We are pleased to announce the release of Establishing the Future: A Guide to Supporting God's Mission through Spirit of Grace.  This short guide provides an easy breakdown of how you can support our mission financially.  You can preview the document below, or click the Download link to download your own copy.  Printed copies are also available in the church office.

After the congregational hearing on Sunday and Monday night's Leadership Team meeting to process that feedback, the second public draft ("Draft P2") of the proposed Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church are now available.  You can download them with this link:

Based on the feedback garnered at the congregational hearing on Sunday, March 17, 2019, the Leadership Team met on Monday, March 18 and adopted the following revisions:

1. Made the language “Congregation Meeting” and “Congregation Council” consistent throughout by replacing the word “congregational” with “congregation” and fixing capitalization. Ref: ​C5.06.01.​; ​C5.06.02.c.​ & .d.; ​C5.06.03.c.​; ​C11.01.01.​; ​C11.01.02.​; C13.09.02.​ & .c.
2. Substituted the language “Congregation Council” in place of “Leadership Team” wherever it occurs for consistency, except in ​C12.04.01.​ (which allows “Leadership Team” to serve as a legally interchangeable term for “Congregation Council”) and C13.09.01.​ (which reflects our current usage in the Leadership Covenant.) Ref: C5.05.01.b.​ & .c.1.; ​C5.06.01.b.​ & .c.
3. Corrected the typo in the last sentence of ​*C5.04.​ to read, “...the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran...”
4. Amended the first sentence of ​C12.08.​ to read, “The Congregation Council, or by continuing resolution of this congregation the pastor, shall be responsible for the employment and supervision of the staff of this congregation.”
5. Adopted continuing resolution ​C12.08A19.​, which delegates authority to the pastor per the amended ​C12.08.
6. Deleted ​C5.06.02.g.​ and ​C5.06.03.e.​, which granted the Council authority to delegate responsibility for certain parts of the Designated Gifts Fund Policy and Memorial Gifts Fund Policy, respectively.
7. Added a new subsection g to bylaw ​C5.06.02.​, the Designated Gifts Fund Policy, which now states, “In keeping with this congregation’s belief that gifts to the work of God should be recognized at the time of giving, no permanent recognition of designated gifts shall be established.”
8. Added a new subsection e to bylaw ​C5.06.03.​, the Memorial Gifts Fund Policy, now states, “In keeping with this congregation’s belief that gifts to the work of God should be recognized at the time of giving, no permanent recognition of memorial gifts shall be established.”

The first public draft of the proposed constitution, bylaws, and continuing resolutions of Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church is now available to download.  Remember that there will be a congregational hearing after church on Sunday, March 17.

It can be hard to talk about money in the church - most of us have strong feelings and lots of preconceived ideas about how we manage our money.  In fact, a lot of people would prefer that the church rarely talk about money, if at all!

I'm no different in that respect, but Jesus teaches about money more than any other topic in the Gospels except the Kingdom of God!  Money is important - not just for churches to keep the lights on and the staff paid, but because our attachment to money — really, our attachment to all kinds of stuff — directly impacts our relationship with Jesus.

When we hold tightly to what we have, focusing on how scarce money can be, money holds tightly onto us.  When we release our tight grip, practicing generosity, we find a more joyful and generous approach to our personal finances.

To get started supporting our ministry, visit our Giving Page.