This past Sunday, John preached from Matthew 28. In the gospel accounts of the resurrection, the followers of Jesus didn't immediately go from fear and despair straight into undiluted joy. Instead, the first Easter was a far more messy and non-linear experience. You can listen here.
Related to this, in the wisdom of the church calendar, Easter is not a single-day. Instead it is a 7-week season. It takes longer than a single 24-hour celebration to get the reality of the resurrection of Jesus into our bones. Here is a helpful article about how we can make good use of Eastertide.
Daily Prayer
Pray As You Go is a daily prayer APP, designed to go with you wherever you go, and help you develop a rhythm of praying every day. It is not a 'Thought for the Day', a sermon or a bible-study, but rather a 10 to 15 minute guided time of prayer, Scripture contemplation, and invitation to bring your own prayers to the Lord. You can download the app on GooglePlay or the Apple Podcasts.
We will hold in-person worship and livestream this week at 10:15 AM.
No Christian Formation Hour this week. We will resume on May 1st.
Adult Class on Job: On April 3, we saw that when God responded to Job, both God's holiness and fatherliness stays intact. God lovingly enters Job's world, gives him a peek at his power, and gives him a full life and many more days.
In May we’ll have two very special guests join our Job class. The first is Dr. Mark Pfuetze. Dr. Pfuetze is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) with the state of Missouri and has his own private practice. He is also the Director of Counseling for the Global Counseling Network, an online counseling center specifically geared to helping missionaries and churches who do not have access to quality counseling.
As a counselor, Dr. Pfuetze has worked with a wide range of issues and Mark particularly has a heart for those who are dealing with sexual abuse, sexual addiction, trauma, and personal and marital strife and helping them find freedom in their lives through the gospel of God’s grace. He’s gifted to teach and counsel in a number of areas but the one he’ll be focusing on is how our bodies hold trauma and what suffering and trauma do to our brains. He’ll help us identify patterns and give us great tools to name things and give grace to ourselves and others. We are thrilled to have him join our class via zoom. Please join us for Christain Formation hour on May 1.
The second counselor is Jill Harding. She has a heart for those experiencing grief and end-of-life issues and knows that often it is a time of feeling lonely and misunderstood. Jill is also passionate about helping to emotionally equip those affected by racial and community injustice as they fight for public justice in an often hostile context and work together with them to seek freedom and liberation through personal healing. She’ll be leading our final Job class on May 22 touching on a number of topics surrounding grief and healing.
If you missed any of the other Christian Formation Hour classes, you can catch up here.
Grace Kids Volunteers Needed: As more and more families are returning to worship, we need more adult volunteers during the worship service in the Toddler classroom and during our Sermon Time Class. Please contact Linn Haralson at linn@graceseattle.org. Thank you!
Sunday Volunteers Needed: With the return to in-person worship, we need people willing to help with communion, ushering, check-in, reading Scripture, and sound/video crew. Please contact Danielle Taniguchi at danielle@graceseattle.orgto sign up.
Volunteer Scheduling Changes: We will be working on transitioning our volunteer scheduling platform for both Sunday morning and Grace Kids volunteers to Planning Center and discontinuing the use of Elvanto starting this year. There will be more information to follow as the date approaches.
Connect
We have a wide variety of groups: Community Groups, Bible Studies, Growth Groups, Prayer Groups, Men’s Groups, Women’s Groups, and Listening Prayer Groups. To find a group, or if you are interested in starting one, please contact our Director of Community Formation, Jamie Afshari at jamie@graceseattle.org.
Hope for the Journey Conference: Hosted by Trinity Church Seattle FAM (Family Advocacy Ministry), Friday, April 29 (5:00-8:00 PM) and Saturday, April 30 (9:00 AM-3:00 PM). Friday dinner and Saturday lunch will be provided and childcare is available throughout the conference. Additional details and registration can be found here or you can email Linn at linn@graceseattle.org for the registration link. Hope for the Journey began in 2010 with the aim of equipping parents, caregivers, ministry leaders, and care professionals to better serve children impacted by adoption and foster care. It will include five high-level learning modules based on the foundational principles of Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®). *Note: certificates of completion will be available for foster/adoptive families to submit to their respective agencies for continuing education credits.
Women's Retreat, May 6-8: Join at the beautiful Rainbow Lodge for a time in community, creation, and some silent time with Jesus. The schedule will give us time to rest, worship, play games, and spend time with one another. Our theme this year comes from Isaiah 61:3 - the Lord exchanges our ashes, mourning, and despair for beauty, praise, and joy. You can register here. Registration closes on Monday, April 25. Scholarships are available upon request. Please email Joy Hadden at joy.b.hadden@gmail.com.
Meditation/Prayer for Children and Families at Grace (all welcome, you do not have to have children to attend this gathering): All are welcome, you do not have to have children to attend. This is a 20-minute meditation/prayer, on the second Wednesday of each month at 8:00 AM via Zoom - the next meeting will be Wednesday, May 11. We begin with a short time of centering prayer, followed by a brief scripture reading, a time to pray over requests generated from our congregation for our children and families, and we will close with a blessing. If you would like the zoom link, please email Linn at linn@graceseattle.org. Please remain muted for the prayer, you are welcome to have your video on or off. If you would like to have a specific prayer request prayed (can be anonymous), please send it to linn@graceseattle.org.
Belltower Counseling: Katie Ribera visited us recently to share more about her counseling center that runs out of our sister congregation, Trinity Church Seattle. To learn more, please watch this short video here.
Updates to Giving Statements: For 2022, financial giving records will be in Planning Center. More details on how to access your giving for this year will be coming soon. For any questions, please contact Danielle Taniguchi at danielle@graceseattle.org.
Young Adult Group: As a young adult, it can be difficult to find friendships in Seattle. You've probably just moved here, got to or out of college, or you're coming out of your Covid-19-enforced hermitage and finding it difficult to meet people. If you consider yourself a young adult and are interested in growing in the community and breaking bread with others, join us for weekly dinner on Sunday nights in Eastlake. For those living or working downtown, in South Lake Union or the University District, it should be a quick bus ride on the 70. Reach out to Brent Williams at brent.williams333@gmail.com for the specific location, or if you have any questions.
Book Club: Stephanie Pommer leads our book club for Grace. The next book is Tenth of December by George Saunders. To join, email Stephanie at stephanie@graceseattle.org.
GraceLife Distribution List: GraceLife (gracelifeseattle@googlegroups.com) is an email group designed to foster spontaneous generosity and hospitality among anyone and everyone who regularly attends Grace. The distribution list allows anyone who signs up to send out an email to the larger group. It is designed to be used to let others know about a party you’d like to invite others to join, a game night you’d like to host, a request to borrow something, a post to give goods away, a need you’d like to ask for help from the larger group, etc. If you are interested in joining, please email Danielle Taniguchi at danielle@graceseattle.org.
Thursday morning Walking Group: Regardless of the weather, we meet weekly at 10:00 AM. Currently, we are walking around GreenLake Park. If you would like to join and have a different park suggestion let us know, babies in strollers and leashed pets are welcome. Contact Linn Haralson at linn@graceseattle.org if you would like to join us.
Listening Prayer Group Opportunity at The Layne 2021-22 “By beginning with the revealed word of God, Lectio Divina (listening prayer) continues the conversation that God has begun. We first pay attention to his approach to us and focus on our receptivity. Scripture becomes a means for God to feed, heal, and love us. We open ourselves to God’s presence and respond with our hearts.” -Stephen J. Binz – Conversing with God in Scripture
A Listening prayer group is a small group that meets with the intention of building a community around the word of God. During this time together we will listen to God’s word read out loud. We will have an opportunity for individual silence and reflection on the scripture and then conclude our time together, sharing the gifts that God has given in our silence with him. Please join us for listening prayer, led by Shelly Morse, at the Layne on the following dates at 7:00-9:00 PM:
Save the Date - Dance & Farewell Party, Sunday, June 5th: In light of Jason's news about transitioning and moving to New Orleans this summer, we are forgoing the Talent Show, and instead, we are throwing the Davison family a farewell party (with dancing!) on June 5th.
Serve
Progress House and Union Church Mothers' Day gift bags: These will be given on Mothers' Day to women who have been working with Progress House in their work-release and mentoring programs. Motherhood is often complex for people who are coming out of incarceration. Primarily these bags are a way for our congregations to offer encouragement and acknowledgment of the hard work that these folks have done and are continuing to do as they re-engage with their families and the community. Items we would like to collect can be creative, but may include: movie tickets, candles, bath stuff, gift cards for gas/Starbucks, and chocolates/candies. Foxy Davison will be collecting donations on Sunday, April 24th at church. Please contact Jason at jason@graceseattle.org with questions or find Tess Sorbo or Foxy Davison at church.
NEW Breakfast Sandwiches for Unsheltered Teens at New Horizons: New Horizons Ministries has a request of partnership for Grace Church Seattle:
“We are looking for small groups to prepare breakfast sandwiches once a week. Ideally, a group would come in on a Monday or Tuesday morning (9:30 AM – 1:00 PM) for 2- 3 hours. They would prepare 80 – 100 breakfast sandwiches, pack them, and then put them in the freezer and refrigerator. We are looking to start making the breakfast sandwiches in April.”
We are asking groups to provide the eggs, cheese, sausage patties, and English muffins. New Horizons would provide all the spices for groups to use. Volunteers must have their Washington State Food Handler’s Permit, ($10 fee). The Serving the City team is working to also partner with other churches for this effort. If you have any interest or questions, please email Pastor Jason at jason@graceseattle.org.
Little Saigon Monthly Community Clean-Up: In recent months, the Chinatown International District has seen unprecedented crime and poverty--especially in Little Saigon along 12th and Jackson. We have an opportunity to join in an effort to help clean up this area of our city by joining the Little Saigon Creative for their monthly clean-up. You can sign up here. For any further questions, please contact Pastor Jason at jason@graceseattle.org.
New Horizons Youth Shelter has an opportunity for meals to be prepared and delivered once or twice a month for the youth that utilizes their services. Prepared meals would need to feed 40 youth (teenaged to young 20-year-olds) in family-style containers. If you are interested in supporting this opportunity please reach out to Pastor Jason at jason@graceseattle.org.
