Grab your basket and bring your friends and neighbors to our Annual Easter Egg Hunt! All kids through 5th grade are invited to participate.
We will gather in the Sanctuary before the hunt and reconvene in the Gym after the hunt! There will have prizes and goodies for all!
“Hop” on over for fun and fellowship!
(Rain Plan: We will hunt eggs inside, so please come regardless!)
Come join us as we exercise together and raise money for the Madison Relay for Life to support cancer cure research. The Relay for Life Exercise Boot Camp is starting the year at a pace appropriate for exercise novices, but will gradually increase in rigor. It involves cardiovascular and calisthenic exercises as well as strength training. The Exercise Boot Camp group will meet:
Sundays 3:00 to 4:15 pm
Tuesdays 6:00 to 7:15 pm
Wednesdays 6:00 to 7:15 pm
Thursdays 6:00 to 7:15 pm
In the gym when available, otherwise in the Craft Room (across from gym) or GPS Room (bright green room upstairs). It is also a great way to meet new people and hold yourself accountable to an exercise routine. For more information contact Ash Mahanna at ashmahanna@gmail.com. The cost is $5 per week, regardless of the number of sessions you attend. Proceeds go to support the Grace UMC Team for Relay for Life of Madison.
If you want to participate in the online Photo Contest, you must pre-register by Sunday Oct. 16th. Voting begins on Monday Oct. 17th on the Grace UMC Facebook page (and you can invite your friends to “like” the Grace page so they can vote too. Even if you don’t have a pet, you will want to come and bring your lawn chairs so you can see the Pet Show and vote for the People’s Choice Award!
SHAKE IT UP CAFÉ – Where Kids Carry Out God’s Recipe
Dates: July 11-15 (Monday through Friday)
Time: 5:45 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. 
Ages: 4 years – rising 6th grade
Grace Family – Join us for a church cookout on Friday July 15th, the final night of VBS at 7:00 p.m. Bring a mission item (see list) and help us celebrate our final night of VBS.
Children’s VBS Program will occur on Children’s Sunday, July 17th at 10:45 a.m.
We’re bringing kitchen fun to the kids at our Vacation Bible School, Shake It Up Café: Where Kids Carry Out God’s Recipe! Your children will become chefs-in-training at Shake It Up Café as we discover God’s recipe for living.
After a high-energy opening at Shake It Up Café, the chefs make their way to Kitchen à la King. Interactive Bible lessons reveal five secret ingredients for living as a follower of God, and your chefs will learn Bible Bite memory verses that will boost their faith long after VBS.
The children will expand on what they’ve learned by participating in a variety of activities: making their own art projects at Tangy & Tart Arts, singing new music at Wok & Roll Hits, exploring science activities at Foodology Factory, participating in recreational activities at Spork Sports, and enjoying tasty snacks at the Takeout Treatery.
Returning this year—VBS Store!
Grace Kids—You will earn points each night of VBS for doing things like donating mission items, bringing a friend, learning your memory verse, and general good behavior during each rotation. On Friday during the family cookout event, you will get to redeem your points at the VBS Store for special prizes. The kids with the top points in each class get to shop the VBS Store first!
For more information or to register for VBS, visit the church office Monday-Thursday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. or call 256-430-0003 or see the church website. You can register online at http://www.cokesburyvbs.com/shake-it-up-cafe/graceumchsv. Invite your friends!
In Christ,
Ranae Bartlett
VBS Director
Grace Family – We Need You!
Shake it Up Café is almost here! Thanks to the many volunteers who have agreed to serve. If you would still like to help or contribute to VBS, here are some additional items we would appreciate being donated:
Come by the VBS table and drop off your donation (check or cash), and we will record your tax deductible contribution. Consider sponsoring a t-shirt for $10.
Volunteers will be arriving early each night to get ready for VBS, and many are coming straight from work. A variety of snacks for our volunteers will be greatly appreciated. A sign-up sheet will be posted outside the kitchen.
MISSION ITEMS DURING VBS WEEK
ALL WEEK: Monetary donations will be collected each night that will go to support the Grace Missions Ministry Team.
Monday – Canned goods for the Food Pantry
Tuesday – School supplies for tornado victims
Wednesday – Pet supplies for the Ark Animal Shelter
Thursday – HEALS “Kit” Items—new this year!
HEALS stands for Health Establishments at Local Schools. They provide free health care to children at school-based clinics. Their administrative offices are located at1100 Meridian Street Huntsville, AL 35801. For more info, visit www.healsinc.org.
Collect all items from one kit or a select few – either way, you’ll make a great impact.
Kit for Clinics
Tylenol (infant/children strength)
Ibprophen (infant/children strength)
Disposable ice packs
Individual tissue packs
Adhesive bandages
Antibiotic Cream
Quart/gallon sealable plastic bags
Kit for Parents
Thermometers
Thermometer covers
Band-Aids
Antibiotic Cream
Kit for Kids
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Floss
Individual tissue packs
Crayons
Coloring Books/Children’s reading books
Heels for HEALS Kit
*Adult Athletic Tennis Shoes
(Adult sizes 6-10 for boy or girl)
Socks
*One point for each item donated EXCEPT for shoes. Ten (10) points will be given for each donation of new athletic shoes.
Friday – Items to support the Grace Missions Ministry Team
***Prizes will be awarded to the class collecting the most items each night and the most money for the week.***
If you would like to be an adult helper during this evening, please let Todd know.
I’m looking forward to next week’s lock-in and staying up all night long with dozens of hyper teenagers. Below is important information regarding the lock-in.
Entering & Exiting the Lock-In
The lock-in will begin at 7:30 pm and end at 6:00 am the following morning. It is important that youth have a ride home at 6:00 am in the morning as chaperones and the youth pastor will be cranky by this point. This year’s lock-in is a true lock-in where we will not be leaving church grounds all night. Youth will not be permitted to leave and come back, unless they their parents have spoken directly with me about it. Late arrivals are fine. Also, a release/medical form is required for all youth participants. I have a current copy of this for most of our regular youth on file – the form is good for one year. Forms are available on our church website and will be available at registration. All youth and chaperones will be required to sign in when they arrive at the lock-in. There is no cost to this year’s lock-in.
Adult Supervision
I need parents of regular Grace youth to provide at least one volunteer adult to chaperone one of the following shifts (see below) during the lock-in. This is considered to be a requirement of youth attendance at the lock-in. If your family can’t meet this requirement, please notify me in advance. Also, please let me know (email is preferable) which shift you plan on chaperoning at your earliest convenience so I can make sure we have enough adults for each shift
Early Bird Special – 7:30 to 10:30 pm
Midnight Shift – 10:30 pm to 1:00 am
Graveyard Shift – 1:00 to 6:00 am *restrictions apply (read below)
All of this is to ensure the safety of all youth – we expect to have many guests and visitors, which makes supervision even more important. If you plan on chaperoning during the “Graveyard Shift,” you must have completed Grace’s Safe Sanctuaries training. Joanne Weis is leading a Safe Sanctuaries training on Tuesday, January 12 at 6:30 pm. (originally scheduled for tonight, but rescheduled due to weather), so there is an opportunity for you to receive this training before the lock-in. Safe Sanctuaries training is recommended for all chaperones.
Additional note on adult supervision – I may not be present for the first hour of the lock-in pending the completion of the Grace Ministry Center due to Upward basketball games needing to be rescheduled for Friday night. If we have enough supervision for the graveyard shift and the building is finished, I may leave a few hours early to sleep a little before I will have to return to the church for basketball games all day on Saturday.
Food
We will provide soft drinks and water. All youth participants are asked to bring a snack or two to share. We will not be serving dinner, so if you want your child to have a well-balanced meal, please feed them at home before the lock-in. Orange juice and donuts will be available at 5:00 am. Adult chaperones are invited to eat food too!
What do I need to bring?
- Snack or two to share
- Release/Medical form (if you don’t have one on file)
- Adult chaperone
- Friends (youth who brings the most friends wins a digital camcorder)
- Plan on how to get home in the morning at 6:00 am
Other optional items you may want to think about
- Flashlight for flashlight tag
- Dark clothes for flashlight tag
- Sleeping bag/blanket/pillow
- Medicine/toiletries
- Video games (please no inappropriate video games) & Video game systems
- Anything you want to do all night (e.g., guitar, board games, cross stitch project, etc.)
What will the schedule be?
The schedule will be made after we know whether or not the Grace Ministry Center will be completed before the lock-in.
There will be an opportunity to bid on some items via silent auction in the Grace ministry center two weeks before the auction. We are accepting donations from now to May 23, but prefer to receive items prior to May 8 so that we may give it full exposure during our Stuff Auction. If you would like to make a donation, please let Todd Noren-Hentz or Linda Morgan know.
This year’s Stuff Auction will also include a full service spaghetti dinner served by our youth group. Tickets may be purchased from a youth for $10 in honor of the 10th Anniversary of Grace UMC which is also being celebrated on May 23. The Stuff Auction and Dinner will immediately follow the Grace Ministry Center Open House at 5:00 pm. It is not necessary to come to the dinner to participate in the auction. The auction will start at approximately 5:30. All youth and children may eat free.
Here’s a partial list of things auctioned in the Stuff Auction last year to give you an idea of the kinds of things that were donated.
Please fill out the form below to commit your donation to the Stuff Auction.
All of the following items were sold and raised money for the youth group.
We have both a daytime and evening option for this discussion group: Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. and Thursdays at noon. The Wednesday group will be lead by Lyn Barger and will begin on April 29 and run through May 27. The Thursday group will be lead by Todd Noren-Hentz and will begin on April 30 and run through May 28.
We are hoping this discussion group will be an open and fruitful place to talk about The Shack. We welcome anyone who has read the book, whether you’re part of another church or faith community or you don’t belong to any religious institution, or even if you’re just a regular ol’ member of Grace UMC. The Shack talks about many theological issues in a unique narrative form that gives emotional and spiritual weight to doctrines and theological ideas that have too often been stale or dry in our lives and in our churches. The Shack points to the depth of God’s love and cracks wide open the potential for our relationship with the living God.
In addition to our weekly discussion group, please see below for related online discussions from The Shack.
You can purchase The Shack directly from its publisher, Windblown Media at www.theshackbook.com.
Not a reader? Get the audio book here.
We have two options for the online part of The Shack discussion group – a Facebook based group and the forum below. Take your pick of whichever one is more convenient for you. Todd and Lyn will be cross posting thought provoking comments from both real-life and online groups, so you won’t miss out on anything.
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Grace United Methodist Church is excited to open its doors to the Grace Ministry Center. It is our hope and prayer that this new facility will be a gift to the community through the programs that it will house. We wish to cordially invite all members of the community to come and tour the Grace Ministry Center during our Open House, which is now open!
The Grace Ministry Center will more than double the floor space of Grace UMC, contains a full sized gym, walking track, stage, multi-purpose rooms, nursery facilities, and much more. At our open house, you can expect to see a little of what church at Grace is like in addition to our new building. We will provide delicious snacks and activities for children. Also, you can register to win one of several impressive gift baskets that various teams within our church have assembled for this occasion. Come as you are and drop by our Open House any time between 3 and 5 p.m. when it is scheduled in the winter of 2010 and stay as long or as short as you like. We’re looking forward to meeting you. Click here for directions to Grace UMC.
Immediately following the Open House (5:00 pm), you are invited to enjoy a spaghetti dinner provided by the Grace Youth Group and stay for their Stuff Auction fundraiser. Tickets to the spaghetti dinner will be $10 and may be purchased at the door. For more information, please call Joanne Weis at 430-0003, ext 805 or Todd Noren-Hentz, ext 806. |
Grace Ministry Center Open House on Facebook
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2113 Old Monrovia Rd.
Huntsville, AL 35806
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