Parish News For the week of April 24, 2022

Christianity and Culture

Three Kings of Israel

Sunday, April 24, May 8 and May 15, 9:15 - 10:15 am

Parish Hall

Doug Ayer will be treating from an historical perspective three Kings of Israel who exemplify prominent aspects of the development of Israel's Monarchy.  David transforms a Tribal Confederation into a Nation State. Solomon expands David's State into a Regional Empire. Josiah, near the end of the Pre-Exilic Period, institutes a major if short-lived Political Reform which institutes elements of limited government parallel in some respects to features found in institutions in Ancient Greece during roughly the same period."

Lanford Mission Emergency Fund Easter 2022 Appeal

The Lanford Mission Emergency Fund (MEF) was established at Grace Episcopal in 1984 to assist residents of Rockbridge County who request emergency help in meeting rent, utility, medical, or temporary housing expenses. The MEF primarily receives its funding from Grace’s Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas offerings.

While we are gradually returning to “normal” life, COVID-19 continues to impact those area residents who must be out of work and stay at home due to a positive COVID test for themselves, a spouse, or a child. RARA (Rockbridge Area Relief Association) does the vetting to verify need, and payments are shared among RARA, Grace Episcopal, Lexington Presbyterian, and St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church. 

As we approach Easter, we ask you to consider a donation to the Lanford Mission Emergency Fund. If you would like to make a gift in the form of a check, the check can be made out to Grace Episcopal Church with “Lanford MEF” noted on the memo line. A donation to the Lanford MEF can also be made on the Grace Episcopal Church website (www.graceepiscopallexington.org) under the “Give” tab. The Christian Outreach Committee thanks you for your faithful and generous support of this long-time Grace Episcopal outreach ministry! 

From the Minster of Music

Grace Episcopal Church invites everyone to Evensong on Sunday, April 24 at 5 pm. The service meets us at the "even" point between our active day and the restful night. It draws on the richness of monastic worship by inviting us to reflect on scripture, to sing praise to God, and to pray. In terms of "what to expect," this description, adapted from St. Paul's Cathedral, London, is helpful: When you experience Evensong, it is as if you drop into a conversation already in progress--a conversation between God and God's people that began long before you were born and will continue long after your death. So do not be surprised or disturbed if there are things you do not understand straightaway. For a brief moment, you step into the continual stream of worship, ...and are one with those who worship here on earth and in heaven.

Did you know bells have been found in catacombs dating back to the time of Constantine? Monks soon thereafter used them to regulate their schedules. During Charlemagne's reign, bells spread throughout Europe. In the thirteenth century, Bishop of Mende Guillaume Durand referred to bells of all sizes and uses in liturgical writings. What a rich history! Let's build it forward!! Grace is blessed to have a set of handbells and a set of hand chimes. Summer would be a fine time to see what kind of fellowship might form around handbell ringing. From there, we can see if there is energy to sustain a bell choir that would enhance our worship. During the summer, one of the choir members (veteran handbell ringer) and I are positing a 6 week rehearsal commitment of once a week. If you are interested, contact me at martha@graceepiscopallexington.org. 

From Our Creation Care Committee

Happy Earth Day 2022!!

This year's official theme for Earth Day is #InvestInOurPlanet. Check out https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2022/ to learn more about the history of Earth Day and this year's theme.

A few ideas for greening up your world:

•  Plant a garden, a tree, a single plant - whatever fits your scale
• Walk/bike more; drive less!
•  Get out and enjoy the nature around you
•  BYOBag and Refuse plastic whenever you can
•  Shop locally
•  Buy used (clothes to cars; used is less resource intensive)
•  Re-purpose (find new uses for things you already own)
•  Reduce (buy less stuff; use less energy)
• · Recycle. Yep, you've heard it before... learn more about what you can recycle in Rockbridge County and Lexington (there's no public recycling program in Buena Vista right now)
•  Re-Use (donate your unwanted stuff to Habitat, Goodwill, the SPCA and more)
•  Teach the kids in your orbit about how to care for the planet (lots of resources out there! Try these: EcoParent, Boxerwood

Earth Day Staunton 2022

Soil: Mother Earth from the Ground Up 

Earth Day Staunton (EDS) is teaming up with Kites & Critters for a live event on Saturday, April 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Moore Farm, 272 Bells Lane, Staunton. (Rain date: Sunday, April 24. Check Facebook for details.) Make a kite while you are there, or bring your own and fly it!

Exhibitors include Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Augusta Bird Club, Project Grows, Bat Conservation and Rescue of Virginia, Friends of the Middle River, Virginia Clean Cities, Tiger Solar, and many more. For a complete list of exhibitors please visit Earth Day Staunton's webpage.

Food will be available for purchase. Bring your filled, reusable water bottle from home, so together we can make this event as waste-free as possible. Join us!

Faces of Grace is a new social media feature. We will spotlight different members of Grace every 2 weeks. Thank you to Lisa and Pat McGuire for being the first to participate in our social media experiment! 

Faces of Grace

Meet Pat & Lisa McGuire – Lisa is the Parish Administrator at Grace Church. Pat works from home as a Technical Writer for Raytheon. Pat is an Acolyte, volunteers with the Grace crew at the RARA Food Pantry, serves on the Property Committee and is a STEPS mentor to a returned citizen. Pat also serves on the board of the Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity.

The McGuire's moved to Lexington 4 ½ years ago from Newport, RI. Pat graduated from VMI in 1985 and they both loved Lexington. They thought it would be a fun place to live after their nest became empty.

Lisa grew up Catholic and Pat converted to Catholicism in 1993. They had fallen out of attending mass, but decided when they got to Lexington, they would join a church again. Lisa says that she was inspired by our former interim rector, Fr. James’ sermons, and asked Pat if he would like to attend a service one Sunday. They never looked back. They were received by Bishop Mark in March of 2018. Lisa has been attending Morning Prayer for the past 2 1/2 years and Pat joined in last year. Lisa feels that starting the day with your prayer book and in fellowship has been a balm, especially during COVID. Lisa and Pat say that the love and support they have received from their parish family has been the most enriching part of joining Grace Episcopal Church.

Thank You From Lacey Lynch and the Rockbridge Youth Chorale (RYC)

Dear Martha and friends at Grace Episcopal Church

On behalf of the RYC singers and staff, thank you for your warm hospitality, kindness, contribution of food, and the use of your beautiful space for the RYC/Greater Richmond Children's Choir concert in March.

Your community outreach through music brings people together in a unique and beautiful way. Our entire community is better because of this outreach and opportunities. Thank you!

Warmly,

Lacey Lynch and the Rockbridge Youth Chorale

Thank you for the difference you are making through the Good Friday Offering in the lives of a wide diversity of people throughout Jerusalem and the Middle East. “Shukran,” “toda,” thank you, for helping us and our worldwide ministry partners become a church that looks and acts like Jesus.

In this time of exceptional circumstances, please make a gift to the Good Friday Offering in one of the following ways:

Give securely online at iam.ec/goodfridayoffering

To give via phone or for gifts of stock,

call (800) 334-7626 x6002

You can also still send your check contribution by mail to:

DFMS-Protestant Episcopal Church US

P.O. Box 958983

St. Louis, MO 63195-8983

Make your check payable to: The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society with “Good Friday Offering” in the memo field. Thank you.

Exchange Student Hosts Needed

CIEE (The Council on International Educational Exchange) has students from many different countries that are hoping to come to American to study for a year in high school. There are students from Germany, Spain, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Thailand, France, Serbia, India, Pakistan and more. The students have at least 3 years of English and will attend the local high school. They come with their own spending money and health insurance. Most students arrive in August and leave in early June. They live with a host family and become part of the family. Host families provide a bed and meals for the student as well as love and guidance. There is 24 hours support and local coordinators to help with the process. For information on hosting, contact, Cindy Miller, local coordinator, at (540) 817—8851, (540) 464-3110 or at chmiller@rockbridge.net. To find out more about hosting you can also go to the ciee.org website.

Here are some kids that need a family this year:

Moneeb from Israel is 16 years old. He plays on a soccer team currently, plays the piano, likes chess and does not mind helping with household chores. He has a 4.0 GPA. He is an active listener, funny, honest and trustworthy. Moneeb is interested in pursuing a high-tech or medical career. 

Yekaterina from Uzbekistan is 16 years old. She passionate about drawing, but also likes painting, dancing, singing and theater. Her nickname is Kate. She likes pets, American history, detective movies and would like to try being on the swim team or other new activities.

Aditi from India is a 16 year old girl. She loves playing soccer and making sweet treats for holidays with her grandmother. She volunteers and helps teach young girls about life/leadership skills. Her GPA is 3.9. Aditi comes from a small village and would like to study psychology for a future career.

RARA needs your help on May 14th between 12-6 pm to process thousands of pounds of Stamp Out Hunger donations. Shifts are two hours long and are a great opportunity for community groups, coworkers, teams, and families to volunteer together!

Stamp Out Hunger, the nation's largest food drive, is back on May 14th after a two-year hiatus! Postal workers from ten post offices throughout Rockbridge County will collect donated canned and dry food items from city and county residents and deliver them to RARA, as well as food pantries in Buena Vista and Glasgow. Stamp Out Hunger is sponsored by members of the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, and the U.S. Postal Service. The last drive in 2018 brought in over 8.3 tons of non-perishable food to Rockbridge County, providing almost 14,000 meals.

Bridge to Hope Food Pantry Seeks Volunteers

Bridge to Hope Food Pantry in Buena Vista invites volunteers to help with preparation and distribution of food at these times: Wednesdays: 10:30 am until about 6:30-7:00 pm

During the week: call Sam Roberts at 540-460-9131 to inquire about opportunities for additional days/times.

The pantry will be moving to Church of the Nazarene on May 14^th and will start serving at 906 Magnolia the following Wed 18th. Volunteers for help preparing for the move will be much appreciated

Vestry Minutes

Vestry Minutes are available on our website under the vestry tab.

Happy Birthday

David Connolly (4/2), Dot Fogo (4/3), Alice Moore (4/3), Punky Dod (4/3), Gail Dickerson (4/5) Molly Brown (4/6), Jasper Murphy (4/6), Diana Kenney (4/7)

Anne Sauder (4/7), Emily McClung (4/7), William Mackie (4/8,) Lori Sadler (4/9),

William McCorkle (4/10), David Passmore (4/13), Helen Head (4/15) Helen’s 100^th Birthday!!!!, Beth Knapp (4/15), Andy Dagen (4/15), Don Ellis (4/16), Dennis Cross (4/18), Kevin Manning (4/18), Lisa McGuire (4/19), Erika Brooke (4/20), Sarah Lewis (4/21), Buddy Atkins (4/22), Genelle Gertz (4/25), Chuck Smith (4/26), Pierson Hull (4/26), Nancy Walker (4/27), Clara Pickett (4/27), Sharon Humphreys (4/28), David Hansen (4/29), David Gates (4/30), Mike McKeever (4/30)