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We’re practicing

Social Distancing

Join Us for an online Sunday worship experience which is timely in these unprecedented times.

(Service at our usual time 8:45 am)

Click link to take you to Pastor Angela’s message from March 22nd:

https://www.facebook.com/angela.denker.1/videos/10108338865698250/

The link to watch future messages is:

https://www.facebook.com/angela.denker.1

You are able to tune in even if you are not on Facebook.

Wednesday Night Lenten Messages(6:30 pm) will be online too with a message from Pastor Angela at same link as above.

 

 Please check out Pastor Angela Denker on Facebook.

It will definitely raise your Spirits

watching how her family is handling the social distancing.

 

Blessed be all Grace Church followers!

May all those in need be blessed with God’s never ending Grace.

We will walk on in these days ahead together, even if sometimes that means virtually.

 

Know that Pastor Angela is available for you by emailing her at pastor@gracebrownton.org, or 320-328-5533, please, leave a message.

You also may call Church Council President Keith at 320-260-1726.

 

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A Pastoral Letter to Members dated 3/15/2020

Update on COVID-19 in how it affects us. 

 

Dear Friends at Grace,

 

I am writing with an update for our church's plan for the next couple of weeks, based on new recommendations this morning from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

 

All Grace Lutheran programming not including Sunday morning worship is suspended until March 27.

 

Sunday morning worship will continue as planned the next two Sundays, with some special precautions due to the virus.

 

We will continue to encourage physical distancing outside your family for about 4-6 feet. We will celebrate Holy Communion using disposable individual plastic cups for wine for services on March 22. March 29 is not a communion service at Grace.

 

Please share the peace with a peace sign and greet each other verbally. Try to refrain from handshakes, hugs, or other physical contact.

 

We will receive our offering by procession up to the front of church, to avoid passing the offering plate and germ control.

 

Sunday Fellowship food and Wednesday night meals are suspended for the next two weeks. We will reevaluate on March 29 if we should hold our final Wednesday night meal on April 1.

 

Sunday School is suspended for the next two Sundays.

 

Wednesday night worship will be held online-only for the next two Wednesdays, with a Facebook live message from Pastor Angela. We will send a link to that video as well for anyone who is not active on Facebook.

 

Bible Study is suspended for the next two weeks, as is Confirmation.

 

The First Communion Class scheduled for March 22 will be rescheduled for May, with the First Communion Sunday to be announced pending consultation with family schedules.

 

If you are part of an at-risk group, please know that Jesus is present with you wherever you are -- and do not at all feel compelled to come to worship if you are at-risk or experiencing symptoms. Please also know that our church will continue to be there for each other in the days ahead. Call friends and family on the phone, particularly family and friends in senior living homes. Please let us know of ways we can help vulnerable people in our community as a church, whether people are in need of prayer, food, or even help with child care.

 

I want to close with the same words I shared with you all a few days ago: My challenge - and our challenge - in the days ahead as Christians is to balance our God-given practicality and wisdom with kindness and faith. That is not always easy, but it begins with loving God, others and ourselves — and sometimes that means doing things that seem backwards, like not touching each other or even missing physical worship if you aren’t feeling well or are at particular risk of infection or infecting others.

 

Know that I am here for you as your Pastor and blessed to be a part of Grace! We will walk on these days ahead together, even if sometimes that means virtually.

 

I am grateful for all of you today, and especially grateful for our Church Council and Staff Leadership in these uncertain days. Know that much prayer and discernment has gone into our decision-making, and that we are all committed to continuing to be a place where Jesus' presence is made real in a sometimes-frightening world.

 

In Jesus' love,
Pastor Angela

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Our new pastor has arrived!

Meet Rev. Angela Denker

Pastor Angela is thrilled to serve as Grace Brownton's new Pastor, continuing on a tradition of rural Midwestern Lutheran pastors on her mother's side, that tends to skip a generation. Pastor Angela comes to Grace after serving as interim teaching pastor at Easter Lutheran Church in Eagan, Minn., a call she took while writing her first book, Red State Christians, which was published by Fortress Press in August 2019. Prior to moving back home to Minnesota, Pastor Angela served as Pastor of Community Life and Discipleship at Messiah Lutheran Church in Orange County, CA, and as the solo pastor at St. Philip Lutheran Church outside Chicago. She served her pastoral internship in Las Vegas at Community Lutheran Church.

 

In addition to her work at Grace, Pastor Angela is a frequent contributor to Christian websites and magazines, as well as occasional writing for national newspapers and magazines. She blogs at A Good Christian Woman ... Not that One. Pastor Angela is a sought-after speaker and podcast guest and is currently working on a proposal for her second book, about hope in America. Prior to attending Luther Seminary and becoming a Pastor, Angela was a sportswriter based in Naples, Fla., so look out for those sports analogies in her sermons! She covered the Super Bowl in 2009 and the NCAA Final Four in 2005. When she's not writing or serving the church - or teaching courses at Luther Seminary - you can find Angela wrangling her two small boys: Jacob, (7) and Joshua (4); or trying not to get clobbered on the tennis court by her husband, Ben, a mechanical engineer who she met playing basketball at the University of Missouri.

 

Pastor Angela grew up in nearby Maple Grove, Minn., where she attended Lord of Life Lutheran Church. She serves Grace 3/4 time and is typically available in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and other days by appointment. Reach her anytime via phone, text or email. Her days off are Thursdays and Fridays.