Dear Friends in Christ,

During these anxious days, it is wonderful to see the ways in which we manifest connection, community, and care for one another. Even apart, we are together in Christ!

We will continue to worship in our new pattern via livestream. On Wednesdays in Lent, through April 1, we will livestream Morning Prayer at 11:30am and Evening Prayer at 7pm. The livestream of Sunday worship begins at 8:30am. All of these services will be archived shortly after they are broadcast and will continue to be available on the Grace River Forest YouTube channel. You can also access them via the Livestream Worship page here on the website. 

Connection and care

Grace has begun a program to call and check-in on our older members. We could use volunteers to help meet any needs that are identified, such as running errands or getting groceries. Our Parish Nurse, Pat Gulik, is compiling a list of people willing to help in this way; contact her at , or leave a message for her at Grace at 708-366-6900 ext. 219.

Financial support for Grace Church and our benevolence partners

Dear people of Grace, as we work together to provide connection, community, and care, our ministry needs your financial help. We are committed to providing ongoing financial support to our benevolence ministry partners, many of whom are on the front lines of responding to people in need during the COVID-19 crisis. Grace is also committed to supporting our staff members, including part-time and hourly workers, with salaries and benefits as they continue to focus on serving the mission and ministry of Grace. Our School needs our ongoing support as well, as our faithful teachers and staff manage online classrooms and provide e-learning to students at home. Our teachers have made this transformation expertly and with incredible speed.

I know that this time is financially challenging for many of you. For those of us who are able, this is a time to continue and even increase our financial support of Grace Lutheran Church and School. In our family, we find ourselves spending less money as there is less for us to go out and do. We will, therefore, increase our giving to Grace. If this is possible for you as well, please consider doing so. If you have not yet moved to electronic giving, this may be the right time for you to give it a try. More information is at the bottom of this email.

If you find yourself in financial distress, please don’t feel pressured to give to Grace. And reach out to me if you need to do so.

Please know that you are all, as always, in my prayers. By God’s grace we will get through this together.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Lyle

Electronic giving

• Make one-time gifts or set up regular scheduled transactions at Grace's secure online giving page.
• You have the option of using a credit or debit card, or setting up regular ACH transfers (for which Grace does not have to pay a fee).
• Another option is to use the online bill-paying service at your bank to make "payments" to Grace Lutheran Church and School.

By U.S. mail

Grace Church is still receiving mail — you can mail checks (no cash) to Grace at 7300 Division Street, River Forest, Illinois 60305.