Grace Lutheran Church To Celebrate 10th Anniversary

Grace Lutheran Church, located across from Madison Park at the corner of Madison & Grace Avenues in Lakewood, is celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2013 under the theme “More Grace to Come.” “The congregation is planning a number of special worship services, servant events, and other activities during the course of the year,” says the Rev. George R. Hansell, Jr., who has served the congregation for eight years of its ten-year history.

The congregation came into existence on January 1, 2003 when the congregants of Pentecost Lutheran Church and Saints Peter & Paul Lutheran Church, both of Lakewood, decided to come together as one congregation to more effectively carry out mission and ministry in Lakewood. The congregation adopted as its mission statement, “Grace Lutheran Church shares the Good News of Jesus Christ with all people.” To help advance that mission, in 2008 the congregation organized Grace Preschool under the auspices of the Lutheran Development Ministry of Lakewood, a separately incorporated entity of the congregation. The congregation will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the preschool ministry in a special service on April 28.

During its ten years of ministry, the congregation has attempted to serve and proclaim its message to the community in a variety of ways. In 2005, the congregation started a Kid’s Church Ministry for children ages 4 through 12. Kid’s Church happens on the first three Saturdays of every month from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. Lunch is served to the children after the sessions. Also in 2005, Pastor Hansell began “The Grace Crusade.” A big tent would be set up for a week on the church’s property, and a 3-day evangelistic crusade would be held each June. The Sunday School ministry has put on plays and cantatas at Christmas and Easter, organized lock-ins, Sunday School retreats off-campus, and even gone to the Creation Museum near Cincinnati and to the Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The members of Grace kicked off the year with a Servant Event on Sunday, Jan. 20. From October through March, the members of Grace enjoy fellowship with one another at an After-Worship Luncheon on the third Sunday of each month. On the Jan. 20 occasion, between 50 and 60 members gathered together to make over 100 box lunches for the homeless and others served by the St. Herman’s House of Hospitality.

On Feb. 10, the congregation will have its first special anniversary service of the year at 10:30 a.m. Preaching at the service will be the Rev. Dr. Carl Krueger, President of the SELC District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. A dynamic preacher, Dr. Krueger will preach on the anniversary theme, “More Grace to Come,” based on the Scripture recorded in James 4:6. The community is invited to this special service and to a free chili luncheon immediately following the service.

For more information concerning the Feb. 10 service and luncheon, or for information on any of the other activities and services planned by the congregation, people may contact Pastor Hansell at the Church Office: (216) 221-4959.

George Hansell, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church since October 31, 2004.