Grace's Blog July - December 2026
“I want to sign up but…”
It feels like every week in church we’re announcing another opportunity. Come join us for Family Promise! Come learn how to serve communion! Come to a Book Club! The list goes on and on. I love this about our church — there are so many opportunities: to learn, to connect, to serve.
However, I’m sometimes approached by people in a whisper who tell me, “I want to help, but…” What follows the but is any number of really good reasons. Things like, “I was out of town for the meeting,” or “I’m worried about not being raised Lutheran,” or “Do I have to know all the answers to come, or be the perfect person to serve communion?”
I don’t know what your “but” is, but if you have one, I want to address a couple of upcoming opportunities — and the conflicts that have come up for people around them.
Family Promise
We’ve had two meetings to onboard people for Family Promise. However, these meetings conflicted with other events for some folks. You can still be part of the Grace Team serving at Family Promise — in fact, we hope you will! It will take a village to get this going and keep it happening throughout the year.
If you weren’t able to attend either meeting, please still sign up to be a volunteer: familypromiseanoka.org/volunteer. You can also reach out to Dave Jenkins, our Family Promise lead — he’ll get in touch with you and make sure you have the information you need so you can join us in serving starting September 20th.
Mark September 20th–27th on your calendar. We need help serving meals on Sunday, Tuesday, and Saturday morning.
Coffee Set-up/Clean-up
We’ve significantly changed how coffee set-up and clean-up work. We used to ask people to sign up for one week a month, and that was too much for some — and that’s okay. I’ve had people say, “Pastor, I’d like to help, but I can only do it now and then.” That’s just fine; many hands make light work.
Email Marie Kolar at and tell her what date and time work for you, and she’ll get you on the schedule. If you try it once and it’s not for you, feel free to step down. If you try it once and think, “That was easy, I can do it again,” let Marie know and we’ll work with your schedule.
Worship Volunteers
There are so many ways to help during worship — from ushering, to setting up communion, to helping with tech, to even being a reader. Sometimes this feels really intimidating: “What if I mess up?” I want to assure you there is grace upon grace. Some people have tried tech and felt it was too much; for others, it’s natural and easy. We want everyone to have the opportunity to worship and to participate.
If you have an “I want to, but…” question on your heart, please reach out to me or anyone on staff. We will take your question seriously and help you think it through. More than anything, we want you to know we are grateful for all the ways you share yourself and give of your time for our community.
Please know that God works beyond our “buts” and equips us with what we need so that we might all grow in faith and be better together.
Blessings,
Pastor Joanna Mitchell
August 6, 2026
What is God like? Where are you seeing God today?
I go to centering prayer on Thursday mornings. A quiet time to listen to God. This morning, I envisioned God as Jessica, the guide I met in Denali National Park. Jessica led a small group of hikers into the park. She was the most chill, hiking leader I have EVER encountered.
Denali is an interesting park. There are no actual trails, or very few. They invite people to go off trail, and in fact not to make trails. Explore the tundra as it is. Jessica led 12 of us on a 3–4-mile hike through the bogs, and water, and up a small hill and over a ridge.
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I had a hard time following. I was out in front and yelling, “Jessica are we going this way?” Jessica would smile and say, “Yes in that direction.” And then give a wave of her hands.
I wonder if God is like Jessica. Leading us with a wave of the hands and a general direction. She is willing to let the few people who can’t stay behind go out ahead but is constantly paying attention to make sure everyone is still there and hasn’t gotten lost. I am pretty sure God doesn’t care about us peaking mountains, or even being on the path, but assures us of whatever path we are on, that God is there.
I am grateful today, that God let me experience the leadership of Jessica. Her calmness, her go with the flow attitude, her ability to accompany and care and to help me see God in a new way. Where are you seeing God today?
Blessings,
Pastor Joanna
P.S. In other news our audio equipment did not work last Sunday in worship, it has since been fixed. Our worship didn’t get streamed onto YouTube until Weds. evenings. Click here to watch our Weds. evening service. Thank you for your understanding and your patience.
July 30, 2026
Celebrating Together and Community Ice Cream Socials
I eat dessert every night. This probably is surprising to some of you. But I do. I grew up in a household where we never had special beverages- everyone ALWAYS ordered water at a restaurant, but we also ALWAYS got dessert. We typically shared it, but it was so normal to end the meal with a small sweet treat.
Perhaps my need to eat dessert every night explains why I am not the best at celebrating things. I like to have little daily celebrations. I embrace the “This is the day, that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” mentality. And then when it comes to big celebrations, I am kind of a fiasco. I didn’t buy flowers whenever my daughters had a recital or special event. I literally forgot Helena’s graduation present and card at our house when we went out to Madison to attend her commencement.
But we are invited to celebrate. When the shepherd finds his lost sheep, he calls all his friends and neighbors in celebration. When the woman finds her lost coin, she throws a party in thanksgiving. And when the son who was lost comes home at last to his father, the father kills the fatted calf and they have a party! I typically rejoice, by quoting the scripture, “Let’s kill the fatted calf! What was lost is now found! Yay!” And that is the end of my celebration.
This is actually something I am working on as person, celebrating more and better. How do we celebrate in a meaningful way and acknowledge the many good things that are happening in our lives and at Grace?
I have invited our staff and Vision Board to ponder how we might celebrate more. Their solution… More Ice Cream! As a dessert lover, I’m all in!
The plan is simple on the 5th Sunday of the month and the preceding Wednesday we will be having an ice cream social in celebration. In celebration of what, you might be wondering? This is where you come in! I am sure there is a lot to celebrate. I would like you to send in the things you are celebrating this month, or this year, and together as a community we will lift this up.
For me… in March, Jeff and I celebrated 25 years of marriage! Thanks be to God! I am celebrating in August my 7th year as a Pastor at Grace. What are you celebrating?
Here is what I need you to do:
- Fill out a card in worship and tell us what you are celebrating
- Send us an email at so we can make a compilation of our celebrations.
- Show up on Wednesday August 26th or Sunday August 30th and enjoy ice cream and share with your neighbor what you are celebrating.
Maybe it’s a lost tooth for a child, or perhaps a career change, or completing your treatment, maybe it’s a fruitful gardening season, or making a new friend, or starting a new school. We can’t wait to celebrate with you.
Blessings,
Pastor Joanna Mitchell
P.S. I actually won’t be in town for either of these ice cream socials, and it is not because I am against celebrating. It is because I will be celebrating my friend Alison’s 50th birthday with her in Paris on August 29th. So please know I will be celebrating in spirit if not in person.
July 23, 2026
Family Promise – Calling all Volunteers
As you have been hearing these past few months, there are many changes taking place at Family Promise! They have just opened a new “Guest House” on July 1st that houses 8 families in need of a housing support until they find a new permanent home.
Grace is sponsoring one of the new apartments and the first family has already moved in! When the day comes for this family to leave for their new permanent home, a team from Grace will be sent into thoroughly clean and prep the apartment for the next family. A volunteer cleaning crew of 4-5 will be needed.
Four times a year Grace will also act as the “Host” congregation for the entire guest house for a week. During these weeks teams from Grace will be hosting 3 events at the Guest House:
- 6:00pm Sunday evening: We will need 2-3 volunteers to prepare and serve a light meal and 2-3 volunteers to assist with set up and clean up.
- 6:00pm Tuesday evening: We will need 2-3 volunteers to prepare and serve the meal, 2-3 volunteers to assist with set up and clean up, and 2 volunteers to host a children’s activity.
- 9:00am Saturday morning: We will need 2-3 volunteers to prepare and serve the brunch, 2-3 volunteers to be hospitality ambassadors, and 2-3 volunteers to do a final cleaning in preparation for the next team.
All three of these events will offer a great opportunity for people from Grace to meet and interact with the families staying at the guest house. Volunteers will be able to pick and choose their preferred job, and work as many or as few as they wish. We will be establishing a “Sign up Genius” to begin filling these slots once our volunteers have been through an “on-boarding” process through Family Promise (which is required).
The first week that Grace has committed to acting as the Host congregation will be September 20th-26th. We are looking to establish a set of volunteers for this first week during the month of August. The Family Promise ministry team will be hosting TWO orientation sessions for volunteers On Sunday August 9th between services (9:30-10:15am), and Wednesday August 12th 5:30-6:30pm (before Wednesday worship). Please attend one of the sessions.
There is an Advertisement in Grace-at-a-Glance for the next few weeks with a QR code to scan that you can use to start the on-boarding process or call Dave Jenkins, Gayle Pacholl or Scott Christensen. However, for anyone who needs help, we’re there to help you and explain more during the orientation session!
Volunteering to serve at Family Promise, is an exciting way to get involved at Grace Lutheran.
July 16, 2026
Preaching with Caution
Happy Summer Grace Folks!
I hope you all are enjoying some of the lazy days of summer, while also staying safe in this intense heat and being cautious with the difficult air quality. I’ve been paying close attention to the weather cautions we’ve been given. Partly because my daughter is out hiking and I want her to stay safe. Partly because our church went to Habitat this morning (please pray for us).
I want to issue a cautionary note about this upcoming Sunday’s Bible reading. We are reading Genesis 38, the story of Tamar. If you don’t recognize the name or the story, you’re in good company — it’s unfamiliar for a reason. It’s a hard text. Hard because of the way Tamar is treated. Hard because of the number of references to sex (this is not a PG Sunday School reading at all — you might want to send your kids to kids’ time). Hard because of the lack of justice on display.
You might be wondering, “Why are we reading this, Pastor Joanna?” Good question! Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it isn’t important. Tamar is part of both King David’s and Jesus’ genealogy (read Matthew 1) — without her actions and forethought, that line would look very different. God worked through her even when the world around her didn’t think she was important or worth much. God does the same for us — working through us no matter how we’re viewed by others, or what harmful labels the world might try to put on us.
So please receive this cautionary note: this scripture is difficult. Feel free to send your kids elsewhere during the reading, or be prepared for a rich conversation if they happen to be listening closely. I’d encourage you to read Genesis 38 yourself this week and let me know what you think. Pray for me as I write this sermon.
And may we all remember women like Tamar, who lived their faith boldly and courageously even when others would have preferred she just go away. As hard as this text is, I am thankful for her.
Blessings,
Pastor Joanna Mitchell
July 9, 2026
Pack the Pantry
As we successfully wrapped up our second annual “Pack the Pantry” Challenge to support Hope4Youth, a tremendous THANK YOU to all who donated! Jan Anderson and I loaded up my truck on Monday and made the delivery to Hope4Youth loading dock, and also presented a few checks, including one from Grace Lutheran Church.
Jan and I were not able to take a formal tally, but the response from our congregation was tremendous, and certainly exceeded what we were able to donate last year. I was especially impressed with the quantity of baby diapers and personal items that were donated this year. Jan, also, delivered a very heart-felt generosity moment at worship services a few weeks ago. That certainly inspired many to step up to meet this challenge!
Thank you to all who continue to support the youth and the mission of Hope4Youth!
Blessings, Scott Christensen
WOW, WOW, WOW, Grace Lutheran Church!
I came in on June 30th and was able to see all the amazing piles of donations from the congregation. It is absolutely amazing and as I was going through it – you brought in everything we needed! Our underwear bins, baby wipes, and body lotion/wash bins were completely empty and they are now filled!
I was able to weigh it all in for you. THANK YOU to Grace for all this amazing support to HOPE 4 Youth!
149 lbs. Food
58 lbs. Underwear
194.8 lbs. Hygiene
53.6 lbs. Drinks
172.8 lbs. Diapers
THANK YOU!
Mari Dahlke
Community Engagement Coordinator, HOPE 4 Youth
July 2, 2026
Home
Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to attend Family Promise’s Grand Opening of their new guest house! It was the third time I had been there, but the first time where every room was filled and furnished and along with a ribbon cutting in the pouring rain, there were warm and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. If that doesn’t say home, I don’t know what does! We are just days away from when Family Promise will welcome the first families of guests into this new home!
I learned at this event that Family Promise was founded in February 2008, when a group of women met in a church basement during a blizzard. They decided then and there that was the last winter they would let families experiencing homelessness sleep in their cars in winter. So it only makes sense that the new iteration of their vision, an apartment style guest house would also have it’s grand opening in the midst of challenging weather conditions. When you have a home, unseasonable weather makes no difference. You have a roof over your head, but to one who doesn’t, having a place to call home makes all the difference.
A few of my favorite features of the new guest house are the community room and play space for kids, the mail boxes (many people don’t know this is one of the biggest barriers for homeless people seeking employment or applying for places to stay, without a mailing address it can be impossible), and of course the Grace Lutheran Church sponsored apartment. This is a commitment we have made as a congregation. We will be funding this apartment, and welcoming new families with supplies with each of their stays. This is in addition to our commitment to provide meals for the whole facility for 4 weeks of the year. I hope that if you feel called to get involved with this ministry or even if you are interested in learning more that you would seek out some of our Family Promise Leaders and learn more!
Before the new guests arrive, Family Promise needs to finish stocking the apartments with general household supplies (trash cans, cleaning supplies). I invite you to check out the Amazon wish list they created specifically for upcoming Guest House needs. Please help us gather the items that will create a welcoming environment for the families who walk through Family Promise’s doors.
Thank you
Pastor Maria Markman
