"My beloved speaks and says to me:

'Arise, my love, my fair one,

    and come away;

for now the winter is past,

    the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

    the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtledove

    is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs, 

and the vines are in blossom;

    they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one,

    and come away.'"

Folks have been asking questions recently about how we "do" worship at Grace, including when and why we change things in our weekly services.  Here is some information:

According to the Episcopal Church, Liturgy is " The church's public worship of God... [which] is the work of the Christian people."  Liturgy is not just the words we say, but the way we say them - what gestures we use, what we wear, and how we move in our worship. As a member parish of the Episcopal Church, Grace's liturgy comes from either the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) or one of its approved supplements. 

 

On Sundays at Grace, we demonstrate our faith in community by celebrating Holy Eucharist together. The structure of our service does not change, but the BCP offers us several options for the specific wording of our prayers. Traditionally, at Grace, like many other Episcopal Churches, we change the language of our Eucharist prayers seasonally. This practice was used by Father Ross, Rev. Jill, and Rev. Jeff - and Rev. Deb has continued it. One change initiated by Rev Deb was to establish a Worship and Liturgy Committee to advise her on liturgical matters. Previously, the Rector made all of the liturgical decisions alone.  Rev. Deb believes that occasional changes in liturgy encourage us to think about the words we are saying and provide as many people as possible with the opportunity to connect deeply with our liturgy.  The Worship and Liturgy Committee provides input and feedback prior to and after making any  changes in liturgy. 

 

The longest season of the church year is the Season after Pentecost, which has 27 Sundays. This year, the Worship and Liturgy Committee decided to change our liturgy half-way through the season rather than retain the same prayers throughout. In order to encourage worshippers to become familiar with all of the liturgical resources the church has to offer, for this "half-season" we have introduced a Eucharistic prayer from Enriching our Worship, one of the supplemental resources of the Episcopal Church. We did this last year during the season of Advent, and it was well-received. Please feel free to offer your feedback on the current liturgy to any member of the committee.  They are Don Dyer, John Lee, Marj Leeds, Les Marks, Elaine Quigley, Rev. Walter and Rev. Deb.

We have begun Yoga classes at Grace! We welcome certified Yoga Instructor Noah Yuzna every  Tuesday evening at 6:15 p.m. to conduct a 60 minute yoga class.  All levels are welcome and modifications will be available for folks with limited mobility.  Classes are open to the community and there is no set cost.  Participants are invited to contribute what they can for each class.  Invite your friends!