All communities tend to act this way. We have to be deliberate and put energy into welcoming others into being a part of ourselves. We have to make a conscious effort to not just welcome strangers but to incorporate them into the community. Part of that is just being conscious of how we communicate to the guest and strangers among us.    Grace is a church with wonderful and friendly people. Mary and I have several observations that have arisen from questions we had. Last Sunday as I was coming into the narthex before the service, I saw a large portable file. I asked the greeter what it was. She said, “These are name tags for you.” She was right. They were for me as a newcomer. It helps me to know who people are. This is the first time I have seen them out front. It was the first time someone made a name tag for Mary.   

She remembered from several years ago that Grace had a book store. Sunday, she asked me if they still had one. I said, “Yes and it is open before and after the service.”  She said, “How are we supposed to know that?” Good question. I felt the same way my second or third Sunday when I saw people in the courtyard after the late service drinking juice.” I didn’t know we served refreshments after the service. Mary asked me also, “What are the baskets for that are pulled out into the aisle every Sunday?” She said that on Mother’s Day it was announced that what was brought would be given to Metropolitan Ministry. It took me a couple of questions to find out that the offerings in these baskets are for our own food pantry here at Grace. Several times during the week people come and are looking for food which we then have to give them.

There are wonderful things going on at Grace. We need to be vocal and energetic about telling this good news.                                                                       

John

The summer Book Review Class continues on Sunday with Vivian Dodds presenting The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. See below for a description of the book. Coffee and doughnuts will be available in the third floor kitchen for those in nutritional deprivation.  

From Amazon.com -- The #1 New York Times bestseller from David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize—the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly—Wilbur and Orville Wright.

On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.

Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.

In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” (The Economist), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” (The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished…The Wright Brothers soars” (The New York Times Book Review).

Thanks once again to Mike "Mike-gyvar" Shillinger for completely rewiring the Courtyard irrigation and putting in a new controller. We have now completed installing irrigation in the Courtyard, the Welcome Garden (on Belvoir), the Butterfly Gardens (on Sunbeam), and the Free Garden. There are no plans for more.  

The Free Garden behind the church on the east side is for ALL-- for you, too. The flowers are for picking. The vegetables and herbs are for TAKING. Please take not just what you need, but what you want -- God is abundant.  

Adam Bryan (junior warden) and I have long eyed the horrible bamboo patch devouring 2 house lots and the church yard with great trepidation. Eradicating Asian bamboo is extremely difficult and beyond the skill set of most. We have agreed to consult professional help. Stay tuned.  

Lisa Lemza

While Grace’s Search Committee browses a gallery of candidates as they seek to narrow their list of potential rectors, the Diocese of East Tennessee has already picked out five works of ecclesiastical art and invites you to come get acquainted with them before they select one as Bishop at the convention on July 28. There will be three official “Walkabouts” in July; interested parties are welcome to attend whichever best fits their schedule, whether it’s close to home or up the road a piece. See below for times and dates for the three Walkabouts; below that listing, you will find the schedule for the individual events.  

Chattanooga Area -- Monday, July 10 – St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

                                 (305 W 7th Street), 4:30-7:50 p.m.  

Knoxville Area -- Wednesday, July 12 – Episcopal School of Knoxville

                           (814 Episcopal School Way), 4;30-7:50 p.m.  

Tri-Cities Area – Thursday, July 13 – St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

                           (161 E. Ravine Rd., Kingsport)    

Each Walkabout will follow this schedule:  

4:00-4:30 p.m. – Reception with nominees, clergy of the diocese and their spouses 4:30-5:15 p.m. – Reception with nominees, all attendees, delegates, alternates,                                        Parishioners and all spouses

5:15-5:30 p.m. – Evening Worship (led by host parish)

5:45 p.m. --        Introduction of all nominees, each of whom will speak briefly to the                                  large group

6:10 p.m. --        Attendees move to breakout rooms

6:15-7:50 p.m. – Small group sessions (nominees will move from room to room,                            meeting with all groups so all get to ask questions and get acquainted

You can see biographies of all the nominees and their answers to some questions in the latest issue of the Diocesan newsletter (see below) and at http://bishopsearch.dioet.org/