eGrace
Grace Episcopal Church
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
News for November 11, 2013

Diocesan Convention 2013

 
The 186th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Kentucky was held November 8 and 9 at Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville.  Tom Schmidt, Jim Coursey and I attended.  Interesting and informative workshops were presented on Friday afternoon, focusing around mission and evangelism, and on stewardship and resources for mission.  Various changes have resulted in an improved financial condition for the Diocese, and a balanced budget was approved.  The (now) Rev. Ben Hart was ordained to the Diaconate, and Amy Coultas and Jason Lewis were installed as Canons for the Diocese.  Many changes are going on--especially in churches in Louisville--and five Interim Rectors were present.  A positive and peaceful atmosphere prevailed.  
 
At a meeting of the Standing Committee, I was elected to chair that group. The Standing Committee is responsible for approving all elections of bishops throughout the larger church, all ordinations within the Diocese, and all acquisitions and sales of property within the Diocese.  Additionally, in the absence or disability of a bishop, the Standing Committee assumes ecclesiastical authority and makes arrangements for the election of a new bishop.  As many of you will remember, our former rector was chair of the Standing Committee when Bishop White was elected.  Hopefully we will not need to have another ecclesiastical election for a long time!  Peace, Alice+

A Different Sort of Sunday!

 
On Sunday, November 24, we have decided to do something different.  At 6:00 pm, we will have Choral Evensong for Thanksgiving and will incorporate a celebration of the Holy Eucharist at that service.  The 10:15 am service that day will be a Morning Prayer service rather than the Holy Eucharist. This change will hopefully encourage more of you to attend Choral Evensong and will also allow me (Alice) to avoid a late night drive from Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.  Thank you!

Blessing of the Animals

 
On Sunday, November 3, we had an informal Blessing of the Animals--an event that was rescheduled from November 6 due to bad weather.  What a great occasion!  It was a beautiful afternoon, and we had around fifteen critters--dogs and cats--and almost as many human family members.  Hope everyone saw the article and pictures in the local newspaper.  Thanks to Barbara Kirkham and Roxane Thomas for their help and provision of treats!

Cookout at the Christmas Parade

 
Our Kindergarten Board Chair, Tom Schmidt, has acquired space in the shelter at Founder's Square for a fund-raiser for the Kindergarten and Pre-school on Saturday, December 7, during the annual Hopkinsville Christmas parade.  Phillip Merritt and crew will be cooking up ribs, chicken and pork chops--as well as various side items--for sale.  Please let Tom know if you can be available to help at that event.  You may also want to pre-order food items for pick-up.  Support our school! 

Thanksgiving Service

 
The Hopkinsville Ministerial Association is sponsoring an interdenominational Thanksgiving worship service on Tuesday evening, November 26, at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at 2701 Faircourt St.--time to be announced.  Alice will be preaching at this service and would appreciate seeing lots of familiar faces in the congregation!      

Save the Date!

 
After the Sunday morning Eucharist on December 15, all are invited to a Christmas Open House at the Rector's home at 2250 South Main St.  This will take the place of our regular refreshment time after the service.  Save the date!      

Stewardship

 
We are in the midst of our financial stewardship season.  Of course, there are many forms of stewardship, but so far we haven't found a way to avoid talking more directly about our financial giving at this time of year. Members of our parish have been talking with us every Sunday morning about their experiences with giving and about the blessing that giving money has been to them.  Several weeks ago, I talked in a sermon about my own experience of becoming a tither and about how much joy it has brought me to be able to give generously to Grace Church.  I encourage each of you to think about what your giving to God says about your realization that all that we are and all that we have is a gift from God, and to think about making a pledge for 2014 that is proportionate to your resources.  
 
We would appreciate receiving pledge cards as soon as possible.  They are available at church and will also be mailed out in the next few days to those whose pledges we have not yet received.  Thank you so much!  Alice+

Please Use Your Kroger Cards!

 

Using your Kroger Gift Cards is an incredibly easy way for us to raise significant amounts of money for support of our Kindergarten.  We know that we have sold many cards to people who are not using them!  All you have to do is load your card with money, either at the Kroger service counter or at one of the checkouts, and you can even do that with a credit card.  Some people have found out that taking it to the Self-Service cashier when they first enter the store is a convenient way to load, since you have to wait five minutes between loading and spending what you have loaded.  Then you're all set to make your purchases, including gas and pharmaceuticals.  Since I (Alice) am occasionally in Kroger in Nashville, I've even loaded my card there. I love using it!  Ask me or Tom Schmidt if you have questions.  

Have you ever wondered . . . 

 

what we mean when we make occasional reference to the "Wardens Group"? The Vestry meets monthly to worship together,to review the status and activities of various church ministries and projects, and to deliberate about decisions--especially ones that have to do with property or finances.  In-between these meetings, a group that has informally taken the name "Wardens Group," and is made up of the Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Treasurer, and Stewardship Chair, meets once a week in the other weeks in the month--primarily to keep everything moving and to make interim decisions that are pressing.  Please feel free to let the Rector or Senior Warden know if you have questions about any decisions we make.  We appreciate your input.  We try to keep the congregation informed about everything that goes on in the church, but there are always things that can slip between the cracks.  

Mark Your Calendars

 

Thursday, November 14--12:00 noon--Music at Midday (Dan Wilkinson)

Sunday, November 17--11:30 am--Bible Challenge

Sunday, November 17--6:00 pm--Celtic Eucharist

Wednesday, November 20--5:30 pm--Vestry

Thursday, November 21--12:00 noon--Music at Midday (Steve Wiggin)

Sunday, November 24--10:15 am--Morning Prayer

Sunday, November 24--6:00 pm--Choral Evensong with Holy Eucharist

Tuesday, November 26--Community Thanksgiving Service at

Cumberland Presbyterian Church--Time TBA

Sunday, December 1--Advent I

Saturday, December 7--Cookout at the Christmas Parade

Thursday and Friday, December 12 and 13--Madrigal Feaste

Sunday, December 15--11:30 am-2:00 pm--Open House at Alice's house

Sunday, December 15--4:00 pm--Aaron McNeil Christmas Party 


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