Grace Lutheran Church · 2041 Madison Street · Clarksville, TN · 37043 · 931·647·6750

Sharing God’s Work Here!

JUNE 2020 EDITION

YOU are Invited. . . . . . p. 1-2

WE are Supporting. . . . . . p. 3

What’s NEW. . . . . . . . . p. 5

From the STAFF. . . . . . . p. 6

From Your LEADERS. . . . . p. 7

Can YOU Serve? . . . . . . . p. 8

HAVE You Heard . . . . . . .p . 9

It’s PERSONAL. . . . . . . .p. 10

CONTACT us. . . . . . . . .p. 10

CONFESSING THE TRINITY + Our reunion Sunday. . .

We missed the full liturgical observance of Holy Week. We missed the big Eastercelebration, the trumpets, and the Hallelujah Chorus. We missed them and we cannotget them back. But we are still here. Some 150 services and sacramental visits later, wehave kept the doors open while waiting for the day when we might rejoice together atthe goodness of the Lord. That Sunday has come. June 7 we will gather to observe theHoly Trinity – the core confession of our faith – with choir and trumpets. No, it willnot be quite the same. Physical distance and sanitizers and such will be with us for along time to come but we will not be kept from God’s House any longer.

Join us for the regular schedule of Divine Services at 8:15 & 10:45 am and for the Sunday school hour starting about9:40 am. By God’s grace and your faithfulness, we have made it through the worst and now it is time to put thingsback together again. It will not be quick or easy but it will happen. We are thankful for the diligence of the Pastors,our Cantor, Amy Peters (Altar Guild Coordinator), and for your prayerful and financial support. Without these, wewould not yet be in a position to start things up again. Thanks be to God!!!

VIDEO, VBS, VACATIONS, VOTERS, & SUCH. . .

We will continue to post video though these will be limited to special music and sermons. At this point, we will not post the entire service. The VBS that was scheduled for June willeither be rescheduled to the end of July or will be cancelled this year. Vacations willobviously be affected by the lingering effects of the pandemic so we hope to see more of youmore often! At this point, we expect to begin Yard Sale planning but will not yet be ready toreceive items until later this summer. We have a very important Voters Meeting on Sunday,June 28, at 12:15 pm (including elections for thoseofficers whose term ends). So far the nominees are: President: Shawn Barnett; Secretary: Jessica Grady;

Christian Growth: Brian DeSantis; Worship: Rachel Crook & Jessica Grady;Elders: Chmn Nick Shasserre; Elders (3): Marc Brunner, Nate Duessler, RobNebel. Remember that nominations may be made from the floor (if the nomineeis present or has given written consent to be nominated). See you there!!!

JULY MINISTRY CELEBRATION. . . July 12!

This year Pastor Peters will celebrate his 40th Anniversary of

Ordination and Pastor Ulrich his 5th Anniversary. With all

that has happened a larger celebration cannot be planned butwe will observe these anniversaries on Sunday, July 12, with areception between services. We hope you will join us ingiving thanks to God for our Pastors!

Pastor Peters was ordained July 6, 1980, at GolgothaLutheran in Wausa, NE, and Pastor Ulrich was ordained hereJuly 12, 2015. May the Lord continue to bless their ministry!

MENS CLUB. . . meeting for food and fellowship. . .

The Men's Club met but did not decide what their plans will be coming up. The Men’s Club normally meets the 3rd

Monday of the month for our regular meeting, at 6 pm. All men 18 years and older are invited to join us – generallyto enjoy a meal and good social activity Luther-Style. Contact David Thomack 931-358-0991 for more info. Join usfor the fun, fellowship, and food at Men’s Club!

LUTHERAN WOMEN’S MISSIONARY LEAGUE - Lutheran Women in Mission. . .

LWML (Lutheran Women's Missionary League) of Grace is back on schedule of every 2nd

Monday of the month at 10 am. We meet again June 8 for meeting and Bible study on Parables ofJesus with Pastor Ulrich. Feel free to wear a mask and know that every effort to remain physicallydistant will be observed. The above also pertains to CRAFTY LADIES who will meet on Monday,June 15. Continue prayers for our front line and essential workers, our civic leaders and our

pastors. Stay safe.

BOOK CLUB FOR JUNE. . . A Dog’s Way Home. . .

The book club will be reading "A Dog's Way Home" by Bruce Cameron. This is a story of abrave dog named Bella who is separated from her owner and sets off on a 400 mile adventureto get home. The dates and times of meetings will be announced.

THE OUT TO LUNCH BUNCH . . . Harbor Cafe. . .

In keeping with our goal to visit locally owned restaurants this year, The Out To Lunch Bunch will bedining at The Harbor Café, 2131 Lowes Drive, on June 25. We will meet at 11:30 am. We invite allmembers and friends of Grace to join us for good food and great fellowship. The only cost is yourlunch. WE hope to see you there.

Sharon ParishWIDOWS OF GRACE . . . Waiting another month. . .

The WIDOWS OF GRACE will wait another month before meeting for lunch. We will thensee how it's going with the Corona Virus. We feel it is better to be safe than sorry. We praythat everyone is well and take precautions when going out.

GRACEful AGERS taking a break. . .

The GRACEful Agers will be waiting a bit longer before restarting any group activities. Asmore COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, we will reevaluate when we can get together again.Please check the July newsletter for our next event. Stay safe and we will see you soon.

AMERICAN HERITAGE GIRLS . . . and TRAIL LIFE BOYS. . .

American Heritage Girls and Trail Life Boys have had some online meetings and their summer activities will be announced by the leadership. Also during the summer the groups are gearing up for plans to resume regular meetings in August when the school year begins anew.

Charles Plotz Jr., AHG Troop TN1412/Trail Life Troop TN0101, Charter Representative

OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL MISSION OFFERINGS

The Sunday school offerings have not been gathered since mid-March but we will begin again in June. The Sundayschool offerings will go for Lutheran Disaster Relief and the Nashville storm victims specifically. Please givegenerously. In July and August the offerings will go to our own Food Pantry. Check here each month for an updateon the Mission of the Month we are supporting.

MITES FOR MISSIONS MINUTE. . .

Your mighty mites do mighty things for our missions locally, regionally, nationally, as well asworldwide. Mites are the pennies and small change collected each month and placed in the bigpurple and white box at the Mission Station in the Narthex. Mission Grants of $2,075,000 for2017 - 2019 have been met and surpassed! Where will your mite offerings go to next? Here is apeek: $50,000 will go to Rooted, Celebrating, Growing - Camp Omega, Waterville, Minnesota;$37,175 for Mission Outreach Among the Oromo - The LCMS Missouri Dostrict; $100,000earmarked for Making Jesus Known in U.S. Ethnic Communities - Concordia Seminary, St.Louis, Missouri - just to name a few places our mites will be blessing during 2020 - 2021.

F U E L – School’s Out, thanks for those who kept FUEL going, see you in August. . .

The past few weeks have been like nothing we have seen in our lifetimes. FUEL has continued for pickup and drop off at Hilldale Methodist Church so bags have been delivered during these trying times. Denise Skidmore is in charge of FUEL for our county and she has done an outstanding job. Becki,Janet, Pat and Becki's husband, Jerry, packed Fuel bags and delivered them to New ProvidenceMethodist in the latter part of March. Hopefully, things will get back to somewhat normal and schoolwill start again in August. Please continue to support our program with prayers and have a great summer.

Carol Kreuckeberg & Becki Welch

THE TRAIL LIFE BOYS WERE CAUGHT DOING GOOD. . .

When the annual National Police Week Memorial Ceremony was canceled this year, a group ofTrail Life Boys decided to conduct the ceremony themselves at the CPD Protector Memorial onMay 15! Under the direction of Troop Leader Gabriel Perez, the 7 boys honor our CPD officersand Montgomery Cty Sheriffs who made the ultimate sacrifice. They were thanked by Chief Ansley. Way to go, guys!!!

MISSION STATION MISSIONS . . . Open the cabinet doors and drop these off at the Mission Station!

Put your donationsof food for the FoodPantry in thegrocery cart by theWelcome Desk inthe main entry area.. .

Bring old Portals of Prayerto share with prisoners. Bring them to the MissionStation to be given tothose who can use them.

Bring used religiousChristmas cards for the LWML at Holy Trinity,Rogers, AR.

BABY BOTTLE CAMPAIGN. . .

We are again participating in the Baby Bottle Campaign to support the Hope PregnancyCenter downtown! The baby bottles will be available for pick up at Grace beginning Sunday,June 28 with the Director of Hope, Martha Sitzler, introducing the program during theannouncements. You will be encouraged to take a bottle out of the bassinet in the narthex,daily pray for the child who has been helped by the Center, and then return the bottle withfinancial support by July 26. Last year we donated nearly $2900.00 for this great cause!! Let'ssee if we can top that!!!

The cause for life is not simply a stance against anything that would devalue life (from the way we protect children inthe womb to the way we treat our aged). It is also a positive program to provide for alternatives. The Baby BottleCampaign supports the good work of the Hope Pregnancy Center in providing services to women who are pregnantbut who do not know how they can carry the child to term and to those who raise their children without the benefitof full family support. The center provides ultrasounds in addition to the ordinary things a new mother might need. They provide counseling and direction to those who will choose adoption after the birth of their child. The list goeson...

HEY, ARE WE LOOKING FOR YOU?

Did you play an instrument in high school or college? Are you playing an instrumentin high school or college now? Do you still have a horn or flute or clarinetaccumulating dust? Now is the time to pull out that old instrument and breathe(literally) some new life into it. We are developing both a horn and woodwindensemble and individuals to play with choir, bells, organ, and hymns. Are we lookingfor YOU? Let us know what you played or play and we will schedule a time to begin

putting together a new group to assist the larger music ministry of Grace Lutheran Church! Contact either of us tolet us know you might be interested.

Jonathan & Katie Rudy

TRAVELERS NOT TRAVELING BUT COOKING. . .

Since we are still not traveling, let me carry you back to old Virginia (sounds like asong) to a place in Williamsburg which was a favorite of George Washington in the1770's and, oh so special to me 200 years later - Christiania Campbell's Tavern.Christiania was a widow with two daughters who opened a tavern, like her father had,in order to provide for her family in 1750's. G. Washington and T. Jefferson metthere with other pre revolutionary figures. George especially liked the seafood likelump crab cakes and jambalaya. Fast forward two hundred years when a young armycaptain and his bride had their wedding dinner with best man and matron in fullwedding attire - most memorable time. I am sure George enjoyed a variation of thesame muffins as we did.

SWEET POTATO MUFFINS (from Christiania Campbell's Tavern, Williamsburg, VA) ½ C. Butter; 1 1/4 C sugar; 2 eggs; 1 1/4 C canned sweet potatoes, mashed; 1 ½ C flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp salt; 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 C milk; 1/4 C chopped pecans or walnuts.

Topping: 2 Tbs sugar; 1/4 tsp cinnamon.

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs & mix well. Blend in sweet potatoes. Sift dry ingredients together. Add flourmixture to the sweet potato mixture, alternately with milk. Do not over mix. Fold in nuts. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.Sprinkle on topping. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes

A New Feature: Questions and Answers about Sacred Music

Q: Why do we… have music in the church?A: Part II: the church throughout the centuries has sung its praise boisterously. From the Psalms to synagogue

worship, biblical canticles, ancient plainsong chant hymns, all the way continuing through the Reformation andbeyond, the church has always set its praise to music. We sing because we add our voices to this noble andblessed tradition, praising Christ our Savior.

A LONGER LOOK at a HYMN. . .

Com e, Holy Ghost, Creato r Blest (LSB 498) is commonly sung today in traditional Lutheranchurches as the principal hymn of Pentecost. In fact, the church has sung this jubilant hymn textsince the 10th century! Though commonly attributed to 8th century author Rabanus Maurus,evidence suggests a later and still unknown author. The hymn’s original text (“Veni Creator Spiritus”)is in Latin (remember, in the 10th century the Church worshiped exclusively in Latin), and its singingwas accompanied by all the “smells and bells:” high ritual action, Sanctus bells, incense, etc...

Five centuries later, Martin Luther loved this hymn so much that he simplified the traditionalplainsong tune (LSB 499) into an entirely syllabic version with German (LSB 498). By creating asimplified melody and translating the text into the vernacular language, Luther enabled the entire

congregation, not just the celebrants or the chant schola choir, to sing this theologically rich hymn.

We associate Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest most closely with Pentecost-as we should! The hymn clearly celebratesthe person and work of the Holy Spirit, calling on Him to come again and inspire us, much as this same Spirit settledupon the first Apostles. But this hymn is actually equally appropriate for the following week in the church year, oftenchosen as the Hymn of the Day for Holy Trinity Sunday. Why?

In addressing the Holy Spirit, the hymn so clearly asks that He would “teach us to know the Father, Son, and You,from both, as Three in One” (see also John 14:26). Or in another stanza, “In You [the Holy Spirit], with gracessevenfold, we God’s almighty hand behold…”. That’s right - the Holy Spirit, by indwelling in us as in the firstapostles, brings to our minds the knowledge of and faith in God the Father’s creative, sustaining, and redemptivework, as shown to us clearly and completed by His Son, Jesus Christ. What a festive way to declare this highdoxology: “Praise we the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, with them One, and may the Son on us bestow the giftsthat from the Spirit flow!” So, though we’ll sing this at Pentecost this year, I sure hope it will also be ringing throughyour ears the following week as we celebrate the Holy Trinity.

NOTES FROM THE MUSIC DESK

As I write this, Grace is moving steadily back to normal, or at least as normal as possible; thanks be to God! I amhighly anticipating (more than you could believe) the chance to celebrate Holy Trinity Sunday festively with thewhole congregation together, complete with full, loud song and joyous praise! I pray that God will continue in thesenext weeks to guard our community and keep it, and that the pandemic will continue to diminish. In the meantime,I ask you all to continue to pray for us – your Pastors and staff – with particular emphasis on all those volunteerswho work so hard to support the music ministry here at Grace. May God continually guide our hearts, minds, anddecisions through these troubled times, and grant us courage always to declare His Gospel without fear.

I would be remiss if I did not especially thank all those who have made the music so lovely these last few months:Assistant Cantor Katie Rudy, all of our soloists and ensembles, and each and every one of you who carry on thechurch’s song – despite the limited voices present. SPECIAL thanks to Ms. Lydia Brunner, who played beautifullyon the piano, filling in the gaps that I was unable to play due to simultaneous services. Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Cantor Jonathan Rudy

FROM THE SENIOR PASTOR. . . Is it safe yet?

Whether asked out loud or not, that is the question on our minds for the last weeks and months. When will it besafe to go back to church, back to ordinary routines, back together as a group? I cannot tell you when it will be safefor you to go to the Bridgestone arena or Nissan Stadium but I can tell you this. It has never been safe to be aChristian. It was not safe for Stephen the first martyr or the countless Christians who suffered at the hands ofRoman emperors or in their arenas or for the Christian martyrs in every generation right down to those in theMiddle East today. If you want to be safe, Christianity is not your refuge.

Christian faith has put us in the cross-hairs of every despot and dictator. There is hardly a war in which Christiansdid not suffer disproportionately. From culture wars to the marketplace of ideas, Christians have been attacked andridiculed and persecuted through the ages. Jesus warned us of those who would betray us to political powers anddrag us before the courts and pressure us to deny Him. No, my friends, it has never been safe to be Christian.

Is it safe to go to Church? The Church is not filled with people who have nice, neat, and orderly lives but withsinners who struggle every day to endure temptation and trial and trouble. The Church is not a museum for theperfect but a hospital for the wounded, sick, and dying. The Church is the great common denominator when moneyand power and position mean nothing and everyone is a poor, miserable sinner deserving of death. It’s not safe.

But where else can we go? Like the words of Peter we echo in the verse, we have no place to go. Christ alone is theWay, the Truth, and the Life. He has planted His life like a seed in suffering and death and from it has birthed thegift of hope, redemption, and life stronger than death. We think we are taking the big risk but it is Christ who diedfor us while we were yet sinners. It may never be safe to be a Christian but the alternative is to suffer alone, to diewithout hope, to be condemned for our sins, and to live in constant fear. My friends, Christianity is never safe but itis the only faith that offers us real hope and redemption. Come. Listen. Pray. Eat. Drink. Christ IS with us.

Pastor Peters +

FROM THE ASSOCIATE PASTOR... Language of the Faith. . . “Divine Service”. . .

Why do we go to church on Sunday morning? This question has an obvious answer, but askfive different Christians, you'll get at least five different answers. We go to interact withother Christians. We go to sing the praises of the Lord. We go to pray. We go to thankHim for all the blessings He has given us. We go to learn the Bible. We go to receiveencouragement in our Christian lives. There are many reasons we can give as to why we goto church. But most of them miss that obvious answer. We go to be served by God.

We Lutherans call the primary worship on Sunday morning the Divine Service; Divinemeaning God and Service meaning service. We hear that and immediately understand thatwhen we worship we're serving God; and that is right. We do serve God when we worship. We serve Him with our thanks and praise. We serve Him by giving our tithes and offerings, which He uses tosupport the work of proclamation in this place and in others. But more important than our service to God is Hisservice to us, that is, the Divine's Service.

We come to church on Sunday morning to be served by God. He's established worship, not only for us to praiseHim, but for us to come into His presence to receive the gifts. This was the whole purpose of the book of Leviticus. Everything in the book is about establishing the worship life of Israel so that they could come into God's presence atthe Tabernacle and receive His forgiveness, and this is what the Divine Service is all about on Sunday morning.

When we come to church, we are literally coming into His presence. As we stand and sit in the pews, we arestanding and sitting in God's presence. He is there to forgive our sins with absolving words spoken by the pastor. Heis there speaking to us through Scripture read and sermons preached. He is there, feeding us the very body andblood of our crucified and risen Savior. And He wants us to be there too, so that we might receive His life throughthese gifts. This is the only place to receive these gifts.

It's popular to say that you don't need to be in church to worship, and in some respects, that's true. You can worshipthe Lord at any place, even in your living room. In response to COVID-19, many have turned to on-line church inorder to worship. This technology has been helpful during this unusual time, but it can't replace the Divine Service. The Divine Service is all about physically being present in God's house, being in the place where He has promised tobe, being present with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and receiving the forgiveness, life, and salvation He givesthrough His means of grace. What better reason can there be for going to church than this.

Pastor Ulrich

FROM THE PRESCHOOL. . . School’s Out. . . New School Year Coming

What an unusual end to the school year! We invited parents to drive through theparking lot to pick up their children's belongings and art projects at the middle of May. We are looking forward to a new beginning next fall. We have about four staff positionsopening, so if you know anyone that might be interested send them our way! Theschool has openings for the upcoming school year in the following classrooms: MWFand T/TH Ones, T/TH Threes, T/Th Fours, and the Five-day Fours.

Thank you for praying for the Preschool!

Linda Cribbs, Preschool DirectorHELP THE FOOD PANTRY...

Here is a quick update on the Food Pantry at Grace. We have continued to offer food tothose who are in need from our community and our congregation throughout the pandemic. We have done things a little differently to take precautions to keep both our volunteers andthose who come for help safe. To date in 2020 we have been able to help 46 families andsome of them more than once. Since the pandemic we have helped 25 families and somemore than once. Thank you for your continued support of this ministry at Grace!

VENDING MACHINE WILL BE REPLACED. . .

After nearly 50 years, our old soda machine has died. It cannot be repaired. A new refurbished unit is onorder and we hope to have one in place soon for all of those who are yearning for Pepsi or Diet Dr.Pepper or Mountain Dew or whatever. . . Stay tuned for more. . .

UPDATE ON THE FINANCIAL STATE OF THE CHURCH. . .

Lower expenses and higher than February offerings enabled us to remain financially solidthrough the last two months of uncertainty. The congregation applied for and received a$95,000 payroll loan through the CARES Act that can only be used for preschool andchurch salaries, benefits, and utilities during May and June. If these expenses add up to theloan amount, the loan will be forgiven by the government. If not, repayment will commencein 6 months and may be repaid over two years. We have been able to pay the Preschool andthe Church Staff even as the schools were closed and responsibilities limited by the shut

down. We are grateful for the faithfulness of those who prayed for and have supported the congregation with theirtithes and offerings. Please continue to pray for and support the work of the Church with your tithes and offeringsso that we may remain strong and ahead of our bills through the coming months of Summer. God bless you.

Your Finance Board

FROM THE OUTREACH BOARD. . . The Outreach Board has only met once this year due to the extenuating circumstances. We will meet again this month. So far, Jo-Ann has been helping run the food pantry from the office (and we arethankful to the volunteers who continue to staff the Food Pantry). They are in need of specific food items which arelisted in the newsletter and the bulletin. Don’t forget that when Sunday school resumes, we will be supporting theFood Pantry with our offerings. Empty Bowls was held at Grace Lutheran in February and was a great success. Wewill continue to discuss ways to spread the good news of Grace Lutheran Church in our upcoming meeting in Juneas we move forward to a new normal. We are always looking for new ideas from our congregation. Naturally,because of the virus the number of visitors has been very low in the past quarter. Remember that our outreach withthe Gospel is the most important thing we do and everything else is in support of this mission. In June Greetersreturn and later this Summer the We Care folks will return to work. Enjoy the warmer weather and our return tonormal

Carol Krueckeberg, Outreach BoardGRACE SCHOLARSHIP FUND. . .

In 1994, Verna (Tess) Tessmann established the Rev. Harold Tessmann MemorialScholarship Fund at Grace Lutheran Church. Pastor Tessmann was the first pastor of GraceLutheran Church (1959-1969). The scholarship can be awarded a maximum of four yearsfor any one student who will be going into church work as a Deaconess, Director ofChristian Education, Parochial School Teacher, or Pastor. The scholarship is a one timeannual scholarship not to exceed $500. All applications must be in to the church by May

31st. The scholarship committee awards and distributes the funds by July 31st. See Jo-Ann Thomack for anapplication form and/or more information. FYI: The Mid-South District also has a financial assistance program. The application deadline is June 15, 2020. Contact is Julie Tyler at jtyler@midsouthlcms.com.

ALTAR FLOWERS - Altar flowers have returned. . .

Altar flowers have returned; flowers may be designated at the Flower Chart andwith the envelopes in across from the Mission Station. Altar flowers or the eternallight may be given in honor or memory of someone or a special occasion. For altarflowers, please fill out an envelope with money and place it in the offering plate. Both altar flowers and the eternallight use the sign up at the bulletin board across from the Mission Station; use the small envelope provided. Bothflowers and the eternal light may be given in memory/honor of a loved one/special event! The Eternal Light burnseach week in memory/honor of a loved one/special occasion. Eternal Light is $10/wk and flowers are $30/wk.

CONGRATULATIONS ONE AND ALL. . .

Evan Barnett graduates from Rossview High with eyes set on Business at UT Knoxville. NadineDuessler is another Rossview graduate and she will enter APSU’s nursing program. Andrew Joossewill also graduate from Rossview and will continue his studies at APSU. Graduating from theAustin Peay Middle College, Scarlett Smith will enter the nursing courses at APSU. ColtonStephenson will graduate from Northwest High and enroll at Nashville Community College tostudy criminal justice. After graduating from Rossview High, Melanie Zoch will continue herarmy ROTC at Texas A&M while studying bio-medical science.

COLLEGE GRADUATES are Emily Young who earned a Master of Education in School Counseling from LibertyUniversity and Anna Heron who graduated from Hopkinsville Community College with an Associates in AppliedScience - Nursing and passed her NCLEX-RN in March and is officially a nurse!

ALL JUNIOR AND SENIOR YOUTH. . .

Hey Everyone! It seems like forever since we've gotten together. We hope everyone has beendoing well during this strange and unique time. Things are on a path to getting back tonormal here at Grace, and that means we're looking forward to starting up our regular youthgatherings. The Youth Group Committee is planning on meeting at the beginning of June toorganize some summer gatherings so we can all get together and have some fun. Stay tuned for announcements onthe Youth Group's Facebook pages (GLC Junior Youth and GLC Senior Youth – if you're not a part of these groupsalready, let Pastor Ulrich know and he'll help with that), and also bulletin announcements. See you all soon!

VBS PLANS AND SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL. . .

A decision on Vacation Bible School will be made shortly; tell us what you think we shoulddo. The dates have shifted and if we have VBS it will be the week of July 27. We need toknow if we have teachers, aides, craft people, music people, recreation people, etc. LetMiriam Shasserre know that you can help and watch for the online sign up for children tobe up soon!

Summer Sunday School begins June 7. We are working to adjust class sizes and we have materials from the Springthat were not used. Youth will be promoted to the next grade so a room change may be possible. Check the doors tothe rooms used for Sunday School. We have teachers in place and will see what attendance looks like through themonth of June. Check with Miriam Shasserre for more on both VBS and Summer Sunday School.

WORK UNDERWAY ON UPGRADES AND BUILDING REPAIRS. . .

The end of May work began on the upgrade to our new phone system. Our currentsystem is 20 years old and is failing fast. The new phone system will mean lessdropped calls and messages and lost voice mails! Thanks to Nick Shasserre forheading this up. The system is installed and serviced by CrossPath, a local company.

The internet provider is also being changed. Now we suffer regular and periodicoutages and have been unable to resolve the issues. The switch to CDE Lightbeam isfor fibre optic and hopefully faster and reliable service. When this happens, you may notice that our office and wifiare without internet. Be patient and it will be restored.

Work is beginning one computer at a time to upgrade them to Windows 10. This will be along term project until all the computers have been upgraded and all the systems run on thenewer operating system. This was necessitated by the fact that some software requires theupgrade and Windows 7 is no longer being supported by Microsoft.

Railings are being replaced by the Preschool entrance and at the Madison Street entrance dueto deterioration. The old railings lasted for 20 years and have been refurbished by the originalinstaller and should serve us well into the future.

Roof repairs are commencing with flashing replacement, repairs to areas where the roofattaches to walls,, and gutter repairs. These are the work of the Blessed Chosen Generation

funds and were authorized earlier. Work has progressed in a possible drainage plan to meet the challenges of thewater in the preschool playground and by the parking lot entry. For more, see Paul Nelson, Properties Chair.

WEB RESOURCES

Lutheran sites with information and humor showcase who we are as Lutherans and what we do. Check them out!

� Grace Lutheran Church has our own Vimeo Channel for Services & Special Music. . .https://vimeo.com /user111815071 Look for Grace Lutheran Church LCMS

� Thanks and Appreciation from our Synod President for those who have marshaled on during the pandemic!https://youtu.be/yT6ZjwskyrM

There are a lot of things on the internet NOT worth your time and effort. These are definitely worth your attention.

LISTEN AGAIN. . . CDs of Choir, Services, and Sermons. . .

The Pastors’ sermons and more are at the blog: www.pastoralmeanderings.blogspot.com – you canpick up Choir CDs of their most recent concerts, including the choir, soloists, and instruments. Stop bythe Narthex display and there is a CD so you can listen again to the wonderful music! CDs andcassettes of the services are available at the Mission Station. DVDs of the ordination are now in place!

GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH2041 Madison St. Clarksville, TN37043 + Phone: (931) 647-6750

www.grace-lutheran-church.org

E-mail Addresses:

OFFICE @GLCTN.ORG - Karen ChristyOFFICE 2@GLCTN.ORG - Donna HeathSRPASTOR@GLC TN.ORG - Pastor PetersASSOCPASTOR@GLCTN.ORG - Pastor UlrichDCE@GLCTN.ORG - Jo-Ann Thomack

CANTOR@GLCTN.ORG - Jonathan D. RudyPRESCHOOL@GLCTN.ORG - Linda Cribbs, DirectorOUTREACH@GLCTN.ORG - Margaret EastmanGLCTREAS@GMAIL.COM - Dawn ThomackGLCFSEC@GMAIL.COM - Kay Haase

SCHEDULE:

Sundays: Divine Service: 8:15 & 10:45 am Education Hour: 9:35 am Thursdays: Divine Service at 11 amIndividual Confession & Absolution: 2

nd & 4

th Thursdays: 9:30-10:30 am and 5-6 pm (check with Pastors)

Thursdays: 11 am Divine Service & Wednesdays in Advent & Lent 5 pm Vespers & 7 pm Evening Prayer

OFFICE HOURS: Mondays through Fridays – 9 am to 4:30 pm and By Appointment

ON FACEBOOK: Did you know that Grace Lutheran Church is on Facebook? And we are looking forfriends! Grace Lutheran Church has 600 LIKES, 627 Followers, & 1,278+ Visitors! So Share & Like. Music at Grace Concert Series has 72 FOLLOWERS... we want more! In addition, 4,933+ people foundus on Google Search last month! In addition, VIMEO has our videos: Grace Lutheran Church LCMS isour account and we have 16 Followers (double last month!) and 400 views!! Lets build this up!!

ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: Follow Instagram with pictures from the Church and events atgrace_lutheran_clarksville joining the 1,649 Followers . . . Or catch us on Twitter @glc_clarksville with the 456Followers. . . Check out the Marketplace at Grace Instagram and Facebook pages as well!!

MISSION STATEMENT:

The mission of Grace Lutheran Church is to manifest the love of Christ through His Word &Sacraments, in worship, witness, & service – both within the Church & to the Community.