Wednesday, November 29, 2017

What did we learn?...December 10th Conversation (partial) recording...We're eager for feedback

"What did you learn?"
"What are your conclusions?"
"How are you different because of this experience?"

Dave and I have been hearing variations on these questions a lot in the weeks we have been back home in the San Francisco Bay Area.  We've found that we don't have a pat, sound-bite answer.

That said, we ruminated and shared our reflections in conversation with the experienced interviewer, and moderator, John Anning.  The event was:

Sunday, December 10th from 7-9 
UUFRC (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City)
2124 Lowell Street, Redwood City

Here is a recording of the last 40 minutes of the conversation (sorry, the first portion was not recorded).

Dave and Peter in Conversation: Dec 10, 2017 UUFRC

Finally, we are asking for feedback.  We are going out to two groups:
  1. Each of the people we interviewed to learn how it felt to be part of this project.
  2. Readers of the blog to learn how it felt to participate at readers.
If you'd like to share your questions, feedback and suggestions, please do.

Peter and Dave

pdhartzell@gmail.com
vallerga@usa.net

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Racine Hispanic Family Perspective

Peter and I met Luis and Alma and their youngest son in Pastor Jerry’s home on Tuesday morning, October 17, 2017.  This was the first conversation of our last day in Racine.  Pastor Jerry and Jane facilitated graciously and even hosted several of our meetings, for we had asked Pastor Jerry for assistance in setting up interviews with a wide variety of people.  We were particularly interested in meeting Hispanics because we come from a part of the US with a large Hispanic population. We were grateful to meet Luis and Alma, hear their stories and understand their outlooks.

Luis’ Early Life

Zacatecas, north of Mexico City
Luis was born in the State of Zacatecas, Mexico, which is in Central Mexico just north of Mexico City.  His father worked in Texas and other border states and eventually came to Wisconsin as an agricultural worker.  Luis was born in 1972 and in 1978 Luis’ father decided to bring his wife and Luis to Racine.  Luis has 4 sisters and a brother; he is the oldest.  When they came to the U.S. only Luis and 2 sisters came.  He arrived in Racine when he was 6 years old.  He considers himself  “a local” because it is the only life he knows, although he has been back to Mexico several times, and knows family members there.  Luis has many relatives in Wisconsin: aunts, uncles, cousins and such. He repeats, “this is my home.”

Luis and Alma are from the same town in Mexico and he met her at a wedding on a trip back to Mexico.  Their fathers knew each other in Wisconsin as well.   

Luis went to work directly after high school.  “Being the oldest in a Mexican family, you have to start working to support your younger siblings.”  When he was around 14 years old, he started working in the fields during the summer, “working 12, 13, 14 hours per day.”  His income went to the family to support them.   Luis has taken some technical and college courses and even went to seminary for a while. Luis does not have a college degree. One of his sisters is a teacher and one has a Master’s in Business; both were able to go to college full time “on the backs of the older [siblings].”  His family preserved their ability to speak Spanish by not allowing English to be spoken in the home.  

Luis and Alma’s children are not as good at speaking Spanish because they jump back and forth between languages when they speak.  They  have four children, the oldest will be 15 next month, and the youngest, who joined them for our conversation, is 3.

Alma’s Early Life

Cathedral in central Zacatecas City
Alma moved to the US  in 2001 when she married Luis and came up to Racine.  Her father spent most of his time in Racine.  Her father was a farmer and a musician.  Now he lives back in Mexico.  Crops from the family farm in Mexico were affected by NAFTA, so when the price for corn was too low ,they kept it rather than sold it; she remembers “rooms full of mice,” referring to storage rooms of corn couldn’t be sold.  Alma has no relatives that live in Racine; just her “family in Christ” who are better than her blood family.  She does have a brother who lives in Oklahoma, but the rest live in Mexico.

Racine’s Hispanic Community and Racism

Peter asked about the “Hispanic community” in Racine.  Luis said that there are a lot of Hispanics in the area.  He remembers growing up in the ‘80s.  There was one “Mexican store” then and anyone who needed Mexican groceries or ingredients went there.  Now there are four or five, scattered around the city.  While there are more Hispanics toward the South side of Racine and fewer in the North, there is not much segregation.  Luis says, "growing up Mexican here I have never experienced a sense of separation.  Other, newer immigrants say that they do, but I’ve never experienced it myself.  I’ve experienced racism but I don’t feel afraid in any part of town and I feel welcome.  Others do feel oppressed.  We live on the North side, near Caledonia, and when people (other Mexicans) find out they say, ‘you don’t belong there, you belong further down South.’ Our neighborhood is modest, like this, (referring to Pastor Jerry’s neighborhood) and it is mixed, middle class."

Luis reflects that he “doesn’t understand why people put themselves into certain neighborhoods and therefore a disadvantage.”

I asked about the racism that Luis said he experienced: “How did that happen?”

Luis recounts that he was in Seminary in Waukegan, Illinois, and was driving back home to Racine.  He was going north on Sheridan Road, right after he crossed the line from Illinois, and an undercover cop pulled him over.  It was the middle of winter and it was freezing outside.

"I pulled over and as soon as he sees me he is very aggressive. ‘What are you doing here?  Why are you out this late?’ He was asking all of the dumb questions.  I said, ‘I’m coming from Bible school.’ He said, ‘Sure you are.’ I tried to show him my books, my bag and such.  But all of a sudden another car pulls up and blocks me from the front.  I thought to myself, ‘That’s not good because he has already asked for backup.”

Luis continued, "So I’m trying to figure out what’s going on when he ordered me, ‘get out of the car.’ I responded by asking, ‘Number one, why did you stop me?  What sort of traffic violation?’ He said, ‘that doesn’t matter, get out of the car.’ I said, ‘Yes it does matter.  If I haven’t done anything wrong, there was no reason to stop me and I don’t have to get out of the car.’ That made him angry.  He said ‘Who do you think you are? Are you a lawyer?’  I said, “I’m not a lawyer, but I know the law.  If there is nothing that I did wrong there is no reason for me to get out.” He said, ‘That is not here or there’ and he grabbed me, pulled me out of my car and threw me on the hood."

It gets worse:  "He said, ‘What’s your name?’ I said, ‘You have my I.D.’  He said, ‘What’s your real name?’ 
I said, ‘You have all the information in your hands.  That’s all the information that you are going to get.’  
He said, ‘Take off your jacket.’ At that point I was very upset, but I took off my jacket.  
He said ‘Take off your shirt.’  I took off my shirt, but it was really cold; in the middle of winter.  He asked, ‘What kind of tattoos do you have?’ I don’t have any tattoos and I said so.  He said ‘OK, fine.’ And the other guy came back and said, ‘He’s fine, he’s clean, and he doesn’t even have a parking ticket.’Luis concludes, “And the biggest double whammy was that [the officer’s] last name was Rodriguez.”

Peter verified that this happened in Wisconsin.  Luis said that Rodriguez was a Kenosha County deputy sheriff.  Luis also said that is the only time he has had this kind of experience.  He continued:  “When I walk into a room, some people might look at me funny, but once I start talking people can see who I am.”  He continues, “You have to let people know who you are!  Yes, I am Hispanic, but I am also a law abiding citizen who happens to be from Mexico.”

DACA and Undocumented Immigration

Peter asked about DACA and the Dreamers.  Luis said that there are undocumented people: “everybody who is Hispanic knows somebody who is undocumented, most have family members who are not documented.”  Peter asked about Luis; was he ever undocumented?  Luis said “no, at least not to my knowledge.”  His father was undocumented and acquired permanent residency with the Reagan amnesty program in 1986 and then worked to become citizens.  But when he was a kid he did not know about documented and undocumented.  He was just a kid!  He has seen this happen to a lot of kids; they learn when they try to get a job, get a driver’s license or apply to college.

Luis continues about DACA.  He is not into protests because he thinks they accomplish nothing.  Luis has a problem in that DACA was never a law; as an executive order it started and had to finish.  Now Congress can fix it or not.  He continues by explaining that DACA has impacted a lot of kids; they have very close friends who have DACA who are now scared. Luis asks rhetorically, “What is going to happen?  Before DACA you were undocumented, you went to school, you worked.  After DACA the same thing will happen.  Nothing changed.  You won’t have anything less than you had before DACA.”  

Peter asks where Luis stands on immigration in general.  Luis agrees that it is a very difficult issue.  He shares, “There are ways to come to the country legally.  The process is just too long.  The problem is the wait time.  Fifteen or Twenty years for Mexico.  The wait time encourages people to come illegally.”  

Peter asks if Luis would increase the number of admissions being offered.  Alma interjects that the wrong people want to come from Mexico.  Drug dealers take over. The wrong people can get in because they pay bribes.  When we ask, however, Alma does not know anyone who bribed to “get to the front of the line,” but as a Latina, she “hears stories.”

Pastor Jerry asked if people just come here to get welfare benefits.  Initially Alma hesitates but then agrees with Pastor Jerry.

Luis’ Immigration Recommendation

Luis offers a fix.  He wouldn’t increase the number of people admitted as immigrants. Most just want to work and return to Mexico.  He recalls  the Bracero program, and offers, “That was a good way to achieve the desire of people to work and return to Mexico.  That should be revived.  At the end of the season they can return to home.”  

Dependence on Government Hand Outs

Peter asks for a comparison between the welfare system in Mexico with the one in the U.S.  Alma says that in the U.S. there are more opportunities to feed your kids.  Peter asks “what’s the right level for the safety net?”  Luis offers, “Benefits should be temporary.  We all go through tough times.  When you need the extra help that’s when the State might come in and help with, for example, food stamps.  But it should be temporary.  People should not get too comfortable with benefits.”  Luis says that he has confronted some of his family members who take benefits that he, Luis, has to pay for.  “Why are you taking my tax money?  Why are you stealing from me?” he asks them.

Alma offers:  “In America they make people morally irresponsible.  I am very against school lunches.  This is the responsibility of the parents, not the school.  This makes more irresponsibility.  If we are in a tough situation we can go to our church and our brothers and sisters will help us.  It makes people greedy to get it from the government.  We are responsible for our kids.  We should walk in our faith.  Don’t depend on the system, we have to work for what we get.”

Celeb’s Story

Alma begins to share about their son Caleb who people thought was deaf:  “They offered us $1800 per month in support for a disabled child.  We refused it.”
Luis picked up the story:  "When Caleb was born he had a very bad ear infection.  For the first two years of his life he suffered from ear infections.  We went to special doctors and hearing doctors who thought he couldn’t hear.  There was one test they wanted to give him and if he didn’t pass they said he would be deaf for the rest of his life.  Instead, I took him to the Elders of our church.  
Pastor Jerry interjected, “this is our teaching.”  
Luis continued,In my faith I took him to the Elders.  He was two years old.  Chuck, one of the elders said, ‘You have faith and we will pray for the health of your child.’  They took oil, they applied it to his ears and they prayed.  The next day they took him for the test and the doctors said, ‘There is nothing wrong here.  Why did you bring him?  He is perfectly normal.’ Our faith healed him.”  

Alma jokingly interjects, “There goes the $1800 per month.”

Alma went on to say that Caleb was slow to speak and the school wanted to put him in a disabled class.  She wouldn’t let them.  She said, ”The Lord is my provider and he gave me the right child.”  There were problems with Caleb staring at his teacher which made her uncomfortable.  But at the end of the second grade Caleb was at the top of the class in reading and math.  There was nothing disabled about him.  Alma gives credit to the Lord.

Alma says that she lives the way the Lord tells her.   Political things do not matter.  She “doesn’t have to follow Trump, she doesn’t have to follow Obama; they are just people put there by the God to run the country.  What matters is living in the way of the Lord.” She explains that in Mexican politics people go with the candidate who promises the most.  She adds, “Right and wrong do not matter.  What matters is who gives you the most.”

Luis and Alma’s Faith Journeys

Peter asks about Luis and Alma’s faith journey.  Luis grew up in a Christian home.  The stereotype of Mexicans is that they are Catholic.  Luis was never a Catholic; he grew up in a Baptist church in Racine.  His mother taught them to be Christian.  On Sunday the one thing they did was go to Church.  After church they had Church’s fried chicken!

Peter asked Luis to go back a generation, to Mexico.  He tells us that his mother grew up in a Protestant church.  Luis’ grandfather was a businessman, and was well off in Mexico.  When the missionaries came, the only person who could provide for them was his grandfather, who hosted the missionaries in his home.

Alma was born a Catholic, in a Catholic home, was baptized, and had First Communion, “everything you could think of.”  She left her parents when she was 13 years old.  Her adolescent life “did not include the Catholic Church.”  She explains that she lived a wild life.  She left home because there was too much pressure; her mom and dad were each “always working.”  “It was a big mess.”  She tells us matter of factly that she, “Worked for agencies,” “Her body was for hire.”  But she made it through and gave herself to the Lord when she was in her 20’s.  She never went back to her home until the day before she married Luis.  She knew that her parents would be upset, but her pastor said that Luis and she should pray on it and go to see her parents.  During the visit Alma’s parents said, “Thank you for letting us know.”  Alma emphasises that “[she] lives by Faith. [She] does not need anything in her hands, [she] needs Faith.”  She continues, “You can have all the money in the world, but if you don’t have God in your heart you have nothing.”  Luis is far from the perfect husband,” said Alma says with a sideways glance, “but the grace of God keeps us together.”

Guns, 2nd Amendment and Mexico

Peter inquired about guns and the Second Amendment, including how it affects Mexico.  
Alma responded first with:  “I don’t like guns.”  
Luis, who was in the process of describing himself to us as a “Constitutionalist” followed with:  “Gun ownership is a right according the Second Amendment just as the First, Third, Fourth and all of the other Amendments give us rights, so how can you tell somebody that ‘yes you have the right to free speech, but yet you shouldn’t own a gun’ when they have the same value when you look at the Constitution.  For me it is not a complicated issue.  Either you can or you can’t.  If you want to talk about gun violence that is a different thing.”

Peter said, “So let’s talk about gun violence.”  
Luis continued: The right to own guns is one thing, gun violence is another.  When people get confused is when they mix the two together.  Violence is in the heart of a man. Violence is inside a man.  It is not an external thing.  A man doesn’t need a gun to be violent.  A bare hand is a weapon.  Speaking is a weapon, it can tear down nations. So gun violence, I think, you would have to put in the category as any other violence.  If you drive drunk and kill somebody that car is a weapon.  I know that right now [referring to the Las Vegas shootings that happened not long before our interview] and every time since Columbine, we started combining gun ownership with gun violence.”

Peter asked if Luis is a hunter.  Luis said that he is.  Peter asked what he likes to hunt and Luis responded, “Anything that moves!”  He then reviewed what game he hunts and whether he uses a rifle or shotgun for each.

Luis stated that the problem is that we mix the “ownership” question with violence and we shouldn’t mix the two.  

Peter asked about violence, “What path do you see forward on the violence?”  
Luis answers,  “The only cure for violence is Jesus Christ, because if you want to cure that no social program or law will cure that.  You can pass all the laws against anything, not just guns, but that doesn’t solve the problems.”

Peter asks if Luis is a member of the NRA. Luis says, “Yes I am.”  Then he goes on to say, “The NRA is just a club.  They defend the Second Amendment.”  He does not agree with the NRA completely, but when ‘they’ attack the Second Amendment, the NRA defends it.” 
 
Alma says this is something that she and Luis disagree on.  She is completely against guns.  She says that violence, for example in Mexico, is an example of the depravity people have in their hearts.  “We need the Lord.  They, the NRA, say that we need guns and violence.”  Luis says that people die of violence with road rage every day.  The kitchen is dangerous: “you could stick your hand in the garbage disposal and bleed out.”

Mental Illness vs. Parenting

Peter asks what Luis’ take is on mental illness that leads to violence.  Luis responds,
There’s mental illness where you can’t function in society, and there is mental illness where you have anger problems.  There are certain levels of mental illness.  It’s not simple.

Alma offers an opinion.  “Now everything that goes wrong is blamed on mental illness. Now in Wisconsin you can see that kids do not have a good foundation in the home.” Now [with her daughter, Olivia,] her friends do not have a solid foundation.  Olivia sees only a few friends with married parents.”  But these friends do not blame this on a problem in their families, they blame mental illness.”

Pastor Jerry interjects that Alma is a very unusual woman, to have come through all the trauma that she has seen and to become a good and stable parent.  He also says that Luis and Alma are raising a teenage daughter, Olivia who is an “odd duck.”  He does not define the term, but he says that he is praying for Olivia, because Jane (Jerry’s wife) has asked him to pray.  Alma and Jane are very close “and talk,” so Jerry knows something about  Olivia.  Then Jerry says that “[Olivia] is struggling with her identity.”  

Peter asks if she is struggling because she comes from an intact family.  Alma offers that most of Olivia’s friends at her Catholic high school don’t know if they are a girl or boy.  She recalls what she hears from Olivia’s peers, “My mom has a girlfriend.  My dad has a boyfriend.  Which one is my dad?”  Alma tells us “they called Olivia homophobic because she comes from a home with a mother and a father.  That’s how the devil works.”

Magic Wand Question and a Blessing

We have to wrap up our conversation because we are running out of time.  Peter first thanks Luis and Alma for a rich and interesting conversation and then asks our “magic wand” question:  “If you had one wish….”  
Luis responded first.  It would be to give more courage to the church around the world, the courage to express their faith.  The reason we are having problems globally and nationally is because Christians are being shut down.  Everybody talks about acceptance and equality; everybody talks about co-existing together and all of this and the only group that is not being invited to the party are Evangelical Christians.  If you say that you are a Christian, right off the bat you must be homophobic, you must be anti-this or that.  Everybody else can be accepted except Christians.  If we had this conversation and my faith had not come up would you have guessed that I was a Christian?  Probably not.”

Alma then responded:When I received the Lord, I was afraid.  I’m not afraid anymore.  I would like to see more of us out there working for the Lord, not just in church.  I don’t care who you are, I care what I have to tell you.  I am a servant of God to change who I am now.  I want to make changes in Racine so that they can receive the Lord now.

Pastor Jerry offered a brief prayer and blessing and we prepared to leave.

Final word, on Trump

As we stood up, and just before the recorder was turned off, Luis mentioned that he often disagrees with Trump, but that the bible teaches him that he has to respect the office and as a result he has to respect Trump’s presidency.  I asked if, because it was the office, he had an equal respect for Obama.  He said that he does.  Luis repeated that he is a “Constitutionalist” and that is the most important thing for him.

--David

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Sunday Service At Grace Church


Grace Church
Pastor Jerry and Jane were very clear with us, “dress casually.”  So we did.  Not in jeans, but we didn’t wear the sports coats we had each brought with us for just such an occasion. We had agreed the evening before (see post: Breaking Bread with Jane and Pastor Jerry) that we’d meet “at the information desk” at 9:20.  Dave and I arrived early so we could take in the energy level and morning ritual of members arriving. 

Early Birds

Ariel View -- plenty of parking, sanctuary on right, classrooms on left
The campus is expansive with nearly endless parking (we say this from the perspective of our neighborhood church in Redwood City with no off street parking).  We park out of the way given our Sprinter RV needs a little extra space.  We enter the south entrance and find a circular “information” desk like you might find in an airport or convention center.  Arrayed upon it are informational brochures and inside are two women who are greeting arriving parishioners.  The central hall is probably 25 yards long. To the far left tables are set up and an informal continental breakfast buffet set up.  On either side are a series of rooms.  I find classrooms -- one for most ages -- and teachers are preparing for their children.  No doubt there are meeting rooms and offices, but they are not obvious.  Back near the central info center are some couches.  So we sit and take in the scene.  Soon three young, blond boys come plowing into the couch across from us.  They appear very much at home and rough house a little in a “king of the couch” manner.  Their father appears and settles them down. Greetings among the attendees are warm, energetic. 

Into the Sanctuary

Sanctuary Seating - on a full house Christmas service
Jerry and Jane arrive and greet us.  We move toward the right, together in the direction of the sanctuary. A man is talking with Jerry. He is wearing a “security” badge on a lanyard around his neck.  In the hallway outside the sanctuary are photographs and labels for the twelve or so US missionaries and the 10 or so international missionaries. Each looks cheerful. One photo is of a family of five with young children.  Jane, David and I walk upstairs to the balcony.  Pastor Jerry and Jane choose to sit up in the balcony on the far right and out of view of the orchestra seats.  This is to “stay out of the way” now that Jerry is the retired pastor.

The space is modern, comfortable. We sit in upholstered pews.  The balcony is filling up. Jerry and Jane greet most of the people sitting near us.  At the front, the “stage” is low and open.  There are layers of curtains, pleasant purple and warm white lighting.  There is a white cross, but not one mounted on the wall.  No windows -- stained glass or otherwise.  There are hanging sound amplifier speakers and a simple, movable podium at the front.

We have been issued a carefully designed and printed Order of Service by the usher when we arrived.  The title is “Acts: Part One, The Church is Made.”  Inside “today’s worship service” is laid out in four sections: Praise, Renewal, Proclamation and Response. 

The Music

Our Live Band - Words to the songs projected
The service begins promptly at 9:30 with electric, soft Christian rock. On the chancel are eight musicians.  Each standing apart from the others, two singers, two guitars, a base, a drummer a keyboard and a violin. The music is not complex and the words are clearly important.  Jerry has informed us that the integration of the words to the music and the them and sermon (“preaching the word”) are carefully planned each week.

For first timers it is a little hard to understand what each line represents.  The songs we are supposed to sing are in quotation marks, and there are five.  For each of these we are asked to stand and the words are on the two hanging screens on either side of the stage.  We clap enthusiastically after each of these songs and the pieces played for us by the band.  One of the female singers and some in the congregation raise their hands and wave them gracefully in the air as they sing the crescendo of the song.

Welcome and Prayer

After the welcome we are asked to greet the people around us. The Director of Student Ministries  leads us in the Welcome and Prayer of Confession.  He also reminds us of upcoming programs:
  • Membership classes called “Lay down roots”
  • Baptism: We are reminded that if we are Christian we need to be baptised -- and there are dates upcoming.
  • Evangelism Training - One is scheduled for Sunday 11/5 from 3-5pm, we are reassured that there is not a Packers Game.
At another point in the service we are asked to confess our sins including making an idol of something other than God.

Kids off to Sunday School

The children are excused to their classrooms prior to the testimony.  Last week our Order of Service tells us that there were 103 children in attendance and 515 sanctuary attendees.

Testimonial

A couple walks up to the podium.  In our Order of Service we see that they are the Tetzaffs, a young couple.  They are interviewed by Pastor Mike.  They tell the story of finding their way to faith in Jesus.  And add a bonus that they seem to be making headway in evangelising his mother.

The Sermon

“Preaching the Word” is performed by Pastor Mike Matheson. The passage is Acts 4: 5-22.  He walks us through this scene.  Peter has just said to a lame beggar on the steps of the temple: “I have no gold or silver, but I give you what I have, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”  And miraculously, the well known lame man jumps up and dances his way into the temple to everyone's wonder.  We are told that this is a turning point in which Peter and John show courage and faith in the divinity of Jesus.  Pastor Mike emphasizes that this is the first time “the church experienced opposition” (as Peter and John are jailed in the temple overnight).

Standing and Singing Away
On reflection the priest notes the boldness of  Peter, an “uneducated, common man.” And concludes that the miracle must have been accomplished by none other that Jesus. Peter explains to the Priests that the stone of Jesus which they have discarded, has now become the cornerstone of their church.  Furthermore, Peter says, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Pastor Mike uses this to remind us first of the “only one way” to be saved foundation stone of Evangelical Christianity.  And second that what Peter is doing, sharing the word in the name of Jesus Christ is exactly what we are each called to do. (Thus the evangelism training).  He tells us we must not be shy and we must be ready for the challenges that our friends, neighbors, bosses may throw in our way.

Take Home Study Questions

Conveniently in the Order of Service are a set of Questions and Reflection points which can be used for Life Groups, one-on-one discipleship, or personal reflection and application.”

Some of the questions are:
  1. If you were asked to be silent about your faith with the threat of losing your job, property, family, and life, what do you think you would do?
  2. How vigilant are you in looking for opportunities to speak about Jesus in your everyday life?
  3. Do you ever find yourself apprehensive in explaining to people that Jesus is the only way to salvation?
  4. In your life, has the pressure to keep silent about Jesus been primarily external pressure, from others telling you to be silent, or has it been internal pressure, something inside you that tells you not to say anything?  Why do you think that is?
  5. In this passage Peter clearly states that he must obey God rather than men.  And yet, for many of us, our fear of man might lead us to obey men rather than God.  Why do you think this is?

Offering and Progress Against Budget

The offering baskets are passed.  I see that the weekly collection last week was $23,333.  Year to date giving is $1.271,236 which is $40,328 over budget.

Other Programming at Grace

On the back of the Order of Service are listed various programs.
  • CareNet: a program needing volunteers to “serve women who are discerning next steps during unplanned pregnancies.”
  • Guatemala Service Trip Meeting
  • Thank yous to the volunteers who put on the Grace Block Party
  • Celebrate Recovery (CR) “A safe place to find support if you are struggling with a difficult season of life.  CR is not just for addiction.  It is for all of us who need to go deeper in Christ when life gets hard.  Don’t struggle alone.”

Post Service Conversations

The service lasts 90 minutes.  After it is over, Jane turns to me in the pew.  She says “Thank you for being here and open to listen to our beliefs.  So few are.”  

I than have a five minute conversation with the woman next to me who is very pleasant.  She tells me that the hospital where she works has recently been taken over.  The new management skips over the “Lord” in the morning readings.  The sermon reminded her, she needs to speak up.  Her husband is a hunter and was up and out at 4am this morning to go duck hunting.

We return to the lobby and debrief with Pastor Jerry and Jane before leaving.

-- Peter