fellowship
At Gloria Dei, we believe that church is family. We are a community of Christians that love to worship and pray together, but also love to picnic and play together. We are stronger and more whole because we are together. Fellowship events and programs offer us a chance to do just that: be together! With no age
Bible Studies
WORD FOR THE WEEK BIBLE STUDY
Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. Contact Denise Marnen-Jirka for more information or to register. smallgroups@gloriadeichurch.org
THURSDAY AFTERNOON Bible Study
Thursdays at 1:30 PM. Contact Denise Marnen-Jirka for more information or to register. smallgroups@gloriadeichurch.org
GLORIA DEI Women of the elca (WELCA)
All women members of Gloria Dei belong to the Women of the ELCA. We join with the women in over 7,000 worldwide locations for service, study, advocacy and fellowship. There is a place for you in WELCA! Here is a listing of some of the opportunities for women at Gloria Dei. Please plan to visit any of the activities that are of interest to you. You will be welcomed!
Circles: Four circles meet at various times during the first two weeks of the month.
Elizabeth Circle meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in member's homes at 7:30 PM. Elizabeth Circle focuses on doing hands-on Christian action projects at their meetings as well as fellowship.
Martha Circle is a daytime group meeting in member's homes or in the Church Lounge on the 1st Friday of the month at 1:00 PM. Martha Circle helps to create Neo-natal bibs and Memory Boxes several times a year. Their activities also include Bible and other book-related studies as well as fellowship.
Priscilla Circle meets on the first Thursday of the month in member's homes at 7:00 PM. Our activities include studying the Bible-based lessons from Gather Magazine, Christian Action projects and fellowship.
Sarah Circle meets on the first Tuesday of the month in member's homes at 11:00 AM. Sarah Circle is currently doing a Bible study called the Animate Bible. They also use the Nooma study as well as a variety of other resources.
For more information on any of the Circles, please contact the church office.
Special Events:
The Thankoffering Service, The Spring Event and the Christmas Dinner Event are sponsored by the WELCA circles.
Christian Action Projects: Organized through the four Circles, a monthly project is chosen to support the needs of a community organization.
Other Opportunities
Caring Cards Ministry: Cards are addressed and sent to the homebound, those in need of health and healing, those celebrating milestone wedding anniversaries, those celebrating milestone birthdays, those celebrating the first anniversary of their baptism and those celebrating their first wedding anniversary. These women meet during the day on the first Wednesday of the month.
Knit 1 Purl 2: Participants meet for fellowship while knitting or crocheting prayer shawls and other items for the homebound and hospitalized. They meet in the church lounge at 9:00 AM on the 1st Tuesday of the month.
Labor of Love: Quilts for Lutheran World Relief are assembled in the Fellowship Hall on the 3rd Tuesday of the month.
60 Minute Book Club:
Participants meet on the 3rd Monday of the month at 12:15 PM in the Church Library. Reviews of books are shared and discussed by the readers.
Stephen Ministry:
Stephen Ministry is a ministry in our congregation in which trained and supervised lay persons, called Stephen Ministers provide one to one Christian care to individuals facing life challenges or difficulties. The first Stephen Ministers were commissioned in July of 2002. .
Stephen Leaders oversee and direct our Stephen Ministry. They recruit, select, train, organize, and supervise our Stephen Ministers, identify people in need of care, and match them with a Stephen Minister.
Stephen Ministers are the caregivers. They have been through 50 hours of training in Christian caregiving, including topics such as listening, feelings, boundaries, assertiveness, and using Christian resources in caregiving. Their training also covers specialized topics such as ministering to the divorced, hospitalized, bereaved, and aging.
Care receivers are the recipients of a Stephen Minister's care. They are usually (but not always) people from our church who are experiencing divorce, grief, loss of a job, loneliness, hospitalization, terminal illness, or any of an endless number of other life difficulties. Stephen Ministers usually meet with their care receivers once a week for about an hour for as long as the care receiver will benefit by the relationship.
Additional information is available at www.stephenministry.org.