September 2013 Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church ... - Clover

The Pastor’s Column
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Every second Wednesday morning of the month,
after the Women’s Bible study, a group stays to
work in the kitchen washing potatoes, cutting green
beans, dicing and slicing ham. Our church soon begins
to fill with mouthwatering aromas of the food
a group of men of Grace will transport later that day
to Faith Mission.
Faith Mission began February 6, 1966 when, in response
to the closing of the City Mission, Lutheran
Pastor Sam Goers and two other men of Trinity Lutheran
Church in downtown Columbus, served as
Faith Mission’s first board members and volunteer
staff. Back then the Mission opened
at 5:00 pm to provide a meal and beds
for twelve men. Faith Mission became
part of Lutheran Social Services
(LSS) in 1998. Today it is a 24-hour
emergency shelter serving up to 220
men and 46 women at three locations. Faith Mission
is the only organization in Franklin County to serve
three meals a day, every day of the year. Since its
start, Faith Mission has served the homeless community
by offering a secure, Christian-based environment
that is not only a place for a hot meal and a
warm bed, but also a haven of hope for women and
men (learn more at
www.faithmission.
org).
Our congregation’s
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involvement goes
back to Faith Mission’s
earliest days.
This past trip I was able to accompany Tom Moser,
Tom Seamon, Larry Cepek, Dave Patterson and St.
Paul Lutheran Church member Phil Gross. We loaded
the hot roasters of food and
large cans of applesauce into Tom
Moser’s van. We made our way
downtown where the Mission
staff greeted us as “old friends.”
Everyone knew the drill as we
set up to serve the food.
It’s a powerful experience. It is
so easy for “the homeless” and “the hungry” to remain
anonymous and “faceless” to those of us blessed
with bounty. It’s a powerful experience to hear
words of thanks and “God bless you” from those who
live meal-to-meal and day-to-day. There are as many
stories as there are men to feed at the Mission. But
the story we all share, the one that joins all of us is
It’s a powerful experience to
hear words of thanks and “God
bless you” from those who live
meal-to-meal and day-to-day.
the story of God’s love for the
world in Jesus Christ.
Our congregation’s mission
statement calls us to reach
out with the love of Jesus to
grow disciples and serve our
community. Among the many ways we seek to be
faithful to this call, every second Wednesday of each
month a group of women and men of Grace live this
mission by serving our Lord and the community of
Faith Mission.
With you serving our community
in body, mind and spirit,
Pastor Will
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
100 E. Schrock Road, Westerville, OH 43081
PH: (614) 882-3026 Web: www.grace43081.org
e-mail: office@grace43081.org
Rev. William A. Hartfelder, Senior Pastor
VM 11
w.hartfelder@grace43081.org
Rev. Richard O. Walston, Visitation Pastor
Cell (614)832-9159 rjwalston@msn.com
Lora Moore, Director of Music Ministries
Linda Hoch, Organist
Kathy Snead, Office Administrator
VM 18
k.snead@grace43081.org
Marjie Penn, Receptionist/Secretary
Paul Hotchkiss, Custodian
Jack Pfeifer, Property Manager
wrtjack@yahoo.com
Jocelyn Shuman, Preschool Director;
VM 14 littleblessingspreschool@grace43081.org
The VOICE of Grace September 2013 - Page 2