Church Calendar of events
Volunteer Schedule 2005

Those of us who spend a major portion of life in church keep track of time by the sequence
of the liturgical or church year as well as by the calendar year. The calendar year begins on
January I, the church year begins with Advent at the end of November or the beginning of December. One is stable, the other - never.
       This year, Lent has arrived about as early as it can. That means not much of Ordinary Time \
fell between the frenzy of celebrating Christmas and the intensity of marking our Lord's journey
to the cross.
The reason of course, is that the date of Easter is not fixed but determined on the basis of
an ancient formula. In 325, the Council of Nicea stated that Easter shall be celebrated on the first
Sunday that occurs after the full moon that appears on or after the vernal equinox (March 21).
The Easter celebrations are over. The Cantatas, passion plays and spectacles have begun
to fade into memory. Life is getting reorganized again with Jesus taking His old dependable place in the background of our lives. Slipping in and out of the shadows. Discreetly not intruding upon or getting on with being good folks.
Many people in Western societies have more "free time" than ever, yet they feel "pressed
for time." But better time management isn't the solution, according to Robert Sherman. Rather,
we need to order our "lives in such a way that the Lords' time (becomes) sovereign," which could
"become the means by which a gracious God liberates us from the tyranny of seemingly implacable and ultimately pointless time."
For biblical faith, it is the Sabbath, a gift and blessing from God, which gives true meaning
and direction for the other days of our lives. But our allegiance isn't to Sabbath, but to the God
who gave us this day of rest that orients all our days.
While the Sabbath is first of all a gift, it is also a command, a form of discipleship that
trains us in the "life-giving communion of divine worship, in joyous communion with family and
neighbors, and in restful and appreciative communion in God's good creation."
See you in church,
Doug
 

Clerk's Corner
Jennifer MacAskill, Clerk of Session
The session met on March 22,2005. We opened the meeting by talking about our Easter memories
Some highlights from the rest of the meeting include approving the use of the church by Kathy
Rosendahl for her piano recital on May 22nd; approving Candi's vacation April 3rd to the 9th;
the team members have been busy as usual; the next Presbytery meeting is May 17th; fundraising
purchased a new faucet and cupboard for the kitchen; approving the M&S committee recommendation
of spending the Permanent Mission Fund money on Mission projects (the actual projects are yet to be decided);
and Easter breakfast plans were finalized. As usual, it has been another busy month at Grace!
 

Did You Know?
Winter Quarter attendance numbers for Sunday School, December 5 - February 27, 2005 was the following:
     The average in Sunday School each Sunday (ages 0-adult) was 31.  That is 69% of our potential of 45.
 

Let's Go Fly A Kite!!!
     When we think of April, we think of early spring flowers appearing and flying kites!  On Sunday, April 17 (rain date is May 1), we will have a kite-making and flying time after church.  First, at noon people participating in this activity will eat sandwiches provided by C.E. at church.  Next we will build the kites.  We are looking for inexpensive kits so that building our kites doesn't take more than an hour.  Each child must have a parent or another adult to assist them in building their kite.  Finally about 1:00 p.m. we will bring our kites to Lake Park to fly.  Oh, what a feeling to be holding onto the string of a kite soaring high in the air!!  This will be a great way for our church family of all ages to welcome spring!  Please plan to join us for some great fun!
 

Vacation Bible School
     VBS for ages 4 - grade 5 will be held on Sunday, June 5 through Thursday, June 9 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.  This year's theme is Serengeti Trek where kids are wild about God.  They will have fun learning in a jungle-like atmosphere of singing, craft projects, Bible stories, chatter chipmunk adventures, games, snacks, and more!!  Invite friends to join us and be sure to sign up on a list in the fellowship hall.  (The list will be posted in early May for sign-up).
 

Needed VBS Supplies
     We need the following items to make a jungle-like atmosphere for VBS.  If you have any of these, please notify Kathy Rosendahl at 687-4601.
     dried grasses
     camouflage tarp or camouflage tent
     jungle-like stuffed animals such as elephants, zebras,
     lions, giraffes, colorful birds, rhinoceros, (the bigger, the
     better!)

The St. Pat's Swim was held on March 20, 2005, at the Holiday Inn.  Ten kids and 8 adults attended.  The non-swimmers played a rousing game of "Apples to Apples" and the swimmers swam hard.  We thank Mike Rivers for donating the use of the pool and a room for us to hold our "pot luck" snacks.  A good time was had by all.

swim party 3/20/2005
 

PW BIRTHDAY OFFERING
The PW Birthday Offering information and envelopes will be handed out on Sunday April 10 and
should be returned on April 17. The groups to receive financial help from PW are chosen before the
offering is received. Those chosen for this year are:
Christ Kitchen Commercial Kitchen Project, Spokane, Washington. They will purchase commercial
kitchen equipment, hire a full-time catering manager and renovate a workspace to provide employment
Job training, Bible study, discipleship, support and fellowship for homeless women.
Ferncliff Regional Center for Disaster Assistance, Little Rock, Arkansas. They will construct a regional
depot to assemble and distribute "Gift of the Heart" kits for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Church
World Service.
Hearts of Students Educational Project, Fortaieza, Ceara, Brazil. They will fund construction or
renovation of classrooms, a computer room, a library, bedrooms and a science laboratory, and provide teaching
equipment and a vehicle to transport students and teachers.
Bridge of Hope Fair Trade Project, Lima, Peru. They  will  create profitable,  sustainable
microbusinesses by improving the quality of the products without distorting cultural traditions and
providing access to national and international markets.
Please consider these projects and give as you are able.

Circle I will meet and celebrate Mary L's birthday at Mary Lowery's home. County Rd 17 on April 15th
at 7 pm. Meet at Ellie's to car pool.

Circle II  will meet April 13 for lunch at Perkins, at 12:30 p.m.  If you need a ride, call Elayne or Dorothy..

Circle III will meet at the church the week of April 11th at 9 a.m Date TBA. Leona Thiele will be hostess;
Thelma Wieserr will give Lesson #3 from The Face is Familiar; Mary Rennells will have devotions.

HOME DELIVERED MEALS
You can still volunteer to deliver meals during the month of April. We will deliver 6-7 meals in the
Goodview and Prairie Island area. If you can deliver one day a week for the month - or any number of day'
that are convenient for you - please contact Dorothy Gilbertson. We start on April! This is a wonderful
ODDortunitv to help others. Give it a try! Thanks.

Fundraising Committee
Chow Main Dinner
The Fundraising Committee would like to thank all of you who purchased tickets, donated food or
-gave of your time for the Chow Mein Dinner, All of your support helped to make the dinner a
complete successi From the proceeds, we will be placing $1600 into the Capital Projects Fund to
help replenish monies used for the roof repair last summer.

FELLOWSHIP & EVANGELISM

Save the date. May 15th!! The F&E Committee is planning something special for
the 11-:45 worship service. A potluck-dinner will follow. We invite everyone to come to
Invitation Sunday and bring a friend.

Concerns
Several members of Grace Church are experiencing
health problems. They are Emily Krumm, Elsie
Ring, June Connolley, Cheryl Connolley, Betty
Hensel, and Ellen Mrkvicka. Please keep them in your prayers

JOYS
Kiyomi Furukawa, our Japanese friend,
was recognized by Project COMPASS for her
many hours of volunteering. Congratulations!
Keep up the good work.
 

Souper Bowl of Caring-2005

Just a note to let you know how the National Souper Bowl of Caring is doing so far. As of
March 20 they had received $3,822,829 from 10,772 organizations. Our contributions are a part
of this great total. Thank you.

Presbyterian Women
Saturday, April 2nd from 11:00 until 1:00 p.m. we'll be gathering for our Annual
Salad Luncheon. Tickets are $7.00 and are available at the door. Tell your
friends.
Sign up sheets are on the bulletin board for salads and workers. Proceeds from
this fund raiser will be used to pay for the new cupboards in the kitchen.

Thursday, April 28th the Presbyterian Women will be serving ice cream and
cake to the residents at Lake Winona Manor at 2:00 p.m. We will need 5  (9 x 13) cakes.
A sign up sheet will be posted for cakes and workers right after Easter.

The Presbyterian Women's Annual Spring Gatherering (formerly the Mother/
Daughter luncheon) will be held at noon on Saturday, May 7th. A short program
will follow the luncheon. More information will be in the May Newsletter.
Mark your calendars for these very special events.

Presbyterian Mission
Thanks to all who helped get the PW requested mission requests together. We will be sending
5 boxes of baby gowns, sheets, quilts, sweaters, personal kits and several other needed items to
Port St. Vincent, Madison, Wl., a shelter for men and Rescue Mission, Dubuque, IA which
helps all persons with their needs. The hospital items will be distributed to 5 hospitals in Africa.

This is a Presbyterian Mission that requires more than just money and we appreciate
your dedication to getting it done.

BOO (Book of Order)
Every month a topic of concern to our church will be addressed in
this column.  The topics will come from questions you may have
about the church, the session, or what goes on in church.
The question/topic this month is:
Forms of Government
Christ's Faithful Evangelists G-3-0300
The Church is called to be Christ's faithful evangelist
(1) going into the world, making disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all he has commanded.
(2) demonstrating by the love of its members for
one another and by the quality of its common
life the new reality in Christ; sharing in worship,
fellowship, and nurture, practicing a deepened
life of prayer and service under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit;
(3) participating in God's activity in the world
through its life for others by
(a) healing and reconciling and binding up
wounds,
(b) ministering to the needs of the poor, the sick,
the lonely, and the powerless
(c) engaging in the struggle to free people from
sin, fear, oppression, hunger and injustice,
(d) giving itself and its substance to the service
of those who suffer, sharing with Christ in