Annual Report To The Congregation



Annual Report to the Congregation 2020

February 7, 2021

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

6th Ave. & Main St. - Church

594 Church Street, First Floor - Office

Royersford, Pennsylvania 19468

Office Staff:

The Reverend Janelle L. Krais, Pastor

Deacon Allison Wilcox, Deacon

Kelsey Tomlinson, Dir. of Chris. Ed. & Youth

Phyllis Conroy, Parish Administrator Joyce Berner, Director of Music

John Nimmerichter, Property Manager Flossie Schell, Sexton

Contact Information:

Office Phone #: 610-948-3684 Fax #: 610-948-3304

Email: gracelutrn@ YouTube: GraceLutheranRoyersford

Website:

Mission & Vision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Our mission: Together in Jesus Christ we are freed by grace to live faithfully, witness boldly and serve joyfully.

Our vision: A world experiencing the difference God’s grace and love in Christ makes for all people and creation.

Our values: Our values are grounded in faith, in our biblical and Lutheran confessional sources and our love of God and neighbor. They speak to the way this church lives and practices our faith, and they will guide how we journey forward in Christ as church together.

Mission of Grace Lutheran Church: Growing! Loving! Serving…By grace, through Faith!

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR ANNUAL REPORT 2020

|Review of Minutes | | |

|Annual Meeting 2/2/20 |………..…………………………. |Pages 1 - 3 |

|Pastor’s Report |…………………………………... |Page 4 |

|Deacon’s Report | ………………………………...… |Page 5 |

| | | |

|Council President’s Report |………..…………………………. |Page 6 |

|Parish Statistics & Attendance Tally |………..…………………………. |Pages 7 & 8 |

|Building & Property Committee |………..…………………………. |Page 9 |

|Christian Education Committee |………..…………………………. |Page 10 |

|Communications Committee |…………………………………… |Page 11 |

|Faith Engagement Committee |………..…………………………. |Page 12 |

|Fellowship Committee |………..…………………………. |Page 13 |

|Mutual Ministry Committee |………..…………………………. |Page 14 |

|Social Ministry Committee |………..…………………………. |Page 15 |

|Stewardship Committee |………..…………………………. |Page 16 |

|Technology Committee |………..…………………………. |Page 17 |

|Visioning & Discernment |…………………………………… |Page 18 |

|Worship & Music Committee |………..…………………………. |Pages 19 & 20 |

|Youth |…………………………………... |Page 21 |

|Finance Committee Report |…………………………………… |Page 22 |

| | | |

|Endowment Funds, Memorial Funds & Tithe Report |…………………………………… |Pages 23 - 29 |

| | | |

|Balance Sheet Prev. Yr. Comp. |………………………………………………………………………… |Page 30-31 |

|P & L Prev. Yr. Comp. |…………………………………… |Page 32-33 |

|P & L Budget vs. Actual | |Page 34-35 |

| |…………………………………… | |

|2021 Proposed Budget, |…………………………………… |Pages 36-39 |

|Narrative Budget & Overview | |Pages 40-44 |

ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING - FEBRUARY 2, 2020

I. Opening prayer and devotions led by Pastor Krais

II. The meeting was called to order by council vice president, Terry Piersol, after establishing a quorum.

III. A motion to approve the 2019 minutes was made by Caleb Weiner and seconded by Tom Weikel.

IV. Staff and President’s reports

a. Pastor Krais thanked all the staff, council and congregation for their contributions to Grace. She encouraged all to promote love in their daily lives and to read the book The Great Spiritual Migration.

b. Deacon Allison expressed her joy at being at Grace.

c. Terry Piersol reported that President Jack Claypotch was absent due to a business trip. Kelsey Hlavac was absent due to attendance at a youth conference.

A motion was made by Mark Rehrer and seconded by Caleb Weaner to approve the staff and president’s reports.

V. Committee Reports

a. Building and Property-Mark Rehrer thanked Ken Slack for saving the church money when hiring contractors. Volunteers were thanked and past and future projects were reviewed.

b. Communications- Mindy Coath reminded the congregation of the newly updated web site and other media that emphasizes the work of Grace.

c. Faith Engagement- Angela Feist- explanation of renaming the committee from Evangelism. Volunteers are needed for projects as described in the written report.

d. Fellowship-Brenda Johnson reviewed her written report and welcomed suggestions for new activities.

e. Christian Education- Kim Weaner reviewed the written report for Kelsey Hlavac who was attending a youth convention.

f. Mutual Ministry- Mike McGarry reported that all staff had been reviewed and received a 3% raise.

g. Social Ministry-Diane Harshaw stated that the committee’s purpose was to show love throughout the community through their various activities. A green paper has been placed in the pews on which members can make suggestions for new ministries.

h. Stewardship- Written report. Bud Meredith has resigned from the committee due to personal reasons.

i. Technology- Caleb Weiner thanked those who operated the tech table during Sunday services

j. Visioning- Jackie Perry shared the new mission statement and the reason for rewording the previous one.

k. Worship and Music- Darryl Lewis expressed a need for volunteers for the children’s sermon and the altar guild.

l. Youth –Kelsey Hlavac- written report

A motion to accept the Committee Reports was made by Jackie Perry and seconded by Mike McGarry.

VI. Endowment Report- Gene Capor stated that the past year was good for the

stocks. There was an increase of $ 176,553.21.

A motion was made by Diane Harshaw and seconded by Tom Weikel to accept the Endowment report.

VI. Finance and Treasurer’s Reports- Terry Piersol reported that the only debt is the Welcome Center Mortgage. He thanked Patti Lebow as treasurer, Dave Fritz for creating the Financial Reports and Gene Capor for the Endowment Reports.

A motion was made by Tom Sheehan and seconded by Caleb Weaner to accept the Finance and Treasurer’s reports.

VII. Old Business

a. None

VIII. New Business

a. Election of Council members

i. Jim Butler- Technology

ii. Kathy Klug- Stewardship

iii. Beth Matzke- Secretary

iv. Brenda Johnson- Fellowship

v. Connor Finnegan- Youth Representative

A motion was made by Joy Fraunfelter and seconded by Debbie Fritz to accept the slate as presented.

b. 2020 Budget was reviewed by Terry Piersol. Thanks to the budget committee for their work.

The budget was accepted with a motion by Joe Curran and seconded by John Fraunfelter.

c. Approval of 2020 projects

i. Roof and Gutters for 594 Church St (Office) $29,200

ii. Repointing of Bell Tower- $38,000

iii. Storm Glazing of Stained-Glass Window (Main St)- $21,000

Ken Slack explained the need for each project. Approval of the expenditures was made with a motion by Jack Perry and seconded by Tom Sheehan.

d. New Vision ideas- congregation was encouraged to submit new ideas

i. Darryl Lewis stated that local churches are becoming involved in Code Blue shelter and encouraged the congregation to back this idea.

e. Gene Capor was acknowledged for his past work with the

Endowment committee. He is retiring from the committee.

f. Ken Slack was acknowledged for his 10 years as Maintenance Director.

IX. Closing prayer was giving by Deacon Allison Wilcox.

The congregational meeting was adjourned with a motion by Tom Weikel and seconded by Mark Rehrer. A luncheon followed in the social hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Stryker

Pastoral Report 2020

Behold, I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

Isaiah 43:19

What a year this has been! We have endured civil and political unrest and have struggled through a pandemic. In the midst of challenges that affected each of us differently, we have seen the hand of God at work over and over. God IS doing a new thing among us as we are nudged to find new ways of being the Church. It has been a year of many sorrows and frustrations, but more importantly, it has been a year of listening more closely to God and being thankful for the infinite times God has brought new vision, strength, creativity and boldness to our hearts.

I cannot express enough gratitude to our church staff who faithfully gave so much of themselves to serve God and the people of Grace. Each one learned new skills, had the patience of a saint, and excelled in flexibility as we navigated these new ministry waters. Please join me in offering sincere thanks to: Deacon Allison Wilcox (Deacon), Phyllis Conroy (Office Administrator), Kelsey Tomlinson (Dir. Of Chris Ed & Youth), Joyce Berner (Dir. Of Music), Ken Slack (Property Manager), and Flossie Schell (Sexton). This year, we bid goodbye to Ellen Jones (Childcare Supervisor) as she relocated and Rev. Matt Ollikainen (Visitation Pastor) as he accepted a new ministry call. At the end of 2020, we congratulated Ken Slack on his retirement, after many years of dedicated service to this congregation. Ken will be greatly missed! Welcome to John Nimmerichter, our new property manager. Many thanks also to our council who continued to lead and make difficult decisions, and especially to Jack Claypotch (Council President) who has provided rock-solid leadership through it all. (And a huge thank you to everyone whose words and actions offered support this year!)

Well, this ain’t over yet. I have no crystal ball to figure out 2021, but I do have faith in a good and steadfast God. I invite the congregation to continue to pray for our open hearts to hear where God is leading and for ready hands and feet to do the work to which we are called. I also invite you to be engaged by worshiping online, joining a small group (I promise- Zoom is not that hard!), asking how you might help or get involved, financially supporting the ministries, and continuing to look for God in your daily lives.

Be ready as new ministries and ways of reaching out continue to unfold. Will we ever get back to the “way things were?” Some things – yes. And some things- no. Let’s trust that God is turning this unprecedented challenge into an opportunity to be renewed in our faith and reformed as the Church. But that will only happen if we place our faith in the new thing that God is doing among us. We need to do more than simply perceive it. We must welcome it, embrace it, and step into it with trust and hope in our Lord.

God bless,

Reverend Janelle Krais

Deacon’s Report

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ~ Lamentations 3:22-23

As I looked back at last year’s report, I again wondered (as I have many times this year), how much I wouldn’t have believed where I’d be (or what I’d be writing) a year later. As difficult as 2020 has been and as unprepared as I was for what I’d be doing this year, this verse from Lamentations truly marked how the year unfolded – and how I am feeling about 2021.

2020 began with some exciting things: the Healing Service was going strong; I was leading a book study on Anne Lamott’s book, Help Thanks Wow! and we had started our Lenten program (in a dinner church format), based on Brian McLaren’s book, The Great Spiritual Migration. And then in the midst of that, everything changed!

2020 marked the year where your Deacon learned how to become more tech savvy than I would have, had the pandemic never happened. Never did I imagine myself doing Facebook Live, or leading multiple Zoom gatherings. As the end of 2020 came, I progressed in my Zoom skills to being able to show Power Point presentations on them (you might not be as impressed with me as I am with myself there)! (

With our changes in how we did (and are doing) ministry in 2020 and into 2021, I led two online bible study groups. One on Monday evenings and one on Thursday mornings. We covered the parables of Jesus; “Easter people;” the book of Ecclesiastes; and the book of Galatians. We will be doing the Gospel of Mark in the first part of 2021. As always, I want to hear from folks about ideas they would like to see me pursue for Adult Formation opportunities.

The early part of the pandemic forced me to up my game in video recording of myself for sermons. With the pandemic, I am now preaching twice a month rather than once. Also, while I am sad that we’ve had to shelve the Healing Service for the time being, I was able to do it twice outside. Since then, I have decided to toy with the idea of doing them through Zoom, and when the weather gets warmer again, I hope to again do it outside again.

Early into the pandemic I started a Facebook Live on Fridays as a cap to my devotions for the week, which continue. As we moved to in person worship, I also took over from Pastor Krais the Sunday morning FB Live prayer time. (She and I now take turns with it). By the end of summer, I took over the Sunday morning coffee hour time on Zoom.

I also added to my Zoom gatherings a Pub Theology on one Thursday evening a month. It’s a very casual fellowship and formation time where we discuss our faith and what’s going on in the world. In January, the name will change to “Conversation & Community” and we will meet on the third Thursday of the month.

It’s been a joy to continue to meet with the Royersford Churches in Action group through Zoom. We were very disappointed that COVID stopped our plans for a large food packing event in June and hope that eventually we will be able to do it. I’m excited to see what continued ministries we can contribute to together: perhaps with future worship experiences and something during Lent.

During the week of Christmas, I hosted a Zoom “Longest Night” worship service. I was very happy with the turnout and because of this, I am planning on seeing how Zoom can be used for worship more, as we enter 2021. (especially the Healing Service).

As difficult as this year was, it was uplifting to continue to make connections through technology – and I was especially pleased to see folks, who might have at first felt tentative, embrace the use of Zoom. It was always a joy when people got to see friends for the first time in a while through the platform.

As always, I am so extremely grateful to the wonderful staff and council here – especially as they all embraced the word of 2020: pivot! And many thanks also to those who have faithfully been on the technological journey with me this year, through our various online ministries.

May the peace of Christ be with you all!

Deacon Allison Wilcox

Grace Lutheran Church – Annual Report

Council President

January 2021

Greetings to the Grace Lutheran Family!

What a year 2020 has been! Like all years we started off full of optimism for a year of worship, spreading the Gospel, fellowship, serving the community and those less fortunate than we, increasing our faith through education, and with a financial budget set to help us achieve all those goals. As we all know things did not go as planned!

Instead, we had a year of living through a pandemic, social distancing, masks, shutdowns, virtual meetings, and virtual services both recorded and live streamed. A year of constantly changing plans, cancellations of events and gatherings and shortages of basic household items. Some of us suffered job losses and reduced incomes. Some of us unfortunately suffered illness and the loss of loved ones and friends. No, 2020 was not the year we were so optimistic to begin.

But where are we now? Through it all God’s grace found ways to remind us of his love, mercy and that the Lord is always in charge.

As your Council President I have watched as the congregation adapted to the ever-changing rules and circumstances. Council met via ZOOM faithfully every month. Pastor Krais, Deacon Allison, Kelsey Hlavac Tomlinson, Joyce Berner continued to plan and deliver meaningful worship services and spiritual guidance. Ken Slack, Phyllis Conroy, Flossie Schell continued to keep the machinery of Grace Lutheran running smoothly. Volunteers continued to fill key functions and though our income did not meet our budgeted plans our lower expenses and the faithfulness of YOU the family of Grace has allowed us to meet our financial obligations without pause.

What will 2021 look like? I don’t think any of us really know. When can we return to a somewhat “normal” life and church life? When will we be able to resume in person worship services and education practices? These are all things that are out of our control but in faith we believe are in God’s hands.

I can assure you that your leadership, staff, and volunteers will continue to do all that we can to serve the Lord and keep this congregation and the family of Grace Lutheran alive as a vital, growing, thriving community of faith and service.

Always remember that YOU are the congregation of Grace Lutheran Church, thank YOU for all that you do!

Respectfully Submitted:

Jack Claypotch

PARISH STATISTICS – 2020

Baptized membership: 913

Confirmed membership: 634

New members received: 0

Removed from roles: 14

Baptisms: 0

First Holy Communion: 0

Confirmands: 2

Weddings: 2

Funerals: 12

Parish members: 8

Non-members: 4

| | | |

| |2017 ATTENDANCE TALLY - - 53 Sundays | |

|Ash |Summer |Regular |1 Service |Palm Sunday |Holy Week (2) |Faith Full |Sunday |

|Wed. |Services |Sunday |(Ann. Cong. |Easter Sunday |Services |Families |Christmas |

| | |Services |Meeting) |(Sunday) |(Thurs. & Fri.) | |Eve Services |

|# services 3 |# of Sun. 14 |# of Sun. 35 |# of Sun. 1 |# of Sun. 2 |# services 2 |# services 40 |# of Sun. 1 |

|Total Attend. |Total Attend. |Total Attend. |Total Attend. |Total Attend. |Total Attend. |Total Attend. |Total Attend. |

|82 |2441 |6676 |125 |746 |123 |391 |605 |

|Avg. Attend. |Avg. Attend. |Avg. Attend. |Avg. Attend. |Avg. Attend. |Avg. Attend. |Avg. Attend. |Avg. Attend. |

|27 |174 |191 |125 |373 |62 |10 |605 |

*Total Sun. Avg. Attendance (Total Attend. All Sundays + Faith Full Families Total Attend./53): 207

Total attendance for all services combined in 2017: 11,189

| | |2018 ATTENDANCE TALLY - - 52 Sundays | |

|Ash |Monthly |Summer |Regular |1 Service |Palm Sun. |Holy Week (2) |Faith Full |

|Wed. |Healing |Services |Sunday |(ACM & Call Vote) |Easter Sun. |Services |Families |

| |Services | |Services | |(Sunday) |(Thurs. & Fri.) | |

|Total Att. |Total Att. |Total Att. |Total Att. |Total Att. |Total Att. |Total Att. |Total Att. |

|84 |101 |1612 |6459 |320 |614 |124 |376 |

|Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |

|42 |10 |147 |179 |107 |307 |62 |125 |

*Total Sunday Avg. Attendance (Total Attend. All Sundays/52): 173

Total attendance for all services combined in 2019: 9,690

2020 ATTENDANCE TALLY

|Ash |Pre-Covid |During Covid |YouTube Sunday |Facebook Live |Palm Sun. |Holy Week (2) |Christmas |

|Wed. |In-Person |In-Person |Services |Sunday |Easter Sun. |Services |Pageant |

| |Services |Indoor / Outdoor | |Prayers |Virtual Only |(Thurs. & Fri.) |Eve & Day |

| | | | | | |Virtual Only |Virtual Only |

|Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |Avg. Att. |

|45 |153 |21(I) / 9 (O) |76 |137 |244 |142 |190 |

YouTube counts “hits” and not actual number of people watching (a family of 4 only counts as 1 “hit”).

Website visits for worship are included in YouTube numbers.

The actual number of people watching cannot be determined but is most likely about double the number of “hits”.

BUILDING & PROPERTY ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2020

Greetings Good People of Grace,

Another year gone by and I can’t say it enough, year after year, but it’s so true how fortunate and blessed we were to have had Ken Slack as our property manager! As I review what he’s done while I prepared the monthly reports for council, I think about the savings Ken has provided for us. Sadly, for us, Ken has retired at the end of 2020. He will be sorely missed in this capacity. When we get back to worshipping in the sanctuary, or anytime you see him, please remember to thank Ken for his many years of dedicated service. Although he will have large shoes to fill, I am confident his replacement, John Nimmerichter, will do an excellent job. He is talented and Ken has trained him well.

Besides taking care of snow removal, yard work, decorations, painting and such, Ken has repaired most things, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, carpentry, doors, etc. But when it’s out of his scope he has called in trusted vendors or interviewed several contractors for the larger jobs to assure us we are getting the best value for our money. These contractors and systems include, roofers, plumbers, HVAC, Fire Alarm, painting, flooring, exterminators, computers, electricians, and on and on. He has made sure we are safe, the lights are on and we are warm in the winter and cool in the summer, as I am sure John will as well.

It’s easy to think of our church as just that, the church or sanctuary. But we do have a campus here, with the education building that is rented out for the Magic Memories Daycare, the church office building, the Parsonage and 590 Church Street building which are rented out as well and the parking lot. John will be taking care of all of that too.

Besides the hundreds of things he did in 2020, Ken either completed or oversaw the following, at 594 Church, roof replacement, a new water heater, outside basement door with new lock and pressure washed the front porch and painted with epoxy. In the church, rebuilt both sewer pumps, pointed the bell tower and sealed the stone, new storm window for the large stained glass window, new drainage system for the parlor and choir rooms, (no more shop vacuuming the floors after storms!), auto door operator for the 6th street entrance of the welcome center, chairlift in the vestibule of the sanctuary, roped of pews and a installed Plexiglas shield for the pulpit and hand sanitizer stations so we could worship in reduced capacity during the pandemic, (when we could). At 590 Church Street, new outside stairs and a new dishwasher were installed. Installed a new stove in the parsonage, removed the old food warmers in the education building kitchen and replaced with one-piece countertop. Whew!

Some upcoming projects for 2021, we will begin replacing windows in 594 and 590 Church Street and the Parsonage, replacing the heat trace tape for the rain gutters on the Parsonage side of the church, and remodeling the kitchen in the apartment of 594.

We have been setting aside 10% of our rental income for capital projects that are not part of the annual budget for building and property. In the years to come some of the needed projects may even be beyond that, such as the sanctuary roof replacement, but I have faith in the good people of Grace to come through like they always do to help fund them. That being said, I also have faith that this beautiful old stone church on 6th and Main, will continue to be maintained properly and to be a fixture in the community.

Respectfully submitted by Mark Rehrer

Christian Education

Annual Report 2020

Have you heard the news? No, really! This year we had weekly newsletters and if you did not receive them, you can find them on the youth page of our website! This year did not go as planned and we cancelled our Vacation Bible School, had to postpone confirmation and 1st Communion, and our G.R.A.C.E. Place classroom programs. Even though we could not go to church, we brought faith formation to families and their homes! Over the summer, we sent out weekly newsletters surrounding the theme of “Who’s Our Neighbor” which would have been our Vacation Bible School theme. Families explored the great outdoors, animals, neighborhoods, cities, and explored who was their neighbor and how we, as children of Christ, should take care of our neighbors.

There was more news in the Fall we hope you haven’t missed! The fall G.R.A.C.E. Place newsletters are merging real life topics such as mental health, boundaries, and screen time with faith formation. We want to bring faith formation to family’s homes and dinner tables with even just a couple simple questions or an activity for families. There were also weekly Zoom’s with Kelsey on Sunday for a check-in of highs and lows and where God has been working!

Fall also held some exciting new ways of confirmation class. Confirmation met once a month, socially distanced and masked in-person. The other 3 Sunday’s a month, we met via Zoom with 1 Sunday in large group and then split into small groups the other 2 Sundays. Families are readjusting to a life more virtual and we wanted to make confirmation more engaging than just another zoom meeting. We’ve done escape rooms, videos, and skits in our Zoom meetings to try and make each class as engaging as possible and different than the last class.

And speaking of confirmation, our confirmation students who completed the program had to hold off their confirmation in the spring. But we were able to adapt and create an amazing confirmation service on October 25th for families to bless their youth who is being confirmed. If you have not seen this service yet, I would recommend watching it on YouTube (GraceLutheranRoyersford).

1st Holy Communion was postponed in the spring and is continued to be postponed until we can offer a Holy Communion service to our two youth who can receive communion from the altar.

But we could not postpone Christmas, or the Christmas Pageant! We were able to make an amazing Christmas Pageant with the help of families and youth who helped make the Pageant amazing! You can see it on our YouTube channel!

So, have you heard the news? We are still doing amazing ministry! YOU are doing amazing ministry!

For Adult Education, please review Deacon Allison Wilcox’s annual report!

Communications Annual Report 2020

Communication has been such an important aspect of the year 2020; our staff and congregation have relied on several new ways and many tried and true ways, to make sure everyone was aware of what was happening during a year that challenged us all to stay connected.

When the pandemic first struck and completely closed everything down so suddenly, our church staff first used the telephone to call and check in on many of our congregation members. They have continued to call and email, to check in on those who are shut-in, perhaps less tech savvy or at risk for feeling isolated. Our online directory and email also helped many of our congregation members reach out to other members of our church family, to check in and say hello.

We discovered and utilized the Zoom app for many of our meetings, Bible studies and prayer time. From monthly Pub Theology (which became Conversation & Community), to twice a week Bible Study, weekly Coffee Hour, youth weekly check-ins and fun & games, Zoom was a lifeline in helping the staff stay connected to the congregation.

When we were not able to meet in person, our website, Facebook Live and YouTube became vehicles by which we were still able to worship “together” and keep in touch. Our website Homepage, Worship & News tabs were all great ways to stay informed, maintain our spirituality and know what was happening, in an ever-changing year. Facebook Live helped us to see and hear our staff continue to support, guide and encourage us through weekly devotions & prayer time and both Facebook Live and YouTube allowed us to feel like we were worshipping together, at the same time as other members of our church family. Kelsey has also been using Instagram live posts, to help stay connected to the youth and their families, through weekly family focused posts and sing-a-longs.

Our monthly newsletter continues to be published, posted to our website and mailed out to our shut-in members. Also, our weekly Ledger announcements are available on our website. Mass emails have been used frequently to maintain contact and share important information about the status of worship services, upcoming events and distributing important Zoom links.

Overall, I believe we have done a good job of finding ways to “stay connected”, by our numerous new and tried & true ways of communicating. We have been able to develop new worship formats, keep the congregation engaged and informed and help to temper the isolation and loneliness that many have felt during this trying year.

Respectfully submitted,

Communications Committee

Faith Engagement Annual Report

This year, many of the traditional ways we have engaged the community around us in our faith have been different or unavailable. The community events of Royersford National Night Out and Royersford Community Day were cancelled. These have historically been significant opportunities for us to engage with our neighbors, share in service projects, and generally show our faith in action.

Despite the limitations imposed by the circumstances this year, the church has had many new and exciting opportunities to share the gospel. As you read about the work of other committees this year, I hope you will recognize faith engagement as a thread throughout the work of our church. One specific opportunity to note here came when we began to engage and worship virtually. Our church services moved from an in-person format that required physical presence for participation to an online version, allowing our members, friends, and neighbors to worship with us each week when physical presence was not possible or limited. In addition, renewed social media and website presence have allowed us to not only strive to stay connected as a congregation but draw in the world around us, even in the face of uncertainty and physical distance.

I pray that soon we will again be able to gather together in person, engaging with our neighbors and sharing the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 3:9 says, “For we are God’s servants, working together.” I encourage you to look for ways to continue sharing your faith with others and, if you have ideas for new ways the church can engage our neighbors with the Gospel, please reach out.

Respectfully,

Angela Feist

(570)498-5986

Anchoredinhope@

Fellowship 2020 Report

February -We had a Potluck Luncheon on Super Bowl Sunday that was very well attended.

March - We had a Women of Grace evening gathering hosted by Stephanie McMullen that was well attended and tentative plans were made to meet every couple of months, but plans were postponed due to lockdown.

              We had a great start to our Wed Lenten program with Bible Study by Pastor Krais and Deacon Allison. We had generous donations for meals and a plan to get together for meal prep when the lockdown went into effect.

Our plans to attend Reading Phillies game and our annual church picnic were canceled. In-person events were put on hold for the safety of all and in accordance with county guidelines.

So, what about 2021?

I have enjoyed attending Zoom events hosted by Deacon Allison. I’ve been gathering ideas for Fellowship activities that we might hold online thru Zoom: 

* Online Bingo - print or make your own card with directions given beforehand

* Show-n-Tell Craft or Hobby or Meet My Pet(s) for all ages to participate or My Kid Wants to Say Hi & Tell a Joke

* Cooking Class or Cook Along Class- provide ingredient list ahead of time, then follow along with “day’s chef” to create something yummy. This would be a great way to share a favorite recipe of yours or from one of Grace’s cookbooks or to honor a person whose recipe is in one of Grace’s cookbooks but is no longer here to cook with us.

* Escape Room online- I don’t know much about it yet.

* Your Idea goes here _______________________________________________________________.

* Hopefully we will be able to start small in-person events by end of year. Until then, call each other, email each other, send a card, join Deacon Allison’s Zoom, join Friday Facebook prayers, and attend worship online. Please share your ideas with me to help our Grace family to stay in touch and support one another. 

Submitted by Brenda Johnson

Mutual Ministry Committee – Annual Report

12/31/20

Committee Members: Pastor Krais, Karen Asbert, Tammy Jordan, Mike McGarry, Jack Perry, Mark Rehrer, Heather Tyrell, & Jack Claypotch (ex-officio)

Slow year for Mutual Ministry due to COVID-19. Fortunately, we are blessed with a terrific staff. We did:

• Say goodbye to Ellen Jones who resigned from her Child Care position.

• Recommend a modest 2% salary increase.

• Prepare to say farewell to our Property Manager, Ken Slack – a job very well done!

• Recommend the hiring of John Nimmerichter as our new Property Manager.

• Pass the leadership of this committee to Jack Perry effective 1/1/21.

After nearly 25 years serving on the Mutual Ministry committee my term has expired. My new work responsibilities make me far less available and it is time for some fresh blood. Throughout the years we have seen many changes, and each time we just got better. God has blessed the good people of Grace. I thank you for allowing me to be a small part of it.

New members for the committee are welcome. The committee serves as the HR function for the Church. Please let Jack Perry or Pastor Krais know.

Michael McGarry

Committee Chairman

2020 Annual Report for Social Ministries

Social Ministry has once again done great work this year helping people in our community!! Thanks to members of our congregation, Grace has been very generous and we could not have made such a positive impact in the community without your help!! Yes, we know there have been many challenges this year, but good things can come out of challenges. Here are some highlights of the things that Grace has done to bless people in our community in 2020:

• Collected 23 units of blood…each unit of blood can save up to 3 lives! Blood drives are conducted 3-4 times per year, right here at Grace!

• Meals were prepared and delivered to congregational members who needed some extra loving care.

• Fresh vegetables were grown in Grace’s 4G Garden and delivered to the community…vegetables like brussel sprouts, cabbages, broccoli, Swiss chard, cauliflower, kale and lettuce were harvested.

• Bags of food were packed and handed out by Grace members at Project Outreach. Grace participates three times a year serving approximately 79 families each time we participate.

• Grace delivered dinners to St. Mary’s Franciscan Shelter, one week in July and one week in October. Our meals helped 10 families at the shelter.

• A May food drive helped stock shelves at Project Outreach and Open Door Ministry. Many members of Grace volunteered to collect the donations from cars, following social distancing guidelines.

• Social Ministry donated $100 of school supplies to Open Door Ministry. 60 notebooks, 60 pocket folders, 20 scissors, 30 rulers, 30 24-boxes of crayons, 144 pencils and 15 yellow highlighters were donated in August, so children’s backpacks could be filled.

• Warm, new clothes were collected in September and October and distributed to Open Door Ministry for their clients in need. An abundance of new socks, hats, scarves, gloves, blankets were donated. Some people even showed their crafty side and personally hand-made blankets and hats! We collected over 90 pairs of just men’s socks. Many people are now warmer this winter thanks to you.

• During Advent, members purchased $710 of ELCA Good Gifts supporting the many ministries of the ELCA.

As members of the ELCA, we are called to respond. We are a church that rolls up our sleeves and gets to work. We have done that in 2020. We HAVE touched people’s lives. Everyone should be very proud!!

Want to get involved? Here is a list of some of the ministries and their leaders at Grace. Reach out to them!

|Blood Drive – |Caring Crafters – |Comforting Canines – |

|Susan Firering |Sue Perry |Margie Alloway |

|Compassion International – |Congregational Meals – |Grace’s 4G Garden – |

|Danielle Lau |Suzanne O’Neill |Kurt Meyers |

|Habitat for Humanity - ? |Mission Trips (Adults) – |Project Outreach – |

| |Pastor Krais |Peg Shiley |

|St. Mary’s Franciscan Shelter – |Social Ministry – |Stephen Ministries – |

|Dr. Janet Brown, David and |Diane Harshaw |Judy Lukens and Connie Tracewell |

|Debbie Fritz | | |

Looking ahead to 2021…Everything shown above will continue to the best of our ability. Depending on how the year goes, hopefully we can add back in a few items that were canceled in 2020. If you have a new ministry you want to create and support, please contact Diane Harshaw.

THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

We could not do God’s fabulous work without you.

Diane Harshaw

Annual Report 2020

Stewardship Committee

Kathleen Klug

Theme chosen for Consecration Sunday 2020 was “Blessed to be a Blessing”

Foundational scripture Genesis 12:1-3

Date celebrated October 18, 2020

Due to COVID restrictions unable to plan a celebratory gathering

Theme introduced @ Sunday services virtually via a video by Kathy Klug, committee chair, on September 27, 2020

Two congregants virtually presented via video, short presentations of their personal experience of the theme—Steve Matzke on October 4 & Joy Fraunfelter on October 11

Deacon Allison Wilcox completed series addressing the theme on October 18

Pledge cards mailed to congregation third week in October

As of the end of November, pledges totaled $239,235, total pledge cards 86

Total pledge for 2020 was $270,000. This reflects a deficit of $30,000 for 2021

Plans for upcoming year:

Will utilize the Ledger & Newsletter for brief messages from the stewardship committee addressing “alternative” means of stewardship throughout the year

Consecration Sunday 2021 will be celebrated on October 17, 2021

Considering a theme addressing stewardship & servanthood—utilizing Matthew 6:21-–“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”

Technology - Annual Report – 2020

First, I want to express a sincere appreciation for all the Tech Table helpers this past year, and especially David Fritz, Jack Claypotch and Kelsey Tomlinson for all the extra work over the past 9 months to keep our Sunday services available.

Like most areas of the church, the largest technology impact was because of COVID. Early on, Sunday service sections were recorded independently and spliced together for online viewing. When limited in-person Sunday services began they were recorded live and posted for viewing online after complete. More recently with the move back to fully remote worship we started livestreaming Sunday services, but also posted the recordings for viewing later.

For 2021 we intend to continue livestreaming services and having recordings available for later viewing – likely even after an eventual return to full in-person services so those who can’t attend can worship with us at their convenience.

Other Technology related items -2020:

• Added Livestream license to our website account

• Acquired Zoom Pro licenses for online group meetings and special services

• Researched livestreaming options and potential for additional required equipment

• Consolidated several items under the Technology budget from other areas (MS license, website license, member database license)

• Replaced several microphone cables

• Repaired a broken staff laptop

• Disposed of old office desktop computers (via responsible recycling program) and wiped data from the old drives

Respectfully,

Jim Butler

Technology Committee Representative

|Visioning |[pic] |

|Grace Lutheran Church | |

|Annual Report | |

February 2021

Hello Members of Grace Lutheran!

Did you know that at each church council meeting, we engage in a visioning session? We spend a portion of our time together talking about what we are doing, and where we are heading. In 2020, our discussions were centered on Brian McLaren’s book The Great Spiritual Migration.

In our discussions this year, we’ve looked at the following topics (and much more!): belief systems, ways that we can move LOVE to the center of what we do, what we can do to love each other – and our community, ways to advocate for the least powerful amongst us, spiritual growth throughout our own personal journeys, movements – spiritual and otherwise, and bringing about true and meaningful change. As you might imagine, many of these discussions were influenced by the changing circumstances we found ourselves in as the pandemic took hold. Our leadership team was truly challenged this year to explore “new ways of being Church,” as our old ways were temporarily put on hold. We will continue to engage in this work in the upcoming year; Grace has been very blessed with leaders who take these challenges seriously and meet them with creativity.

Grace’s visioning work works BEST when you are a part of it! Do you have ideas for new ministries, or improving existing ones? Please bring your ideas, suggestions, and questions to any member of Council, and PLEASE participate in new ministry opportunities as they arise!

Respectfully Submitted,

Jackie Perry

Worship & Music Annual Report- 2020

The year 2020 has been anything except “normal” for us at Grace Lutheran Church.

To recap the past year:

Beginning with the Advent season, we displayed the gifts of the season of: Faith, Hope, Love & Joy with Banners of each theme that were beautifully painted by our own Cindy Butler.

Christmas was a vibrant and joyful celebration of Christ’s birth with more than 70 Poinsettias sponsored by members of the congregation! Thank you to all who helped to make the sanctuary so beautiful!

We were actually able to begin Lent with an Ash Wednesday service and a burning of the Palms service the week before, to ready ourselves with ashes.

Then, all further worship plans were stymied by the rapidly spreading COVID19 which became a world-wide pandemic. Grace Lutheran officially canceled all in-person worship services on March 12, 2020. We quickly sought alternative ways to worship and began to offer on-line “virtual worship” as a pre-recorded worship service appearing weekly on the Grace Lutheran website.

On-line worship has been a lifeline to worship and the life of the church for many members of the congregation as well as visitors. Instead of counting heads on Sunday morning we are now counting website worship “hits” to the website. While we have not been able to worship together as a church family, this has been a wonderful blessing in disguise. The church website worship is known to reach beyond the attending congregation and is currently providing worship to others who may be friends or related to parishioners but unable to have access to worship in their community.

Public in-person worship began again on Aug. 2, 2020 with 2 services. One service was conducted at 9:00am in the Sanctuary with masks and social distancing lasting about 30-35 minutes. The second service was conducted outdoors at 10:15 am on the church lawn with communion only lasting about 15 minutes.

Communion protocol and set up/ prep was communicated to all altar guild members with the option of switching volunteers if someone did not feel comfortable serving at this time due to COVID19. Altar guild duties were limited at this time and Pastor Krais carried out the roll of acolyte to preserve the safety of those attending.

We continued limited in-person worship with the use of Masks and social distancing through most of Nov. 2020, but then with the rise of a second wave of COVID19 Council was forced to make the decision to suspend in-person worship beginning Nov. 29, 2020. We continue live-stream and recorded services on the Grace Lutheran website and council will consider in-person worship on a month by month basis as the threat of COVID19 increases/ decreases. With the advent of vaccines we eagerly await getting back to a new normal worship here at Grace Lutheran Church.

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As we await in-person worship again, I ask each of you to consider:

Worship and music are at the core of our faith and belief in God. Without worship our relationship to Him would be very different. We come to Grace Lutheran week after week praising, singing, thanking and offering God ourselves, our lives and our possessions. Joyce Berner as our Director of Music is continually seeking new ways to bring worship alive for us. Our Deacon, Alison Wilcox, continues Healing Service, Bible Study, Pub Theology, and Sunday Coffee Hour and is an integral part of our worship as a leader and preacher.

While we have had to adapt much this year, your giving not only helps in many ways to sustain our current worship, but also find ways to keep worship new, fresh and vibrant. We are always open to new ideas and welcome your contribution through time, talent or treasure:

Some ways your offering supports worship and music:

• Maintaining musical instruments for worship services

• Music copyright services

• Communion & baptismal supplies

• Special musicians (brass/ Strings/ special ensembles)

• Healing Services and other special worship events

• Acolyte and crucifer supplies

• upkeep of Altar paraments, candles, linens

• guest speakers, possible sermon series

• And more!

Opportunities to Serve: Do you have talents to share? Pre-COVID19, each week over 50 volunteers would assist with worship… WE WILL GET BACK TO THIS POINT IN THE FUTURE AND YOU WILL BE NEEDED:

• Greeting

• Reading the lessons

• Ushering

• Serving as Acolyte and /or crucifer

• Communion assistants

• Assisting with Tot Spot during worship

• Giving children Sermons

• Leading children’s Church during worship

• Counting offering after worship

• Altar Guild

Prayerfully submitted, Darrell Lewis

Youth

Annual Report 2020

This year was supposed to hold a lot of events from service projects to fundraising events. 2021 was supposed to hold the ELCA Youth Gathering held in Minneapolis. But this year is also nothing like we ever expected. Instead, this year held a lot of other events from Zoom meetings to texts and snapchats. The ELCA Youth Gathering was postponed until 2022 so registration, meetings, and fundraising were put on hold.

Youth ministry this year is focused on building and keeping relationships while we are all social distanced. Keeping up with texting and check-ins with families and youth. Cards and singing birthday messages. Social Media became more important and we now have Wednesday’s with Kelsey and sing-a-long Thursday’s on our youth Facebook and Instagram. Snapchat has also been influential in keeping up with all the youth and families and staying connected in the moment.

We tied in youth and Chris Ed this year with our newsletters and creating topics important for families with all ages of youth. We hope to reclaim a youth Sunday in this upcoming year.

Tuscarora (Harvey Cedars) retreat was cancelled this year. 2021 is hope for a retreat, even if it is virtual to continue to build connections and faith formation. And to keep the excitement of the retreat alive.

WOW!!! What a crazy year! I want to thank you for helping us end 2020 on very positive note. Throughout most of 2020, we were running on about 91% of our contribution income. Which under the circumstances was providing us with a stable income considering that we were also below our normal operating expenses by about 12%. Through your dedication we were able to continue to support our ministries even though we might not have been able to attend church in person.

We have ended the 2020 year on a very high note financially for Grace. Our final total income for 2020 was 98.7% of our budgeted sum, $520,553.55, and we have received 99.2% of our pledged Contribution Income. On top of everything else our Expenses were only 88.4%, $466,173.74, of what we budgeted for the year. This has left us with a surplus of $54,347.92 for the 2020 financial year. We have also recovered all of the initial losses to our Endowment Fund ending the year 6% growth compared to the end of 2019. Overall, we have seen a 1.4% increase to our total assets with a total of $5,769,473.32. I would like to thank the Endowment Committee for their hard work monitoring everything and making recommendations that provided Grace with the ability to rebound from some of the early part of the year’s losses. The Finance Committee has opened a discussion to make a recommendation to council ideas as to where we believe the church should use the surplus and what project we should start saving for in the future.

None of this would be possible without the dedication of members of our church. I want to thank each and every one of you for supporting us throughout this difficult time. I also want to thank the Finance Committee for their dedication this year when things were a bit different and we couldn’t meet in person. Finally, I want to thank David Fritz, who personally came in each week to complete the counting by himself. Without his dedication this year would not have run so smoothly. Thank you, David!!! I look forward to returning to in service worship in the future and seeing everyone.

Sincerely,

Caleb Weaner

Grace Lutheran Financial Chair

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2020 Finance Committee Annual Report

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