Radical welcome. Faithful worship. Compassionate service. 
15 October 2017 
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

8:00 am Holy Eucharist

9:15 am Family Service with Eucharist

11:00 am Holy Eucharist with Parish Choir

Coffee hours are held in the Guild Hall after 8 am and 9:15 am services; in the rear of the church after the 11 am service.

For detailed information about the parish calendar, ministries, and outreach please click the link below.
Parish Celebration
Potluck Dinner, October 22
We're looking forward to our festive Celebration Potluck on Sunday, October 22 at 5:30 p.m. We are excited to announce that music will be provided by Grace’s best bluegrass band, featuring Grace members Katherine Slingluff and Andy Stuckey.

If you haven't signed up yet, there is still a chance to volunteer to bring your favorite main, appetizer, or dessert. Sign-up sheets are available the back of the Church, or online, in a Google  form .

In general, we recommend people plan a dish that would be shared with around 10 people. Our Stewardship co-chairs,  David  and  Jim  are happy to help with any questions!

Note that there will not be a Harvest Dinner this fall, so this is a great opportunity to share a dinner with the whole Grace community.
Acolyte Training/Refresher for Children
THIS Sunday, October 15
THIS Sunday , October 15 at 10 am in the North Room, Jim Hagen will be facilitating a session geared to new Acolytes, ages 7 and up, during Sunday School.

This will serve as both a class about liturgy and the Eucharist, as well as an introduction for new acolytes. All interested acolytes and Living the Good News Sunday School students are welcome. Email Sarah Davies with any questions.
Next Burning Books Group meeting, October 24
Burning Books is a group for the readers and book lovers of Grace Church and the neighborhood that has been meeting since the 1990’s (no kidding!) Meeting every fourth Tuesday of the month beginning at 7:30 pm in the Choir Room , with break in December and for summer months. 

Our next book will be The Glass Castle , by Jeanette Wells. For more information, visit the web site or take a flyer from the rear of church.
Stroller Group Halloween Brunch & Sock Drive, October 29
Dear Friends,

Halloween is around the corner, and we are thrilled to resume the Grace Church Brooklyn Heights Stroller Group events with a spooky Halloween Brunch and Sock Drive in the Grace Gym on Sunday, October 29 , following the 9:15 am Family Service. Join other families with young children ages 0-3 for fellowship while learning about Grace's upcoming programs for children and parents. We will have a special Halloween craft for the children and plenty of delicious things to eat.

We are looking for assistance with both set-up and clean-up and volunteers to bring food, so please let us know if you are interested in helping out. We will be collecting donations to benefit CHiPS (Community Help in Park Slope), so please bring cozy socks and toiletries for the seven young mothers and their infants who are sheltered there.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Best,

Lauren O'Garro Moore and Becky Fruin
All Souls Book of Names of the Dead
A beautiful book is kept in the Chapel in October. You are invited to inscribe in this special book the names of those who have died in the past year. The book containing these names will be placed on the altar on All Saints Sunday, November 5. 
Mark Your Calendars for November
Jiu Jitsu as a Model for the Saint: On Sunday, November 5, All Saints Sunday, 9:15 am Eucharist: Cameron Foster & Jim Hagen show how Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a parable for the Christian Life.

Also on November 5, All Saints Sunday :  
Baptisms and Guest Preacher , The Rev. Craig Townsend, at the 11 am Eucharist

Sex and the Christian : a program for kids 10 and up, 12:30 to 2:30 pm. Pizza served.

Wise Aging has two more sessions: Thursdays, November 2 and 9 , 1 to 2:30 pm , in the North Room.

Heights Interfaith Shelter 2017
One of New York City’s most intractable problems is that of homelessness, but like all problems, ignoring it does not make it go away. Grace Church prides itself on being part of the Heights Interfaith Shelter – including Plymouth Church and Assumption Roman Catholic Church – which for over a decade has provided food and nightly shelter to up to 12 homeless men. 

This ministry is one where nearly each member of our congregation finds a way to participate. This can include preparing and delivering a hot meal for our guests and volunteer sleepers or coming in time to share the meal and remaining to spend the night. Our sign-up sheets are at the back of the church. Please help fulfill one of Grace Church’s critical outreach missions by signing up to cook or sleep over.

If you need other information, please contact Vicky Schippers.
Tutors Needed
Tutors are needed for Grace's Tutoring Program, at Frederick Douglass Academy VII in Brownsville . Parishioners with a free afternoon a week work with small groups of high school students devising strategies to pass state Regents exams through the fall semester.

Tutoring takes place at FDA VII, 226 Bristol Street, Brooklyn, which is accessible by the 3 train.  

For further information , email Mark McIntyre or call him: 646-644-3261.
Rector Search — Live Interviews Now Under Way
Search Committee pictured above: 
Front row, left to right : Sarah Davies, Marilyn Grant, Vivian Harrison, Barbara Becker, Anne Silver, Brianna McCarty. Back row, left to right : Thomas Baldwin, Craig Whitney, Michael Rycheck, Chris Larson.

Having completed our telephone interviews in September, the Search Committee is scheduling live interviews with each of the selected candidates. These in-person meetings will take place here at Grace, throughout October and November. Following all those interviews, the Committee will provide Bishop Provenzano, and then the Wardens and Vestry, the names of three final candidates for the Wardens and Vestry to interview. 

The Committee is grateful for the prayers and support of the clergy, the Wardens, the Vestry and the entire parish throughout this important process of transition.

You can view our Parish Profile   here .  

For further information, please contact the Search Co-Chairs,   Vivian Harrison   and   Barbara Becker . 
October 9 EBC Housing Rally:
Grace Brooklyn Heights Chapter Report

Forty Grace parishioners rallied at City Hall in pouring rain on Columbus Day to force Mayor de Blasio to build senior housing and improve living conditions at New York City Housing Authority developments. 

The rally, organized by East Brooklyn Congregations, of which Grace is a member, drew more than 5,000 people to the gates of City Hall, where NYCHA tenants spoke of a lack of security, constant leaks into their NYCHA apartments, and a NYCHA management indifferent to tenants' needs.

An EBC pastor told the rally that Mayor de Blasio had not committed to EBC's plan to build 15,000 units of senior housing on surplus NYCHA land. To keep pressure on the mayor, Public Advocate Letitia James told the rally she would hold a candidates' forum for all City Council Speaker candidates at St. Paul Community Baptist Church to ask them to commit to EBC's NYCHA plan.

Any Grace member interested in attending the upcoming candidates forum should contact Mark McIntyre .

Pastoral News and Prayer Concerns
Parish Prayer Concerns: Wendy Hooker; Sally Forbes; Sybil Payne; Jacob Connor; Eric and Frances Harrison; Bill Mead.
Grace Church | 254 Hicks Street | Brooklyn NY 11201