Dear Grace Family,
May the Lord open our hearts and ears to be receptive to the call of God on each of our lives. May he shape us to be a congregation that invests in and learns from our youth who are likewise called by God to serve Christ in the world. Listen to Pastor Jason remind us of the call of God from 1 Samuel 3 here.
Morning & Evening Prayer is one helpful way to make the rich spiritual disciplines of prayer and reading Scripture a more regular part of our lives. For a brief description of these practices, go here.
- New ministry year begins Sunday, October 3
- Who are we? We will be introducing the congregation to our updated Vision, Mission, & Values (and a completely new website).
- Get connected. In addition to participating in regular worship, we are encouraging everyone to participate in one of our Connect Groups,
which now include the all new Growth Groups.
- Christian Formation Hour (like Sunday school, but cooler). New learning opportunities for adults, children, and youth. Follow the links for a quick overview or a more in-depth description.
- Sundays at Grace
- We will hold in-person worship and livestream this week at 10:30 AM. Nursery age 6 months to 36 months is open this upcoming week with a limit of 6 children. Registration required for nursery.
- Grace Kids Registration/Survey: If you have an infant through 5th grader, please fill out this Grace Kids Registration/Survey as we prepare for the ministry year.
- Church wide party: Sunday, September 26 after the worship service to celebrate the beginning of the ministry year. Amy's Merkato Eritrean & Ethiopian Restaurant is catering lunch for us. You can find the menu here. We welcome back Jess and Danielle to our staff, meet some of our Grace Kids Teachers for the year, and welcome back and say goodbye to some members of the Pastoral Care Team returning from or moving toward sabbatical.
- 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 crew.
Please contact Danielle at danielle@graceseattle.org to sign up!
- Connect
- NEW Youth Central/Alpha: Grace is partnering with Central Community Church, Icon Church and St. Joseph Church. Our last summer gathering is this Thursday, September 16, 6PM. Beginning October 4, 6-7:45 PM, a 10 week class for 6-12th graders called Alpha begins! Alpha is an evangelistic course with the aim of unfolding the basics of the Gospel and Christian theology. Through small group discussion and prayer, this version of Alpha will serve to sharpen the understanding and zeal of our young people at Grace.
Please email Pastor Jason at jason@graceseattle.org with questions.
- Community and Connect Group Leaders Training! If you are a connect/small group leader, host of a group, or are a member and considering becoming a leader or host, please mark your calendar for a weekend training-palooza October 1-2 (Friday night start 6PM, Saturday morning start 8:30 AM. Meals provided along with important training topics on how to lead and host groups. We will meet at Epiphany Parish Church in Madrona: 1805 38th Avenue.
Please RSVP with Jamie at jamie@graceseattle.org.
- NEW Listening Prayer:
“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 monthly with the intention of building 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.
- If you’d like to join a listening prayer group, please contact Shelly Morse at shelly@graceseattle.org by September 26th. Group Listening Prayer will begin in October.
- 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 at danielle@graceseattle.org.
- Women at Grace: Join a new Women's Bible Study starting October 5! Miriam Decker will lead people through Galatians and Ephesians every other Tuesday from 7-8:30 PM. For the time being, it will meet on Zoom. Please email miriammdecker@hotmail.com to register and receive the question guide or for any questions about the study! Hope to see you there!
- Seward Park Walking Group - Starting October 14, every Thursday, regardless of weather, meet by the bathrooms at 10AM (babies in strollers and leashed pets welcome.) Contact Linn at linn@graceseattle.org if you would like to join
- YCG Annual Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze Trip! Teens and chaperoning adults are welcome to join the YCG Team as we resume our annual trek up to Bob's Corn and Pumpkin Farm.
- When: Saturday, October 30th
- Time: 10am-3pm
- Meetup: SDA church parking lot.
- Event Location: Bob's Corn and Pumpkin Farm
- Price: $20 for activities and corn maze. Additional money needed for food. Your teen does not have to pay the admission fee to enter the farm; however, they would not be able to join us in the corn maze. If the maze fee is cost-prohibitive, please let us know and we can make arrangements.
- Serving the City
- Meal Delivery: We partner with local businesses by purchasing meals and delivering them to local shelters. We'll do this regularly this fall. Sign up to go to a business, pick up a meal, and deliver it to a shelter here.
- New Horizons Youth Shelter has an opportunity for meals to be prepared and delivered once or twice a month for the youth that utilize their services. Prepared meals would need to feed 40 youth (teenaged to young 20's) in family style containers. If you are interested in supporting this opportunity please reach out to jason@graceseattle.org.
Blessings to you,
Grace Office
Weekly Calendar at a Glance
Tues 9/21, Betrayal Trauma Support Group - 6:30 PM
Wed 9/22, Recovery From Sexual Compulsivity Discussion Group - 7 PM
Fri 9/24, Friday Moms Group - 9 AM
Sun 9/26, Church Wide Party - 12 PM
