To walk with God is not simply attending services once a week or less if you choose – that is being an acquaintance. If you want a close personal relationship with someone, you need to spend time with them. To have a close personal relationship with God, it is the same thing. You need to spend time with Him. Time reading His word, time praying, time listening and time learning from and teaching others from what God has shown you.

Get Involved

“Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving. There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.”   – 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 NLT

We all have gifts – even when we think we don’t. God has given them to us for a reason —– to use them for Him. The only question left is – will you use yours?

Get involved in your local church and in doing so you may be able to help with God’s global church as well. McConnell is a small community, but here at Grace there are still opportunities for you to use the gifts God has given you.

“God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” — Romans 12: 6-8 NLT

God has given each and every one of us spiritual gifts. It is then our responsibility to use those gifts that God has given us to serve. One of the Gifts that God gives is that of leadership. At Grace FMC, one of the committees we have is call the Nominating committee. The responsibility of this committee is to prayerfully seek out and nominate those who they feel show the ability to be leaders in the church. To seek out those who can head the different committees within the church along with the delegates to represent the local church to the conference. Leadership is not something to go into lightly, but it is also something that should not be ignored if God is leading that way.  If asked about leadership, do not dismiss it. Instead, pray about it and open yourself up to what God wants in your life.

Active Leadership in Grace FMC

Below you can find a list of the different leaders actively serving here at Grace FMC.

Nominating Committee

• Deb Smith

• Bev Cornwell

• LynAnn Swinda

Delegates representing Grace FMC to the FMC North Central Conference - The Delegates are a member of the BOA

• Delegate - Doug Bessert

• Reserve Delegate - Ray Baker

BOA (Board of Administration) – This board consist of the committee chairs and the Delegate

• Secretary / Member at Large - Julie Folgate

• Finance Committee - Ray Baker

• Property Care Committee - Dennis Foley

• Outreach & Mission Committee - Rhonda Wessels

• Worship Committee - Doug Bessert

• Hospitality Committee - Sandra Bessert

• Board of Christian Education - Rachel Klein / Garilynne Reed

Why we make music…

While attending a worship service at Grace FMC, you’ll notice that we join together in singing songs of praise to God.  We believe this element of worship to be vital in building our relationship with God.  As we sing and play we express our love for God and proclaim who God is and what God has done for us.  God meets with us as we pour out our hearts in song.

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;  let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song”  – Psalm 95:1-2

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Get Involved ......

The praise and worship team is made up of people who have a love for God and for music.  We have a great time each week both preparing for and participating in our Sunday morning worship service.  Do you sing or play an instrument?  Then again, maybe you don’t play an instrument and don’t like being in front of others but you have an ear for music or a talent using a computer. Are you interested in sharing your gift with our church as we worship together?  We would love an opportunity to talk with you about getting involved either up front or behind the scenes with the sound system and computers!  If you are interested or have any questions about the praise and worship team please feel free to contact our Worship Committee Chair.

“Teach your child to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.”— Proverbs 22:6 NLt

Teaching is another of the many gifts given by God. Are all gifted with this? No, but if this is one of your gifts you are called to “do a good Job” as it is stated in Romans 12:6-8. As proverbs says above, it is our responsibility to teach children so that they know the right path to take when they get older. At Grace we have several opportunities for you to help serve. If you can help, please contact the Christian Education committee chair to see where there are any needs. As it is true for most things, many helpers make the work load lighter.

If you feel led in this direction but feel you need more direction or training, talk with the committee chair. some training session are in the process of being set up to help equip everyone with the tools needed and to ensure a structured course.

Children’s Church

Every Sunday Morning, there is a children’s programs during the 10:00 am service. Children's church is open for Kindergarten through 5th grade. This is a great opportunity to start a child’s life out in the right direction.

Nursery

Do you like to hold a baby? Maybe some don’t, but for the most part this is a mute question with the answer being a resounding “of course I do”. If you would like to help those with young children by playing with and hold a child in the nursery during the morning service, talk with the Christian education committee chair. If you are a teen and would like to help out with this, you can. There is always an adult in the nursery and teens are welcome to help.

Adventure Club

Here at Grace, we have been given a great opportunity and a great responsibility. Our own youth group had struggled for years and in seeking direction, we were presented with the opportunity to partner with the Grace Evangelical Free church in Orangeville. They had a youth program that was busting at the seems with children but lacked the workers needed to grow. Our BOA spent time in prayer and discussed what was before us. If we want to be true to God’s calling as a church we needed to be sensitive to His leading and be available to be active where God is working. The youth program was stopped in McConnell. This opened up the chance for any youth to attend the Adventure Club in Orangeville. With this change God has blessed us by allowing us to be part of a thriving youth program. But as with most things, helpers are always welcome. If you would like to get involved, let the Christian Education committee chair know – there are always places available for more helpers.

Are we good stewards of what God has given us? To be a good steward, we must take good care of what God has given us. This includes all that the Property Care committee oversees. Cannot stress enough how much lighter a work load is when there are more than enough workers. Not only to do the physical work, but to encourage and organize all that is needed.

Church Cleaning

For cleaning there is of course, always a need of volunteers. If you are able to help out with cleaning the church just sign up and fill some of the openings on the schedule. Our hope is to get enough set up on a rotating schedule that you would only need to clean once every 2 or 3 months.

Lawn Care

Can you help with one of the following:

Mowing the lawn

Weeding the flower beds

Trimming bushes

You do not have to sign up for every week – even filling in from time to time helps. There will also be a spring cleanup day scheduled every year to help get the grounds ready in the spring.

Winter Clean up

Can you help with one of the following:

Snow shoveling of the sidewalks

Snow plowing

You do not have to sign up for every week – even filling in from time to time helps

Of course there are many other opportunities to be good stewards of what God has given us. If you would like to help in any way with maintaining the buildings and/or grounds of the church or parsonage, please contact the Property Care Committee chair and let them know you are available to help.