Worship and Music
We gather for worship every Sunday morning at 9:30 am. Our worship service is built around the Word of God and celebration of the Eucharist. Lay leadership is integral to our worship.
Our choir welcomes anyone wishing to make a joyful noise to the Lord. The choir assists in worship leadership and offers anthems to the glory of God. We also have a bell choir and welcome participation!
Dr. Dennis Schmidt, Minister of Music
Children are welcome at Grace. We have a nursery if little ones get restless, but we also encourage children to participate in worship. We have a children’s sermon each week, a children’s bulletin, and worship bags for little ones. We also have a children’s book library, located in a corner of the sanctuary. We’d love to have you join us Sunday morning! We also meet once a month to plan our music service. Please join us!
Social Ministry
The Social Ministry Committee is a joyful active committee at Grace. We meet every month to plan our events and activities. Sometimes we will meet after church on Sundays, other times we meet at 7:00 every second Monday of the month and still other times we meet for pizza and discussion. Join us! It is a committee of outreach into our immediate church family, our city, and beyond. Like a pebble dropped into the center of a pond, our reach ripples out from our church.
We realize that people have many ways to give—monetary donations, possessions, time and talent! The committee attempts to educate the members of Grace about social issues in our community and in the greater world. In the past, Social Ministry has sponsored collection drives for charitable organizations such as: Needham Food Pantry, Women of Means, Ruth House, Greentree Boy’s Home, Sandra’s Lodge, Horizons for Homeless Children, back to school supplies for children living in teenaged group homes through Lutheran Social Services, among others. We have organized the making and mailing of care packages to individuals serving our country in Iraq. We have served meals through the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter at University Lutheran Church in Cambridge, picked up trash at Horseford Phon, Walked for Hunger, and worked on Habitat for Humanity as "homesteaders" in a Blue Hill neighborhood in Boston.
We have identified the Greentree Girls Home in Arlington as "our" Lutheran Social Services program, and are working at supporting these young women in a variety of ways. We were able to fill wish lists for Christmas, send them Easter baskets of goodies, as well as collect school supplies for them. The Social Ministry committee also hosts educational forums for the congregation from time to time.
Grace serves fairly traded coffee from Equal Exchange at our coffee hour following worship every Sunday, and we provide Fair Trade Coffee for purchase on a monthly basis. We also support a table at the Needham Craft Fair to provide the community an opportunity to purchase Fair Trade Items. We also encourage giving to the ELCA Domestic Disaster Response and Lutheran World Relief to fight world hunger and to eradicate suffering in the wake of disasters.
-Lindsay
Director of Social Ministry Committee
Stewardship
The second definition of "stewardship" according to Miriam Webster reads: "the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care."
As Lutheran Christians, we believe that all we have has been entrusted to our care, our very selves, our time, and our possessions. We believe that the gifts we’ve been given are for the sake of the word. Stewardship is about how we manage all that’s been entrusted to us. Each fall we have a specific focus on stewardship, but it’s really a life-long discipline of heightened awareness and intentional practice. It includes our use of time, money, leisure, work and of resources. Stewardship invites reflection on our gift-giving, our financial practices, the cars we drive, the choices we make on a daily basis. It also includes a responsibility to be in touch with the ways in which we’re gifted, and a calling to use that giftedness for the sake of the world.
Volunteering
Members of Grace are encouraged to share their time and talents with the congregation and have the opportunity to volunteer for assignments to serve a few times each year. Each Sunday, a greeter welcomes people at the door and encourages them to join our coffee fellowship after service. Ushers seat people and assist with collection of the offering and with communion. Acolytes light the altar candles that have been prepared by members of the altar guild. The assistant minister reads the Bible lessons and prayers and also assists with communion. Choir members and musicians enhance the service with their gift of music. Volunteers care for young children in the nursery so that parents can focus on the service while coffee hosts provide simple snacks and beverages for people to enjoy while socializing after church.
Other volunteer opportunities include teaching Sunday School or membership on committees that plan music for worship, maintain the building, or plan social events. There is a great variety of opportunities for adults and teenagers to be active in the life of Grace Lutheran Church, whether by serving regularly or participating in activities and tasks which are conducted on a more occasional basis. If you would like to volunteer or get more information, please speak with a council member or contact the church secretary at 781-444-3315.
