COUNCIL NEWS
Council met in person on Thursday, June 17th. Among other items, council discussed the recent changes in the CDC COVID guidelines. The CDC website includes the following information:
- “Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing”. Fully vaccinated means that you’ve had the 2nd shot of vaccine 2 or more weeks ago or the one shot of the J&J vaccine 2 or more weeks ago.
- “Prevention measures are still recommended for unvaccinated people”
As a result, council decided to proceed as follows effective Sunday June 27th:
- Fully vaccinated people do not have to wear a mask during service if they choose not to. Of course, you can still wear one if you feel more comfortable doing so.
- Unvaccinated people are still required to wear a mask during service.
- Continue with all other Covid restrictions for
now which include:
- Social distancing seating and “Passing of the Peace”
- Hands free offering and communion
Council did not want to remove all the prevention measures at one time, but will continue to evaluate these items at future council meetings. As has been the practice, anyone who has Covid symptoms should quarantine per CDC guidelines.
The next council meeting is on Thursday, July 15th at 7:00pm.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
If you’ve been out and about at all over the past month, I’m sure you’ve noticed that people have quickly reverted to the “pre-pandemic normal”. Or at least mostly so. From a mental health standpoint, it was a long time coming. Sadly, the pandemic resulted in many lost lives which the news counted for us a daily basis. And even worse, many of those who passed did so without family members by their side. I’m not sure about you, but at some point, I just stopped watching and listening to the news. As we’ve progressed back to normal, there has been a lot of discussion about the mental impact that the Covid restrictions had on those who were isolated from family. Especially the elderly. Whether that be those who were in long term care facilities or those just isolated in their own homes. I’m not sure if anything should or could have been done differently, obviously no one was preparing for such a crisis ahead of time. Let’s just pray we don’t have a need to get it right “the next time” because hopefully there is no next time. The pandemic reminded everyone of the importance of family interaction, and that includes the church family. And it taught me a lesson about not taking anything for granted, including being able to worship every Sunday. Thank the Lord for our physical building, those who worship in it, and just being able to meet to worship! I pray that the long-term impact of the pandemic is that it makes our church family stronger, not weaker.
Dann Appolonia
President, Grace Council
Grace Lutheran Church is now on Facebook. Search on Facebook for Grace Lutheran Church and “like” us. We will be updating the Facebook page with more information and pictures. If you have any pictures or any information that you want posted on the page, please contact Amy Parnell at 724-986-8510 or amy.par@live.com.
Keep These Dates In Mind
August 14 & 15, 2021: Praise and Worship in the Park (Chess Park), First Christian Church.
September 12, 2021 The MMVLP picnic will be held on Sunday, September 12, pavilion
16 at Cedar Creek Park. We will be having a worship service at the picnic. More details to
come in July. Hope to see you there.
Learning & Youth Committee
Grace had its annual Graduation Blessing on May 30, 2021. Both Courtney and Grant attended worship service and were given a special prayer lead by Dominick and a gift to carry with them as they move and continue their own relationship with God, from Grace. After service we all gathered downstairs for cake!
Grace is please to announce that Sunday School has officially restarted. We had our first Sunday School on June 20,2021 with Willow in attendance. We had just as much fun as Willow did that Sunday and can’t wait to meet again! We are hopeful to have several in attendance on July 11. That is the Sunday that was picked for the month of July. Kirra and Tracy will lead during the summer months and are looking for volunteers to help lead during the school year.