We will be celebrating Holy Communion together this Sunday, May 5th. All are welcome at the table. If you worship with us online, please gather your elements to celebrate with us at the same time.

Scriptures for next week

Acts 1:15-17,21-26

Psalm 1

John 17:6-19

May Missional Gifts

The missional giving for the month of May will go towards the "Love Offering". This is an offering collected yearly when our Annual Conference is held. It is combined to be used from 3-4 areas of need and service. There are some details about this year's recipients in a section of this newsletter.

If you are giving towards mission, please use one of the envelopes in the back that are labeled or make a note in the memo line of your check. Thank you.

Wednesday, May 8th is our annual clean-up day. We have many people already signed up to come, but of course, many hands make light work. You are welcome to come and give a little bit of time, even if you cannot stay until the end, or did not sign up.

Work begins at 9am.

Bring tools, rakes, shovels, and gloves if you can.

With the warmer weather, you may be ready to start your Spring cleaning; as you do, please start to gather items to give to the church rummage sale. You may bring in your donations during office hours or on Sunday mornings. Two classrooms have been designated for sale storage, please check the signs on the doors, as the rooms have a theme to help with the sorting process.

Reminder--no books or electronics please.

Mark your calendars for the sale-- June 20th and 21st.

Sign-ups will be showing up soon to help with set-up and sales!

Each year, churches in the Minnesota Annual Conference take a Love Offering for missions. The offering is brought to annual conference session—a gathering of United Methodist clergy and laity from across the state. The theme of the 2024 Annual Conference session—taking place in Bloomington on May 29-30—is “Jesus. Redeemer.” The Love Offering this year will help our neighbors—in Minnesota and around the world—heal from trauma and find safety. The funds from this year’s offering will go to a new United Methodist trauma care center in Ukraine, immigration legal support in partnership with Volunteer Lawyer Network, special programming aimed at reducing trauma at Emma Norton Services’ new Restoring Waters development, and Volunteers in Mission Scholarships.

Please check out the article in the Echo this week that celebrates the successful food drive held by area churches for March. LAFS final update for the March campaign.

Finance Team

Quarterly update and role of this team



The job of the Finance Committee is simple and straight forward. It is to provide clear, easy to understand financial information. This document provides a measurement of the church's progress in reaching its' financial goals.

The document does not include contributions that the donor has specified for a specific purpose, such as a contribution earmarked for a Youth Mission trip. The church then must use it for only that purpose and it cannot be used for other bills or expenses. Please note that this quarterly report represents revenue and expenses for 25% of the year. Therefore, revenue is under budget by $7,000 and expenses are under budget by $13,540. The under budgeted expenses is mainly due to unfilled staff positions.

Grace UMC Quarterly Financial Report as of MARCH 31

2024 Annual Budget

GIVING

General Fund $44,883 $ 175,000

God-Faith 0 $ 30,000

Loose Giving $752 $ 2,500

Total Giving $ 45,635 $ 207,500

MISCELLEANOUS

Building Rental Fees $39 $ 1,500

Interest Earned $861 $ 1,808

Rummage Sale 0 $ 5,000

Total Miscellaneous $ 900 $ 8,308

Total Revenue $ 46,535 $ 215,808

ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL $7,705 $ 31,300

PROGRAMS $528 $ 8,950

TRUSTEES $11,961 $ 58,050

STAFF PARISH RELATIONS $20,803 $ 119,853

Total Expenses $ 40,997 $ 218,153

REVENUE OVER (UNDER) EXPENSES $ 5,538 $ (2,345)

The nine members of the Finance Team ask for God's wisdom as we share our financial information with "respect and in order" so that He will be pleased and our church will be a good witness to the world of financial integrity

The church office is open Monday through Thursday, 9am until noon. Ring the doorbell and we will come to open the south door!

The building and office are closed on Fridays and Saturdays.



Church office phone: 218-568-5755

-- Church office (for all general inquiries and administrative/clerical duties)

graceumcpequotlakes@gmail.com



 -- Pastor Jen Matthees – jenmatt20@gmail.com

-- Ann Hutchings-Congregational Care Assistant- graceumccare@gmail.com

If you have something that should be added to this newsletter from your group or mission, please speak with Pastor Jen or email the details to her at jenmatt20@gmail.com. The E-Grace is generally completed by noon on Thursdays, so articles need to be received by Thursday 10am at the very latest.



If you wish to connect with me directly and it is not an emergency, please know that I will respond as needed during pretty regular office hours. I am generally in the church on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from at least 10-1, call the office to be sure, as my weeks may vary. I check my emails frequently throughout the day, and this is the best way to contact me. Friday is my day off as needs allow.

-Pastor Jen

Important note

If you are mailing something to the church, you must use our P.O. Box for the address. We do not receive mail at the church, and if you use the physical church address it will get returned and could delay your notices to us or offerings.

P.O. Box 276

Pequot Lakes, MN 56472