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Entrusted Newsletter Launched!
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You are reading Grace's newest communication,
Entrusted
, the stewardship e-newsletter. The newsletter will be sent weekly during our annual pledge drive, which will run through November 13. The newsletter is titled
Entrusted, because that name captures the essence of true stewardship - that we are stewards for all that God has given to us. We have been "entrusted."
The newsletter will include features and news about and opportunities for stewardship at Grace Church. Stewardship is, of course, about more than just financial giving and pledges. We are stewards for all of our gifts, abilities, and resources, and there are many ways that we may be good stewards through our service and worship at Grace.
We hope that you will read and enjoy these issues of entrusted year-round and that you will give us your feedback.
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Edith Snider, Chair
Skeeter Makepeace
Wayne Smith
Albert Howell
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Annual Pledge Drive Begins
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Stewardship traditionally encompasses several facets of our accountability for the gifts that God gives to us: Time, Talent & Treasure.
Grace has now launched our annual pledge campaign, part of our stewardship efforts. This year's theme is "Grounded in Grace, Growing in Giving." It is time to prayerfully consider how we can share our "treasure" in support of Christ and how we can financially support the ministries and worship of our congregation. Click here for more information on how to give and receive a pledge card.
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The Best of Rooms
Christ, He requires still, wheresoe’er He comes,
To feed, or lodge, to have the best of rooms:
Give Him the choice;
grant Him the nobler part
Of all the house:
the best of all’s the heart.
Robert Herrick
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We'll use these updated graphics to keep you informed each week of our progress on the pledge drive.
2017 PLEDGE DRIVE TOTALS AS OF 10/12/16:
71 Pledging Units* (54.6% of 130 Pledging Unit Goal)
$191,597 (47.9% of $400,000 Goal)
* A pledging unit may be defined as one pledging family or household, including singles!
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PLEDGERS
(GOAL: 130 Pledging Units)
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Stewardship of Time and Talent
Gardens and Grounds
Lisa Lemza
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The Gardens and Grounds of Grace Episcopal Church are a gift entrusted to us by the generation before, whose vision built this haven. Brainerd is a congested, highly urbanized neighborhood starved for parks, and our grounds serve as needful green space. They glow like a soothing green pool along the ugly commercial corridor of Brainerd Road.
The grounds are our 'green witness,' testifying to the Anglican view that God is immanent in the natural world entrusted to our loving care. It is part of our worship ethos that deliberately includes beauty. The grounds serve as a sanctuary, a resting place, a haven for our neighbors and for small urban wildlife -- to include the tiny rabbits nesting in the Courtyard, which we discovered one Sunday after church while weeding (astonished, we regained our wits enough to quickly cover the tiny kits back in their nest). The Frierson Pavilion with its green, living roof serves as the church's back porch, open all day to any and all.
As part of the green gospel, Grace gardens and grounds are a certified wildlife habitat with the National Wildlife Federation, by which we promise to provide wildlife food, shelter, water, cover, a place to raise their young, and to do all that sustainably. Our butterfly gardens along Sunbeam Avenue are also certified with the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), which toured our gardens when their national conference met in Chattanooga. NO PESTICIDES are used on our grounds, ever, to support pollinator health. In the past two years we have held two rally events for the public supporting pollinators and monarch butterflies, both of which populations are in rapid decline. Additionally, the church is 'Greenfaith certified' from a congregational initiative requiring over 2 years' work, both inside and outside.
The Brainerd by Grace (B2G) Community Garden was built in 2010 by our own hands, and, yes, we had champagne afterwards. Its beds are rented annually for $20 and the participants are a mix of parishioners and neighbors; it has been included in numerous garden tours including the Food Bank Garden Tour. The Free Garden outside the choir suite was built a year later, as was the Frierson Pavilion from a bequest by long time parishioner Bill Frierson. This year we substantially renovated the Courtyard Gardens.
B2G gardeners meet twice annually and we generally have grounds work days once or twice a year. The latter are 'whosoever will,' and we always drink beer after. Reliably. Many specific areas are maintained by teams of dedicated volunteers, and, WE NEED YOU! The Free Berry Gardens along Sunbeam need a keeper, as does the Free Garden itself, which has greatly deteriorated since its keeper went off to college. Kristina needs help in the vast Welcome Garden along Belvoir, and several other areas don't have keepers at ALL. This is not a lifetime commitment, and usually involves simple weeding and occasional watering which we will gladly teach you to do: FEAR NOT; the bar is LOW. We are all busy.
Many thanks to the Army of volunteers who have worked and have moved on, especially Janet McCollough, George Reed, and the late Ginny Thomas and her husband Paul. Current volunteers include Grounds Co-Chair Tom Carroll, Jerry Evans, Rebecca Williams, Sharla Region, and Mike Shillinger. Courtyard volunteers are currently Sally Scholze, Mary Bacon Williams, Jeff Workman, and Jim and Barbara Harrison. 'Right Hand' award goes to the ever-present Kristina Shaneyfelt. Special thanks to Butterfly One (the original) gardeners Richard Hyatt and Phaen Stone, and Butterfly Two gardeners Beth and Mickey Meyers.
We believe gardens and grounds are not mere ornaments, but that they testify to a fundamental value that cherishes, protects, and honors the natural world and God's truth revealed through it. Indeed, it is the oldest, and truest word of the Lord, had we eyes to see. Come with us, as we literally grow Grace.
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STEWARDSHIP MOMENT:
Edith Snider
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Personally, my wedding to Phil Snider
on June 5
, 1993, was a big highlight. That small intimate family ceremony with Rev. Jim Curtis was a treasured memory and blessing. I have the VHS recording to prove it!
However, working in the kitchen serving breakfast with the Stone family has been one of my BEST EXPERIENCES. Each time I walk away tired and fulfilled. I always end my shift knowing my church family better and better. It is a time to see faces I don't normally see -- a chance to humbly serve the people I love.
Honestly, time in the kitchen has truly nourished me and made me hungry to strengthen my relationship with God through Grace Episcopal Church. I'm sure Jamie and Cathy were
just looking for a few extra helping hands, but I'm so thankful for their asking me.
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