000. Another estimate was $3,000. Megan did it for the cost of the paint. Our chairs (which really looked awful) have had the seats recovered. . Pastor has done them while waiting for appointments to come. The office used by the Korean pastor Megan has redone and become a new office for our congregation. The old office isn't finished yet but it will be a meeting room. The original cross that Dave Dale wanted re-hung has been repainted and re-hung by Pastor Megan and Laurel. Mosaics line one wall.  We have had two floods and now have a sump pump that Megan installed. Megan knows all the children, staff, and parents of Grace Infant Care Center and they all love her. I could go on and on further but think that you get the picture. Other "plates in the air" involve all of the different ways that she is trying to get people aware and coming into Grace for one reason or the other.   Our Sunday Service is "live streamed" every week and as well as the Bible Study. This Saturday, for one example, an invitation went to all the Lutheran churches to do a "Children's Clothing and Toy Swap." We have had a bouncy house on the street for the neighbors to enjoy, special musical services through the Beetles Mass, food drives, free glasses, fund raising dinners, auctions and all our gardening etc. etc. etc. all to get our church's name out there. Again, I could go on and on. Megan brought into our bank account thousands of dollars because of the need for her expertise and services that SFCARES and Welcome couldn't do without after she left them to become our minister. Look at your budget sheets that were given out at the Annual Meeting. Over $33,000 will come in from just those two groups. This doesn't include other grants and donations that will probably be sent to us. I want to publicly thank Pastor Megan and Laurel for all they have done at Grace in the past year. God sent us the right people at the needed time for the growth and continuance of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church. God Bless Us All, Sally Ann Ryan Council President