Grace Lutheran Church Has Several Activities To Mark 100 Years

By Taybor MillerIt’s a testament to Grace Lutheran’s congregation as they recently celebrated 100 years on Sunday, June 25.Reaching a milestone as large as a century mark calls for a celebration, and it’s one milestone like many others that Reverend Glenn Emery isn’t going to waste when the people inside have made such an impression, “You know I’ve only been around here a short period of time. When my wife and I arrived here in Fairbury we had noticed of all things that enticed us here was the people. The people we had met early on and as time has progressed had shown us that these are genuine salt of the earth people, just rooted in their families, and their faith. It’s the people at the end of the day, I love the people here.”The people seem to be responding in kind as the familiarity and traditions that are upheld in the Grace Lutheran Church as it has resonated with the masses with Emery saying, “We make a point, and this is our church party in general, but we make a point in making parishioners understand that we’re rooted in worship with our brothers and sisters clear back from the days in Israel. Our services are connected through God’s word and in God’s word. They’ve been that kind of foundation for a thousand years already, so there’s something to that longevity and that solid firm foundation.”Emery quoted the Scripture, saying, “Jesus Christ is same yesterday, today and forever” which is something comforting to count on. That’s where we are in our worship, you know obviously we have different scripture readings each week, different hymns, we’ve incorporated some more contemporary Christian music from time to time, but the biggest solid worship service we have is the same, which brings some real comfort.”The celebration will come and go by too fast, but with each milestone there’s cause for celebration, Rev Emery isn’t keen on letting it go by the way side. He noted that the plans started almost two years ago.“I’m a firm believer that you celebrate these kind of things because some of use won’t be around for the next 200th, much less the 150th celebration. You need to celebrate this type of milestones in the life of the congregation. So if you’re going to do that, you’ve got to do it right.”His concern from the beginning was to get a speaker for the afternoon celebration service. Not that local preachers locally weren’t excellent good, but Emery wanted a heavy hitter.“We, at that point, already two years from planning this had managed to get Reverend Dr. Dale Meyer, who is a former Lutheran hour speaker and former president of Concordia seminary in St. Louis to come preach for us on Sunday afternoon and honestly with my opinion he’s the foremost preacher of the Lutheran Church Missouri synod,” Emery said.That’s where it all started and from that point all the details fell into place.The church was packed all weekend for the multiple services reflecting on the last 100 years of the church and looking forward to the future. See more on the celebration on Page 7B

County Looks To Cut Budgets, But Not Salaries

Ongoing Drought May Mean Water Restrictions

Related Articles

Solar Winds Bring Northern Lights South to Nebraska

Wind Farm Repowering Moves Forward Despite Appeals

Temperatures Drop But Fire Danger Remains

Nebraska State Patrol Warns of Scam