The Season After Pentecost
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T
his Sunday brings the Annual Parish Meeting – Vestry elections! Financial information! Interesting updates on Grace’s many ministries and undertakings! In order for the meeting to have its due and everyone to also have some afternoon left, the schedule will run thus:
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a single liturgy at 10 a.m.;
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the meeting;
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lunch for all afterward.
[continue below]
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Annual Meeting on Sunday (11-17)
and Vestry Nominees
Help Needed for Annual Mtg. Lunch
Stewardship Information
Gardens & Grounds (11-16)
Youth Group Meeting (11-19)
Thanksgiving Service and Soup Supper
Thanksgiving Outreach
GreenFaith/Green Team
Coat, Launderer Sought
Bach Choir Concert (11-16)
Joseph Campbell RoundTable (11-18)
Times Free Press Profiles Ugly Tree!
Volunteers Needed for Diocesan Convention (February 7-8, 2020)
Meetings This Week
Serving on Sunday
Lectionary
Hymns
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Parish Meeting (continued)
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Child care will be available so that the parents of the young will be free to attend and pay attention to the matters at hand.
See below for the list of Vestry nominees:
Nominees for Vestry
Grace Episcopal Church –2020 Class
Each year, Grace elects four members to serve three-year terms on our vestry. The following individuals have been nominated for election as vestry members for the 2020 class.
Andrew Belcher
I am married, the father of three and grandfather of four. I was christened in the Methodist church, but my family moved to Grace in 1959. I grew up here at Grace, my mother served as the Parish Administrator, and I have served in that position as well. In addition, I have served on the vestry, including as Junior and Senior Warden. I have been a member of the Finance and Endowment Committee, the Outreach Committee and the Worship Committee. I serve as a chalice bearer and sing in the choir. I participate in the Centering Prayer group here at Grace, and have practiced contemplative prayer for over 30 years. I am a licensed Lay Preacher in the Diocese of East Tennessee.
I am firmly grounded in the church of God’s love and believe that diversity and inclusiveness are ways that God’s light is shown.
Laura Bertrand
If you ever happen to be in Murfreesboro with me on a Sunday morning you can sit in my Great Granny's pew in the First Presbyterian Church, the one with the dome, just off the square. I was the 4th generation of my mother's side to be brought up in that church. But to me church felt like just another place where I was excluded for not being pretty or cool enough. I did all the church things: sang in the children's choir, Sunday school, and confirmation classes (I dropped out because the Pastor didn't like to answer my questions). But in those days the churches off the square were more of a status symbol, a place for the upper middle-class families to sport Brooks Brothers ties and Talbots dresses. The church of my childhood was lonely for me. I never questioned if there was a God, but I didn't tend to feel his presence in that particular beautiful old building. I also never really felt comfortable there even though I knew every nook and spare room.
For about 15 years my religious beliefs became more...eclectic. Then in the Spring of 2011 Jeff and I moved to New Orleans just after tornados ransacked our adopted home of Tuscaloosa. One day I wandered down to a salmon-colored church on Jackson Avenue for a prayer service, thought it was pretty and we started attending Trinity Episcopal. As Nadia Boltz-Weber says, I fell in love with liturgy. We joined the Inquirers’ class and were confirmed.
When we moved to Chattanooga we began church shopping but had not found a home when my mother read an article about the Gardens of Grace in the Times Free Press. Sharla and Brian Region introduced themselves immediately, Steven Hinkle sang a solo that first day, and Helen busted her head in the nursery. In the last five years we have been at Grace Jeff and I have found ourselves doing all sorts of things. I started acolyting, joined the choir (for a hot potato minute), painted the back drop for the Christmas Pageant, did a reading here or there, helped out a few times with Godly play, and mostly just tried to help out with little things where I could.
Recently, I started discernment training, although honestly I have not yet discerned what I am discerning for. Most people know me now because I have accosted them at every turn to acolyte or do oblations. Like many of you, what I found at Grace was a Jesus in both stained glass and action. Grace has given me a place to feel safe and be myself. Finding Grace means that I no longer worry about being comfortable in church because now I'm home.
C. Brett Spaulding
I have a deep affection for Grace and my brothers and sisters. The inclusion of all who come to our church, the outreach we practice, and the belief in the dignity of every human being without judgement and knowing no bounds is the foundation of my love and commitment to Grace, our denomination, and Christ. We have seen many changes at Grace in the short 6 years my wife and I relocated from Knoxville. I have witnessed the profound dedication of our members to stabilize and grow our ministry into the vibrant church it is today. We have an excellent leader in Rev. April Berends and many dedicated long-term volunteers that tirelessly carryout our mission and outreach to the marginalized. It is in this spirit that I would like to contribute my involvement in vestry.
Spiritually, I am (almost) cradle Episcopalian. I was baptized and confirmed at Church of the Ascension (Knoxville, Tennessee) in 1978 and found my home in St. Columba (Bristol, Tennessee), and St. James (Knoxville, Tennessee). I cannot honestly claim regular attendance until my mid-thirties. As many personal stories go, I found something missing in my life and returned to the church to find spiritual and intellectual growth. My secular schedule ensures I am not available for attendance every Sunday, but I do practice morning and evening prayer and meditation. Additionally, I am involved in outreach programs and have a strong sense of social justice and daily reflection that guide me spiritually. My dearest cause is food bank and voucher program. I delivered food donations to St. James and worked with Second Harvest Food Bank in Knoxville on many occasions. I believe service work with the Vestry will build on this growth.
Secularly, I am a real estate appraiser and market analyst specializing in Eminent Domain. I and my wife, Tessa are the owners of Spaulding Company, LLC founded in 2002. I am also employed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation where I analyze, appraise, and review highway and bridge projects in Region 2 (Chattanooga) covering 24 counties. I graduated from Tusculum University (Greeneville, Tennessee) in 1999 and hold designations from the Appraisal Institute.
In closing, I appreciate the opportunity and privilege for vestry consideration. Elected or not, it is my solemn prayer that open-minded, compassionate members will be selected to continue our growth and continued outreach.
Cathy Stone*
I have been a member of Grace since 1987. Jamie and I have raised our three children here, and I have volunteered in many areas throughout the years. I made the vestments, altar frontal and banner that are used when we celebrate Earth Day and creation season. Currently, I am a member of the Vestry and the handbell choir. I head up the first Sunday breakfasts at Grace, which is a wonderful way to provide hospitality and gather community. I am also involved with the Grace Gardeners.
*Cathy joined the vestry last year, filling out a portion of the final year of a three-year term. She is thus eligible to run for re-election.
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Help Needed Saturday and Sunday for Parish Meeting Lunch
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One of the great pleasures of the annual meeting is the lunch that follows once the business is done, but that lunch requires a good bit of effort to get together and clean up after. If you’ve got some time on Saturday to help maneuver tables, put out silverware and napkins and such, please come to the Undercroft on Saturday, November 16 at 10:00 a.m. to help Susan LaGraff get set up. Further help will be needed on Sunday after the meal to clean up. Any help you can provide will be gratefully received!
You can contact Susan with questions or volunteer offers at
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Grace Parishioners have been asked to reflect on the gifts that God has given us in the community of Grace and make pledge commitments to support the parish's mission and ministry for the coming year. See below for the options available for your pledges:
How do I make a financial pledge?
To make a financial pledge to sustain the work of Grace Church, you may either fill out a pledge card, included in this packet, and send it into the parish office using the envelope provided or pledge online. Please submit your pledge by
November 22
th
, 2019.
To make a contribution online:
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Go to Saygrace.net and click on Give
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For a one-time payment click on "Give Now" button then fill out the form
T
o set up your automatic giving for your pledge:
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Go to Saygrace.net and click on Give
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Click on the same "Give Now" button then fill out the form.
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In the "
Give to:"
be sure to select
"2020 Pledge"
Be sure to select "Setup automated giving" and choose your time preference.
Need assistance making a pledge online? Paula Garner, our parish administrator, will be happy to help you. She can be reached at
pgarner@saygrace.net
or by calling (423) 698-2433.
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1. GROUNDS WORKDAY
TOMORROW (this Saturday (11-16)!
). Workday starts at
9:00
am and likely goes several hours past noon. Lunch is provided (thanks, Terry!). You don't have to stay the whole time; come for any part of it that is convenient for you. Bring hand pruners and loppers if you have them; gloves are strongly recommended. We will teach you what to do.
2.
Other ways to give:
Green Grace Arboretum: if financial donations are not possible, we'll be happy to take your work! We will be planting many trees, fortunately small ones, on another work day on Saturday, 30 November, also at 9 am. Come and work off some pumpkin pie as we move into Advent, with another and more permanent Greening of the Nave.
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Youth Group Meets Next Tuesday
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Youth group is happening this coming week! It'll last from 6pm to 8pm on Tuesday, Nov 19th on the 4th floor of our office building. We'll have dinner (provided), we'll have a candlelight evening prayer service, and play board games. Middle schoolers and high schoolers welcome!
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Thanksgiving Service and Soup Supper
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Lay aside your passel of pumpkin puree, and pull your weary eyes away from the stuffing recipe that has to be multiplied by ten, made in a bathtub and stirred with a canoe paddle in order to feed the multitudes that will descend upon you on Thanksgiving and take heart… a few moments of peace can be yours, yea, even in this hectic season! You are invited to an oasis of worship and fellowship the Tuesday before Thanksgiving -- November 26 -- when Grace will offer its annual Thanksgiving liturgy and supper of soup and bread. You will have an opportunity actually to give thanks and also to sit down and sample the estimable culinary skills of your fellow parishioners while enjoying the good company, conversation, and laughter that are just the things help you face the holiday with a quiet heart and steadfast affection for all who are part of your holiday.
If you're willing to provide a loaf of soup or a pot of bread,
please contact Susan LaGraff
(cellar3600@aol.com).
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Grocery Gift Cards
-- The Outreach Committee is collecting grocery gift cards to give out to those in need to help them purchase turkey and trimmings for Thanksgiving. You can place gift cards in the baskets at Sunday liturgy or just throw in some money and the Outreach Committee will purchase the gift cards. You can also drop gift cards off at the office.
Food Pantry/Voucher Donations
– Donations of food to the pantry and $$ for vouchers is always welcome, but both these limbs of the food ministry have been bearing a lot of weight lately. Vouchers ran out on November 7 – and we gave over 70 of them this month! The pantry has been stocked and restocked – on Tuesday alone of this week, we had a multitude of visitors whose households comprised 50 tummies in need of food.
We are planning to use some of your generous donations to give 40 additional vouchers in the two days before Thanksgiving as well, so any spare change (yes, I know; a laughable term in mid-November!) or find some good BOGOs at the grocery, we’d love to have anything you’re able to give.
And speaking of the food ministry, the pantry would be happy to receive
b
eef stew, hearty soups, canned hams, oatmeal, Saltine crackers, grits, granola bars, pudding, beanie weenies, and spaghetti sauce
and really almost anything else – some of the shelves are quite full right now but will be empty in another couple of hours!
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Six years ago, then-congregants Liz Kabalka and Marion Pound led a team for our church to certify as a GreenFaith congregation (see details about this ecumenical, faith- based environmental issue at
https://greenfaith.org/
). It was a demanding and complicated process, which took us well over a year and some money to implement. Many current parishioners participated in that effort. We would like to rebuild this effort both locally here at Grace Episcopal and regionally with other churches and temples. This is part of our conviction that the world is not 'cursed' or 'fallen' as declared in some theology, but instead retains 'original blessing:' that it is good, that it is holy, and that it is in trouble. We want faith communities to be part of the conversation as the stakes grow higher and the times downright desperate in the face of mass extinctions now occurring.
Meanwhile, this fall the Vestry voted to affiliate with Tennessee's chapter of Interfaith Power and Light (see
https://www.tennipl.org/about-3/
)Nashville and Knoxville have led this effort in Tennessee, and we wish Chattanooga to take a more active role. We are in the concept-and-idea stage at this point, with a few rough plans. We certainly need participation and input from those who wish to protect and defend this sacred Earth.
If you are interested in this effort, please contact Lisa Lemza (
lemzala@aol.com
) or Kristina Shaneyflet (
jkshaneyfelt@epbfi.com
). We will gather more information, and meet soon, between services on an as yet unchosen Sunday.
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Coat and Launderer Sought!
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Maria Hurt has had a request for the donation of a size 2X Women’s heavy jacket… gently used is fine! If you have such a thing or know someone who is casting one off, please contact Maria (
mhurt@saygrace.net
).
Maria is also looking for some helpful folks who would be willing to wash several loads of tablecloths. If you are interested in churning, rinsing and spinning for the household of God, please get in touch with her (see above for contact e-mail).
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The Chattanooga Bach Choir, directed by Grace Music Director and Choirmaster David Long, will present a concert entitled
Choral Masterpieces Based on Gregorian Chant
on Saturday, November 16, at 8:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Settings of
Ubi Caritas
by Maurice Duruflé, Ola Gjeilo and Paul Mealor,
Missa Pange Lingua
by Josquin des Prez, and
Tantum Ergo
and
Requiem
by Maurice Duruflé are on the program. Admission is $25; students will be admitted with no charge.
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Joseph Campbell Mythological RoundTable (MRT)
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The Hero’s Journey and the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures of Zen –
A Comparison
Presenter: Richard Dubé
November 18, 2019
Monday, Nov. 18th, Richard Dubé will examine the parallel nature of Joseph Campbell’s Ten Stages in the Hero’s Journey and the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures – The Zen Path to Self-Discovery/Inner Awakening, including some insight into Campbell’s perspective on Zen.
Richard has a Masters in Education, also Author, Naturalist, Japanese Garden Designer, Photographer, Business Consultant, Philosopher; spent time studying Zen at the International Zen Center in Shinagawa, Japan –
www.naturedan.com
Richard: Personal Hero’s Journey – I have been drawn to the Japanese culture from my earliest memories and the eastern approach to landscape design particularly resonates with me. It inspired me to write the book
Natural Pattern Forms – A practical sourcebook for landscape design
which was translated into Chinese in 2000.
Ebook:
There is a downloadable version of the ox-herding pictures based on principles of Constructive Living (based in Zen) by the late Greg Willms in honor of his teacher David Reynolds. To request a copy forwarded to you, please contact Diana Peterson at
dhpeterson9@gmail.com
.
The RoundTable meets at 7 pm at Grace Episcopal Church, 20 Belvoir Rd. (Brainerd and Belvoir). There is no charge to attend though small donations are appreciated which go to support the Campbell Foundation and Grace church, our host.
After Monday night's meeting, we will reconvene at The Ugly Tree Cafe, several doors down from Grace on Brainerd Rd.
Since our first official meeting was
November 2008
, we're completing our tenth year, and moving into the 11th.
Many thanks for each person who has presented, attended or shared our information with someone else. As Bob illustrated so well in the Star Trek part of the night: The "Hero" is really
The Community.
Diana
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Times Free Press Profiles The Ugly Tree Cafe'
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Volunteers Sought for Diocesan Convention (Feb. 7-8)
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The Diocesan Convention is scheduled for February 7-8 at St. Paul’s downtown, and the good folks at Good Shepherd have drawn the happy job of recruiting volunteers from the Chattanooga churches for the occasion.
Past volunteers say it’s quite good fun. And since the convention doesn’t come through Chattanooga every year, it’s an experience that you can get only rarely without travel and expense.
There are two volunteer roles:
1)
Tellers/Runners:
These volunteers will be assigned as a runner to bring things to and from delegations in the nave and the diocesan convention staff who will be stationed in an adjacent room. There will be a LOT of standing and walking in this role. Good attention to detail and observational skills are key for this role. We’ll be signing up at least 18 volunteers to be tellers, although we hope to have a few additional who can act as subs when tellers need a break!
2)
Microphone Runners:
These volunteers will walk around the nave with wireless mics for delegates who have a question or comment. For this role, we need folks who are comfortable with basic technology (turning the wireless mics on and off, as needed), and with walking around passing the mic around. Since delegates will be sitting in pews, this will need a certain amount of flexible problem-solving and a good sense of humor! We need at least 4 microphone runners, although again if we have a few more volunteers than that, then we can give volunteers more breaks, etc.
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Centering Prayer (Barth Room) -- Friday, 1:00 p.m.
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At the 10:00 a.m. service:
Lectors, Wayne Smith, Will Benson; Intercessor, Paul Thomas; Chalice, Dick McGee, Anne Curtis; Oblations, Angela Gregory, Reed Gregory; Acolytes, Ouisi Hamilton, Caleigh Jackson; Lead Usher, Frank Watkins; Greeter, Skeeter Makepeace; Webcast (camera, sound), Bill Boren, Jerry Evans
Lectionary Readings
Malachi 4:1-2a. Psalm 98, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Luke21:5-19
Hymns
Canticle of the Turning
(paraphrase of the Magnificat, printed in the bulletin);
Thou whose almighty Word
(Hymnal 371);
Lord of all hopefulness
(Hymnal 482);
All my hope on God is founded
(Hymnal 665).
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