Grace Lutheran Church

Mission:

We try to create an environment where our congregation can accomplish Grace’s vision, "To Experience and Share the Story of Jesus Christ". Our committee focuses on ways to enhance the worship experience at Grace through planning services and celebrations with exceptional spiritual content and music.

Members:

Pastor Dan Dibbert, Judy Brandt, Bev Nottestad, Judy Heidebrecht and Linda McCormick.

Meeting Time:

We have been meeting at 11:15 a.m. on Sundays after the worship service and choir practice one time per month, in the Fellowship Hall. Everyone is welcome to join our meetings and /or join our team.

2010 Year in Review:

The Worship Committee has completed another busy and exciting year at Grace. It was our first full year working with Pastor Dibbert. We are blessed to have his creativity, ideas, experience and guidance. We try to spend time as a committee both looking forward and planning for the upcoming seasons, as well as looking back to analyze how past services worked. We believe it is important to keep worship services deeply rooted in the Word of God, while at the same time keeping the services fresh and interesting, so we do change things up a bit. How did we do? We welcome your feedback.

Please do not hesitate to come to any of us with your thoughts of how we can improve the worship experience at Grace. We also are looking for new members, so consider this your invitation!

The following is a brief overview of 2010's services, celebrations, and events:

We discussed the mid-week service at our first meeting of 2010, and changed the service to Wednesday’s at 5:45 p.m., beginning 1/6/10, during Advent.
A 7:00 Ash Wednesday Service, with the observation of the imposition of ashes, began our mid-week Lenten observances. The regular mid-week service was discontinued until after Easter.
Lent was observed during mid-week services on five Wednesday nights. A light supper was served at 5:30 p.m., with services being held at 6:15 p.m.
Palm Sunday Worship Service, complete with a donkey!
A 7:00 p.m. Maunday Thursday Service.
An ecumenical Crosswalk at 11:30 a.m. Good Friday, led by area pastors.
A 7:00 p.m. Good Friday evening Tennebrae Service.
Easter Sunday was celebrated with a 6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service and 9:00 a.m. Easter Festival Service, complete with special music, bells and brass ensemble. Breakfast was served between the services by the Grace youth.
The Mother’s Day Service was once again lead by our youth, who participated in the readings and prayers; the Sunday school students sang, shared recitations, and handed out flowers after the service.
We started a Baccalaureate Sunday this year, which was held on 5/23/10, 2 weeks before graduation was held. A planning committee collected photos of the graduates and they were presented in a Power Point slide show in front of the Sanctuary at the beginning of the service. The graduates were recognized, took part in special readings, and presented lilies to their loved ones and mentors in the congregation during special music. Bibles were presented to the graduates.
The Father’s Day Service recognized the men in our congregation, who were treated to gift certificates from the Chamber of Commerce.
The Summer Picnic and Outdoor Worship Service were held on August 1 at 10:00 a.m., with the potluck lunch following the service. We had an outdoor baptism this year, the first in some time.
Rally Day was held to kick off the resumption of Sunday School.
Octogenarian Sunday was held on October 17, with potted plants presented to all our octogenarian members, and a special coffee hour following the service.
At the All Saints’ Sunday service, members were encouraged to light a candle in memory of a loved one.
Captive Free Musical Team led the music worship for December 5.
An advent Festival was held on December 5 following the service. The tree was decorated and a Chili Cook-Off was held in conjunction with that.
The Children’s Christmas Program was held on December 19. It was postponed one week due to a snowstorm which cancelled all Sunday services on December 12. The theme was "Thanks Be to God for His Indescribable Gift".
Christmas Services - on Christmas Eve a Festival Service was held at 5:00 p.m. which included special vocal music and percussion; a candlelight Service was held at 10:00 p.m; and on Christmas Day, service was held at 10:00 a.m.
On the Sunday following Christmas, we held a "Christmas Carol Service" led by Judy Brandt, where the history of many beloved Christmas carols were explored, and then sung. This was also a "Cookie Service", where congregants brought in some of their favorite cookies to share, with coffee being served both before and after the service.

The music programs at Grace have been excellent. We are indebted to our outstanding music staff! Judy Brandt serves as Music Director, as well as directing the Sanctuary Choir and Joyful Voices Children’s Choir; Ann Engelstad serves as Hand-bell Choir Director; and Amy Simdon serves as Sunday School Choir Director. We thank them for their hard work and dedication.